Page 2 of Howls and Home Runs

Coach Reynar shakes off the thought, glancing away with a saddened expression before turning back to Lainey with a big smile.

Her name is Lainey. It sounds like music to my ears as I let her name bounce around my mind, begging to roll off my tongue like a soft melody.

“Go ahead and try him on so we can see how he fits.”

“Sounds great!” Lainey cheerfully answers back. God, her voice. It nearly makes my body vibrate with energy.

She picks up my body, detached from my large foam head, and carefully locates the zipper on my back, slowly dragging it down. I sneak a glance at Coach Reynar who lingers a moment too long. I growl, though luckily it sounds like the bench sliding across the linoleum floor. Coach Reynar looks towards my head curiously, his brow furrowing.

“Right. Well, I’ll let you get inside Wilder. Come find me in my office after so we can make any suit adjustments and go over the keeper handbook.”

Lainey glances over her shoulder at him with a smile, “Will do, I’ll be there shortly.” When she smiles at him my paws clench again, making my claws clack against each other.

Lainey pauses briefly to look around the locker room. Noting nothing out of the ordinary, she steps inside me. A warm tingly feeling floods my body and my ears twitch on my head sitting awkwardly next to us. Staring up at my body, I realize my tail is wagging.

SHIT. I try to calm my body but as she pulls the suit over her shoulders I fucking whine. What was I thinking? I wasn’t.

“Hello?” Lainey’s nervous voice echoes through the locker room as she looks around trying to locate the source of the noise. “Anyone there?”

When nothing answers back she slides her arms into the furry sleeves and zips herself in. I grit my teeth to keep from making any more ridiculous sounds.

Picking up my head in her soft hands, leaving the suit paws dangling, she smiles at me.

“Ok Wilder. Let’s do this!”

Plunking my head down over her own, I get the chance to inhale her scent deeply. She smells so good and handles me so gently, I want to keep her inside me forever. Lainey is mine.

My mind wanders away from me, playing images of my Lainey as she takes us out of the locker room and down the hall to Coach Reynar’s office.

Chapter three

Lainey

Peeking into Coach Reynar’s office, I notice him working on something at his desk. My knuckles rap gently on the door frame to get his attention.

“How do I look?” Giving a little twirl, I smile inside the head as it nearly flings off my own.

“Oops!” I grab the head before it tumbles off my shoulders, my hands gliding across the silky fur as I slip the head back into place. “Wow, Wilder’s fur is really soft!”

Stroking the head once more near the ears, I feel a light breeze sneak through. Tilting my head slightly back, being careful not to nearly drop Wilder’s head again, I don’t see the ribbon tied to the vent moving as it would be if the air was on. Where did the breeze come from then?

I feel it again, but this time I also sense movement in the back of the suit. It almost felt like…

Did the tail just wag?

Coach Reynar interrupts my train of thought, startling me as he comes up behind me.

“We opted for a more hyper-realistic fur for his reconstruction. It cost a small fortune but was well worth it, as you can see.”

You can see the pride Coach Reynar has for his team and Wilder. He puts his hands on the head, adjusting it slightly so it settles on the suit, then gives Wilder’s head a fatherly pat.

“There you go. Fits like a gem. You and Wilder will be quite the team. Ready to go over the handbook?” He smiles before turning around to sit back at his desk. He gestures for me to sit, so I remove the head, setting it on my lap.

Shifting in the seat to get comfortable, I notice a few drops of a mystery liquid sitting on top of Wilder’s fur. Coach Reynar begins to go over the handler guide–which is apparently what the instructions for wearing a giant fur suit and entertaining thousands of people is called. As Coach Reynar talks on, I dip my finger in the liquid, rubbing it between my finger and thumb trying to identify what kind of liquid it is. It’s clear and textureless. What is it?

Realizing I’m not paying attention, I return my focus back to Coach Reynar. I don’t want to make a bad impression on my first day–I really need this job. I smile and nod periodically while he outlines the rules of the suit, talking for what feels like hours. After we’re done going through everything, I leave the office with a giant handbook and a million rules to remember. Mostly to stay in character, treat Wilder as I would a human, never remove the suit from the stadium, keep Wilder clean–codes of conduct and what not.

The first game is a week away and I was invited to come “hang out with Wilder and get to know him” before then. Handbook and stadium keys in hand, I head back to the locker room and start to gently take off the suit. Removing the head first and placing it on the bench, I unzip the body and slip it off, draping it over the bench as well. Sitting next to it and running my hand along the fur, I realize it really is incredibly soft and so realistic. So realistic I could barely find the seams of the suit. I’m taking in all the fine details and textures when, suddenly, a high pitched whine echoes through the locker room again.