"Couch."

>Anon was chilling after work, lying belly-up across Lynn's tattered little sofa. 

>The couch looks like one of those pieces of furniture you'd find on the side of the road. You know, the street crap that hoarders and squatters use to decorate their interiors? 

>Actually, it's exactly that. Lynn couldn't keep her eyes off of it after one of her neighbors tossed it to the curb. Every time she drove past it that week, she'd slow down and lower the driver's window to get a good look. 

>Now, Anon had disapproved of the couch before it even entered Lynn's abode. They weren't even together by this point, but Anon spent a significant enough portion of his time there to have input. 

>"It's probably infested or something. I mean, I've seen it. It's free because it's a ratty piece of junk!"

>"Okay," began Lynn. "w-well it's better than the bean bag chairs, or having to pull chairs from the kitchen every time I want to watch Space Paws."

>"You're okay with telling your visitors that the couch they're sitting on came from off the road?", he retorted.

>"uhh..." she thought, improvising an explanation. "P-People say the same thing when they take in stray cats! If they ask, I'll just tell them it was a rescue."

>"A rescue... couch?" Anon's eyes narrowed.

>"A rescue couch." She declared, as if the phrase had existed for more than 5 seconds.

>Anyway, because of how fuzzy women work (and because it was her place), Lynn ultimately won the argument, and the couch weaved it's way into the common room. 

>It's got 2 hard Cushions, noisy springs, and a vomity coloring to it. All the qualities that your demented grandma would look for in a couch. 

>The stench used to match the color, but Flufflyn had managed to remove most of it with cleaning.  Still, the piece was less than the size of a twin bed and hardly as comfortable.

>Right, so that's where Anon had crashed after 8 hours of wage-slavery in a sweaty McClawnald's uniform. 

>This is Lynn's place, of course, so by now he had  opened a package of goldfish and was nomming on those instead of getting real food. No one had really communicated about wanting dinner, so 8pm just sort of came and went without plans, thanks to the procrastinatory power of snacks. 

>Anon fed himself with one hand, holding his phone above him with the other. Not every night between couples has to be eventful, I guess. Sometimes it's just about being in the same room as her.

>"It's about being in the same room with her." That's what I would say if Lynn were anywhere in sight. 

>The TV was off, and no activity could be heard from over in the kitchen. It was dead quiet. 

>Anon turned off his phone's display and placed the device face-down on his stomach. Noticing the lack of white noise, he lifted his head and scanned the room for his eccentric little fuzzball. 

>"I swear, it's like she goes off into another dimension sometimes." He muttered to himself, swinging his legs out to sit up straight.

*pit pat pit pat pIT PAT*

>As if on cue, a tiny awoo rushed in from the grassy knoll, wearing a plain white T-shirt and NASA-themed pajama bottoms. She must've left her glasses back in her room, because they weren't resting on her nose like usual.

>A pencil and paper sat in her right paw, and Anon could see a mild concern in her expression as she spoke. 

>"B-bad news, Anon. I did some calculations, and I'm p-pretty certain we're in the 25% of least interesting relationships!" She explained, waving the paper in front of him as if to show her work. Upon further inspection, it contained a number of handwritten charts, diagrams, and other mathematical expressions.

>The sofa groaned as Flufflyn plopped down beside him. Pointing her pencil at what appeared to be a statistical analysis, she continued. 

>"Look at this! The fact that we're Interspecies is buh-basically the only thing we have going for us!"

>Anon smirked, unfazed. "Calm down, I'm sure the most interesting relationships are the ones that are about to break up. I mean, haven't you ever wanted to bust out the popcorn after seeing some high-school drama?"

>Lynn pondered it for a moment, then pouted in defeat. "Well, n-now that I think about it,  I should've weighted relationship length more heavily as a factor. But that doesn't mean-"

>"I'm bored too, Lynn." confirmed Anon, getting to the point. "Here's an idea. Let's plan something right now that we've never done as a couple before."

>"Hmmm..." Lynn rubbed the bottom of her muzzle. "... no, that one won't work, it's too cold out... I k-keep thinking of Summer activities. Got anything?"

>Anon shrugged. "Still thinking. I want something good, but March is like the worst time for unique things."

>Lynn crossed her arms. "Honestly, it took me over an hour to write out that paper, so my mind is still on that."

>"Let me see it again!" He exclaimed, yoinking the sheet out from under her arm. "I thought the visuals were really cool."

>"I-it's nothing, really. Some distribution curves and a couple Z-tests." she nerded. 

