I woke up to the feeling of the vulpine shifting behind me, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist in our sleep. At least, I thought that's what I felt. When I turned around and looked over my shoulder, I saw him grinning at me as he kept pushing against my shoulders; attempting to wake me up. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, trying to form an intelligible reply.
"What is it?"
"You have to get up; we have work today," He replied, earning a groan from me as I pushed back into him. "Okay, that was a little uncalled for…"
I looked back over my shoulder to see he had tensed up a little.
"Aw, did someone get excited?"
He shot me a glare as he pulled the covers off himself and walked into the bathroom, soon walking back out after a minute as I heard the toilet flush. "Yeah, don't do that to a guy in the morning. It hurts," He said, giving me a stern look as I giggled at him. "What, do you want me to kiss it to make it feel better," I asked him with a teasing voice as I saw his ears point straight up. "Okay, if that offer still stands tonight, maybe. But right now, we've got a job to do," He said, walking over to me with a smirk before grabbing my hands and forcing me out of the bed as I groaned.
"I have many regrets, now," I sighed, standing up and walking into the bathroom to get a bath. It took about a half-hour before I walked out to see him dressed in his red, flannel button-up with pants, though I did notice he still had the holster on his belt, now out in the open as his shirt was tucked in. "I still don't know how I feel about that," I sighed, motioning at the gun on his belt. "Well, that makes two of us. Just know I don't plan on using it," He replied, standing up and walking over to me before wrapping his arms around me and squeezing tightly.
"French Vanilla?"
I grinned over his shoulder as he nuzzled up against my neck. "Yes, I know you like it," I told him, scratching at his back through his shirt while he let out of small groan.
"That… feels… amazing…"
After a few minutes, I finally decided to let him gain his senses again before he let me go and we walked out of the bedroom, only to see that Goldy was passed out at the table with some parts in front of him, causing us both to chuckle when we finally got out the door. "Is- is that common," I asked as we left the house. "You wouldn't believe the amount of times I've walked in to see him passed out around the house. Once he even wound up over the back of the couch," He grinned as he kept an arm wrapped around my waist, keeping me up against his side.
Our walk to down the hill was silent, but when we arrived at the bar we were stopped by a younger-looking avian, the exact type I was unsure of.
"You're that fox that everyone's been talking about, right?"
Me and the vulpine both looked over at the bird as he stared over at Foxy. "I've heard about you crushing that guy's hands yesterday. I've just got to say, you must be one tough motherfucker," He added, causing both of us to look at each other with confused faces before the vulpine decided to ask him something. "What have you heard about," He asked, a seemingly curious look on his face.
"There are some people saying you're the best fighter around!"
The tod chuckled beside me before responding to the avian. "I doubt that, mainly because I know several people who could beat me without an issue." "And who would that be," The bird retorted, causing him to chuckle back. "Well, you're staring at one of them right here," He replied, looking over at me and squeezing me up against him before looking back to the kid. "Plus, the other ones you wouldn't know… Alright, go do whatever I need to get inside."
The bird ran off, leaving us alone in front of the bar as he dug into his pocket and pulled out the key that Andy had given him yesterday, soon opening up the bar door and throwing on the lights as we both stepped inside. "Well, looks like we have the bar to ourselves," He mused, putting the key back into his pocket as we looked around the unusually quiet room. "It's actually kind of peaceful in here," I added, enjoying the silence that was offered as I walked over to the bar and sat down to wait.
"I guess this is what it would feel like if we were to own a house to ourselves."
I turned back over to the vulpine who sighed, looking around the room. "Well, I don't think that's a half-bad idea. Have our own little apartment somewhere, or maybe a cabin in the forest," I added with a slight giggle at the thought. "I wouldn't even like to imagine how much that'd cost," He sighed, turning around towards me with a slight smile before stepping towards me. "Well, what if we were to build it ourselves," I asked with a smirk as he smiled back at me. "You mean; 'if I were to build it,'" He mused, grabbing my hand before resting his forehead against mine.
"Maybe… Though, I think that might be quite enjoyable. The two of us living in the forest, away from all the nonsense here, able to just peacefully listen to all the sounds…"
"Quite an enticing offer," He said. "Though, how would we be able to get electricity out there? Or how would you wash your fur if there's no water? Living out in the elements, granted there could be a cabin, would cause your snow-white fur to look relatively dirty all the time," He added, looking at me with a serious look as I sighed. "How did they get electricity out here, to begin with," I retorted, earning a smirk from him. "Good question… I mean, I guess we could say that about everything, to be honest," He sighed, pulling back as he looked at the room around us.
Plot armor; that's how.
'Touché.'
