Chapter IX: Alex’s Wild Ride
Previous Chapter: Chapter VIII
Mark contemplated his next words, listening to the sound of the distinct and memorable vape sounds coming from the other end of the line. His ex was an avid vaper, and sometimes going through the clothes in his closet not recently worn, the lingering scent would resurface. After a moment of idle contemplation, he returned to his original intent in the call.
‘Hello… this is Mark Silvan, I got your number from my doctor, she said you might be able to help me—Dr. Neustadt.’
‘Linda Neustadt? You sound a little too coherent from the sound of it. You do know she’s a vet, right?’ the man replied, with an audible smirk.
‘Yes, well, it’s not for me. It’s for my fluffy. He’s a bit under the weather and she thought you might have something which could give him a kick, figuratively speaking.’
‘Ah, that makes a little more sense then. Good you took her up on it. Why don’t you come in and I can run you through what we’ve got in store.’
‘Sure thing. I’ve got to get a prescription for him in the morning, I guess I could drop by after.’
‘Sounds good, peace, brother.’
The two fluff balls were wrapped up in a drowsy embrace as Mark set down the phone, Fenrir clinging to Alex’s back—still a small spoon to his large despite the orientation. The sight a familiar one to Mark now, the concept of hugging curing all ills being a delusional fluffy fantasy, but still Fenrir’d try his damnedest to help despite having little power to do so. This too, was a familiar feeling for Mark, the question of what futility one’s own actions could have in a world indifferent to your very being. But still, that same affection so ineffectual to cure the ills of the world could somehow rise beyond the sum of its parts, and impart moments one could actually believe in the restorative power something so simple could have.
Reorienting himself, Mark lay down behind the two and wrapped one arm around Fenrir and Alex, lightly patting each of their heads before resting his head on the end pillow to watch some TV with them.
‘Daddeh huggies?’ Fenrir cooed.
‘Mmm’ Mark responded, taking another check with his palm to Alex’s forehead. It was still clammy, his eyes too were still a bit glassy, betraying the fatigue and frailty within—both physically as well as mentally. That’d change soon, if Mark had anything to say about it. Hopefully Dr. Green had something for that, if anything it’d get Alex in a better frame of mood for sure.
‘You guys wanna watch some Fairy Tail?’ Mark was, naturally, bored of FluffTV. The banal, saccharine programmes were quick to drive even the most sane person mad if watched for too long. Luckily, Fenrir had about as much interest in some of the shows on there as he did with Mark’s usual fare. He still tried to avoid getting too many movies or series which might be overly graphic or hard to follow for Fenrir, and saved those for when he was in bed on his own.
‘Happy? Wuv kitty showsies an siwwy hoomins!’ Fenrir giggled, perfectly content to watch it. After all, some of the animal characters were somewhat fluffy-like.
From watching anime from time to time, he even began to pick up some Japanese words to Mark’s surprise. One day while watching, he became curious and asked ‘Daddeh, wai showsie wowdsies am funny?’
‘Ah’ Mark knew what he was getting at. ‘They’re speaking another language. It’s called Japanese.’
‘Jap’nees? Funny wowdsies.’ Fenrir was still intrigued. ‘Daddeh know dem wowdsies too?’
‘Yeah, I do. I studied when I was at university.’ Mark replied, believing it was best to speak matter-of-factly to fluffies when possible. True, Fenrir might not fully understand what he was saying, but merely introducing him to a lot of different words and concepts helped his ability to communicate better, he thought.
Mark wasn’t sure what Alex would get out of it right now, but he seemed mostly zoned out, happy enough to be cosy and warm on the sofa with his new fluffy friend and daddy.
He woke up, the TV still on, the two fluffs dozing by his side, wrapped up in each other. It was pretty cute, like puppies or kittens cuddling in a pile. It seemed all of them had nodded off unknowingly. Glancing at his phone, he realised it was already morning. He’d enough time to get shower, get ready, and come back with Alex’s medicine before either of them were awake. Or so he thought. As he moved away from the fluffies still nestled on the sofa, he heard Fenrir who had stirred awake.
‘Daddeh? Am bwite times? Wakies?’ Fenrir, in a drowsy haze, looked around.
‘Ah, sorry to wake you, bud. Guess we fell asleep out here.’ Mark shut off the TV, and made his way towards the kitchen. ‘Go back to sleep. I’ll make you two a snack if you get hungry, but I need to go out for a bit. I’ve got to get Alex’s medicine. Shouldn’t be gone too long though.’