>"I like how this curve skews right. They call it a skew, right?" asked Anon, tracing a finger across it's outline on the page. "It looks like relationships can only get so boring, but when they get interesting, they get REALLY interesting."

>"Mmhm! I bet all the ideal relationships are around the middle anyway." stated Lynn, using a claw to circle the median of the graph.

>"Right." concurred Anon. "So like, not boring enough to be a ball-and-chain situation, but not SO interesting that it must be caused by some fundamental instability."

>"Wow," she thought to herself. "He's really cute when he all interested in my topics." Lynn stared dreamily at her man for a few seconds, and then gave a little snort.

>"Well, my ideal partner is right here." She cooed, leaning into his chest and nuzzling Anon's heart. He reciprocated, running his hands along the top of her head and neck.

>"What abmmt youm, Ammom?" she asked, face still buried in his chest.

>"...you're good enough, I guess." Anon half-joked. 

>"H-hey!" she interjected, pushing off to regain eye contact with him. "You're supposed to tell me I'm perfect!"

>"Ha! If guys were supposed to respond in only one way, there would be no need for you to ask me." he raised an eyebrow. 

>The wolf contested, a little embittered. "Well, if you had a complaint, you could've hidden it! You could've been like 'Oh Lynn, you're a little fluffy around the edges, but I love almost everything about having a scienc-y girlfriend!'"

>Anon laughed so hard he had to lean forward and clap. "HAHAHA, in what telenovela? I thought my 'sciency girlfriend' would care more about pursuing the truth than chasing what she wants to hear."

>Well, that stung. By this point she was less than amused. "That's n-not a fair comparison! Beauty isn't a hard science!"

>"Yeah, but it's still a science, right? Weren't you the one who showed me that meta-analysis with the Human-canid preferences?" Anon picked his phone back up to find the article in his browsing history.

>Lynn's eyes widened. 

>"I f-forgot about that." she mumbled, starting to sweat. 

>"The results p-probably aren't significant...", waving a hasty paw, she motioned for him to put down the phone. "I just linked it to you buh-because we're a human-canid couple. Now could you stop changing the subject and te-"

>"Look here: The study concluded that 'The human participants of all types showed an OVERWHELMING preference for taller canines, with an ideal height averaging 6 inches taller than the respondent. Other preferences inclu-"

>"Are you done!?" she interrupted, red, embarrassed and upset. Anon's grin snapped back into a straight position.

>That was her switch. Lynn furrowed her brow, fixating her now-watery eyes directly on the man's pupils. "Why are you so stubborn? You can't just p-play along and say that I'm perfect?" she cried. 

>"It's just..." Anon averted his gaze. "...I know it wouldn't be sincere."

.

.

.

*sniffle*

>Lynn's shiny eyes blinked like a camera shutter. The air around the couple froze, searing hot. Anon knew he had struck a nerve. Had he ever seen her get like this?

>"Look Flufflyn, I don't want to lie to anybody. I didn't mean to-"

>"No, g-go ahead, Anon. I told you mine, now I wanna hear what YOUR ideal partner looks like." She said, her voice shaking past a set of bared teeth. 

>"Do you really want to pull that thread?" he pleaded.

>"Tell me!" She barked, crossing her arms. 

>So much for damage control.

>"Well, uhhh..." Anon was grasping at straws. "you really wanna know? They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right?" 

>"I thought you said beauty was a science." She countered, halfway between a sob and a hiss.

>Lynn had him. Analytical, interrogative. She could trace his reasoning like no other. 

>Anon scratched the back of his head. "Right, well, umm, it's not something I can control. The attraction, I mean. You could train a robot to pick out the hottest wolf and I'd probably agree." 

>Lynn pulled her eyebrows down like a white cloth above two wet, black marbles. "R-Really? Then what would she look like? What's her stature?" 

>"Oh come on, don't make me say it!"

>"...I can wait." she huffed. 

>There was no escape for Anon. So much pressure from her part. The way he saw it, he could either lie to her face or make her cry.

>The man tried to close the distance and put an arm around his girlfriend. She swatted it away and shifted backwards, only creating more space between the two. 

>"Please, Lynn, you know I don't think that stuff is importa-"

>"What does she look like?" Lynn growled, holding the question like a knife to his throat. 

>He swallowed. "...Well, you know, she'd have all the qualities from that study, basically. Tall, muscular, wide hips... Roger calls them 'blankets'. You know my buddy Roger?" Mustered Anon, rushing to break away from the subject.

>"..."

>Flufflyn was motionless. Her anger receded in an instant. She had won the argument, or ...something, but there was no prize to speak of. Only a somber, hollow feeling where there used to be frustration. 

