Chapter 6:

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The next morning was warm, and stretched on long and blissfully. Brittany spent most of it on the couch, wrapped up with Kinsey as they watched the little one's favourite cartoons. The elder sister, having never seen them before, looked on curiously and sceptically. But it was all in good fun though, especially when she'd whisper the plot holes and stupid moments that she spotted into Kinsey's ears. Paw batting, pushing and shoving would come through after, though it was never serious and always in jest, Brittany finding the behavior far more entertaining than what was playing on screen.

Well, in most instances.

The odd song might come on and she'd stand up and begin dancing. Her right shoulder jerking backwards and forwards, a playful smirk on her muzzle, as she took her sister's paws in her own and began the foot work. Turning around, tapping out here and there to the beat, she grooved as her sister leapt up and shook about. At one moment, she put her paw on the little vixen's nose and leant down. Her feet toeing back, while her paw kept the contact on, Kinsey looked on enchanted as her sister reached the edge of her range, their eyes level, and playfully twisted about and gave a flick of her tail. The theme song on the tv had long since ended, but none of them minded. A playful wink and Brittany raced back in, gripping Kinsey around the waist with her paws and pulling her up, spinning her around as she giggled and shrieked in joy. Brittany had a goofy smile on her too, and it stayed that way even as she spotted her smiling mother filming them.

She let off a quick salute with her paw before hoisting Kinsey up, cradling her as she moved over to the sofa.

"Roger-roger," she said, her voice sounding like she was holding her nose. "This is redtail unit one, over the bombing site over. Preparing to open the bomb bay doors and drop the W-M-D!"

Kinsey's eyes opened with alarm just as the paws holding her up retracted. She shrieked as she fell and landed in a pile of pillows, her tongue panting out from the excitement. She was nervous for a second before a little smile grew on her muzzle, though she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to do it again. She shuffled over to the back and peered up over the edge, looking on deviously at her sister. Brittany was occupied though, grabbing her father's paw and raising it up high, letting her pirouette beneath it. She bowed afterwards, leaning over to Delilah, phone still in paw, and hugging her close to give a kiss.

It was going to be a long, hot, lazy morning.

But all four of them didn't want it any other way.

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"FIVE!" Kinsey called, before swooping down with her putter. It hit her ball and sent it flying, bouncing back and forth along the course until it reached the highest point of a seesaw. The whole thing began to teeter, leaning forward, as the ball slowed.

"Come on!"

The seesaw fell, but the ball rolled back faster, over the pivot and back to the first point of the course.

"YOU STUPID BALL!" Kinsey shrieked, throwing her club down as she stomped off for a strop. Delilah ran off after her, calming her down with a paw to the shoulder and some soft words. Despite her comfort, she was still moody and began walking off, her mother patiently following her.

Watching on, Brittany placed her ball down. She was bringing up the rear of the scores, or rather topped them, depending on how one viewed it. She waited as her father, the pack leader by some way, came up and helped her. Guiding her posture, straightening her arms and getting her ready. Brittany, meanwhile, studied the course as she tried to work out the best strategy. Kinsey's ball lay off to the side a bit, so there was a clear path for her. She adjusted herself using the tips that she'd been given, looking down as she did a few quick practices, before firing the shot.

It rolled forwards, narrowly missing Kinsey's ball, and moved up the seesaw. Holding her breath, she watched as the ball hit the back and went straight through the hole, not even needing the seesaw to tip over. Landing on the green beneath, it rolled to the side for a bit before coming to a rest, in line for a straight shot to the real hole. This section of the course was a par three, and Brittany felt confident that she could do it. She watched on as her father began his second shot, his ball clipping the hole and coming out at an odd angle, a fur's width from going in. Delilah had a long second shot too, but this time managed it. Then Kinsey came, her mother helping her calm down and focus. Her ball went askew, bouncing up the seesaw and barely reaching the midpoint before coming back down.

"It's a good position for the next shot," her mother soothed, though the little vixen just gritted her teeth and let out a growl. Delilah wasn't impressed.

"Kinsey! Manners!"

Still looking stroppy, she cut it off but still sulked.

Brittany's shot next and it went forwards, stopping fairly close to the hole and giving her an easy shot next round.

Her father easily made the next shot.

Kinsey shrieked with joy as she finally passed the seesaw.

And Brittany pumped her fist as she made the next shot, dead on par.