‘Otay daddeh…’ Fenrir lazily replied, quickly nodding off again. Part of that ease made Mark a bit envious—all of those sleepless nights, deadlines, the tossing and turning not even able to sleep. I’ve even had to be on pills for insomnia. Sure would be nice if I could just pass out at the drop of a hat like that little thing.
Mark sighed. ‘Well, I’ll make some food for them and set it by the kitchen doorway.’ Collecting himself and the fluffies’ snack, Mark set it up and headed off.
The shop was fairly nondescript as he arrived in the parking lot, a green sign with a marijuana leaf adorning the words above the entry. Glancing at shops along the strip, mark could see CBD signs, e-cig shops—the whole area seemed to be catering to those with a desire for mind altering substances. Making his way into the shop through a tinted glass door, the same as the windows lining the shop’s street face, Mark was immediately hit with the clear and potent smell of incense and marijuana. A middle aged man, dressed in colourful clothing, was finishing a sale with a customer as he spotted Mark. He made a nod as Mark glanced his way, and Mark began to look at all of the items on shelves.
The paraphernalia was fascinating, some of it familiar from his previous relationship. Oh, they have a shit ton of these vape liquids. Go figure. And over there, what’s that? Books on Ayurvedic medicine? Are these people serious? Mark was noticing the strange duality of the shop—on the one hand it was geared towards pure substantive commerce, on the other, it was also catering to people viewing it as more than the sum of its parts. Thinking about it again, it did seem like a sound business strategy. For one group of people looking for their fix, you had a shop that had what you wanted. For the other group who wanted more than just drugs, well, you’re covered here too.
Mark’s perusal was interrupted by the sound of a bell as the previous customer left, a brief gust of air and the sound of the cars driving past. ‘Can I help you, sir?’ called the man behind the counter.
‘Oh, uh, well I called before. I’m Mark. I don’t know if it was you I talked to…’ Mark was hesitant in how to react, how to approach this dialogue.
‘Ah! Yes, I remember. I am indeed the man you spoke to, Dr. Green.’ The man beamed a smile, attempting to beckon Mark over as he set some things behind him.
Mark approached, and began to look at things beneath the glass. There were some pretty exotic and expensive looking smoking implements, actually—bongs, pipes, you name it.
‘You were looking to get something for a fluffy? If I recall correctly. Let’s see, if you’ll give me a minute I can give some suggestions here.’ He walked away briefly, scurrying about in a side room obscured from view.
‘Sure, thank you’ Mark replied.
‘Oh don’t worry, you’re not the first guy in here who wanted to get their pet a bit out from under the weather.’ He came back with a couple of bags, placing them on the counter before explaining the options, and other things.
‘So, I’ve got some mushrooms here. We’ve got a couple kinds, but these over here, they’re good for dealing with addiction and psychological stress. I’d recommend these. I know, it sounds strange, but there’s a lot of research which shows psychedelic drugs can actually short circuit the brain, so to speak—get people out from that dependency and panic that can come from traumatic episodes and drug addiction.’
‘Really?’ Mark was intrigued. Had Dr. Neustadt really been sold on this? He continued. ‘Well, I’m not sure.’
‘Look, it doesn’t cost a lot. And I know what you’re dealing with, trust me I’ve been there. I’ve been down on my luck before, trying to get away from heroin addiction. It was the worst thing in my life, but let me tell you, one day someone told me you’ve gotta get out, man. I knew he was right, but damn was it tough. It was the only thing keeping me going. Someone gave me some shrooms and it was a mind altering experience. I just had this insane trip, and then the next day when I came out of it, that need was just gone. It was like I was a whole new person.’ Dr. Green seemed sincere. He was making a bit of sense…
‘Well, I wouldn’t know’ Mark hemmed a bit. ‘I’m actually allergic to mushrooms.’
‘Well that sucks man, but if your fluff is like any of the fluffs I know, they really thrive on that shit. No pun intended.’ He chuckled a bit.
‘Heh, yeah, that’s interesting to know.’ Mark was down at this point. Anything to get Alex out of that funk, get him to a state where he could be a good friend for Fenrir.
‘Oh, and I would recommend some weed too. Has your fluffy been having trouble eating, having nausea?’ The clerk again went to grab a tin from a counter behind him.
‘Yeah, actually. He’s been very nauseous since the day after I found him. He eats but has been vomiting a fair bit, it’s kind of painful watching him try to eat.’
‘Well don’t worry, this will perk that appetite right up. I recommend some edibles, fluffies don’t really smoke. But if you feel like it, I can get you some for yourself.’ He grabbed some muffins from a bin, and Mark was surprised.
‘Muffins? I’ve heard of brownies before…’
‘Oh sure, you can use cannabutter in lots of things. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend brownies though. I’ve heard fluffies can’t eat chocolate. We don’t have any without chocolate at the moment.’
