Adrian, Paul, Brad and Isaac were upset.
They’d planned to rent a cabin for the entire weekend, but Paul, the one with forethought, had checked the weather. Rain all weekend, flood warnings. They ended up canceling the trip. Now they had nothing to do but sit around and drink.
Adrian’s phone rang.
Adrian was a big burly man who was a prefect defensive tackle. His naturally tall and broad build made it near impossible for anyone to get past him. And his thick meaty thighs helped plant him in the ground making sure he'd never fall over. His features were rather handsome, if hairy. He was on the football team with Jeff, and so when his number popped up, his spirits lifted a bit. Jeff was always fun to hang with.
“Hello?”
“Hey, this is Jeff. Me, Finn, and his…friend, Dave, are going home to play this cool board-game Finn found. It’s like, college stuff, great for drinking and having fun.” Jeff said, the tiger’s voice strong.
“Really? Me and the other guys-uh, Brad, Paul, and Isaac-we were going to go up north to the lake, rent a cabin, but the weather sucks.” Adrian said.
“That’s terrible! But hey, you wanna come over to our house, have our own little party?”
Adrian looked around at the guys, hand over the receiver. “It’s Jeff. Wanna drink beer and play board-games at his house?”
“Man, I’ll do anything to get out of my own mind for a minute.” Brad shook his head. “Yeah, let’s do it.
Brad was a jock through and through, proud of his muscular body and not willing to try something that he didn't deem immediately cool. Even without the internet, he was happily taking selfies of his thick, toned arms. He was wearing a shirt featuring one of those bands you’ve probably never heard of. Big music guy.
“Sure.” Paul sighed.
He was younger, barely 21, with blonde hair and a professional air to him. He was built to a similar size as Brad, if not a bit bigger. He loved the gym and showing off to the girls more than actually playing. Not that coach didn't notice either, as Paul tended to be second string anyways. Being so focused on how he looked, he oftentimes found himself a bit slower or not properly eating to really show off the six pack. Paul was one of those guys that wore suits to be more mature. He was only wearing a shirt and slacks right now, lightly muscled body splayed on the couch.
“I guess…” Isaac said sullenly, adjusting his glasses.
It had been the nerdy guy’s idea in the first place. He'd always been a bit dorkier than the rest of the guys. Even if he was big enough to be on the football team, he was still only a kicker. He looked almost thin compared to the other men around him. But at the same time, a kicker didn't need to be big or bulky. He just needed to be able to kick. And plus, when he played soccer in the spring, he'd still need to be fast.
“They said yes.” Adrian replied.
“Cool! Meet us at our place!” Jeff said.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The boys arrived about half an hour later to Finn and Dave’s big house. No one was quite sure what he’d done to afford it, but apparently, his name was on the deed. Jeff was on the couch with Finn. The Tiger and his fox boyfriend had a board-game on the table.
It was a bright yellow box with bubbly letters shaped like different animal tails on it reading, 'Furry Fun.'
Brad's eyes raised from his phone but remained angry slits. "You've got to be shitting me," he growled.
"What?" Isaac asked, cleaning his glasses with a napkin.
Paul belted out a laugh. "Look at the box again and ask yourself the question again."
"Why not?" Adrian added.
The group looked at him.
Shock and confusion melded together at the largest of them.
"What?" he glared back. "What else are we going to do."
Adrian didn't want to admit that something inside him was telling him that they should play. It was this weird urge that was slowly surfacing the longer he looked at the box. Part of him wondered if the other guys had it and were just acting their usual tough self, or if it was just him and he was bored out of his mind.
“So what do you guys think?” Finn asked nervously. “I know it’s kinda dorky, but I swear it’s fun!”
Isaac walked over and picked up the box, looking it over.
"Two to play?" Isaac tossed up two fingers and looked at the other two jocks. "Games are more fun with more people..." He raised his voice as though it were some kind of incentive for them to join.
Brad let out a huff. "Fine. Let's at least see it." With the affirmative answer Isaac rushed over to the table, clearing the center piece off the table and opening the box.
"Really?" Paul stared a bit in disbelief.
"What else are we going to do?" Brad asked.
"Fine..." Paul relented and sat down.
Isaac was busy pulling out the board and all its pieces. There were several decks of cards, a die, and a coin. The square board had a square in the center of it that said, 'Furry Fun!' and then several paths leading outward toward a large circle with a path of squares around it. It almost looked like a Trivial Pursuit board but these didn't look like knowledge categories. And the larger squares where you would be able to get your pie piece were instead something more like animal parts. Ears, eyes, nose, tail, one had paws for hands and one had paws for feet, and then fur were in each of them.
"Weird..." Adrian was starting to regret his decision a bit as he looked at the board. He tried to distract himself by picking up one of the 'Truth or Dare' cards. However, when he turned it over, it was completely blank. He did a few more only to find the same thing. "What the hell?" He went over to the 'Act it Out' cards. It was exactly the same.
"Stop that," Isaac slapped the cards out of his hand and re-stacked the deck. Then put his nose back into the instructions. "We're supposed to go in blind." Adrian gave a huff and sat silently while Isaac browsed the rules. "Alright. First pick a color." Isaac grabbed the yellow one, Adrian went for brown, Paul went for white, and Brad picked the black piece. "Okay, now put them on the Furry Fun! square and then we're supposed to take turns rolling and then what we land on determines which card we're supposed to read. 'Act it Out,' the player must do what is on the card or face a penalty, 'Show What You Know' the player must truthfully answer the question on the card or face a penalty, 'Physical Challenge’ and 'Truth or Dare' are just as they sound. With Truth or Dare you have to do one from each of the players. But this 'Two Truths and a Lie' one is kind of creepy. It says, 'The player who lands on this space must tell two truths and one lie. The other players must guess which one is false. However, if all players are wrong, the player who landed on the space receives a punishment. Make sure you're lie sounds believable otherwise it might become the truth. What the hell does that mean?"
"Who cares," Brad dismissed. "Let's just play already."
"Fine. Fine," Isaac continued skimming the rules. "Let me get to how to play... A player must win before the game is finished. Players may go either direction on the outer circle but when two players land on the same space the two much face off each other on the square and receive a special reward for the winner. Players must finish the game by collecting all the pieces on the board. When landing on one of the larger squares roll the die to see which card to pick up. 1. Act it Out, 2. Physical Challenge, 3. Truth or Dare, 4. Show What You Know, 5. Two Truths and a Lie, 6. Players Choice. Oh! And one more thing, apparently you have to flip a coin whenever you hit a crossroads, heads continue on the outer circle, tails head towards the 'Furry Fun!' square in the center." He held up the coin with a fox tail on one side and a fox face on the other.
"Anything else?" Paul demanded.
"Apparently we're just supposed to say our favorite animal at the same time and then the first player gets to roll," Isaac shrugged. "Ready? 1.2.3. Lion."
"Bear," Adrian said.
"Rabbit," Paul said.
"Wolf," Brad said.
“Ram!” Dave grinned and everyone rolled their eyes.
“Tiger?” Jeff glanced at Finn.
“Fox.”
"And then Adrian goes first because his animal comes first in alphabetical order," Isaac said. He passed the die to Adrian.