Work Text:
Diane wasn't sure if there was a Hell in the afterlife.
Death and other such things tended to freak her out if she thought about them for too long. But she imagined that the dreaded place wasn't filled with lakes of fire or people getting endlessly prodded with pitchforks. It would involve being chained to a desk and being drowned in mountains of paperwork, a never-ending stream no matter how much the poor soul managed to accomplish.
Sitting at her kitchen table, with every square inch covered in claims, forms and other sheets of paper, Diane began to truly believe that she was living such a scenario.
She knew that going straight wasn't going to be easy, nor would it be all sunshine and rainbows. Her position as governor allowed her the means to make some much needed positive changes in the world. But it also meant lots of boring online meetings; various responsibilities pilled on her shoulders and of course... the dreaded paperwork.
It was around 6pm when the exhausted vixen had finally reached her unassuming home and began the herculean task of reviewing and/or completing every form in front of her. She groaned and rubbed her tired eyes more than once as time went on. Eventually, she began to forget just how long she had been sitting at the table for. Time simply didn't exist anymore.
"Kinda like when you danced with Wolf," Her brain randomly added which caused her cheeks to burn a little.
The lupine in question was currently out. He had texted her earlier that day and mentioned that dinner and drinks would be on him tonight and he would bring them over sometime in the evening. He certainly wasn't made out of money like he used to be. But three months out of prison had allowed him to splurge for a few things from time to time.
The sudden knocking at the door caused Diane to yelp slightly as her pen dropped to the floor. She pulled out her phone and lightly tapped the screen. The screen illuminated with the time being displayed at '9:15' pm.
"Jesus...I've been at this for that long?" She looked back at the table. When she finished a certain task she piled the papers on the adjacent seat next to her. A sizable pile had been made but much of the table was still covered.
Diane groaned as she got up and walked towards the door. She glanced through the peephole and saw Wolf with a plastic bag in each hand. He was donned in his regular white attire, a color that the vixen certainly thought he looked well in, although his blazer seemed to be slightly ruffled and his top button was undone. He also looked slightly agitated, as if he were debating whether or not he should just get back in his car and flee to Mexico.
Diane undid the lock and opened the door. "Wolf! I..."
Wolf sighed and hung his head. "Diane I'm so sorry I'm late. I was at the bar getting the food and Snake and Shark got into a drinking contest." Wolf's voice grew higher and louder as he continued. "And I think they went through a whole keg before Shark tried to eat Snake because he looked like a glass of lager or something. And I was forced to do the Heimlich maneuver and..."
He glanced up and saw Diane staring back at him innocently, as if he were describing his humdrum day as an accountant.
"But...everything's all good now! Snake's okay, bit grumpy from being eaten again but eh being grumpy is just kind of his thing. Plus...I got the food finally!"
Wolf walked in as Diane shut the door and looked at him with a small smile. "Relax Wolf I'm not mad at you. I didn't even realize you were gone for so long. I've just been working at the table and I guess time just...got away from me."
Wolf placed the bags on the kitchen counter and glanced at the table.
"Damn," He whistled with a slight grin. "How many trees died just to make this little masterpiece?"
Diane chuckled as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a Styrofoam container out of the bag. The smell of the chicken burger and fries made her mouth water.
"Thanks for picking this up for me Wolf," She said as she walked back to the table and opened up the container. "I really need this."
Wolf pulled out his container and cracked open a beer. "Hey anything for my favorite governor."
Diane quickly unlatched the top and took a bite out of the burger, her taste buds salivating over the combination of chicken, cheese and bacon. "Right and how many other governors do you know?" She asked in between bites of her burger.
Wolf chuckled as he picked out a few fries from his own container. "Well just the one but even if I invited every governor in the country for a barbeque, I'd still fall for you."
Diane rolled her eyes but she felt her heart beat against her ribcage rapidly. She quickly finished her burger before she placed the container on the chair next to her and returned to her work.
"Geez slow down there Di, I didn't think the food was that cold!"
Diane shook her head. "No the food's fine Wolf! I just really have to get these forms done."
Wolf raised an eyebrow as he took another sip of his beer. "Why? Are they due by Monday?"
Diane tapped her pen against the side of her muzzle. "Well...no but if I get them done now then we can enjoy the rest of the weekend! Plus this will give me some extra brownie points come next election."
Wolf huffed in annoyance. As much as he loved Diane's high spirited attitude he'd be lying if he said it wasn't a flaw of hers as well. She would invest so much time into something that she'd often fail to take a breather and just enjoy the present. Spending a lifetime stealing had certainly been a day-to-day business and he always managed to finish off the day with a cold drink and an appreciation that he and his friends were still in one piece.
Of course, going good had changed his life greatly. But even now, Wolf still took the time, whether the day was good bad or just plain mediocre, to savor the moment. Because as he knew, the present would always become a distant memory someday.
But for his beloved governor, she seemed content to just waste a perfectly good Friday evening wallowing in claims, notices and other things he couldn't bring himself to invest in.
