Patrick woke up at the crack of dawn with his head throbbing, his jaw sore, and his asshole aching. His breath tasted like cheap beer and cum, and the worst thing of all? He loved it. He was positively giddy at how much fun he’d had letting loose and making friends again for the first time in… God, it had to be a decade. He took a shot of mouthwash, not even bothering to spit it out, then stumbled outside after pulling on his uniform as best he could, accidentally grabbing Tom's shorts in the process.
He looked out over the camp, already hearing the sounds of a couple early-rising little critters in the distance. He definitely needed some coffee before he dealt with all that, however. He peeked back into the cabin and saw the other three counselors still dead asleep, and decided he could probably run over to the mess and get a quick cup before they woke up. Hell, it would probably take that long for Tom to frantically wash Zack’s jizz out of his hair.
Ignoring his headache, Patrick started to walk down the path, but heard heavy steps falling into line next to him. He turned to see Soren, clipboard in hand as always, giving him a long look.
“Good morning?” Patrick said cautiously, wondering if he was about to get another earful like the day before, but the big bear just smiled.
“You’re looking better,” he said, patting him on the back. “See what happens when you behave? It seems the camp approves of the job you’ve been doing.”
Patrick rolled his eyes and responded with, “Yeah, instead of being a tiny little gay mouse, I’m a gay mouse of somewhat average height. Is that really all? Talk about a letdown.”
“Trust me, you could have gotten off a lot worse,” Soren replied, still smiling kindly as he walked alongside Patrick. He spotted Elliot and Liam running out of the showers toward their cabin, their fur still damp as they held hands the whole way. “Or, maybe you would have been happy if you’d gotten on the camp’s bad side, too. Things tend to work out either way, in my experience.”
They both stopped, and Soren turned to Patrick. “How do you feel? Better, right?” Soren asked, hoping his first run as head counselor wasn't going to be a complete bust.
Beyond the physical aftereffects of last night’s festivities, Patrick had to say that he felt great. “…Yeah, much better. I’m not angry all the time, I’ve got some new friends, and… well, I don’t know if I’ve felt this strong in years. This skinny body packs a lot of power,” Patrick admitted, but there was something still bugging him. “…I just wish I knew what lesson I was supposed to be learning.”
Soren burst into a big guffaw at that and slapped the little mouse on the back. “Oh, don’t worry about that!” he said. “This isn’t a kid’s storybook with a moral at the end. Do you accept that you were a bad person a day ago? And are you committed to becoming better?”
Patrick nodded, wondering where the bear was going with this.
“Then what’s the problem? Just keep doing what you’ve been doing and I’m sure everything will work out for the best,” Soren said, earning a look of complete bafflement from Patrick. “Look, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you, right? You’d be a fool to waste that chance, but you'd be an even bigger fool not to enjoy it.”
Patrick just sighed and continued to walk down the path, deciding he needed his coffee before thinking too much about whatever Soren was babbling about. After he’d walked a ways away, he heard Soren calling after him.
“Hey, Pat! You want a job? We could still use a good coach!”
Patrick stopped, wondering if he really should accept. He’d fucked up his life the first time by letting his coaching job go to his head, letting his body and personality fall apart. Was it really worth the risk of messing up his second chance at life. Still… he thought about the happy little critters he’d met at the camp over the past day, and deep down he knew he could help them live their best, most active lives. He had to help them.
“Can I coach baseball?” Patrick asked cautiously.
“We’ll start you on tee-ball. And junior soccer,” Soren shot back as walked over and held out one paw to Patrick. “Don’t want to overwhelm a little guy like you right off the bat, after all.”
“…Deal,” Patrick said, feeling a warm breeze run through his hair as soon as he said the words.
Soren chuckled and shook the little mouse’s paw. “Good. We’ll see if we can get you trained up before the next group of kiddos comes in a few months. Maybe we can even get a rivalry going with the boy scout camp the next county over…” Soren mused, unsure how exactly that would even work.
“Now, go get your coffee and a shower,” Soren commanded firmly. “Unless you want to be the one to explain to the kiddos what an orgy is and why you reek of one.”
“On it, sir!” Patrick said playfully as he ran off to get ready for the day, knowing he still had plenty of time to enjoy everything the camp had to offer before the end of the weekend.
A soft little breeze blew past Soren's ear as Patrick ran off, making the big bear blush in embarrassment. "Yes, I'm quite aware Alex would have handled it better. I'm still new at this, gimme a break here," he muttered as he wandered off to take care of his morning duties around the camp. "No pleasing some people..."