Reaching for the Stars

Chapter 40: Home Sweet Home, Part 2

This story now has a new cover! Thanks a lot to WingsÉ on Discord!

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There was a soft knock at the door. Tom looked up from his laptop, wondering who'd come at this time in the night. It was still a bit past 20, but tomorrow was Monday. "Wonder who's that."

"Open the door." Lain replied.

There was another knock. He stood up, put his eyepatch on as he walked to the door, then opened it.

Max was on the other side of the door, smiling at him. "Good evening. Am I with Mr. Thomas Luis Purnama here?" The dog said, looking like he was holding back laughter.

"Ow, it's him."

"You..." Tom chuckled, relieved that the dog was taking the initiative after what happened two days ago. It looked like Max had resolved his problem. He smiled back at Max, feeling happy. He wanted to hug the dog, but he held back. "What's with the formality?"

"My big scary eye-patched wolfo just moved here."

Lain laughed and Tom couldn't help but laugh along. "Ridiculous. Now get in already!" he opened the door to let the big dog come inside.

Laughing a bit, Max went inside and took his scarf off. "It's cozy here."

Tom closed the door, looking at Max with a smile on his face.

"You want me to leave you two alone?"

"Well, sure. That'd be nice."

Lain chuffed amusedly. "Don't wanna disturb the lovedogs, eh? Howl if you need me."

"Hey, Tom, is it only me or is it larger here?"

"I did some more rearrangement with Octo yesterday." The wolf smiled. He was afraid that the dog would ghost him again after that, but he was here now, looking happy. He beckoned the dog to sit on the sofa. "Make yourself at home... wait, you should be, this is our future home, after all." Tom finished, then looked away while grinning to himself like an idiot.

The dog looked at him incredulously, then guffawed and shoved the wolf's back as he sat down. "Gotta love those pickup lines. Who are you trying to impress? Me?"

"You." He reddened a bit, even more so when he saw Max's ears go down in embarrassment. He knew that the dog knew that he was just joking but even until now, no matter how bad and cheesy and gay his lines sounded like, the dog still responded positively. "So, how do I sound?"

Max didn't reply right away, but he then laughed. "Like you've brought ten girls here just in a week. Seriously, your lines are fucking cheesy but good thing they're not outright horrible like Kevin's."

Tom laughed. Too bad he wasn't interested in bringing girls here... except for Lucy and Ellie, maybe, and not because of what the dog thought.

Max looked especially nice tonight. Not super sexy, but still handsome with a leather jacket and a white t-shirt that was neither too tight nor loose, just enough to show what he had while not exposing much. His head fur had grown a bit more; maybe he should call it hair from now.

"Oh, right, uh... what happened two days ago..." The shepherd looked away and scratched his nape. Tom tilted his head to try masking his panicking. "Sorry for that. I was a dick."

The wolf sighed in relief again. "It's okay. No harm done." He put his laptop into hibernation and closed it. "Though, what made you angry with Kevin, anyway? I know he can be annoying sometimes but you looked like you were really angry."