-Truck Talks-
"No its ok Nick, really. It's not like we had to use thousands of gallons of water to put out a fire recently," Trisha shouted from the bed as she crossed her legs and began to fiddle with her phone.
Nick meanwhile chuckled as he let the warm water wash over his fur. After the surprise wake up call he had been told to get ready. Not that he needed much prompting from the brown bunny who had let herself into the cabin. The fox had hurried into the bathroom and hopped into the shower. He had only been in there for a few minutes before the impatient doe began to pester him from the other room.
As the water poured down his body Nick closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. The memories from the past few days began to come flooding back.
-Several days earlier-
Nick was standing in a well-lit hallway inside the local lodge. The massive wooden structure was probably one of the largest resorts Nick had seen outside of Zootopia. It boasted many rooms that could accommodate mammals of any size imaginable. There were restaurants, a bar, and of course many cozy little spots where mammals could just sit inside and relax as they took in views of the local valley.
The resort itself was owned by the Parks Department as a form of revenue. At the moment it was really the only form of income for the department thanks to the loss of so much in the June fire.
Nick took in a deep breath as he looked at a mural that was painted on one of the walls of the small waiting area he currently found himself in. The mural had trees of epic proportions rising up from the soil and into the sky. Of course, they weren't the main focus of the picture. A black and blue steam train was crossing a bridge towards a series of mountains. A plaque beside the mural explained the significance of the train and the parks department.
Before Nick managed to read the brief history he detected movement behind him.
A lovely looking raccoon in a business suit approached Nick and gave him a polite nod. The smile on her face was a welcome sight to the fox who had to admit he was somewhat nervous for this interview.
He had to get this job. If he didn't then…well, there wasn't much point in worrying about that at the moment.
"They are ready for you in room 113 Mr. Wilde," The raccoon said softly.
The raccoon was actually a form of receptionist for the conference center. Nick had checked in with her upon his arrival at which point he had been told to wait till his interviewers were ready. Nick normally liked to have more knowledge before going into a meeting like this. He didn't even know the mammals that would be present. He had tried to get info out of Judy but she was pretty useless when it came to this as she would simply put her lips to Nick's and distract him with one of her wonderful kisses.
Trisha had been equally unhelpful. Not that she was running around and kissing the fox though. No, the brown bunny found her own ways of keeping her lips shut. One of her preferred methods was throwing objects at the fox till he got the hint she wasn't telling him anything.
"Any last minute tips?" Nick asked with a hesitant smile.
Once again the mammals that called the parks home showed how they did not see Nick as a sly fox but someone in need. The raccoon gave Nick a friendly smile and stepped forward. She reached up and straightened Nick's tie and then brushed the dust from the shoulders of his suit.
Nick didn't know why but he felt slightly calmer thanks to this strangers assistance, small as it was.
"Remain calm Mr. Wilde. Remember you got this interview because they think they want you here. Simply remind them that they do and the rest will fall into place." The raccoon said with a smile. "And if all else fails…" The receptionist glanced to either side before looking back at the fox. "I get off at 5."
Nick felt his ears flick slightly and he couldn't help but smirk.
"Thanks but I am taken," Nick said happily.
"See that," The raccoon said with her own confident smirk.
"What?"
"How the world didn't come crashing down?" The raccoon said with a wink, her teal eyes showing a slight confidence in them. "If you get turned down it's not the end of the world. Just brush it off and make a new plan."
Nick stood there for a moment and processed what had just happened. He thought the raccoon had just asked him out but as it turned out it was a form of life lesson.
Did….did I just get hustled?
Nick was still running over what had just happened when he entered conference room 113. He pushed the thoughts from his mind and focused on the now. The first thing he had to do was assess his situation. To do that he needed to try and read the mammals at the interview. He liked to think he was rather good at reading mammals and could even predict what they would say next.
Except for that raccoon. She is good…maybe a former street hustler.
Once inside the small conference room, Nick took a moment to look at the three mammals sitting on one end of the large wooden table. He couldn't help but freeze when he looked at them.
"Welcome Mr. Wilde," Judy said with a smirk as she looked up at her fox. She was dressed in her new parks supervisor uniform. It was a light green button up shirt with the parks patches on her arm. A tree in a shield was on the front, Nick recognized it as the Park Departments unofficial logo.
"Please odd stranger who we have never met before, have a seat," Trisha joined in. The brown doe was in her standard ranger outfit. Her dark green hat sat on the table before her.
