by Tom Jones
After repeating the process to the other ankle and double-locking both of the shackles, Arcades stood back up, and he turned around to face the wolf. Though Arcades definitely looked restrained enough, he was not quite done. Jason returned back to the bag, and he emerged moments later with a plain set of Taiwanese thumbcuffs. These thumbcuffs did not feature raised rivets, and they were completely slick. They were also unbranded and completely unmarked except for the word ‘Taiwan’ engraved on the point where the bow meets the pin on the frame which it rotates on. Arcades held out his cuffed hands, and he allowed for the wolf to lock his thumbs together. The wolf locked the thumbcuffs such that the bows were facing upwards; Arcades found it more comfortable that way with the serrations not biting into the top of his thumbs. Jason used the handcuff key to press the double-locking pin on the bottom of the thumbcuffs, and he stepped back away from the fox once more. Before the wolf could return back to the bag, the fox spoke, “Leave it loose enough for me to talk.”
“You got it, mate,” Jason said as he went back to the bag to retrieve another device. Jackie was initially unsure of what Arcades was referring to, but she quickly realized what he meant when she saw the wolf carrying a fox muzzle. Arcades got down on his knees to make the muzzle easier for the wolf to apply, and he sat still as Jason proceeded to place the device over his mouth. When the wolf finished, he stepped away, and Arcades was still able to speak, “Thanks, Jason.” The fox stood up off of his knees when Jason finished, and he turned to face the vixen who was also in the room, “This is what I mean when I say my favorite combination. Do you still want to do this?” Surprisingly to Arcades, the response he received defied his expectations, “Yeah.” Arcades figured that the vixen would not want to proceed, but she still wanted to. The fox began to wonder what type of treatment she got in the Foundation. Despite Arcades’ interest in being restrained himself, he resented the idea of others being restrained, especially if they did not want to be in such a situation. Of course, the fox had no objection to restraining Jason, but he knew that the wolf enjoyed the activity just as he did. Arcades looked over to the wolf and said, “If that’s what she wants, then you can go ahead.” Jason looked back at Jackie before he looked down at the bag. The wolf reached down to retrieve an identical set of restraints to use them on the vixen.
After the wolf finished restraining Jackie in an identical fashion as to what he did to Arcades, he took a step back and watched as the vixen began to move a bit closer to the fox. Arcades stood in silence; he was not sure what Jackie was planning on doing. Arcades made a suggestion to the vixen, “How about we take a seat here?” After he spoke, Jackie almost immediately got down on her knees in the middle of the floor. Arcades got down on his knees directly to the vixen’s right, and he asked, “This doesn’t bother you at all?” Jackie looked to her right and replied, “Nope.” Arcades studied the vixen’s body language: Her restrained hands were calmly resting on her thighs, her body curved forwards only slightly, and she was kneeling with her feet canted sideways. From what the fox could see, it seemed as if the vixen was telling him the truth; her body language did suggest that she was content with her current position. Arcades looked down at his own body for comparison, and his hands were calmly resting on his thighs as well. The fox also had his feet canted sideways as he knelt. Of course, the fox knew that he personally was content with the way he was restrained, but something just did not feel right about having somebody else in a similar manner with him. Arcades did not know if this acceptance was something the Foundation taught Jackie, or if it was something that she always had an affinity for.
Jason stood behind both of the foxes, and he watched them as they sat in silence. The wolf looked back and forth at both Jackie and Arcades, and he was rather surprised with how similar their bodies looked. Though Jackie was a good few inches shorter than both of the male anthros, her body was about the same size as Arcades. Jason always knew that Arcades’ body did look strikingly feminine in a way, but the wolf was now able to see just how similar Arcades looked to a female with an actual vixen sitting directly next to him. The wolf continued looking back and forth at both anthros, and he could see more similarities than differences than both of them. Jason knew that back when he was a homosexual, he always had a strong attraction for feminine-looking males, but it was now when he realized just how feminine Arcades really looked. However, even with his small body, the fox still stood a whole inch taller than the wolf: Arcades was six feet tall. Jackie appeared to be about four inches shorter than the wolf, but Jason had not really had a way to check. At the same time, Arcades looked a bit different than he did back when he first saw the fox during his detainment by the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. Perhaps being a grown fox for about twelve years made his body look just a bit more masculine than it did before.
