Hours into the early evening, the wolf and warthog were relaxing out in their room. Jacque's wallet had been put away, momentarily forgotten, they had eaten their dinner, this of which had started to put Bullseye back in a 'tolerable' mood, as it had been a meal that he rather liked, and now he had his headphones on and was listening to one of his heavy metal CDs, the loud music and eardrum splitting vocals were quite appropriate and suiting to stress out and calm down on. Buckthorne was keeping his own, a textbook propped up between his knees, and a pencil in hand, which he was idly twirling about in his fingers. This wasn't unusual for the pair; they knew when to give each other space, and after all, they DID see and talk to one another everyday, anyways, so a few hours break every evening or whatnot wasn't such a big deal. But after awhile of staring at his homework, Buckthorne looked glanced at his friend. "-Yo, Bullsy?" He said it somewhat loud, but the warthog's music was obviously louder. The wolf picked up his eraser and threw it onto Bullseye, who opened his eyes, leaned over and looked at Buckthorne, pulling his headphones off. "-What's the haps?" Buckthorne asked simply, "-What's a 'playa'?" Bullseye gave him a funny look, and snorted, "-Huh... you're lookin' at one, pal." The wolf shook his muzzle and held up his textbook. "-I'm talking geographical term, bro, not ghetto." "-Oh that..." his friend sniggered. "Gee... lemme think... it rings a bell... I remember it was a... water body of sorts... dry lake bed... in the middle of a desert... made of alluvial junk and all that crap..." "-Right... 'alluvial junk and all that crap'... that description'll get me marks for sure," Buckthorne jested. Bullseye lifted his shoulders. "-Should've gone with my first answer!" Heh... this is fun... gimme some more of them double meaning words." The wolf grinned, and looked up another. "-Okie dokie... what do we have here then, in the... oooh, here's one... okay Bullseye, do tell me... what's a 'dyke'?" Bullseye gave a cheesy smirk. "-Another word for lesbian." Buckthorne suppressed a laugh. "-Y'know... it's funny you mention that," he spoke. "-Oh?" the warthog inquired. "Yeah... at the hangout today earlier... see Vera and Aleena were there, and they were just about to leave... well, you know how some girls have a tendency of holding each other's hands?" The warthog grinned, snewdly. "-Yeeah?" "That's what they were doing as they were leaving, and as they went, Richard called them lesbians." Bullseye immediately burst into a fit of laughter. "-Oh... my... god!" he gasped, howling. "Count on old Richy to fill in for me... heheh." Oh, I can imagine the looks on Lou, Chuck, Rock and Mase now!" "Heh... oh yeah that was priceless as they come!" But here's the funnier part..." Buckthorne went on. "See apparently they were still in hearable distance, cuz Vera comes back in, saying she 'forgot something'-" "-Uh oh!" Bullseye snickered, gleefully. "So yeah... she walks in... goes straight over to Richard and yanks his ear as hard as she can." The warthog howled in delight, slapping his knee. "Hott damn!" Oh man... I should've seen that coming, that is SO Vera," he chortled. "'Oh, all men are the enemy, such stupid evil bastards, I must kill them all! Except for my sweetie snuggly little Rocky pooh bear!'" Bullseye mocked in a girly-like voice, then made lame kissy-smoochy noises. His wolf friend blinked, with an amused smile. "-And you do know that you could find yourself less one ball for just saying that, don't ya?" Bullseye nodded, "-Yeah yeah... which is exactly why I'm saying it here, where most the people are too young to understand what I'm saying anyways." They both laughed a little. "-Okay... one more word... come on!" the warthog begged. Buckthorne, giving in, picked up the book and found another. "-Okay... try this one for size bro... an 'erg'." Bullseye gave a smirk and responded, "-Oh that's an easy one." "And it be?" his friend pressed. Straight-faced and calmly, Bullseye answered, "-A geek having an orgasm." Astounded by the outrageous reply, Buckthorne fell into a fit of giggles, laughing madly at the absurdity. When he stopped, he breathed, "-Phew... honestly dude, where you come