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Gordon Freeman awoke to a sharp prod in his side. Screwing his muzzle up into a drowsy grimace, he let out a wide yawn as he rolled over in the opposite direction, lethargically hoping Joshua would get bored and trot off to bug someone else. Much to his disgruntlement, not that he expected anything else really, the kitten batted at the top of his head, finally getting Gordon to glare over at him.
The ginger kitten's whiskers twitched in amusement as he scurried a few paces back, "You've been sleeping all morning! Everyone else is already up!"
"How do you know that bud?" Gordon asked with a tired drawl, getting to his paws to give Joshua a swift lick over the head. He purred as he was battered off with a flurry of white paws against his chest. Bounding a few lengths away, Joshua hunched over and leaped up onto the windowsill, his tail swishing as he shot a look outside, "I already saw everyone running around earlier! Benny stopped by too, but I couldn't get him to come inside," he said with a sad meow.
Shaking his head, Gordon trotted forward to jump up onto the windowsill next to Joshua. All of the earlier visitors seemed to have left, but he did see that the outdoor water bowl had been knocked over, which was evidence enough. He was mildly surprised nothing more was torn up, but he wasn't about to wish for the ruin of the yard either, so he took what gifts he was given.
"It's because Benrey's too big to fit through the flap," Gordon said as he looked back down to Joshua, "Remember last time when he got stuck? He's not even supposed to come in here anyway! He just eats all the food and leaves."
"Well, Benny lets me play with him at least," Joshua huffed, leaping back down from the ledge and stalking off in the direction of the hallway, only to get quickly distracted by a stray felt mouse on the floor. As Joshua busied himself with the toy, Gordon flicked his gaze back out the window, curling his ginger-tipped tail around his paws as he scanned the yard again.
It wasn't exactly surprising that everyone visited, somebody came over near every day after all, but mainly he was worried how he'd slept through the racket they'd no doubt made. None of his friends were particularly quiet animals, aside from Darnold he supposed, but that was hardly an exception. When he was excited, the rabbit talked more than Coomer and Bubby put together.
But everyone being quiet was never a good sign and meant they were probably up to something. Shaking his head out, Gordon fixed his eyes onto the spilled water bowl, trying to figure out whether the small handprints trailing away from it were Bubby's or Benrey's. Either of them were likely candidates, but he had a feeling Benrey had been the perpetrator of this incident.
The raccoon had been nothing but a nuisance ever since he'd meandered into the neighborhood a year ago. All he did was hang around Gordon's house, occasionally try to wiggle his way inside when Gordon's people were gone to eat their food and spit some nonsense. Which would have been fine if it was anyone else really; Tommy popped by occasionally to chit-chat and get something to eat too, but Benrey had made it his duty to be the biggest possible pain in Gordon's side.
From tugging on his tail when Gordon wasn't paying attention, swatting his ears after he'd been hidden just out of sight, or just persistently following behind him even though Gordon had expressed multiple times that he'd rather Benrey didn't. Nothing seemed to deter the raccoon; Gordon had tried pointedly ignoring him, whacking him across the muzzle and indulging him, just to see if it'd get Benrey to quit. But of course, he didn't, and he continued to try and bug Gordon with every other breath.
It only made it all the harder to dissuade the raccoon's antics when every breath spent poking fun at him, was spent being legitimately entertaining. And it was hard not to be entranced by his whole act! He pranced around everyone like he didn't have a care in the world and hardly ever seemed to know what was going on around him despite his serious persona. Nobody could fault Gordon for feeling a bit conflicted over the raccoon. It wasn't like his persistence for the bit was charming or anything.
Gordon's ears twitched back at the sudden sound of scratching at the back door. There were only a few of Gordon's friends who couldn't actually fit inside the little cat-door, so he had a relatively good idea of who could be on the other side. Forzen didn't drop by nearly enough to come up to the door, and Gordon had never even seen Gman step into the yard, which only left Bubby. Jumping down off the windowsill, Gordon trotted past Joshua and into the kitchen, watching as the bottom of the flap kicked open and closed as Bubby on the other side battered it with small hands.