>Anon continued, hoping to coax a response out of the woman next to him.

>"Roger, my hiking buddy? Oh, there's an idea for something we can do!" 

>Lynn stepped off of the couch and stood up.

>"...I-I don't even know what I wanted from this whole thing. I think I'm g-gonna say goodnight." She breathed, staring blankly at the floor in front of her. The hardwood was dampened by a pair of tears as they fell from her chin. 

>Scooping her pencil and paper from the couch, she turned to leave when a hand grabbed her wrist.

>She immediately pulled back, but Anon's grip held firm.

>"Flufflyn, wait, before I go..."

>In one motion, Anon pushed off of the couch and got to his feet. He let go of her wrist, opting instead to hold hand in paw. Lynn hesitated for a moment, but something in the words clicked, at which point she obeyed. Putting down what she was holding, their opposite hands completed the symmetry. It was like some kind of spontaneous bedtime ritual. With the two now facing each other, hands entangled, Anon spoke.

>"We never end the night on a bad note. Flufflyn, I'm sorry I hurt you. I know we're still technically fighting, but you need to know that I'm always on your side. You're my one and only. You're my Lynn." 

>Anon, still connected to the wolf, spread his arms outward, forcing the two closer together. Once they were chest-to-chest, he leaned over and gave her a peck on the forehead. 

>They stood like that for a moment, before returning to the previous position. Lynn understood it was her turn. 

>"Anonymous, I'm sorry I p-pushed you to hurt me. I know it's my fault too. I get stuck in my head sometimes, but the end of the day, you're also my one and only. You're my Anon." She echoed. 

>Each partner took a number of slow, deep breaths, maintaining eye contact with one another.

>After this and a few seconds of silence, their handholds broke apart and the ritual dissipated, as did the room's tension. 

.

>Lynn wiped her eyes dry with her right arm. 

>"You want me to get you some tissues, or...?"

>"I'm alright. Thanks."

.

>"Tomorrow's supposed to be really nice." began Anon. "I just remembered an old hiking spot about an hour from here. It's flat and pretty and it's got this beautiful shale pit at one spot. Maybe tomorrow morning I can pick you up and we can make amends while we hike. How's that sound?"

>Lynn nodded. "How long is the trail? And what about lunch?"

>"Maybe 6-7 miles, round-trip. I'll pack lunch; we can eat at the place I was talking about."

>"Alright, sounds like a plan. Would buh-be a waste of an off day anyway, if I stayed at home. I might bring some snacks myself." she let out a yawn, and Anon couldn't help but smile. 

>"Okay, sleepy. I'll let you go now. See you tomorrow." 

>"G'night, Anon. Make sure you lock the door on your way out."

>"Of course, fluff. Love you."

>"yaaaAAAWWWNWuv you too.", she grogged, picking up her stuff and plodding over to her bedroom. 

>Anon stood there, watching the tiny sways of her tail as she left, which he perceived as a good sign. He totally wasn't looking at her backside for additional reasons, although the blue NASA meatballs all over her pajama pants were pretty striking.

>"Actually," thought Anon. "One more joke before I go. She loves that goofy crap."

>"dAAAYUUM!" he shouted, mocking a catcall from across the room. "Wolfie put da ASS in NASA!" 

>Lynn stifled a nervous giggle, facing away from Anon to mask her expression. "N-NASA only has one 'S'. And we're still fighting!" She added, pointing her snout towards the ceiling as she closed the bedroom door behind her. 

***

***

*Crick, crunch, crek*

>It's funny, how deciduous forests work. Picture the Autumn trail, lined with healthy American Maples, Sycamores, and Oaks. That smell of sap and resin, the faint odor of mist and damp wood. The soft rustling from overhead as the canopy gets caught in the wind. Some evergreens find themselves scattered in there too, but they never catch any eyes. It's a big spectacle, when the seasonal ones shed their leaves in September and October. 

>Then, as winter approaches, you suddenly forget about them for a few months as snow piles up on the forest floor. Throughout January and February, it all looks so white and pure. 

>That's not the funny part. What's funny is when the snow finally melts and you realized that all of the dead leaves are still piled up on the trail. 

*crek, crick, crach*

>Two pairs of boots walked in lockstep along the leafy path. 

>"HA! That's incredible! You must've been upset!" A robust voice sounded from above the larger pair. He carried both of their supplies in a green drawstring backpack.

>"Yeah, and I had no idea that my father was also in on it. The whole prank took me completely off-guard!" Said the other figure, with stray white fuzz sticking to her boots and sweatpants. "A week passed and I was still pulling pieces of String-in-a-can out of my tail! Heheh, it's funny to think about now, though."