up with this shit, I don't even wanna know... but I DO know at this rate I'll never finish this homework." "-And you're welcome for that!" Bullseye said, sincerely, as if he was doing the wolf a favour, in making him not complete the geography assignment. Amidst the goofing off, a tapping was heard at their door. Out of nowhere, Bullseye yelled randomly to the knocker, "-Back off!" Go get your own crabcakes!" as Buckthorne continued to laugh hysterically. The door opened and revealed none other than their female sheepdog guardian. Melony shook her muzzle at the teenagers. "-My word, what on Mobius are you two giggling like a pair of baboons about?" I could hear you three doors down, I swear!" Buckthorne tried to contain his mirth, as Bullseye said, "-Oh Mel, it's you!" Sorry about that... just... joking and stuff... didn't know that was you at the door." "-I can see that," she smiled. "Nice to see you're doing better, hun... Buckthorne here said you weren't feeling so well earlier, you had me worried!" Bullseye blinked, "-Oh... that... ah gee, I'm sorry Mellie... should've told you myself." It's not really ME though, just so you know... I'm fine in myself... just... long story in the day, so to speak... it'll be alright." "-Oh no you don't, you aren't getting off so easily as that, Mr.Warthogg!" Nurse Melony said, sternly. "If there's something going on with my boys here, then I think I should be hearing about it!" The warthog figited a little. He DID want to tell her, considering he owed it to tell her, but he hadn't wanted to right NOW when he didn't know exactly how to put it. But seeing as he had no other choice, Bullseye began to tell the events of earlier that day, leaving out any obscenities in speech or events where necessary, of course. When he was done, the nurse gasped, "-My goodness... I still can't believe it!" What a strike of fate!" Chance in a million... Bullseye do you know how much any orphan would give to get what you just got??" He nodded slowly, "-Yeah... considering it's the same thing I wanted..." The kindly female suddenly gave into emotion. "-Oh Bullseye hun, I'm so happy for you!" Finding your brothers again... how wonderful!" They sound like they're doing well... what of your father?" She seemed to forget his attitude towards his surviving parent, and his pausing tone immediately reminded her, but she couldn't take it back then. "-Dunno.. they didn't... say much about him... didn't ask much either." "-Oh, I see," the sheepdog said. "Well... forgive me dear for asking so soon but... does this mean you'll be... going back with them?" Had either Melony or Bullseye looked at Buckthorne right now, they would've seen his face go sickeningly pale at an alarming rate. The wolf felt his gut seized into a chunk of ice, at hearing this. Bullseye LEAVE here??? What's more... Bullseye leave HIM here all alone??? If Bullseye hadn't answered sooner, Buckthorne would have undoubtedly passed out right then and there, from fright. But the warthog responded, "-That's... kinda a subject neither of us has even thought of yet, actually... no one brought THAT one up..." But even so... I mean... I don't know..." "-Oh?" Melony questioned, concerned at his odd tone. The warthog realized the situation he had put himself into; now Melony wanted the whole explanation. Bullseye gnawed on his lower lip. "-Well... what I meant is... see... I just don't think I could... live or be around 'him'... after all he's done-" Both the sheepdog and wolf knew who this was: his father, Graff. They didn't blame him either. "And plus... Goresky and Chislett... they... don't get me wrong, I still love them to death and all... but it's been so long and... they've.. 