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It always seemed like high-noon was the designated time for someone interesting to enter into Troughwater, and today was no different. The heat from the sun wasn’t as bad as usual that day, giving the residents of the town some breathing room to enjoy the outdoors -- yet that was short lived when a mysterious figure mostly concealed in a patchwork cloak, save for the fearsome-looking wings protruding from his back, entered through the all-too-welcoming archway that marked the town’s entrance.

Given that the town was often a magnet for criminals -- it was only natural that the townsfolk reacted as they did: by barricading themselves in their homes and shops and waiting for the unknown individual to either leave, or for the town’s Sheriff and Deputy to see what’s what and take care of this stranger, if need be.

The figure didn’t seem deterred by any of this, however. They merely kept on their way, eventually turning down a road and entering a dark, abandoned building before lowering their hood to reveal a black scaled dragon with red markings around his eyes and top muzzle. A dragon who was well-known in some odd circles who went by the name of Canas, who arrived in Troughwater under summons by one of the town’s residents.

“So, you finally came,” someone greeted from the dark -- eventually stepping forward, unprompted, into the light to reveal a short, young-adult fox sporting a cowboy hat, vest, slacks, and a sheriff’s badge. He flicked his hat up, narrowing his eyes at Canas, as if he were trying to act tough. “You got the goods?”

This question seemed to confuse Canas for a moment. The goods? What goods? He wasn’t asked to actually bring anything, save for his usual equipment.

“Todd… stop,” Shawn’s voice replied from behind the fox as the donkey walked out to join the sheriff with considerably less dramatics. “We didn’t ask him to deliver anything to us.”

“Well… no,” Todd admitted, dropping the tough-guy talk for a moment and speaking with his usual, almost innocent-sounding tone. “But it’s a cool line! And we never get to do this kinda stuff! It’s kinda awesome! … A little illegal, and I’m probably gonna question my morals about it later -- but awesome!”

Shawn sighed, a little frustrated.

“Just… let me do the talking,” Shawn advised, not responding to Todd’s enthusiastic “Ok!” as he approached the dragon.

However, Shawn stopped the moment he made eye contact with their visitor -- Canas leaned against the wall, arms folded, smirking softly, as his eyes glistened in the dark. They were narrowed right on the two, as if he were staring right through them.

“... you two are delightful~.” He cooed, offering a soft, yet dark chuckle -- one that left Todd undeterred, but managed to unnerve Shawn plenty. The dragon stepped forward, prompting the donkey to hesitantly step back as he towered over the duo.

“Wow, you’re really tall!” Todd mentioned nonchalantly.

“Todd.” Shawn hissed, making the fox wince slightly, before the donkey sighed and looked back up at the dragon. “Look, we need you to do something for us.”

“Something illegal!” Todd interjected, a proud smile on his face.

Shawn pursed his lips. “It’s something really important--”

“And something illegal!” Todd interjected again, bobbing with excitement.

“Todd…” Shawn grumbled. “... we just need you to take care of some guys for us.”

“Take care of them illegally!” Todd added.


“TODD!” Shawn snapped, glaring at the fox, who recoiled a bit -- but the two quickly looked up at the dragon, who began to chuckle.

“Ahah, you two… really are something!” Canas slowly brought himself down to their levels, squatting down and smiling calmly at both of them. As pleasant as he looked, it made the sheriff and deputy wildly uncomfortable. “Alright, I’m all ears… you seem so driven to take part in my services, so do tell, which lucky soul or souls will I have the honor of taking tonight?”

“Uh -- two,” Shawn spoke up, stepping forward to take charge of the situation once more. “Just two -- their names are Zach and Zer Kitch. They’re brothers.”

“Ooh, brothers~,” Canas replied as his calm smile shifted into an amused and playful smirk. “This oughta be fun. You got a picture of the targets?”

“Y-Yeah,” Shawn answered, turning to look over at Todd, who glanced over at Shawn for a brief moment before putting on his tough-guy face… which looked more like he was fighting off a case of constipation. Shawn, quickly and without amusement, decided to ignore the fox’s weirdness and continued. “Todd, give it here.”

Todd walked forward at Shawn’s direction, “cooly” pulling out a photograph from his shirt pocket and handing it over to Shawn, who gripped it in his wrist and handed it over to Canas.

“It’s five o’ clock somewhere,” Todd stated in a gruff voice completely randomly and out of nowhere -- earning a brief, disappointed look from Shawn.

Aside from a snort of amusement, however, Canas ignored it and looked at the photo -- it was an adorable still image of a tired-looking spotted hyena with a wolf pup upon his shoulders. Both of them were sporting traditional old-Western apparel and the pup himself was squealing as the hyena had been reaching up to playfully tickle at the wolf’s flanks.

“N’aww, how precious~,” the dragon cooed playfully at the sight of the picture before he took it and pocketed it. “I’ll get them squealing and begging for mercy before sunset. Don’t you worry~.”

“O-Oh?” Shawn replied, looking a little perplexed. “W-Well that’s good to hear. Thank you!”

“It’s no trouble,” Canas replied with a smirk before turning to leave.

“W-Wait, wait!” Shawn called out as he suddenly remembered something. “Payment! How much do we owe you?”

Canas paused and turned to the pair of them, thinking it over for a moment.

“Well… it’s $500 per pair of feet, so this’ll total up to $1,000,” the dragon answered, a grin forming on his face once again as he pondered the numbers. “Additional fees and ‘conditions’ apply if this prey is a lot harder and more dangerous to catch, of course… so I hope you’re not sending me into hot water~.”

The taunt, which sounded more like a thinly veiled threat, hit Shawn like a brick, but went right over Todd’s head, as the fox saluted the dragon. “Got it, a thousand bucks with possibly additional fees! Super easy, barely an–”

“Todd, hold on,” the donkey quickly spun Todd to face him, gripping his shoulders – or, rather, squeezing them with his hooves. “A thousand dollars isn’t cheap, that’s basically gonna be all of our savings.”

Todd blinked, confused. “But, wasn’t this your idea?”

“I–” Shawn bit his lip, starting to feel the weight of this whole thing on top of him. “I-I know that, but, I didn’t think it’d be this expensive, or, if we can even afford it…”

The volume of his voice got lower and lower as he trailed off, looking more and more nervous as time ticked on. Todd, however, seemed relatively calm, and was moreover thinking on this point casually, as though he had fully acknowledged its validity, but didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation. Shawn was mainly worried about what would happen to the two of them if they weren’t able to meet the needs of the dragon. He feared a fate far worse than what he was trying to subject the Kitch brothers to.

This fear was palpable enough for Canas to recognize it, however – that, or he could read Shawn’s expression pretty darn well, as the drake cleared his throat and folded his arms, catching the attention of the two officers.

“Perhaps I can consider a discount, if these two boys are fun victims~,” he giggled a bit, a glint in his eyes as he looked down at Shawn and Todd with eerie delight. “Considering this is the first time either of you have sought my services, I’m feeling generous – I’ll cut the payment in half, just this once, as long as I’m fully entertained and in no danger. You don’t get to throw me to the wind, after all… not without a few minutes of your time~.”

Shawn and Todd shared curious looks. Fully entertained? Well, this was bound to be hilarious and humiliating for the other duo. No danger? They were just kids, and Todd and Shawn both dealt with them already, and knew they were, ultimately, harmless. They practically had a free half-off discount on a silver platter right in front of them.