‘Oh, that’s good to know. Well I don’t know about myself…’ Mark wasn’t sure if he should try any or not. Nothing against weed, of course. Just, he had usually been a very occasional participant.
‘You know what, I’ll throw in some for you. I feel you, man. But definitely get your fluff to eat some muffins first.’
Mark was genuinely surprised at how affable this guy was. Whatever happened to him before, he seemed like a new person, very friendly, very eager.
‘Wow, I don’t know what to say. It’s been really rough the past couple of days. I took this guy in, he was in such a miserable looking state. I couldn’t leave him. I took in my first fluffy, Fenrir, a while back. He was in a terrible state too. Seeing helpless creatures like that, it gets to me. I know I’m not the best person in the world to take care of something–someone. But I know if I don’t do something, you know, who will?’ Mark sighed as he took stock of the things on the counter. Perhaps some of them would be of aid. Maybe they’d help mend a lot of old wounds. For Alex? For him? Who knew.
‘Dude, I feel you. And don’t worry about a thing, brother. I know how it is. You’re a bleeding heart, man, ever since I got out of my own problems, got into a programme and started talking to other people going through what I went through. It makes you want to save everybody. You can’t, of course. And I know you know. But lemme tell you, I really appreciate what you’re doing for those two. It was a long time before someone gave a damn about me, and sometimes all anyone needs is for someone else to come along and give a damn—just a bit. And it’s like a wakeup call.’
Was that what it was like? Mark didn’t really have an answer. He’d been hurting, but it was meaningless. His girlfriend left, but it’d happened before. All the people he dated before, they came and went. He had nothing like what this man seemed to have gone through. Surely nothing as torturous as Alex, or as hard as Fenrir. It made him feel so ashamed, so idiotic for viewing his own problems as anything other than mere trivialities.
‘I’m really sorry’ Mark tried to apologise. Hearing the guy’s words made him feel worse, somehow. ‘I didn’t realise how bad things were for you, it makes me feel like a fool here. I hope I’m doing enough. Are you sure you’re alright, working in a place like this?’
‘Dude, don’t feel bad. It’s kind of you to say. Look, you’re just trying to help a brother out. I feel you, and you’re great for doing so. And listen, my thing was heroin. I won’t be shy about telling people to stay away. Worst part of my life, but here I can talk to people and try to help if I see them coming in, needing help. Plus, I do believe what I sell here can help people rather than hurt them.’ He began packing everything into a sack for Mark to take with him. ‘Here’s everything I think will be good for…?’ he paused, looking for a name, realising Mark had never said.
‘Oh, Alex’ Mark said, finishing his thought.
‘Alex, gotcha. Yeah, I think this should help him. You should probably get them into some food, though. They don’t taste that great. Some of the compounds in them taste a bit unappetising. Do you have anything for smoking, by the way? I could get you some papers or a pipe or…’
‘Oh, that’s okay. I don’t think I have anything… actually, come to think of it, I think my ex left one of her vapes at my place. I could probably use that.’ Mark suddenly remembered seeing it in one of his drawers, he’d kind of put it out of his mind.
‘Ah, sweet, man. Well that’ll do it. Might even try sharing the atmosphere with your fluffy. Could help, too, if you try it.’
Dr. Green rang up the total, and Mark paid.
‘Thanks for your help’ Mark said, turning to leave.
‘Hey, let me know how it goes, by the way. I’m hoping for great things for the little guy’ he shot at Mark, as he opened the door. Mark thought for a moment. Wait, he didn’t need a moment.
‘Sure thing’ he said, smiling. Sometimes the world had such great people in it. Sometimes they were cold, cruel. Sometimes they were nondescript. But sometimes, they surprised him.
On the drive home Mark thought about the whole experience. He did remember one thing other than the gist of the genial conversation he had with the salesman. ‘You can’t save them all’ was something that stuck with him. He knew that of course, and had been told the same thing before—his first time at FluffMart. Each time he thought maybe he could save someone, he began to truly believe in what he was doing, but he knew ultimately he had a limited amount of power he could give. Well, fuck it.
Mark had resolved that at least with these two, he was gonna do his damn best. He’d have to draw the line here, though. No more strays after this.
Upon returning, he found Fenrir sitting by the sofa, one of the plates next to him, food uneaten. ‘Hey boys, I’m home.’ Mark noticed Alex was still on the sofa, looking sickly.
‘Daddeh home! Su happies. Buh, buh, daddeh. Awex nu can get down.’ Fenrir was pouting a bit, worrying. ‘Nu can eat gud nummies. An nu can go poopies!’
