Inheritance of the Canes
Chapter 4
Unusual Runs Ins
Leon Cooper
Disclaimer: Hey everyone, so this story will start to focus more on Leon's life now, just wanted to get these three prior chapters done and I thought it was a nice way how to start a story before the chaotic years of being a teenager started. Also Leon is twelve in this, in the last three chapters he was eight nearly nine. So I hope you enjoy the following chapters from here on out as Leon grows up to be an adult. Thanks so far for your reviews and follows and favs, please send me a PM if you have questions, or review this story if you thought it was good. So have a good time and thanks to every single one of you. J.F.R.. The year is around 2011 or 2012, just so you guys have some preference of time. I know a lot of us are going to take a while to forgive Silver, but give him a chance.
Four Years Later…..
"I can't believe the test Mrs. Braddock gave us today!" Jeff exasperated as he sat down at a school lunch table, dropping his tray unceremoniously with a loud clatter which had gained everyone's attention but the two friends paid it no notice.
"I know man, easy wasn't it," Leon chuckled as he sat across from his best mate. "Not really a hard test as she claimed it to be, but we'll be keeping that to ourselves," Leon said opening his blue and black lunch box and pulling out his food from home.
The wolf-bird hybrid smirked and nodded his muzzle at the box. "You're mother still making your lunch I see and screw you I probably bailed on that test," he chuckled.
"No! Mamá hasn't made me lunch since I was nine man," Leon said shaking his head, tired of this reoccurring topic, though she did make him lunches occasionally, but Jeff didn't need to know that.
"Alright, alright mate, keep your knickers on," Jeff surrendered with his hands up somewhat, a grin plastered on his face.
"Sometimes Jeff, I don't really feel like I know you ," Leon said shaking his head.
"That might be for the best mate," Jeff said as he dug into his lunch with a plastic knife.
The two boys were quiet as they dug into their lunches, nothing of note to bring up to make descent conversation with. Leon's thoughts were on the training his father was putting him through with being the next Cooper. It was fun, but it did sort of worry him a bit. He wanted to be the best he could be and he didn't want to disappoint his adopted father, not that he ever could, unless he did something really out of order. This meant a lot to him, and in all honesty he wanted this, it felt like his calling and he didn't want to walk away from that. It was difficult trying to remember all the different techniques and tricks his ancestors had used when they were alive, but with his families support it took a lot of weight off his shoulders.
Surprisingly his mother had been supportive and helped him learn skills she learned in Interpol, it was mostly self defense skills and getting him to understand the laws. It was just a surprise that she would help him to become a thief when she stressed to his Dad and him how important it was to obey the laws and rules of society. On the contrary to what he thought originally she actually enjoyed training him with Papá.
Yet again she had shocked him with the knowledge she had about the Coopers, not only that but she actually could perform a lot of the Coopers moves. She had told him when Dad and her had been seeing each other for a while when younger they started sharing what they knew. She taught Sly how to fight and he taught her the way of a thief, though at first it had been difficult due to her not wanting to learn Sly's craft.
Speaking about craft, his father was very serious about teaching him everything he knew to make him a master thief. He wasn't mean or harsh or even well….like a drill sergeant. His adoptive father taught him at the pace that worked for both of them and was very calm and constantly teased him on his form or what he did wrong.
Papá…Papá was the same as he had always been and that was someone who he looked up to as a role model. This was because his father was kind, loving, supportive, chivalrous, intelligent, wise and he always had a quick witty response to anything that Leon said to make him laugh, also he had a great sense of humor. That and he was the first true friendly man he had ever met.
Still, there were problems here and there, nothing big but stuff he wasn't proud of. The occasional snap or back talk he did when he was overly stressed or when he was frustrated. Nothing serious, he hadn't ever cursed at his parents and he had no reason to and he never would either. He respected them too much to do that, and it would hurt his mother if he resolved to such levels, and his father would be highly disappointed. Guilt still ate at him when he had snapped at his parents on those occasions, and they had happened last year for goodness sake. It must be because he was so thankful to them and loved them so much he didn't want to lose the bond he had with them.
Leon shook his head breaking his wandering and unorganized thoughts and thought on something of a lighter note. His family was always a topic that cheered him up. Speaking of his family his brother and sister were five nearly six years old now and he couldn't be any happier with them. The three of them got along so well.
It was mainly Carmencita and him that did a lot of activities together while Allen, well Allen was different. He didn't act the same as everyone else. If Carmen and him were playing a video game, playing a board game or anything else, Allen would be in a corner doing his own thing, or in his room reading or playing with his toys, or writing.
Leon swore his brother must of written a novel or three by now because how much he wrote. He wasn't complaining or angry but he wanted to have a more close connection with his brother. They were close, but he shut a lot of people out, except their parents, who knew more about what Allen's allusiveness and what was wrong with him more than him or his sister.
From what their parents had told them, Allen had a form of Autism called Asperger's syndrome or disorder, which….well the easiest way to describe it was a development disorder that dampened the ability to socialize and communicate with people, but it wasn't just that simple. From what his parents had researched, learned, been told by doctors, and had studied by watching Allen, he had a unique case of it. It was unique like him, everyone was different from one another so it made sense his disorder was also unique to him.
