Chapter seven: forging bonds

"the greatest bond that one can forge with another person, is the bond of love, the power of love can call forth unimaginable valleys of inner strength from within someone..."

- Neowolf.



benson rode his motorcycle up the path to the beach, where his friends were waiting.
"kevin? how're the 'additions' coming along?" benson asked into his autophone.
"almost done." the german shepherd's voice replied over the autophone "how much longer you got to go?"

"i'm a single turn away from the beach... wait... now it's coming up on the straight, i can see them parked."

"see you guys soon then!"

"yes." benson turned off the autophone, and pulled up beside the 4X4 (four wheel drive jeep). khyber hung out of the window "'bout time!" he said jokingly "we've been waiting!"
"everyone here?"
ian popped out of the back window "yep, we're all here." then ian turned away and muttered under his breath "we are SO going to get killed..." he muttered depressively.
benson scowled.
ian was suddenly bumped on the head from behind, benson could see amelia glaring at the human "lighten up ian, benson's okay, so it's not like kevin's dangerous!"
"if he was, ben would be dead already..." lily called from inside the 4X4.
"not if he's waiting for a fuller meal...." ian whined
benson growled "amelia, can you slap him for me?"
ian was struck again.
"OW! i'm just voicing the 100% true facts! these're things we'll have to deal with! he's a MON-"
benson wouldn't let him finish that sentance "DON'T...YOU DARE...SAY THAT...WORD!" benson snarled agrressively.
ian froze. "b-but he IS! all of them are!" he protested
"ENOUGH!" benson barked. "we need to get moving, i'd prefer not to keep him waiting."

khyber narrowed his gaze "funny... you'll be punctual with him, but not your childhood friends?" he accused

"would YOU want to piss off a gigantic german shepherd?"

"ah, touche!" khyber admitted.

ian glared

benson got the message "he's a gentle guy, he wouldn't do anything too bad knowingly... but i still wouldn't want to give him a reason to hate me. everyone has a breaking point, even the gentlest giants, okay ian?." benson answered the unvoiced question.
ian grunted "i guess that's true enough..."

benson smiled, and powered up the bike "okay, khyber, autophone goes on now, and it doesn't go off until we arrive."

"got it." khyber confirmed, switching on the autophone in the vehicle's interior.

benson reactivated his own autophone, and tuned it to khyber's.
"follow me." he spoke through it."

the cycle took off, followed by the 4X4.

benson led them down the winding paths and roads, commenting on the odd manifestations in the road halfway there, retelling his friends what kevin had said about them.
ian's voice crackled through the AP, "hmmm... sounds like the stuff composing this area's gone wrong somehere, i'd wager it's a problem with the henolin in the air..."
lily's voice followed "henolin...? oh right, the reinforcement composite chemical!"
benson didn't understand "hey, can you explain that? i'm afraid i don't get it."
this time amelia spoke up "when the law was passed to allow Bukis and giants to live on the previously human-exclusive continent, the EOS (environmental observation squad) noticed that the ground wouldn't be able to withstand too many giants' weight, the continent would litterally have tipped or sunk from all the excess weight..."
khyber chimed in "...so they developed a supliment chemical to help the ground support it, it works by reducing the resistance a giant produces, kind of like putting a huge spring beneath their step, it was supposed to be a temporary fix, but the chemical reacted even better than they expected, the ground started shifting in a way, as if to accomidate the giants, it became the equivalent for them to what it once was to us."

"as if we'd simply shrunk, and the giants had taken our weight-place" ian summarised.

benson was astonished "wow... that's incredible! and you're saying it wasn't SUPPOSED to do that?"