Mark turned to Alex, who gave him a tired expression. His eyes were half closed, and he had a shaky look. It was clear he was still cycling, though his overall health was improved from before his vet visit.
‘Am twue daddeh, Awex nee’ make poopies buh nu can move. Nu wan make bad poopies, nu fow nice daddeh…’ Alex held his head down, looking forlorn.
‘Shit.’ Mark sat the bag down by the door. ‘Oh, sorry, I mean… I’m here now. I can help you.’ Mark picked Alex off the sofa, and carried him over to the litter box. Quickly, Alex relieved himself, seemingly quite better for it.
'Tank ‘ou daddeh… Awex am sowwy fow bein bad fwuffy. Nu wan sowwy woom fow sickies.’ Alex was… wait. Why was he saying that? Mark was confused.
‘Alex what are you talking about?’ Mark was troubled by this, considering he’d done nothing but help Alex. He didn’t hurt him at all, and only made him better. ‘I’m not going to do anything to you. Why don’t we get you some of this food here, and then I can give you some medicine…’
Mark was interrupted by Alex half dozing again, muttering. ‘Nu bad… nu bad hoomin monstah, nu huwt fwuffy, nu huwt Henwy. Buh… Awex bwave, take Awex, nu take fwend.’
Oh, I see. Mark realised he was half remembering, half dreaming. It was like reliving a nightmare, but he was so tired he didn’t even have the energy to show fear or have the shock of it bring him out of it.
‘Daddeh, Awex nu cud eat nummies, su Fenwiwr bwing pwate fow Awex, buh nu cud bwing up widdout not-hoofsies…’ Fenrir had come over to explain to Mark what was going on before. ‘Am Awex otay, daddeh? Say wan hewp fwend, buh nu know what Awex mean.’
‘I don’t know buddy’ he said, stroking Fenrir’s head a couple of times. He softly cooed at the touch. ‘I think he’s just not feeling well, remembering something sad. But daddy got him some special medicine which should help, or at least, they say it will help. I sure hope so.’ At least the hormones will help him physically, but I wonder just how effective this alternative treatment will be. Mark pondered it himself, but today was the day, so he’d find out soon enough. He picked up Alex, who was hanging half out of the litter box. He had slumped over mid climb into his fatigued dream state—or nightmare realm, more like. What a pitiful sight he was, but little did Mark know how much of a difference it all would make.
He brought Alex back over to the sofa, wiping him off with a sanitary cloth. Fenrir followed. ‘Daddeh, if Awex hab speshul medishun, can Fenwiwr be bettah wid speshul… me’ssin too?’ Fenrir asked, purely curious. Honestly, it wasn’t too far of a leap. In a way, it demonstrated deductive reasoning, even it did come up short. Nonetheless, it cheered Mark up, amusingly getting a chuckle out of it.
‘No, buddy. You’re fine just as you are. He’s just sick, we all get sick sometimes. If you get sick, you’ll absolutely get medicine and I’ll make you all better too.’ Mark gave him a smile.
‘Yay! Otay daddeh.’ Fenrir was relieved, knowing he’d be able to have medicine too.
Now, Mark tried to wake Alex, bringing the plate up to the sofa for him to nibble on. ‘Alex. Alex, wake up. I have some nummies for you.’
‘Mmm? Daddeh? Wuh?’ Alex groggily stirred, shaking his way to try and stand.
‘I have some nummies for you’ Mark repeated. ‘You should try to eat a bit, then I’ll have some special nummies and medicine for you, okay? It’ll make you feel better.’ He hoped.
‘Awex nu tink can eat nummies, hab tummy sickies…’ Alex replied, acknowledging his own queasiness.
‘I understand, but at least eat a small bit of this for daddy, please?’ He tried to give a plaintive tone, and a bit of aromatic encouragement by placing the plate near his nose.
Alex sniffed. It did smell good, but it made his tummy feel a little queasy. Still, daddy was really nice. ‘Otay… wiww twy nummies.’ He took a bite.
‘Am tafty nmms dadduh’ he tried getting out, food still in his mouth. Swallowing, he moved to eat more. ‘Wiww eat, nee’ tummy hab nu mowe sickies.’ He ate a few more bites as Mark walked to the kitchen, picking up the bag from the drug store. Heh, that’s a quaint name, fairly benign sounding. But oh so much more fun. Mark thought to himself, could he have one of his own? No, no this wasn’t the time for idle musing.