Jason paced back and forth a bit, and he still was wondering why the two foxes were silent. The wolf began to wonder why two foxes with such thin-framed bodies should be wearing such heavy restraints. It was not like they were even capable of offering any form of substantial resistance. After all, Jason himself was easily twice the size of Arcades, and Jackie was no match for him either. The wolf knew that he would be able to usurp practically any amount of power and authority he wanted over both of the foxes. He would not even have to restrain them to do such; they would be unable to overpower him. Jason knew that if he really wanted to, he would be able to simply not release the two foxes when they were done. At that point, they would be completely subject to the wolf’s mercy, and they would not be able to resist whatsoever. It’s not like they would be able to release themselves without the key. They would verbally protest, of course, but tightening the muzzles would prevent their pleas for release. Jason would be able to do whatever he wanted to his two foxes, and they would never be able to do anything provided the wolf did not release them from their restraints. Even if they were released, they still would have to overpower Jason, and that would be hard with just strength alone.
Jason pushed the thoughts out of his head; he would never betray the trust of Arcades again, and he was still very grateful that the fox was willing to forgive him for what he did the first time. The wolf was mainly astounded by how easy it would be for him to turn the tables. The two foxes were trusting Jason that he would release them when they were ready, and he did feel good in a way that they were willing to trust such a responsibility to him. Jason knew that he did not deserve Arcades’ trust; After all, he was the one who betrayed Arcades only the second time the fox allowed for the wolf to restrain him. Jason remembered those images that he had seen over a decade ago, and he would have never expected for him to meet the very fox he pleasured himself to in person. He also would have never guessed that the same fox would forgive him for pleasuring himself to his own images. Jason thought about all the things Arcades had done for him, and he could not help but still feel guilty for taking advantage of him. The fox was not even naive about the wolf’s actions either; Arcades knew very well of what all the wolf had done. To Jason, the most astounding thing was that the fox was still willing to give him another chance. The wolf knew very well that he did not deserve the second chance he was given.
Arcades finally broke the silence, “Well, this is it, really. I just stay like this for a little while until I’m ready to get out.” Jackie remained silent. The fox then said, “You know, I don’t really desire for anybody to be like this.” The vixen looked to her right and asked, “Then why do you do it?” The fox sighed before he replied, “Eh… Sometimes I feel like I deserve it.” Jackie asked the fox another question, “Why would you think that?” Arcades looked down at his restrained hands and spoke, “Maybe it’s because I’m a fox. I’ll never forget the time when I was told that I deserve nothing better than to be locked up and shut up.” The vixen, being a red fox herself, actually could relate in a way. Before she could say anything else, Arcades spoke again, “However, I know that I deserve much worse than that.” Jackie was beginning to wonder wha
t the fox was talking about, “What did you do?” The fox gave the chain around his waist a slight tug in order to become more comfortable, and he adjusted his position since the way he was kneeling was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable due to the high arches of his feet causing him some discomfort from kneeling.
Once Arcades finished getting comfortable enough, he replied, “We are all sinners. We have all fallen short of the Glory of God, and there’s nothing we can do to redeem ourselves.” The fox waited for a few seconds, but the vixen did not say anything. Arcades then said, “Jesus died for all of us so that we do not have to endure punishment; He took the punishment in our place. He paid for everybody’s sin from the past, present, and future.” Jackie finally asked a question, “If you don’t need to endure this, then why do you still do it?” Arcades looked to his left at the vixen, and he said, “I know this won’t change anything. To be honest, I just do it because I just happened to end up liking it. It’s nothing major or anything. It’s just something that I find myself coming back to do again from time to time. Besides, Jason likes doing it to me, so I let him. Nothing wrong is happening here.” The fox sat in silence again, and Jackie did not have anything to say in response. Arcades began talking once more, “You don’t have to do this, you know. I don’t have to do this either, but I decided to.” Jackie finally had something to say for herself, “I chose to do it as well.” Arcades now presented the vixen with a question, “Do you mind me asking you why?” Jackie sat in silence. Arcades looked at the vixen’s face. Though Jackie’s face was obstructed by the muzzle to some degree, he was still able to see her facial expression. The vixen had an expression which looked as if she knew Arcades would not like the answer she had to give. The fox’s eyes traveled downwards to view Jackie’s hands, and he could see that they were now clenched into fists.