"nope" ian answered "it was some kinda miracle, almost as if the henolin KNEW what we wanted it to do, and simply obeyed."
"and there were no downsides?"
"there was one..." lily answered
"right," khyber said "the air was full of the chemical, and a handful of regular humans got sick, somehow it turned them into monsters..."
"the henolin bonded with their DNA, it gave them strange abilities, like shape-changing, energy absorption, freezing things, and some others too, after that, the government had everyone immunised to the stuff." ian recounted.
"...to prevent any more 'freaks'?" benson asked as he turned right.
"yeah, they were full-on scared, they thought that if too many people turned, they'd have a revolution on their hands-" lily answered.
"and paws..." amelia added.

benson was intreagued, "what about their 'shadows'? did they emmerge?"
"two of 'em did." khyber answered. "but in manifesting through such an unnatural method, they went insane and killed the two guys, and destroyed themselves along with them."

"must've been horrible. imagine being suddenly pulled into another world like that, the stimuli would've been overwhelming..." benson commented.
"yeah, it's really no wonder they acted that way." lily added.

benson's AP buzzed.
"oh! kevin's calling, autophone, answer call, snchronise it with the current one."
[VERY WELL, SIR....CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.] the AP's AI obeyed.
kevin's voice broke through with a ton of static, cellphones couldn't connect to an AP perfectly. "hey ben! everything's all finished, where are you?"

"about a minute or two out. we're passing the red tree now." benson informed kevin, as they passed an entirely red tree, somebody had painted it as a joke.

sure enough, within a minute they were pulling up outside kevin's home. the 4X4 passengers marveled at the size, just as benson had two days previous. benson and khyber parked, and benson led them up the newly installed miniature steps kevin had built in for his smaller guests.
once they reached the front door, benson let out a well-practiced howl, loud, well toned. impressive to the four guests who were incapable of doing so.
"never heard a fox's howl before..." ian admitted "least of all yours..."

thundering blasts were heard inside, everyone but benson jumped at the noise.
"calm down... it's just kevin." benson reassured them.
the door opened a crack, more than enough room for the tiny guests, however.
when they walked in, kevin was towering over them, he squatted down to greet them, he was wearing a pair of black denim jeans, white socks, and a black t- shirt which read "F THE RULES, I'M AWESOME" with a proud-looking navajo wolf on the front.
"hi guys! kevin said jovially, making sure to lower his voice "it's great ta' actually meet y' all!"
amelia and khyber meerly marveled helplessly at the german shepherd's immense size, too stunned to speak.
ian, who had expressed his discomfort with giants previously, hid behind benson and waved nervously.
lily was the only one who seemed okay with kevin's gigantic proportions "thank you for having us kevin. it's a pleasure to meet you in the flesh, as well." she said ploitely, offering a paw.
kevin, in turn offered his finger, and shook her paw. "no prob'" kevin thanked her, then he noticed the other two felines staring at him. "ahem..." he cleared his throat "is there somethin' on m'face?" kevin asked them, informing them he'd noticed.
khyber jumped in surprise, amelia jolted back.
khyber bowed "i am sorry! you're the first ma- er... giant... i've ever met... i didn't mean to stare."
amelia raised her paws in apology "m-me either! you're just... a lot to take in..." she smiled nevously "... a whole lot, in fact"
kevin smiled kindly "'s fine, most people'd be the same, i guess." he admitted "i don't mind it too much. i'll take y'r reactions as a compliment, this time." kevin made a sneaky face "but no starin' at me intentionally, i don't think anyone likes being looked at that way..."
khyber and amelia nodded and apologised again, their voices full of guilt.
kevin turned his attention to the little human cowering behind the slightly taller fox, who looked a head taller than ian, "aren't you going to be polite too?"
benson swung behind ian and pushed him forward, sending him stumbling.
ian was petrified with fear.
"hey, stop shakin' man, i'm not gonna hurt ya!" kevin laughed.
ian was trying to speak, but couldn't.
"maybe you'll be more talkative over dinner" kevin suggested, "you guys were drivin' here for about four hours, right?"
khyber nodded "yes. i'll admit i'm a bit hungry..."
kevin smiled "if your gut's a-growlin' feed it quick or hear it howlin'~!" kevin sang, and lowered his paws to the floor.
benson walked forward "now boarding..." he joked.
the others didn't move at first, but didn't refuse kevin's offer, after benson glared at them that is, and boarded the huge paws obediently.
kevin grunted slightly as he stood up, doing so much slower than usual for his little passengers' safety.
kevin walked upstairs into the second-floor kitchen and dining area.
ian couldn't help himself "we're n-not on the menu, are we?"
benson glared back at him "you're absolutely THE most paranoid individual i've ever met."
kevin laughed as if there had been a joke, "no, no. while i'll admit i like meat, i don't eat meat that has ever talked before. that means i don't eat intelligent life" kevin assured them
lily laughed "no intelligent life, eh? sounds like ian SHOULD be nervous then!" she cackled, causing everyone but ian to join in.
"hey! come on, that isn't funny guys..." the human protested
kevin sniggered "heh, heh. but, no, seriously you guys are completely safe. i've already got a roast chicken in the oven, too."
lily moaned in anticipation "mmmm! sounds good! *snif sniff* smells good, too..."
khyber agreed "sounds like a plan."
kevin looked down "hey, question: why does everybody call you by your surname?"
"because 'khyber' sounds cooler than 'patrick' does." khyber answered
"you could go by 'rick'" kevin suggested
"thanks, but i'm good."