Todd, though, looked unsure. The fox put a finger to his chin, furrowing his brow. “Hmm, I dunno – I counter seventy-five percent–”

“We’ll take it,” Shawn grinned, slamming a hoof over Todd’s mouth and muffling his rebuttal as fast as possible. “Thank you so much.”

Canas grinned as well – a more playful and devious grin than the one Shawn bore – and turned to resume his departure.

“Oh, it’s no trouble,” the dragon replied as he reached the door, put his hood back on, and headed out. “No trouble at all~.”

With that, he was gone, leaving a slightly confused and concerned pair in the abandoned building in momentary silence.

“... Well, he seems nice,” Todd replied in his innocent naivety, making Shawn deadpan in an almost instinctual response by this point – although part of that was because he couldn’t help but shake the feeling that Canas had some kind of ulterior motive for some reason…



Canas, with photo in hand now, began moving to wander the dusty roads of Troughwater, keeping an eye out from under his hood for the sight of a small wolf and a hyena – which one might think would’ve been easy in a town populated almost entirely by equines. Unfortunately for Canas, just glancing about town hadn’t revealed his targets right away, and he quickly figured that he’d likely need to investigate a little in order to locate them.

With a light sigh, he turned and began heading towards a local inn to begin his search. Although, he figured that if he didn’t find them there, the least he’d be able to do is book a room to stay in while he looked.

‘This shouldn’t take longer than a day or two at most,’ the drake thought as he entered the building, ‘otherwise I’ll probably start charging them extra.’

In his line of work, Canas was no stranger to prolonged stints – as often as he caught his prey very quickly, there was the occasional job that did take up a bit more time than usual. However, at most, they’d usually last a couple of days before he could nail his assigned target. This was never an issue to him, as his patience did not often run thin, but rarely, he did have a target on his hit list that took too long to find.

As he settled himself at the reception counter in the inn’s lobby, and gave the rusty bell in front of him a little ‘ding’ with his scaly finger, he hoped that this job wouldn’t take a turn for the sour.

“Sorry, we’re busy.”

A gruff, young male voice responded to Canas’ ring of the bell, and the dragon raised his eyebrow. He looked at the person behind the reception desk and immediately realized they were buried in a newspaper.

“Ahem,” he cleared his throat, “what do you mean by ‘busy’?”

The person behind the counter turned the page of the paper. “Everyone’s on break.”

Canas pursed his lips. “But you’re right here.”

“I’m on break,” the young man clarified, voice still gruff and disinterested.

The dragon furrowed his brow and folded his arms. “Well, when are you going to be off-break then?”

“When I get a paycheck big enough to take me out of this dump,” the receptionist answered.

Canas leaned over the counter, trying to peer over the comically tall paper to get a look at who he was speaking with, but he surprisingly couldn’t, despite his height. Nevertheless, he sighed irritably. “Well I’m looking to get a room, and you’re not going to get any money from me if you keep acting like that.”

The receptionist slammed the paper down with a soft snarl, revealing himself to be… a hyena, no older than a mid-teenager, dressed in a maroon collared shirt with buttons, and black slacks. He had an aggravated look on his face as he glowered up at the dragon from where he was sitting.

“And you’re not gonna get out of my face until I pound it in, it looks like,” he threatened, “so what’s it gonna be?!”

Canas stepped back, eyes going wide. He had nothing to say; all he could do was blink and do take after take that he was seeing things properly. Had he already found one of his prey?

“Zach! Again??”

An even younger voice entered the picture as a door to the side opened, catching both the dragon’s attention, and the hyena’s. A young black wolf in a similar outfit stepped out, carrying a tray of food and looking rather distressed.

“We’re not gonna get paid if you keep scaring all the customers away,” he complained, biting his lip. “Johnson and Swanson don’t wanna keep hearing about you picking fights with people just for showing up here.”

The hyena, Zach, grumbled and rubbed his temple, hissing softly. “I don’t wanna keep working here, Zer – I just wanna skip town and figure something else out for both of us.”

“Well we can’t do that with no money, and we already lost one job, so I’d rather not lose another,” the wolf replied pointedly, walking past the desk and heading for a staircase to go up a floor. “So please be nice. If not for the money, then for me?”

Zach blinked and grumbled again, leaving Canas in a further state of shock as he looked over at the young wolf.

The pup, Zer, returned the gaze and smiled rather cutely, seemingly swapping from his earlier unease in seconds. “Sorry about my brother, sir. He’s having an off day, but he’ll be happy to take care of you now!”

With that, the wolf went up the stairwell with the food tray, disappearing out of sight and leaving the hyena alone with the dragon once more. Zach, with a soft blush, sighed and clasped his hands together, looking incredibly bored as he tried to appear professional. Or, at least, his definition of it.

“Welcome to Johnson and Swanson Inn – built by Johnson, run by Swanson. I’m Zach, assistant manager,” the hyena recited, sounding like he had already said it a million times too many, despite seemingly being a fresh hire. “How may I help you today?”

Finally, Canas broke from his stupor, and the dragon’s expression slowly curled into a cheeky grin. “Oho, this is delightful~.”

Zach just raised an eyebrow, appearing confused amidst his irritation. “You wanna run that by me again, bucko?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Canas quickly cleared his throat again, standing up straight as he reached for his cloak pocket and pulled out a rolled up wad of bills, held together by a strong, yet thin rubber band. “I’d like a room please… just for one night, and preferably isolated from other guests. I tend to snore rather loudly at night.”

Zach just looked the dragon over, starting to feel awkward, but he slowly reached out and took the money from him anyway. “... riiiiiight, well, the fourth floor is entirely vacant, if you feel like climbing that many steps.”

“I have no luggage, so that’s fine,” Canas responded, his grin growing by the second. Puzzle pieces were beginning to fall into place, and the scene he had started to envision was so vivid and exciting that he simply couldn’t wait to act on it.

“No luggage?” Zach echoed, once again looking the dragon over. “You from outta town or something?”

“I could ask the same about you,” Canas tilted his head. “A young hyena running around a watering hole full of horses. Quite the unusual citizen you are, as is that wolf~.”

“Yeah, well, that’s my little brother, and we’re both trying to get out of this town, not stick around,” Zach rolled his eyes, opening a drawer and rummaging around for something, before pulling out a key labeled “404” and tossing it at Canas, who caught it swiftly, and without batting an eye. “Zer’s the room service around here, so if you need anything, you’ll ring for him.”

“He certainly seems charming, I’m certain I’ll enjoy his services,” Canas chuckled, admittedly fond of this duo already. The hyena certainly could do with some loosening up, and that wolf was too adorable to deny.

As Zach picked his newspaper back up and went back to reading it – or, at least, pretending to, now that Canas got a good look at him – he gave the dragon one last glare. “Just know if you overwork or overwhelm him, I’ll pound you for real.”

Canas just grinned back at him and ascended the stairs without another word to make his way to his room. All the while, however, he could help but chuckle and giggle giddy to himself. This was going better than he could’ve hoped! His targets were here, giving him just the kind of space he’d need in order to get to work. All he needed now was a plan to get them both up to his room.

