I'll give a little background story about Hunter in this chapter. Nothing too serious but it gives you an idea of what kind of person he actually is.
Hunter finished firing off his clip towards the target at the shooting range, "Damn it..."
The bullet holes mostly missed the head and chest, instead they ranged from just clipping the sides to missing it entirely.
The target next to him in contrast was nearly flawless, and as he suspected he found out who was responsible.
"Savage..." The ferret groaned, ever since that young firebrand entered the force the spotlight has been focused on the buck.
He could see Jack's fierce determination in his eyes, something Hunter's never seen in any rabbit until he came along.
The ferret tapped his shoulder, which slightly frightened Jack causing him to a jump a little, and he immediately turned towards Hunter with an annoyed look on his face.
"What do you want?" Jack asked looking quite irritated.
"Just wanted to see how my favorite chap is doing." Hunter replied.
The buck rolled his eyes, "If it isn't something important, bugger off." he told off the ferret before returning back to his shooting practice.
"Dickhead." Hunter muttered before returning to his station.
The ferret has been in the ZBI for a few months now, and currently his reputation among the rest of the roster didn't extend much beyond coffee carrier. He resented the disregard that the rest of the agency had for him. At the most, he was given a nod of acknowledge by other agents, at worst some would outright say to his face that he wasn't welcomed here.
Him and Jack shared the same floor, but that was as far as familiarity went between them. The buck didn't seem to think highly of the ferret, and in the few months they have spent together Hunter only disliked the rabbit more.
The ferret was lucky to have an office at the side of the building with a decent view of the city, but beyond that his space wasn't glamorous, there was barely enough space behind his chair to allow his tail to even move.
But there was one agent that did happen to act talk to him in friendly terms.
"What's up Agent Walker?" Skye greeted the ferret.
He managed a smile for the arctic vixen, "Hey Agent Skye."
"Skye's fine dude, I told you already." she reminded him.
Hunter chuckled a little, "Oh sorry, I guess it slipped my mind."
"Whatcha up to?" she asked standing in the doorway.
"Um, just fixing some errors I made in a report. And I'm having a meeting with the East District committee." he told her.
His nervousness made the vixen smirk, "You look a little skittish." she pointed out.
The ferret blushed, "I-I'm not!" he denied looking away.
"Sure. Anyways, I was going to the bar later, going to pound down some brewskis, you in?" she asked.
"What's a brewski?" Hunter asked in confusion.
The vixen laughed, "A beer, what, isn't that a word over where you are from?"
Hunter shook his head, "No, not really."
"Anyways, you coming or what?"
The ferret smiled gratefully, "I would like that."
"Cool! I'll be waiting at the front lobby at 6." she told him.
"I'll be there." he affirmed with a smile.
Skye held up a peace sign with her fingers before departing, "Deuces."
Hunter sighed and looked down to his desk, "She's such a nice person, is she like that towards everyone? It would be nice to have her as a friend."
He looked out the window and into the cityscape, "I miss being home, but I can't stay in my shell forever. Maybe this is my chance to start building a new life here."
The ferret had a thoroughly middle class life back in the UK, as a result he never felt much struggle. But in search of excitement in his life, the ferret chose to join the ZBI thanks to a recommendation from the public school he attended due to his high grades and athletic prowess he displayed during his school career, after a few years in training, he officially became an agent.
After his shift was over, he clocked off for the night and grabbed his jacket before heading out to the lobby to meet with Skye.
As she said earlier the vixen was in the lobby on her phone waiting for Hunter to arrive.
"Uh...Skye?" the ferret called out.
She looked up to him and waved, "Hey you made it! Ready to go?"
"Yeah, I guess." he said still a little unsure on how to approach her.
"Come on Walker, you seem a little stiff. Couple of drinks ought to fix that." she said.
The ferret rubbed his paw, "Um, I was meaning to ask you."
Her ears perked up, "What's up?"
"I...nevermind. Let's go."
Skye looked at him with some confusion before shrugging it off, "Okay, anyways the place isn't too far from here, we can walk. Is that okay?"
Hunter nodded, "Yeah, lead the way."
The establishment was a few blocks down, and this bar was unlike anything he has ever seen.
"What is this place?" he said seeing the brightly lit neon sign that said, 'Blue Star'.
"Coolest bar in town, that's what." she declared.