"I am going to apologize in advance Mr. Wilde," An arctic fox between the two smiling bunnies began. Nick guessed this was one of his future bosses. She wore a long-sleeved version of Trisha's outfit but her hat was absent. Her dark blue eyes looked directly into Nick's emerald ones. Her smile seemed genuine and when she reached out to give Nick's paw a shake he felt some strength behind her. He had a feeling that she was a tough but friendly kind of leader. Time, of course, would tell. "My name is Skye Winters. I am part of the Ranger's leadership. I handle all day to day operations when it comes to the Rangers." She then took a moment to look on either side of her at the two smiling bunnies. Judy's gaze never left Nick while Trisha smiled up at her boss with a mischievous grin. "We normally require a representative from the Parks leadership along with a frontline ranger…these two managed to guilt trip their way into this interview."
"I wonder why," Nick said with a smirk towards Judy. His view of his lovely doe was somewhat obscured by Trisha who literally climbed up onto the table and crawled in front of Judy. Waving at Nick the whole while.
A white-furred paw found its way onto Trisha's head as Skye pushed the playful doe back to her seat.
"You already know these two so don't have to apologize for them right?" Skye asked.
Ok, starting to like Skye.
The interview was actually a lot more fun than Nick thought it would be. For the most part, they kept things rather casual. Skye dropped the Mr. Wilde and she refused to let him call her by her last name.
They looked over Nick's resume which was a little embarrassing at first. Nick's job history was somewhat…absent. After all, what was he supposed to put? Professional hustler? What about Pawpsicle seller?
In the end, he had gone with: Consultant.
While Skye had been slightly skeptical about all this she admitted that one of their best rangers was given the job on a chance a while back. Skye explained while it is important to make sure they hire the most qualified candidates there are rare occasions when it's important to take a gamble and give a mammal a chance to prove themselves.
"Thought I got in because of my good looks," Trisha said as she looked over at Skye. The brown bunny playfully assuming Skye had been referring to her.
"I wasn't talking about you," Skye grumbled, keeping her eyes on Nick and trying to ignore the brown nuisance next to her. This became incredibly hard as Trisha reached over and began to tug at Skye's sleeve.
"Who is it?"
Skye remained silent but her eyelid began to twitch.
"Skye….Skye….Skye….Skye…"
"Anyways," Judy began, trying to get the interview back on topic. "Mr. Wilde.."
"Please, call me Nick," Nick said as he gave Judy a wink. The doe blushed and she had to look away for a moment to collect her thoughts.
"Skye, is it Delta?" Trisha asked on the other side of the table. "Is it because he couldn't make up his mind and just put every color he could find on his fur?"
"Focus!" Skye finally managed to get out which silenced the other three mammals in the room. The white fox closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She then looked up at Nick as her smile returned. "Sorry, but I think we need to ask you at least a few questions relevant to the position before we let Trisha start terrorizing you."
"Think you meant training boss," Trisha said sweetly.
"I know what I said," Skye shot back without breaking eye contact with Nick.
The rest of the interview was just as chaotic, no matter how hard any of them tried to stay professional.
Judy asked Nick a few basic interview questions. Like what were his strengths? What were his weaknesses? How did he solve problems?
The real kicker came when Judy asked, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"
Nick remained silent and just stared at Judy. The longer he stared the more she began to blush till she eventually had to put a folder in front of her face as she couldn't look at Nick and his handsome smirk. The two had talked about their relationship after the June fire. Nick applying to become a parks ranger told Judy that he was in this for the long haul and wanted to spend his days with her. In 5 years time who knew what could happen?
"So are they always this dorky?" Skye asked as she leaned over towards Trisha.
"Yes," Trisha snorted. "Which is why he would make an amazing ranger."
"You realize we have other requirements then just being dorky right?"
"Gosh Skye, don't ruin the mood you dork!"
-Present day-
"So once you are FINALLY DRESSED!" Trisha shouted from her seat inside Nick's room as she waited for the fox to finish getting ready in the bathroom. "We can get going for some breakfast, no way am I dealing with you on an empty stomach."
"Looking good takes time," Nick said as he finished getting ready. The fox opened the bathroom door and stepped out in his firewatch apparel. A dark green long sleeved shirt and some hiking pants which had been rolled up slightly. He had been told his uniform came later so, for now, he was to wear something he wouldn't mind getting sweaty in.
"You need more time," Trisha shot back as she looked the fox up and down.
"Oh haha," Nick grumbled as he closed the bathroom door.
The pair exited Nick's cabin a minute later. Trisha strolling over towards Nick's orange rusted pickup truck. As an employee of the parks service, Nick was offered a place to stay which the parks department would provide in exchange for a doc in his pay. Nick had done the math and realized it was kind of a steal so he took the parks department up on their offer and was now a resident of what was called "Camp Curry." Judy however called it Camp Cuddly because Nick was there. He had earned a slap on the arm after making a few gagging noises from that one.
