This is a short work of erotic fiction containing furry, or anthropomorphic, characters, which are animals that either demonstrate human intelligence or walk on two legs, for the purposes of these tales. It is a thriving and growing fandom in which creators are prevalent in art and writing especially.
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Locker Room Quickie
Dripping with sweat, the caribou stomped into the locker room from the ice rink, groaning and rolling his shoulders back to shake loose settled in tension. Gym sessions coupled with ice hockey, on the same day, just didn't go together, not at all. Yet Aaron felt he could not leave either one by the wayside, even for the sake of his own body and comfort. Some said physical activity was an addiction of sorts. He called it living.
His familiar teammates, all kinds of furs with custom skates to fit hooves or paws, crowded around him, shuffling and bumping into one another in the cramped quarters of the changing room. Aaron grimaced, brown muzzle twisting as he blinked away a speck of dust from the corner of his eye, orb watering. He was glad that the team had grown over the last few months but couldn't help feeling a little sullen at the lack of space. Sometimes, if there was no one else at the rink - no other teams - they could use both locker rooms. Unfortunately, that particular night, it was not the case and they were all crowded into one.
The locker rooms were clean enough for general use, though Aaron could never find them at all pleasing with so many bodies hustled together, fur soaked down to the skin as they stripped themselves of sodden gear. He wrinkled his nose, soft, moist flesh too sensitive to odour, as his ears half-slipped down to his skull as if he wanted to hide from the clamour, cower into a corner. Aaron's heartbeat quickened and he fought to breathe as deeply and slowly as he could bear, antlers itching in an imaginary shed of velvet. Why were the changing rooms so full? He just had to put up with it. Pressing his knuckles into the socket of his eyes, he inhaled through his nostrils, eyes closed. It was worth it for the ice time. That was a better thought. He had to hold on to that.
The caribou's smile spread slowly as he drifted into a cleaner, crisper world, ears twitching to the remembered sound of blades cutting through ice, spraying up in a white flurry as he stopped on the edge of one blade. Yeah, skating was worth it. He could put up with the cramped changing rooms if it meant that he could keep skating. And playing hockey, of course.
Rubbing his antlers, Aaron clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and shrugged out of his shoulder pads, dropping them on the growing pile of kit on the floor to his rear. Though he would not usually be so careless with his gear, it was going in the wash that night anyway, to be soaked in the bath for hours to get the stink out of the fabric. It seemed to be seeping into the fibre of it, however, and he had his doubts about how much longer he could stand to strap himself into the kit that only stank of old sweat without chemical intervention. He did it for the love of the game and that alone. His ears twitched, eyes wandering to the door through which cold air still seeped. How cool was it that his university had an ice hockey team? He certainly did not know of many that could boast the same.
Aaron cast a lion a half-smile as he squeezed past in the small space and grimaced as his shoulder rang with a twinge of pain, abruptly and rudely reminding him of his overall soreness. Such a pain. Had he really had to do shoulders at the gym earlier that day? Such a derp 'bou.
"You sore there, hm?"
Aaron swallowed, heart beating in a tiny flutter of nerves, though he did not alter his movements in the, carefully practiced at keeping his expression smooth and balanced. He glanced over at the larger polar bear changing beside him. His bulk should have been impossible to miss and yet he had once again managed to sneak up on Aaron without the caribou being any the wiser.
"Yeah...kinda..."
Aaron rolled his shoulders, though could not stop a grimace from twisting his lips. Tiernan, the polar bear, smirked, black lips quirking up evilly, and grabbed the caribou by the shoulders, pushing his fingers in to massage deeply. Despite the fact that the massage could have been pleasurable in a more private situation, Aaron scowled and rocked his shoulders from side to side as if to dislodge the bear.
"How does this feel?" He queried. "Any better?"
The caribou shook him off but the bear came back again, paws insistently digging between his shoulder blades. He shook the caribou with the force of his faux massage as he obnoxiously handled the smaller male, tugging his t-shirt to the side as if he was about to yank it back over his head when he had only just succeeded in re-clothing himself.
"Git off, you lump... For fuck's sake, Tier!"
Aaron shoved him, a paw slapping into the bear's shoulder to push him away a step. It was enough and the rest of the team crowded around, cat calling and giving them even less space in which to tussle, though that was hardly the point of the jibe. Laughing, Tiernan jostled him back until the team captain shouted across the changing room in a loud, booming voice.
"Cut it out! You think we have space in here for that?"
"Not enough room to swing a cat," a tiger confirmed with an expression that he had to fight with in order to keep solemn and stern, lips quirking at the corners for a fraction of a second. "Though I daresay not a soul here would try."