'changed'." His voice trailed off, awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. Bullseye wasn't used to so many emotions at once, hadn't been for a long time, and this subject was pressing on long-forgotten buttons, which was making him feel uncomfortably exposed. Finally he added, "I guess I just... don't wanna push it." The adult female slowly nodded. "I understand... but... you ARE going to see them again, are you not?" She couldn't bear the thought of Bullseye giving up on something as huge and important as this. He immediately set her mind at ease with his response, "-Oh yeah, of course!" Mentioned it just before we all headed off... said something about perhaps hanging out sometime... meeting my friends and stuff." Plus we exchanged numbers and said we'd call so-" "-Oh, that's good!" Melony said brightly. "Indeed, you must keep in touch." In fact, you should give them a ring tomorrow, I think, if they don't first... it's been eleven years already, hun, why waste another day?" We're all certainly not getting any younger!" Bullseye gave a small smile. "-Yeah... you got a point there, Aunt Mel." Alright, I'll see what I can do." "-Wonderful!" she said joyously. And oh, dear, don't be so nervous!" I know it's been a long time, and people do change, but just keep this in mind: When it comes down to everything... you're all FAMILY." What's more, you're brothers." Triplets, even closer!" And NO ONE can ever take that away from you." Her words were quite a stir to the soul, even Bullseye had to admit. "Thanks Mel... I needed to hear that," he said, gratefully. "You always were good for pep talks... or more 'ARE', should I say." "-It's not a problem, Bullseye hun," she replied. "Anything I can do for my boys." Now then... I do believe I must be getting upstairs to help with stories for the children... you two should get some rest, soon." They both nodded, Buckthorne thinking, Yeah... rest... not that I know what the hell that word means... Knowing she could still get away with it, Melony gave each of them a light, motherly affectionate peck on the forehead, and bid them a warm goodnight, which they bade likewise. As soon as she was gone, Bullseye gave a long, loud sigh, flopping down in bed, onto his backside again. He gave a little snort, and muttered to Buckthorne, "-Women... hmmph." How come they always gotta 'be right' and 'do the right thing' and 'tell us what we need to hear'?" Drives me nuts, I tell ya..." The wolf gave a light shrug, not seeming to mind as he did. "-Well, in all fairness... like her... they DO kinda have a point," he suggested. The warthog twisted his jaw, taking the thought. "-Yeeeah, I guess... I'll give them THAT much," he relented, raising his gaze to the ceiling, idly. Leaning outwards, stretching his limbs, he groaned, "-Uhhg... damn, I'm stiff as a woody... I think I'm gonna crash early tonight... but you can keep your light on if you want." Buckthorne agreed, "-Alrighty then... and thanks for the awkward word imagery, that you do seem to so delightfully present." "-My pleasure," the warthog, responded, sincerely, rolling over onto his other side. As his breathing grew softer, Buckthorne couldn't help but glance over, enviously. He knew Bullseye could fall asleep in just five minutes or less even, if he set his mind to do it, no problem. The wolf would consider it a MIRACLE if he could manage to fall asleep in the so called maximum 'normal' amount of time it takes one to drift off, which was some fifty odd minutes or so, about an hour. Usually it took him hours at a time. The recommended 'eight hours of sleep a night' was a foreign concept to him; his average hours a night was probably around four to five, six if he was lucky. Thus was the nor for the insomniac. He'd once heard a saying about how it's hard to fall asleep when your mind is full of thoughts and you're hungry, therefore your brain just won't shut off. It seemed to suit him; his mind was always running hotwire on thoughts of all sorts, and he WAS hungry, just not the food/stomach hungry-wise... He'd tried all the tricks and remedies he could find, but most of the time, they didn't pan out too well. So that night, like many before, Buckthorne laid awake, gazing blankly into the darkness, hoping and waiting for his body to eventually drift into a much needed slumber... waiting... and waiting...

