GO – YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE…
Naturally, the new technology hit Hollywood like a storm…
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HOLLYWOOD TURNED UPSIDE-DOWN — PROFITS FOR NEW HOLOGRAPHIC MOVIES PROJECTED AT 300 PERCENT OR MORE — CEO'S ON CLOUD NINE WITH NEW HOLOGRAMS
Profits predicted higher for video technology manufacturers — "It's insane! All of Taiwan and Japan and Silicon Valley put together can't crank out the equipment orders even when working 24/7!" says Intel CEO.
[LOADING…]
EVERY STUDIO UPGRADING TO NEW TECHNOLOGY — ALL PREVIOUS FOOTAGE AND SYSTEMS TO BE DUMPED FOR NEW TECH — EVERY TAKE TO BE RESHOT WITH 360-DEGREE CAMERA-SCANNERS
Electronic component recyclers overwhelmed — IT universities can't crank out tech crews fast enough, needed talent being imported from Latin America — Universities now offering express degrees in holography.
[LOADING…]
360-DEGREE MOVIES UNSTOPPABLE ALL OVER THE WORLD — CRITICS CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THE NEW TECH — RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL AND THE CHINESE THEATRE TO REOPEN IN SIX WEEKS WITH NEW SETUP
Latin America, India, Europe, Australia, and Africa scramble to upgrade to the new technology — Siskel II & Ebert Jr.: "360-degree movies is like being there, they're 100 times better than 3D." — Historic façades of both theatres to remain the same, historians relieved.
Sneezer and Sweetie were overwhelmed as each minute update brought in more and more national and international news of the new technology. And the thirty days given by Mr. Rodriguez to upgrade the entire studio didn't seem like enough time, not with all the sound stages that practically had to be rebuilt from the ground up. And then there was the issue of getting all those 256-bit computers, which were barely trickling in, since the computer manufacturers were overwhelmed with orders from all over the world.
Still, it wasn't as if they were completely helpless, or even out of their element. While the restart of movie and TV production was still a few weeks away, Lightning had the brilliant idea of starting small and gradually easing the crews and actors into the new filming—image capture—environment.
And that was by starting with making 360-degree commercials.
It was a strategic move, and a very good one. Filming—image capturing—just enough footage for a 30 or 60-second video, one at a time, would provide the needed experience for both crews and actors before they dove back in to TV series and feature films.
And that was what Sneezer and Sweetie were currently doing. They set aside their tablet and returned to their monitor screens beside the main scanner hub, a large black box from which emerged eight thick cables that were connected to the eight main camera-scanners set up around the sound stage, each with its own respective microphone.
So far this week they had filmed sportswear commercials, featuring both human and furry toons in just about every conceivable set they could conjure: a tennis court, a soccer pitch, a football field, a baseball field, an oval track, a basketball court, and even a cricket pitch. The videos hadn't given them any trouble: they received a pre-recorded image of the field or court, filmed the actor or actors as they followed their scripts, and later the post-production team fused the two footages together and added the voice-overs, graphics, and titles.
And with each new commercial, the pair picked up more speed and confidence as they worked with the new technology.
Today's commercial, unfortunately, threw a monkey wrench into everything they had done so far.
The ad called for an underwater scene in a promo for swimwear.
And here they couldn't rely on any pre-recorded underwater footage.
They had to do the whole thing from scratch because no image or video editing program could convincingly fuse an above ground foreground with an underwater background in 360 degrees.
So after a lot of running around in circles with the rest of the crew, they finally managed to find waterproof camera-scanners and set them up in one of the studio's outdoor pools.
It was certainly not the first time they had worked in an outdoor set, but it was the first time they worked with this type of technology outdoors and underwater.
And as such, the control booth had to be disguised as part of the scenery, namely, one of the bleachers, and with a few green panels in strategic places, the console and booth, and everytoon inside would be rendered invisible and inaudible in the final cut.
Though if it wasn't stressful enough to be working under new conditions, it didn't help that Lightning Rodriguez was right behind them, supervising and monitoring the new method of filming in 360-degrees: outdoors and underwater.