>"I didn't know your dad was such a prankster. I bet I'd get along well with him." He wondered aloud.

>"We'll you buh-better not bond over some plan to prank me!" Said fuzzy-boots, leaning into her partner. "Besides, Anon, you've already met my Dad. I saw you two talking in the driveway. It was that day when you picked me up from my parents' house, remember?"

>"Pssh, we only talked for five minutes. I think he was just sizing me up to make sure his daughter wasn't going out with some tool."

>"Yeah. He told me he thinks you're 'alright', so it's not really a big deal." 

>Anon grinned. "I'm glad I passed the 'Lynn's Dad' test. Now I just have to hand him my boyfriend application and I should be good to go."

>"Heehee, 'bu-boyfriend application'..." she copied. "At that rate, you'd have to put up with him as much as I do."

>"Oh, the shale pit is coming up soon." Informed Anon, pointing to a just-visible clearing on the left, about 100 yards from them. "And hey, you tolerate them because you love 'em, right?"

>"It's the only logical explanation." Lynn replied. "Even when they get on your nerves, you can't get enough of some people, so you stay."

>"Definitely. Although there's probably a flip-side to having that level of tolerance."

>"What do you mean?" 

>"It's like..." Anon pondered for a moment. "Okay, I have a good example. When I was a sophomore in high school, I would spend tons of time at this one friend's house. There were 4 or 5 of us who would show up, and we would basically just smoke weed and play Xbox games the whole time." 

>"Did they annoy you? What happened?" Lynn worried. 

>"No, nothing like that. That was the problem, actually. Nothing ever happened." 

>"I don't understand. If you guys all liked each other, what was the issue?"

>"I... it wasn't good for me, you know? Sometimes the conversations we had were good, but they were mostly superficial. I don't even remember half of them because that whole year merged into one marijauna-induced blur. I wasted so much time, Lynn..." He trailed off.

>Lynn curled her fingers around Anon's hand. "Because they were your friends?"

>"Exactly." He agreed, turning his head from the path towards the wolf. "Nobody forced me to keep showing up, it was just this informal agreement. I tolerated them enough to keep smoking with them, and each time it just seemed like this tiny little compromise." 

>"I get it now." Lynn said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "So, what made you stop going?" 

>"You know how some job interviews do a drug test?"

>"Mmhm?" she hummed, tilting her head towards Anon as they walked.

>"Yeah, I stopped smoking for a few days so I could get a Summer job. Anyway, when my head cleared, I realized how much I hated what I was doing. How much better off I could've been with anyone else."

>Lynn's ear twitched.

>"...But anyway, we're here." 

>Out in front of them was the floor of a massive rock basin, with striated walls towering 50 feet above their heads. Time had covered the bowl in a thin layer of orange-brown dirt, although in certain locations, gray outcrops of rock could still be seen. 

>The bowl was about 150 feet wide, and small boulders and patches of grass dotted the floor. It was like the Grand Canyon's infant child, but in the Northeast.

> On top of the walls sat more forest, with small foot-trails snaking their way down the chasm. In one corner, a small pile of old tires, shale plates, and other hard trash had collected.  

>Anon stood with his jaw dropped, humbled by the sheer size and beauty of the schism. 

>Lynn closed her eyes, tilted her snout upward, and took a deep inhale of the crisp March air. 

>"This place is..." she whispered. But her mind was aloof. In the last 10 seconds, the shale pit had lost her interest.

>"Yeah, even better than I remembered." Finished Anon. 

>They resumed forward, slowly towards the center of the pit. 

>"H-Hey Anon?" 

>"What's up?" 

>"You know that feeling you were talking about?" She prodded.

>"What about it?"

>"I r-really know that feeling. It's like m-most of what you do isn't really you, you're just sort of doing things because that's what people say you're supposed to do. Then some outside factor changes your relationships, like a job or something, and suddenly the fog c-clears and reveals how bu-bad those people were for you." She said, starting to quiver. 

>"You're right on the money with that one, fluff. And after the first reveal, you start questioning how much of your life is made up of these little concessions, thousands of little compromises that have buried themselves into your subconscious. But that level of paranoia is unhealthy." He responded. watching with concern as her breathing accelerated. 

>"Oh my g-god, that's all I do. I feel like tomorrow I'm just going to d-dig up all these...spineless commitments I've made, and realize that I'm only two percent of an individual." Her voice quaked. Lynn turned her head away from Anon and towards the dirt. 

>"Flufflyn, that's horrible. Are you okay?" Anon's footsteps halted. 

