Page 14 of Stags

“Anyway, I was coming to see if you wanted to get a bite to eat with me,” said Bruin. “Are you busy?”

“I’m free,” said Stockton. “Just coming back from orientation, in fact.”

“You’re doing the midnight run?”

“I mean, you are, right?”

Bruin shrugged. “I don’t know. Midnight is late, after all, and I’m very old.”

“You are very old, Bruin,” said Stockton, grinning at him. He opened the door to his room, gesturing with his head. “Come in while I get myself together?”

“Sure,” said Bruin.

The rooms here were nice, like a hotel room. You could rent rooms out here at the Center, after all, for other activities. Sometimes, they hosted speakers here, and if you came in from out of town, you could stay here. There was a bed, a TV, a closet with closed-loop hangers that couldn’t be removed from the rod.

Stockton ducked into the bathroom.

Bruin sat down on the bed, waiting for him. “Is it weird that I invited you to this thing?”

“It’s not like I didn’t know about it,” came Stockton’s voice from the bathroom. “Besides, do we worry about things like that? Aren’t we the definition of weird?”

Bruin smirked. “True.”

Stockton came out, sans tie and jacket, his shirt untucked. He was smoothing at the place where it had been tucked in. “Is it wrinkled here? I should get another shirt.” He looked Bruin over. “Hell, I should put on jeans. You’re wearing jeans.”

Bruin was wearing jeans, but he was wearing a blazer also. He thought the look was something more than casual, a little elevated.

Stockton seized things from his suitcase and went back into the bathroom. “We’re not going to check out women together or anything, right? That would be weird.”

“Hadn’t planned on it, no. If you want me around, I’m there, but if you’d rather be on your own, that’s fine, too.”

“Yeah,” said Stockton.

“You won’t need to worry, because young bucks like yourself are highly sought after. Obviously, this thing attracts lots of older stags.”

“Obviously?” Stockton reappeared, now in jeans and a button-up shirt, a non-wrinkled one. “I didn’t know that.”

“Think about it. The younger you are, the less likely you need to check into a place like this to get some tail.”

“Well, thanks for making me feel good, Bruin. Since I apparently do need it.”

“Oh, you’ll love it. Everyone should do a rut before he’s twenty-five. You’ve never felt so alive, trust me.” Bruin got up from the bed and went to his son. He patted his chest. “You’ll see.”

Stockton shrugged. “Yeah, well, if Maibell hadn’t left me, maybe I wouldn’t be here.”

“This isn’t something to be ashamed of, you know, son.”

“Oh, moon and sun, I told you not to call me that!”

“It’s a natural part of our heritage, and you should be proud to be involved in it. It’s a yearly tradition that connects us to each other, to our ancestors, and to the natural ebbs and flows of the seasons.”

“You sound like the guy at the orientation,” said Stockton. “I’m not ashamed, anyway.”

“Well, good,” said Bruin.

“I’m terrified,” said Stockton.

Bruin chuckled. “Nothing to be frightened of.”

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