Also beside them were a few curious toons who were observing the filming, since their upcoming scripts also called for either outdoor or underwater footage, or both: Calamity, naturally, since he was both directing the commercial and holding Lightning in his paw; Arnold Pit Bull, another close friend of Lightning; Little Beeper, the red roadrunner; and Wally Wolf, the black wolf with a white muzzle and red nose who had been cutting a rug in Lightning's party two months before.
The tiny duo's paws and wings flew over the miniature keypads, and after a few moments, they turned and gave Calamity the thumb-paw/wing up. The coyote nodded, stepped out from behind the bleacher, and signed, "QUIET ON THE SET! LIGHTS! ROLL CAMERA!" At his signal, drones with digital slates flew up to all the camera-scanners and clacked simultaneously.
"Rolling and speed, yup-yup."
Calamity then looked up and signed, "ACTION!"
And the reason why he looked up was because on the edge of one of the diving boards, six meters from the water, stood a jaguar clad in black trunks.
At the signal of "action", the feline raised his arms and jumped in a graceful swan dive, hitting the water in a perfectly straight line and barely causing a splash. Underwater, however, the take continued as he arched into a horizontal swim, still keeping his streamlined position, and he undulated his body, like a snake or crocodile, moving forward effortlessly. When he reached the middle point of the pool, he suddenly straightened up, flattened his ears, flexed his arms and balled his fists next to his head, bent his legs slightly, and roared underwater. After expelling all his air, a sign appeared near the wall that said, "CUT! PERFECT!" With that, the feline swam up and climbed out of the water. He shook himself mostly dry, and padded to a rack near the diving boards that had towels ready.
As that was going on….
Lightning looked at the panther on the preview screen, and couldn't help but wonder something. Racking his memory, he told the pit bull, "Yoo know, dat ees de most soleed-beelt leoparrd I've seen. Almosst looks like a barrel, too."
Arnold corrected him, "Zat iz no puny leppard, boss, zat iz ein jaguar."
The murid blinked, "Oh, I guess I got confused. Dose feline predatorrs oll look alike to me."
"Ja, und I talked to you about him before. He waz part of ze floorshow in your party two months ago. Ze leppard waz ze really skinny und puny one. Zis vun iz better filled out."
Sweetie and Sneezer froze.
THIS was the jaguar from the party?
The canarymaid turned to her boss and chirped, "Um…EXCUSE me, Mr. Rodriguez…I have to…powder my beak. Be RIGHT BACK!" And she flew off.
Lightning, apparently ignoring her, replied, "I was wondereeng wherre I had seen heem beforre. He does look a lot better dan de leoparrd we saw last week."
"Ja, und he'd be much better in ze part of Vally'z adopted brother. Juzt give him a wig, und if he can speak with an Afrikan akzent, he'll be perfect."
Wally, meanwhile, was sitting right next to Arnold, arms crossed, minding his own business, but upon hearing Arnold's comment, he blinked and did a double take at the beefy canine.
What? I had already told my other friend that HE was going to get that part!
The black wolf fumed to himself, but didn't growl or snarl, and limited his reactions to a light scowl as he tried to conjure a plan to help his leopard friend who had just been cut from a movie…
"Dat sounds like great idea, Arrnold. Let's feeneesh dees commerrshal and talk to dees guy."
Wally sat there, fuming and listening…
Everytoon looked at the preview screen of the scanned action, which was split into eight parts that showed the footage from eight different angles. The feline dove and swam gracefully, though when he straightened up and roared, one of the cameras zoomed in to his stomach, right on the waistline of his shorts, and focused on the "ADIDAS" logo. With a few taps of the virtual keyboards, a caption appeared:
ADIDAS SPORTSWEAR — AS TOUGH AS YOU, AND EVEN TOUGHER
Lightning clapped his tiny paws and squeaked, "Perrfect! Trooly perrfect! Get dat cat over herre!"
Calamity signed his thanks, and nodded at Arnold to call the jaguar to the control booth. The white canine stepped out to the sun and barked, "HEY, YOU PUNY GIRLY-FELINE JAGUAR YOU! GET YOUR ZOGGY TAIL HERE ZIS INZTANT!"
The onça in question was still drying himself next to the diving boards, but at the dog's holler-bark, he did a double take, shrugged, placed the towel on his shoulder—
[WARPUNWARP!]
