Continued from Chapter 21
"C'mon Gideon, get yer big fluffy tail in here!" exclaimed Sharla, a black sheep. The portly red fox looked extremely nervous as he was dragged closer and closer by his wrist to the club "Different Tails". Looking up at the sign, Gideon swallowed in apprehension.
"I-I-I don't know 'bout this, Sharla," Gideon admitted. He was in his best plaid shirt and jeans, but the sight of such a bustling inter-species bar filled him with dread.
"Oh! Whatcha worried 'bout? We've already come all this way!" Sharla released him and put her hands on her hips. "Ain't nobody here gonna recognize us!"
Gideon sighed. "That ain't precisely the issue... we're gonna stand out; bein' hicks from Bunnyburrow and all."
"C'mon, we're not a whole country away or nothin', we're just some two hundred miles from home!" Sharla smiled, beckoning him into the club. "'Sides, I looked this place up. One of the biggest rules is 'no judgin'', so we got nothin' to be afraid of."
"Oh, I guess so, Sharla," Gideon nodded once and followed her in. His ears flattened as he wasn't used to the din of the lively club, where mammals of all different species and with all different species hung about with each other. Gideon thought he saw a rat making goo-goo eyes at zebra. No judging, no judging, Gideon thought to himself.
"Lookit this!" Sharla exclaimed in wonder, gasping slightly. She raised her voice to be able to be heard by the trailing fox. "We fit right in, 'cause no one else does!"
Gideon nodded. "Whatcha wanna do first, Sharla? D-dance?" Gideon winced at the more contemporary dances going on around the dance floor; he had only learned a few line dances and square dances. He turned his attention over to the DJ, an arctic hare with multi-colored fur dye splotches all over her white fur. He suddenly felt like he didn't fit in after all.
"Dancin' would be a lot of fun!" Sharla nodded, clicking the digits of her fingers together. "How about we-"
"Gideon Grey!? No way!" Came a loud, female voice. Gideon's eyes went wide as a few mammals were shuffled out of the way and a gray bunny popped out from between them with a red fox trailing her. Gideon gasped in terror.
"Judy!" Gideon's eyes darted around as he looked for an escape.
"Well, well! What the heck is going on here?" Judy thrust her fists onto her hips and gave a brow-furrowed, mischievous smirk to the two. "Sharla!?"
"Hi, Judy!" Sharla closed her eyes and playfully wiggled her fingers at her.
"Who are these fine gentlemammals?" asked the other fox, wearing a bright red-and-white shirt that almost hurt Gideon's eyes to look at.
"Nick, meet Sharla and Gideon!" Judy said brightly, indicating them with her paws. "Two of my friends I know from growing up in Bunnyburrow!"
"Shucks, you don't have to lie, Judy," Gideon rubbed behind his head. "Sharla was the friend."
"Okay then," Judy folded her arms, her smirk growing even more devious. "Gideon's the one that gave me these scars on my cheek." She pat her left cheek with her hand, feeling for the very faint imperfections.
"He... what?" Nick made a bizarre expression that combined bafflement, surprise, and anger.
"Judy, I must apologize again for my actions in my- my childhood," Gideon clasped his hands together. "I-"
"Gideon!" Sharla interrupted, shoving him with her hip. "She's yankin' yer chain!"
"Yeah, It's all water under the bridge," Judy nodded. "I'm good at teasing foxes."
"Oh yeah..." Nick thrust his hands into his pockets, nodding in confirmation and sighing. Then, a smirk slowly played out on his face as he met Judy's gaze and the two winked at each other.
"Okay so..." Judy turned back to Sharla, made an incredulous look and gestured with her hands wildly. "Tell me how on Earth you two got together. He bullied you too, right Sharla?"
"Uh huh!" Sharla seemed to have completely disregarded this as well, though Gideon looked like he was squirming. "He found me one day and apologized, like he did to you! Then later he just kept apologizing more, each time he saw me! And well, eventually, I dunno. Somethin' about him just strikes me as real sweet and earnest, y'know? Least, how he is now."