Nudging his way out, much to Bubby's distaste at having to scuttle backward, Gordon's eyes locked onto the grey squirrel's tail; bushed out to hell and whipping back and forward with agitation. "Get the fuck out here! Coomer's got his head stuck in something and needs your help!"
Almost immediately, without giving Gordon any time to process, Bubby was darting off again. Dashing across the yard and out into the stretch of woods circling the back of his house.
And there was the mischief they were all getting into.
Poking his head back inside, already trying to mentally map out what Coomer could have got himself tangled up in, Gordon looked back to where he assumed Joshua was still playing, "I'm heading out to help Coomer! I'll uh… Be back in a minute?" It was a hopeful sentiment, but realistically if it was about any of his friends, it'd take the better part of the afternoon to solve.
Scampering into view, toy mouse still held in his jaws, Joshua dropped the piece of fabric in favor of running over to bite onto Gordon's ear, "Don't be gone forever! You said you'd take me deeper into the woods today."
Shaking Joshua off with a wince, Gordon nodded, "I'll try. Don't tear the place up while I'm gone, alright?"
"Okay!" The gleam in Joshua's eyes said very differently, but Gordon didn't really have the time to reaffirm that idea in the kitten's head; if he wasted any more time, he was fairly sure Bubby would come back and gnaw through his tail.
Gordon ducked back outside and whisked back around, following the scent trail Bubby had left in his mad dash hopefully back to where Coomer was. Trees flashed by him as he pelted through the woods, finally putting some real thought into what kind of danger Coomer could even be in. Bubby had been worried enough to come to him apparently, so it must have been pretty bad; the two were partners though, so it was fair to assume Bubby would be concerned no matter what danger Coomer got himself into. There wasn't anything that really came to mind that would require his help specifically, especially if Coomer did get his head stuck in something dangerous. Benrey and Bubby had more dexterous hands than him, so they could untangle a bag fairly quickly, and if it was just a bottle, they could always find Gman and get him to smash it or something.
Clearing his thoughts with a shake of his head, Gordon focused back in on the trail, curving around a tree and darting under a bramble bush. It'd better not be a prank of some sort because he'd been looking forward to resting a while before he did take Joshua out later in the day.
Finally though, he reached the clearing where Bubby and Tommy were hesitating around Coomer, sitting there politely with his head completely wrapped up in plastic foil. His beak was free though Gordon noted it as a positive.
Swiveling his head in Gordon's direction, Coomer ruffled his feathers as well as he could, "Hello Gordon!"
"Hello Coomer," Slowing his pace, Gordon trotted past a concerned-looking Tommy to examine what the mallard had gotten himself into, "How… Where did you even find all the material to do this? It looks like a whole roll!"
"Well, Gordon, I would tell you, but it'd endanger your life more than it already has mine!"
Bubby snorted, "He found it while snooping around in one of Benrey's stashes and got the whole thing tangled around his head."
Despite having his eyes forced closed from the plastic wrap, Coomer's head swiveled around to Gordon, "It's a true shame you'll no longer be with us Gordon. I'll miss you every day."
Chuffing out a laugh, he circled Coomer to try and find an end to the wrap, "I'm fairly sure I won't die if I get this thing off your head. You're the one in the most danger here; if anybody's dying, I don't see how it'd be me."
Tommy padded over to Gordon's side and nudged at a stray torn flap near the back of Coomer's head, "I already tried taking it off, but my- my claws aren't nearly as sharp as yours Mr. Freeman… They're built for digging! Like- like little shovels in soft dirt!"
"I don't even know if I'll be able to get through this," he murmured, finally glancing over to Bubby, "Forzen's better suited to this, isn't he? He's probably got the ah, the biggest claws out of everybody, right?"
"I would have gotten him if I could, but I haven't seen that fox in days," Bubby grumbled.
Frowning, Gordon looked back to the plastic around Coomer's head and let out a huff of resignation, "Okay, Coomer, could you uh, lie down as flat as you can? I've only got one working paw for this."
As the mallard settled further into place, Gordon steadied his right paw against the back of Coomer's head as he worked his left under the wrap, unsheathing his claws to tear away the plastic. He'd torn out all the claws in his right paw after narrowly escaping getting hit by a car. The rough pavement was already unkind on his paw-pads, but after digging them in to pull himself out of the way, they'd gotten lodged in the road, and his momentum forced him into the brush on the side, ripping them out of place. And while it had saved his life, it meant he couldn't climb trees well anymore or even hop a fence successfully. Luckily, he still did have the claws on his left paw to work with though.
