coyotes in space

“Gack!” Cody shook his paw to free it of the snow that’d fallen off, and grasped the door handle again to swing it open, hinges creaking lightly.

“Ah, there y’are! Was uh, hopin’ you didn’t get cold feet. Moreso n’ the snow caused,” Brandon said, smiling across at the coyote who clambered up into the cab and seat, shaking off his paws.

“Only from the snow. Do you have a towel I could borrow?” Cody asked, gratefully accepting one handed over to dry his footpaws after settling into the seat and closing the door. “Just wanted to get a little...er...cleaned up,” he added, pausing with a faint sniff at the air in the cab, unable to hide the forming blush.

The sight got a chuckle out of the wolf as he worked the starter on the truck, bringing the engine to life with a roar. “If the smell in here’s gotcha blushin’ that bad, I think we’ll get on pretty good,” he added as he checked a few gauges, before easing the truck into first gear, and getting it rolling slowly towards the road.

Cody nodded a little sheepishly, freeing his paws from the shoes to finish drying them thoroughly, after noticing Brandon had done the same, and then draped the towel over the back of his seat rest as indicated, pausing to look around the cab as well. He didn’t remember most trucks being nearly this spacious, but he never rode in a long-distance truck like this one. The chairs were custom, his own quite a bit larger than usual, but Brandon’s much wider to provide the large wolf a comfortable spot. They nearly touched. “I haven’t been in one that didn’t stink of sweat until now,” he replied.

“Yeah, well, ain’t ridden in one owned by a big’ ol’ rubber balloon of a wuff I guess either,” Brandon chuckled, facing the road as the truck picked up speed along the snowy highway. “But I don’t think this truck’ll ever stop smellin’ like balloon.”

Cody smiled softly, as he leaned back into the chair to get comfortable. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Did I say there was anythin’ wrong with it?” the wolf asked with a grin.

“True! So...you really are?” Cody asked, tentatively reaching toward the wolf, who offered up his right handpaw and tail after guiding it around the chair for the coyote to feel with the chairs nearly touching. He squeezed, careful of his claws, as he explored the smooth surfaces. He couldn’t help but to giggle slightly from the faint squeaks and squirks the attention elicited. He found he could squeeze any finger completely flat, or even flat into the palm. The tail was a little too puffy for him to do so without worrying about his claws.

Brandon seemed to enjoy the exploration, little rumbles from his chest reverberating lightly. “Yeah. A lot stretchier n’ more durable than your shorts, and whatever else you’ve got in that backpack,” he replied, briefly glancing at the coyote to show a teasing grin. “Which yer welcome t’ wear whenever you like between truck stops. I ain’t gonna judge, s’freein’ bein’ able to express in whatever way you prefer.”

Cody blushed even brighter red, as his ears tilted back slightly. “You sure?”

“Well, as long as it ain’t gonna make you freeze. Besides, it’d be kinda cute. But s’mostly for you. And yuh ain’t gotta worry about those claws,” the wolf replied while the coyote squeezed that tail again gently, prompting him to sink his paws in a little further.

“It wouldn’t be...you sure that’s okay?” Cody asked, trying to be careful still.

“If a would-be truck-jacker couldn’t pop me with his knife even when I was inflated to thrice this size, y’ain’t gonna do a damn thing with those claws. Feels nice anyway,” Brandon replied.

Cody’s eyes widened. There was no way the universe wasn’t just teasing him mercilessly at this point or this was anything more than a dream. He briefly pinched himself, just to check, before squeezing the tail...and then tentatively, reaching over to give it a hug, nosing into the tip with a deep inhale, and a shaky, happy sigh. He nearly went limp as every muscle relaxed at once, for the first time in what felt like months.

“Shucks, y’like it that much?” Brandon asked, his own cheeks a touch pink. “Heh, guess I never thought of my tail helpin’ someone relax.”

“Mmh, is..kinda that...kinda...I dunno,” the coyote replied, as his eyes closed in comfort. “I...hope this uh, isn’t too much.”

“Not at all. I’m just glad it helps. Or me, I guess,” Brandon replied with a sheepish chuckle.

Cody sat holding onto that tail like a cuddly pillow for a few moments in quiet, before he spoke. “It’s just hard to believe you’re real. That a thought I’d had years ago walks into the same truck stop I’m at, offers to take me along, and...is real,” he mused, slipping on the mild redundancy.

“What, a big ol’ rubber wolf a fantasy you had?” Brandon asked with a tone the coyote knew meant to elicit a deep blush. Successfully.

“Anything. Anyone. Just… the idea of someone like you. I don’t wanna be too weird or something, I just got out of...sorry, I won’t ramble on,” Cody replied, his voice a little shaky.