Nick watched in mild amusement as Trisha hopped into the passenger seat of Nick's truck and made herself comfortable.
"Oh no I insist, I will drive," Nick grumbled as he fumbled for his keys and hopped into the driver's seat. Trisha was fiddling with her cellphone as the fox got comfortable and started his truck up.
As the engine rumbled to life Nick couldn't help but give the steering wheel a little rub. This truck had been through a lot and it still had a lot of life in it. The fox looked over at the ranger next to him and smirked. Trisha's paws hurried over the screen of her phone and her mouth hung open slightly as she lost herself in thought. Nick cleared his throat which caused the does ears to suddenly perk up as she came back into reality.
"Oh sorry there Nick," the bunny said with a smile as she buckled up. "It's so rare to be within cell range that I gotta enjoy it while I can."
"Not exactly something I am looking forward to losing," Nick admitted. He had grown used to having cell service as well. While out in the forest as a firewatcher there hadn't been any service and because of that, he didn't have much to do. Well besides fall head over paw for a certain purple eyed firewatcher.
"Oh, pu-lease.." Trisha snorted as she waved her paw around. "Like you are ever going back out into the woods again without her."
"What?"
"Rank has its perks, Nick. Plus you are most likely gonna be assigned to the main visitor region for a bit. There is a pay differential for those rangers out in the woods. It pays more so normally those spots are covered rather quickly." As Trisha explained some of the ins and outs of the Ranger hierarchy Nick couldn't help but smile.
Part of him had been worried about taking this job and what it could mean for him and Judy. From the sounds of it, there was very little for him to worry about. Sure there would be occasions when they would be apart. Right now for example. For the most part, though he could look forward to a lot more time with Judy.
Nick heard a snapping noise next to him and turned to see Trisha aiming her cellphone at him, a mischevious smirk on her face.
"What was that for?"
"You have a super goofy smile," Trisha said as she scrunched her nose.
Nick was about to speak up before Trisha cut him off.
"Plus Judy said to snag as many pics of you while she is out in the woods with my painted ranger. And what Judy wants.."
"Judy gets," Nick finished the Bunny's sentence.
"Smart fox. We will make a ranger of you yet!" Trisha exclaimed but was silenced as her stomach rumbled. "First though we have to get some grub before the monthly briefing."
"Briefing?"
"we got tons of time. Normally the briefings are done via radio but since you don't have your equipment yet I thought it would be best to take ya to the Rock Pile for our briefing. Plus the bosses are both in a big meeting today discussing budgets…or was it badgers…either way, I was told we don't need to be on frequency until 11 am."
"Is it always like this?" Nick asked, wanting to learn as much as he could about the job.
"Normally briefing is at 9 on the first of every month. Every once and a while they change it up. But they will always contact us before doing that…shouldn't you be driving me to food?"
Nick chuckled as he noticed a slight annoyance in Trisha's tone. He guessed the bunny got cranky when she was hungry and since they would be in a close capacity over the next few days Nick thought it was best to keep her happy.
"Where to?" Nick asked as he put the truck into drive.
"Um, where else? Lynn's!"
Nick laughed at the excitement in Trisha's voice, she sounded like a kit who was told they were about to have cake and ice cream for breakfast. Of course, Nick had no idea what they served at Lynn's so they very well could be having junk food.
Nick pulled the truck out of the small cluster of cabins and down a dirt road which soon turned to pavement. As they drove along Trisha and Nick chatted about little things here and there. Nick enjoying the does company. During the short break between Firewatching and Ranger training, Nick and Trisha had actually grown a lot closer than he thought they would. Nick soon realized that the way Trisha was he didn't have much of a choice, the doe managed to wiggle her way into mammal's lives and stay there. In the end, he was actually grateful for that. He was also grateful for another reason.
"So Judy is just standing there on the edge of this hill that is covered in mud with this look on her face like she is standing over a cliff," Trisha snorted as she recalled one of the many stories that involved a certain gray bunny. "Every time she tries to move she slipped a little and let out this adorable squeak."
"Because she didn't want to fall in the mud?" Nick asked between laughs.
"Exactly. Which is the best part because she already was covered in it from the other part of the obstacle course!"
"Then what was the point?" Nick asked as he followed Trisha's paw when she signaled for him to take a turn up ahead. They were making great time which was saying something since everything was so spread out here in the forest. The one thing that saved them time though was the fact that the roads were practically deserted. Only the occasional dirt covered car would pass them, a casual waved thrown their way by the other drivers.
"I have no idea but she spent like 5 minutes trying to climb this hill and was stuck in this one spot sliding all over the place," Trisha explained, her eyes bright. "I kinda felt bad when I pegged her with that water balloon, she was so close to the top."