He contemplated on that as he headed up, fidgeting the key in his hand at the eager anticipation of making the both of them squeal in the privacy of his room. It wasn’t until he had reached the room and saw the labeled “404” upon the placard screwed to it that he finally had something in mind.

He headed inside his room first to get a good look at the layout. It was simple, small, and had that familiar western feel to it: cozy and inviting, yet rustic and charming. The bed, which sat at the far end, looked comfortable enough – it was even somewhat queen-sized, and sat between two light wooden end-tables, upon one of which sat a phone, likely connected directly to the front desk.

“Perfect~,” Canas said aloud as he headed straight for it, running his dialogue in his head before he picked up the phone, ready to play the part of the obnoxious customer – though he had to hold on that intent for a while, for it seemed like Zach was about as anti-customer-service as ever and let the phone ring a few times before finally picking up.

“Hello?” the hyena replied, his voice sounding exasperated and very much in a “I wish I was doing anything else right now” tone.

Smirking to himself upon having finally gotten through, Canas cleared his throat. It was showtime.

“Yes, hello? I’d like to report a problem with my room~,” the dragon began, struggling to hold back his amusement, but unable to help but turn his smirk into a grin as he continued to think ahead.

Zach let out an audible groan on the other end.

“Ugh… What? Already? Fine… what’s the room and what’s the issue?” he asked, clearly irritated.

“404,” Canas answered. “You don’t remember little ol–”

“It’s an… effin’... book-keeping thing or something,” Zach shot back before the dragon could finish his sentence – apparently taking the time to not swear out another customer. “Anyway. Issue?”

“Right,” Canas replied, quickly getting back to script. “My bed’s too small.”

There was a long pause of silence, as if the hyena on the other end was trying to process what Canas had just said. It was a while before Zach spoke again.

“You have a queen-sized mattress,” he replied, his voice deadpan. “It’s one of the biggest ones available. I think you’ll be fine.”

“No, no, no, it simply will not do~,” Canas replied with a playful scoff. “I prefer the lap of luxury – I am no queen,” – “you’re sure sounding like one,” Zach softly interjected under his breath as Canas continued – “I am a KING! And I demand that I have a bed that resembles as such!”

Another pause came, but there was something of a rhythmic thumping coming from the other end that made Canas envision the hyena holding the phone up as he lightly, yet repeatedly, bashed his forehead upon the desk. After a moment, the thumping stopped and Zach spoke into it once more.

“We’ll have your bed exchanged shortly… sir.”

With that, he hung up, leaving Canas more than satisfied with how that went.

Now came step two. Hopefully, this faux predicament would bring both of those boys up here, to make the process easier. The last thing the dragon wanted to do was search the building for that room service wolf and end up dragging him from someone else’s quarters. It would certainly be a bad look for him, and this was not a job where he could afford to cause a scene.

Canas opened up his jacket and looked at the tools he had tucked away inside. A variety of items were well hidden within the confines of his coat, allowing him to have easy access to whatever would best fit his current hit. In this case, the drake simply wanted to confirm he had enough rope on hand for two people.

He felt a little awkward about this one, given that these two were just kids. He didn’t want to hurt them, knocking them out was definitely off the table, and as loyal as he was to his job, and his pay, he needed to tackle this with taste. There was only so much time to come up with a solution to this predicament, though. Subduing and restraining two active individuals wasn’t going to be easy, no matter who it was.

‘Perhaps the hyena first,’ he pondered to himself, leaning against the door to the room as he ran through the possible options he had in his head. ‘He’s certainly going to fight back, so I might as well take him when he least expects it. That little wolf will be easy prey regardless.’

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, making him jump.

“Room service~!”

Zer’s cheery little voice came from outside the room, and when Canas opened the door, the two brothers were standing side by side, Zer upright, with his hands behind his back, and a beaming smile on his face, and Zach slightly slouched, looking tired and bothered. Apart from being different species outright, one would never guess these two were related at first glance.

Canas put on a teasy little smile as he looked down at the two boys. “My my, that was fast. Welcome, you two~.”

“Hello sir~!” Zer chirped, the wolf giggling a bit. “We heard your bed’s a bit bum, and that’s a bummer. We might be able to switch it out by day’s end though!”

“I can’t believe we’re actually doing this…” Zach groaned, shoving his hands in his jean pockets and looking off to the side – only to yip slightly as Zer lightly elbowed him in the hip, the pup scowling.

Putting a pleasant smile back on his face in seconds, Zer smiled back up at the drake. “We keep all of our spares down in the basement, so stair traffic might be packed while we’re taking care of this. Mind if we come in and look over the space in your room?”

“Not at all,” Canas stepped aside and brushed a hand across the air, gesturing to the boys to enter. “Take all the time you need in here, I have plenty to spare~.”

Zer entered with a skip in his step, taking Zach’s hand and pulling the aggravated hyena in behind him and towards the dragon’s bed. With their backs to him, Canas’ smirk widened slightly, as he gently closed the door to the room and used his key to lock it, before slipping it into his coat pocket.

No escape.

With no further need to be coy or sneaky, Canas reached into his jacket and pulled out a rope – one of his simpler tools of the trade, but perfectly effective for what he had in mind here.

“So. You going to just stand around and watch, or did you want to tell us where you want the bed, your highness?” Zach replied with an air of snippy sarcasm – though he quickly fell silent when the dragon, acting quickly, bound his arms to his sides, picked the hyena up with a grin, answered, “Just over there~”, then tossed him over onto the bed before either of them could react.

It wasn’t until Canas continued by joining Zach upon the bed and tying his legs together that it sunk in for both of the brothers just what kind of predicament they were in.

“ZER! RUN!” Zach shouted without hesitation as he quickly started to struggle in his bindings, though it did him no good. It didn’t do Zer any good, either, when the pup followed his older brother’s instructions and ran to the door, only to discover that it had been locked.

“Ah, ah, ah~...”

Zer’s hair stood on end as a shadow loomed over him, and he sheepishly turned around to find the dragon standing right before him, wearing a warm smile on his face that contrasted the sinister situation drastically.

“Can’t have you going anywhere, little one,” Canas playfully taunted, as he snatched the young wolf in his arms the second Zer tried to dive away. “Not when there’s a job to do, fun to have, and laughs to share~.”

“N-NGH, LEMME GO!” Zer whined, squirming hard in the dragon’s tight grip, but not at all putting up a serious fight. Canas expected as much, and simply hummed to himself in delight, as he used his one free hand to find some more rope in his cloak.

“H-HEY! You jerk, DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!” Zach barked, starting to manically thrash in his bindings as a vile expression washed over his face. The tightly tied rope didn’t give any way, and he merely rolled a bit from side to side as he made a desperate attempt to escape.

However, within seconds, Zer was tied around the waist with rope and tossed onto the bed beside Zach, where he landed face first in the pillows with an, “Oomph!”

“Z-Zer!” Zach called out, momentarily calming down as he tried to roll towards his little brother – only for Canas to lightly shift him across the bed to make space, as the dragon casually went to work tying the wolf’s kicking legs together to keep them from being as kicky. The hyena snarled and tried to snap his jaws at him. “Do whatever you want with me, but let my little brother go, you scumbag! What’s WRONG with you?!”

“Nothing at all, I’m just doing the same thing as you, Zach,” Canas smiled, his gaze piercing through the bound hyena. “Working hard just to get paid~.”