lily started fumbling around in her bag "where are they...?"
benson turned to her "lost something?"
she nodded, her face turning angry "yeah, my glasses. everything's just a big grey blur without them, DAMMIT! i must have left them at home!"
kevin hummed in thought, "so that's why you weren't nervous, you couldn't see me properly?"
lily raised her arms "in my defense, i already knew you were giant, i don't think it'd have made much of a difference, either way."

ian crossed his arms and scratched his chin "don't you, you know, have a spare pair?"
lily shook her head "i do, but they're perscription sunglasses and i look stupid in them."
amelia scoffed "you'd at least be able to see!"
"b-but... you'll laugh."
kevin set them down on the dining table "how 'bout this? when you can see, if you don't treat me any differently than you are now while you're blind, i promise not to laugh at your glasses." he suggested
benson nodded "i won't laugh either... if i can help it..."

lily submitted. "alright... deal." she said reluctantly, and pulled on her sunglasses, the lesnses were at least the size of tennis balls.
benson turned away and clamped his muzzle shut with his paw.

lily frowned "ben...really?!"
benson used his other paw to trace a backwards 'QX' in the air, which he had used as a child to say 'sorry' because back then he had been unable to speak.
"apology accepted, ben" lily told him, and looked up at kevin.
"hm."
kevin raised an eyebrow "what?"
"... you're a lot more handsome in person than i saw on the monitor, aren't you?" she  said charmingly.
kevin stared, surprised, so was everyone else, especially benson, whoose ears were also flattened against his scalp.
"um... thanks, i guess..." kevin said unsurely "you do know that i'm...?"
she nodded "yeah, i know. i'm allowed to say it still, aren't i?"

everyone laughed, except benson, which went unnoticed.

then the oven produced a loud and annoying 'DING DING! DING!!'
kevin rushed over to the oven "it's done!"

minutes later kevin sat opposite his guests, who had been given the breast meat on a single, 'giant' plate by their size, while he had the rest of the roast on his plate.
"i'd originally planned to do a roast beef replicate, but ben told me you three might not like it. so i made do with something you WOULD eat."
khyber tore into a bit of the chicken "beef...replicate?"
kevin nodded, we have to get all of our food products created in factories, chemically-accurate carbon copies of 'regular' food."

ian picked at the meat "so... this was never alive?"
kevin nodded "exactly, feel better about it now?"
ian hungrily tore into the meat he pulled off, his answer was obvious.
"this is cooked pretty well..."