He set out the packages from the bag on the counter. There was a bag of weed, three muffins, oh, and a bag of your garden variety psychedelic mushrooms. Ah, how delightful. He’d have to be careful with those mushrooms though, making sure to wash his hands and not get any near his mouth. He didn’t want a repeat of the coq au vin incident.
Fenrir peered over the counter propping himself up on a small footstool. ‘Dese am smeww funny daddeh. Aww dese nummies?’
‘Sort of’ Mark replied. ‘These muffins are certainly food. These weird looking things here are mushrooms, but they’re special. This is all for Alex. Well, the muffins and the mushrooms are. The funny grass in that bag is for daddy, in theory.’
‘Funny gwassies? Wai am funny?’ Fenrir was intrigued.
‘Well, it makes you feel funny. But sometimes that can be a good thing.’ Mark wasn’t sure how to explain the concept to him.
‘Wai wan feew funny? Am fun?’ Fenrir was still confused.
‘I guess you could say that. But you shouldn’t really have any. I don’t think I should either, but if I do it won’t be a lot.’
‘Fenwiwr nu can hab funny gwassies?’ Fenrir began to look a little disappointed, since daddy said it was fun.
Rolling his eyes, Mark gave in a bit. ‘Only if daddy has some. And only a small bit, okay? Remember what I said. It’s not something I should even have a lot of.’ Mark knew that he may come across as a pushover, but he knew too that being obstinate and denying everything could lead to more reckless behaviour by children looking to rebel or impress peers. Not that Fenrir had peers other than Alex to contend with, but he figured practising moderation was a better way than either wanton indulgence or tight-fisted abstinence.
‘Weewy? Daddeh am such gud daddeh!’ Fenrir hopped off the stool to cling to Mark’s leg, giving him a big hug. ‘Fenwiwr gu stay wid Awex nao?’ he asked, looking up at Mark.
‘Sure, Fenrir. I’m going to make some dumplings to put the mushrooms in for Alex anyway. Then I’ll be in with a muffin for him. Just keep him company for a bit.’
‘Otay daddeh’ Fenrir said, waddling off to hop up and snuggle up to Alex. From the other room, Mark could hear them.
‘Fenwiwr gib huggies fow hewp sickies!’
'Tank ‘ou fwen, wub huggies…’ Alex was still pretty tired. He sure didn’t complain much, though. Perhaps that was drilled into him before.
Mark went about preparing the dumplings and set them in the fridge so that he could boil them later. After cleaning up, he went into the living room with one of the muffins and brought it over to Alex.
‘Hey buddy, how are you feeling now?’ he asked, stooping down to get closer to their eye level.
Alex looked up to him, still tired, but a bit better, Mark thought. ‘Am nu su tiwed nao daddeh, tummy stiww hab sum sickies doe.’
‘I have a muffin here for you I’d like to to eat. It’s a good nummy, and has medicine which should help you. Do you think you could eat it? It’s really good.’ Mark tried to hype it up a bit.
‘Nu know, buh Awex weewy wike daddeh’s nummies. Aww time taste weewy wike best nummies. Beddah den udda nummies had befow.’ He sat up, and made his way to the edge of the sofa near Mark.
Setting the muffin on a small saucer, he nudged it to Alex. ‘Here, go ahead and try it.’
Alex sniffed it. ‘Smeww… diffwent. Buh, otay. Wan nu sickies nu mowe.’ He took a bite. Surprisingly, it was quite tasty, and had nummy berries in it! Though, it had a funny taste, too. That was probably the medicine, Alex thought. ‘Dis am weewy tasty daddeh! Taste… widdle weewd buh stiww weewy nummy.’ He quickly ate the whole thing, much to Mark’s relief.
‘Good boy’ Mark said, ruffling his mane a bit, earning a slight chuckle from Alex. ‘What do you say we watch some TV, and later I can give you more nummies and medicine. Then you’ll be feeling lots better.’
Alex was beginning to see that his daddy was really good at making him better. So naturally, it all sounded great. ‘Otay daddeh, wuv daddeh an TV… an nummies. An nyu fwen’ he said hugging Fenrir. Fenrir giggled.
For Mark, the two of them were sometimes too precious. Fenrir, he was incredibly quick witted sometimes—but also a bit too sweet. Part of him wondered whether his overly caring attitude was a bad influence. But truth be told, he was glad to have seemingly dodged the bullet he’d heard stories about—smarties, brats, sociopathic fluffies. It sounded awful. Part of him wondered, too, if he’d have to deal with the question of offspring at some point. Even though Fenrir seemed hesitant, he imagined as he was getting older he’d soon be asking about having special huggies. Maybe he’d have to get one of those toys, or find him a mare to see at various times. Well, a problem for another time he thought, turning his eyes back to the TV. The food hadn’t kicked in yet for Alex. It’d be interesting to see how he’d react when it did.