It took Kinsey three more putts to get the ball in, leaving her with a score of six for the par three course. It was half of the distance between the two sisters, and by the last hole it had closed in. The final score may not have been much, but to Brittany, beating her sister by one point felt good.

It felt damn good.

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After the minigolf came more swimming. This time, they all went on the slides, Brittany between her sister and mother as they went down the rainbow slide. The teenage vixen still didn't feel like going on the cyclone flume, but thankfully Kinsey was too small and young. Instead, they went on all the other flumes at least half a dozen times. Wherever possible, Brittany had her sister on her lap, and they went into the water together.

Then came the pool.

Kinsey wanted to play water tag again and Brittany, adjusting her goggles, was ready for it.

The little vixen jumped off and the larger one followed, doggy-paddling as fast as she could.

Her eyes widened with shock as Kinsey raced off in front of her, giving her no hope of catching up. With a huff she stopped swimming and stood up, annoyed and pondering a new strategy to win. To outflank. To corner. To sneak up on.

She grumbled as she realised that, even if she did catch Kinsey, her sister would easily catch her back and tag her.

There had to be a way though. A way to come out of this on top. Pulling her goggles off her face as she thought, she saw a sudden flash of red in the corner of her eye.

It was him again.

She turned to stare at him, the sharp looking red fox, his skin-tight trunks moving forwards and backwards, teasingly being shown and hid by his sleek crimson red and pure white tail.

She felt a prick as she bit her lip, before her eyes narrowed.

None of the worries she'd had the day before remained, instead replaced with desire and confidence.

She was Brittany Voxen. She was a superhero. She was going to do this.

She moonwalked over to the other edge of the pool, pushing herself to arrive at the poolside as he came past. There was a ram with him, albeit not the ram who'd been the start of the incident the day before. She paused a bit, wondering how to introduce herself, before she realised with a shock that he was right by her. An image of her pulling him in, them splashing about, and her saying 'hey sexy' as he emerged came into her mind, but she shook it away. Even she knew that that wasn't a good idea, even before her mind finished it off with her snogging him.

Instead, she brushed the back of her paw against the back of his leg, watching as the fur caught up and then flicked down. About halfway up, he jumped.

"Woah!"

She flinched back as he landed and turned down to face her, his head tilting to the side in curiosity. Brittany gulped, suddenly realising with an icy terror that she didn't know what to do next.

Just as she was about to let out a very awkward 'uhhhhhhh', potentially followed with a quick 'hi', his eyes widened. His whole body relaxed and he looked away. "Oh, it's… you."

"Yeah," Brittany muttered, looking away also, suddenly beginning to feel a bit embarrassed about this whole arrangement. "It's me. I was…"

"Listen," he interrupted. "I'm… I'm terribly sorry about my friends, Lucas especially… -You wouldn't even know that he'd grown out of his spots! Is… is your tail okay?"

Brittany sighed with relief and smiled. "Don't worry about it, it's been through worse."

He chuckled. "Well you're a ZED agent, aren't you? I mean it comes with the job."

She paused, thinking back to that one terrible moment when it certainly was subjected to worse, alongside the whole rest of her, but shook it off. "It was… it was an anomaly…" She paused for a bit before chuckling. "I've only officially had the job for a few months, really, and it's an assistor, not an 'agent'."

"I thought they were called enforcers," the ram said, and Brittany shrugged.

"Enforcers are the ones who fight. I help out with other emergencies," she explained. "Calling an assister an enforcer is like comparing a cop to a firegirl."

"Yeah," the fox chuckled, "you're… you're hot stuff, aren't you?"

She guffawed, looking up at him, eyes meeting eyes, and feeling a pull that wouldn't let her break contact. It was like tunnel vision, nothing else was worth looking at, and any of her remaining nerves disappeared.

"Cold stuff too," she boasted, "I go both ways on the thermometer!"

He hitched a bit with a laugh. "That's cool."

"Yeah," she boasted, leaning forwards and spreading her arms out over the poolside. "Icy cool!"

He looked at her for a few seconds, those sharp amber eyes thinking, before he glanced up and down again. "Must be great, having that power and such."

He pulled back a bit as she sighed. "It is," she said, "but it can be a real pain."

His head tilted far to the side in confusion. "How come?"