>Lynn took two more steps before stopping herself as well. Her shoulders had slumped. Without turning, she stammered. "A-and then I started thinking, h-how often am I the one who traps other people who could do b-better?"

>Anon's eyes widened; suddenly it all made sense. He dropped his backpack onto the ground. Lynn was still rambling.

>"And then w-we had the argument last night and..." 

>"Flufflyn, look at me." Anon commanded, putting his hand on her shoulder and turning her around to face him. 

>Their eyes locked, and hers were about to burst by the time she opened her mouth.

>"Am I a concession?"

.

,

.

>Time stood still. 

>While Lynn's mind raced, Anon was already in motion. 

>In that moment, he flung his arms over her shoulders and held her like a weighted blanket. One hand pressed on the small of her back, and the other nested itself in between her shoulder blades.  

>"Flufflyn, don't ever say that." Ordered Anon, rubbing her back with both hands. He spoke directly into the fur behind her ears. "You're the opposite of a concession. You're one of the best things that's ever happened to me." 

>Lynn pushed her face into his chest like a battering ram. If the frames of her glasses were bending, it wasn't important to her. What mattered was that Anon's clothes should become a sanctuary for her tears. 

>She planted her hands as far up as she could along Anon's back, claws digging into his coat.

>"Deep breaths." He consoled, hearing the unevenness of her respiration. 

>"She's thinking a million thoughts a second." Thought Anon, still tightly embraced. "What's her happy place?" 

>Lynn clung to him for half a minute, during which her heart rate and breathing began to decelerate. 

>Little by little, her grip loosened.

>Completely still, Anon talked into Lynn's fur once more. "This place is really isolated. I wonder how many stars you could see if we went here at night."

>A few hesitant seconds later, like a groundhog peeking from the den, Lynn wrestled her head out of Anon and pointed her snout straight upward. Her eyes, although exhausted from crying, had no trouble scouting the midday sky for stargazing potential. Her glasses had survived with only a slight bend.

>She craned her neck around to take in the view. At least, as much as she could view given that they were still hugging. Unknowingly, her breathing had stabilized, and her heartbeat was settling.

.

>"..."

.

>"..."

*rumbl-GRMBLE*

>Her stomach growled more ferociously than Lynn herself ever had.

>"..."

>"You wanna sit down and eat?" Shot Anon.

>The wolf only nodded.

>The man released his arms, followed by Flufflyn, as they both scanned the pit for a seat.

>Anon was immediately drawn to the trash corner, which seemed the most promising.

>Sitting there, ten feet from the main pile was a tan, dilapidated, two-cushioned...

>"Couch." Anon pointed to the old piece of furniture. 

>Lynn spoke softly. "It looks a lot like the rescue couch."

>"It really does." Anon picked up the drawstring backpack and dusted it off. "Maybe it came to rescue us this time." 

>The two walked across the length of the pit, approaching the old sofa warily. Anon handed the bag to Lynn while he brushed off the loose dirt on top of the seat.

>After checking under cushions for insects, the two silently agreed that the furniture would serve.

>Lunch was quiet, but only because they were so focused on eating. 

>Using the armrests as makeshift tables, they got to work. Anon devoured a PBnJ, after which he regretted bringing exactly 2 napkins. Lynn (get this) wolfed down a roll filled with cold cuts, then got to work on her "main course". 

>Within 15 minutes, the awoo had a sizable orange stain on her smiling muzzle, accompanied by two orange paws. This is simply the sacrifice that one pays for a taste of Xtra Cheddar. A sacrifice amplified by Anon's decision to bring exactly 2 napkins.

>Having made her way through half the goldfish bag, Lynn took a break, pausing to examine the basin around her. She lifted her nose and inhaled. 

>"I'm surprised." she stated. "The air is pretty nice, considering how close we are to the trash pile."

>"I don't know how you can smell anything but cheddar with that carrot you have for a snout." He said, polishing off his second sandwich. "Is the air really your favorite part about this place?"

>"I don't think so. Hmmm... the walls are really eye-catching. I wonder how old these bottom layers are!" She pointed a single orange claw to a section of rock directly in front of them. "Why? What's your favorite part about this place?"

>Anon paused for words. "I like it because it's so much bigger than I am. You feel so small when you're at the bottom. But like, a good kind of small."

>"Are there good kinds of small?" Lynn blurted.

>Anon wrapped his arm around Flufflyn, but the execution was clumsy and she promptly fell over into his lap. In the process, her nose left an Xtra-cheddary streak on the front of his coat. They both laughed at how stupid it looked. 

>"Haha, yeah..." he brushed the fur along the side of her face. "Small can be nice."