Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Truth be told, Tucker had always hated Chicago. It wasn't called "The Windy City" for nothing—it was always terrible hat weather, which was a serious mark against it for Tucker, who always sported his signature red beret. The buildings in the metropolitan area of the city were so tall you could barely see the sky they were scraping, the El train was loud as all get-out, and the people tended to be on the ruder side of what Tucker considered acceptable.

The city did have one thing going for it, though: Great Lakes Furry Con, the biggest annual gathering of furries in the Midwest. Tucker had only had the opportunity to go once before, last year, and even though his mom had insisted on going with him, he still managed to enjoy himself immensely and was excited to go again. Especially since his mom agreed she didn't have to be there this year (she had not enjoyed it as much as Tucker had), so instead, he was bringing his boyfriend along.

When the idea had come to him, Tucker had been absolutely ecstatic. As much as he liked the Ghost Zone and obscure locations with no cell service, the idea of taking Wulf on a date somewhere in the human realm where the wolf-man wouldn't seem the slightest bit out of place had made him so excited he couldn't even sleep until he'd pitched it to Wulf directly. Even though Wulf had no idea what a furry convention was, he'd immediately agreed with a fond look on his face, clearly just endeared by Tucker's enthusiasm. Not that Tucker minded.

He'd been looking forward to this ever since, and today was finally the day. Last time he'd gone, he'd had to wake up at 5am to avoid commuter traffic on the drive there with his mom. But this time, the commute was a matter of seconds thanks to Wulf's ghost portal powers, and they got there just after the doors opened at eight. Tucker's boyfriend was both cool and convenient.

They did still have to wait in line to check in at the registration desk, but it went a lot faster than Tucker was expecting. When he and Wulf got to the front, the receptionist's eyes immediately widened upon seeing the wolf-man.

"Holy shit that fursuit is freaking incredible, dude!" She said. "It even looks like it's breathing, it must be engineered to hell. Did you make it yourself? Mad respect man."

Wulf looked to Tucker for translation, and the nerd conveyed in Esperanto that the woman thought he looked cool.

"Dankon," Wulf thanked, nodding a little awkwardly.

"He says thanks," Tucker told her. "We'll both be under Foley, Tucker and Wulf, with a 'U' instead of an 'O'. And yes, that is his actual name. Lucky, huh?"

"No kidding," the receptionist agreed, flipping through the name badges with surprising deftness considering her cat paw gloves. "Here you go, guys. Enjoy the con!" She handed over two attendee badges and two tote bags full of swag and promotional material.

Tucker took them and he and Wulf stepped to a wall inside to put the lanyards on and sift through the bags for the map and schedule. While they did that, Tucker also took a moment to take stock of the other people around them, both in line, and milling about the hotel lobby.

Just as he'd suspected, Wulf fit right in. Neither his size nor form were the slightest bit out of place next to the 6'3" hot pink jaguar in platform club heels, and the ogling looks he was getting were a far cry from the looks of fear and alarm he was accustomed to getting. Tucker might've been jealous if Wulf didn't look so cute when he was embarrassed.

Tucker himself did not have a fursuit because he had neither the money nor the skills to acquire one as of yet, but he was sporting a wolf tail clipped to the back of his belt as well as a t-shirt with a shirtless anthro-wolf on it, pictured with a full moon overhead and the caption "AWOOOO-GA!" 

Once he had the map in front of him, he pulled up the schedule for the weekend on his PDA. They were registered for Friday and Saturday—he would have signed them up for Sunday too, but he was already missing a day of school for this because the session he was most excited for was Friday and his parents insisted that he have all his classwork done by Monday or they wouldn't let him come back next year. Still, two days having fun with his boyfriend was worth it.

"I signed us up for the Fursuit Engineering session when I bought the tickets because I was really interested in that one," Tucker said in Esperanto. "And I signed us up for the Dog Park Hour because it seemed like it would be fun to do together, and the Disney's Robin Hood viewing party tonight because you've never seen it and that's a crime because that movie was formative for me."

"I don't know what any of that is except the movie," Wulf replied. "I don't think half those words were even Esperanto."

"You'll just see when we do them. I think you'll pick it up pretty quick," Tuck assured. "Tomorrow is the fursuit parade which I hope you'll participate in, because I wanna show off how cool my boyfriend is. There's also the dance party, and the Furries in Tech panel which I also signed us up for. We should have plenty of time to socialize and check out the Dealer's Den and stuff like that in-between. I know this is your first time, so I tried not to over-schedule us. We have an hour before our first session if you want to check out some booths now."

"I think I would prefer to get the lay of the land first."

"Sounds good to me!"