“Wha– huh??” Zach was more dumbfounded than anything, unable to think of how, in any way, what the dragon said made any sense at all.

Zer was rolled onto his back not a moment after, Canas propping the whining wolf’s head up on a pillow, in an eerie attempt to keep him comfortable. The pup just shook his head, looking more terrified and uncomfortable than anything.

“L-Let us g-go… d-don’t hurt uuusssss…!!” he whimpered, trying to curl up against his bound brother. Zach’s gaze briefly softened as he tried to scoot closer to the wolf, before he glared harshly at the dragon.

However, Canas was not locking eyes with either of them.

“Relax, I’m not going to hurt either of you,” he reassured, his vision enamored by the two big, broad pairs of soles he had stuck out before him. The dragon gently lifted them up by the heels, one pair in each hand. “My my, you boys have quite the prizes. Perhaps I should revoke that discount on my clients and charge them double anyways~...”

Zach instantly felt a pit in his stomach as he sensed where this was going, a feeling Zer shared as well. That just made this a lot weirder – and, oddly enough, a lot scarier too. Regardless, the hyena wiggled his feet around and tried to pull them away, something he wasn’t really able to do due to the ropes. They just paddled and swayed around in Canas’ hold.

“Y-You freak, let us out of here right now!” he roared. “D-Do it before I throw you out a window with a boot up your– HOHOHREE!!”

A shrill, giggly squeak escaped the ranting hyena’s throat, his angered expression turning to one of strained joy for a moment, as Canas set Zer’s feet down and dragged a single claw across Zach’s broad soles, teasing it along his pads.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since I got here~,” the dragon giggled softly to himself. “Now, shall we begin~?”

Zer just gulped, whimpered, and remained silent in response – not entirely sure what was going on. Zach, however, tough as ever, responded brashly.

“N-No, you freak!” the hyena answered. “Untie us and let us go already! We didn’t do anything to yo-HRUHRUHRU~!”

Zach’s response was cut short by another giggly squeak as Canas, apparently taking his time and having fun, went ahead and got started anyway – lightly, yet swiftly teasing his claws up both of Zach’s heels and to his arches. Zach thrashed about, a light grin forced upon his face from the ticklish stimulation irritating the soles of his feet as Canas smirked over him.

“I didn’t quite catch that~,” Canas playfully teased as his fingers and claws continued to dance and play upon the helpless hyena’s soles. “You wanna try again without the wriggling and ticklish squeals?”

“F-F-Fuhruhruhru–Ghyeehreehreehreee~!” Zach responded, unable to get even the first word out as he quickly became tongue-tied over the torrent of giggling that just wouldn’t stop.

Canas only chuckled as he continued on, playing around with the outer edges of Zach’s feet now – going back to just dragging a single claw against the sensitive, tender skin upon both soles. It was such a delight to the dragon to hear the reactions of his prey – the silly little sounds they made only further increasing his desire to hear more.

Zach, however, wanted nothing more than for it to stop at that moment, still giggling incoherently, he continued to squirm and, in a desperate bid, he tried to kick out at the dragon to get him to back off, but only ended up pressing his feet against Canas’ chest. This stopped the tickling for the moment, but Canas only looked at the feet pressed against him, then back at Zach with a smug grin that made the hyena’s heart drop.

“Oh? For me~?” the drake taunted, grinning a little as he took hold of one of Zach’s ankles, and began lightly tickling at his tootsies. “Hyena toes – how delightful~.”

“Gyeehreehreehree~!! Sh-Shuhruhrut uhruhrup!!” Zach giggled out, starting to find his voice a little, though he couldn’t exactly move his feet anymore, rendering them completely helpless to the dragon’s cruel, yet playful teasing.

“D’aww, what’s the matter~?” Canas continued to taunt as he pressed the tips of his claws ever so slightly against Zach’s pad, and began to drag them down. “Can’t stand a few tiggles~?”

“Grnrhreehreehreee~!!!” Zach whimpered and whined among his giggling, Canas’ claws tormenting the sensitive nerves beneath his fur and nearly driving him up the wall. His eyes widened for a moment, before screwing them shut as he twisted his body about, hoping for the dragon to just stop already.

“L-Leave him alone!” Zer’s voice yipped up, and Canas’ claws stopped in their tracks as he now looked over at the pup in curiosity.

The room fell silent, apart from Zach’s panting, as the hyena’s giggle fit died down not long after his torment had stopped. He squirmed irritably where he lay, still wiggling his tender feet around, but Canas’ attention was fully on the wolf. Zer’s eyes widened and the young boy tried to sink into the bedsheets he was plopped upon, attempting to roll away, as he felt he had made a grave error.

In trying to save Zach, he had essentially doomed himself.

Canas smirked and scooted over to the left a bit to perch before the wolf’s large, soft soles, which curled and paddled uselessly as the wolf whined gently, ears drooping as he shook his head. “N-No, don’t, I-I’m sorry– we just– w-we, I–!”

“Now now, backtalk isn’t allowed here, young man,” Canas taunted, gently taking a hold of Zer’s delicate feet in his scaly hands, sending a shiver down the bound wolf’s spine. “This pair is absolutely exquisite… I can’t say I’ve met someone as little as you with feet as big as these. This will be a fun session~.”

“Sh-Shut up…!” Zer whimpered, cheeks turning bright red in an instant as he turned his head to try and bury his face in the pillows – an act that didn’t work out so well. The flustered, self-conscious wolf was not at all a fan of having the size of his feet commented on, and being bound up and unable to do anything about it made it all worse.

“Ah ah ah, what did I just say?” Canas cooed, the drake beginning to softly run a couple of wiggly fingers against the boy’s big, broad feet, teasing at his arches. “No back talk, mister~.”

The reaction that came was not only instantaneous, it was practically faster than Zach’s.

“EEP! N-NOhohoheehee– d-d-d-dohohon’t!!” Zer’s eyes bugged out wide and a massive grin spread across his face, his big, fuzzy feet swaying about uselessly against Canas fingers. The dragon’s claws lightly pressed into his supple soles and tickled away, stimulating his nerves and driving him wild already. “N-Nohohohoho t-tihihihihiggles~!!”

As the pup’s laughter began to fill the room, Canas’ claws exploring around his arches and stroking along his jet black fur, the dragon chuckled with delight, smiling warmly as he continued to play. “What a lovely little laugh you have, Zer. I’d like to hear more~.”

“St-Stahahahahahahahap t-touching meeheeheehee~!!” Zer shook his head, shutting his eyes tight and fidgeting about in the ropes that bound him, trying in vain to kick at Canas and get those darn fingers away from his oh-so-ticklish feet. “Geehehehehehehehee~!”

Zer’s giggly struggles were enough to make Zach stir from his daze, and the hyena snapped to attention and looked over at Canas with a harsh glare. “I told you NOT TO TOUCH HIM!”

“Relax, brat,” the drake taunted, sneering at Zach before returning to tickling the wolf’s soles, his claws lightly frolicking against Zer’s round heels. “If you’re that excited for another round yourself, you can always just ask. For now, your little brother’s laughter is the music my ears want to hear~.”