Some examples were, he liked to collect items, it used to be pens, now it was bottle caps, and Leon helped him with that and kept any soda cap or if he could get his hands on them, from beer bottles, ones from trash cans or on the road. Allen's collection had reached like two thousand three months ago which was a lot. Leon didn't know too much about why he did this but it was amusing to see his brother doing it all the same. But that was only one of the things, he also noticed that Allen actually had a particular interest and that was in war, any war in fact. He would often spew the little amount of knowledge he knew about conflicts and he was always learning more, he was just fascinated with the concept of it.
Did get annoying sometimes but Leon didn't mind, he enjoyed discussing and sharing the conflicts he knew with his brother. That and Allen was getting to the age where he was actually starting to know logic and he often threw in his suggestions on how the conflicts could have been won, sometimes right sometimes wrong.
He was also very oversensitive to certain things. For example, Allen was sensitive to crowds, worse than he was when he was his age, but the reasons were different. Allen would get angry or be very jumpy around large crowds, and he hated people staring at him and whispering stuff about him, good or bad. Another one of his problems was loneness which most people like him experienced, they want to be with others but also don't or can't at the same time.
It took a lot of work to for him to have friends and that made it hard to keep relationships going for a long period of time. He hated being alone at his age. Leon once had to console his brother when he by accident avoided his brother for a day, mainly because he was busy with a project with Jeff for Life Science. The aftermath of that was not enjoyable, he had to comfort and calm his crying brother who thought that he hated him which he didn't, he could never hate his little brother, it would kill him inside to even do or think such a thing. Now, Leon always made sure to spend time with his brother, it didn't matter about time, just as long as they spent some time together.
The only other problem with his little brother was his anger. He had hard times with his emotions, he didn't seem to understand them, and because he couldn't understand them he became frustrated which quickly went to anger. He was still a bit difficult in that area but when he was younger it had been worse. Their parents joked with Allen, who had developed a good sense of humor for his age, that he was a nightmare to raise but it was a joke, it had been, but they loved all three of them very much.
Other than that, Allen was a mystery at this moment, and Leon and the rest of his family would just have to see what else they found out about him. Even with all this, Leon was spending as much time with Allen as he could, making it so they would have a strong and very close brother relationship, which would be good for the both of them. They had a different relationship then he did with their sister.
To put Carmencita simply, she was very much like their mother when she was a young cub, from what she had told them. She was a vixen at heart with a raccoon mixed in. She was teasing, sly and was very skillful on tricking her brothers to do something for her, mainly her chores. She enjoyed messing and playing rough with him and Allen. He also was like her in this area, he was mischievous and was slowly developing their father's suave and charm.
The two often roughed housed in the living room, it was play fighting as his parents put it, Leon wasn't used to this. He was a single child when he was born, or maybe he wasn't, but he never played fought at the orphanage. Real fights he had been dragged into in his old gang, and those weren't ones he liked to recall. With his siblings play fighting he would often times be brought into it, much to their parent's amusement. It seemed childish but Leon had to admit it was a lot of fun, it brought them together and it made his siblings happy.
Twice he had gone into his parent's office/slash gym and wrestling room and found his parents play fighting but unlike him and his siblings this seemed different. They nipping and biting each other roughly and they would kiss occasionally or give an affectionate lick. The first time he had walked in they had stopped immediately and they seemed embarrassed, the second time he left and just left them undisturbed. He didn't understand what the differences were, but he didn't have the courage to ask them about it, he was also certain that they wouldn't tell him. All in all Life for the Coopers was never dull and Leon wouldn't want it any other way.
Leon felt a sharp pain from his foreleg as Jeff kicked it hard. "Por qué el hombre!" the vulpine growled indigently at the lupine.
"You were out of it again and I…."
"So you kicked me!" Leon cut in angrily.
"I was snapping my fingers in front of your face and yelled at you. All I was trying to ask where the other three are?" Jeff finished and then leaned back into a more comfortable position.
"So where are the other three?" Leon asked with a smug smirk as he glared at his best friend challengingly.
"Ass," the hybrid muttered underneath his breath. "I don't know, where do you think they are? It's been ten minutes since lunch started so….who knows?"
"They'll be here, it's not like they have anywhere else to go, we're not exactly the most popular or liked group here," a smile formed on the fox's lips before he dug back into his food and his friend took suit.
A minute of silence passed before Jeff broke it once again. "So, have your eyes on a girl this year, or are you still not interested in girls yet?"
Leon let out a wearisome sigh, once again this question had brought its self up, it was like a weekly ritual for this question to be asked. "No, I haven't found anyone, and it's because I'm not interested in any of the girls here, well, there's a couple, but I am concentrating on my work and grades man," he explained, feeling his cheeks blush as a few of the girls he had in mind came to the front of his thoughts.
"Ah, ah, ah," Jeff scolded, " you said that you wouldn't do this, this year," Jeff's voice and demeanor changed and he looked at his pal seriously. "But honestly mate, you got to stop doing this, it isn't healthy. You got to stop locking yourself out from the world."
"You haven't seen the world like I have," Leon growled underneath his breath, and this made his pal close his mouth which had been open.
