Chapter 7: Finneko

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"Right then, remember what I said, everyone?" Nick asked, looking around.

There was a collection of sighs and 'yesses' as the triple date crowd turned to him. Haida in particular was more than a little weary of the repeated warnings. "Listen, I trust Fenneko. And if she judges any mammal as suitable for her, then I trust that decision and… Uhhh... Even if… -How old even is that van?!"

The collection of mammals turned to see a battered old red van with a white replacement door and a highly interesting mural on one side race up the access road, sliding to a sudden stop next to them. A cloud of dust swept around it while the engine gave one last gunshot of backfire before turning off. Nick rolled his eyes and looked up at the hyena. "Honestly, nobody knows."

"Heeeyyooooooo Slickster!" came a shout from inside as the door was kicked open, Finnick jumping down off of his raised driving seat. Dressed in his regular black and red bowling shirt, with his black aviators perched on his brow and his baseball bat slung across his shoulders, he strutted around like he was twelve feet tall and ruled the roost. "Ya know, as apology gifts go, I'd say this one was a bit cray-cray." He stuck his paws out, buckling as a second, significantly taller, fennec dropped down into them bridal style. "Ahhhh… But I ain't complaining Slick," he said, turning to give her a kiss on the underside of her muzzle. "As I said before, consider us evens! Just no backsies, ya hear?"

"Not that I'd consider it," Fenneko spoke as he put her down. The vixen was realistically only a little above average height for her species, but standing next to the diminutive Finnick really made that hard to believe. She was easily a head taller than him and, if you were being generous, you could say that she was two. She still held herself as sure as he did though, any sense of intimidation only tempered by the fact that she wore a baggy but comfy sky blue hoodie, taking the edge off of what could otherwise be a certified power vixen. "Though I must commend you Mr Wilde on your ability to pick out a fine mate for me."

Nick's jaw hit the floor, the vixen bursting into laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…"

Finnick just gave her a sly look. "Oooh, not just 'potential' mate now, Mon Joli-Oreilli?" He swooned, leaning in and stretching up to kiss one of her ears.

"After this morning, I think we've gone far beyond mere potential," she smirked, Finnick cracking a smile.

"He-hehhh…" he laughed, before spotting Nick's reaction. "Bwahahahaha!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…"

Haida and Retsuko looked at each other, shrugging. "Guess they really have hit it off," Retsuko said, smiling as she looked on at the pair. She then turned to Nick. "Don't you agree they seem to get on well?"

"Yes," he said blankly.

Her eyes narrowed. "Now that you see they can get on well, are you feeling better now?"

He closed his eyes, breathed in, and gave her a blank look. "Do you think God stays in heaven because he, too, lives in fear of what he's created?"

"Oooh," Jack cooed from the side. "Now if there was ever any line held back by its movie," he said, glancing over to Skye. His eyes turned back though, landing on the mural on the side of the van, which he walked off to investigate. Skye, meanwhile, just looked at Judy.

"Should we just keep out of this?"

The bunny looked between the two fennecs and Nick, still part frozen up. "Yeah… for now," she said, as the smallest fox in the group moved up to the largest.

"Aw, C-mon Slick?" Finnick said, strolling up to him. Wazza matter?"

"Just wondering what the appeal is?"

"Wazza appeal?" he asked, paws going up. "Seriously, Slick, just look at her," he said, smiling as he walked back and slung a paw around her shoulder. She blushed a bit as he cosied up tight. "One, she's funny. Two, she's pretty. Three, she holds her own against me with her words and what not, keeps things interesting. Four, she's sexy. Five, she's real sexy…" He paused as she giggled a bit, giving her a knowing look, before turning back. "And you know what, we get on nice with each other and make both of us laugh and have a good time. So, there's the appeal in that, Slick!"

"I was asking her."

Haida nodded along, turning to Fenneko. "Yeah, I'm kinda interested in knowing what your type is. I mean, I didn't really peg you for a bad-boy type, I can see it now, but… you know?"

"Well," she said, bringing her paws together, palm against palm, pad against pad and claw against claw. "Remember that singles night I took you to, Retsy?"

The red panda paused, thinking for a second or two before nodding. "The one where I met Resasuke and started our relationship. I remember that, though I spent the entire night texting to him rather than talking, so I might have a bit of tunnel vision."

The fennec vixen blinked a few times. "Oh, you were texting him all that time?" She turned to Haida. "I thought she was just spending her time on her phone, that's how she ended up with him."