It wasn’t but twenty minutes later Mark started noticing Alex livening up. ‘Mmm’ Alex muttered, sniffing Fenrir’s mane. ‘Fenwiwr am smeww pwetty. Such gud huggies.’ He clasped his legs around Fenrir, who just simply returned the favour. Yup, he’s getting high.
‘Alright guys, I’m going to have some nummies. Do you both want some?’ Mark made sure to find something else to give Fenrir. He was definitely not getting any of the special shrooms. To his surprise, Alex returned his query.
‘Nummies? Wewe nummies? Wuv nummies, su hungies daddeh. Heheh… wat am dis on teebee?’
‘Hehehe’ Fenrir began giggling. ‘Awex am su funnies. Wai sound siwwies, siwwie fwend.’
‘Oooookay’ Mark replied, heading into the kitchen. ‘That stuff seems like it’s kicking in pretty well’ he muttered to himself.
After about an hour of cooking, the meals were prepared. All the while, he heard lots of giggling and muttering coming from the two fluffs on the sofa. Mostly Alex trying to follow along to the TV, but not able to even keep his mind on it long enough before laughing and poking at Fenrir. Fenrir thought the whole thing was funny, he’d never seen a fluffy act like this (or anyone act like this, for that matter). To him, it was all a new experience. Life can be full of those can’t it?
With warm plates of food, Mark headed in to give them dinner. Immediately Alex was enthused. ‘Nummies! Heh, wub nummy… nummies! hehehe.’
The plate wasn’t even fully on the table before he began chowing down. He scarfed those dumplings down like someone with munchies and a bag of potato chips. Another hand free, Mark set Fenrir’s plate down next to Alex’s and gave him a pat on the head. ‘Here’s yours, buddy. I made your favourite vegetable tempura. Alex has to eat something different today.’
'Otay daddeh, tank ‘ou, wub tempuwa!’ Fenrir began chomping at his food, too. All the while Mark couldn’t take his eyes off Alex, already having devoured his food. He clearly had the munchies. 'Daddeh, am mowe nummies? Weewy hungies, nu know wai… heh, feew weewy pwetty. Aww tings am pwetties… ’ He poked at Mark’s leg. ‘Weggie go squishy, hehe.’
‘Oi!’ Mark scoffed. ‘I’ll have you know I’m quite slender, thank you. Just need to work out more… But sure I’ll get you some more food.’ Him getting full after being sick for a number of days would do him good, Mark thought. That said, definitely no more shrooms. The bag had clear dose instructions so that one wouldn’t end up with a toxic reaction, or a bad trip, at least in theory. It did give warnings about the possible variance in what one might experience and stated to ‘proceed at your own risk’. Fair enough.
Mark brought some snacks back with him, some sweet potato fries—fairly soft, but still good snack food, something he figured Alex could gobble up. And so he did, eating up the whole plate. It wasn’t long before he plopped down on the sofa, leaning back on his back. ‘Dis am su bestest nummies ebah daddeh, su funsies, aww weewy gud feews… su sweepie nao doe… can Awex sweep in bedsies fow widdew time?’
‘Sure little guy, I’m sure Fenrir would let you share his bed tonight. I can get you another bed tomorrow so you can have your own, too.’ Mark did have some concerns about him being on his own while under the influence, but luckily Fenrir was a good fluffy who always tried to help. Sure enough, Fenrir having just finished eating, chimed in. ‘Of cowse daddeh! Fenwiwr wuv sweepies wid nyu fwend. Can sweep in same bedsies dis dawk time.’
Just in case, though, Mark had installed a camera in the room to keep tabs on Fenrir in case there was a problem. So far though, Fenrir had been so well behaved he hadn’t thought to even turn it on since the first week he had it. Tonight, he’d use it just to make sure nothing went wrong for Alex. He figured Fenrir could keep him calm if something minor was an issue, but Mark would step in if needed. He tucked Alex into the bed, giving him another blanket before turning to Fenrir, Alex murmuring in the background. ‘Hey, buddy. So I’m sure you noticed but Alex is pretty silly right now.’
‘Yus! Daddeh, Awex am being su siwwy, buh am funnies, an Awex say hab gud feews su mus nu be bad. Fenwiwr was tink if daddeh notish too.’
Mark gave a short chuckle. ‘Yeah, it’s his medicine. But listen, you’re probably not tired yet, and Alex does need a friend to make sure he stays okay. He might get scared, or he might do weird things. Just make sure he doesn’t get very scared or hurt himself. At least try to help as much as you can. Give him huggies, tell him good words, tell him he’s safe, that kind of thing.’