"I'm not arguing about that, but….come on pal…you have….alright let me rephrase this. Love, or whatever you call it, is out there, and it will find you, just please don't push it away. You may meet, and I'm not going to say this will happen, but you could meet your soul mate or the one you know, a girl that you might actually get along with and like. Alright mate?"
"Fine, I give you my word, just drop this from now on okay?" Leon mumbled in defeat. "But," he added with a serious and actually intimidating voice, " do not in any way sabotage it, do not tell them about my past background about the gang life, that's something I will only bring up, got it?" Leon didn't mean to sound harsh, but Jeff was a joker and a teaser at the best of times, he loved his best pal like a brother, but he sometimes did stuff that was really stupid for their age.
"I promise man, I would never do that to you," he grinned mischievously. "But don't think you're off the hook, I'm going to bug you and this special girl when you find her, or when she sweeps you off your feet."
"Fine, whatever. Now can we just drop this topic?" Jeff nodded smugly, feeling very accomplished of himself. It once again fell silent between the two friends, and they concentrated on their food and only to try and block out the noise of the other people around them.
Though the chatter from the tables around them didn't let up on their conversations and noise. Leon was able to push it out so he could have some time to his own thoughts and just shut everyone out for a bit. Though he did not let his guard or awareness down, he didn't trust people enough to leave him alone. His friends were the exception, but mainly everyone else left him alone. Yet somehow just like everyone it seemed he did get bullied and picked on by a group of other kids. It didn't bother him but these people were a group of their own, they always put in an effort to pick on him and his pals. It was starting to get tiring, but it was school so what else could he suspect.
"Hey!" greeted one of their other friends, finally.
Leon looked up from his lunch and saw that it was Sebastian, though he already knew who it was from his voice.
Sebastian was around the same age Leo and Jeff were, and like the rest of their group, all in the same year. He was a Burmilla cat with light downy blue fur with sharp black patterns and marks integrated in as well. He also had black eyes, a steel like gray eyebrow length hair that he most of the time had slicked back or brushed to one side. Other than that there wasn't much more remarkable about him, he was scrawny and always seeming to be growing taller. He was taller than Jeff, but an inch shorter then Leon, for now that was.
"'Ey," Jeff replied emotionlessly as he was scribbling down answers on his math homework.
"What's up Seb?" Leon inquired, looking up from his lunch and clearing his mind of his previous thoughts.
"Not much, just got out of Geology," the feline said waving a hand dismissively, trying to avoid the subject. "Some of the dumb asses wouldn't shut up so we all got held back for ten minutes," he shook his head in mock disapproval.
"Ah, well don't let that happen again," Jeff said his tone taking a more serious side. Sebastian just shook his head and muttered a retort, a small grin on his lips.
"So where are the other two?" Leon asked curiously.
"Oh, you know, beating around the bush," the cat shook his head while rolling his eyes.
Jeff smirked to this and let out a soft chuckle. "I swear those two will be beating around each other till our fur, and may I dare say my charming plumage dwindles to a more distinguished gray then our dear friend's father," Jeff waved a hand at Leon and gave a little curt bow.
"Jeff you give actors a bad name," the feline accused, trying to keep a straight face. It fell and all of them shared a brief laugh.
"No, but really," Jeff said his voice sobering up to discuss the sensitive topic. "Braden and Keith," he paused for a moment, struggling to find words. "They're really good guys don't get me wrong, but the way they try to approach each other is dumb. They've known each other as long as we have all been friends, but they just can't get it across to each other that they want more," the wolf-bird hybrid stopped and leaned back a bit, but that was difficult to do on a bench. "From each other, so calm down girls," Jeff said seriously with a smirk, which got a couple chuckles and shakes of the head.
"That doesn't really answer the question," Leon shook his head, amused but somewhat annoyed that his pal had taken it another way. "But…..yeah, they're relationship is complicated. We all know that they are in to each other, but they both…."
"Promised us not to tell the other, yata, yata, yata," the three said in sync due to how many times they had said it together. They nodded their heads with small smiles.
"Sad, really. They're both into the other, but neither of them know that the other is into them," the feline mumbled, rubbing his temples tiredly.
"I…..I heard…..well actually, Keith told me he is actually trying to ask out Ryan," Leon got out.
"Shiiiiiit!" Jeff exclaimed-drawled out. "Braden is going to go ballistic or he's going to be depressed as hell, again."
"It's what he told me," Leon said somewhat defensively, just in case they didn't believe him. "He said that he was getting tired of waiting for Braden to make a move or to show any interest in him, that and he doesn't even know if Braden is gay. We all know how they are, they get picked on a lot about what they wear, and act. Mainly Braden because of how he talks," Leon explained to them. "We may have to prod them in the right direction, or just wait and hope that they finally get the courage to just do it," he finished bluntly.
"Yeah." "Yep," his friends agreed. "So, anyone got your eye? Yet?" Sebastian asked, changing the topic, a sinister look in his eyes, and his small evil smirk didn't help.
"Urrhhhhhhh. No! Will you guys drop it all ready!" the vulpine growled irritably.
"How about Riely Lockwood?" the feline inquired ignoring Leon's plea, watching his friends expression and reactions closely.
"What about her, I know she's in some of my classes, but I don't know anything about her or anything really. At best she's just a person that's in a few of my classes," he admitted.