"Did they manufacture it here? Did they steal it? Does it somehow wash up on shore and we don't understand where it came from," He asked, his gaze scanning across the room before he shifted it back onto me with a small smile. "It seems almost too good to be true, yet, here we are!" "If you don't like the idea, just say so. You don't need to go all philosophical on me," I replied with a smirk, earning a light chuckle from him as he continued looking at me. "I'm not saying I dislike the idea… It's just that we should think about it before we do anything," He said, pulling himself back over towards me as he once again rested his forehead against mine.
"You really don't like to take risks do you?"
"I took a risk asking you to run away with me…"
His left hand let go of my right and it drifted upwards towards my cheek, soon cupping it before he pulled my head up to face him and kissed me.
"Could you at least leave the door open to cool it off- Oh, um, am I interrupting something here?"
The two of us looked over at the panther who had walked in, seemingly frozen in the doorway as her foot kicked a block to wedge the door open. "No, we were just talking," I replied, seeing her nod her head before walking past us and behind the bar. "Okay, well. Mangle, come back here real quick," Victoria said, motioning me behind the counter to which I did.
"Okay, could you start washing these glasses? I gotta restock the shelf," She asked me as I nodded and walked up to the sink which sat beside the shelf, cutting on the water so I could begin cleaning. "I guess we can continue talking about that later," He sighed while I heard him crawl onto a stool and the bar, feeling him watching from behind me. "Yeah. I suppose we should… Though, I do still think the cabin is a good idea," I replied in a joking tone, shooting him a playful smirk from over my shoulder.
"I wouldn't mind it, really. I just don't know if we'd like it after a few years of having to live without commodities like running water and electricity," He replied with a chuckle. "I know, I know. I'm just joking with you," I told him as I continued washing the glasses. "I do still wonder how they even managed to make so much here," He added. "Well, maybe they send out boats to pirate cargo ships that trail too close to the island," I suggested in a teasing manner as he let out a chuckle.
"Tat sounds like me type of job, there."
I let out a laugh as he continued joking around with his accent, soon hearing him climb off the stool and onto the counter as he let one of the prerecorded messages of his play throughout the room, causing Victoria to lean from the doorway to the backroom with a confused look. Eventually, I cut off the water, using a rag to dry off my hands as I turned around to see him holding his blade out in front of him as he puffed out his chest, leaning forward with his front knee bent, and his back leg extended.
"Alright, 'cap'n.' We don't need you breaking the counter, there."
He sighed as he crawled off the counter, much to his chagrin, and Victoria struggled to stifle a laugh at the vulpine's actions. "Alright, let me go grab this box and I'll restock the shelf," Victoria said, walking back into the backroom before she walked back out with a box and set it on the counter. "You want any help with that," I asked her as she shook her head. "I like to set the bottles up in a specific order. Helps me keep track of them," She responded, soon grabbing bottles out of the box and setting them out, soon stocking the shelf from left to right. I walked out to the tables, looking at them in boredom as we waited.
"Oh, hey, you're actually open on time today," A voice said from the doorway as the three of us simply nodded in response. Footsteps followed up to the counter, stopping just behind where Foxy was sitting at before I heard a wolf whistle from behind me, causing me to spin around to see that the vulpine had already turned around, giving a coyote a dirty glare. "Eyes off the vixen before I do some target practice with your groin," He growled, switching to his blade.
"Wow, you have to use a weapon?"
"He crushed someone's hands yesterday with his, I wouldn't suggest testing him if I were you," Victoria said in a stern, serious tone as she looked over her shoulder at the coyote. "I'll believe it when I see it-"
Some other canines rushed into the room, followed by a familiar wolf with bandaged up hands.
"Okay, I heard you assaulted our friend yesterday!"
"Yeah, and he groped a waitress – who also happens to be my mate. So, you can fuck off, or get fucked up," The vulpine replied, swiveling the stool towards them as he gave them a stern look. "What happens if we fuck up," The canine asked, walking around the room, somewhat in my direction. "Then I'm going to gut you," He replied, letting out a low growl, his hackles rising quickly. The room was silent for a good few minutes as we all looked between the canine and the vulpine, no one wanting to say or do anything as they stared each other down. Even the coyote seemed like he finally wanted to shut up.
After a few minutes, I saw the canine grab at me while I quickly knocked his hand away, but everything went silent again as we heard a gunshot. The canine let out a whimper as he fell to his knees, curling up into a ball on the floor as I looked over and saw that Victoria has grabbed the rifle from under the counter, though, I didn't see the vulpine. At least, that was until I felt him grab my arm and pull me away from the canine who was currently bawling his eyes out on the floor, his hands pressing down a little below the waist.
"That bitch shot him in the dick!"