Nipping through a thicker section, Gordon worked his way through the plastic till he reached the crest of Coomer's head. Moving around to the mallard's front, he grabbed onto the edge of the plastic above Coomer's beak and yanked it off with a jerk of his head. Coomer blinked, glancing around before rising to his feet again, "Gordon, you've saved me! I will no longer have to use severe violence on you!"
"Well I'd hope not," Gordon spit out the plastic from his mouth, "But you're welcome. If you guys wouldn't mind actually, I'm taking Joshua out later today, and I want to make sure the area's safe, you know? So could you uh, check out the far side of the woods around where Gman usually is? If it's a bother, I can do it myself. I just don't want him in the house by himself right now-"
Tommy perked up, his frizzy black and white tail swaying a bit, immediately cutting Gordon off, "We wouldn't mind Mr. Freeman! Just say- make sure to say hi to Joshua for me, okay?"
"I mind," Bubby said with a haughty sniff, even though he was already jumping atop Coomer's back and rearranging the green leaves tucked into the mallard's brown head feathers.
"I don't!" Coomer chirped, waddling after Tommy, who'd already started toward the edge of the clearing, "Say hello to young Joshua for me as well Gordon!"
And with that, the trio ambled from the clearing, leaving Gordon on his own once more with a bit of plastic wrap still stuck under his claws. Puffing out a breath, Gordon hunkered down to gnaw at the bits still stuck around his paw. It didn't take very long for him to get the majority of it removed, but it was a painstaking task that if he didn't do now, it'd definitely bother him later. When all the material was gone, Gordon got back to his feet and padded back towards the house, following the same vague trail he'd used to head in.
He didn't think there'd be anything in the section of the woods he was planning on taking Joshua towards, but he'd rather be safe than sorry. Especially without a good means of defending them both with one declawed paw. He could ask Tommy to go with them for an extra means of protection, but he didn't want to ask any more of the skunk than he already had. Hopefully, Tommy, Bubby and Coomer would be thorough enough in their search that he wouldn't need to fend anything off.
When Gordon did finally arrive back at his house, he wasn't exactly surprised to see Benrey half caught in the flap once again. Wearily, he padded up to the door and jabbed the raccoon in his flank. Hearing an indignant huff from the other side of the door, Gordon poked Benrey's side once more, "Are you stuck again?"
"Yeah- uh, no. Can get out all on my own, please and thank you," Gordon backed up a step, watching amusedly as Benrey wiggled in place for a few moments before finally slumping back in place, "Help friend Benny?"
Heaving out a sigh, Gordon moved back up, "Is Joshua in there with you too?"
There was a palpable silence from the other side of the door, and Gordon got the feeling that it was probably a yes. Eventually, Benrey's hesitant response came though, "Is he uh. In trouble?"
Deflating a bit, Gordon shook his head, realizing Benrey couldn't see him a moment later, “No, he’s not. Can you ask him to push on your head? I’m going to try and pull you out.”
Gingerly grabbing onto the loose fur of Benrey's upper back with his teeth, Gordon braced his paws against the cement as he waited for a go-ahead. Hearing a murmur of "Alright, 'm good" from Benrey, Gordon pulled back away from the wall, trying to keep his grip light and not break skin. It'd taken him and Tommy both to help get Benrey out last time, so he really doubted Joshua pushing on Benrey's forehead was going to help much, but he'd take whatever extra help he could get at this point.
The only warning he was given to Benrey actually getting loose was a quiet "Oh shit" before the raccoon was tumbling out the door and flopping directly onto Gordon. Scrabbling out from under Benrey, Gordon threw the raccoon a heavy glare as he righted himself.
"Yoo, thanks for helping a bro out," Shaking his head so his fur was all rightly aligned again, Benrey turned his head toward the cat-door where Joshua was not-so-stealthily exiting. And for as strong as the impulse was to chew Benrey out for getting stuck in the fucking door again, Gordon turned his attention to Joshua. His kit was nearly trembling in place, tawny eyes wide and glittering with excitement.