"thank you. see? i thought you'd be more talkative, and i was right!"

benson sneezed, causing everyone to look at him
"sorry..." benson apologised, then looked at kevin " kevin, you didn't *ACHOO* - didn't season the roast with cinnamon by any *ACHOO* -any chance?"
kevin nodded "i did..."
benson sneezed again, louder this time "i'm allergic to cinnamon!" he announced, "once i start sne- *ACHOO* -sneezing, i need to take an ASC (abnormal symptoms capsule) before it *ACHOO* - it stops completely, or my throat closes up."
kevin practically punched himself in the face "DAMMIT! wait just a moment" and he leapt out of his chair and ran upstairs.
benson sneezed again.

seconds later, kevin sprinted down the stairs again with a medicine bottle in hand, and poured a little of the contents into a sewing thimble he was holding, and handed it to benson. "drink this!"
benson quickly drank the fluid.
"it's the closest thing i had to an ASC, sorry."
benson finished the contents and caught his breath
"okay, i... i think i'm good, so long as i don't get too close to that meat right now, i should be okay." he said, and backed away from the roast.
benson choked and stuck out his tongue "bleah, that's got a strong aftertase."
curious, ian walked over to the thimble and sniffed it "water.... alidic concentrate...greynid extract...and lemon..." he said "is that what this was?" he asked, holding up the thimble.
kevin frowned "how'd y'know all that?"
(i don't feel good) benson thought...
ian straightened up "i AM the best at analysing chemical components, i can detect the smallest chemical by the slightest scent. my nose is better than a human's should be!" he said proudly "although the contents will stop anaphylaxis symptoms, it'll also-"
a noise that sounded like someone dumping huge a bucket full of water and fish on a dock droned out.
everyone looked at benson, who had vomited, and did so again.
"-cause the individual who drank it to...void their stomach..." ian finished, moments too late.
as if to prove ian's point, benson vomited again.
"eesh... sorry ben." kevin said empathetically.
benson raised his paw, "no, it's not your- **heave**- not your..."
benson vomited again, but his message had been recieved.
"th-thanks..."
"no pro-"BLEAUGH!!
lily removed her glasses "talk about crappy luck."
amelia looked away "nothing personal, ben!"
benson tried to say "that's okay" but was cut off as he vomited again.
khyber ran over and struck benson in the side with both fists, then turned them at an odd angle.
"GUGH!" benson cried out, and passed out.
"get a bucket or something!" khyber told kevin "hurry!"
kevin ran to the sink and came back with what appeared to be a miniature wooden bucket, and placed it on the table.
khyber leant benson over the bucket just as he puked again.
"he'll wake up when it's over..." khyber told them, as he rubbed benson's back. "talk about bad luck..."
khyber walked over to the vomit puddle "help me clean this up please."
kevin returned to the sink and came back with a pair of wet washcloths.
"ian, watch ben, make sure he doesn't choke." khyber ordered the human, who did as he was told.
kevin and khyber set to work cleaning up the mess, while the girls helped ian with their poor friend.
after the mess was removed, kevin wrapped the roast in a damp towel, and put it in the fridge.
kevin walked back over to the table, where the others stood around benson, he had stopped vomiting, and was carrently sleeping.
"you guys..." kevin began, drawing their attention to him "...you're amazing. seriously, ben's incredibly lucky to have you guys as friends. you're really decent people."
khyber smiled "thanks, man- er... dog" he half joked.
ian stood "i was totally wrong about you, kid. you're a better person than i thought you were."
kevin raised an eyebrow "kid?"
ian laughed "well, i AM twenty-eight, i'm older than benson is, at least..."
kevin smiled wryly "no more 'dog' and no more 'kid' please."
"fair enough." ian and khyber agreed.
lily stepped forward "hmm, smart, loyal, AND good looking. it's a shame you're the way you are, if you were my size i'd seriously consider dating you." she charmed "if you weren't... you know..."
"gay?"
lily nodded slowly.
kevin rubbed his eyes "oooookaaaay then...." he moaned. "shouldn't we clean ben off? i doubt he really wants to wake up like that." kevin pointed at the fox, his fur was all messed up, and his face and clothes were covered in vomit.
amelia nodded "point taken, we'll leave you to that, just don't do anything wierd to him."
kevin chuckled "okay, by the way, i wouldn't do THAT even if you told me to, the guy's KOed, i wouldn't take advantage of him like that."
ian nodded "good to know."
kevin pointed to a rope ladder at the edge of the table, then the stairs leading down.
"you guys can head downstairs and watch a movie if you'd like, i've put in additions for your ease of mobility, you should be able to get down there easily."
"thanks." the four replied, and headed for the ladder as kevin picked the little passed out fox up,
"lily? could you come with me please?" kevin asked, and laid his other paw out for her.
"um... okay..."
"i'll need help" he said, motioning to benson.
"oh, ...right" and she boarded his paw.
kevin headed to the upstairs bathroom,he placed lily on the sink bench, he proceeded to plug the sink with a mesh plug, so the water could go down the drain a bit, but the fox would not, and turned the warm water on a little.
kevin wet a scrap of handtowel and handed it to lily, as he removed benson's top clothes, and ran him under the tap to get the vomit off.
kevin dumped the dirty clothing in a tiny bucket and filled it wth warm water, and added soap, then asked lily if she could take care of it as he placed it near her.
"you needed my help to clean his clothes?"
"i could have done it myself, actually."
lily was confused, but she started as she was asked "so, why ask me to help?"
"i wanted to talk to you in private."
"but we aren't alone..."
"he can't hear us, he's KOed."
"okay... what did you want to talk about?"