"Wait," Retsuko asked, her ears going a little askew. "Is there something I'm missing here?"

"Yes," she carried on, "because you were on the phone all the time with Resasuke. You missed me dismissing singles drinks nights and such as a waste of time, only to then stare into the eyes of a big powerful pallas cat sitting opposite me while I internally rescinded that statement. What can I say? I do like tough boys. In any case, while fun, that night didn't go anywhere due to our species difference, a difference promptly solved by the Finster here. He's tough, holds his own, has a bark and a bite that I certainly appreciate, is simultaneously badass and adorable and, when it comes down to his size, that only comes into play when I want to put forward my own little dominant side. Isn't that right?" she cooed, leaning down onto his shoulder and fussing his head-fur with her claws. His face stretched with lines of pleasure, while she gave them all a knowing look. "He's also a sweet romantic when he wants to be. He treats me like a queen and I treat him like a king," she said, smiling.

"Dat's right," Finnick added, smirking. "We're each other's royalty!"

"As if to top it off, a scan through the scarce social media field he has around him and into his past, along with the evidence of his temperament I get when talking to him, strongly suggests that he is what he is and nothing more. A confident bad boy who lives by his own rules, and I happen to really like that."

"Yeah," Finnick said, his muzzle still raised and teeth still gritted in pleasure as she worked his head and the rim of one of her ears with her claws. "We just click, ya know Slick?" he said.

"No I don't," he said, sighing a little. "But I guess that, like a drunk driver, I have to live with my deeds now.

"You right there, Red!" he announced. "Forever…"

"And ever…" Fenneko added, leaning down and planting her head on top of his.

"And ever…"

"And ever…"

"And ever…"

"And ever…"

"And ever."

…

"Well, that was terrifying," Nick summarised. "But we have more important things to discuss."

"Quite right," Jack added.

"Indeed," Nick said, his voice taking on a darker tone. "I…"

"-Is that mural on your van meant to be Popocatepetl and Iztaccíhuatl?" the striped bunny asked, gesturing over at it.

Finnick's eyes widened with glee. "YESSSS! Howz you know that?"

Jack looked on smugly, gesturing back at himself with one of his paws. "¿No crees que no conocería una parte famosa de la cultura de mi tierra natal?"

The fennec drew a blank look as Nick maneuvered himself in front of Jack and opened his mouth to speak, only for a new figure to then barge out of the door and cut in front of him. "Mr Fox, writer and professional problem solver!" he introduced himself. "I hear that you two are the best at assisting in solving problems, such as the ones we have, correct?"

Finnick paused, looking down to his bat and waving it ever so slightly. "Well, I wouldn't say just 'assisting'."

"Confident, I like it. Have you received the brief yet?"

Fenneko spoke up, scanning through her phone as she did so. "I've been notified about what's happened to your nephew and have already started doing some research. So far it seems that no major political or authority figure has revealed his name and situation, following on with the requirements of the youth justice laws. Unfortunately, the event at the school has caused a large amount of trouble, with a variety of revealing posts, both accurate and likely heresy, spilling out on social media. While better analysis along with greater context could lead us to more clues, at the very least I would suggest that we start a highly focussed misinformation campaign designed to downplay what happened. After all, regardless of how this case comes out, the things that are said here could stick with Kristofferson Silverfox for much longer."

Mr Fox nodded. "Reputation and all that, very important."

"Yeah," Finnick noted, before raising his bat up to point at the red fox. "And, if we start causing a ruckus on Chitter and what not, then maybe the people who start to come after us more often than not are those who caused this whole mess in the first place! If they want him in the slammer, they'll wanna keep him in there and turn his friends against him, and if a load of people on the internet are wantin' him out, you can bet that they'll try and do something against it."

"So drawing the snake out of his hole by stirring up the chicken coop," Mr Fox said, before turning to face Nick. "An excellent choice of allies, that dynamic duo will be invaluable. Come on in."

That they all did, the two fennec's bringing up the end. At least until they passed Nick that was. Finnick turned and gave the fox a wink and a smile, before hopping in. The red fox just sighed. "Right, this is reality now. Just gonna have to get used to it." And, with that, he followed in, joining up with the others as they prepared a briefing.

