What Once Was Pt. 2
Twenty Two Years ago
"The sign says: We reserve the right to refuse Service TO ANYONE!"
Jason and Mandy flinched as the Rhino bellowed. The ten year old kits couldn't help it, Jason didn't have the mask of confidence or the experience that he would get later in life, and Mandy because she would never get that experience.
The Rhino and the other patrons flinched much more violently as they realized that he just scared a Skunk kit. They realized it when she jumped and turned her body around slightly and her long black tail snapped to an upright position.
The young todd's arms wrapped themselves around the doe, who was shaking like a leaf and fighting back tears, and he started to stroke the back of her head in a comforting fashion "Shh It's okay, it's okay Grace." Jason shot an angry look at the cashier over her shoulder.
"Y-you sa-said that *hic* w-we would get ice cr-cr-cream *sniff* but you l-lied to me-e Sal. And now t-the meanie is yelling at me!" The dam of salty tears broke out into a wail and sobs as she addressed Nick.
The Rhino bull's eyes softened just the slightest bit as he watched the kit's shoulders heave and shake but he was still weary of them.
*sigh*
He reaches into the cooler which held what they wanted
"Take it and go."
The two of them looked at him with suspicion, not trusting that they heard what they heard.
"You want it or not?"
They turned to each other before Jason stepped forward to grab the over sized popsicle.
"Thank you sir." Jason tried to hand the cashier the money for the frozen treat but he shook his head.
"Just take it and go." He repeated "And don't come back." They both scuttled out of their as fast as they could.
Once they were out of sight and out of hearing range, both of them snapped out of their roles and grinned.
"Looks like we have to cross this one from the list."
...
Twenty One Years ago
"Ready... set... GO!"
Red and black paws begin fiddling with the pair of cuffs which were binding them together. Another, larger, pair held a stopwatch.
The pressure of being timed led to the little fingers fumbling more often than he normally did.
"Time!"
"Fifteen seventy three. You could do better than that, just remember: smooth is quick and quick is smooth. The more you practice the faster you get and the less mistakes you make. Now try again."
Nick returned the strip of metal back to the inside of his sleeve. The sleeve, which hid a wrist brace that had pockets for small things like the strip used to slip in between the teeth of the pawcuffs which allowed it to open, lock picking tools, a razor wrapped in tape to allow it to be stored safely but the folded end let the owner to undo it easily, matches a sealed bag, or anything else that could fit.
Jason slipped the cuffs back on and got ready to start again.
"Now if you don't have your tools then you can break the cuffs with the seat belt buckle or anything that is strong enough and small enough to fit in between the metal plates but that will hurt you quite a bit, expect to get cut."
...
Twenty Years and Nine Months ago
George is holding a see though pad lock and a snake hook lock pick. He uses the pick to point at the different parts as he mentions them.
"This is a pin and tumbler lock, the most common type of lock, and although this is a pad lock, it is the same inside as door locks as long as the key is the same. This is the pin, and the pin is divided into two: the key pin, the part that you're touching, and the driver pin, what's attached to the spring. Now typically there is between four and six pins, and how a lock works is there pin set are the same total length but the key pins are not. That's why a key's teeth are different height. The tumbler is what turns when you unlock the lock, and the space between the lock and the tumbler is called the shear line. And when the key is inserted the key pins line up with the shear line and the tumbler can turn. It's important to know that the entire time you move the pins, you need to apply light but constant pressure with the torque wrench." The lock opens.
Jason messes around with his own see though lock for a while, eventually being able to open it.
"Only practice locks are clear but eventually you'll be able to do this by feel alone. What I want you to do before you try anything else is to be able to do this with your eyes closed. Then we try with a new lock, and a new one, and a new one."
...
Twenty Years and Six Months Ago
George surprised Jason by suddenly grabbing his wrist.
"Don't yank on whatever you have, if you can't pull it out without getting noticed or if there's too much resistance then it's not worth it."
Jason continued to try and pick pocket his Dad.
...
Twenty Years Ago
Jason and Mandy stood in the line, waiting for their turn to get food. And since both of them are in the same size category, they don't need to split up into different lines. They had grabbed their food and started to look for a place to sit.
"Hey! Jay, Mandy, Over here!" a Squirrel doe who was munching on various nuts and dried fruit had been the one to call them over, and with her are two Fox todds and male Sloth (AN: I couldn't find if Sloths have gender titles). Both Sandy and Kris were waving trying to grab their attention, Finnick was busy scarfing down his food, and Flash was still slowly turning toward them.
"Hey guys."
Kris was the oldest of the group in tenth grade, Sandy in ninth, Finn and Flash were in the eighth, and Mandy and Jason in seventh. However, being a K twelve school, they all had the fortune of being together until graduation.
When Jason was within range, Sandy jumped from the table to his shoulder and gave him a noogie. His response was to turn his head and slap her with his ear.
"Woah! Hey, I almost fell."
"You can jump like ten feet, how is a two foot drop concerning?"
"Because I have time to brace myself before I jump."
"Hey... Jay... Mandy... over... here..."
"Looks like Flash just got here, how's it hanging bud?" Out of the whole group, Nick was the one who seemed like he was the most in tune with Flash. Maybe because he possibly was a Sloth himself in a past life, maybe.
The algae covered Mammal didn't mind the comment on his speed. Their little group has grown so close together that they were tolerant of and comfortable with each other doing or saying things that they wouldn't let anyone else get away with, like calling a Sloth slow or a Fox shifty.