"Look Diane," Wolf spoke softly as placed the beer on the counter and made his way towards the table. "I know you're passionate about your work. Hell seeing you care so much about this stuff almost makes me want to get involved with politics."
"Well you already have a way with words," She replied with a slight smile that caused Wolf to blush.
"But from what Webs has told me, you've been working yourself ragged all week! Attending meetings, talking with clients until midnight, all this can't be good for you! Relaxing for one night isn't the end of the world. And you're certainly not going to lose your job! Hell if you did I'd start a riot!" Wolf placed his hands on Diane's shoulders which caused her cheeks to burn slightly.
"Okay..." Diane finally replied with a light sigh. "Just let me go over a few more things and I'll be right with you."
Wolf removed his hands and shook his head. "Uh-huh, I know what that means. You think you're just going to spend ten minutes and then it ends up being two hours."
Diane shrugged as she placed two sheets on the chair beside her. "What can I say Wolf? Time flies when you're having fun."
Wolf raised an eyebrow before he grabbed a random paper and stared at it intently. He tried to go into the details but quickly found himself spacing out.
"Yep I'm having a blast already," Wolf muttered as Diane giggled. "And didn't a certain, and dare I say highly attractive governor shrug off paperwork when they wanted to hack into the government surveillance satellite."
Diane snorted as she quickly signed the document in front of her in two different spots. "There's a difference between saving the world from a mad guinea pig and doing forms to help the city Wolf. Besides that's the Crimson Paw's way of doing things, the highly attractive governor does everything by the book."
Wolf chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But come on you can't spare at least ten minutes? I've barely said more than two words to you this week!"
"Sorry Wolf but I've found that honest, clean work requires a great deal of sacrifice, and if it that involves wasting an evening then so be it."
"So nothing I say or do will make you stop?"
"Wolf even if you stripped down in front of me I wouldn't stop."
Wolf's face contorted into a smirk, that devilish sense of badness began to flare up within him like a wildfire. Sure he may be a Good Guy now but he certainly wasn't against doing something a little naughty once in a while, especially if it was for a certain workaholic governor who desperately needed a break.
"Hey Diane do you mind if I turn on some music?"
"Sure," She replied without looking up. "Everything's just in the living room."
Wolf walked into the living room and began noticing just how advanced her setup was. Two large speakers were on both sides of the large wooden cupboard, which housed numerous records, CD's and even Walkman tapes. It was then that he noticed the antique wooden record player in the corner.
"Ah old school eh?"
Diane let out a small chuckle but didn't reply. Wolf bent down and thumbed through a few records, pleasantly surprised to find the vixen had quite an excellent taste. There were several Queen albums, a few from REO Speedwagon, a couple from the Eagles and an occasional one from Sir Elton John. However, one in particular made his devilish smile grow even wider, Bobby Caldwell's 'What You Won't Do for Love'.
"This will serve me just fine," Wolf thought as his he took the record out of the case and placed it on the turntable. As soon as the soothing sounds filled the room, along with Wolf adjusting the volume so it wasn't deafening to their sensitive ears, he turned back towards Diane.
"Hey Diane...is it getting hot in here?"
Diane looked up at him quizzically as she eyed the indoor digital thermometer on the kitchen counter.
"Wolf its only 64 degrees."
Wolf's grin never faltered as he slowly took off his white blazer. "Hey I got thick, coarse fur hun. I get overheated easily you know."
Diane laughed. "Nice try Wolf but it's not gonna work on me."
Wolf threw his blazer onto one of the unoccupied table chairs. Diane's eyes briefly looked at the item in question.
"So I guess you won't mind if I take off my shirt then?"
Diane gripped her pen tightly as she felt her pulse begin to pick up speed. "N-No go ahead."
Diane ignored her burning cheeks as she tried to focus on the current form. It outlined the details of a permit that would be used as a sanctuary for the many displaced guinea pigs in the city. But her ears naturally fell upon the sounds of Wolf unfastening his buttons. But he didn't do them quickly, like he wanted to strip down and hop into the shower. His movements were slow, methodical as if he wanted to ensure that her sensitive ears heard every button coming undone.
Once the sounds ceased, Diane briefly shifted her eyes upwards, hoping to only steal a glimpse at the lupine. Instead, she immediately felt the heat race to her face. Wolf wasn't a bodybuilder by any means, but he certainly wasn't scrawny either. His pecs and abs were well defined and it was only now that Diane realized just how well he had filled out his shirt.
Although, she thought, he had been in prison for a year. And she knew that working out was a popular pastime, one that had certainly served him well.
"Stop that!" Her inner voice, which strangely resembled her late mother's, said. "You have to keep working hard or everything you work for will be for nothing!"
"Oh yeah," Wolf said as he threw his shirt on the couch nearby. "That feels so much better!"
"Y-Your food's getting cold," Diane replied as she re-read the top paragraph of the permit for the third time.
"Eh, I already ate my burger while the paramedics attended to Snake. Besides that's what air fryers are for."