Fenrir didn’t completely understand why Alex would be scared, but he definitely could do what daddy asked. ‘Yus daddeh, wohkai.’ He stood a bit stiff, mimicking a soldier, as he said it.
Huh, guess the little guy can pick up foreign language words too. Probably not too many, though. Nifty that he could pick up that one.
Mark left the two in the safe room as he shut the gate, retiring to his room to watch Netflix on his laptop for a while before heading to bed. He switched on the safe room camera in the mean time to keep an eye on things, every so often taking a look and checking that things didn’t seem out of hand.
Fenrir walked over to Alex, still sleeping in the bed. He saw him muttering to himself in his sleep, giggling a bit. Alex sure was being silly! That special medicine must be silly medicine, weird human magic. But he knew that human magic was pretty good. It fixed his injuries before, it seemed to be making Alex better too. Content that Alex seemed okay, and didn’t want to wake him right now, he figured he’d work with his blocks for a while, maybe draw some pictures in the big white book with pretty colours. He could have fun times and then get nice sleepies with Alex. He was so happy he had a new friend. And Alex was really fun, and really big. It felt really nice to sleep on his warm fluff. He just knew it’d be better if he didn’t have sickies and then they could have the bestest huggies and play. He loved daddy, but daddy wasn’t very good at most of the fun fluffy games. It was probably that fluffy games were too strange for humans, they had their own games that were weird and hard! He had no idea what daddy meant when he said he needed more ‘gowd fow items’, whatever those were.
Soon though, the weed muffin was losing its effect on Alex and he began to wake up. The shrooms were now about to do their magic. Opening his eyes, he looked around, but things looked very different. ‘Wuhh woomies am su pwetty cowwas? Am moovie woom?’ Alex looked around at the walls, the colours changing randomly—shapes moving—the pictures and things around the room seemed to be alive.
‘Bwockies am moovie bwockies nao? An baww…’ he began to zone out as he saw the ball walking towards him on… weggies? ‘Awex, am baww. Wuv fwends, wuv pway. Wan pway wid nice baww?’ It spoke to him. He was so confused, but it was so amazing! He had even more friends now? They could talk? ‘Fenwiwr, woah, aww tings am pwetty an… tawkie… an cowwas…’
Fenrir looked up from his colouring book, and noticed Alex making running motions with his hooves like he was kicking the ball around, but the ball was on the other side of the room. 'Awex, am wakies nao? Am ‘ou otay? Nu un’stan wuh Awex mean.’ He decided he’d walk over and check up on him, maybe give him a hug or offer to play a bit.
Then Alex turned, looking at Fenrir for the first time since he woke up. He had colours all around him! It was so pretty, they were… dancing. Like the colours were coming from him. 'Fenwiwr… ‘ou hab su manneh cowwas, nu can count su manneh cowwas. Am su pwetty dancie cowwas…’ He looked on in sheer astonishment at a sight he’d never seen before. A human might describe it as seeing someone’s aura. In the most basic sense, his senses were interpreting the psychoactive effects of the drug in his system. His trip was on.
Fenrir giggled a little, and realised Alex was just being silly again. ‘Siwwy Awex, Fenwiwr nu hab cowwas, jus bwuuie cowwa mane an taiw. Aww ewse am bwack cowwa.’
‘Nu, nu! Is twue, Awex nu wyin’. Fenwiwr hab manneh pwetty cowwa aww awound.’ Alex began to walk around Fenrir, taking stock of the hallucinations he was seeing. ‘Yus, am pwetty cowwas, can see!’
Fenrir felt a bit flattered, he… was pretty? His mummah said he and his siblings were nu pwetty dummeh poopie babbehs. But his daddy had told him he was good, and pretty too. He wanted to believe it, it made him really happy to hear his daddy say that, but he never heard another fluffy say that. This would have made him blush if it were possible to see under fluff. 'Nu weewy un’stan Awex, buh tank ‘ou fwend. Fenwiwr wike Awex too. Wuv Awex, am pwetty too.’
Alex wasn’t paying too much attention, he was still focused on all the things he was seeing and hearing, strange but fascinating. He tried to touch things but they melted when he put his hooves on them. 'Tings am go 'way wen touchies? Wai gu ‘way fwens?’