' "I'm... doing... as... well... as... I... can... What... about... you... two?..." the group all waited patiently for the young cub to finish.
"I'm doing great, you have Track meet today right?"
"Not... today,... coach... had... an... emergency... at... home..."
"Nothing bad I hope." Mandy expressed her concern for the kindly lion who had often helped them.
"I... don't... know... how... serious... it... is..."
"Maybe his Mate went into labor? It is close to her due date." The black and white doe theorized.
"I'm surprised that he managed to knock her up." Barely at this age and Finnick already had the deepest voice out of all of them, and deeper than even some of the teachers.
All of them were surprised in fact, what with his Mate being a Spotted Hyena. Samuel explained that even the vets weren't all that certain how it happened. Some thought that because the Hyenidae family and the Felidae family are actually both part of the Feliformia suborder that it had allowed the slimmest chance of procreation. Others thought that taxonomy didn't play as big a role, instead it was that all mammals had similar enough evolutionary traits and fewer even speculate that eventually evolution will bring all mammals to a homogenous state. It could be any of those, any other reason that is not known yet or even a combination of reasons. The one thing that Samuel was sure of though was that the how didn't matter to him, just the fact that it happened was good enough.
"Or did she knock herself up? 'Cuz you know how them females gots themselves a-"
"You don't have to be so vulgar Finnick."
"Just because you're the oldest doesn't mean that you should talk like you're an old maid." The smallest in the group retorted against the tallest.
Finn and Kris bicker for what seemed like millionth time today. Everyone wondered why the two were friends at some point or another, but when asked about it all was said is that it's just their way.
"Makes you wonder: if a Lion and Hyena could have a litter, then who else could?" Mandy seemed to be starting off into the distance.
In her head, little kits were running around. Some were black and white and others were red. Despite being much too young to have her own young, it didn't stop her from daydreaming about one day having her own litter.
"-dy?"
"-ndy?"
"Mandy!"
"Huh?!"
"You spaced out for a while there... maybe you're thinking about someone in particular?" Sandy loves to tease Mandy about her crush on the todd, she always had.
Everyone in there little group knew about her crush, even mammals who weren't in their group knew about it, but not Jason. No he was too busy with the "lessons" that his dad gave him, he was almost religious when it came to practicing. Any time not dedicated to homework or something else, he was practicing one of the many skills being taught to him.
"W-what? No! I don't know what you're talking about." And there goes the tail floof.
A Skunk's tail did not go side to side like other mammals, so they expressed their emotions by puffing out their fur in various degrees.
"Mandy has a crush on someone?" She went stone still when Jason asked that question.
Looking out of the corner of her eye, she saw green staring at her inquisitively but the owner soon grew a mischievous grin.
She can hear the teasing already.
"Who is it? Is it the buck from second period, what's his name, Caleb?" Jason looked pointedly at the Spotted Skunk who was sitting with his own group of friends.
"Ugh! No! He's a creep that won't leave me alone." She recoiled in horror. It's safe to say that it'll never be an option.
"What about the buck that is in theatre with you?" Sandy added, clearly enjoying the discomfort being shown by the doe.
"He's into bucks."
"What about Chris?" Finnick joined too.
"There's only so many Skunks in the school, sooner or later we're going to guess right."
"Brian?"
"Richard?"
"Sidd?"
"Trevor?"
Mandy had no visible or noteworthy reaction to any the names.
"Are there any others that we missed?"
"No, thats all of them."
Jason rubbed his chin in thought "What if?"
Everyone's ears perked up, everyone including Mandy.
"Are you into doe's?"
For a second they had hope for him, but he crashed and burned.
"Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I never pegged you as the type but now that I think about it it explains why you accepted anyone's advances."
At this moment, Amanda Lewis has two options, one: go along with it, or two: admit to Jason that she liked him more than as a friend.
Both of these options are less than ideal. If she goes along with it then a couple of things could happen, such as him doing something that leads to both hers and some other doe's embarrassment. Or if she admits she's inter without knowing his stance in such a subject, things could turn ugly real fast. She didn't think that Jason was the type of todd who would take an interest in what others did when it didn't involve him to the sixth degree.
As much as she wants to deny it, it may finally be the time to reveal her feelings to him. Maybe her fears would be unfounded and maybe even be reciprocated.
"Actually, Jay? I don't-"
The loud shrill of the bell interrupts the student body and reminds them of their next class.
"-think we have time to discuss this. Gottagettoclassbye!" And in the end, it didn't even matter what she wanted to say because once she was given an out, she grabbed onto it with both paws.
She hurried off to her next class, which was in the opposite direction of his. Once she was certain she had lost him, she relaxed into a more calm walking pace. Soon her head was weighed down by her cowardice at the moment of opportunity presented to her.
"What was that?"
"AHHH!"
Everyone who was nearby the startled skunk jumped away while covering noses in preparation of a bad time.
The absence of any foul odor slowly encouraged the students to remove their paws/hooves and continue on their way, but not before throwing a dirty look at the little mammal.
"Don't scare me like that!"
"I literally climbed up your leg, how could I scare you after that?" Mandy had always complained that she was too heavy to climb her clothes, stretched them out when she did.
"I was... thinking."
"About how you're finally gunna tell Jay that you like him?"
"It's not that simple."
"Yeah actually, it is."
"Easier said than done."
"It's only as hard as you make it."
The classroom door is now in sight but Sandy still had further to go as she did not share the same class. Mandy felt the Squirrel's weight vanish as the she jumped off and started to head off on her own.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down before entering the class.
There will be time to worry about this later.
