I looked over at the vixen as she was seemingly having trouble looking for something. "You alright," I asked her as I was sitting down at one of the chairs beside the table in the bedroom. "Yeah, I'm just trying to find something a bit more formal to wear," She replied, groaning a little while I stood up and walked over to her. I dug around for a second before I found the dress shirt and slacks I had bought her the day before with the red bowtie, looking over at her with a smile. "Found something for you," I told her with a grin which soon changed to a look of confusion as she grabbed them and walked over to the bed, throwing it onto the bed. I sat down in the chair and looked at her back, seeing her fur was matted and knotted up.

"You can go ahead and get a bath," I told her as I was preparing to get up and leave the room, remembering that I had cut the water on to let it fill up already. She stood still for a second as I got up to leave for the sake of her privacy, but she soon turned around with a devious smile and strutted over to me. "Well, why don't you join me," She asked, grabbing my hands and wrapping her digits around mine as she pulled herself closer to me, speaking softly into my ear. "You know, you've slept beside me for a good couple months now, yet you've never even tried to sneak a peek or anything." It was unsettling, in a way. I'd never had anyone talk to me like that, let alone anyone who was as much of a knockout as her. I felt my cheeks heat up as I listened to her voice and how she was pressing herself against me while she nuzzled her face against my neck.

"I feel like I should reward you," She told me with a seductive tone as she held her mouth right beside my ear. I rested my hands on her sides while I gently pushed her back, surprising her a bit as I looked at her. "You don't need to 'reward me' for anything. In all honesty, I should be rewarding you for helping me so much," I told her with a smile as I saw her stare at me. Her expression was a mix of confusion, sultry, and a hint of disappointment, but I leaned down and pulled her into a kiss, feeling her relax in seconds as I felt her lips melt against mine. It felt like hours had passed as I held the vixen in my arms while keeping my lips planted against hers, though, I soon tried to pull back only for the vixen to let go of my shoulders and wrap her arms around my neck, pulling herself against me even more as she refused to let go.

After a few more minutes, she finally released her death-grip from around my neck and I felt her rest her head against my shoulder, panting hard as well. I pulled my hands up and rubbed her back gently, feeling her begin to purr into my chest. "I love you," I told her softly into her ear. She didn't respond, but I knew she heard me as I felt her breathing go from a hard, deep pant into quick, shallow breaths, her purring also growing louder as well. She soon pulled her head up and was rubbing my cheek with hers in affection while purring into my ear.

"Well, are you going to go get ready" I asked her, trailing off at the end at the feeling of her continuing to press herself into me. "Come on," She said in a teasing manner as she kept herself wrapped around my neck. "Let me relax here for a few more minutes." I was tempted to tell her yes, but I knew that if I did, she'd probably stay there for the night. "No, we need to get ready for tonight and you already take forever in the bath, not to mention if I joined you then we'd probably miss the show entirely," I teased her, loosening up my arms from around her back and letting them fall to her hips as she pulled herself back and looked at me. I felt her trace my jaw for a minute before she finally stood up and walked over to the bathroom, leaving me to my own accord as I sighed and slumped down in the chair.

'That was something else.'

I looked around the room before getting up and walking over to the bag that had my coat and mask, along with the other changes of clothes, and picked it up. I walked back to the chair before waiting for what felt like half an hour before the vixen finally got out of the bathroom. "Told ya you'd take forever," I joked, causing her to hit my chest in mock anger. I walked in, pulling out a pair of black pants and a white T-shirt which I set on the counter, soon pulling out the coat and laying it beside them as well before I undressed and got into the water, washing myself rather quickly as I cleaned the pool water out my fur.

I eventually climbed out, grabbed a towel, and dried myself off. I walked over to the counter and pulled on the pants, fastening a belt around my waist as I looked in the mirror. The marks in my fur from the old cuts had begun fading away. Granted, they were nowhere near as visible as they used to be, I could still see them. I threw the shirt on and began pulling the coat sleeves over my arms. As I buttoned it up, I could see it exposing the shape of my body from underneath the thick cloth fabric, my already somewhat broad shoulders looked even broader due to the considerable padding all over the inside. I still kept the lean look that I had grown used to, but it makes me look larger in terms of 'muscle' I guess, which, if I'm being honest, I quite enjoyed. I looked into the bag once again, seeing the mask in it as I thought for a minute, before picking it up and examining it. I looked down at the coat, and spotted a pocket on the sleeve, just before my elbow. Not thinking much of it, I folded up the mask and put it into the pocket, before closing the fastener with an audible snap. I proceeded to fasten the belt around the waist of the coat, soon feeling around the back of my neck and noticing that the hood was folded up in a way that it couldn't be seen and was comfortably sat on the neck. After a while, the vixen poked her head in as she had the red bowtie tied around the neck of her white dress shirt.