—and was suddenly next to the pit bull. Arnold yiped with a yelp that was so high-pitched a few toons around him thought it came from a female. Quickly recovering, he straightened up and said, "Herr Rodriguez vantz to talk to you, puny feline."
The jaguar raised an eyebrow at that; slightly incredulous that Lightning Rodriguez himself was actually here, watching the image capturing of this commercial. He padded under the bleachers, and stiffened and lowered his ears when he saw both the studio's owner and the film director.
The mouse was talking to the other mouse, saying, "Dees ees groundbreakeeng! We'll be de firrst to do onderrwaterr commerrshals!" He turned, and saw the jaguar, "Derre yoo arre! Great diveeng eskeels, cat!"
Arnold padded beside the onça and slapped a very heavy right paw on his damp shoulder, "Herr Rodriguez juzt might cazt you as Vally'z adopted brother in hiz next movie!"
It took a moment for the jaguar to straighten up after that very manly greeting, but upon hearing the news, his ears and whiskers perked up, and he exclaimed, "Wh—what, you're serious? I'm gonna be in a movie? That's—that's amazing!"
Unfortunately, right there, a female voice shouted behind him, "Hey, J.A.M.!"
Again he stiffened, but this time, he not only flattened his ears, he also raised his hackles and puffed out his tail.
Moments later, Mary Melody—now clad in a purple tank top and black pants—skated up, with Sweetie trailing behind, and exclaimed with a huge smile, "That's The J.A.M.!"
The jaguar turned to her and snarled quietly before recovering and turning back to Lightning, "Well, Mr. Rodriguez…that…that was very kind of you…but I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn down your offer. Thanks anyway, but…no thank you."
The murid was confused again. He didn't want to be in the movies? "Wait a meenoote, Meesterr J.A.M., why don't—"
The feline raised his heavy paws, silencing everytoon. "It's…not because I don't want to work in movies, Mr. Rodriguez. You see, before Miss Melody here refreshes your memory, you might as well know that…" he sighed and sagged. There went his chance at stardom. "…that I was the one who hit Mr. 'Possum with the skillet." He then turned and snarled at the humanmaid, "Believe me, I was aiming at Miss Melody!" Defeated, he shook the pit bull's paw and mewled, "Sorry about this, Arnold. I should've told you everything right from the start."
The feline was about to walk back to the locker rooms, but Mary blocked his path one more time. "Waittaminute, J.A.M., please don't go anywhere just yet. Lightning, what's going on?"
The CEO shrugged and replied, "Well, Mery, we werre gonna use heem een Wally's moovie, but eef Banjo and yoo arre oncomforrtable weeth heem worrkeeng herre—"
"UNCOMFORTABLE?!" spat the humanmaid, her face lighting up for the first time in eight weeks. "Boss, that's the most wonderful idea you've had yet!" She was about to give both the mouse and the feline a big hug, but she had to hold herself back just a little bit longer.
"I'll say, she's been looking for him for TWO MONTHS!" piped Sweetie, fluttering back to Sneezer's side.
Things didn't quite add up for the executive mouse. He gestured to Calamity to move him closer to the African-American, and asked, "Do yoo espeak forr Banjo, too?"
She frowned and held the jaguar's left paw tightly. The actress eyed her boss, moved her face as close to him as she could, and with uncanny valour, replied, "Banjo? Last I checked, I didn't work for him; I work for you, Lightning! Look, Club Panthera's owner may do whatever Banjo tells him to do, but you're the top dog of this studio—!—well, top mouse, in your case. I'm more than willing—and pleased…" she smiled at the onça, "…to work with The J.A.M., if that's what you're telling me to do, because you're my boss, aren't you?"
Lightning looked at her.
Perhaps, just perhaps, he had given a few of his stars a bit too much leeway.
He straightened up, hiked up his pants, groomed his headfur, lowered his ears, and squeaked, "Why, yes, of corrse I'm yoorr boss! And I own dees estoodeeo and evereeteeng een eet!" He turned to the barrel-shaped feline and declared, "Meesterr J.A.M., yoo'rre hirred." The jaguar's eyes lit up, and his ears and tail perked up once more. The CEO turned to the pit bull and added, "Yoo! Make shoorr dat Banjo doesn't know he's herre, and tell dat to de rrest of de crew!" Arnold saluted and padded away. "Calameety! Take me to my office! I have a contract to preparre!"