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Inside, things were getting busy. Bringing out a projector and a laptop, the group were quickly setting up the main lounge as a base of operations. Fenneko was dealing with a bunch of bluetooth stuff, trying to get it so her phone could show onto the main screen. Skye, though admittedly mechanically minded and not software minded, did her best to help. The larger mammals were busy setting out tables and chairs, Finnick was talking to Mr Fox and laughing out loud, while Judy settled up next to Nick.

"Sooo…" she began, looking away and tapping her foot. "You do remember that talk Skye had with you?"

"About talking about me behind my back?" he spoke, looking down at her.

"Yeah," she said, "after I kind of went to town on her for potentially turning Haida and Retsuko against you." There was a pause, as she looked away and sighed. "I'm just kind of worried, or feel a bit hypocritical, with you going on about…"

"-About Finn?" He asked, looking back at her. "Yeah, I can understand that."

She nodded. "I mean I get why you doubted it. Heck, I doubted too. But seeing them now…"

He looked over and nodded. "I… It's hard to really say," he began, pausing as he watched the fennec in question break away from Mr Fox and walk over. He strolled up right next to them with his shades down, leant against a table and pointed at one of his ears.

"Deez things ain't just fo' show, yo' know?" he spoke, Nick groaning in response. "How bad waz it?"

"Well, after realising that I had just set her up with you, I felt I'd committed a crime against love. When asked why, I just admitted that you were once a very naughty boy, but your record is sealed."

He blinked a few times before glancing at Judy. "Dat true?" He spoke, his tone darkening a little.

She nodded.

There was a pause, before he shrugged, lifting his glasses up. "Eh, basically the truth."

Judy sighed with relief, while Nick smiled. "Thanks, good to hear you're not super mad."

"Oh c'mon," he said, gesturing over at Fenneko with a smile on his mouth. "Look at her. She's a fine lady, and you gotta protect dat!"

He nodded, before he focused on him with a critical eye. "Yeah, but are you willing to change for that?"

Finnick blinked a little, stepping back a bit. "What you going on about?"

"Listen, Finn," Nick began, as Judy looked up at him curiously. "Back how I used to be, back when we were hustlers, I didn't deserve to be with Judy," he confessed, staring at the floor as he did so. "It wasn't just cleaning up my act and joining the force, it was about working hard to be the kind of mammal that she deserved. That's what I needed to do to earn the right to be in a relationship with her. You, meanwhile, weren't even willing to drop out of hustling and make the first step. That's why I was so worried about you getting in with her, Finn. I know you came a long way since I first met you, but are you willing to take it the whole way? To clean off and work on your issues, to change, for her? To become the kind of mammal that she deserves?"

There was a silent pause, Finnick's mouth held askew, before his brow furrowed. "And did bunny cop change for you?"

Nick blinked a bit. "Uh, Finn. It doesn't work like that."

"And why not?" he said, paws going onto his hips. "Why is it us boys who have to change for the girls and all?"

The red fox tod facepawed. "Finn, you know what I mean."

"Yeah I do," he commented, before turning to Judy. "I mean, he says he's changed and all, but he's still a dour dog downer, ain't he?"

"Uhhh," Judy began.

"You know, the 'woe is me' and 'oh this world is sad' and 'this ain't gonna work' talks all smattered in with sad philosophicking about 'the true nature of society' and what not. Oh, and the melodrama! Just too much melodrama for any healthy mammal."

"Oh, that," she said, before nodding. "Yeah, but that's Nick, isn't it?"

The red fox just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Yeah," Finnick said. "And why can't Finnick be Finnick, huh? Listen Slick, you might be never pleased about who or what you are, but I'm happy being me. I know what I am, she knows what I am, and is there anything wrong with that? Why do I have to change it, or go away and turn myself into somethin' I'm not?"

Nick was left speechless, before he closed his eyes and breathed in and out. "Okay, yeah. I get you."

"Yeah, you say that," he dismissed.

"No, I'm serious," he said. "A while back, those kinds of things did get too severe for me and I tried to get further away from who I was. Even ignoring those I loved as I tried to do it, even while I was doing it for them.

Finnick blinked. "Dat true, Bunny Cop?"

She nodded. "It is, Finnick. But here's the thing. Maybe I didn't change myself, but I did other things instead. I promised to be honest, to care for him, to be there for him and to repay the love and dedication he gave me." She stepped forward, before glancing over at Fenneko. "Will you do that for her?"