"Wow," I heard her say from behind me while I turned around. "I feel underdressed now." I looked at her with a smirk as she said that. "You look great," I told her, walking over and wrapping my arms around her waist. "Flatterer," She mumbled to me with a giggle as I felt her rest her cheek against my chest. "I'm telling you the truth," I replied, leaning my head down a little before kissing her forehead. She sighed while I held her for a few minutes. "I feel like we're going to get down there and everyone's going to be dressed in the most casual stuff you can imagine," I chuckled, hearing her giggle into my chest while I held her. "Well, this is my first time going to something like this, ever, and maybe I just want to flaunt myself a bit," The vixen said in a flirtatious tone while I chuckled again. "I feel like Ava's rubbed off on you a little too much," I told her, seeing her laugh for a bit as I continued holding her for a little while. "Okay, I guess we're ready," She asked as I let go of her waist and looked at her. "I'm ready," I told her, wrapping my right arm around her as we began walking out the door.

As we stepped towards the door, I saw Goldy walking out of the entertainment room looking around in boredom before his eyes met ours. "Where are you two going," He asked us as we stopped. "We were told there's a show going on at the park. I thought why not, y'know," I told him. "Yeah, you never know what they're going to be doing down there so you might as well," Goldy replied, chuckling a little as me and Mangle proceeded out the front door, coming out into the street and soon making our way down towards the city.

The shops were all closed aside from the gym and bar, which wasn't that much of a shocker to me at this point, but some lights were on in a few of the buildings. I supposed they were simply cleaning up as we soon made our way to the park, seeing that people were still arriving as well. We sat down in one of the middle rows to the right, leaving us to wait for a good thirty minutes before they finally started the show, which was more like a circus if you asked me. So-called 'local talent' which, I guess wasn't that bad as they did have some people do some quality performances. Some people would go up and sing, others would do comedy or tricks, and a pair of guys came up with rapiers and were fencing across the stage.

Eventually, I had to use the bathroom, so I looked around for somewhere I could go but couldn't find anything, which meant I'd have to make my way back to the bar. "Hey, Mangle, I'll be right back," I told the vixen as I went to get up, but was stopped as she pulled my arm. "What are you doing," She asked me as I ducked down so I didn't block the view of others. "I gotta use the bathroom, I'll grab us some snacks when I come back," I told her, breaking free of her grasp as I proceeded to shuffle out the row, eventually getting free and began walking towards the bar.

As I was walking, I noticed four people just ahead of me, it was two bulls, a small feline kit, and a boar. That's when I realized that it was the dick that smacked the kid yesterday. I heard the kid say something, and the boar once again smacked him in the back of the head before scolding him. The other two even seemed to join in, all three of them having the time of their lives as the kid was powerless to do anything but sit there and take it. I stopped for a second, seeing them continue walking as they shoved the poor kid around. I stepped into a nearby alleyway and pulled the mask out from my coat, placing it on until it felt snug on my face, before pulling out the hood and running it down over my head. I looked to the side of the alley and saw a long metal pipe laying on the ground which I grabbed before stepping out into the dimly lit, fairly empty street.

I sprinted quietly at the group. When I got up to them I pulled the pipe back, shoving it into the backside of one of the bulls' knees, forcing him to fall on the ground. I raised my elbow as he fell beside me, slamming it into his head and knocking him out, then I dived behind the second one as he tried to grab me, spun to my right, and slammed the pipe into the front of his knee and seeing it snap as he shouted and fell, bent over a bit which left the back of his head exposed. I raised my elbow again and dealt with him the same way I did the first, seeing him fall into the street limp. I wanted to hit them with the pipe, but it seemed a little excessive. I finally stood up and turned towards the boar who was already a few feet ahead of the small kid who was staring at me in fear.

I passed the kid, locked onto the pig as I tossed the pipe to the ground. Without breaking eye-contact, I quickly unfastened the belts around my right wrist, allowing my wrist to move freely. I grabbed the hog by the front of his shirt and switched to my blade, before pointing it at his throat. "If I see ye harm tha lad again, I'm slittin' yer throat," I shouted at him with my accent, which oddly sounded more gruff than usual. I continued to hold the blade into his throat as he tried to back up, before I put my foot behind his and knocked him down. His head hit the pavement with a loud thud as he landed, rendering him unconscious.

