Off Duty

Megakat City was a place of wide avenues and small places to sit and eat, especially during the evening where folks could relax and talk about their day. There were the sky towers in the centre, what was once thousands of homes now took up less ground space than an old shopping mall. The rest was parks and wild spaces, a chance to walk among nature or enjoy the trails on bicycles. To Chance, his favorite part about the city was the section in his old neighborhood that always brought back the pleasant memories of childhood, from the comic stand with Pops to the pizzeria that he'd always enjoyed going to for a slice or treating himself with a large pan. On this evening, he'd taken Jake with him for a 'special treat' as he called it, given he'd been wanting to show the red feline more of the neighborhood in their spare time, and cuz it was the most practical thing they felt like eating after a long day of work in the Salvage Yard.

"I'm tellin' ya', Tony makes the pizza this side of Megakat you'll ever taste", Chance explained, "I've come here ever since I was young with the old man deliverin' his work to a tee."

"Oh, I'm sure you're right given that you're practically drooling at the sound of it", Jake remarked knowingly.

"Hey, can ya' blame me, the food's delicious, the kind you don't really get anywhere else", Chance replied with a hint of nostalgia in his voice, "plus, it'll knock you off your feet guaranteed, that'll be three surprises in one night."

"Wait, what do you mean 'three'?" Jake asked, slightly puzzled.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough", Chance said, the other side of his mouth where Jake couldn't see concealing a smirk. The red feline could suggest that the yellow feline was hiding something, but given it would be useless to press him about it, he didn't say anything.

It was a few minutes before they arrived at the place that Chance had been talking about, "Fela Grandiose" was decked out with flashing lights with the traditional flip-front open/closed sign hanging on the window. Chance's face lit up at this as he always enjoyed the sight of the pizzeria from both outside and inside, to which both he and Jake entered, being greeted with a retro-style interior and the smell of fresh dough being cooked caught his nostrils. Jake caught the scent as well and had to admit, the place did seem as nice as Chance had described it.

"Ehi, tieni ferma quella salsa!" A deep voice of Italian descent called out from the kitchen, coming out to reveal himself as a man that appeared to be about Chance's height, orange fur with a twirled mustache. The elder feline's face suddenly lit up at the sight of the yellow kat. "Bene, sarò dannato, is that my little Chance comin' a' back to his favorite chef?"

"Hehehe, you know it, Tony, been that way for more than ten years", Chance replied with a broad grin as he and Tony shook back, the elder male giving a hearty laugh.

"Well, that's causa' you know I make da' best pizza in this'a whole city, those big shot chains don't have anything on'a old Tony", the orange kat said jovially and then looked to see Jake, "oh, mio figlio, isa' this the little number you've talked about, he's one strrrriking kitty."

Jake's face flushed at this as Chance gave a chuckle. "Aaaaah, you know me, old man, I know how to pick 'em, me and this guy been through all kinds a' shit together, you name it."

"Oooooh, I betta' you have, given what you've told me about your escapades with the Enforcers, what I wouldn't give'a to see you back in the sky", Tony replied as he put his paws on his face in remembrance, "I recall you mentioned it was your dream to'a soar across the sky when you were un gattino piccolo."

Chance rubbed the back of his head at this, slightly flustered. "Yeeeeeah, you know me, always raring to get some action, but anyways, you know what I like, we'll have the usual that you're prepared for me specially."

"Ah, yes, the favorite that always gets'a your mouth watering, it'll be out as soon as it can, you two just'a sit tight and get cozy", Tony said as he headed back into the kitchen to prepare the meal, his shouting in Italian being heard once more as the two Swat Kats sat down at one of the tables.

"You never told me you spoke of me to him", Jake said with a slight 'stern' tone in his voice.

"Ah, well, Tony's a good man, really nice to hang around, ever since I was young, I'd come into this place and he'd serve me as if I were his own son", Chance replied in remembrance, "haaaaa, yeah, those were the days."

"Awwwww, I love it when you get all sentimental", Jake teased right next to the larger feline, his tone sly.

"And I love it when you get this close so that I can do this", Chance smirked as he gave Jake's lips a peck, watching the red kat draw back flustered, "gotcha'."

"Aaaaaaah, Chance, you sneaky son of a bi-" Jake tried to say before he was caught up by Tony's loud exclamation.

"And here we go, da special on the house prepared just for a certain couple, wonder who it could be?" The orange feline teased at Chance with a wink.

"Ayyyyye, Tony, you got 'em right again, kudos to ya, un capolavoro'", Chance praised with fluent Italian at the end.

"You know, mio figlio, go on, you two enjoy yourselves", Tony grinned as he clicked his tongue and headed back to the kitchen.

"You ready to have your tastebuds dazzled?" Chance asked with a grin.

"I'll believe that when I see it, or taste it in this case", Jake replied simply as he took a slice, it was a thick and long piece that was still fresh out of the oven. He put it to his mouth to take bite...and barely a few seconds later found himself digging in for more, "mmmmmm, hot damn, Chance, you weren't kidding, this is delicious."

"Hehe, what'd I tell ya', ole' Tony's got it all figured out", Chance said proudly as he took a slice himself, munching on it with satisfaction, "same old recipe, just as delicious."

The two felines continued to eat as they sat in mostly silence, though they sparked the occasional talking point as they ate. Soon, they had finished and were leaving to go home. They walked back out in the cold evening, Jake shivering slightly before he felt Chance wrap his arm around him for warmth.

"Can't have you freezing right then and now, can we?" The yellow kat asked chivalrously as Jake rolled his eyes at this.

"You're such a dork, you know that?" The red kat replied, sounding bemused.

"Maybe, though I'm your dork, that's for sure", Chance said with a half-lidded grin.

"By the way, you said something about three surprises earlier...what did you mean by that…?" Jake quizzed.

"Well, the first was the kiss I gave ya', the second was the pizza, and the third…" Chance whispered the last bit into Jake's ear, the latter's face flushing red at it, before he turned to face the larger male.

"In that case, we'd better get on home…" Jake said as he put a paw under Chance's chin, sealing the distance between them this time with a kiss.

"You can bet on it, cutie…" Chance smirked as he kept his paw on Jake's back as the two walked off into the night, ready for what was to come later down the line.