This time it was Finnick's turn to be silent, looking away and scratching behind one of his ears. "Yeeesh! Don't you have big ears too? Didn't you hear me say I treat her like a queen? An' bein' honest with her? Yeah, I've been honest. She knows what I do, she knows what I did. She knows I was in the kiddie pen for five years; heck, she's even seen my jail tat!"

Nick gawked. "You have a jail tat?"

Finnick snickered, pulling up his shirt and ruffling the fur over his heart. Nick looked in closer, his head tilting, before he backed off. "Is that a black paw!?"

"Hey, back when I was a fifteen year old slab of angry fresh bug meat still getting used to having to wear black and white stripes for the next half a decade, they were my homies. That… That was a long time ago. But she's seen and she knows that I'm well past all of that."

"And if she wants you to clean up?" Nick asked. "If it's between the hustle and the vixen?"

Finnick stood still for a second or two before his ears lowered, giving out a huff as he did so. "Fine Slick. Yeah. I can clean up my hustles, though I won't be abandoning them. I'm not a suit and tie kind of mammal, you hear?"

"Yeah, right," Nick said. "And what do you mean by clean up?"

He shrugged. "Hey, she wants to be a PI? Maybe I can be her muscle!" He chuckled. "Partners in crime-bustin'."

Judy crossed her paws. "You know that she is thinking of doing it with her friends, including a hyena?"

"Yeah," Nick added. "And if you ever break her heart, he might be there to sic you."

Finnick snickered. "What? That 'yena?"

"Yes, the 'yena who's been standing behind you ever since I asked if you'd be willing to change for his best friend."

Finnick blinked, turning around and looking straight up into Haida's face. He paused for a second or two before sniggering. "Hey! How's it going with the mother in law?"

Haida suppressed a slight snarl. "It's getting better and thanks for that drink. Listen, I'm gonna trust you as I trust Fenneko. But don't hurt her, or I might have to hurt you."

"Hey," he shrugged, picking up his bat and looking at it. "I ain't gonna hurt her, which is good news as that means you won't get hurt neither."

He flashed a cocky grin back at Nick and Judy, only to suddenly flinch. Haida had dropped his foot down onto the bat and looked down at Finnick, unimpressed. The fennec scowled, tried and failed to pull it out, before looking back grumpily.

"Cool your jets, 'yena. I don't think anyone here wants a demo of why I might be a good pair of muscles... -too."

Haida stepped off the bat. "Listen, we're not really looking for extra muscle. A lot of our stuff might be whitecollar and financial stuff. So very suit and tie-y even if we don't wear those things."

Finnick's ears drooped down hard before he shrugged. "Well, maybe I can go bounty hunting or somethin'. Or join that cool fox over there on his jobs! Hey, Mr Cool Fox! You hiring, right?"

Mr Fox broke off from whatever conversation he was having and saluted across. "Potential slot still open!"

He looked back at Nick and smiled. "Yeah, that's what we was talkin' 'bout. He's legit, right?"

A slightly confused Nick just glanced at an equally confused Judy, then back at Finnick. "You, working for him?"

"Yeah," the fennec replied, a smug grin on his muzzle. "He's basically old you but with none of the sucky bits."

"I…" Nick began, before shaking his head. "Right. Might be very financially optimistic on his part, but you'll probably find a way somewhere." There was a pause, then a smile. "Welcome to the light side, I guess."

He outstretched his paw, Finnick looking at it for a second or two before stepping forward and shaking it back.

"Do her good," Haida added, the small fox holding back for a second or two before giving him a quick two fingered salute.

"I will, 'yena," he spoke levelly. "I will."

There was a brief pause as he walked his way, before the sound of a different fox clearing his throat rang out. "I'm guessing you did meet him."

"Yes."

"So…"

"-My girlfriend told your girlfriend. Ask her."

…

"Carrots…?"

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Meanwhile, three girls were busy with a laptop, working away with both it and a phone while discussing some important matters.

"I have to say, that triple date did sound exciting," Fenneko said, busy tapping away. "It's a shame I couldn't come."

Skye nodded along. "Yeah," she said, "It was fun." She paused though, thinking. "Though maybe four couples would be a bit overcrowded? You could do rotating double dates instead if you really wanted."

"I happen to think the more the merrier."

"Yeah, well that's easy for an extrovert to say."

"I suppose it is," Fenneko noted. "Then again, I still feel that our presence would have improved that night for all, and provided a highly efficient social media chronicle of the events going on in it."