I switched back to my hand as I turned towards the small feline behind me, soon stepping over slowly as he tried to hand me a coin with fear in his eyes, as if to keep me away. I let out a small sigh before grabbing the coin with my right hand, crouching in front of him as I dug around in my pocket with my left hand, before I pulled out a few more coins and setting the one he handed me on the top. I grabbed his hand, gently pulling it towards me as I placed the coins in his hand and folded his fingers around them. If I didn't have the mask on, he'd see the friendly smile that crossed my muzzle.

"They won't be harmin' ye any more, lad," I told him, seeing my yellow eye shimmer in his blue ones. "Now, need me to get ya home," I asked him with a chuckle as he nodded his head vigorously. He grabbed my left hand as we walked down the empty street, the small cat guiding me along with him until we reached the other side of town where there were cramped up buildings which looked much like the ones from when I had ran away that night, lights were on in the windows signaling that people were awake inside. I saw him point at one doorway to a building before looking back at me.

"Is that your house," I asked him as he nodded to me, soon hugging my thigh before he ran off and went into the doorway. I backed into an alley as I looked through one of the windows, seeing him run-up to an older female feline and hug her, which I assumed was his mother. The mother's eyes seemed to be tearing up, as if she'd been missing her son for too long. The two of them walked out of view, the door soon opening once again as she looked around and shrugged, shutting the door. I sighed as I lowered the hood and folded it back up into the position it originally was in and took off the mask, putting it back into the coat's sleeve pocket before walking off.

"Damn," I muttered as I realized that I hadn't even used the bathroom yet. Mangle would start worrying about me if I didn't come back soon. I began running through the alleyways so I could get back before she got suspicious, before seeing that garbage was pretty much piled up in almost all of them as if there was nowhere for it to go. Though, my sprint was cut short by a group of guys I accidentally bumped into, but what surprised me is that they were all just sitting around in an alleyway.

'Oh, goddamn it.'

"You fucking asshole," I heard one shout as the hood fell over my head. Weird, I guess I didn't put it up properly. "Get your ass back here," I heard another one shout in anger. I ripped the mask out of its pocket once again, slapping it over my face before I turned around and saw them. It was a group of what looked like four cats of various sizes. "Yeah, what the fuck is your problem," A larger one shouted at me as I stayed silent, staring at them through the mask. My yellow eye glared back in defiance, being the only thing on my face that they could see.

A few seconds passed, the group of them steadily insulting me until one of the larger ones tried to grab my arm. "Nah, you're paying for my damn drink," The guy shouted as he grabbed my arm. I threw my arm up, shocking the cat as I grabbed his wrist and pulled it to the side, slamming my left fist into his jaw which made him stumble backward, groaning in pain. The three of them all shouted at me before one of them which looked like a cheetah pulled out what looked like a buck knife and jabbed it towards my gut. I swiftly leaned out of the way, spinning around and placing my back against him as I yanked his arm down, throwing him over my back with a dull thud before I heard another running at me. I picked up the blade he dropped and looked up, sending a slice down the next one's leg before I kicked his foot from under him, sending him to one knee before I sliced the blade past his arm and kicked him in the chest, sending him down onto the concrete.

The fourth one stared at me with a mix of fear and anger in his eyes as his friend fell to the ground, grunting as he held his wounds. The other two were all too dazed to do anything. I was hoping that the forth cat would simply run away, taking the others with him, but he rushed at me as well, swinging what looked like a pipe at me as I grabbed his wrist and held it up. I spun left as I sliced his side open, soon placing my back to him and slinging him over my shoulder, earning a loud groan from the cat as he curled up into a fetal position on the filthy, grimy pavement.

I looked down at the cat, the oily liquid quickly staining his shirt as the other two were seemingly unconscious, and the third one was gripping at his leg and arm while groaning in pain. I stepped out the alleyway, taking off the mask and hood and placing the buck knife in my belt before continuing to the bar, before stepping inside and going straight to the bathroom. I walked over to the sink and cut on the water, and began washing off my hands, watching the dark stained water swirl into the drain. After I finished, I used the bathroom, proceeded to wash my hands once more, and finally returned to the bar to see a couple of groups of people in the booths that sat in the corners of the room, several patrons sat at the dozen tables that were scattered around and about five people sat at the front bar.

'Seems like they had a busy night.'

I exited the bar, walking back down to the park, before going up to one of the vendors and buying some food and drinks for me and the vixen before going to sit down. "Where've you been," Mangle asked me as I sat down beside her. "There was a bit of a line at the bathroom," I told her as she nodded, handing her one of the drinks. "What's that," She asked me, pointing at the two circles in my hand which were wrapped in paper. "Hamburgers," I replied, handing her one while I placed my drink on the ground, being careful not to knock it over. "Not bad," She said after taking a bite.