"Sure thing, Lightning," signed the coyote, and also padded away.
As they left, the jaguar smiled and hollered, "Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" And once they all left, he fist-pumped a few times, growling, "Yes! Yes! YES!"
But he stopped when Sneezer and Sweetie suddenly hovered in front of him.
The two prey toons didn't seem that afraid of him anymore, since they were also smiling at him. "It was about time WE FOUND YOU!"
"Yeah! We've been looking for you inside every cake in Los Angeles, yup-yup!"
With that, Sweetie carried her boyfriend away, knowing that her human friend was going to have a very heartfelt chat with her feline friend.
Mary looked at The J.A.M. and asked meekly, "Um…can…can we…talk, before you sign your contract?"
Seeing her so un-stuck up and un-lofty and un-arrogant and un-egotistical and un-smug and un-vain and—much to his surprise—submissive, was enough to disarm him. "I…suppose we have time," he said softly, swallowing his previous aggressiveness. "Just give me a moment." He spun in place, and was now back in his normal attire of an oversize black t-shirt.
The humanmaid smiled, gently took hold of his furry arm, and the two padded/skated away from the pool area.
Later…
As they padded/skated through the lots and around the sound stages, Mary continued holding his arm very firmly, refusing to let him go, lest he disappear from the face of the Earth once more. And she wondered something, "J.A.M., why on earth did you decide to work at Rodriguez Brothers, if you knew that it was only a matter of time before we bumped into each other again? Considering…" she faltered, "…that you didn't want anything to do with me…"
He sighed. "It mostly had to do with me paying my rent. After Club Panthera gave me the boot, I was desperate to find any type of work. So when Rodriguez Brothers suddenly made a call for 'all athletic toons, preferably felines, with good tail control,' well, I came here right away."
"But how is it that no one could find you? I was about to call the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA to help me look, you know!" she chuckled, repeating her friends' joke.
The onça smiled, "It helps that I don't have an account on any social media network. Not to mention that Club Panthera is very discreet with our private data, considering…well…you know…our line of work," he trailed off, feeling quite embarrassed, lowering his ears and curling his tail around his left ankle. "That, and I like my privacy. East LA has a few laws that help keep our home addresses out of junk mailing lists. But, if this new job of mine works out, I just might be able to move somewhere…where I won't have to pay rent," he winked at her.
Mary smiled at that, and leaned her head on his very solid shoulder again. "Just sky-high property taxes, then?" she chuckled slightly.
The jaguar also smiled and raised his ears, but then noticed that several toons, both crew and actors, were eyeing them oddly. "Um, are you sure that it's in your best interests to be seen in public with me?" he asked.
She eyed him too, "Oh? Do you mean a 'star' with a 'bit player'?"
He put a heavy paw on her hand, "No, it's not that. It's…look, shouldn't you be eating a five-course banquet with Mr. 'Possum right now? It is lunchtime, you know."
At that, the humanmaid released him and skated in front of him. "Are you still hung up on that? Look, J.A.M., everything you hear about Banjo and me is nothing but publicity. That's one of the heartaches of working in showbiz."
The feline crossed his arms and swished his tail. "Oh? From my point of view, it kinda seems more than that, at least from what I could deduce from all those articles in the blogs I've read—"
"Blogs?" she blurted, smiling. "Oh, so you just happen to read the blogs after all, hmm?" She, too, crossed her arms and leaned toward him.
Stuttering, he leaned back a bit, ears lowering and tail curling down again, "I…um…that is…I kinda sorta get them on my newsfeeds while I'm in the gym or at the dentist…you know…just like anybody would."
She leaned closer. "Do you really?"
"I…well…I…kinda…subscribe to four or five…24-hour feeds…"
Her eyes practically popped out of her face, "You subscribe to four or five—?!"
The J.A.M. hushed her by placing a heavy paw on her mouth. "YES!" he growled, "But what I'm getting at, Mary, is that…" he released her, raised his ears, and the two resumed their walk. "The thing is that…you and Banjo have a chemistry that very few other actor pairings have achieved in Hollywood. You two have this…this…intimacy in every movie you've done and—"
She abruptly skated in front of him again, "Excuse me, but did you say 'every' movie I've done?"