At Wulf's suggestion, the pair of them explored all the parts of the hotel where the convention was being held. It was a pretty nice place, and a lot of people stopped them to compliment Wulf's "fursuit" and ask for a picture. Tucker happily translated every compliment, from "Those glowing eyes look fire" to "Would it be too much if I asked you to step on me? Hahaha!" and watched Wulf get increasingly flustered by the positive attention.

When it was about time for their session to start, they had pretty much gotten their bearings and made their way over to the classroom in time for Tucker to get a good seat. The front row was already full, but fourth row wasn't too bad. Wulf opted to sit on the floor so as not to obscure the view of whatever poor sap got stuck behind him, so Tuck took the seat at the end right next to him and pulled out his PDA to take notes. 

This session was, as one may have guessed, all about incorporating engineering into fursuits, techniques and equipment to make the mouth open and close, the eyes blink, or light up, or to make them easily replaceable to allow for quick color changes. Tucker eagerly drank up all the information. He'd been wanting to make his own fursuit for a while, but there was no way he was going to do it halfway—especially not when the materials cost almost as much as commissioning someone else to make one for him.

Not long after the session ended was the dog park hour, which took place in the hotel's beautiful outdoor courtyard. It was aimed primarily at those with dog fursonas but open to all, and was basically a semi-organized outdoor playtime. A bit like recess. There were conference staff leading various ice-breaker games, some people milling about just socializing, and a pretty intense game of Frisbee, which Wulf immediately joined in on, making everyone laugh—both amused and visibly impressed—when he repeatedly caught the Frisbee in his mouth. 

Wulf was the center of attention in the best way, which was well-deserved in Tucker's expert opinion. He was pleased to see other people as enamored by Wulf as he was, and glad that none of them seemed put off by his inability to speak English, or Tucker's translating. He'd never had so many opportunities to say: "Sorry, but this fine specimen is all mine," and he was loving it.

So, yeah. Overall, the first day of the convention went even better than Tucker could have hoped. He did have to make up some quick lies about Wulf "fursuit" but he'd been prepared for that. They spent most of the afternoon wandering Artist Alley and the Dealer's Den, where Tucker found a super-sized, customizable TY tag at a table selling fursuit accessories and insisted on buying it for Wulf, writing his name, a silly little poem about him, and their anniversary as his birthday, since neither of them knew what his actual birthday was.

Wulf didn't really get the joke, but he liked that it made Tucker happy, so he tied it around his neck and wore it the rest of the day.

After the movie (which Wulf enjoyed, though he didn't understand what part of it had been "formative" for Tucker—Tucker was too embarrassed to explain), Wulf opened a portal to take Tucker home. Then he insisted against staying over, much to the boy's dismay.

That night, Tucker slept fitfully, too excited to do it all again the following morning.

Chapter Text

Despite his lack of sleep, or perhaps because of it, Tucker was up bright and early when Wulf showed up to portal them both back to Chicago for day two. Yesterday had gone so well that Tucker felt certain that today would go even better. This would be the perfect weekend.

No sooner had they walked in the door than Tucker's hopes were dashed.

"Foley?" a voice called out.

Tucker instinctively turned around to see that his name had been called by someone dressed as a bright green tiger.

"Uh..." Tucker said, confused. The voice had sounded vaguely familiar, but it was hard to place when he was staring at Tony the Tiger's Ghost Zone counterpart. "Do I know you?"

"Oh, right!" The tiger removed the head of his suit to reveal — "It's me, Kwan!"

The football player gave Tucker a smile so big his eyes closed, sparing him the look of horror on Tucker's face.

"Man, I didn't expect to run into anyone from school here," Kwan said, barrelling on, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he and Tucker were decidedly not friends. "This is my first time coming to one of these things. I only really got into the furry fandom last year. How about you?"

Instead of answering, Tucker decided to try to end this painful conversation. "Do your parents know you're here? They're really cool with..." he gestured vaguely to the eye-assaulting green fursuit, "all this?" He didn't know much about Kwan, but from what he'd seen at various school events, his parents were pretty strict.

"Oh yeah," Kwan replied, shrugging. "Well, they don't really get it, but they don't really know why I like football either. As long as I keep my 4.0, they let me have whatever hobbies I want. As long as I don't miss any school, of course."

"You have a 4.0?" Tucker couldn't help repeating. 

He'd always thought the A-listers were... well... jocks. He knew Star was a bit of a math whiz, but he'd seen her test scores in English, so it hadn't been enough to challenge that perception. The idea that Kwan—Dash's dopey sidekick—had a better GPA than Tucker himself? It just didn't compute.

"Four point four, actually," Kwan corrected casually. "Honors classes. I dunno why you seem so surprised, the honor roll is posted in the school's main hallway and it gets updated every month. I'm always on it."

Tucker just gawked, at a complete loss for words.

"Anyway, who's you're friend?" Kwan asked. "Your fursuit is killer by the way."