Realizing that Jackie was not exactly as calm as she was before, the fox turned his body far enough that he was able to look at the wolf standing behind the two, “Let her out, Jason.” The wolf was unsure of why the fox was asking him to free the vixen. The wolf did hold the keys in his hand, but he stood still. Arcades spoke again with a more firm voice, “Jason. Let her out.” Jason now realized that the fox’s request was beginning to sound rather urgent, so he moved forwards and began to free the vixen: He started by unlocking the thumbcuffs, the handcuffs, and he finally made the vixen stand up to remove the shackles from her legs. Jason unlocked the padlock securing the excess chain, and the loose link soon fell through the Martin link and landed on the floor. Jason moved behind the vixen and removed the muzzle as well. Within less than a minute, Jackie was completely free from all of the restraints she had consented to be put in. If anything, she did not explicitly consent to be released, but Arcades disregarded this detail. To the fox, it was currently more important to set Jackie free whether she desired to be set free or not.
After Jason freed the vixen, Arcades stood up. Though the fox was still restrained himself, this factor did not seem to even bother him at this point. Arcades was very used to lacking freedom of movement, so he was accustomed to what he could and could not do with his body while it was bound in carbon steel. The fox, unable to outwardly extend his hands due to the chain keeping his hands at his waist, got the vixen’s attention by speaking, “Jackie. I know you’ve told us that you chose to go to the Foundation, but that doesn’t matter anymore. You’re not in the Foundation anymore, so you don’t need to think as if you are. It doesn’t matter what all they taught you in there. They can’t do anything to you here. You shouldn’t have to worry about that any longer.” Jackie looked away from Arcades; the fox could tell that she was very guilty about something. The fox figured that he wouldn’t get to know the problem as it stood, so he decided that it should be best for him to just calm the vixen down.
Arcades came close enough to grab the vixen’s arm with his own restrained hands, and he brought Jackie closer to his bed, “Take a seat here.” Jackie took a seat, and Arcades sat down directly to her right again. The fox began to speak, “It doesn’t matter what all you’ve done. The Lord is still willing to forgive you for anything and everything that you might’ve done. You don’t need to keep holding on to this burden.” Jackie sat in silence and did not even acknowledge the fox who was speaking to her. The vixen looked straight down, closed her eyes, and she buried her face in her hands. Arcades was not sure if Jackie was even listening to him at this point. The fox looked to his right, and he could see that Jason was motioning him to follow the wolf. Arcades looked back at the vixen, but he figured that there was not anything else that he would be able to do. The fox stood up from the bed he was sitting on, and he approached Jason. The wolf did not say anything; he only opened the door and gestured that Arcades come with him. The fox followed.
Jason closed the door, and he continued walking until he made it into the storefront. Arcades, still heavily bound, took a bit longer to reach the location Jason moved to, but he still arrived in a timely manner. The wolf spoke, “What happened? Why did she just freeze up like that?” Arcades replied, “I’m not entirely sure.” The wolf then said, “Do you think it has something to do with the Foundation?” Arcades shrugged, “I mean, it could, but I don’t know what all they had done to her in there.” Jason sighed, “Well, by the looks of it, I’m thinking that it wasn’t that great.” The fox looked down at his shackled feet for a moment before looking back up at the wolf, “Perhaps. It may be better to avoid this type of stuff around her. I shouldn’t have even let this happen in the first place. I gave her every opportunity to change her mind, but -- mmph!” Jason interrupted the fox by squeezing the fox’s muzzle shut, “It’s not your fault, Kurt.” Arcades did not attempt to speak again once the wolf had shut him up.
