Fox and the Hound

Blaine yapped at the wire screen door, waiting eagerly for his owner Burt to let him out to play. He was still on a small pup - black curly fur and a tail that wagged constantly – and was still too young to sleep outside by himself so Burt allowed him to sleep in the living room on his very own doggy bed. Blaine loved it and always slept comfortably there. He was even allowed to sleep with his toy – a rubber dog bone that tasted like plastic and little remains of his food that day.

"Alright buddy," Burt chuckled as Blaine bounced up and down on his four legs, turning in a circle occasionally.

Burt swung open the back door of the farm house and Blaine gave a bark of thanks before dashing out side, his back legs skidding slightly on the tiles floor before bounding down off the back verandah and into the wide open spaces. Burt lived out of town, on a small farm. He worked in the local garage fixing up cars, sometimes bringing Blaine along. Blaine loved going to the garage, the men cooing over him as giving him rubs on his tummy. He had to stay in Burt's office but sometimes he was allowed to play with the customers.

Blaine nose was assaulted with so many different smells from all directions that he didn't know which way to turn. He gave a happy bark and just took off, running up and down the length of the fence and around the yard, leaping over the small obstacles; a broken pot, a rake and a weird contraption that Burt used to make the grass smaller.

He jogged to a stop, collapsing on the grass and panted, his pink tongue lolling out of his mouth. He looked around his beautiful home and panted harder. He loved his home and was so glad that Burt was the one who had picked him up from the shelter. He had heard stories from some of the older dogs, about how nasty humans could be. Blaine had been scared to go with home with Burt at first and had been very quiet. But when Burt had showed him his new home, his new bed and all these toys just for him, he thought that they older dogs had been making up stories, just to make him scared.

Blaine's ears twitched as he heard a noise and his head snapped in the direction of the noise. He still didn't have total control over his ears and could only get one up at the moment – but he listened carefully. It sounded like whining. Blaine stood and slowly made his way to the fence. As he got closer he could see a ball of fur curled up against one of the fence posts, shivering.

Blaine crouched down and crawled towards the fence, sniffing the air. It was a nice scent to Blaine. It was clean and smelt of wild flowers.

"Hello?" Blaine called and the orange bundle froze. Blaine crawled closer and gently nudged his nose against it. It was soft and it tickled under his nose, making him sneeze loudly. The orange bundle jumped up and Blaine scrambled backwards, tripping over his own tail and flopped on his back. He wiggled and rolled himself over on to his side and peered at the orange ball.

But it was no longer a ball, but a face looking back at him. It had a long snout like himself and two small orange ears. It's face was a white and orange. Blaine could see the rest of it's small body, all covered in orange, except it's paws which were white.

"Hi!" Blaine beamed at the animal brightly and got back onto his feet. "I'm Blaine!" The animal looked from left to right and seemed unsure of what to do. "What's your name?"

The animals stared at Blaine – who quickly got distracted by his beautiful blue eyes – before answering quietly. "I'm Kurt."

"Hi Kurt!" Blaine beamed. "Do you want to come play with me?"

Kurt lowered himself down onto his belly and dropped his head into his paws. "You don't want to play with me," Kurt murmured.

Blaine frowned and flopped onto his belly too, peering at Kurt through the wires in the fence.

"Why not?"

"Nobody wants to play with me," Kurt murmured sadly, ear dropping.

"I do!" Blaine barked. "I want to play with you! I'll be your best friend."

"You will?" Kurt asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Uh huh! Come on! Crawl under the fence," Blaine grinned, bounding back up onto his paws and ran up and down the fence quickly. Blaine started digging a small hole for Kurt to slip through and Kurt smiled at him. Blaine bounded back, proud of his hole and Kurt stood up. He walked gracefully to the hole and arched his back before dropping to his stomach and wiggled into the hole. He used his back legs to push himself through and Blaine barked happily as he wiggled through and was now standing next to Blaine.

Kurt sat down on his back legs and frowned as his white stomach was now covered in dirt. He gave a startled yelp as Blaine suddenly licked his cheek and turned to look at him.

"Come on Kurt!" Blaine grinned and dashed off. Kurt had never met an animal like Blaine before. He looked so happy and full of energy and wanted to play with Kurt. None of the other foxes wanted to play with Kurt, bullying him for being so small and without any parents. Kurt had spent so long fending for himself and he had run away.

Kurt stood and started chasing Blaine, his long fluffy tail flicking behind him as he ran. He caught Blaine easily and pounced on him. Blaine gave a happy bark and Kurt laughed.

"I'll chase you now!" Blaine grinned and Kurt quickly sprinted off. Blaine was in awe at how fast Kurt could run and it took all of his energy to catch him. They played all morning before they got tired and the walked to the verandah, lying down on it out of the sun.