Inside once again the ferret was surprised by the appearance. It was bright and colorful inside, with contrasted with the pubs back home, and there was not only just the usual bar and stools, but also arcade machines, a karaoke stand, and even what looked a catwalk of sorts.
"Wow, this is nice." Hunter said admittedly a little impressed.
"I like it here, it's so fun to just hang out after a hard day's work." she told the ferret.
The two sat down at the bar, "Hey Mark, we gonna start off with two shots of vodka." she told the bartender.
"Got it, who's the new guy?" he asked.
"This is Walker, uh..."
"Just Walker's fine, I prefer to be called by my last name." he told them.
"Alright Skye and Walker...heh, fun name combo."
The vixen chuckled when she realized what it meant, "That's true!"
"Oh yeah, Skye Walker. Pretty clever." Hunter acknowledged with a smile.
"Two shots coming right up." the bartender said pulling out two shot glasses.
The ferret stared at the glass with worry, "Okay, you can do this." he muttered to himself.
"What's wrong, you can't handle a drink?" Skye asked teasingly.
"It's not that! I just don't want to make an arse of myself."
The vixen patted his back, "Don't worry, enjoy yourself, that was the point of coming here right?"
The bartender poured the vodka into the shot glasses, "Here we go. Enjoy."
Skye held up her shot glass, "To the rest of our shitty lives!"
Hunter held up his, "Cheers."
The ferret downed the drink and swallowing he grimaced a little and slammed the glass on the counter, "Woo, that was strong."
"I'll be paying for tonight, so drink to your heart's content." Skye told him.
"I object to that for my health's sake." Hunter countered.
Skye shrugged, "Alright, drink until your satisfied I guess."
After a few shots the ferret already was feeling less anxious, "Thanks for bringing me here Skye. I wouldn't have thought of seeing this place even if I walked by."
The vixen nodded, "You're welcome. Always happy to have some company here."
"So anyways, what did you wanted to ask me earlier?" she questioned the ferret.
"Oh it's just a silly question, nothing to worry about." Hunter said trying to dismiss the subject.
Skye leered closer in interest, "Come on I'm buying the drinks, tell."
Hunter tapped the counter, "Okay. I just was wondering..."
His pause only heightened the vixen's curiosity, "Hmm?"
The ferret laid his paws on his legs, "You're the most positive person in the entire agency. The nicest, most outgoing, the most...just friendly person. How do you do it is what I'm asking."
"I don't know, guess I was born with it. My parents always said I was the spunkiest kit on the block. But it doesn't mean that you can't be a nice person without being like me. The point is, you're capable of being kind to others regardless of how 'energetic' you are, get it?" Skye assured the ferret before ordering another drink.
Hunter nodded, "Yeah, I think I understand."
Her attention turned to the person who sat down next to her, "Speaking of the devil..."
Hunter spotted the new arrival and instantly his mood soured, "What's he doing here?" he said pointing out the rabbit.
Jack didn't seem particularly pleased to find the ferret here either but shrugged it off, "Hey Skye, funny seeing you here."
The vixen rolled her eyes in a playful manner, "You know I'm here every Friday night, can't beat happy hour."
Hunter growled a little, already with Jack here he felt that he was losing the attention of potentially the only friend in the entire ZBI.
The vixen turned around to the ferret, "You know Jack right?"
Hunter crossed his arms, "A little..."
"What? You don't like him?" she asked a little surprised at his demeanor.
The ferret silently fumed, leaving the vixen a little worried about Hunter's lack of response.
Meanwhile Jack ordered himself a drink, "So Skye, is your new boss treating you alright?" he asked.
Skye groaned, "Not much better than my old one. I think this dude's got the hots for me."
Jack looked at her with both disbelief and confusion, "What? Really?"
She nodded, "Yesterday he said hi to me in the break room...and then he unbuttoned his shirt to show off his chest."
"That's quite shit behavior your boss is doing." the buck disapproved.
"I know, but what can I do? This is my third boss since I arrived here last year, and I don't want to risk getting fired just because I'm 'difficult'."
Hunter tsked, "Report him! He'll keep harassing you if you don't!"
The vixen clapped her paws together, "Or I could teach him a lesson not to mess with me."
"That's not what I meant-" Hunter began to say but was interrupted by Jack.