"Who, that kangaroo chick?" the lupine asked the feline.
"Yeah her," the cat answered, smirking internally. He saw the look in Leon's eyes and the way he reacted. He had at least some interest in her, but he was too afraid to approach her. Or maybe he was reading too much into it, as he did from time to time.
"Man, she's good looking, but not my type. She's too much of a tomboy and a rebel for my liking, and most of the other guys her… actually all the guys here," he admitted. "She's a wrestler…no martial artist…..ahhhh something like that. Most guys don't like to be with a women who can easily kick their ass, well except your Dad, Leo," Jeff corrected himself thoughtfully. "And also from what I heard from another guy who tried to ask her out, she isn't…..well…shit, it was," he paused for barely a second remembering how his father put it with some women. "I don't mean this to sound rude, but she's not at all submissive, she doesn't act well with romantic kind of affections, she seems not interested in that sort of thing, what I've heard. I don't think she's gay or bi so who knows."
"Your Dad's completely the same, he's scared of pissing your Mom off, so don't think it's just my family," Leon accused while laughing humorously, and yet feeling deep down a pang of an emotion he didn't recognize. Someone else asking out or trying to be with Riely hit something, but he didn't know what. He shook it off, he didn't really know who she was, really.
Jeff shook his head from his friends comeback, a small smirk on his lips but didn't say anything more about it. There would be time for that later and there were other things to talk about. He was about to ask the question that they always asked each week till the feline beat him to it.
"What are we doing this weekend, or Friday?"
"I just want to stay home, my mamá is home Friday night so I just want to spend time with my family," Leon declared, the other two nodded and understood, his parents had to do a lot of work away from home.
"Jeff?" Sebastian inquired.
"Seb?" the lupine asked.
"Damn it Wirdie," the feline exclaimed humorously.
"Ahh I got nothing, just homework, unless my family makes plans in the next few days," the hybrid replied, with a yawn.
"Right, well if we can't hang out, we can always play Saturday night, Reach?"
"Only for a bit, but around ten to two if I keep it quiet" Leon mumbled.
"Same here arseholes ," Jeff said rubbing his head.
"That's fine, I'll ask the other two when they get here," the cat said with a grin.
"Wait it's only four player on campaign, so what are we doing?" Leon asked wanting to know what he was getting himself into.
"Well if both of them want to play we'll do multiplayer for an hour, I'm not doing four hours of that. Also if we do play and the others don't, we'll play it on legendary campaign," Sebastian got mixed looks of disbelief and pure shock.
"Well, there's goes a peaceful night!" Jeff chuckled. "Well, unless someone doesn't stick me with a plasma grenade?" the lupine looked at the feline accusingly.
"Your death was an accidental launch of a suicide grunt that launched another grunt at you, which Leon also stuck, so it blew you up in mid process…"
"It was a team effort," Leon added in with a chuckle.
"Hate you!" the cat said from being cut off.
"Give me the damn grenade!" Leon softly shouted in false anger.
"Oh yeah," Seb laughed heartily. "Jeff was so pissed after that he demanded our grenade and we stuck him."
"Well in another news un-game related?" Jeff asked both of his friends wanting to get off the topic because of that night.
"Where are they?" Leon took out his pocket watch and glanced at the time. He had gotten it last year as a gift from his father. "It's been fifteen minutes since lunch started.
"Don't ask me," the feline raised a hand and waved it dismissively.
"Well, what else is there to talk about?" the vulpine asked and that killed the conversation. Whenever anyone asked that, no one had anything to talk about.
"Uhhhh," the avian-lupine got out, before scratching the back of his head. "Not much, not much."
"And just like the back stabbing thief you are, you betrayed us," the feline replied.
"Well I'm out, see you later nerds?" Leon smirked grabbing his bag and leaving with that playful insult that their whole group adopted.
"Jackass," Jeff mumbled.
"Loser," Sebastian got out as Leon was a few feet away from their table.
The vulpine simply shook his head in amusement as he left the cafeteria to go somewhere quiet for a bit, maybe the library, or one of the sports fields. Either one would do. It was the middle of January, and it was very hot this Summer. The library was starting to sound more and more desirable at this moment due to having fans and its ac. He could do some extra research into his history project about the Australian pilots in World War I, that and he could look up more history of his ancestors, his Cooper ancestors. The more he knew the better, and he found their stories and the history surrounding them interesting.
Leon came out of his ponderings for a moment to see where he was. He had blanked out again. It was starting to become a reoccurring habit, that he was trying to break. It was okay now, but he didn't want to be older doing a heist or anything really and had blanked out to find himself arrested or in an overturned vehicle. It wasn't something people normally worried about but he wanted to be the best he could be and at the top of his game for any scenario that came his way.
He stopped in the middle of a hallway fall of lockers where there was more corridors connecting to the rest of the school. It was like an intersection in a city or a town. Four ways to go, and he hadn't an idea where to go. He rubbed the back of his head, shaking his head while looking to the floor. This blanking out had to stop or at least lessen, but it was hard for him, he was always thinking, there was always something to think about and he most of the time became captivated by them. He looked to his left and then to his right and then in front of him.