kevin began scrubbing the filth out of benson's fur "what do you think about him?"

"who, ben?"
"yeah. how do you feel about him?"
"if you think i'll steal him from you..."
kevin chuckled slightly "no, no. i may be gay, but he's not, i'm not going to force him either."
lily moaned "then why ask?"
"because i overheard his call the other morning."
"the one with ian? so what?"
"so what?!" kevin laughed "ian thought he was gay, because he stayed the night, and ben said quite clearly to ian *'you KNOW i'm not! ... you know that i'm into lily'*"
lily froze, and looked at benson.
"h-he likes me?"
"that's what i heard him say."
she resumed scrubbing "why are you telling me this?"
"because your comments earlier were getting awkward for me, so i figured i should tell you, before you go and break his heart any more."
"what?"
kevin kept scrubbing the grime off benson "each time you advanced on me, i could see ben looking more and more depressed."
"how could you tell?"
"like ben, i'm a canine, i recognised the signs he was giving; flattened ears, droopy tail, slouching posture..." kevin went on "he was saddened. he probably thought he couldn't compete with me, or something, like you'd somehow turn me, and he'd lose his chance with you."
she looked at benson and sighed "you really think he's into me?"
kevin nodded "i KNOW he is. but don't tell him i told you, if he asks, tell him that you 'noticed him' or something."
"so ian knows too?" she wondered "wow, so he actually CAN keep a secret..."
"looks that way..." kevin had cleaned off all the puke, and picked up a cosmetics bottle, and rubbed some of the contents onto benson.
lily looked at him curiously "what's that?"
kevin smiled sneakily "well... he commented on how soft MY fur is, so i figure he should try it for a bit."
"it'll just get coarse again, it's because of his job."
"yeah he told me, particle-molec... - whatever, right?"
"that's the one."

ergh...

"he's wakin' up." kevin said.
*  *  * **  *  *  *
benson's eyes stung. he tried to open them, but water cascaded down over him, however, seconds later he moved out of it again.
benson shook his head, removing the water from his eyes, he saw blurry white everywhere, his eyes weren't focussed, but as they slowly did, he noticed he was flat out on a brown surface... it felt familiar...
"welcome back, ben" came lily's voice from the right, he looked and saw her scrubbing something in a bucket, his clothes, he guessed, he noticed that he was only in his underwear.
"what happened?" he asked her.
"peter knocked you out, then we cleaned up and watched over you until you stopped puking"
"where is everyone?"
"ammie, peter, and ian are on the first floor, watching a movie"
"where's kevin?"
she gave him the 'you idiot' look "you're laying on him."
he looked up and kevin waved down at him
"oh... why am i here?"
"kev decided you'd probably prefer not to wake up in that mess you were in, so he asked me to help clean you off."
benson blushed, and curled up, hugging his legs.
"o-oh... i see..."
"don't worry, he didn't try anything."
"i'm right here you know" kevin reminded them "stop talking about me like i'm not here."
benson looked at the giant canine "sorry..."
"s'alright, i'd've done a better job, but i didn't think you'd approve of being completely disrobed."
benson craned his neck "you undressed me? that's creepy"
lily scoffed "so you'd prefer to have woken up covered in puke?"
benson sighed "no..."
"then get over it, benny!"
"lil, don't call me that, you know i hate it." benson whined.
kevin pressed benson between his paws slightly, without warning.
"HEY?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" benson cried out.
"drying you." kevin said calmly, removing the top paw shortly after, and turned off the tap.
benson was flustered "wh- WHAT THE HELL?!"
"you're dry though, aren't you?" kevin asked
benson huffed.
kevin smiled, "i'll leave this ungreatful fox with you" kevin said to lily as he placed him beside her and walked out of the room.