Brandon paused, then reached over to rest his right handpaw on the back of the coyote’s head, keeping focus on the road. “We got a couple hours, and I ain’t got much to share to speak of. Y’ain’t gonna weird me out. It’s...really flattering, honest. Tell me what you want to, and about what happened? If you’re ready to,” the wolf spoke, his voice softer, gentler.

Cody continued in silence for another minute, before he finally spoke. “I’ll...I’ll go into more detail later. Maybe. But I moved up from the Southern Desert to move in with my ex. Never had so much fur til I moved here. And it...didn’t work out. For a few reasons. One being him just not being okay with what you already told me you’d like. Said it embarassed him in front of his friends for me to dress shiny.”

Brandon’s paw slipped further to the coyote’s shoulder, guiding him to scoot to the edge of the seat, and lean into the wolf’s side. It really did feel like a balloon under clothes; a very thick balloon, but with that characteristic yield and bounce. “How’d stuff work out before that?”

“Well, it was sunshine and rainbows over messaging, at least I thought it was.”

“Long-distance?”

“Yeah. LDR. I...don’t want to get into the weeds of it right now.”

The wolf’s embrace tightened a moment, and Cody’s toes curled feeling that soft rubber under the outfit yield against him.

“Thank you,” Cody added after another few seconds.

“For a crappy side-hug?” Brandon asked with a chuckle.

“I’ll take a bigger hug later if you still wanna. But, I mean...well, all of this,” Cody answered as he gazed out the windshield. Snow flew past as the truck rumbled along, and passed the last in a series of road lamps, ahead stretching a seemingly endless darkness. He felt the wolf’s embrace tighten for a moment in response.

Brandon was silent as he focused for a minute. “S’the least I can do,” he answered, briefly rubbing between Cody’s ears. “Now, what all interesting didja fit in that backpack?”

“I’ll bake it up for you if we end up stopping somewhere with a kitchenette or oven, maybe even a toaster oven,” Cody laughed, smiling up at the chuckling wolf.

“Don’t think a toaster oven would hold enough mac to satisfy me, much less have any for you,” Brandon replied with a chuckle. “There’s a stop, can dip into the Door-mart beside it for supplies, that’s got an oven, and…”

Cody chuckled along, but the pause got a pause out of him as well, and his expression eased as the wolf’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What is it?”

“Downed trees ahead from the storm,” the wolf replied with a sigh, grasping the gear shift in his free paw. “Guess we’re stopping here for the night.”

Cody squinted to look into the dark ahead, barely making out the couple of trees, a larger one having pushed over two smaller ones when it fell. “Out...here?”

Brandon nodded as he slowed the truck, the brakes groaning as he eased towards the side of the road as the truck approached the trees. “Ain’t the first time fer me, not by a long shot. The chair reclines, n’ there’s space in the back,” he replied.

Cody sat back in the passenger seat while watching the snow. “Space?”

The wolf nodded, while the truck loosed one last long squeak from the brakes as it came to a stop, with a hiss as the pressure in the lines released. Brandon killed the engine. Only the buffeting of the wind and the soft tinkle of settling snow filled the cab for a few seconds. “Might be uh...bit cozy, heh, but should be enough."

Cody nodded, as the wolf got up to slip behind the seats, and pull aside the curtains covering the entrance to the back cab. A wide cot made for a bed, with inset drawers housing the wolf’s clothes it appeared, a stray shirt edge peeking out of one. “Cozy is uh...an understatement,” he chuckled.

Brandon laughed, following Cody from behind, pausing as the round belly pressed into the coyote’s back. “Yeah...guess yer right. I’ll uh, grab a blanket fer myself up front,” he replied, shimmying in with a series of soft rubbery squeaks in scooting alongside the coyote.

Cody paused, then placed a paw on Brandon’s side. “No, you…don’t need to do that. We can both fit. I’m pretty skinny without the jacket on. If er...you...are okay with that,” he replied.

The wolf chuckled. “I don’t mind. I’m comfortable with a lot. S’long as yer not gettin’ frisky… but Thomas said y’weren’t, and...well...did say you’re awfully cuddly.”

Cody smiled with a soft blush on his cheeks, visible in the dim glow of the back cab. “I’d...I think I’d like that. It was nice having that last night. And I definitely don’t mind tonight. Even if, um…” the coyote paused, looking to Brandon’s middle for a moment.

Brandon watched the coyote’s gaze, and after a moment, he grinned. After reaching into the front cab to flick a switch, turning off the lights to it, he reached into the bin to the side to pull out a large blanket and settled it over the foot of the cot. He couldn’t help but to brush against the coyote lightly then as he wiggled to slip free of his flannel over shirt, and the white tee under it raised above his head, revealing that smooth, slightly glossy middle to the coyote. “Jeans too?”