Leon let out a sigh in defeat, he didn't remember where he was in the school exactly. He had been here for, well nearly as long as Jeff had been, a year difference separated the time between the two. Leon had been going here for five years, while Jeff had been going here for six years. One would expect Leon to know his way around the school but sometimes he just forgot where to go because over time it became routine then it was just simple automatic unconscious behavior for him. His body literally took him to where it had to go at a specific time, it was mechanical in a way, that was what school was most days.
His gaze shifted from the ground to the corners of the hallways looking at the small tiled wooden plagues which gave locker numbers and class numbers down each corridor, it also gave directions to places like the gym, the lunchroom, the counseling office, the main office, the check in office and the library were all examples on what were given on these plagues. He scanned over them quickly and found where the library was. It was too his right, but he knew it was on the second floor of the school so he would have to go up.
He took the corridor to his right heading to a place that was quiet most of the time, not many people were going to libraries now. Computers were improving all the time and now their course's books were starting to be downloadable from the internet. Leon and his friends preferred using books for school work. They may have been harder to carry about and stuff into their lockers but they were reliable. They didn't need batteries, or to be handled extra carefully. All they needed was the students respect and to keep them in good shape by taking good care of them. That and it didn't give them migraines and eye-graines. Alright, books gave them headaches, but the eye strain wasn't as bad as it was with computers. Advantages and disadvantages with either way you think of it.
Leon took his watch out of his pocket to look at the time but as he did someone came around the corner and ran into him sending them both crashing to the cold polished rubber tiled floors. Leon's watch was thrown out of his hand but had stayed connected to his jeans from the thin silver chain. The vulpine wasn't as fortunate as his watch because he landed on his back hard and jarring his neck so his head didn't crash with it. He let out a groan and decided to rest his head on the floor, he couldn't be bothered to get up.
The fox's ears twitched as he heard the other person let out a growl and a few curses. He closed his eyes, he wasn't in the mood to deal with someone arguing right now.
"'Hey, need a hand up?" Leon opened his eyes and looked up into the face of a kangaroo girl with chestnut brown eyes and gold-blond hair, part of her muzzle was a healthy beach sand. It covered a third of her muzzle starting from her mouth except on the top her muzzle where it went past halfway ending in a round tip.
The Cooper looked at her offered hand and took it gratefully, glad that she wasn't yelling at him. She pulled him to his feet easily with one arm and she had a small smile painted on her muzzle, somehow she found this amusing.
"Sorry about that," Leon said earnestly, wringing his hands and keeping his gaze away from her eyes and face, he wasn't the best at meeting people.
"Nah, that was my fault cobber, sorry about that. I'm in a hurry to get to the gym," she said, while shrugging her back pack more comfortably onto her shoulders.
"Well, glad to be in your way then…." he waved a hand toward her, not knowing her name. He acted chivalrous and confident though he was anxious.
What are you worrying about? He thought to himself angrily.
"Riely Lockwood," she said with a small smile.
Crap! Leon thought to himself for a brief second. He had to admit he liked her smile. Damn you Jeff and Seb!
" I am….."
"Leon Cooper, I know," she said with a chuckle. "Your sort of a celebrity around here, so it would be stupid if I didn't know who you were," she said with a glimmer of sarcasm in her voice. "I mean, who wouldn't know Sly Cooper the international thief and Inspector Carmelita Fox's son," she grinned as she saw him get flustered.
"Well, sorry for not knowing your name then," he got out quietly, feeling embarrassed, he didn't like it when people knew who he was when he didn't exactly know them that well.
"That's alright," she looked at one of the clocks on one of the corridors walls and she started to shuffle impatiently. "Hey, I got to go, I really need to get going," she said.
"Okay, umm, so do….." he thought for a moment. "How about if I come with you?" he asked.
"…." the kangaroo girl's eyes narrowed as she studied him, for what he did not know. A few uncomfortable seconds went by for the vulpine and he was starting to regret asking. "Alright, on one condition though," she stated bluntly.
"What is it?" Leon asked curiously with a hint of trepidation. What did she want from him?
"Well don't go telling anyone about this, it also depends on you, but just don't invite your friends if you do," she said with a grin seeing that she had peaked his interest when he became more curious.
"You're not going to tell me till you show me are you?" Leon asked, a mischievous shine in his eyes, one that was very much like his fathers.
"Yep," she said with a chuckle.
"Well, show me then," Leon sighed in false mirth.
"Alright cobber," Riely said before she shrugged the strap to her pack. She then started jogging down the way she was going before they ran into each other, they had been talking for a while and she wanted to get to where she was going.
Leon jogged after her but kept behind her so she was guiding him to where they were heading. That, and he didn't want to get in her way again and end back up on the floor if she suddenly made a turn and he was in her path. It wasn't like she had hurt him but he had no wish to end up sprawled out again on the floor. Also it gave him some time to actually get a good look at her without having to snap his attention back to the teacher or his work.