Stuttering again, and lowering his ears and curling his tail once more, he looked away, "I…um…well…now that you mention it, I've seen…well…all of them…several times over…in the theatre and on movie chip…"
She skated circles around him, trying not to laugh, "All of them, you say? You know, I suddenly remember a certain Lofty Movie Critic who said: 'If you've seen one, you've seen them all'!"
It was his turn to become submissive, as his ears remained against his head. Raising his eyes at her, he sighed, "That night I was quite the most rude and impolite and boorish and disrespectful toon you've ever met, wasn't I?"
Mary raised her hand and was about to berate him, but she, too, sagged at the memory. "Maybe, J.A.M., but you did kinda say one or three things that I both deserved and needed to hear." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Because of what you said, you made me realise that both Banjo and I have been…well…'coasting' on our previous successes, regardless of whether we're talented or not, and yes, we have been cranking out recycled movies over and over and over, but hopefully, all of that will change with this new technology that we're scrambling to install. Though I would like to clarify one thing." She rolled up to him, noses almost touching, and with slight anger in her eyes, stated, "J.A.M., I don't snort cocaine. I have better things to do with my life than destroying my nose and brain with that garbage. Yes, I've known—personally—actors and actresses who've used that junk as if it was candy, and yes, I've seen their lives go down the drain because of it. Seeing their experiences with it is enough to keep me well away from it…not to mention that the California State Police has gotten a few 'anonymous' tips concerning dealers and users in this area."
The jaguar padded back at that, and moments later, he rubbed his head. "Geez…look, normally here I would blame the media for portraying all of you in such a bad light, but…" he sighed again and turned away, "…that's one thing I should have never said that night. I'm so sorry, Mary."
The African-American sighed too, and rolled around him to face him once more. "Look, J.A.M., I won't say that I was never tempted by it. I've been through quite a number of very stressful situations, and in some parties I've been in those toons seemed so carefree…but…looking at them the following day scared me straight. As for the rest of what you said that night, yes, you did hurt me, and yes, I was very upset for weeks because of what you said. I've been so upset that…" she held his arm, and resumed their walk, "…that I haven't been able to get you out of my mind since that party."
"Really?" he asked, genuinely surprised, raising his ears again.
"You bet. But I do wonder one thing: if you've been such a huge fan of me and my movies…why did you behave so rudely and pretend you didn't know who I was? You'd think that me dropping in your car would have been any fanboy's fantasy come true, you know," she laughed.
He laughed too, and explained, "That's a good question, Mary. And the explanation is this: I came to California looking to work in showbiz as well, and yes, I've auditioned for a few acting companies that work in the new 360-degree stage theatres, but nothing definite had come up in months, so I was kinda desperate to find a job, otherwise I would have had to sell my car. And, as you know, what I did at Club Panthera wasn't exactly the most dignified of professions. So I was quite upset that night because I had been assigned to that 'house call' instead of working at the Club itself. I detested 'house calls' because even though they pay more, they're kind of unpredictable, as you saw," she winced here, "not just because of who we might meet in private homes, but also because if any minor should happen to appear, everytoon would be in trouble, both the dancers and the hosts. And sometimes the hosts can get really drunk or high and get very aggressive or…um…uncomfortably affectionate with us."
"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that," she held his arm tighter.
"So I was driving that night, quite upset…and suddenly, the most beautiful angel in the universe flew down from Heaven and sat next to me," he smiled.
Mary's eyes widened, "Aw, really?"
"Well, at first I thought you were one of your body doubles, after all, why would a wonderful girl like you be jumping off buses and into unsuspecting convertibles?" They both laughed. "And yes, you did scare me—I had heard of quite a number of altercations that have happened between Blacks and Latinos—but that policeman helped straighten things out."
"Thank God. You really scared me with your gun, you know!" She squeezed his arm again.
"It's a precautionary device, considering where I live. But once I realized who you were, I thought that you were very angry with me, so I figured that the least I could do was offer you a ride."
Mary rubbed his arm, "That was very chivalrous of you."
"Unfortunately, I also thought that Banjo was your official boyfriend, so when you started flirting with me and…well…coming on to me…I thought you were two-timing him, and once again I assumed that you were just another example of another Hollywood stereotype. You know, the one that has every actor and actress basically…well…trading partners and boyfriends and girlfriends and wives and husbands at the drop of a hat, instead of striving to maintain long-term relationships."