"Mia amo, who is this?" Wulf asked.

Before Tucker could collect himself enough to say words again, Kwan answered himself.

"My name's Kwan," he said in perfect Esperanto. "Me and Tucker go to school together. And you are?" 

"Okay, woah!" Tucker cut him off. "You! You can speak Esperanto? You?"

"Yeah," Kwan answered sheepishly. "I was a bit of a nerd in middle school."

"I am Wulf, Tucker's partner," Wulf responded, ignoring his boyfriend's outburst, clearly pleased that someone else could communicate with him directly, much to Tucker's dismay. 

Was it too possessive to want to be the only person his boyfriend could talk to? Probably. Definitely. But dammit he was possessive! Not so possessive he'd actually try to stop Wulf from talking to other guys because that would be messed up, but possessive enough that he really really wanted to.

"Wait, you guys are dating?" Kwan asked, directing the question at Tucker. "Wow dude, nice going!" He held up a toxic-green paw for a high-five which Tucker begrudgingly obliged.

He may not care for Kwan, but he was very proud of the boyfriend he'd somehow managed to get. They'd been together for months now, and still, every time he thought about it, Tucker had no idea how he'd gotten so lucky.

"Anyway, I signed up for a media panel this morning," he turned to Wulf, "I'll see you at the fursuit parade this afternoon, right?"

Wulf nodded, smiling.

Kwan grinned again and put his tiger head back on. "I'll see you guys later then!" With that, he waved, and headed off toward the classrooms where the sessions were.

"He seems kind," Wulf observed. "You have good friends mia amo."

"Me and Kwan are not friends," Tucker spat. "Don't let him fool you, he's really a jerk!" 

Now, was that absolutely true? Well... no. Kwan was, in general, a perfectly nice guy. But his best friend was a jerk, which of course meant that Kwan was a jerk by proxy, no matter how nice he was. Plus, he got Sam banned from her favorite goth poetry slam that one time, and even though he hadn't done it on purpose, Tucker was choosing to hold that against him forever and ever.

"Really?" Wulf asked.

"Yes, now let's go check out the game room." Tucker grabbed his boyfriend by his huge paw, the weight and warmth of it instantly calming him somewhat. He sighed out a breath. "I heard they have the new console variant of Doomed there. Come watch me be a badass in a banana suit."

Wulf didn't play much video games himself, mostly because he felt bad about the number of controllers and keyboards Tucker had had to replace when Wulf had tried to enjoy the hobby with him. But he never complained about watching Tucker play, and seemed to have fun cheering him on.

Tucker tried to focus on that and not let his day be completely ruined by the fact that Kwan had invaded his happy place and was already making plans to invade it some more. After a few hours of video games, tabletop games, and general socializing, Tucker had almost managed to forget about Kwan.

Then the time came for the fursuit parade, and the dread set in tenfold.

"Hey guys! Glad you made it!"

Kwan, of course, spotted them instantly. For once, Tucker kind of hated the fact that his boyfriend was almost seven feet tall.

Oh, who was he kidding, he could never hate that. It was awesome. Still, he was slightly annoyed by how easy Wulf was to spot in a crowd when Tucker himself wasn't the one looking for him.

"The route goes all the way around the hotel once," Kwan told them, his voice slightly muffled by his neon green tiger head. He was pretty easy to spot in a crowd himself, even a crowd as colorful as this one. "It's pretty informal, so it doesn't matter how fast we go, or what order we walk in. I was a little nervous, since I've never done this before, so I asked the organizer."

Tucker himself was only wearing a wolf tail and another werewolf shirt with a cheesy slogan: "I cry wolf all night long". He was particularly proud of that find, but without a fursuit he would have to walk alongside the parade while Wulf and Kwan stood side by side right in the middle of the action.

"This is fine," Tucker hissed under his breath when he saw the pair of them laughing at something he hadn't been able to hear.

When the parade started, Tucker could barely enjoy all the head turning to gawk at how hot his boyfriend was knowing that Wulf was enjoying the parade with Kwan instead of him. He still could, obviously, but not as much as he would have if Kwan wasn't there. He was starting to feel like a third wheel. It was just like hanging out with Sam and Danny except Wulf was supposed to be his boyfriend, not Kwan's.

Just when the parade was about to end and Tucker thought he and Wulf would finally be able to split off and spend the rest of the day strategically avoiding his classmate, things went from bad to worse.

A hot pink ghost ray shot into the crowd. Everyone scrambled out of the way, shouting in surprise and horror. All eyes turned to the sky where Walker's number one lackey, Bullet, was floating there along with about a dozen ghostly prison guards, his gaze fixed right on Wulf.

"Found you," he jeered with a wicked smirk.