"Why did you hit her with a water balloon then?"
"Because she was close to the top and I wanted to see what would happen," Trisha said as if this was the only reasonable response.
Nick chuckled and shook his head as he glanced over at the bunny next to him.
"What did she do to you afterward?"
Trisha wheezed," She couldn't get to me because she got up and tried to not fall in the mud again!"
"Oh Judy," Nick mumbled as he shook his head.
"Next time you talk to her ask her about Mud mountain," Trisha said happily.
Nick reached to his side and scooped up the radio clipped to his belt. He then glanced at Trisha who gasped excitedly and nodded, her ears flailing about as she did so.
"Hey there mudslinger," Nick began and had to do his best to remain calm, "Trisha was telling me about the time you braved Mud mountain."
"Note to self….toss Trisha in a lake," An annoyed response came back over the radio.
Both Trisha and Nick shared a laugh at Judy's expense.
"I am suddenly seeing a problem with leaving you with Trisha," Judy continued over the radio.
"I like story time," Nick responded before looking at Trisha and giving her a wink.
"I got a story for ya," Judy began as she cleared her throat. "There was once a Park Supervisor who made it her sole duty in life to make sure a certain Ranger and her trainee were responsible for teaching all camp courses for the rest of the season."
Trisha let out a groan and looked at the ceiling, "Oh gosh those are so boring."
"That include the CPR courses?" Nick asked over the frequency.
Had he looked over at Trisha he would have seen the bunny snap her head in his direction, a look of admiration on her lovely brown face.
"Ok new plan," Judy began. "Gonna jump into a lake myself so a certain fox practices CPR on me…..and ONLY ME!"
Trisha nudged Nick's arm and nodded to the walkie. He followed the bunny's command and clicked the mic. "You know standard procedure dictates that he trades off after the 2nd set of breaths," Trisha pointed out.
Laughter filled the radio as Judy tried to respond but was apparently enjoying herself too much.
"You ok boss?" Came a voice on the other side of the frequency.
"Sorry, just dealing with the troublemakers back home," Judy explained to Delta as she kept the mic on her end active.
"Awww, my sweet Delta," Trisha mumbled as she looked at the radio as if it were a picture of her own ranger.
"He is a big sweetie," Nick teased as he looked over at the doe.
"Oi! Paws off!"
"What about you little Miss I am gonna give Judy mouth to mouth!?"
"That's different?"
"How?"
"Because I am Trisha and I do what I want," The bunny giggled as she looked ahead. "Make another left up ahead and then it's the first building on the right."
Nick chuckled at Trisha's response and clipped the radio back onto his belt. He followed Trisha's directions and pulled the pick up truck into a small dirt lot in front of a large log structure on the side of the road. A wooden sign hung over the door and read, "Redwood Resturant."
"Thought we were going to a place called Lynn's?" Nicked asked as he looked at the sign.
Trisha was already opening her door but took a moment to look over at Nick, "Everyone calls it Lynn's."
"Really?" Nick asked as he eyed the doe.
Trisha smirked and nodded down at Nick's belt. The fox scooped up his walkie and keyed the mic.
"Trisha is treating me to breakfast, can I get ya anything from the Redwood Resturant?" Nick asked. A small pinecone whizzed by his head, Trisha obviously wasn't planning on paying for the fox.
"Lynn's! Oh my gosh, I am so jealous," Judy responded over the frequency. "Say hi to her for us. You are totally taking me there when I get back from this little hike. Trisha and I eat there like every day when we are in the central valley. Actually…one sec…Hey Delta!"
Judy's end of the transmission cut out for a moment before she returned, "Yeah So I think everyone in the Park's service eats there. So behave yourself."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Nick chuckled.
"I was referring to Trisha."
Trisha snorted as she skipped towards the restaurant.
"I'll try and keep her in line," Nick chuckled. "Oh and Carrots?"
"Yeah, Nick?"
"I bet you look really cute covered in mud."
"Keep talking Two Forks…I ain't gonna be out here for long and when I come back you are gonna be in trouble."
"No I am not," Nick corrected. "I am gonna be in heaven."
"So sweet….but still in trouble."
Hey there Firewatchers!
So I released this fic roughly a week ago. My inbox exploded with alerts and notifications as I received tons of follows, favorites, and reviews!
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for this kind of outpouring of support! I mean this story is already over 150 follows in its first week! What?! I don't know what to say except Thank you so very much! You are all so awesome and it means so very much to me to see this kind of stuff.
I really hope I can write you all a story worthy of such a following!
I fully intend to pour on so much fluff you all get cavities from the sweetness. Just gotta wait for Judy to return from her expedition! In the meantime, Trisha will be whipping Nick into shape.
Pinecone!
-Blue