Zach growled as his little brother giggled away, pleading for the dragon to stop all the while. He glanced around, trying to think of how to get the dragon to stop as Canas turned his full attention back to the pup’s soles. The hyena glanced down at the ropes binding him and an idea quickly sprang forth when he realized a crucial detail: he may have been bound, but he wasn’t tied directly to the bed.

With this in mind, and Canas distracted, Zach brought his feet up and gradually pushed himself up into a sitting position. Once he felt like he had some control, he turned to glare at Canas, who still seemed fixated upon Zer’s feet, and threw himself at him.

“I SAID DON’T TOUCH HIM!!” Zach bellowed as he attempted to knock Canas off the bed with his body weight – only to be quickly stopped when the drake caught the hyena with one foot, then pushed him back upon the mattress.

“Oh, you sit still,” the dragon nonchalantly requested. “Don’t make me tie you to the bed, now~.”

Zach growled and shouted a slew of profanities at the dragon, clearly very irked by this defeat. His frustration only made Canas all the more satisfied, however, and continued to hold the thrashing hyena to the bed while he continued to work on the pup’s feet – lightly teasing his claws up to Zer’s tender arches.

“Now, where were we~?”

The higher up those claws went, the worse it got – and the harder it became for Zer to fight it. Not that he could do much of that anyways. The tender flesh of the balls of his soles was lightly assaulted by the dragon’s claws, which were pressed into his feet and dragging around slowly in up-and-down motions. No matter where Zer’s feet waggled about, those claws expertly followed, and he was unable to escape.

“EEHEEheheheheeheeHEE~!!” the wolf squealed, shaking his head as his cheeks burned a rosy red from the prolonged, humiliating torment. “S-StahpstahpstahpstahahahaHAHAHAP~!!”

Canas chuckled and cast a glance at Zach, who was still angrily snarling and fidgeting under the drake’s foot, not able to do anything to counter him. “Really Zer, try and relax a little. We haven’t even gotten to the best part yet~.”

He trickled his fingers down the length of Zer’s feet, all the way to his heels, which elicited a louder bout of laughter from the boy, all of which Canas immensely enjoyed. However, the dragon began to shift and wiggle a bit, curiously looking over to the hyena again – who was manically flailing about against the foot that weighed him down.

Canas rolled his eyes and moved one hand over from Zer’s feet to Zach’s, startling the angered yeen with a quick tickle to one of his sole pads – those dragon claws scratching and flicking across it. “Settle down, brat. You’ll get your turn of the good stuff too~.”

“Grrnhrehrehrehrahrahra~!” Zach giggled out with a light growl – a blush starting to form upon his cheeks as he tried to pull his feet away.

Canas, however, simply stuck with them and continued to torment the hyena’s pad – all while lightly skittering the claws teasing the wolf’s foot back up to the arch. The symphony of ticklish laughter from the two brothers that this resulted in was simply music to Canas’ ears, and he enjoyed every moment of it. The pup’s squealing yips and giggling mixed well with his older brother’s desperate chortles – especially with those weird “r” sounds mixed in that hyenas were so keen on producing.

This was merely the trial run as far as Canas was concerned, however – and so, he stopped for the moment. This brief break in the tickling was only so that he could peruse the tools he brought with him inside his jacket, however, and pull out a couple of feathers. Ignoring the hyena’s vague threats as background noise, he examined the soft fronds and smirked playfully to himself. These would do nicely~.

The mere sight of those two puffy, blue feathers made Zer’s eyes go wide, the wolf beginning to squirm and roll about on the bed even more, bumping into his brother as he did, and making no progress in escaping. The level of distress he was in seemed to shoot to eleven, and it made Canas’ eyes widen for a moment, before a cheeky grin spread across his face.

“My oh my, does somebody not like my precious little feathers?” he cooed, fluttering them in the air teasingly before the wolf’s vulnerable feet – which only made Zer whine even louder, his huge stompers frantically waggling round in useless attempts to evade contact with the fronds of those feathers.

“N-No, please, anything but thaaaaaat…!” the pup whimpered, shaking his head frantically as his bugged-out eyes remained locked on the feathers in the dragon’s hand, pupils slipping left and right to follow them as they waved to-and-fro in the air.

Zach suddenly snapped his jaw towards the dragon, glaring harshly, but as Canas turned his attention to him, he couldn’t help but notice a bit of discomfort on the hyena’s face. He was still firmly trapped under one foot, but he was far less resistant to it and instead appeared… apprehensive?

This changed to further irritation in seconds as the hyena growled and snapped his teeth at Canas again, fidgeting a little. The drake put a finger to his chin, pondering the situation at hand.

‘I suppose neither of them are exactly looking forward to this,’ he thought, his grin spreading ear to ear. ‘But I am~!’

Thus, without waiting a moment longer, Canas got to work, opting to begin with the lesser tickled of the two – Zach, whose feet he slowly began to brush with the feathers, one per sole. Their soft fronds quickly overtook his arches and pads, gliding up and down in gentle strokes.

“Such a shame you’ve missed out on so much fun, but your brother’s giggles were too precious to ignore,” Canas teased the struggling hyena, gauging his reaction from the moment those feathers touched down upon his ticklish feet. “Let’s see just how easy of a time you have with my little friends here, hm?”

Zach was, as expected, not having an easy time at all.

He gritted his teeth, trying to hold in the building ticklish laughter – paddling his sensitive feet and trying to pull them away without success. The fronds teasing against his skin was, debatably, worse than the dragon’s claws – sending waves of powerful ticklish stimulation with every soft stroke against his soles. Perhaps it was because of this that he broke relatively quickly.

“Grrrhrehrehrehre~!!” the hyena giggled out, squirming under Canas’ foot to try to get free and escape – all to no avail, much to Canas’ satisfaction. The dragon quickly had to stop however as the sound of a soft thump came to his attention, and he looked around, quickly noticing that Zer had disappeared.

Canas blinked, then thought about where a tied up wolf could’ve disappeared to, then chuckled as he peered over the edge of the bed just in time to see the pup in the process of slinking himself under the bed like a worm. The sight of this amused the dragon enough that he just watched the pup for a while – before reaching down to grab him by the ankle when only his feet were visible, triggering a startled yelp from the pup.

“Eep! Nononononooo d-don’t tiggle meeee…!” he whined out from under the bed, giving Canas quite the devious idea.

Keeping a firm hold upon the pup’s ankle, Canas reached over to lower one of the feathers down and began to gently stroke it up and down Zer’s big, sensitive sole.

“GYEHEHEHEEHEE~!!” Zer squealed loud and his feet wiggled, jerked, and kicked however they could, the boy left flailing around under the bed. “NAHAhahahahahahat th-th-thahahaha–HAHAAT~!!”

Canas was surprised, not expecting such a visceral reaction so quickly. His grip on Zer’s large foot tightened as he softly caressed the fronds of the feather around the ticklish sole, twirling it gently as he brushed the side of the tool across his arch. This only made Zer’s struggling more apparent – the wolf really did not like this. The dragon did, however, which only made him smile wider.

“I didn’t think you’d be this weak to a little feathering, but what a nice surprise this is,” he chuckled, opting to move himself to get more comfortable, sliding off the bed. “I simply must see what else makes you tick~...”

Now choosing to focus entirely on the pup, Canas got onto the floor in seconds, right beside the bed, with his legs outstretched and crossed over each other. In between his legs, he had carefully stuck Zer’s ankles, trapping the wolf’s feet to keep him from slipping any further under the bed. This position allowed Canas to keep both hands free.