"They're… they're… they're tied to my emotions," she explained, scratching an ear absentmindedly as she did so. "Which means that if I get too angry and don't keep it in, things can get a bit scary for others…"

"Oh gosh," he gasped. "I'm so sorry, I…"

"Don't be," she said, perhaps a bit too harshly. For some reason, what he was saying and the way he was saying it really rubbed her the wrong way.

He paused though, before asking. "How bad is it?"

Brittany looked down, then back at her parents, who were minding their own business on their deck chairs. She looked forwards, her head tilting down, and sighed. "I had to go to the ZED when I was eight after… an incident, and I grew very distant to my family there. But we have reconciled and are on this holiday to… you know."

"Oh…" he said, pausing. "You're a ZED academy kit." He looked away and chuckled. "I used to dream of going there, I think a lot of kids did, given how cool it seemed… Though you need powers to even have a chance."

Brittany looked at him curiously as he shook his head and shrugged. "Anyway, glad we could clear things up. Hope you have a great time."

He turned to walk away, Brittany's eyes suddenly going wide with alarm. Feeling a powerful urge push her on, she sidestepped and grabbed his ankle, turning up to see him pause and look down again. He looked at her blankly and, though she had a few odd nerves, she spoke.

"My name's Brittany," she introduced.

"Oh-uh, Sam," he said.

She smiled. "I know a nice deer called Sam. What about you?"

He blinked a few times. "What about me?"

"Are you nice," Brittany teased, running her paw up his leg. "Or are you naughty?"

He looked on confused and started to step back slightly, looking wide eyed at his friend as he did so. There was an awkward silence as he briefly glanced down at Brittany, before relaxing, turning back to face her properly. A smile grew across his muzzle, his lips pulled up wide and his mouth parting slightly in a goofy fashion. He knelt down, close to Brittany, and took her paw in his own. "I think I'm very nice," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Nice enough to ask whether you are wanting me as a friend, or more than a friend right now, before I do something dumb or…"

"Definitely more than a friend," she said confidently, gazing up close into his eyes. She pulled him closer, wanting more of that face, and watched as it lit up with joy. He looked up to his ram friend and shrugged, the sheep giving a sly salute back.

"You know what," he said. "Just now, I didn't really care if you were a friend or not. But now…"

"But now, what?" she asked, feeling excitement begin to course through her as her heart beat faster.

"I don't think I'd mind a pretty girl like you as more than a friend either."

Her eyes went wide, and she bit the end of her lip to hold in a squeal of joy. He, meanwhile, had a huge happy look on his face. She felt it pulled away from the sleekness and danger that she found so attractive about him, but she didn't mind. Instead she watched as he tipped himself into the pool and rolled over beneath the water, standing up next to her, nose to nose.

"Let's get to know each other," he said.

She nodded and smiled. "Let's."

.

An hour later, and five foxes walked into a pizza buffet off the ship's central mall. Delilah and Nigel came in first, holding paws as the former talked about how it was like her old place of work. Then came Brittany and Sam, slightly nervous paw holding slightly nervous paw. Finally came Kinsey, her arms crossed as she stomped in, a venomous look on her face that was directed straight onto the new todd. Regardless, they all settled down and began eating, Nigel, Delilah and Sam going for salad first and the girls going straight for the pizza, though only one was touching it.

"I could live off of these salad buffets," Sam said. Like Nigel, he'd put on a T-shirt, though his was a very thin orange one, as compared to the elder todd's grey collared one. He stood upright in his chair, digging a fork in and picking up a heap of shredded carrots, diced beetroot, sliced cucumber, baby tomatoes, sweetcorn and pickled peppers, all covered in multiple dressings.

"I did for a while," Delilah giggled, "with some tinned sardines helping on the side."

"Naturally," Sam noted, shrugging.

"For a long time I worked in a pizza den, before going into a catering company after Brittany was born. All the workers got their share of leftovers and I'd go for the salad." She looked down and patted her stomach as Sam laughed.

"Yeah, though the pizza dens don't have the honey and mango dressing, do they?" he noted, looking at the orange sauce that dominated his plate, putting the thousand island and the sweet chilli into their place. He took a big bite and chewed on it as Brittany, a slice of anchovy pizza just going into her mouth, nodded in support. Kinsey turned her head and screwed up her eyes, sticking her tongue out in disgust.

Nigel looked down at his younger daughter disapprovingly before turning back to Sam. "So, I'm guessing you know what Brittany does?"

"I do," he said, nodding. "You must be really proud of her."