"Do you live here?" Kurt asked as Blaine laid down next to him.

"Uh huh! I live with Burt, he's my owner and takes care of me," Blaine grinned happily.

"What about your mum and dad?" Kurt asked and Blaine frowned.

"I don't know who my parents are," Blaine answered and Kurt whimpered. "Where do you live?"

"I don't have a home," Kurt told him sadly.

"Why not?" Blaine asked, curious.

"My mum and dad died and the other foxes were mean to me so I ran away," Kurt told him and Blaine whined deep in his throat.

"You can come live with me," Blaine perked up, smiling happily.

"Really?" Kurt asked, eyes bright and Blaine nodded.

"Yeah. You're my best friend," Blaine grinned. Kurt looked shy for a moment before shuffling closer and gently licked Blaine's cheek. Blaine grinned and his tail wagged happily. Kurt gently placed his paw over Blaine's and the young puppy nuzzled into Kurt's fur. Their tails slowly entwined together and they laid their heads down.

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Burt came out of the house to see what Blaine was up too and paused as he saw his puppy's tail entwined with a baby fox's. He seemed okay, nuzzling at the fox and the fox was happy to let him, occasionally nuzzling back. The wood creaked under his heavy step and both animals looked up. The fox curled up on itself but Blaine jumped up happily and barked at Burt.

He chuckled and crouched down to rub Blaine head and Blaine licked at his fingers. The fox watched them carefully, still curled up.

"Whose your friend huh Blaine?" Burt asked, not expecting a response. It was like Blaine could understand him and he moved from Burt to Kurt, nudging him with his nose. The fox whimpered and pushed himself against Blaine's fur. Burt crouched down and took in the fox's appearance. It was much to thin for his liking.

"Hi there little fella," Burt smiled at him kindly and spoke into soft tones. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you."

Burt held out his fist for the fox to smell and waited patiently for him to approach. Blaine whined and nudged Kurt who hesitantly uncurled himself. Blaine kept barking encouragement to the young fox and very slowly he sniffed Burt's hands before stick a little tongue out and licking it quickly. Burt chuckled and gently caressed the young foxes head and was glad that he didn't pull away. Blaine barked happily and licked at the fox's ears.

"You look a little thin. Let's get you something to eat," Burt smiled. He opened the door and stepped aside so that two could go in. Blaine bounded in and Kurt stood nervously at the door. Blaine gave a bark and Kurt stepped over the threshold and slinked inside. Burt went to the kitchen and quickly found the two animals something to eat.

Burt wasn't surprised to see Kurt demolish his meal but was surprised when Blaine nudged his bowl to Kurt who licked his cheek in response and ate the rest of his food.

"You need a name," Burt mused and looked to a picture of his late wife.

"Kurt," Burt decided and the fox looked up at him. "I'll call you Kurt. It was Elizabeth's favourite character off the Sound of Music."

Kurt moved to Burt and licked his finger and Burt rubbed his head.

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"You can stay! You can stay!" Blaine cheered and jumped around in circles and Kurt chuckled at his enthusiasm. Kurt couldn't believe how nice Burt was and decided that Blaine was very lucky – and now he supposed he was too.

Blaine tacked Kurt to the ground and playfully tugged at his ears. Kurt pawed him off and pinned Blaine to the ground triumphantly, his bushy tail wagging from side to with an elegant flick.

"Thank you Blaine," Kurt pushed his nose against Blaine's. "For befriending me and letting me share Burt with you."

"You're my best friend Kurt!" Blaine beamed at him. Kurt stepped off Blaine and he rolled to his feet. "Come on! I'll show you my favourite spots!"

Kurt eagerly followed Blaine around the house, happier than he had ever been.

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Burt kept Kurt and the two animals grew together. They did everything together; ate, played and ever shared the same bed. It was easier when they were younger and Burt had to buy a bigger bed for them as they grew. Blaine was very protective of Kurt and was never far from him. If Burt wanted to take Blaine to work, Kurt would be right there with him. The boys at work found the pair odd but became very fond of Kurt too. The two animals would lay in Burt's office and slept a lot of the time, Kurt's head usually resting on top of Blaine's.

Burt decided that the two animals were in love, despite their differences. They would watch each other when ever the other was doing something. Burt often caught Blaine watching as Kurt gracefully chased after a rabbit, much faster than Blaine and they would sneak off to secluded areas where they couldn't be seen. Burt made the mistake of looking for them one day and Blaine on top of Kurt, humping him.

All thought they were an odd pair, Burt loved them and they were his family – he wouldn't trade them for anything and was so glad that Blaine had been a curious puppy.