"And because you thought I was 'cheating' on Banjo, you got angry with me?"
"That's basically it, yes. Of course, once we were at Mr. Rodriguez's house and I saw that you and Banjo weren't a couple, I…felt really awful…and assumed that you would want nothing to do with me after that. That's why I tried to keep a low profile here, and stay away from both you and Banjo, since I assumed that both of you would be out to get back at me for what I did. I've been…pretty upset for the past two months as well, Mary."
Again, she rolled in front of him, halting their walk. "J.A.M., look, I…well, seeing you again at last…well…now that I…" She faltered again.
And she never faltered unless she was either very confused, or very nervous.
Or very love-smitten.
"Are you okay?" he asked, tilting his head.
"J.A.M., look. I'm…I'm trying to say something to you, but I…ugh! I'm such a ham when I'm not working with a script or the proper setting!"
He tilted his head the other way. "Script? What do you mean? What are you trying to say?"
Mary looked at him, raised her hands, opened her mouth, but held still for a few seconds. She sagged in frustration, but just then, a white LED lit up above her head. "I have an idea! Come here!" She grabbed his paw and the two ran/skated across the lot before they abruptly turned and dashed into a warehouse-type structure. Once inside, she shut the door and turned on the lights. With a flourish, she declared, "This is the proper setting!"
The jaguar looked around, and after a few moments, could only comment, "Um…this is an empty sound stage."
Which was true. Several thousand square metres in size, with a very high ceiling, the warehouse only featured several green screens, two 4 × 10m white canvas screens, diverse sound and lighting equipment, rigging, cranes—no cameras, oddly enough—but on one corner there was a computer workstation with a very large monitor, and a stylus.
At his comment, the humanmaid led the feline deeper inside. "Only at first glance, but wait just one second." She sat down at the workstation and turned on the computer. A virtual keyboard hologram projected on the desk, and after a few moments, the screen read, "MACINTOSH OS XLVII KILAUEA". She then ran the paint program, grabbed the stylus, and tilted the monitor back before pulling it closer, so it now functioned as an old-fashioned drawing table. As she worked on the image, she said, "Now, you're a jungle native, right?"
The J.A.M. nodded.
"Well, this should be very familiar to you. Let's bring up some jungle scenery with mountains…Latin American, of course…" The stylus flew all over the screen as she worked the various tools, bringing up stock images and styling them to her heart's content. The screen soon displayed a picture of a mountain rainforest in the daytime. "With a beautiful sunset…" The image lighting shifted into a strong orange tone, and it showed the sun near the left edge. "A bit of mist from the mountains, as the temperature and pressure drop…" The image conjured fog in the valleys. "And we add a cliff on the mountain we're standing…it's bathed in the orange light of the setting sun…we add a bit of a breeze as the shifting air races between the hills and valleys…the fireflies start lighting up as the sun goes down…aaaaaand print!"
The impromptu artist pressed "enter" on the virtual keyboard, and from a large black box nearby, four long mechanical arms came to life. The end of each arm had a large white-gloved hand, which in turn held an enormous paintbrush; each brush dripped with black, cyan, magenta, and yellow paint, respectively. The whole contraption moved to one canvas, and with mechanical precision, painted the image that Mary had just created.
The jaguar stood there, quite impressed, because while he had heard of these industrial-sized printers, he had never seen one up close, much less seen one at work.
"Better than a green screen, don't you think?" she asked.
"Oh, yes," he chuckled.
She then stood and led him to the canvas, waiting for the robot arms to finish. Once the last drop of paint was laid, another robot arm approached. It held what appeared to be a huge hair dryer, and when it reached the top left of the canvas, it activated with a high pitched whine, and it moved back and forth all across the fabric, drying the paint.
"Gotta love technology," said the jaguar.
Once the machine finished its work, the arms folded up and nestled neatly back into their housing.
Mary then looked at her new boyfriend and held his paw tightly. "Now, my dear sir, would you do me the honour of…" she looked into his eyes, "…entering my world?"
The feline didn't say anything, but simply smiled, and the loving couple stepped into the picture.
Now the two were walking slowly on the rainforest-covered mountain, headed for the cliff, and toward the setting sun. Insects and birds filled the ambience with their characteristic calls and wing and leg sounds.