Back earlier during the day, after they had said goodbye to Bullseye and rushed off to find their truck, Goresky and Chislett had sped off to pick up Jacque from the auditorium. They arrived in pretty good time, thanks to Chislett's hectic driving style, which included speed. By the time they came to a halt, his brother looked green around the gills. "-Oh god..." Goresky groaned, looking sick. "Remind me WHY did I let you drive, again, and after we've EATEN???" Uhhg... I'm gonna pay for that milkshake in a minute-" Chislett replied cooly, "-Hey, we needed to get here FAST, didn't we?" And frankly in that case, I don't think your 'playing-it-safe-drive-thirty-kilometres-an-hour' would've helped us." The elder scowled, "-Hey... I don't drive thirty!" ...I drive FORTY, thank you very much." The younger brother rolled his eyes and banged his head against the steering wheel, groaning in disgust. "And at least my way is LEGAL!" I mean, cripes, Chis, you went through a red light, pulled a U-turn, tail-gated, AND didn't have the right-a-way!" What NEXT, Chis?!" Chislett went a little red in the cheeks, as he drew his face back in, from looking outside of the window. "-Erm... I parked us in a handicap zone?" Goresky stared. "Okay... LET'S JUST GET OUT OF THE CAR!!!" he shrieked. His brother made no objection, needless to say. Chislett scrambled out quickly, and as Goresky was feeling uneasy, he practically lost balance and stumbled to his knees. Seeing his brother take a head-first out of the car, Chislett yelped, "-Whoa!" You okay Goresk?" Goresky grumbled, kneeling up on his knees and hand palms. "-Do I LOOK okay??" His brother flinched. "-Sheesh... just thought it'd be polite to ask... but nooo, apparently I stand corrected." The elder warthog slowly rose to his feet, scowling, "You are so lucky I can hardly stand without being tipsy, otherwise I would SO beat the living shit out of you right now." "-Yeah, that's nice," Chislett muttered, looking towards the building, searching through the crowd of people starting to come out. In a few minutes, he spotted the feline in blue and black. The warthog put two fingers in the corners of his mouth, and let out a high whistle. "-JAAAAACQUE!" he shouted, until he finally caught his friend's attention. The lynx/caracal finally came over. "-THERE you guys are!" Where have you been?" Jacque exclaimed. "I thought you said you'd be here to watch the rehearsal!" Goresky called me to say you'd be a little 'late', but I thought you meant 'fashionably', not showing up when it's all over!" "-Yeah, about that, sorry Jacq!" We kinda got... held up and lost track of time." But hey, we made it in time to pick you up, right?" Jacque gave a bit of a sigh. "Yeah, I suppose you're right... thanks for that." Hey, where'd Goresky go?" "-Here!" the said warthog groaned, from the other side of the truck. "-Oh hey, Goresk!" his partner said, walking over, Chislett following behind. Seeing Goresky from a closer view, Jacque spoke, "Whoa... sweetie, are you okay?" You look like you just saw Pamela Anderson naked!" His boyfriend gave a grim smile, "-No hun... but that's just given me all the more reason to gag..." Jacque gave a sympathetic look, and put his arm around Goresky's shoulders. "-Awww, poor thing!" He then glanced over at Chislett. "-Wow, you're not opposing my bashing at a hot girl, yet?" His companion shrugged, "At Pamela Anderson?" Nyah... sure she's hot, but she's more a 'busty' girl... now if you poked at Jennifer Lopez, THEN it'd be a different story!" No one says anything against that lucious piece of ass in front of ME, thank you!" His lynx/caracal friend blinked. "-Ah... gotcha." So anyway then, what DID make you nauseous, Goresk?" The younger Warthogg brother explained for him, "-Apparently, it's MY fault... we just came from late lunch and for whatever reason, he let ME drive us here." The feline's mouth fell open. "-Chis!" You should've known better; his stomach's not that strong, you know that!" Remember that time he only had like, two hot dogs and went on that Vortex rollercoaster thing?" It wasn't pretty!" In reminiscent of the event, Goresky gulped, "-Oh god, now I'm REALLY gonna puke!" Jacque simply shook his muzzle, saying, "No you're not, Goresky, you're just a little motion sick, but that can be cured without 'projectile vomiting'... come on... just lean over and hold your head between your knees for a minute or two." Chislett gave a snort, "Oh, come on guys, let's keep the bedroom talk where it belongs, shall we?" His brother and friend slowly turned to look at him, incredulously. The warthog darted glances between them. "-What??" It was a JOKE!" The two sighed