Letting out an unconscious purr at the sight, Gordon flicked his tail toward the edge of the yard, "We can go if you promise not to run off, alright?"
Nodding his head enthusiastically, Joshua darted across the yard in a blur of orange fur, stopping at the edge of the treeline with an impatient look. Gordon started off after him at a measured trot when he noticed Benrey walking alongside him, barely looking like he was paying any attention, but obviously following.
"Don't you have anywhere to be?" Gordon asked, finally letting his annoyance shine through.
"Huh? No. I've uh, I've gotta follow you bro. Make sure you don't get into any trouble."
Whiskers twitching with barely stifled laughter, Gordon narrowed his eyes at Benrey, "Weren't you just stuck in a door? And couldn't even get out on your own?"
Benrey scowled at him, fluffy ears twitching backward as he galloped on ahead to meet Joshua by the edge of the yard in favor of responding. A snicker of delight working free from his mouth, Gordon trotted after the two ahead of him, content just to walk for a while. And to Gordon's surprise, Benrey was doing a curiously good job of keeping Joshua in line. He only had to interject once when Benrey was goading him to bat a puffball mushroom, but other than that one instance, the two got along really well.
It was strange to see the raccoon keeping a careful eye on Joshua like he was his own kit, but Gordon just chalked it up to Benrey not wanting him to get mad at him over letting Joshua get hurt. He definitely didn't feel his chest warming at the sight of Benrey being so careful with Joshua's impromptu play wrestle. Forcing his gaze away from the two to not make a fool of himself, Gordon continued on a little further, pulling into the lead of the group.
He couldn't smell any traces of Tommy or the Boomer's around, which was a little worrying, but hopefully there weren't any badgers hiding in the bushes or anything. A stray leaf brushed over Gordon's ear as he moved a little further away from Benrey and Joshua's tussling forms. It couldn't hurt to be thorough; Benrey had a handle on Joshua right now, so he was free to do a little check of his own. As Gordon trotted a little farther out, the sounds of Joshua's playful growling faded into the distance.
Abruptly, an unfamiliar scent met Gordon's nose, immediately jerking him back to full awareness. It wasn't any of the locals around his house, that much he could tell. It was more of a Gman-like smell, something wild. Hair beginning to stand on end, Gordon hunkered down and crept a few steps forward despite knowing better than to go chasing after the danger. It was a feral, mangy smell, something with slavering jaws larger than his own head and distinctly dog-like. He could have acquainted it to Forzen, but even that would have been an insult to the fox. Ruling that out really only left one other animal, which- fuck. Coyote.
And if he could smell the thing, it could definitely smell him as well.
Just as if it'd been listening in on his thought's the coyote burst free from the foliage at his left, maw open wide, and lips curled back in a snarl as it bowled toward him. Letting out a yowl of alarm, Gordon turned tail in a flash and whipped back to where Benrey and Joshua were. Even if he was leading the coyote right to them, it meant he wasn't running the risk of it catching wind of their scent and going to hunt them down instead. He felt he was giving plenty of forewarning with all of his screeching and howling though!
Tumbling into the clearing, Gordon felt a rush of relief as he found it empty, spotting a patch of orange in the overhead branches as he ran. So Joshua was safe; now it was just him that was in danger. Hurtling towards the closest tree and trying to ignore the feeling of the coyote's hot breath just behind him, Gordon leaped upwards in a frenzied escape attempt. Much to his chagrin though, in his haze of desperation, he'd forgotten about his missing claws on his right paw.
Letting out a yelp of pain at the jerk of pressure on the claws of his left paw, Gordon was forced to let go of the bark and drop down onto the coyote baying directly beneath him. Gripping onto where he'd fallen on the top of the animal's neck, Gordon sunk his teeth into the wiry muscle beneath. The bite hardly seemed to bother the coyote though, because in one buck, Gordon was sent flying across the clearing. Skidding against the grass, he found himself pinned between the curved roots of a tree and the furious coyote.
