The Terror Gaze: Book 2 of The Mortal Guard Series

Chapter 8 - Nick and Tyler: Way Back When

Chapter 8 - Nick and Tyler: "Way Back When"

Later that night . . .

Nick stroked the towel down Tyler's soft chest fur, down to his belly. The hyena gave him a once-over before tossing the cloth to the ground. "Sorry about that, Ty. You know how I am."

"It's all good," Tyler grinned, arms behind his head. "It's a good thing, to me at least."

"Haha, I just get so embarrassed," Nick blushed. "But I guess I can't help it . . . ."

"Exactly, so don't worry," Tyler said, nudging him with a toe claw softly. "It was amazing, as usual."

"Thanks for the validation, captain," Nick saluted, getting off of the bed and reaching down for the soiled towel, which he brought across the room so he could place it for the magical washer to clean at a later time.

This movement gave Tyler a chance to look at his best friend, completely bearing the full number of his spots before him. His mane was untied now, and the dots around his body complimented his golden fur, which ran down his arms and legs until they morphed into a black that covered his bare hands and feet. Nick's fluffy tail hung down against his butt as he set the rag down. "Still haven't gotten tired of this view," the German shepherd smirked.

Nick turned around, which increased the dog's smile a tiny bit at the sight. "You're lucky Richard lets us do this, or you would never have seen it." He walked over, leaning down and kissing Tyler on the lips gently. "He's still a better kisser, though."
"Oh my gods, you are so obsessed with him," Tyler groaned, looking up at the ceiling, feigning annoyance.

"Not obsessed! In love," Nick laughed, walking away from Tyler's nude body to fetch something from the table. "He's just the most perfect guy."

"I still can't believe Nicholas Flynn, of all people, was in a Release Room," Tyler snorted, as Richard's boyfriend returned, two cigarettes and a lighter in hand and a small purple ashtray in the other. "Oh, god, yes please."

"You ruined me, you know." Nick crawled onto the bed and then laid beside his naked friend. He placed the ashtray between them.

"Does it hurt?" Tyler teased.

"Shut up! You know what I mean!" Nick put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it accordingly. He turned his head, and Tyler did the same, touching the burning tip of Nick's cigarette to Tyler's dead one, causing the orange corruption to spread. The pair of boys looked back at the ceiling.

"Yeah, I know you mean by getting you addicted to smoking," Tyler said. "Sorry. It was like my only escape from my gramps. He had them around all the time, they were so easy to steal."

"I know . . . ." Nick sighed. "The bruises have healed up really nicely. You can hardly tell they were there."

"Glad his stain is no longer upon me," the German shepherd answered. "But I still think about him sometimes."
"Well, that's okay. He was a big part of your life for a while."

"But I keep thinking about how stupid it is 'cuz he made my life absolute hell. I mean, he hurt me constantly." He took a drag of his white stick.

Nick blinked. "You're still thinking about the good times you had with him, right?"
Tyler was a stone on the mattress, then. "Part of me still clings to the hope that if nothing had changed, we might have been able to move past all of the pain. Like, maybe I could have matured up and had a long talk with him and we could have, I dunno, worked something out? Boris would call me an idiot for thinking like that, huh?"

"Nah." Nick shook his head, exhaling gray smoke which rolled toward the barrier outside of the window. "You shouldn't be so worried about what he thinks."