"Well," Retsuko chuckled nervously. "I suppose there's at least one good reason why you couldn't come. I mean, it was our drunken chats that ended up putting you two together… Late last evening... -And now you're super close. I mean, it's pretty scary when you think about how fast you two clicked."

Fenneko shrugged. "Hey, all I had booked in for that night home was internet and sleep. I can't have you beating me on the social media front with your fancy triple dates and, after finding out his van was parked not far from my apartment, I suggested we go out for a late night meal. A little stroll through the meerkat markets and soon we were laughing and smiling together."

"His van," she asked, pausing. "He lives in there?"

She smiled, looking up at her. "The interiors are pretty spectacular. Before we got your call in the morning, I was helping him set up an account on Preddit and guiding him through a drip-fed high interest generating posting arrangement for p-slash-cozyplaces."

Skye looked over at her before bringing out her phone and searching through, her eyes widening as she saw something. She passed it over to Retsuko, the red panda blinking as she saw it. "That's better than I imagined."

Fenneko waved it over before giving it a critical eye. "I wouldn't say so. Only two gold so far."

Retsuko rolled her eyes. "I was talking about the interior."

The fennec vixen smiled. "It has a certain charm, and it's surprising what a bit of opportune framing, lighting, and some tactical tidying of an otherwise functional living space can do."

"Yeah," Skye noted, looking at it. "It does look like a nice place. Still, though, living out of a van full time and all… I'm not trying to be judgemental, but…"

"-Such a thing is associated with unsavoury characters, isn't it?" Fenneko interupted, carrying on working on the laptop, her focus seemingly unwavering from it. "Ones who roam from place to place, stealing and looting where they go, using drugs and seeking women for short thrills or worse. Who knows? He could be an escaped sexual predator, who lurks the street trying to woo in innocent mammals, only to tranquilise them before taking them out to a secluded spot where he does unspeakable things before finally granting the long begged for mercy of death."

…

"Don't worry Skye," Retsuko said, reaching out with a paw and holding on to the slowly retreating swift fox vixen. "She's normally like this."

"That's not helping," she said, turning to look at the small vixen, still focussed intently on her screen.

"Hey, just saying," she said, shrugging. "In reality though, I was able to cross reference his pictures with the name provided and that of his sponsor, Nick Wilde. I found a quick back catalogue of pictures that had been taken, giving me a reasonable view of what he was like."

"Only reasonable?" Retsuko queried.

"If you're worried, that was due to authorship bias. It was pretty obvious though that most of that was teasing, especially after cross referencing with Finster's own, sparser, media posts. Suffice to say, in contrast to a number of captions, he was not a member of the extreme end of the ageplay community."

The two other girls gave each other an odd look, Retsuko turning forward again. "And what did you learn about him?"

"Well, from a variety of posts I found that he is a bit of a tough guy, he enjoys playing an electric guitar and generally keeping his vehicle in working order. He has an interesting taste in music, not the same as my own but this is real life and you can't have it all. He can be grumpy and a bit snappy at times, but after a hard day's work he can sit back in a bean bag with a beer in one paw and a contented smile of a day well spent on his face. He's actually impressively good at art and stuff, he didn't do that mural but he practiced how to touch it up and learned how to paint. Also, he follows baseball, similar to my minor interest in softball. We actually spent the night at the batting cages."

She brought out her phone to prove it, the pair scrolling through. At first there were a few selfies of them at the markets, sharing food or with him bursting out in laughter. There was a selfie of them holding up a margherita each, before the scenery changed. Dressed up in the correct padding, different pics showed them having a go swinging with his bat. The ones with him had him leaping up with a furious look on his face, cracking the ball with his bat as if he wanted to send it up into orbit. By the end, there was a picture of him with his mouth open, tongue panting out as he squeezed a flow of juice into his gaping jaws, all framed by the stark glow of a spotlight behind him. The next few pictures were filtered versions of the same one. "I like this one," she said, showing off one where the light behind had been dulled down and the saturation of his colours turned up. "Though he likes this one," she said, scrolling on, revealing a black and white version with a very noir like feel. On she went, showing a few pictures of her swinging that bat. It was clear she wasn't as good, but on one she was caught hitting the ball square on. The next few pictures had her jumping up and down in celebration. The one after that was a double selfie, Finnick holding her tight with a look of cool pride on his face.

"That's nice," Retsuko said, smiling.