And he took advantage of this by applying both feathers to the boy’s tender soles. “Tickle, tickle~.”

The tips touched base at the heel of his right foot and the ball of his left, and alternated going up and down, crossing the whole length of each broad sole. One feather was already maddening to the wolf, but it became apparent very quickly that two was likely driving him absolutely insane.

“STYEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAA~!!” the boy’s laughter was muffled only by the nature of him being under the bed, but it was still quite loud, and just as powerful as his thrashing. Canas wiggled a little as he felt the pull on the boy’s feet, as they paddled about uselessly, desperately trying to escape the tickle torture. Zer, however, was fully trapped, and being bound by rope and nearly squashed under a bed wasn’t helping matters. “NOHOHOHOHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEE~!!”

“This is a lot more fun than I expected – and it certainly sounds like you’re having a blast too~,” the dragon chuckled, sneering a little as he gingerly circled both feathers around the captive pup’s arches. “I certainly hope I get to play with you boys again, I would not mind a repeat job at all~! So long as those officers can pay full price next time…”

“W-W-WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT~?!” Zer’s eyes went wide under the bed, cackling madly as tears began to trickle down his rosy red cheeks. Feathers were truly his weakness, and it was the worst – but for a moment, his mind managed to latch on to something other than the torment. “WHAHAHAT O-OHOHOHOHOFFICEHEHERS?!!”

Canas’ eyes widened, and he winced a bit, biting his lip as his tickling briefly ceased. Perhaps it was a bit too soon to let that slip? He planned to tell the boys eventually, but now he was embarrassed he ruined the surprise.

“Eheh, ehhhh… you wanna forget you ever heard that, little man?” the drake asked, awkwardly flicking the feathers at the boy’s heels, trying to resume his work and being delighted by the immediate squeal he got.

THUD

“Fffffffuuuuuuuggggghhhh, grrraaaaahhh…!!!”

Canas immediately stopped tickling the wolf, eyes going wide and blinking in surprise. He was stunned by… whatever that sound was, and he tuned out the panting giggle-fit the wolf was having to process it. He let go of the wolf’s feet, figuring Zer to be far too tired by now to try and make any sort of attempt at a worm-like get-away, and rounded the bed to the source of the sound.

It wasn’t long before he found it – Zach, practically upside-down, face slammed right into the floor and feet still up on the bed, as those he had just slid right off. Canas pursed his lips and looked at the sight awkwardly, mentally smacking himself for getting too focused on the wolf that he forgot about keeping the hyena pinned.

“Good grief,” the dragon rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead, starting to take in the angered, snarling-groans of discomfort from Zach, and the giggly yips and whines from Zer. “I came here to tickle for cash, not babysit… you two are a handful.”

Managing the two boys was going to be annoying if this was gonna keep up, so he needed a solution – a solution that presented itself rather quickly, as a devious smirk formed on his face at the thought.

“Alright boys, you just hold still~...”



It was barely a minute later when Canas had finished, stepping back from his handiwork with an innocent looking grin of pure satisfaction.

“Done!” He stood proudly at the foot of the bed, arms folded and a silly grin on his scaly mug. “You boys comfy?”

Zer looked exhausted, and Zach looked aggravated and humiliated, with his face noticeably redder than earlier. The two brothers were laying next to each other on the bed, tightly snug shoulder-to-shoulder in the bed sheets that wrapped them. The ropes were clearly not enough, if these two were going to keep trying to escape, so Canas thought to just fold them both into a big blanket. It seemed to work, as their fidgeting had reduced considerably, and the blanket wasn’t moving or rolling off the bed. Their heads poked out one end and rested on the pillows against the backboard, while both pairs of feet were stuck out the other, presented before the dragon to do with as he pleased.

He didn’t get a response from either of his captives, so Canas elected to tease them a bit. “You know, I wasn’t expecting to find a burrito in a backwater town like this~.”

Zach growled and grumbled in response, too embarrassed to even think of any kind of bitter retort to the dragon – something that made Canas grin with smug satisfaction, as he took this as a sign that he had broken the aggressive hyena. However, if Zach wasn’t going to offer any retorts, then perhaps Canas should just get right to it.

“Now, where were we? Ahh, yes. Making the two brothers squeal~,” the dragon teased, making Zer whimper and curl his toes – which Canas quickly caught notice of. “Oooh, that reminds me. I haven’t played with your guys’ tootsies yet, have I~?” he teased, playfully pinching two of Zer’s toes and gently wiggling them about.

“Gyeehee-HEEHEEHEE~!! D-Dohohohohoon’t~!” the pup pleaded, his cheeks going red as he continued to squeal and giggle about in adorable fits as Canas continued.

“My goodness~,” the dragon teased, releasing one toe to reach for a feather while his claws still played around with the other one. “You seem more ticklish here than the rest of your feet, young up. I wonder what would happen if I brushed a soft, delicate feather across them~?”

The very thought was enough to make Zer’s eyes go wide with panic as he tugged at his feet, looking over at Canas and shaking his head desperately.

“N-N-Nohohoho-HOHOHOHEEHEEHEE~!” he giggled out in what was likely a desperate cry for mercy – something that contrasted the scathing look Zach gave the dragon.

Canas, however, wasn’t intimidated. Nor did he have any desire to show mercy. Perhaps it was for this reason – and simply a desire to hear Zer really squeal, that he picked out one of the feathers and began to gently slide it between the boy’s pudgy, sensitive toes.

That really seemed to do it.

“GYEEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHEE~!!” Zer threw his head back and bucked around madly against the soft and cozy restraint of the blanket he was bound in, not to mention the ropes that still tightly held his limbs together. His eyes bugged out wide and he shook his head manically, peels of laughter pouring out of him. “N-NOHOHOHOHO M-MOHOHOHOHORE EEHEHEHEHEHEE~!!”

Canas was absolutely delighted to hear such noises come from the pup’s mouth, and he showed no signs of stopping his tickling, allowing the feather to follow wherever Zer’s toes went as they wiggled and splayed about, trying desperately to escape. Of course, Zer’s feet went nowhere, no matter how much they paddled and squirmed to-and-fro.

“I guess I found your weak spot~?” the drake cooed gently, slipping the feather between each toe slowly, slithering it around them as though it were a soft little snake. “I can’t say I want to stop anytime soon, now that I know this little tidbit of information~.”

Zer’s face was redder than a tomato, the young wolf shaking his head madly as Canas added in his claws to the other sole, gently scratching at it while the feather kept on threading around his toes. Tears were forming in his eyes, and his laughter grew in pitch by the second.

“GAHAHAHAHEHEHEHE ST-STYAHAHAHAHAP~!!” he barked out loudly, unable to hold back, and losing his will to fight his restraints as he spent all his energy on laughing. This laughter only fueled Canas to keep going, in a vicious cycle.

Zach, however, was having none of this. Zer’s pained laughter not only fueled the dragon’s tickling, but also the hyena’s rage. He glared viciously at the dragon, but that was all he could muster. He didn’t have much fight in him to get out of these restraints, nor could he think of something to say.