Arching his back in a mock display of aggression, Gordon snarled back at the animal, hoping that Joshua at least had the sense to look away if things ended up going south for him. Before the coyote could stalk any closer though, another form dropped out of the trees, and for a terrifying moment, Gordon almost thought it was Joshua. But as the second animal lunged at the coyote in a spitting fury, Gordon nearly collapsed with relief at recognizing them as Benrey.
The coyote, apparently not expecting having to contend with two animals, skittered back dazedly. Emboldened by the show of fear, Gordon leaped to Benrey's aid, striking out with his left at the coyote's nose. Yiping in what seemed more to be shock rather than pain, the animal recoiled and pivoted around to hare out of the clearing with a whimper.
Gordon was almost inclined to chase after it, but he didn't want to press his luck. So instead, he sank down onto his haunches with a tired pant. Benrey's eyes were glued to the space where the coyote had disappeared off to for a moment longer before quickly rounding on Gordon. The raccoon's eyes were wide with distress as he moved closer, patting Gordon's striped face and fur as he looped around him.
"Dude- Benrey, I'm fine; it didn't grab me or anything. Just tired."
Apparently not satisfied with his explanation, Benrey grabbed onto Gordon's right paw, pressing down and splaying his paw-pads. And with how anxious Benrey looked, it didn't even cross Gordon's mind to pull back.
"What… Where'd your claws go?"
"They got ripped out. Didn't grow back, so I uh… Can't climb. I thought you knew that?"
Dropping his paw, Benrey met his gaze once again, seeming to have relaxed a bit at the explanation at least. Before Gordon could begin to decipher the soft look on the raccoon's face though, Joshua wormed his way between the two of them, butting his head against Gordon's shoulder.
"We heard you from a long way away," Joshua's voice was soft from where his muzzle was pressed into Gordon's fur, but he could hear the obvious tremble in the kitten's voice, "Thought you were hurt."
Regret pulled at Gordon's heart as he curled his tail around Joshua, "I wasn't hurt, it's okay," flashing a look to Benrey, he angled his ears back the way they'd came into the clearing, not really trusting himself to guide them all back out, "You wanna' head back home?"
Receiving a jerky nod, Gordon carefully got to his paws and nosed Joshua to his as well. As the three of them trekked back towards Gordon's house, he noticed how much closer Benrey and Joshua stayed this time. Joshua more obviously so, but even Benrey, who made it a staple to seem as detached and uncaring as possible, didn't go farther than a tail-length from him. And if a majority of the way back was spent with the raccoon's fur brushing comfortingly up against his own, who was going to tell?
When they arrived back to their yard, Gordon nosed Joshua inside the house first, promising he'd be in after a moment, but first, he wanted to talk to Benrey. Glancing back to the raccoon, he found him waiting at the bottom step, very pointedly looking away as their eyes met.
Stepping back down to sit by Benrey's side, Gordon fixed his gaze on the grass ahead of him as he puzzled out what he was trying to say.
"I didn't… Really expect you to put your life in danger to save me like that. I was kind of convinced I was going to end up in a few different pieces but, thank you for uh, not letting that happen."
Benrey scratched at the side of his angular face, still not looking right at Gordon, "Yeah, uh… Woulda' made little Joshy sad. Couldn't let- can't have him crying because his dads lame and can't climb trees like everybody else. Wahh, I'm Gordon and can't- can't fuckin use my scratching post anymore-"
Gordon cut Benrey off with a shove to the raccoon's side, earning a bout of chittery laughter, "I'm serious man. I don't think I would have… I probably wouldn't be as unharmed as I am right now if you hadn't dropped in. Thank you."
Fiddling with his hands for a moment, Benrey didn't quite seem to know what to say. So, getting to his feet, on a spur of the moment impulsive decision, Gordon gave a quick lick to the side of Benrey's face as he quickly darted back inside.
The heat in his ears was definitely just embarrassment. Not any sort of fondness whatsoever. Because he absolutely wasn't a little more than just grateful to Benrey. That... He was disregarding those thoughts. They were thoughts for a Gordon of another day.
For now, he was just going to go lie down in a patch of sun again, think of something strongly worded to say to Bubby, Coomer and Tommy about not having smelled the fucking coyote in the area, sleep off the residual adrenaline still in his system and pretend he didn't catch sight of Benrey's flustered, owl-eye stare as he'd hopped back inside.