and rolled their eyes. Count on Chislett for 'THAT' kind of humour... Rubbing Goresky's back, Jacque spoke, "Yes... your delightful little way of 'easing tension'... thank you as ever, Chislett..." "-You're WELCOME," the warthog sneered, ruefully. Barely three seconds had passed, when Jacque yelped out again, "CHISLETT!" His friend threw up his hands, exasperatedly. "-WHAT?!" What now??" You guys blame me for everything!" The feline asked slowly, "Either did you just not see the sign or is this your way of telling us something?" He pointed at the handicap parking sign showing partly from under the car. Chislett gulped, turning red. "-Oh... that... well... uhhh..." Oh, cut me some slack!" There's like SIX of those in this parking lot, and HOW many handicaps are there anyways??" I'm sure they won't miss this ONE spot!" Jacque ran a free hand throw his bangs, blowing out air. Might as well just give up. Goresky finally lifted his head up. "-I think I'm okay... thanks sweetie," he said, putting his arm around Jacque's waist. "So how'd it go today?" The feline grumbled, "-To quote Chislett... 'Crapass'!" The Warthogg brothers looked a bit surprised at him. Both the tone and mood were not very Jacque-like. "Whoa... quoting ME?" Chislett gawked. "Okay there's the first clue something's wrong!" Goresky said gently, "-What's happened, Jacq?" "I mean don't get me wrong, the rehearsal went fine and all, they were great, it was more something that happened BEFORE I got here..." the young male told them. "Which is?" they asked. "-I lost my wallet!" Jacque griped. Both looked shocked. "-Oh, that can't be good," Chislett said, biting his lip. "-Oh no!" Goresky exclaimed. "Honey, are you sure about that?" "-Pretty!" I meant I got on the bus, looked through my bag, and couldn't find it!" Luckily, Wilbur loaned me some change for bus fare." But still, I'm screwed!" Goresky tried to calm him. "-Hey hey, Jacque just calm down, let's not jump to any rash conclusions just yet." Want me to check your bag again, just to make sure?" "-Okay," his boyfriend relented, miserably, handing it over. "-So how much money did you have in, Jacq?" Chislett inquired. Jacque thought for a minute. "Well... actually not a ton... just bus fare change and... eight or ten dollars." "Oh... well it's too bad then!" his friend said, hopefully. The feline lifted his shoulders. "-Money-wise, no... but still, it's gonna such a bitch having to replace all those cards I have!" My library, bank, and student card... I should know, my mom told me about this once!" She lost her wallet before, and had to go through that whole asspain procedure!" Chislett blinked, "-Really?" That happened to her?" Goresky gawked, "-You're kidding!" Oh my god, who would DO something like that??" Lorelei is a sweetheart!" "-Iiii know!" Jacque added. "I couldn't believe that people would TREAT her like that... NO ONE talks to my mom like that!" The whole situation just made me wanna kick their asses!" His partner couldn't help but grin a little at Jacque's sudden burst of temper. "-Oh Jacq... no you wouldn't," he said, softly, patting his shoulder. The feline's face fell, moodily. "Yeah... you're right... I'd get YOU to kick their asses for me!" Goresky gave a nod, and continued rampaging through the bag. "-But seriously guys, I'm gonna be SO pissed if I can't find it!" Like I said, I got all my cards and things in there, and what's more, I have all those pictures of us in there!" He gave Goresky a bit of a glance, letting him know exactly 'which' photos, in which the warthog's eyes widened a little and he kept looking. Finally through, he handed it back, sighing. "-You're right, it's not... you SURE you put it in there when you left?" "-I'm PRETTY sure!" Jacque nodded. "But who knows, maybe it IS at home, if I'm lucky..." Let's just get going, guys." As Chislett started heading towards the driver door, Jacque yelped out "Oh no you don't!" You're in either side or middle this time, Chis... I'M driving." The warthog gave a pouting look, and muttered, "-Fiiine... shotgun then... drrr!" They all piled in, and as he started up the engine, the feline asked, "-So... how did lunch go?" The Warthogg brothers exchanged glances. "-Well... it's kind of a long story-"