Cody blinked, taken from his gaze up and down the wolf’s rubbery form to blush up to him. “Wha?”

The wolf chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he replied, those thick rubbery paws working the belt buckle and button to loosen his jeans, and drop them down on the floor, keeping a pair of black undershorts on that appeared to be lycra. Disrobed, he shivered from the cooler air, and pulled the curtain into the front cab closed, before flopping back onto the cot..and patting his puffy middle while looking towards the coyote. “Now hurry up, it’s cold.”

The coyote’s red cheeks couldn’t be hidden, and he fidgeted a moment. As his thoughts tumbled, he didn’t even think to be surprised at the lack of negative thoughts. “Sleeping...on you?” he asked, but already started to undress as well, jacket, then shirt.

“I’d like to hope I’ll be a comfier balloon to sleep on than any you’ve slept on before,” the wolf replied, smiling warmly as the black latex of the coyote’s shorts shone in the dim light once Cody’s jeans slipped off.

Cody paused, as if to find logistics, before simply placing one paw onto Brandon’s middle, and launching himself slightly with a hind foot, nearly losing his grip before the wolf’s strong grasp steadied him. “Thanks,” he mumbled, before replying further. “I’ve...never actually done that before. I was always afraid to pop them,” he said, as he adjusted himself on his knees, and finally leaned forward to rest his weight against Brandon’s middle, first lightly, and then in entirety. He felt like he was in heaven.

“Like I said, ain’t gotta worry about that with me, pup. Er...sorry, heh. Just...awful cute like that,” the wolf replied, sheepishly.

“It’s okay. I don’t think anyone’s called me that,” Cody replied, as he shifted a footpaw to hoist the blanket edge up to where he could grab it, and pull it further over the pair, shimmying further up Brandon’s middle until his head was resting atop the wolf’s chest, and his arms spread to the side. The fact he couldn’t even reach the cot around the wolf made him wiggle a little. “You’re not uncomfortable?”

Brandon shook his head with a soft smile up to the coyote, before reaching to flick off the light, only a dim glow illuminating the space from some unseen LED. “Hard to make me uncomfortable, physically at least. And otherwise, well…” he paused, and slid both of his arms up around Cody’s back to hug the coyote to himself, who eagerly squeezed in return. “Guess we’re both pretty cuddly canines,” he chuckled.

Cody nudged his nose into the rubber trucker’s chest, sniffing at that latexy scent again. The best he’d ever smelled. Entirely exactly what it was and yet...alive, unique. Warm. “Yeah, this...this is really nice.”

The wolf smiled brightly, and leaned up to press his nose affectionately between Cody’s ears. “Yeah...it is.” Silence filled the space, aside from the muffled howls of the wind, and occasional rubbery groan of the wolf’s frame as he shifted. After a few minutes, he spoke again. “Cody?”

“Mmm?”

“All of this...it’s not...too weird, to you, right? Promise me you’ll tell me if I do anything too weird or uncomfortable. I don’t...wanna make you want to leave.” ^8f2b68

The coyote’s grip tightened for a moment around the wolf’s middle. He involuntarily gave a warm lick against the trucker’s chest. “I promise I’ll tell you. And I promise it’s not too weird. Not in a bad way. It’s definitely weird, but, in a good way. Really good.”

“Like what you mentioned earlier?”

“Earlier?”

“About… fantasies about guys like me. Tell me about that? It’s a big jump from liking latex into that.”

Cody shifted about on Brandon’s middle, as his paws trailed along the wolf’s sides slowly. “I don’t know. Like, where it comes from. The idea. It just kept recurring, and every time with a little more detail. I like latex, I like guys wearing latex, but somehow the idea of a guy who is it, especially, well...air-filled, like you, hugging me, holding me. It’s been this lingering fantasy for a long time,” he replied, slowly, as his thoughts organized. “And likewise, that’s not too weird, is it?”

Brandon’s chuckle wobbled his frame slightly in the dark. “S’kinda fun, actually. It feature anything...else, about those kind of guys?” he asked, then practically giggled as the coyote’s grasp tightened in response. “We’ll see what happens,” he replied, “Get some rest, pup; it’s another long drive tomorrow.” With that, another creaky lean planted a quick peck between the coyote’s ears, before the wolf laid back to rest.

Cody let himself go slack in his cuddled embrace. Soft, puffy, warm, pillowy, everything felt amazing in the moment. The wolf’s soft breathing slowed into a quiet snore once in a while. As Cody closed his eyes, and let himself start to drift off, he quietly mumbled as if to the wolf. “...Why couldn’t I find you first?” Before any thought could answer, only soft snores filled the cab, as the blizzard howled on around them.