"I know," Fenneko said, almost whispering. "So hot." She scrolled on some more, revealing Finnick taking her back to his van, showing her in, the two snuggling, then the pair beginning to pose and snuggle in decreasing amounts of clothing… "I'll stop there," she said, taking her phone back and scrolling to a different, resolutely clean, image in her gallery. "We had fun last night," she said, glancing up at Retsuko's wavering eyes.

"T-t-the real thing, that soon?"

"Oh no, it was all snuggles, kisses, tongue and paw stuff last night," she waved off. "It was after he brought me breakfast in bed from a store, along with some items from a pharmacy, that we did the real thing."

"Woah, TMI!" she said, backing off.

"Also, let me just say that his van is not compensating for anything," she said, giving a knowing smile at the slap-faced Retsuko.

"Uhhhh….. Uhhhhhh…"

They were broken off by a deep laugh. "Givin' 'em TMI babe?" They watched Finnick stroll over, planting a kiss on the side of her muzzle.

"Arguably less. Though maybe her overt reaction is due to a latent hyenid versus ailurid scale based fear she has due to her chosen species of mate. Any attempts or mentions of the act of making love, especially with well endowed men, sends her into a series of increasing nerves due to the fact that she either risks never fulfilling the full potential of her romantic relationship with him or she risks causing grievous and maybe even potentially permanent body harm to a sensitive area from over eager over stuffing. Of course, knowing her mate, that could send him into a tailspinning spiral of guilt ending up in estrangement or even suicide, all on her."

Retsuko's face was like a stone wall while Skye was taking an increasing number of steps back.

The two fennecs glanced at each other before breaking down in hysterics. "Bwahahahaha…" "HAHAHAHAHAHA"

Shaking her head, Retsuko put her paws on her hips and stared them down. "That was not funny!"

Mid laugh, Finnick looked up, trying to hold his laughter in but failing. "Yes it was! Yes it was! Hahahaaaaa…"

"HAHAHAHAHA… -Did I tell you he appreciated my sense of humour too?"

"No," she grumbled. "I mean, what if it's you getting it done to!"

"What?" Finnick asked, still bent over in laughter. "Like the van dwellers one? Oooh, I'm an escaped sexual predator. I'm going to make you beg for the sweet release of death. BWAHAHAHA…."

"Well," Skye finally said, feeling it was safe to approach them again. "I have to admit. They are made for each other."

"Yes," Retsuko said, pausing and clearing her throat. "What about him, you know, once being a 'naughty boy'?"

The two broke off, Fenneko bringing a paw out to hold Finnick back. "A few pics suggested he got out of a reform institution around fifteen years ago."

"Waz that the time ten years ago that Slick got me that five year old's birthday cake with the sparkler on it?"

"Yes. While a large number of comments you made on an online article about a past 'Kits for Cash' scandal in the States, particularly in conjunction with fellow commentator 'Eljaysliver', suggested that this stemmed from a bad experience in the youth justice system." She paused, glancing at him. "You might want to remember that for later."

"Uh-Okay," he said, not sure where this was going. Fenneko was carrying on regardless.

"However, it wasn't me who brought this up last night."

There was a pause, as Finnick's expressions darkened. "Yeah," he said, turning to the other two girls. "I did some dumb ruttin' stuff when I was a teen and I did half a decade of hard time," he said, looking to the side a little. "It was when she suggested we go back to my van and asked how tough I really was that I told her the truth and the whole truth and nuthin' but the truth about all that. She then said she knew, and that me telling meant an awful lot to her."

"Yes. For instance, the fact I really would be going back to his van."

Finnick chuckled, before cosying up to her, massaging one of her ears. "Never change, Mon Joli-Oreilli. Never change."

She looked at him and smiled, glancing over at her friends as well. "He's also quite the romantic," she said, before tapping a few times on the laptop. "And I think this should do the trick!"

Pressing the enter key it did, the projector behind them displaying a blank screen. There was a pause as the whole crowd slowed down, realising it was time. Nick and Judy stepped forwards; Dr Silverfox, his expression darkening gravely, sat down; Skye and Retsuko found a seat next to their boyfriends. Mr and Mrs Fox held onto each other and gave them a nod.

Fenneko brought up her phone, ready to begin, only for the door to the stairs to crash open. Ash staggered in, looking terrified. "I-I-I've worked something out!"

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AN: Thanks to my ever dependable proof reader, Dancou Maryuu, for coming up with the zoot name for twitter.