"Yeah, and you better back the fuck up before y'all get smacked the fuck up," Foxy shouted back, letting go of me as we reached the bar and he kept going forward, switching to his hand. Before they could even turn over to the vulpine, he had grabbed one of the canine's shoulders and yanked them so he could face him, soon catching them with a right hook into a jaw, sending the man into the floor, unconscious. The final two, a red wolf and the gray wolf from yesterday, stood there and stared at him. "I'm giving you one chance. You can go ahead and grab your two friends and fuck right off. Or I can beat the living hell out of both of you and leave you in the street until you wake up, IF you wake up," He warned them, giving a low growl as the red wolf stepped up to him and tried to shove his shoulder. In a singular swift motion, he managed to grab the wolf's arm as he spun around, holding the arm around his back as he kept spinning, rolling the wolf over his hip to which he landed with a groan onto the hardwood floor.
What happened next was something none of us expected. Instead of how he usually gets up and throws them out, he instead crouched down, pressing his knee into the wolf's chest as he held his throat with one hand, slamming his fist into his snout with the other until I saw the wolf finally go limp. He gave the wolf a few more hits until he finally stood back up, holding the wolf by the front of his collar as the oily liquid seeped out of his nose and mouth, dragging him towards the door until he dropped him in the street and walked back inside, staring at the gray wolf who simply held his hands up.
"Grab the fuck-wad from the back that she neutered, and fuck off…"
After a few minutes, he had grabbed the other canine he knocked out and threw him outside as the wolf dragged the bawling canine out the door, leaving a synthetic blood trail behind from where he dragged him.
"Okay, maybe you did crush that wolf's hands."
We all turned towards the coyote who simply stared in shock at us. "Just order a damn drink and shut up already," Victoria told him as she placed the rifle back under the counter, soon handing the coyote a drink as he walked to a table and sat down. Eventually, the bar was about half full, making us fairly busy as they'd come just as quick as they'd leave. Hell, I'd argue they were coming even quicker.
There were a few fights every once in a while, thankfully no one tried anything with me anymore, or even attempted to. I doubt that anyone wanted to test Foxy's patience, and after this morning, I would be shocked if he even had a trace amount left. Around noon; the crowds started slowing down, allowing me to sit down on a stool behind the counter so I could give my legs a rest after not having the chance to for about four hours straight, granted I've gone longer without sitting before, it's just that I usually wasn't having to dodge several men in the process. Couple that with the fact that I hadn't actually worked in almost seven months, and it adds up into a giant chore for me at the moment, but I felt myself getting fairly used to it by around three in the afternoon.
The vulpine occasionally helped me with drinks, stole a kiss, or simply talked with me when we had the chance, probably the one saving grace about this as if not, I probably would've been bored out of my mind. I would've assumed working at a bar would be relatively eventful, but maybe it's just an off day in comparison, or either Foxy just does his job so damn well no one wants to even attempt anything, aside from the occasional thug or two that thought; 'Hey, you're tough, but I bet I could beat you.'
'Boy, were they always so wrong.'
After a while, the crowds had died down as I wasn't paying attention, the only people left were the usual patrons who liked to sit around and unwind or the unlucky person who simply drunk a little bit too much that day, causing us to either wake them up or leave them in the bench out front. "Well, it's pretty late," Victoria said with a sigh, leaning against the bar counter as me and the vulpine walked up and leaned up against it as well. "Yeah, and we're going to be even more tired if we stay any longer, I'd think," The tod replied, rubbing his eyes for a second as he let out a groan.
"I agree," Victoria said, as she sat up again. "You two go on ahead. I'll lock up for the night." We both looked at the patheress and nodded, soon walking out of the bar and into the brisk autumn breeze that rolled through the street, the pale moonlight shining down upon us as we began our trek up the hill.
After another half an hour, we finally reached the house, opening the door to see that Goldy and the Marionette were talking down by the dinner table, and the voices from three others inside the entertainment room. The two down below looked up at us with somewhat confused looks as I wanted to simply collapse and let the vulpine drag me off to bed. "I'm glad you two are finally here," The Marionette exclaimed from below as I heard the vulpine mutter something under his breath. "Yes? What is it," He asked, leaning against the rail.
"Oh, hey. You two are here."
We both looked over to see a familiar red vulpine with an eye patch along his left eye sipping off a bottle of water. "Wait, Jason? What are you doing here," Foxy asked from beside me as the vulpine below raised a finger before he swallowed the water, the two of us already stepping down towards him. "You see, the pizzeria is closed for the next couple of weeks. Something to do with corporate, and, well…" He said, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought for a second. "Kimber isn't technically an active member, or even marked in the system to begin with. So we decided we'd come here in the process as we wouldn't be allowed to move around with them in the building, at least, not out of our specific areas," He added, seemingly struggling to figure out how to explain it. "Anyways, we just wanted to make sure they wouldn't have found her."