The two of us continued watching the show as we ate. A few really interesting things happened every once in a while, but I'd say it was better than nothing. After a couple of hours, the vixen finally got bored and we got up, leaving the park as we walked down towards the bar. "I wonder what happened to them," She asked, pointing towards the two bulls and boar, who were limping about, seemingly trying to find who jumped them. "Not sure. Looks like someone got 'em, though," I replied, regretfully lying to her as I didn't want her to know I had attacked them. The two of us walked inside and sat down at the front counter.

"What do you two want," The bartender asked, drumming his fingers on the countertop as I helped the vixen sit down. "I'll take a beer," I told him while I climbed onto the stool. She looked at me like I was crazy as I said that, before looking at the bartender. "I guess I'll have one too," She replied, causing me to chuckle a bit as I wrapped my arm around her waist. "You sure," I asked her in a teasing way while she looked over at me. "Yes, now I need to use the bathroom, so I'll be right back," She told me, climbing out the seat before turning back to me. "Also, you better not drink mine before I come back," She teased, before heading towards the bathroom. I noticed a trio of girls following her in as she walked in as well, but I turned around and waited for my drink.

"Here you go," The bartender told me as I thanked him and took a sip from the tall glass. After a while, I heard someone walk up behind me, causing me to set my drink on the counter. "Hey, you the fox that jumped my friends," I heard a husky voice asked from behind me, making me turn around to meet a gray wolf who was similar to Jason in height, however, he looked like he was made out of sticks, at least, compared to Jason. "Maybe, what if I was," I replied with a smirk, noticing him trying to intimidate me with his height which wasn't working.

"Then I'll beat your ass," The wolf shouted, throwing a right hook at my jaw, causing me to lean to the side, grabbing his wrist with my right hand before yanking him over with it, quickly throwing my own punch into his jaw which sent him backwards, tripping into a table before falling onto the hard floor. The room that was once filled with conversations and laughter went silent in seconds, the wolf trying to climb to his feet, using the upturned table beside him as a prop. I grabbed his hand, squeezing tightly as I heard him groaning and whimpering due to me crushing his hand.

I saw the red and gray canines from earlier run-up to try and help him, pulling out blades of their own in the process while I let go of the wolf's hand and shoved him to the floor. "You damn fox," One of them shouted as he rushed me. I kicked him backward, sending him into the upturned table and collapsing it in the process. The wolf was back on his feet in an instant, waving his knife in the air as he tried to get a slice on me. I grabbed his wrist and forced him to stab it into the of the tabletop, before slamming my elbow into his jaw, making him stumble back. I grabbed the knife that was left in the table, blocking the red one's blade before headbutting him which made him stagger a little. I stabbed the knife into the countertop, grabbing a metal tray which the waitress had been using and hit the first one across the face, making him fall back down to the ground before I pulled the tray back and flung it like a frisbee it into the throat of the red one, making him grip his throat as he fell to the floor while coughing.

"Damn," I muttered, looking at the tray which had a little dent in the side from the impact. I turned around and was about to sit back down as I heard a familiar voice cut through the silence in the room. "What the hell did I miss," Mangle asked from the back as I grabbed my beer and turned over to her. "Oh, it was just a few guys," I told her with a smirk, sipping on the beer as I sat on the stool. "Well, did you have to break my table," The bartender asked while Mangle walked past the unconscious wolf. "Sorry about that, I'll pay for it if you need me to," I told him. "Nah, don't worry. I think I should be getting it from those three," The bartender said with a somewhat serious chuckle as he sent the waitress to clean up the mess that fell on the floor due to the table getting broken.

I watched the vixen climb up into the stool beside me with a sigh as she sipped on her drink as well. "Well, you seem to have been catching the eyes of some of the local girls," Mangle told me with a slight giggle as I glanced over my shoulder, spotting the three girls that followed her in stealing glances from me. "Eh, don't care for them that much," I replied, wrapping my arm around her waist once more as I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek in spite of the women staring. "You're such an ass," The vixen told me with a laugh as I pulled back. "No, I'm being respectful right now. Being an ass is taking off my coat and shirt to hug all over you," I replied earning an even louder laugh from her as she held her muzzle in her hand. "I think the worst part is I can see you doing that," She chuckled, soon lowering her hand. "I can do it right now," I joked, wrapping my fingers around the buttons as if I was going to undo them. "Don't," She giggled, gently slapping my hand away from the buttons on my coat.