There was a pause as the two oldest foxes turned to look at each other before looking back. "Honestly," Nigel said with a sigh. "Honestly, we often believe that we don't deserve her, and that she deserves so much better from us."

"Oh don't say that," Sam replied, his paw going up to his heart. "I spent a few years away from my parents and with some relatives. We grew a bit distant, but that quickly solved itself…"

Brittany looked at him and her parents nervously before speaking up. "The past is the past, mistakes are mistakes, and the future is the future," she said. "Can we enjoy the present?"

Nigel and Delilah relaxed, smiling warmly, and Sam turned to face her. "Well said," he commented, patting her shoulder with his paw. She felt her body go tense from the touch, her fingers and toes curling up as a little wave of glee came through her. She was enjoying this. She really was. This was awesome. This was…

"THIS ISN'T FAIR!"

"Kinsey!" Nigel scolded, looking down at his youngest daughter.

"This is supposed to be a family holiday!" she yelled out, pointing at Sam. "It's supposed to be us and my sister, and not some boy stealing her!"

"Brittany is an adult," her father warned, "and she's free to do what she likes. How would you like it if you found a friend, and she said that you weren't allowed to play with her!"

"But that's different!"

"How?"

"It… it… it just is!" she stated, boldly crossing her arms and pointing her muzzle away from the pair. Nigel frowned and walked over to the empty chair next to her. "I want you on your best behaviour from now on, or you're in trouble. Understand?"

"Yes," she said sharply, before resuming her silent protest. Nigel sighed, and looked up to Sam and Brittany.

"Sorry about that," he said.

"No worries," Sam replied.

"I kind of found it funny," Brittany added with a smile.

The four adult mammals carried on eating, Kinsey occasionally taking a little nibble from her own food as they went on.

"So," Delilah asked at one point, "what do you do?"

"I'm a concept artist for a video game company," Sam explained. "I have a sketchpad full of work back in my cabin, and we're planning to get a game out when we return from the cruise."

"That gang of yours design video games?" Brittany asked, curious about it given that it wasn't anywhere near her first impression of the group.

"Yeah," he said proudly. "Isaac, one of the sheep and a friend I met at school, is empowered. He's a code weaver, and was a billionaire before he reached his twenties."

Brittany's eyes widened. "A code weaver…"

"He can picture an end product in his mind, and perfect code to create that comes out," Sam elaborated. "I think there's twenty or so of them worldwide, and they're all super-rich given how they can be contracted out, but our gang agreed to look after each other in school… before he found out. So he only does the weaving part time."

"Way to mansplain about the code weaver," Brittany chided, liking it when he rolled his eyes dismissively.

"Sorry," he said meekly.

"Don't be," she whispered into his ear, feeling a rush as she did it.

"That's good of him," Nigel commented. "And to be fair, the whole thing with the high score isn't that bad… It's just that Brittany can get very determined if she sees something that she believes is wrong."

"I think she's very determined period," Sam noted.

Brittany let out an evil little chuckle. "I saw you, I wanted you, so I went to get you."

Nigel and Delilah looked at each other, before the latter leaned forwards. "Dear, I know you're new to this, but even though vixen's lead in relationships much more often than females in other species… just make sure that you don't push too hard."

"I'm fine," she swooned.

"I don't think it's you who she's worried about," Nigel noted, all eyes moving onto Sam.

He chuckled a bit, looking nervously away, before shrugging. "I'm new to this too… But it's fun not having to do any work so far."

Nigel broke down into a giggle, shaking his head. "If this doesn't work out young man, I'm afraid you'll have to get used to working your paws a lot and getting no reward."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, carefully moving his arm closer to Brittany. His eyes opened in alarm though as a paw snaked behind his back and pulled him in tight. He felt her up against him and, after a little bit of alarm, settled down. "Though it seems I might not need to."

Everyone laughed at that, bar Kinsey. The little fox stood up, pouting, and spoke out. "You're supposed to be on holiday with us!"

"She is," Sam calmly said. "She's on holiday with your parents, you and me." He swept his arms around as he said it before bringing them back. "With all of us."

"Maybe I'll get a boyfriend, and then you'll be jealous," she simmered bitterly.

Sam looked on, enjoying every second of it, before turning to Brittany. "I think she's jealous…"

"You get powers and you get a boyfriend, and you leave us alone when you're supposed to be with us!" Kinsey accused, Nigel turning to warn her. "Well," she carried on, "I don't need you then! I'm not going to ask to see your powers again. EVER!"