Tucker cursed and started to run toward Wulf. But he was pushing against the crowd feeling the scene, and nearly got trampled a few times while hardly making any headway. All he could do was watch helplessly between the bodies as Bullet and the guards swooped down, surrounding Wulf, attempting to arrest him.

Wulf fought valiantly, but he was badly outnumbered, and they were prepared for everything he could dish out.

"No!" Tucker screamed.

Then, from behind Wulf, a furry, bright green fist lashed out, nailing bullet right in the face and sending him flying backwards, spinning out a few feet up.

"Kwan?" he shouted, shocked and confused.

The crowd had mostly dispersed, taking shelter back in the hotel by that point, and Tucker was finally able to slip through a gap between two guards and join his boyfriend and his... well... his nothing. Kwan.

"Okay," he said, strapping on a Fenton Wrist-Ray that he kept on him at all times. "Question one: why did you think punching him would work? And question two: why the hell did punching him work?"

"I used ectoplasm to dye the fabric I used to make my suit," Kwan explained, taking another swing at a guard and laying him out. "It was the right color and readily available back home. I wasn't really thinking about punching ghosts when I did it, but I figured it was worth a shot."

"Wulf, you gotta portal home and get the Fenton Thermos I keep on my desk in my room," Tucker said, shooting off a few rapid fire blasts from his wrist-ray to keep the guards back. "We'll cover you, but we really need it!"

Wulf swiped his extended claws at another guard, who flew out of the way. "What about you, mia amo?" he insisted. "I can't let you get hurt."

Bullet had regained his balance and was flying back toward them with a vengeance. They needed that thermos, otherwise this would be a battle of stamina, and while Tucker had a lot of virtues, that wasn't one of them.

Swallowing his pride, Tucker said through gritted teeth, "Kwan can protect me. It'll only be a minute, Koro."

Wulf spared a moment to glance at Kwan, but nodded solemnly. "Keep him safe," he said. Then, with a swipe of his massive claws, he opened a portal and dove through it.

"Aww!" Kwan squeed, slamming Bullet with a perfectly timed roundhouse kick right as the ghost came into range. "You two are adorable!"

"Shut up!" Tucker shouted, shooting another ray at Bullet over Kwan's shoulder and 'accidentally' grazing his suit in the process.

"Hey!" Kwan squawked. "Between you and the ghosts, I don't know who's doing more damage. Do you have any idea how long this is gonna take to repair?"

Another pink ghost ray shot Kwan's tiger head clean off, leaving him exposed. Bullet's gun was aimed right at them while the ghost himself sported a cocky grin. He opened his mouth, no doubt to bark an order to the other guards, but before he could speak, a silvery blue portal opened behind him and the huge, hulking form of Wulf appeared, towering over him.

He barely had time to gasp. The next thing they knew, Bullet was sucked up into the Fenton Thermos, and the other guards quickly followed, trying and failing to run. Ancients, Tucker was so glad he'd taught Wulf how to use that thing.

"Hell yeah!" Tucker cheered, literally jumping up and pumping his fist enthusiastically. He took a running leap into his boyfriend's arms and kissed the side of his muzzle. "That was amazing!"

Kwan had taken the opportunity to pick up his Tiger head, which had a hole singed right under the left ear. "You guys are too much," he said. "Get a room."

Tucker glared, but Wulf only laughed heartily. "I believe the festivities are not over yet," he said. "Let's go back inside."

"Right, the panel we're sighed up for starts in ten minutes," Tucker said.

"Is that the Furries in Tech Panel?" Kwan asked. "'Cause that's the one I signed up for."

With a groan, Tucker buried his face in Wulf's torn green sweatshirt, silently wishing that when he looked up, Kwan would be gone and their date would be back to just the two of them. 

No such luck. 

"Come, mia amo," Wulf said laughingly, "I will carry you."

"I guess it's fine then," Tucker grumbled. 

After the panel, and some more browsing—which Kwan tagged along for, even though Tucker had absolutely not invited him, although Wulf had nothing to say about it—the second day of the convention closed out with a dance party. Wulf and Tucker danced together, and Tucker got to watch Kwan absolutely humiliate himself trying and failing to do a number of egregiously out-dated dance moves whilst in a fursuit. Obviously he hadn't thought to practice ahead of time. It was an acceptable consolation prize. His attempt at the worm had been especially funny.

All things considered, when they went home via another one of Wulf's portals, Tucker had to admit he'd enjoyed their second day almost as much as the first. The ghost fight hadn't been ideal, but ghost fights were a Tuesday for Tucker. And though Kwan had been a nuisance, he had been pretty handy in that fight, and he provided a decent source of entertainment at the end.

Most importantly, though, Tucker had gotten to spend two straight days with the man/wolf/ghost/fugitive that he loved. And that made every minute of it perfection.