lily turned to the fox "he really likes you, you know."
benson sighed and stood up "i know. but i've made it clear to him that i'm not gay. i thought he respected my choice..."
lily grabbed his arm "but he does, if he didn't, wouldn't he have already ra-"
"AAGH! shut up! shut up!" he panicked "that's a red zone!"
lily laughed "okay, sorry. you know i'm right though."
benson jolted back "maybe, but i still don't wanna hear that stuff!" he snapped
she just smiled at him.
"what?" he asked.
she walked over and grabbed his head, and kissed him on the cheek.
"?!" benson gasped.
"you're handsome too, you know."
"what?" he asked in surprise
she just kept smiling.
"you... you think i'm..."
she nodded.
benson raised an eyebrow "i thought you liked kevin..."
"he might be a little better looking, but he straightened me out."
benson's eyes narrowed "...he told you...." he growled "HE TOLD YOU!" benson snarled "What The Hell?! you don't do that! you just don't!"
"ben, look, i didn't know you liked me, once he told me..."
benson looked at her.
"... i realised that i might like you back... you should actually be thanking him."
benson lowered his head "...i..."

"shh." she put a finger to his mouth, silencing him.
"just kiss me you orange idiot."

"....okay."

*  *  *
(first floor lounge)
leaving through the bathroom door, kevin descended the stairs, and khyber looked up "how's he doin?"
kevin sat down next to them, noting that amelia had fallen asleep.
"he's awake, and his throat didn't close, but i think he might be a little pissed at the two of us..."
ian looked between kevin and khyber. "why'd he be pissed at you two?"
"what happened?" khyber asked
"promise me you won't hate me for this..."
the two nodded.
kevin leant down and whispered "i told lily about ben's little crush on her."
ian leapt up "what the hell?!" he quietly yelled
khyber stared at kevin "that explains you, but why'd he be pissed at me?"
"hmm, let me think about- YOU KNOCKED HIM OUT, maybe?"
khyber rubbed his eyes.
ian turned to khyber "also what the hell, dude."
kevin's ears perked.
"what is it?" khyber asked.

kevin smiled sneakily "i think he just forgave us."
ian blinked "wait, where's lily?"
kevin gave them both a knowing look.

"ohhhhhhhh!" they both said.
"yep, i doubt he'll hate us now..."

*  *  *
(third floor bathroom)

their kiss lasted a full five minutes before they stopped.
"think you'll still rake them over the coals, ben?"
"i think i'll let this slide... or maybe i'll just go easier on them."
"i think they've deserved a stay of execution, benny"
benson said nothing, he simply smiled.
"i thought you hated being called 'benny'?" she asked knowingly.
"it sounds less like an insult now... but only when you say it, lil"
she smiled "good, because i like saying it."
"i know one thing, that big jerk's getting a big thanks later."
"and i'll rake peter over the coals for you, i think he just wanted to hit you, anyway."
"you will? how sweet of you~"
she smiled again "i know~"

he had to admit, the big guy had done good, he was still a little annoyed that he'd told... but maybe that was just his way of saying 'if you're happy, then so am i' and if that was true, then he'd found one helluva best friend.