"Sounds like a solid plan to me. A bloke like him will know his place once he's taken down a few pegs." Jack agreed with the vixen with enthusiasm.
The ferret was taken aback by the two's violent tendencies, "You'll get in trouble if you do that!" he said trying to appeal to reason with them.
"I'll pretend to go along with his advances in his office, and then when he least expects it...BAM!" Skye explained emphasizing her intentions by smacking her fist into her other paw.
Jack nodded, "That's good, humiliate him so that he won't even look in your direction."
"This is stupid! You guys are acting like we are in school or something!" Hunter cried out.
The buck disregarded his worries, "Skye doesn't deserve to be treated like this, we need to make our intentions clear."
Hunter was exasperated at the fact that the buck was egging on the vixen's intentions and he didn't want to see his only friend thrown out of the agency just because some headstrong bunny told her to.
"Skye, don't listen to him, he's just some rabbit that happened to get in by luck! He'll ruin your life if you go with him!" he implored the vixen.
Skye could clearly see that Jack's presence was upsetting the ferret, so for now the vixen attempted to appease Hunter to avoid any potential conflict between the two males.
"Can we talk later Jack? Walker and I were having a drink, you know, just getting together."
The buck leaned over to look at Hunter a little suspiciously, "Yeah, I'll let you two be..."
Jack hopped off the seat and headed to the arcade.
The ferret frowned, "Do you hang out with him?"
Skye shrugged, "Once in a while, he's actually a pretty nice dude once you get to know him. I'm guessing that normally towards strangers he's a little cautious, maybe even shy."
"He doesn't strike me as a 'shy' person." Hunter replied with some distrust, "Besides, I don't exactly feel comfortable being around him."
"Jack's a good guy, he's just got some issues that he has to work over." she told the ferret taking a sip of her drink.
Hunter took an interest in the appearance of the cocktail, "Looks good, what's it called?"
Skye patted the glass, "Sex on the beach."
"Really?" Hunter said a little perplexed by the name choice, "Seems a little obscene."
She moved it over in front of him, "Take a sip."
He did as she told him to, "Hmm...oh! It's sweet!" he said in surprise.
Skye took the drink back, "It is, perfect for lightweights to get wasted."
"I am not a lightweight!" Hunter retorted.
"I didn't say you were." she said with a wink.
The ferret covered his face in embarrassment, "Maybe it was a mistake to come here."
"Aw don't be like that, wanna hit up the karaoke stand?"
Hunter shook his head, "You go ahead, I'll just continue ingesting more drinks."
"Oh come on, the guy singing right now is hilarious, he always does it drunk."
The ferret looked at the tipsy coyote, "It does look fun."
The two sat at a table in front of the karaoke stand, despite the coyote obviously being deeply intoxicated he was still decently singing the lyrics without much slurring or forgetting the words. However at times the coyote would stumble a bit to the side before recovering and when back to singing the lyrics again.
Hunter had to admit that it was enjoyable in watching a drunk person somehow managing to keep themselves together well enough to sing an entire song. However it didn't last too long as the coyote eventually fell off the karaoke stand and was out cold.
"Damn it, I had a bet that he was going to last longer than that. There goes ten bucks." Skye lamented.
The ferret looked with worry at the unconscious singer, "Is he going to be okay?"
Skye shrugged, "Eh, probably, if not the hospital's isn't too far." she said with a casual tone.
Next Skye suggested that they hit up the arcade, which Hunter was more willing to do as he used to frequent them as a child.
"How about this one? I like racing games." Hunter suggested pointing out the booth with the steering wheels.
The vixen nudged his shoulder, "Are you a good driver?"
Hunter meekly smiled, "I can drive stick shift."
His comment made the vixen laugh, "I see you, alright then."
After several runs, the ferret was able to beat the vixen each time, which impressed her, "Wow Hunter, you're really good at this."
"I told you I liked racing games." he told her with a confident smile.
"Seems like it, considering how much you drank earlier you're still pretty sober." she said commenting on his relative stability.
The ferret reclined in the seat, "I feel a little light-headed to be honest."
"Wow look at Jack go." Skye told the ferret.
Hunter groaned and looked over, it seemed Jack was playing a zombie game, holding a fake assault rifle to shoot at the targets.
"So what? I can do better!" Hunter boasted.