The Cooper was in no ways an un-chivalrous man, well boy in his case. And he was in no way checking her out and having immature ideas and obscene thoughts about her. It was just from everything he had heard about Riely, it wasn't particularly good. She was seen as a rude, mean and pompous bitchy tomboy, as the girls and some of her failed suitors put it. Yet here he was tailing after her, and actually had a somewhat short decent conversation with her. She could be acting, he reasoned with himself, but it didn't feel like that. Leon had an extra sense, and that was being able to detect when people were acting and not giving off their true intention and lying through their teeth. Riely though, was bluntly honest when she talked to him, except when she was being devious about divulging where they were going and what she was actually going to show him.
Where she was taking them was at the back of his mind for the moment of time. He was studying and memorizing everything about her outer appearance and how she portrayed herself to the world with what she wore. The kangaroo was indeed a tomboy from what he could tell. She wore a dark pair of boys jeans with a tan leathered belt with an Australia shaped buckle, a black t-shirt with an ivory skull of a wolf on it with swords behind it and she was also wearing a pair of black and gray Nike Air Maxs with crimson red laces. He had to admit she looked good in it and he couldn't really see her in anything else at the moment, mainly because he had just met her and he still didn't know all the much about her.
Not that many people could unless they were very skilled at reading people from what they wore or were just sneaky stalkers. All he knew right now is that she dressed like an average guy did and she had an interesting hair cut. Her golden blond hair at the front on her right side was shaved down to the fur starting from her ear and curved inwardly to where it met where her hair grew without interference and made a bang covering the left side of her face, giving her this mysterious yet naturally alluring appearance. At the back she had it braided in a tail with a band securing the top and one at the bottom making a brush like tail tip. It was a different kind of hair style but he liked it, it gave her character and made her stand out like a rebel, which fit her personality perfectly from what he knew about her so far.
Leon kept his muzzle shut till they got the gym but it wasn't as deserted as it seemed to be during lunch. There was someone there, leaning against a wall with her arms crossed. She seemed to be waiting for someone. The vulpine connected the lines and knew that whoever this woman was, was waiting for Riely.
"So why are you…..well, why are we here then?" he asked aloud, not caring who answered the question.
"Well, as I said I would show you, but we're here because this is who normally trains me to box when I'm in school, normally a half hour to forty minutes a day," Riely started to explain as the woman walked over to them, eyeing the fox with a scrutinizing eye. "Today though, I was running late, I had a project to finish the final touches to."
"The one for English, I thought that was you in Mrs. Richards class," Leon said thoughtfully.
"Nice to know that you know about us normal people," she said with a grin.
"Hey, I'm not like some celebrity kid who thinks he's better than everyone," Leon said with a soft chuckle. He had a feeling this was going to be a common occurrence with her, but he didn't mind.
"So if you two are done wasting my time by talking, I would like to at least get a couple minutes of practice done with you Riely," the older woman said with a hint of amusement in her voice. Leon noticed she was a kangaroo as well. Her glossy brown hair was pulled back into a single long French braid behind her back, and her green eyes were kind but held a sternness in them that the vulpine hadn't seen in the other teachers.
"Right, umm, Leon," Riely said rubbing her arm feeling foolish. "this is my Aunt, Sarah Lockwood, my mother's sister, Aunty this is Leon, a friend of mine," Riely mumbled the last part, not so sure about the vulpine yet.
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Lockwood?" the vulpine greeted unsurely.
"I'm married," the older woman smiled, seeing the relieved expression on the boys face. "I'm the wrestling coach, but that's just one of my job, but most of the time I'm the weight training teacher," she explained to him.
"I've heard about you, I just didn't know who you were," Leon admitted.
"Well, I'm sorry to cut this short Leon, but it's really time Riely gets some practice in, or she's going to be grumpy later," she teasingly caressed her niece's cheek who swatted the hand away giving a disapproving whine which was all that kangaroos could do, they couldn't growl.
The vulpine got a deathly glare from the younger woman when he chuckled and he gave an apologetic smile. She simply shook her head rolling her eyes slightly, some amusement hidden in her facial features, but other than that she kept her gaze on her Aunt.
"Well, I should go, I wouldn't want to interrupt anything you two have planned and…."
"How about you stay, Riely could use an actual partner today, instead of wailing on my practice gloves," Mrs. Lockwood said with a thoughtful but serious expression.
"Ummmm, I don't think that's a good idea," the vulpine shot out, not really up to fighting even if it was sparring. "Wouldn't we get in trouble, and seriously I don't know the first thing about boxing," the last part was a lie.
He knew a lot about it, mainly due to his father teaching him all that he knew from his brother, Murray. Also his mother knew a lot about it too, not like a professional but enough for self defense and to let off steam when she needed it. In all both his parents passed down what they knew to him, which consisted of a lot of hand to hand combat, his parents didn't think he was ready to use a real firearm, yet. He agreed with that much, he didn't like guns, they brought up bad memories.
Leon looked between the two woman and they just looked at him, not believing that he was making up excuses to get out of it. For one he hadn't really sparred with a girl his age and he didn't really feel like trying it out today. He had sparred with his mother but that was different. Secondly, he didn't want to get in trouble, he hadn't actually gotten into trouble in school, he had nearly a few times but that was just because people expected it was him because who his father was, but it had always been someone else.