"We'd swing you by the tail..."
The team vibrated with laughter, the sound reverberating around the comparatively small room. Aaron resisted the urge to rub his ears, the ringing within terrible. But it wouldn't do to draw attention, he'd just look like he was being antisocial again. The caribou smiled fixedly and endured the throb of pain in his eardrums until the racket died down enough to be comfortable, though the world about him still spun dizzyingly. He half-closed his eyes and Tier cast him a sympathetic look, lightly bumping his shoulder: sorry, buck.
"All right, all right," the team captain, a chestnut stallion with a wonky white snip of a marking on his nose, yawned, blunt teeth flashing under the glaring lights. "We'd best bugger off out or Joe will be after us again, you know he doesn't like it when we hang around too late. Practice is late enough as it is."
Though the team groaned, fun for the moment spoilt, they bobbed their muzzles in agreement. It really was late enough and most of them had lectures the next morning to attend, even if they would sleep through the majority of them. Aaron was one of the lucky few to have a Friday morning off from study, at least for the second semester. He did not yet know what the third would bring. Probably enough exams to keep him off the ice altogether, bar the odd practice or two. Aaron sighed, ears drooping with barely a lift to the rounded tips. Study was all well and good but exams...they were another thing entirely. They drained him.
Shoving his gear into his hockey bag - a black and red striped monstrosity large enough to fit a body, or so his hall mates joked - the caribou crammed all in haphazardly, keen to be on his way. He dragged his shirt over his head and threw on a fleece jacket for good measure, immediately too warm. Though his fur steamed, he knew it would be bitter outside, the wind cutting as it whipped around the rink, a little wind trap that was particularly biting on a winter evening.
Tier glanced at the caribou as he changed, covertly sliding his gaze away so that he could not be accused of staring if anyone happened to be looking in his direction. It would not have been the done thing to be caught staring at a teammate in the middle of the changing room, unless he wanted to subject himself and Aaron to mockery. He was not averse to banter, of course, but Aaron, a caribou on the quieter side, was liable to clam up the moment a jibe was directed his way. The polar bear smiled, round ears twitching as he recalled just how quick Aaron's tongue had been one hall get-together after a few rounds of drinks. In time, the buck would loosen up and let the weight roll off his shoulders. He just needed to feel comfortable with his surroundings.
The team gathered their gear and milled out of the locker room in two's and three's, clumped together as they automatically fell into their usual groups without even thinking about it. It was funny how furs liked to stick together, herd instinct and pack behaviour winning out after millennia of evolution over their feral ancestors. Tier smiled and lifted his paw to wave as the team captain bobbed his muzzle and made good his exit. He had a wife to get home to and Tier did not blame him for leaving as swiftly as he was able. There was nothing better than going home to a warm body to love and hold. The bear's cheeks tingled with warmth he would not admit. He should know.
"See you guys later!" The tiger chirped as he ducked out of the doorway, a flick in his tail and excessively cheery for gone midnight on a Tuesday night. "Have a good one!"
With that, Tier and Aaron found themselves alone in the locker room, the racket of the team fading as they padded around the perimeter of the ice rink, past solid barriers and towering Plexiglas, to the exit. Their steps swiftly faded. The caribou's ears twitched, and the tension visibly dropped from his shoulders, muscles loosening in the quiet.
"You doing okay there?" Tier probed, dropping a kiss on the back of Aaron's head, though he wrinkled his muzzle at the sweaty fur beneath his lips: yeuch.
"Mmm, yeah, yeah... I'm fine," Aaron murmured, glazed over eyes roaming through his kit. "Just making sure I've got everything first, then we can get going. Blinking beat though. Jeez... I can't be meant to hurt like this."
Tier nodded and zipped up his hockey bag, stretching his arms out before his body. It was a good feeling, lengthening and easing out pain in the stretch, and he groaned softly, stubby tail twitching.
A good, hot shower would be fucking amazing right now, he thought to himself, eyes sliding back to the caribou. It was difficult to keep his gaze away from his secret-not-secret boyfriend for long, with his lean toned body barely concealed under clothing that did nothing to accentuate his form. Tier much preferred to see the buck as naked as the day he was born, fur sleek over muscle in sheer, natural beauty. The male worked hard to keep himself fit and strong. Tier respected that even if his own motivation did not match up with his sweet caribou.
The polar bear hid a sigh behind a rub of his paw and licked his lips, tongue swiping out in a pink flash.
"Do you want to walk back tonight or bus it back?" He asked, tilting his head from side to side.