The vixen looked at the concentrated buck, "Sounds like a challenge, Jack's got a trigger finger."
The ferret got off the car seat and ran towards the stand where Jack was.
"Jack!" Hunter yelled out.
The buck continued to shoot at the screen, "Not now I'm trying to beat my high score."
"I want to beat your high score." the ferret declared.
"You can't." Jack merely stated focusing on the game.
Hunter clenched his fists, "I will!"
After Jack finished his round he swore as he was a few points short of accomplishing his goal, "Fine. Do it." he said shunting the rifle forcefully into the ferret's paws.
Hunter frowned at him, "I'll show you, dumb bunny..." he inserted the quarters and then he turned to the screen, readying himself by aiming the gun at the screen.
One by one the zombie began to manifest on the screen, familiar with how the game functions the ferret made sure to prioritize headshots in order to maximize how many points he received.
Skye chuckled as she watched the ferret get into the zone, "This reminds me of when I play Paw of Duty Zombies."
"Oh yeah, I've seen people play that game, seems pretty fun." Jack added.
"It is, I recommend buying one." Skye said approving of the game.
Jack shook his head, "I don't play these kind of games at home, only here."
"Huh. More you know." Skye said still watching the ferret.
"You should treat him nicer Jack, he's pretty new to the place and he isn't exactly swimming in friends." Skye told the buck.
Jack looked at her, "What?"
Skye rolled her eyes, "I mean stop acting up with him."
"Mm-hmm, sure..." Jack merely said watching the score rapidly rise on the screen.
"I'm serious Jack, one day treating him like this is going to backfire." Skye warned him.
"Damn it, he's getting close to my high score!" Jack yelled out.
Hunter at this point also knew that and was purely focusing on the game at this point completely ignoring any outside noise, "Come on, just a few more..."
The zombie horde nearly overwhelmed the ferret, but he was so determined to beat Jack that even all of them coming at him at once didn't deter him, the last few seconds were littered with points flying across the screen, and before he knew it the game was over.
"Did I...I won!" Hunter exclaimed.
The vixen clapped her paws, "Congrats, isn't that nice Jack?"
The buck stood there in shock, "That's not possible..."
Hunter put the rifle back on the stand, "And that's how it's done."
The ferret hiccuped a little as the alcohol began to affect his body, "I've got quite the finger on the trigger huh?"
Jack's nose twitched in irritation, "So what if you beat me in some stupid video game, I bet it's a different story in real life."
The vixen sighed, "Jack come on, I came here to have fun, not to start fights."
Hunter nodded, "Yeah Jack, just wanted to have a bit of fun. What's the trouble with that?"
Jack scratched his head, "I don't care about whether you have fun or not, but you look like you want to start something with me."
"Oh surprise, poor Jackie's playing the victim right now. Because the big, bad ferret happened to be better than him at some 'stupid video game'." Hunter said mocking Jack.
The buck raised an eyebrow, "Playing the victim huh? From where I'm standing it sounds like your projecting your own ideas onto me."
"I'm not projecting! Stop trying to make me look bad." Hunter huffed.
Skye growled, "Oh would you two shut up? I swear..."
Jack looked at his watch, "Well I'm calling it a night, I have other things to do than to continue this useless banter with you. Have a good night." he told Hunter before walking off.
"Jack! Ugh..." Skye called to the buck to no avail.
"What a prick." Hunter said scoffing at the rabbit's callous behavior.
The vixen shook her head, "I'm sorry, Jack doesn't normally act like this."
"He seems to have something against me." the ferret said.
"Jack doesn't have anything against you, he's probably just like this because he's been drinking."
Hunter frowned, "Drinking alone doesn't make a person act like that."
"Jack might act like a jerk sometimes and I know it sounds like I'm making up excuses for him but he's had a pretty rough childhood. He still sometimes has a hard time getting along with others but trust me he's not acting out of malice just because he wants to."
"Still I'm keeping an eye on him. So, what next?" Hunter asked the vixen.
Skye rubbed her chin, "Mm it's gonna be 7, still have plenty of time. I gotta feeling I'm going to beat you at that racing game this time." she told the ferret pointing at the machine.
Hunter cracked his knuckles, "Bring it on."
I hope this provided some insight into Hunter's association with Skye and Jack, thanks for reading! :)