We both nodded as I looked into the entertainment room to see Claire and Ava talking at the table with Kimber playing around on the floor with a white fox, plush toy which had a red mark running down the back, probably something from the pizzeria. I attempted to hide myself before the coyote saw me, but I was just too slow and I heard her call my name from within the room, causing me to wince as I knew I'd be questioned to death over the stupidest stuff possible. After a few deep breaths, I finally stepped into the room with a small smile, walking over to the table and sitting down across from Ava as Claire had her back to the pool table.
"Hey, there."
I looked over at the other arctic fox, giving her a small smile before leaning back into my chair and letting out a groan to which I could feel the other two staring at me with concern. "Are you alright," The coyote asked me as I gave her a thumbs-up. "Amazing, I'm just tired," I replied, feeling myself relax just barely in the chair. "Where were you all day anyways," She asked as I looked down at the coyote. "Well, I've been at the bar all day because I'm a temporary waitress. Andy got robbed, and somewhat beaten, so he offered me the job to help them out during the next couple of weeks," I exclaimed, leaning forward and resting my elbows on the table, rubbing the sides of my temple. "Well, I have a question," Claire asked me as I looked up at her, seeing a curious look on her face.
"Shoot."
"What is that mark on your shoulder?"
I looked over at the door for a second. "What mark? I don't see a mark," Ava said, pointing at my right shoulder. "No, on her other shoulder," The vixen said, pointing towards my left shoulder as I called for the vulpine, seeing him poke his head in with a concerned face.
"What's up, Mags?"
"I told you about that nickname. Also, over here," I said, pointing at the spot beside me while he walked over and eventually got beside me. Before he could ask me a question, I stood up and yanked the top of his shirt open, dragging the left side away from his chest and down partially, motioning towards the fang mark on his shoulder. "Hey! This is a brand new shirt. Hell, you were there when we bought it," He exclaimed, Claire shooting him a glare as he cursed, causing him to instantly apologize.
"Wait, did you two get into a fight?"
We all turned towards the coyote who had an oblivious look on her face. "No, we marked each other," I replied as the rest of them finally walked in. "What is going on in here," Jason asked from the doorway as both Goldy and Marionette walked past him. "Foxy, could you pick up some cases of bottled water tomorrow," Goldy asked, looking towards us as I held his shirt open for the others to see still. "I have to go by Andy's tomorrow anyways. Why not," He sighed, pulling his shirt from my hand as he look around again.
"Okay. I have a question now," Ava exclaimed, looking between us as everyone looked at her. "What is a mark?" "Yeah, I was going to ask the same thing," Claire added, looking over at us now. "Okay, you can take over," I said with a slight smirk, leaning over and kissing the vulpine on the cheek before walking out of the room and going towards our bedroom so I could get washed up and head to bed.
After about fifteen minutes, I heard the vulpine walk in with a groan as he undressed and got in behind me, per-usual. "So, did you have fun," I asked in a teasing tone as he simply responded with a deep sigh, causing me to giggle at him. Eventually, the two of us got out, dried off, and dressed into something to sleep in before going and laying down on the bed – correction: flopped onto the bed. We laid in silence for a while as we faced each other, before the vulpine spoke up.
"Yeah… I definitely think we should consider getting our own place."
"The cabin option is always available and free," I replied in a joking manner as he playfully shook his head at me. "You know, I think it's starting to rub off. A quiet night in the woods doesn't sound half bad," He said, letting out a light, silent, chuckle, muffled mostly from exhaustion. "I thought you'd come around to the idea," I giggled to him. "Honestly, let's just take things a little slow at the moment. You've only just got a job, one that isn't even permanent, mind you, and I make just enough for us to live comfortably as it is. I don't know if I could support us in an apartment with my current employment," He sighed, resting a hand on my side before pulling me over to him.
"I question what some of these people around here do for money," I groaned before leaning over and planting my face into his chest. "They probably make stuff. Factory jobs are a hell of a thing," He replied, pulling his hand up to the back of my head to rub it, causing me to let out a low purr into his chest. "Yeah, but where have we seen a factory," I asked him, not bothering to pull my head back in the meantime. "Well, I've heard that the east side of town is mostly manufacturing. Hell, I heard there's even a power-plant there. Now, how they built it there? I have no idea. But, it's there," He said, causing me to wonder even more about how this place is so well developed. Silence was all I heard for the next couple of minutes, allowing me to nearly fall asleep until he spoke up once again.
"So, about that offer?"
I pulled my head back and simply stared at him. "No, I'm flat out exhausted right now," I replied, causing him to sigh. "That makes two of us-" He went to say before I started talking again. "-Plus, I'd rather not have a repeat of that one morning when we didn't know Ava was here."
"Fair," He responded simply, pulling me back up against his chest as he rested his jaw atop my head and we both fell asleep.