Nigel stopped as she stopped, before clearing his throat and speaking. "You're not in trouble, but I think we should go for a walk and have a chat. Understand."

"Good idea," she said defiantly, staring at Sam as she got up and was led away. There was an awkward silence in their absence, as those that remained looked at each other. Slowly though the mood lightened. By the time Kinsey got back, most of the food had been eaten, and after she muttered out an apology, it didn't taken long for the sulky little vixen to gobble down her share too. They left, agreeing to split up, Sam and Brittany heading off paw in paw by themselves.

"So… you met my parents before the first date," she commentated. "Bit unconventional."

"Says you," he noted.

She rolled her eyes. "I have been in the driving seat so far. So… what do you want to do?"

He paused. "Uhhh…"

"Surprise me," she said.

"With anything?"

"With something that's totally you," she teased.

He closed his eyes and pulled his head down. "Something that's totally me? Anything? You won't be…"

"If I am," she said, nervous yet excited as a crazy idea came into her head. "If I am, I'll suggest something instead… Something… -Kinky!"

He paused for a second, noticing a nervous squeak come out of her after what she'd said, as if the full weight of the implications had just crashed down on her. Sam just shook his head. "You crazy vixen you."

"I just feel that I want stuff…" she noted nervously, turning away and blushing as she avoided eye contact. "So why not get it?" There was a pause, as she scratched the back of her head just below the ear. "Could you… pretend that that didn't just happen?" She asked nervously. "Please…?"

He shrugged. "Just remember that a todd acting like you would end up like a good ostrich steak. Tenderised, sprayed with pepper, and a-salted."

She burst into laughter, the air heating up around her, as he led her on.

.

.

.

Not long after, in his luxurious cabin, they sucked on strawberry milkshakes as they looked on. "This wasn't what I was expecting," she noted.

Sam looked on nervously. "You… you're enjoying it though?"

She looked on at his TV, showing a pair of teen girls gathering at some outdoor tables and then cutting to some boys doing the same on some outdoor bleachers, before looking back at him. "I've never seen Lanolin before, but I'm enjoying it now with you."

The music began, the two snuggling up and Brittany's paw tapping on his shoulder to the beat. Her ear flicked up as she noticed him singing, and she joined in.

"Du…Du-Duh…Du-Duh…Du-duh-duhhhhh…

Du…Du-Duh…Du-Duh…Du-duh-duhhhhh…"

"Summer lovin' had me a blast," Sam sung, looking over to Brittany.

"Summer lovin' happened so fast," Brittany sung back.

"I'll say," Sam joked. "I met a girl, cute as can be…" He cut her off with a paw and sung the next line. "I met a girl, who's crazy for me…"

"You'd better believe it, tiger," She almost snarled, feeling a rush as he quivered a bit. They turned back to the film, picking up at the chorus and singing it together.

"Tell me more… tell me more…"

.

.

When Brittany finally returned to her cabin that night, figuratively glowing with happiness, she'd half expected that to be the question on everyone's lips. Instead, Nigel and Delilah had been happy for her, though her mother had had a little chat about whether she was in heat or not (she wasn't) and on other things to keep in mind (Eeeew, they weren't there yet (though now it was brought up…), but she'd act sensibly.)

Kinsey meanwhile gave her the silent treatment, scooting away from her when she tried to sit down next to her. She kept it up, bar an angry warning that if she wanted to leave then she could, and that she didn't care for her or her 'magic powers'.

Nigel reminded her of the talk they'd had and she grumbled out an apology. Brittany, a bit irritated, asked her to explain exactly why she was angry, what she wanted done, and to justify it all.

She jumped off the sofa at that point and marched back to her room.

"A teenager already," Nigel noted, before looking over to Brittany. "I'm sorry about how she's acting."

She sighed, rubbing her temples. "Don't… She probably thinks Sam is stealing me or replacing her or something. Trust me on that, it's a horrible feeling."

…

She gulped at the silence that followed, and stood up to look at her parents, guilty looks on all three faces in the room.

"Sorry," they all muttered at once, before pausing and relaxing. Brittany lay back on the sofa and relaxed, patting either side and gesturing to the television.

"Want to sit down and enjoy something?"

Delilah looked to Nigel and Nigel to Delilah and they both nodded. "Yeah," they agreed in unison, and together they did.