When the vixen didn't reply, Wolf stretched out over the couch. He flexed his arms upwards allowing his pecs to rise into the air, something that didn't go unnoticed by the flustered fox.
"Would you like a pole to grind up against?" Diane asked factiously as she tried to control her racing heartbeat.
"Why you got one?" Wolf asked as he turned his head to face the vixen.
Diane bit her lower lip as she frantically ran through the permit with her finger. But she found herself caring less and less about what was written on the page and more about being close to the studcake on the couch.
"You know, I think my legs are getting a little hot too," Wolf got off the couch and leaned against the wall with a smug coolness in his features. "Would you mind if I took my pants off too?"
By now Diane could feel her heartbeat pounding rapidly in her head. He knew he was just trying to get to her but damn it all was he an expert at it.
"But you know how to push his buttons too," Her brain added which caused her to relax slightly.
"I think after your Golden Dolphin incident everyone in the state of California has seen you without your pants on Wolf," Diane replied as she took off her glasses and tried rubbing her eyes to get to focus again on her work. "Why would it bother me?"
Wolf's features never faltered. He slowly undid his leather belt before gently tossing it on the couch. Despite the record player playing at a moderate volume, the sound of the zipper coming undone didn't go unnoticed by Diane's keen sense of hearing.
Once the zipper reached the bottom, kicked off his shoes and slowly started to peel his pants down. Once his pants were at the bottom, Wolf slipped one foot out and kicked away the slacks with his other foot.
Despite her best efforts to resist, Diane raised her eyes and found herself looking at a pair of pink boxers with several white hearts decorating the surface.
Wolf stretched his arms over his head and looked back towards Diane. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she looked at the table so hard that the lupine was surprised there wasn't a hole burning through it.
"Man this feels so much cooler," Wolf said as he side-stepped towards the coach and once again leaned against it. Diane's eyes briefly looked up at him. When she saw first saw the wolf in his underwear it was comical, a great master thief being dragged away by police in a set of pink boxers with white hearts like a schoolboy about to receive punishment. But now she began to realize just how good the color looked on him, nor had she never noticed just how his legs, much like his chest, had grown slightly more muscular.
"Don't give in, don't give in," Diane thought rapidly as she slowly raised her pen towards the top of the paragraph. "The state of California is requesting a permit to build a perfectly sculpted Wolf with killer abs and shapely legs. Damn it! Why does he have to be so hot?!"
"Well Madam Governor," Wolf said slowly as he lifted himself off the couch. "Is the paperwork still fun? Or do you perhaps want to take a break?" Wolf's right foot caught one of his shoes lying nearby. "Oops, I better bend down to get this out of the way." Wolf bent in front of Diane, raised his tail up and grabbed the shoe before tossing it into the living room.
"Can't be too careful with..."
Wolf never finished his sentence. He heard the sounds of a chair being knocked to the floor as rapid footsteps raced towards him. Then he felt a light pressure on his back, as if someone were crawling or walking along it, before he came face to face with Diane. The vixen slammed her lips against his, moaning loudly as she did so. She wrapped her legs around his torso while her paws gripped the back of his head fur tightly.
When she broke off the kiss, Diane gently but firmly placed her paws on the side of Wolf's head with a lustful gaze in her eyes and a wide grin on her face. "You, in the bedroom, now. And I expect those boxers to be gone."
Wolf nodded rapidly before he made a sheepish smile.
"Should I be excited or terrified?"
XXX
The vulpine and lupine lay in bed panting heavily. Their hearts raced out of control, their fur was slightly matted with sweat and the world before them was spinning around rapidly.
And yet they couldn't be happier.
"Well I guess everyone in the neighborhood knows your real name now," Diane laughed as she curled tightly against the lupine.
"And I'm pretty sure the state of Ohio heard my howling too," Wolf replied with a large smile as he wrapped his arms around Diane who sighed happily. "Do you feel better though?"
Diane tilted her head upwards and gently kissed Wolf's nose. "Much better actually. I...think that's exactly what I needed."
"And now you can get back to that thrilling paperback with so much vigor tomorrow that it'll be done before your second cup of coffee!"
Diane stayed silent for a moment and Wolf briefly wondered if he had said the wrong thing or offended her in any way. But when she tiled her head upwards and gazed her eyes into his own yellow ones, he was thankful to see a small smile on her face.
"Actually...I was hoping that I'd just spend tomorrow...relaxing with you. I mean its just paperwork it can wait till Sunday...evening."
Wolf chuckled, as he gently kissed the top of her head. "Well I guess I'm a positive influence on you after all Madam Governor."
Diane shrugged playfully. "Eh...that's up for debate."
The two laughed as they gazed into each other's eyes, both of them realizing that they were exactly where they needed to be.
"You know I love you right?" Diane asked as she scooted down slightly and laid her head over Wolf's steadily beating heart. The steady gentle rhythm was already soothing her into a blissful sleep.
"Always," Wolf whispered as he reached out and pulled the string down on the nearby lamp.