Fenrir figured it’d be a good idea to try playing a bit. Maybe if he could get Alex to focus on a game, he’d stop being so weird. ‘Awex wan pway wid bwockies? Can make wowdsies an make taww towah, den push an faww obah an am weewy fun. Fenwiwr can show.’ He brought some of the blocks over by Alex. This caught his attention as he turned to look at them climbing on each other. The dangly string from the bright place slid down and turned into a wingie pretty thing that sat on the blocks at his feet. ‘Wingie fwend’ Alex talked at it. ‘Awex hab wingies too, nu fwy gud tho. Nebah fwy befow.’
Fenrir again was puzzled. ‘Awex, who am fwend? Who am tawking to?’
‘Wingie fwend, am wite dewe on bwockies.’ Fenrir looked all over the blocks, but couldn’t see anyone there.
'Nu can see, Awex. Am ‘ou otay?’ He began to get a little concerned, but he thought he could manage things for now. If it got bad he could always get daddy, so there was nothing to really worry about.
Alex just sat there as Fenrir stacked the blocks, gazing at the wingie friend (which took the form of a butterfly). As it flew away, the blocks grew darker. Then, one began to speak to him. ‘Awex…’
He didn’t like the way it said his name. ‘Awex…’ it called again. ‘Awex am wowstest fwuffy.’ It began to giggle.
‘Nu! Nu am bad fwuffy!’ Alex cried, trying to defend himself. This startled Fenrir, who had know idea who Alex was talking to, or why he said that.
The block continued, laughing. 'Yus… yus 'ou aww. Nu can hewp fwens, nu hewp babbehs, nu hewp mummahs. ‘ou am nu gud, dummeh, wowstest fwuffy!’ It again laughed maniacally. All Alex’s fears were coming to the surface, all the pain he was trying to move past and suppress.
‘Nu! Nu! Nu! Not twue! Awex twy! Awex am gud!’ he cried again, beginning to sob. He was starting to panic, and Fenrir noticed.
‘Aww wiww gu. Wiww hab NUFFIN. Nu wuv. Nu huggies. Nu daddeh. Nu fwens… wiww get foweba sweepies fow bad, bad fwuffy!’ The block cackled, over and over again, the words ‘bad fluffy’ ringing in his ears.
He than began to hyperventilate, crying over and over ‘Nu! Nu! Pwease! Nu! Wiww be gud! Nu moww bad huwties, pwease! Wiww gib nu moww bad huwties!’ He began panting, frantically trying to block it all from his senses. He feared the blocks were right—all his transgressions now unfettered in his suppressed unconscious thoughts bubbling to the surface.
It was then Fenrir couldn’t take it any more. He leapt over to Alex and clasped onto him as tightly as he could give a hug. He nuzzled him and stroked his back with his hoof, trying to get the pain out of him the only way he knew how. ‘Awex, nu am bad. Awex am gud, Fenwiwr wiww wuv Awex, daddeh wuv Awex. Nu be scawedies… Fenwiwr am hewe.’
Alex began to calm down. The bad words died down, fading. He began to hear Fenrir calling his name, telling him good things. All the bad things began to fade again. His mind wanted to believe it again. Weewy? Can hab wuv, am gud? Nu am bad?
He slowly relaxed, his legs returning Fenrir’s embrace as he collapsed into his neck fluff, the panting easing. He could finally breathe again. It was then he realised that this place really was safe. There were no monsters here, the monsters he thought were here were in his head. He brought them with him, but the people here had the power to keep those monsters away for good.
Raising his head he looked at Fenrir again. Stifling his sobs, able to get out the words after his panting, he asked. ‘Weewy, Awex nu am bad? Nu gib huwties to Awex?’
Fenrir was emphatic. ‘Nu! Nebah gib huwties to Awex, nu am bad, siwwy. Wuv Awex. Awex am Fenwiwr bestest fwend ebah!’ He smiled and hugged Alex tighter again. These words gave him so many heart happies. All of this was so much happiness since he’d arrived here, even though he was sick, he thought he could never have so much.
‘Awex wuv nyu fwen too. Wuv Fenwiwr, daddeh, housies. Wuv e-evwy-t-ting.’ He began to choke up, the tears not far behind. Fenrir noticed.
‘Shh, nu make sad wawas Awex, wiww be otay. Daddeh an Fenwiwr wiww hewp Awex.’
Alex began to calm again, finally he relaxed completely. This experience was giving him another chance, a way to make a fresh start. He was noticing a lot of things about his past, about his present. Best of all, he got to have a daddy, toys, good nummies, and a friend! He fell deep into this hug, trying to get the bad experience out of his mind for good.
He took another look at Fenrir, who smiled at him. He was still radiant with colours. It was then, too, he realised—Fenrir actually is really pretty, and smells really pretty too.
His mouth opened a little bit, coming to the realisation. ‘Oh nu.’
Next Chapter: Chapter X