Promptings from Valhalla - 6. Prompt 508

Prompt 508 -Creative

Tag – List of Words

Use the following in a story – a blue coat, a large animal, a crutch, a new house, and an evergreen tree.

“There’s something you need to know about me before we move in together.” Alexander fiddled with his hands and looked at the ground. His normally pale face was decidedly red.

I took his hands in mine and was surprised to feel them trembling. My boyfriend was always so stoic; not much rattled him. The lunch we had just finished sat in my stomach in a large, undigested lump. I hoped my smile was reassuring, despite the sinking feeling I wasn’t going to like whatever Alex was about to reveal.

I squeezed his hands, then kissed him. “You know I love you, min svenska björn. Whatever it is, we’ll work through it.”

He nodded, then rose from the couch. “I hope you mean that, Sven. I love you too, and don’t want to lose you, but this is something you really ought to know. I’m sorry it took so long to tell you, but I didn’t want to scare you away. You’re too special to me.” He walked into his bedroom and closed the door.

The unsettled feeling in my stomach intensified, and I really hoped I wasn’t about to lose its contents. I stared out the window and watched the evergreen tree in front of the building as it swayed in the wind. I found it oddly hypnotic and comforting. There was a similar tree in front of the new house I had just bought. I hoped that Alexander and I would spend the rest of our lives in that house.

It was the happiest day of my life when he said he’d move in with me. I planned on proposing and carrying him over the threshold before we set foot in the house, provided he said ‘yes’. It was an old joke between us. He always said that if he ever got married, he wanted to carry his husband across the threshold on their wedding night. The joke lay in the fact that Alex was too diminutive to ever be able to actually do it. Especially if it was me.

Now I wasn’t sure I would even propose, depending on what secret Alex had been hiding from me. He had been my crutch, in the best possible sense of the word, for so long that I didn’t know what I’d do without him. I didn’t know much English when I moved to the United States from Sweden, so navigating a new country and learning a new language proved overwhelming at times. I met Alex in college. He was the son of Swedish immigrants and grew up bi-lingual. I credit him with the fact that I graduated and now had a successful career.

I wondered if he was going to come out as trans. Alex had very effeminate features and mannerisms, even though he never seemed anything other than masculine to me. He was all man in every way it counted. He was the best lover I ever had, and I attributed that as much to our closeness as to his technique under the sheets. I honestly didn’t know how I’d react if he was trans. I’d never been into women, even those who were anatomically male. I drummed my fingers on the couch arm and bounced my leg. My stomach was roiling.

I jumped when I heard the squeak of Alex’s door hinges and turned my head. My jaw dropped open as I beheld the sight of what I assumed was my boyfriend emerging from the open bedroom door. My eyes followed him as he slowly walked over to stand in front of me. I am an extrovert by nature, and very talkative, but I stared in shocked silence for a full minute before he spoke.

“Please say something, Sven.”

I found myself wishing he was trans. That I could deal with. “Uh… what… uh…” was my eloquent response.

Alexander was dressed as a large animal with a blue coat—a Care Bear, if I remembered my childhood toys right.

“This is my hobby, älskling.”

I flashed back to an episode of CSI I had seen years ago. I never would have envisioned my boyfriend as a ‘furry’. Alex removed his giant, blue head and sat on the coffee table across from me. He looked crestfallen and a tear slid down his cheek.

“I really hoped you’d be able to accept this,” he said, wiping away the tear with a furry, blue paw.

I swallowed audibly. “This is going to take a little getting used to. It’s not every day your boyfriend tells you he like to dress up like animals.”

He looked at me hopefully. “So you’re not breaking up with me?”

“I have to admit this is a bit of a shock.” I grimaced. “Please tell me you don’t have sex in that thing.”

Alex’s face turned beet red, and he looked away. “Well, I have had sex in it, but it’s not like it’s the only way I like to have sex. You should know that. I love our sex life.” His blue eyes flashed over to me briefly.

I ran my hand through my hair. “So tell me what you do, then. What does it mean to be a… ‘furry’?”

Alex smiled. “Do you really want to know?”

I shook my head. “No… but I probably ought to since this seems to be a big part of your life. Just don’t ask me to participate because…well…just because…um…no.” I laughed.

Alex let out the breath he had been holding. “Ok. So you’re not really freaked out by this?”

“Oh, I’m totally freaked out. But I love you too much to let you go over something you obviously enjoy.” I smirked, chuckling. “So I guess you really are min svenska björn.”

“Din svenska blåa björn.” He winked.

“How about we get you out of that thing and spend the rest of the day like we originally planned?”

I took his paw as we headed to the bedroom. “Sounds good to me.”

min svenska björn – my Swedish bear

Älskling – darling

Din svenska blåa björn – your Swedish blue bear