The two of us continued drinking for a little bit, watching the crowds come and go as a large crowd of people eventually started coming from the direction of the park, a good bit of them coming into the bar as well. "Anyone know what happened to those three out there," I overheard someone ask from behind me, my ears turning as I listened to them. "I was told that someone ran up behind them and floored the two bulls in seconds, they didn't see what happened to the boar, though," Another voice said, causing me to smile inwardly as I stopped listening and looked over to the vixen. "You ready to leave," I asked her as she set her mostly-empty glass on the counter. "Yeah, it's getting late," She replied, getting off the stool as I did the same.

I wrapped my arm around her waist as we began walking out the door, I had already paid the bartender, thankfully, so I didn't need to worry about that. The vixen occasionally stumbled into me, causing me to have to catch her before she fell to the ground, though, ironically, it wasn't the alcohol. It was just her being that tired; something I had grown familiar with from how exhausted she'd get after practicing with Ava.

Eventually, the two of us made it back to the house, walking in to see Goldy sitting at the table eating something. "Welcome back," Goldy called to us as I shut and locked the door behind me. "Hey, Goldy," I replied, the vixen already walking into the room as I talked with the bear for a minute, telling him how it went. "Alright, I'm going to go lay down, I'm tired," I said a yawn as I walked to the doorway, knocking on the frame before I peeked in. "Is it alright for me to come in," I asked the vixen from the hall. "Yeah, come on inside," She replied, causing me to walk in to see she had changed into her sweatpants, but she had her back to me without a shirt on.

"Oh," I said, stunned from seeing her as she was working her arms through a T-shirt, soon throwing it over her head, allowing it to drop to her upper thigh as she turned around with a slight grin. "What, it isn't like it's the first time you've seen me change shirts," She said with a giggle, walking over and soon placing her hands on my sides as she looked up at me. "You look uncomfortable in that coat," She told me, running her hand over to the belt which she undone, soon reaching up to the top button and began unbuttoning my coat. Though, she soon got stuck on one of the middle ones, causing me to laugh at how annoyed she got by it until she finally undone it and sighed. "That was priceless," I chuckled to her as I took over unbuttoning the coat and finally took it off, exposing the white T-shirt I wore under it and the buck knife in my pants belt which I promptly took out and hid under some of my shirts.

"Well, I'll figure out some way to embarrass you," She replied, giving me a sheepish look as she turned around towards me and I threw the coat onto the back of a chair, soon taking off the belt that was looped around my pants, throwing it onto the table. "Maybe," I told her in a taunting tone as I grabbed a pair of shorts and walked into the bathroom, soon changing into them and taking off my shirt before I walked out. I walked over to the bed and pulled back the blanket before hopping onto it, giving a deep sigh as I relaxed on it.

The lights were cut off after a little bit and I felt the vixen jump onto the bed beside me, soon climbing up on my chest as she looked at me with a grin. "What is it," I asked her as she snuggled up against my neck. "We're finally able to sleep in a bed again after months of sleeping on a floor," She sighed happily, continuing to nuzzle my neck. "We slept on this bed yesterday," I replied with a slight chuckle as she groaned at me. "You know what I mean, I just now realized it, though," She told me, wrapping one of her legs over me as she was twisted around in one of the weirdest positions I had ever seen her in. "Are you comfortable," I asked her in a bewildered tone as I looked down at her, seeing one of her legs was sprawled across the rest of the bed as the rest of her body was laying on top of me. She proceeded to twist and move in the most obnoxious way, soon sighing as she looked up at me with a satisfied look. "Yes, yes I am."

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you," I told her, wrapping my arms around her waist as I leaned down a bit, nuzzling her shoulder. "Why did you have to move," She whined as I used the momentum from leaning to roll onto my left side just to mess with her. "Aw, I'm sorry. Did I make you uncomfortable," I asked her with a teasing tone while I proceeded to hold her in place, keeping my snout held against her shoulder. "Yes, you did," She replied while playfully smacking my chest.

I pulled back from the vixen, staring at her as she stared back at me for a few brief moment. I leaned forward, planting my lips on hers, earning a slight moan from her as she wrapped her arms around my neck and held me there. I pulled back soon after, seeing her look at me with a smile as I pulled myself over to her, pressing myself against her tightly as I had my arms wrapped around her waist and back, resting my forehead against hers as she rested hers against mine. "I love you," she said as she stared into my eyes. I smiled and gave her a small kiss on the nose.

"I love you, too."

The two of us soon fell asleep in each other's arms, feeling more bonded than ever.