Perhaps this was… embarrassment? His current situation wasn’t exactly favorable, but as much as he wanted to save his little brother, Zach, for whatever reason, couldn’t bring it upon himself to harass the dragon again, whether it be out of fear, or humiliation, or both.

“I see that look in your eyes,” Canas murmured softly, but Zach heard his words loud and clear over the wolf’s giggle-fit. The hyena found his eyes locked with the dragon’s, a wide, crap-eating sneer spread across his scaly maw. “Don’t worry, you’ll get your turn again. I know you want it~.”

Zach blushed at the very thought of having his toes played with this time around – curling them a little as he was quickly overtaken by a nervous and vulnerable sensation. The thought of being rendered helpless and giggly at the hands of this dragon – or anyone for that matter – was borderline humiliating.

Zach let out a groan and kept quiet, hoping that would be enough to satisfy Canas enough to leave his feet alone.

The dragon, however, wasn’t about to let him off so easily.

“Oh? Another growl~,” he teased, making Zach’s eyes widen as the hyena desperately shook his head. Canas knew darn well that it wasn’t a growl, but that didn’t stop him from coming up with an excuse to torment the punky teenager a little more. “Boy you must really want your turn to come quickly~. Tell you what – how about we start right now?”

Zach could only shake his head a little faster as he tried to tug his feet away, but to no avail. Canas simply removed his Claws from Zer’s sole, reached out, and began teasing his claws against the space just under Zach’s toes – forcing them to uncurl gradually as the hyena began to giggle in a panicked desperation.

“G-Gheehreehreehree~!! Nngh! Pffft–hrahrahrehrehreeee~!!” he chortled out as the ticklish sensations began to overwhelm him a little – eyeing Canas’ tickly claws as they inched ever closer to his toes the more they uncurled to try to get away from them.

Of course, Zach wasn’t alone in his torment – Canas was still using the feather on Zer’s toes – this time pulling it out from between them and swiping it back and forth against them – its soft fronds teasing and tickling the pup’s tootsies as they leaned back and wiggled about as the wolf continued to squeal.

“EEEHEEHEEHEEEEE~!! N-NYAHAHAHOHOHOHOHOOOO~!! S-STYEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAAAAA~!!” Zer continued to laugh in hysterics – eyes wide and bugging somewhat as the overstimulating tickling drove the poor kid crazy. He just wanted it to stop, but Canas had no intention of doing that anytime soon.

As delightful as Zer’s laughter was, though, Canas was really starting to feel an itch for the hyena’s suffering. No amount of feathering the wolf was going to break the hyena any further, obviously, and his job would not be complete unless both of his prey were in stitches.

“No need to be jealous of your little brother,” the dragon teased, finally flicking his claws against the hyena’s frantically wiggling toes – which only increased in speed the moment they were assaulted by the tickles. “We’ll get started with your treatment now, brat~.”

“Grrreehehehehe n-n-nohohohrohrohrohro…!” Zach let out a sudden hiss, eyes screwing shut as he bit down hard on his lip. He tried to curl his toes, but failed, as the dragon’s claws nimbly worked around them. All the hyena could do was shake his head in a last stand of resistance. Anything to keep the dragon from getting what he wanted.

Canas took notice and shook his head, clicking his tongue a bit. “Tch tch, that’s not gonna fly with me, brat. But if you really want it to end, maybe give me a laugh louder than your brother’s and I’ll consider it~.”

At this, the drake pulled his claws away from the hyena’s toes and readied his second feather, mimicking the one that glided along Zer’s toes by caressing this one against the hyena’s. The soft fronds grazed his toe pads and lightly slipped between each toe, as the feather went from left to right, slowly running back-and-forth across all ten toes.

That last stand did not last.

Zach’s eyes shot open and he had to repress a squealing laugh – still a little too prideful to give the dragon what he wanted without a fight, even if the hyena, himself, wanted it to end already. He couldn’t resist for long, however, and it was only a couple of seconds before he broke.

“G-Gnnnnhhh– HREEHREEHREEHRAHRAHRAAAA~!!” Zach squealed out in an adorable high pitch that only widened the smile on Canas’ face and turned the giggling hyena’s red with laughter and humiliation. The laughter that came out of Zach was very unlike the punkish appearance he liked to keep up, and he was entirely aware and self-conscious about it. Yet, overcome with the ticklish stimulation coming from his toes, the hyena could do nothing but take it, laugh in his hysteria, and succumb to his embarrassment – much to Canas’ delight.

The dragon chuckled as he continued to follow through, enjoying the symphony as the two brothers giggled and squealed, brough to their absolute limits by a couple of feathers. It was supple music as far as he was concerned, and he wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible.

“GYEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA P-PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEEASE~!!” Zer shrieked, his toes uselessly wiggling against each other as they were continuously ravaged by the lone feather that danced between them. “M-MEHEHEHEHEHERCEEHEEHEE~!!”

“GRRREEHREHREHREHREHRE S-STYAHRAHRAHRA~!!” Zach threw his head back, squirming around just as much as his little brother. The hyena paddled his feet around, trying to escape the feather that tormented his tootsies, but to no avail. He’d reached his breaking point, and in such a humiliating manner too – his face got redder by the second. “N-NOHROHRO M-MOHROHROHRORE~!!”

“Hmhmhm, wonderful~,” Canas cooed in delight, humming a bit as he blissfully swept his feathers across the soles and toes of the two trapped boys, taking in their melodious laughter as it poured from their maws. This was a job well done. “I could do this for hours~.”



“Hey, it’s been hours – think that guy’s done by now?”

Todd and Shawn were back in their office by now, trying to remain entirely inconspicuous about their activities earlier in the day. While Todd was casually spinning around in one of their swivel chairs as he piped up with the question, Shawn was pacing back and forth near the window on their back wall, appearing to be deep in thought.

Until Todd spoke up, that is – then the donkey’s face turned to an expression of mild annoyance. “That’s the fourth time you’ve asked me that in the last half hour, Todd.”

“Well sorry that I’m getting bored waiting,” Todd threw up his hands before folding them in a pout. “I thought this would be more fun. I wanted to get involved…”

Shawn rolled his eyes. “And have those two dorks report us to Joy and we get in trouble again? After we JUST got our jobs back?”

Todd was about to respond when suddenly, the phone on their desk rang, the chime of the ringing echoing off their walls and startling both of them. The fox smiled cheerfully and gingerly reached for it, only for Shawn to snatch the phone away with his hooves in seconds. He tensely put it up to an ear to listen as Todd grumbled irritably behind him.

“Hello?” the donkey asked quickly and quietly, unsure if it was even who he thought it’d be on the other end.

“Hello hello, donkey boy~,” a familiar voice came through the receiver.

Shawn sighed in relief. “If you’re calling back, that means it’s done?”

“Jeez, way to rush me much?” Canas quipped over the line. “Don’t you want to ask me how I’m doing? How my day’s been? Any sights I’ve seen~?”

Shawn blinked, pursing his lips and looking more annoyed than anything. “Did you do the job or not.”

“Relax, relax, of course I did the job,” Canas confirmed. “If you need proof, well… you can come on up to where I’m staying so we can make the payment~?”

Relaxing a little, Shawn finally smiled, satisfied to hear the news.

“Alright,” he replied. “Where are you staying?”

“Oh, just the local inn,” the dragon replied. “Room 404. Give me a knock and I’ll let you in~.”