Jason finally released his grip from the muzzle on the fox’s face, and he waited to see if Arcades had anything to say at all. However, the fox was still remaining silent. Jason offered a suggestion, “How ‘bout we look at going to bed? It’s getting kind of late.” Arcades gave a nod, “Yeah… She’ll probably feel better in the morning.” The wolf reached into his pocket, and he pulled out the keyring, “Ready to get out of those?” Arcades gave another nod, but this one was less confident, “Go for it.” Jason inserted the key into the lower keyhole of the thumbcuffs and twisted it in one full rotation to undo the double lock. The wolf then took the key out of the lower slot and inserted it into the upper slot. After twisting the key to the left and to the right, Arcades’ thumbs were free from the restraints. Jason then inserted the key into the handcuffs on the fox’s wrists, and he released the fox fairly quickly. As Arcades removed the handcuffs from the Martin link, Jason knelt down to unlock the shackles around the fox’s ankles. Arcades removed the muzzle from his mouth by himself once he had free control of his arms, and he also removed the restraint chain from around his waist by himself since the padlock only secured the excess chain.
Arcades gathered up all of the restraints the wolf had used on him, and he held them in his newly freed hands. Arcades looked at the clothes the wolf wore, “How about you get yourself changed?” Jason gave a nod of acknowledgement, “Strewth. I’ll get right on it.” Jason extended his hand to give Arcades the keyring, and the fox took the keys. Arcades spoke, “I’ll put these up. I’ll let Jackie sleep in my bed for tonight. Do you mind sharing your bed with me?” Jason quickly accepted the fox’s offer, “Yeah, for sure. Not a problem. I’ll get right to it, mate.” The fox, now holding the restraints he was previously wearing, returned back into the room which he had just exited. Jason followed suit, and the wolf went to grab his nightwear. Arcades packed up all of the restraints that he had, and he also placed the restraints that were discarded on the ground in the bag as well. The fox zipped up the bag once it was all packed up, and he lifted it back up to where he usually kept it. Arcades turned around to see how Jackie was doing, and he saw that the vixen was still in the same place. The fox approached Jackie, and he said, “You can sleep here tonight. Sounds good?” Though th
e vixen did not say anything, she did nod her head to let Arcades know that she acknowledged him. The fox looked up, and he saw that the wolf had already exited the room; he had grabbed his nightwear. Arcades opened a dresser to grab his own nightwear, and he removed the shirt and shorts which he currently wore. The fox, now wearing only his underwear, placed his last set of clothes back into a dresser, and he donned his nightwear. Arcades exited the room to go and brush his teeth.
When Jason and Arcades both finished with their hygienic routine for the night, they both entered the room to find that Jackie was already asleep in the fox’s bed. The wolf spoke quietly to the fox, “Looks like she’s tired.” Arcades gave a nod and also replied quietly as to not wake the vixen, “Yeah. I wonder if what she told us when we found her was true.” Both anthros approached the wolf’s bed, and Jason spoke again, “It’s not like it makes too much of a difference if it was true or not, right?” Arcades agreed with the wolf, “I know, but still. That’s not the ideal scenario to be in.” Jason pulled the covers down on the bed, and he climbed inside. The fox climbed inside the bed as well, and once both anthros were in the bed together, Jason pulled the covers up. Arcades spoke, “I’ll say the prayer for tonight unless you’d rather.” The wolf did not present any objection, “It’s all yours, mate.” Arcades nodded and closed his eyes, “Dear Heavenly Father, we want to thank You for this day that You’ve given us. We want to thank You for us finding Jackie here, today, and we pray that You will open her heart to Your grace. We pray that she will come to seek Your forgiveness, and we also pray that You’ll set her at peace with the issues that she is having. We pray that You will protect us from the men sent to find us, and we pray that You will watch over us and bless us with Your guidance and most valuable wisdom. We pray that You will show us the path, and that You will let us know what You want us to do. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit -- Amen.” Once the fox finished the prayer, Jason echoed the last word of it, “Amen.” Arcades opened his eyes, and he saw that the wolf was looking directly at him. Jason began to close his eyes again, “Goodnight, Kurt. I love you.” Arcades closed his eyes as well, “I love you too, Jason. Sleep well.”
