Fox (mxm) (Rever series 1)

Fox 5

The tired smile on the man's face made Fox nudge aside his hesitance and lift a paw. It was tiny compared to Noah's hand, but he was gentle as he rubbed the cloth over it, then gestured for the other paw, which he was given after a moment. 

"There we go. I'm sure your back feet aren't too bad, so we can leave those be," he said as he got back up and headed out of the room. 

When Noah turned off the light on his way out, Fox flicked his tail and tilted his head, then slowly jogged after him. He was awake now, so sleep likely wasn't going to happen just yet. Noticing that Noah was heading back toward his room after he'd tossed the two small towels into the laundry room, Fox ran ahead of him and pawed at the slightly ajar bathroom door.

"Huh? What is it?" Noah asked as he changed direction toward the bathroom. 

Flicking his ear excitedly, Fox relieved himself on the newspapers set out for him. 

"Oh, right. Well, I guess it's better that you told me you had to go now so that it doesn't smell up the bathroom. I appreciate it," he said as he quickly cleaned up the mess, then put down clean paper. 

He was just getting back up to leave when Fox yipped and hopped into the bathtub. The second Noah was looking at him he put his chin on the edge of the tub and glanced sideways towards the spigot, then back. 

Noah didn't look impressed. 

"It's two in the morning, bud. Not gonna happen," he said, making Fox flatten his ears for a brief moment before flicking them back up and hopping out of the tub... then scrambling right back in when his jump didn't quite get him over the rim. 

When he turned back around and set his chin on the edge again with an added whine for effect, Noah stifled a laugh and walked over. 

"You think you're being cute, huh? You still ate my cat, buddy, or did you forget?" Noah chastised with a shake of his head as he leaned over just enough to poke Fox's nose. 

Backing up abruptly, Fox snorted, then licked his lips several times. Oh yes, he definitely remembered having eaten the cat. 

Too bad I couldn't keep it down. 

"I'm beginning to figure out your expressions, and I know that you aren't the least bit remorseful," Noah said, making Fox lick at one of his paws. He was only remorseful that he hadn't gotten to enjoy the meal. It hadn't been his fault that the guy had left his pet outside. 

Sighing, Noah grabbed a towel that was hanging up on a bar next to him. Fox perked up immediately, only to freak out when the large towel was thrown over his head and he was picked up. 

"Oh hush, I'm just taking you somewhere and I don't want your claws in my arm while I'm doing so," Noah scolded as he moved. 

He wisely made the trip quick, and when Fox was set back down, he quickly squirmed out of the towel. Surprised at his new surroundings, he took in the big room with a twitch of his whiskers. 

"I'm not giving you another bath right now, but if you want to be really warm, I have a heated blanket under the comforter," Noah said as he got underneath the aforementioned blankets and yawned. 

I wasn't asking for another bath... just a nice baking. 

Figuring that he wasn't going to get what he wanted, Fox hopped off the bed. The heated blanket did sound tempting, but he'd already exceeded his ability to be close to the man, or any human, for at least a week. After one more quick look around he sauntered out the open door and headed back to the living room. 

He was nearly back to the dog bed he intended to use when he heard footsteps behind him. Stopping beside the bed, he looked up, taking a few steps away when Noah walked over. He was carrying a folded blanket. 

"I'm really not cold tonight, which is odd... so I thought that you might want this," he said as he knelt down and, after plugging in the blanket, set it up on the dog bed. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, Fox. Get some sleep." 

Once Noah was gone, Fox turned his attention to the blanket. 

You don't need that. You slept in the snow for years. In the rain. In storms. 

He flicked his ears and looked out the door leading into the backyard. It was snowing softly, the light of the moon reflecting off of each flake as it descended. 

Turning his attention back to the blanket, he noticed something that had him finally taking a step forward. 

I just wanted to sleep on the bed. It was bought for me, anyways. It's not my fault that he put the blanket on it. 

With his thoughts goading him onward, Fox slowly moved forward until he'd managed to slip beneath the folded warm blanket. It was definitely no scalding shower, but as he closed his eyes and sighed out his remaining stress through his little nose, the only part of him visible at the edge of the fabric, its added warmth began to feel like a comfortable hug... one that he hadn't felt for over a decade. It was kind of nice.