“404, got it,” Shawn replied, hanging up without another word to Canas before turning to Todd as he got up from the desk. “Alright, let’s go.”

Todd didn’t need any explanation to have an excuse to oblige – quickly getting to his feet and hurrying out the door before Shawn left the room – only to wait for him outside of it as he realized that only his partner knew the way.

They made their way to the hotel and up to the room they were told about – knocking on the door and being greeted by a rather cheerful dragon.

“Hello~,” the dragon greeted as he opened the door to the sheriff and deputy.

On cue, Todd scrunched his face up a bit in a tough-guy act again as he returned with his own unique greeting in a gruff, forced tone.

“The crow flies at midnight.”

Canas blinked, a little caught off guard by the fox’s sudden eccentricity, and looked over to Shawn, who just shrugged his shoulder, cleared his throat, gently, pushed Todd aside, and continued on as if that didn’t just happen.

“So, you said you had some proof?” he asked, looking a little hopeful at Canas – praying that he had actually done the job and they weren’t about to get scammed or blackmailed into paying for nothing.

The dragon just smiled and stepped aside to allow them both to enter.

“I do, indeed~.”

Shawn and Todd both exchanged a look – somewhat uncertain by the dragon’s eagerness, but accepted his invite and stepped inside the room anyway to see for themselves.

Admittedly, the two were rather shocked upon what they saw once they entered. Zerrith and Zach both looked absolutely exhausted, the two brothers snuggly bound together in a blanket on the bed, with their feet poking out near the foot of the bed, both pairs looking rather pink and red – likely from a prolonged tickle session. Both boys were still conscious, but it was clear from the looks on their faces that they had been thoroughly drained.

“Unngh…” the pup groaned softly, paddling his big feet a little. “L-Let us oooouuuuuuut…”

“Y-You j-jerks set us up, d-didn’t you…?” Zach hissed, eyes lazily wandering over to the two officers as he scowled. Or, at least, he tried to scowl through his sheer fatigue. “I-I’m gonna p-pound all three of you when w-we get outta here…”

“Uhhh… huh,” Todd raised an eyebrow, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. “This doesn’t look like it was very fun…”

“It was fun for all of us!” Canas chirped from behind the two, closing the door to his room. Neither officer heard the click of the lock. “Mostly me though~.”

“I think it went perfect,” Shawn lightly clapped his hooves together, sneering wide. “Money well spent, these two loons deserved it.”

“Ya know, I didn’t think I’d be saying this, but I’m starting to wonder why we did this at all…” Todd pondered, looking at the floor in confusion.

“You guys are m-meeeeeeaaaaaannn…” Zer whined, the wolf looking incredibly dejected. “I-I thought we were friends…!”

“Wha– hey, we’re totally your friends!” Todd argued.

“I’m not,” Shawn passively waved a hoof – though this was mostly directed towards Zach, who rolled his eyes.

“I’m totally your friend!” Todd corrected without missing a beat.

Canas chuckled, leaning on the wall behind the officers while fumbling with his coat. “Ah, friendship. Such a treasure. Now, shall we wrap this up?”

“Right, right,” Shawn gave Todd a quick elbow, earning the fox’s attention. “Todd, get the money.”

As the fox nodded and began awkwardly rummaging through his various pockets in search of the cash, neither the sheriff nor the deputy noticed Canas looming behind them – and in an instant, the dragon lasso’d out another rope from his trench coat and ensnared both Todd and Shawn.

“GAH!” Todd squeaked, his back pressed to Shawn’s as the rope was hastily tightened.

“W-What the–?!” Shawn yelped, falling on his rear with Todd as the rope squeezed them both, binding their arms to their sides and keeping them back-to-back. He blinked, eyes wide, before he began to squirm, realizing what had just happened. “H-HEY! What gives?!”

Zer and Zach, still tired as all get-out, looked on quietly with wide eyes, surprised and confused, as Canas loomed over them all with a cheeky smile. The dragon gently placed a hand on Todd’s head, and one on Shawn’s, giving them both awkward pats.

“This is what’s gonna make up for that little discount I gave you two,” he teased, giggling a bit. “I DID say we’d share a few laughs, didn’t I~?”

“H-Hey! This isn’t what we agreed to – you’re a traitor!” Shawn snapped, angrily kicking in the binds and shaking him and Todd around.

“Traitor?” Canas chuckled, the dragon taking a knee in front of a confused Todd and beginning to remove his boots. “Hardly, I completed your job and am still accepting your payment. Nothing I’m doing is going against what you asked for… after all, you didn’t say I couldn’t do this~.”

“Wait, huh?” Todd tilted his head, looking entirely clueless as he wiggled his feet absentmindedly the moment they were exposed to the open air, resting gently in Canas’ palms. “What’s going on exactly?”

“We’re gonna be tickled, Todd,” Shawn scoffed irritably, glancing over his shoulder at the fox. “This creep’s backstabbing us.”

“Backstabbing?!” Todd gasped, still blissfully oblivious. “He’s gonna kill us?!”

Shawn was too flabbergasted to speak, so Canas took the chance to chuckle and gently drag a claw down Todd’s left sole, making the fox squeak. “Unless you’re allergic to laughter, I don’t think either of you will die under my watch~.”

“GYEEHAH!” Todd bucked slightly and tried to tug on his feet, though the dragon did put both down after a moment. A blush formed on the fox’s face as he fidgeted more in the rope that held him and Shawn together. “D-Dohon’t do that! C-C’mon!”

“Mmph, this is gonna suck,” Shawn grumbled, puffing up his cheeks as they began to turn redder by the second.

As the two looked more and more distressed, their audience was quite entertained. Zach smirked wryly, and Zer grinned cutely, the two watching on in clear delight. This only added to Todd’s discomfort and Shawn’s embarrassment.

“Heh, e-enjoy the ride, you two,” Zach taunted, the hyena chuckling darkly. “Th-This creep’s gonna b-break ya~.”

“I-It’ll be fun! F-For us to watch, I mean,” Zer giggled, before he groaned, his smile falling to a pout. “B-But I hope we get out of here after…”

“Oh, don’t worry, I plan to let you all out when I’m done,” Canas reassured, kneeling down by the two officers and placing a hand on each of their tummies, which caused the donkey and fox to both recoil into each other.

And then those darn clawed fingers began wiggling.

“E-EeheeHEEP!” Todd jumped, squirming a bit as he tried to move away from the fingers that worked into his shirted belly. “D-Dohohon’t d-doho thahaHAHAT!”

“Snrrreehehehahaha~!” Shawn screwed his eyes shut, starting to buck almost immediately as his bare belly was walked over by the dragon’s claws. “C-Cuhuhuhuhuhit th-thahat o-ohohohohout y-you jeheheheherk…!”

Canas just giggled and kept on going, slowly circling his fingers around their stomachs as he took in his third and fourth giggle fits for the day. Zach and Zer kept watching in delight, but the drake wasn’t certain if he was done with them quite yet. He didn’t intend to keep them bound forever, but they were so much fun to play with, and he had so many more tools to use… and now he had four victims instead of just two.

‘It’s a good day for the Ticklish Paw Hunter,’ Canas thought, chuckling to himself as he continued tormenting the two chuckling cops. ‘I’m definitely gonna be back here someday~.’