Still looking lovingly at him, she commented, "You look very handsome in the sunset, J.A.M. Your orange fur blends in nicely."
Almost overwhelmed, he replied, "Um…thanks, Mary…I do try to use the right fur shampoo…"
She was about to continue, but then looked down at herself. "Oh, I seem to have forgotten my own setting-appropriate wardrobe. No wonder I was feeling overdressed. Excuse me a moment…" Before the panther could ask what she was referring to, the actress spin-changed, and emerged wearing nothing but a leopard print bikini, with a band on her left ankle and a bow on her hair. [fav me/d26e40m] "Since I've already seen you in both shorts and a speedo, I guess it's only fair that you get a…similar view of my person," she blushed, striking a pose for him.
Naturally, the male couldn't help but stare at her body, and the way it shaped the bikini so very well. His ears rotated forward, and the tip of his tail curled up. "W…wow…you should do jungle movies more often, Mary…"
She posed again for him for a moment, "Oh, you flatterer, you…"
Trying to bring his hormones back in control, the feline stuttered, "Um…well, we…seem to have the proper setting here. Can…um…can you say that which you wanted to say just now?"
Mary was about to approach him, but then stopped. "Uh…not yet. I might express myself better with a song. Hold on a moment…"
Reaching into her pocket, she fished out her iPod Yocto™ and spoke into it, "Search…romantic songs…all genres…"
The jaguar looked on as the tiny hologram projection displayed the list of requested songs, and began scrolling. When the actress found one she liked, she tapped the hologram, and it retreated into the case.
"You're going to use a 60-year-old song to say what you need to say?" he asked, a trifle bewildered.
"Oh, trust me, J.A.M. there are things that ancient songs like this one can say better than anything today can." She set her iPod on a large rock and said, "Play track fifteen, full karaoke mode." The humanmaid then turned to the panther and sighed as she looked into his eyes. "Better…better than what I can say on my own…"
And the song began. [youtu be/XrWqDv3Kfsg]
There was a brief introduction with violins and a harp, during which she took him by the right arm and turned him to face the sunset. Mary sang:
"There's a light…a certain kind of light…" She seemed a tad frustrated.
"That never shone on me!" The sun then shone on him, but not on her, strangely enough.
"I want my life to be…lived with you…lived with you…" She leaned into him and rubbed his arm.
"There's a way…everybody say…
To do each and every little thing." She looked into his eyes again.
"But what does it bring…?" She shook her head.
"If I ain't got you…ain't got you—" Mary released him and stood in front of him.
.
"Baby, you don't know what it's like." She balled her fists in front of her for emphasis.
"Baby, you don't know what it's like—
To love somebody…to love somebody…" She blushed, hugged herself, and looked away slightly.
"…The way I love you…" Mary tried to push down her blush and moved into the next stanza:
.
"In my brain…I see your face again!" All during the time she searched for him after the party.
"I know my frame of mind!" She turned to the cliff and sunset.
"You ain't got to be so blind…!" She covered her eyes.
"And I'm blind…so-so-so very blind…" And shook her head in frustration.
"A woman I am…can't you see that I am?" She turned and presented herself to him.
"I live and I breathe for you!" She pointed at him, making him stand back, ears low.
"But what good does it…do…?" She slowly turned away and pondered,
"If I ain't got you…ain't got you—" Now, however, the jaguar joined her, ears up:
.
"Baby, you don't know what it's like." What? He felt it too?
"Baby, you don't know what it's like—" He squeezed her right hand.
"To love somebody…to love somebody…" He smiled, curled his tail around her waist, and blushed as well:
"…The way I love you." Mary felt her emotions swell along with the music. He truly loved her too? The two exclaimed:
.
"Awwww—no! You don't know what it's like!" Both squeezed each other's hands/paws.
"Baby, you don't know what it's like—!" The cliff faded away below them.
"To love somebody…to love somebody…" The jungle faded away around them.
"The way I love you." Their emotions finally released:
.
"No, no, no, no, no, no! You don't know what it's like!
You don't know what it's like—!
To love somebody…to love somebody…
The way I love you…" Finally, the sunset faded away, leaving the couple alone as they shared their first kiss in a loving embrace…
