Fireflies

The sky reminds her vaguely of smeared finger painting, the pinks and oranges….along with the darkening purple of the night sky seem to blend together as the sun sinks lower and lower behind the outcropping of tall buildings.

The evening's bustling city dwellers makes her head ache slightly, ever since she Shifted her senses are slowly becoming overwhelming, she can hear the chatter and hustle around her and the constant honking, roaring engines of cars stuck in traffic.

The smell is also a bit irritating, massaging her temples the chipette tries to enjoy the soft evening breeze as she sits on Simon's back steps.

The small backyard is alive with chirping crickets and she spots the flicker of fireflies as they dance above the grass, fading in and out of view as the night creeps closer.

Her headache throbs dully behind her eyes and she fidgets in annoyance, wishing her senses were dulled and she could enjoy the night like she used to….she flinches slightly as Alvin's body brushes against hers, the munk takes a seat beside her on the cramped stairs and she flashes him an annoyed glare.

"How can you still creep up on me like that?" She questions, marveling quietly at his shimmering golden eyes, she always liked his eyes…..she's never seen any like his before.

"You don't pay attention, that's why," He teases, glancing at her with a smile, it turns into a frown when he sees her paw resting against her temple, "Head hurting?" he questions.

"Yeah…..it's all the noise,"

"You just got to block it out…..it's a little hard to do but if you feel safe then it's easy, just don't pay attention to it all," He scratches at his cheek, eyes drifting out to the yard.

Brittany nods, following his gaze she watches as the small enclosed yard seems to light up with dazzling twinkling lights, she's never seen so many fireflies before! Every time one would blink out another would flicker on, their dancing nighttime show soothes her aching skull and she finds herself mesmerized by the little bugs.

She's a bit startled when Alvin suddenly springs off the steps, she watches with wide eyes as the munk darts after the insects, catching them harmlessly in his fists she feels a smile pull at her lips as he races after a stubborn firefly who rises higher up into the air to avoid his grabbing paws.

Brittany laughs and hides her smile behind her paw, amusement twinkling in her eyes as he walks back to her panting slightly, "Guess how many I caught!" He says proudly, holding his closed fists out towards her, flashing a bright grin at her amused face.

"Hmm….five," She guesses, feeling her smile grow when he snorts and rolls his eyes.

"Yeah right, I have way more than that, I'm too pro at this," He opens his paws and she watches in awe as a group of fireflies take to the sky, a few linger on his palms, crawling along the creases before flying after their friends, flashing their lights as they join the twinkling dance again.

"How'd you catch so many and not lose them?" She asks standing to her paws as she eyes a sparking bug drifting past them.

"It's easy, just swipe and close your fist, you have to be fast though because if you want to catch a lot in one paw you have to make sure none have a chance to escape," He instructs her, taking her paw in his he tugs her along to the center of the yard grinning.

"Want to see who can catch the most?"

"You're on!"

Alvin laughs as Brittany races for a firefly that's been drifting too close, he watches her a moment as she stumbles through the dark, intent on catching the brief flashes of light, if one goes out she pauses and watches the area in front of her until the light comes back and she's back to chasing it.

He joins her clumsy hunt, both laughing and smiling as they occasionally bump into each other, both intently focused on their goal.

Brittany finally can't take it anymore and flops onto the grass laughing between small pants, she hasn't done something like this in a long time, she felt like a kid again.

Alvin flops onto the ground beside her, sitting close he leans towards her, "How many did you get?" He asks eyeing her fists.

Brittany smiles and opens her palms, watching with bright azure eyes as the few bugs she caught escape back into the night, "I'm going to say…..around twenty, and you?" She turns her attention to him, watching as he opens his hands.

And no bugs are to be seen.

"Hey you let me win!" Brittany accuses, frowning at him as he shrugs his shoulders and chuckles, letting her shove him as she fights her own smile.

"I was distracted," He admits leaning back onto his hands as he looks up towards the night sky, "Feeling better?"

Brittany blinks, realizing that she hasn't felt the normal annoying pain behind her eyes that comes with her headaches she nods numbly, "Yeah…..the headache is gone,"

"Good,"

They lapse into silence, their eyes drifting back to the fireflies who go about their night completely unaware of the two rodents sitting in the grass and the bustling city around them.

Brittany leans against his side and watches the fireflies contently, now everytime she's feeling ill she'll find herself out on the back steps, waiting for the fireflies.

Not too much wolf-fluff in this one but I thought I'd show how Brittany is dealing with her new found powers and enhanced senses and how Alvin seems to help in the strangest ways.

I'm taking suggestions for future one-shots! Mostly involving Alvin and Brittany but I'll take a few for Simon and Jeanette as well if you want (Theodore has yet to make an appearance in my story, when he does I'll also take suggestions for Theo and Ellie too)

Thank you for reading!