"Mr. Cooper you won't get into trouble, I'm the teacher here and I can just say I was seeing If you two were any good at this sport, so don't worry," Mrs. Lockwood explained. The fox looked at her with surprise. "Word passes quickly when the news was that the famous master thief's son is going to our school," she said with some small amount of amusement. Leon groaned, he was getting sick of people knowing him before he knew them. "Any ways, if you're afraid of fighting a girl, don't worry, Riely acts more like a boy in the ring…well all the time actually ," she explained.
"Fine, it's not like I have anything better to do today," Leon sighed.
"We'll head to the wrestling room, the floors padded so you two won't get as hurt," the teacher led them to where they had to go, Riely was popping the joints in her hands, and neck, loosening them up and getting ready for the small match. Her muzzle had a small smile and she smiled at him excitedly. It wasn't as if she was going to beat him to a pulp, like some of the people he knew would love to do.
Though this entire scenario was a new experience and even though he wasn't really prepared for any of this, he stayed calm and kept his head clear of any distracting thoughts. If he was going to do this, then he wanted to at least give this a try. He had a few questions which weren't clear to him at the moment.
"Our school doesn't have a boxing team or sport, so where do you actually go to do this Riely?"
"There's a gym that has a boxing ring not too far from the school, maybe eight blocks away. That's where my mother normally takes us to practice," she said offhandedly.
"What's the club called?"
"Lucky guess," she smirked, not to his knowledge but she was impressed, she liked brains, not just brawns in guys, not that she was interested in him like that. " Albany Boxers, it started up around forty years ago or something like that. My grandfather and a couple of his mates started it all up."
"So I guess you're in it then?" he asked, enjoying this talk with her. He normally couldn't hold a conversation with most girls his age, they were either bored in the first three minutes, or just a bit too stuck up for him to deal with.
"Yeah, I'm hoping to get into the ring this year," she added, her voice taking on a wistful one.
"Ring?"
"Each year my club and others come together from the other counties and cities and we box till there's a winner. The champion club goes to nationals, and if they win, well you're the best club in Australia. I mean there are different age groups, like twelve versus twelve, thirteen versus thirteen, and so on. I'm hoping to win this year, so the more practice the better I'll be off," she explained.
"Cool," the vulpine said softly.
"Okay enough you two, we're here and we only have twenty minutes before lunch is over," the older kangaroo said with a sigh. She had a feeling she was going to see this fox more often after this. She had a good hunch, these two were getting along well with one another. Furthermore they seemed to have a connection, her hunches were always accurate, thus far anyways.
Riely's aunt threw them both a pair of boxing gloves which they put on. "Well, clean fight, so that means no hitting below the belt, holding, tripping, pushing, biting, or spitting, I'm talking to you about the biting Leon," she got a fake angry glare from the vulpine which made her chuckle.
"And I'm talking to you Riely about under the belt," she warned seriously to her niece.
"Ahhhh, joy kill," Riely mumbled underneath her breath getting a snicker from Leon. She gave him a look and the fox realized that it wasn't a joke and he mouthed a silent "oh".
"Box!" Sarah yelled to the two.
Both Leon and Riley took an upright stance and angled their bodies at each other. The vulpine had his fists up, ready to guard his face if he needed to and he got some distance between him and his opponent so he could see her coming when she made a move.
The kangaroo bounced on her feet as she circled the fox who was doing likewise. Neither made a move, both anticipating and waiting for a small mistake that would leave an opening for the other to make their first move. Both their eyes were darting from their opponents eyes to their legs, arms and the small distance that separated them. Their ears twitched occasionally from the small sound surrounding them which consisted of the soft rhythm of their breathing and the little chatter they could hear from the halls as students started walking about before class.
Leon stumbled over one of his feet when he heard a bang from outside the wrestling room but he balanced himself out just as quick, but this was the opening his opponent had been waiting for.
Riely hopped the small distance between them and made a jab for the vulpine's face but he bobbed and weaved underneath her punch and gave a cross punch which she blocked. He made a quick jab and she bobbed her head to the right but was quickly met by an uppercut to her jaw which snapped her head back and made her stumble back a few steps. To the vulpine's surprise she shook it off quickly and seemed unfazed by it. He was quick and had a good punch but he was going to need more than that and quick footwork.
Gonna need more than that yeh little rodent! Riely thought somewhat annoyed about him getting the first punch.
Leon made another jab before the kangaroo girl could get one of hers in but she blocked him and he felt a quick but hard punch to his sternum which made instinctively made him curl up on himself as all his breath left his lungs. He made a quick jab to get her away but she crossed punched him in the cheek and he stumbled and lost his footing, but he rolled back up and got to his feet, still coughing for breath. His jab had grazed his ribs and she had stepped away from him and brought her arm over his and nailed him.
"Alright Leon?" Riely asked with genuine concern, she didn't want to hurt him, this was for fun after all, she was frustrated that he had gotten her so quickly bit she wasn't angry at him per se, more herself.
"Fine, you got good arms," he smirked back with glint of irritation in his eyes, he wanted to get even.
"Comes with practice," she said after she had bobbed her head back avoiding a punch by an inch," and hitting the gym and working out."
Leon tried something different, he jumped to her outside right and swung his arm wildly and she sidestepped it flawlessly but he quickly spun around facing her. He gave a jab to her gut, she took it and he made another jab for her face but she blocked up. The fox didn't let his fist land but brought it back and made a cross punch exactly when she lowered her gloves to see what happened and that's when he got her in the side of the head. Her head turned from the punch and her guard went down or so it seemed. Leon went for an uppercut buck she bobbed her head back once again and hopped backwards before she lunged forward with a left hook to Leon's jaw.
The vulpine collapsed to his left and landed heavily, feeling dazed from the punch, his neck had popped and he hit his temple on the mat, which made everything around him feel fuzzy and moving faster than it should be. He faintly heard Mrs. Lockwood say, "Enough," but he caught it. Leon was panting slightly as he tried to lift himself up, but he still felt off balanced.
"Sorry, Leon?" he felt a soft warm hand grasp him by his right arm and haul him up to his feet. He shook off the apology, there was no need for it, it was a fare match. He swayed and nearly fell over again, but Riely held his shoulder in a firm but soft grip to keep him up. Even through his dazed thinking Leon realized that Riely had amazing hands, they were soft, firm, svelte and very feminine. His body shivered from the pleasurable touch and he hoped she hadn't noticed. He didn't see it but she smiled smugly from his reaction, but if anyone was to call her out on it she would deny it.
"I'm fine, just a bit dazed thank you," the vulpine said breaking the sudden silence that had settled.
"You sure?" Riely, asked concerned, looking him in his unnaturally storm gray blue eyes.
"Yeah, completely, that was fun," Leon smiled amusedly. Seriously, he was tougher than that.
"Alright," the kangaroo girl smiled back warmly. "You're pretty good, I mean not like the best, but no one my age can normally get as many punches on me as you did, or last as long without just keeping their distance," she complemented, helping him to get the gloves off, which he was struggling with.
"My parents thought it would be good if I learned self-defense, but I never thought I would be using it for fun," he admitted.
"Well….." Riely was cut off from the bell ringing loudly in their ears from the small confined space.
"All right you two," Sarah said, pushing herself off the padded wall that she had been leaning on. "It was a good fight, now it's time to head to class," she headed for the door and looked back at her niece. "Lock up on the way out would you Rie-Rie," she smirked evilly from the nick name she gave her niece who hated it. Riely glared at her angrily.
"And try not to get too distracted you too," her niece mouth fell open from shock and she scoffed, trying to get some words out but not a sound left her muzzle. Her face instantly turned crimson but her tanned sand fur hid it, Leon's cream colored fur didn't hide at all and his blush was quite evident. Sarah laughed as she closed the door and left.
A few moments of awkwardness passed over, and Riely was still holding Leon up though he could stand on his own already. "Well, I got to go, my next class is on the other side of the school, so see you later I hope," Leon broke away from the kangaroo girl. He picked up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder then slipped his socks and shoes on, having taken them off before they boxed like Riely had.
"Yeah I guess so…" Riely said somewhat hesitantly. Getting her footwear back on her feet. Leon looked at her feet out of the corner of his eyes, noticing she pained her claws a dark blue. He admitted to himself that she had nice well kept feet. He shook these thoughts, not knowing where they were coming from.
Damn hormones, and growing up in general. Leon growled to himself in his head. But she is attractive, I can't deny that. He looked up from her feet to her legs, then stopped himself. He was starting to act rude and they had just met, he didn't want her to think he was just there to ogle over her.
Riely noticed the fox's staring but didn't bring it up for some reason. She would have normally called someone out on this, not liking to be goggled over or stared over, but she didn't mind with Leon. Him having his eyes on her feet was strange though she had to admit, but she didn't understand why men did this.
I guess Leon's still a male when it comes down to it. The kangaroo thought to herself, but she could care less. As long as he didn't start acting weird and perverted about it then she didn't mind if he snuck in a glance once in a while. Deep down she liked the somewhat subtle attention, it gave her some evidence that told her she wasn't unattractive. She didn't like dressing up like normal girls her age but she did care about how she looked, she just spent a lot less time getting herself ready.
She actually enjoyed his company overall, and she was starting to consider him a friend. "Oh wait!" she yelled as she got her stuff together. The vulpine halted in the door and looked back at her as she ran over to him. "Here take this in case you're interested and if your parents will let you," she placed a black plastic card into his hand. He looked at it and it had in Silver letters, "Albany Boxers," printed on it, with its place of address and phone number.
"Thanks, and I'll think about it and talk to my parents about it too," he said thoughtfully. His tone must of indicated something else because he noticed that the kangaroo's ears lowered somewhat. "Hey, I give you my word alright," he promised her and she perked back up again. He stepped out of the room and she followed after him after she locked up.
"See yeh around cobber," she said and pulled him by the front of his shirt and pressed her muzzle near his ear, startling him but he didn't back away. "Don't look over me that much Leon, it's going to take a lot more than charm," she let go and teased him by giving him a soft peck on the side of his cheek making his eyes go wide in surprise. She gave him a good slug to his left arm making it go numb. He rubbed his arm in surprise as she ran off but not before she called over her shoulder. "Don't look into too much cobber."
The Cooper shook his head and rolled his eyes before he looked up towards the ceiling.
Well Lord, thanks for the strangest of bump ins. The vulpine thought to himself. Leon had a feeling he was going to being seeing Riely Lockwood a lot more often.