"Mm, I could see that," Judy stroked her chin and looked over Gideon, sizing him up. Gideon felt as though he wasn't wearing any clothes.
"And I'm sure since you're here with a fox, y'know how silver them fox tongues can be," Sharla's voice was loud but she was making a conspiratorial gesture with her hands as if she was whispering.
"Oh, no doubt about it," Judy nodded rapidly, tossing Nick a brief leer. "Foxes are very good at 'apologizing'."
"Ain't it the truth!?" Sharla laughed loudly, followed by Judy. Nick shut his eyes rather proudly and tilted his head back and forth, adjusting his tie. Gideon's pupils shrank at the blatancy of the innuendo; he felt like his stomach was scrunched into a tight ball.
"So!" Judy clapped her hands together once, then pointed both hands toward the bar. "You two should head to the bar. The bartender tonight is Donna, and she always gives free drinks to first-timers!"
"But!" Nick held an arm up in caution. "Don't pretend you're an identical twin to try to get a second drink, even on another visit. That'll get you a pitcher of water dumped over you for your trouble."
Judy stifled a laugh. "Stupid vulpine." To this, Nick nodded sagely, making Sharla laugh and even Gideon cracked a smile.
"A beer sounds mighty nice right now," Sharla smiled. "Whatcha say, Gideon?"
"Maybe just one," Gideon nodded. "I'd like to be in control of all of my faculties tonight." He winced a bit.
Sharla nodded in understanding, giving him an earnest smile. "Yeah, we'll be careful. Maybe after you knock one back you'll feel like dancin' with me, huh?"
Gideon smiled as Sharla led him by the hand over to the bar.
"Well that's weird," Judy smirked, her voice plain.
"Ah ah," Nick waggled his finger then poked Judy in the stomach. "You know the rule, no judging."
"I mean, it is my childhood friend and childhood bully hooking up, Nick," Judy sighed, then gave a flippant laugh and gesture with her hand. "But, I guess people can change."
Nick shrugged his shoulders and nodded. "I mean, I did."
"Did you?" Judy tossed her head off to the side, her ears lolling. "Or, were you always a good fox that just needed an excuse to 'come out'."
"Please," Nick rolled his eyes. "It does no good to think you're a good person inside when you do bad. Isn't that just being a bad person with self-delusions?"
"Huh," Judy considered this, then seemed to discard her thoughts. "Dunno!"
"Anyway," Nick said. "I'm not going to stand here and shout philosophy over a crowd of mammals. While we're doing that, we could be dancing."
"We could!" Judy agreed, performing a small hop.
"March!" Nick pointed, and Judy skipped merrily over to the dance floor, followed by Nick, right as a song was ending.
"Uh-oh!" The arctic hare DJ noticed them coming onto the dance floor and pointed both of her index fingers at them. "The cops have arrived! None of y'all better be performing any illegal dance moves!" A few mammals laughed and gave Nick and Judy friendly nudges. "Anyway, you know the drill. When the gray bunny hits the dance floor, she's gotta try dancin' to..." She put her hand to one of her ears, leaning forward.
"Try everything!" The crowd responded. The responses had a variety of tones: weary, teasing, and some even seemed enthusiastic to hear the DJ put the song on again. Judy rolled her eyes, but smirked up at the DJ, who she'd become fast friends with; it seemed like she was destined to have friends who loved to tease her. Nick just warmly chuckled and prepared to dance to Judy's favorite song.
Gideon and Sharla noticed the commotion as they were finishing up their beers. Sharla put her hand on Gideon's shoulder and nodded over to make him look more closely. Gideon chuckled softly as he saw Judy dancing. He didn't know if he'd call it good dancing, but she was exuberant. And her fox was right there with her, matching her pace, in a way he might charitably describe as "goofy", if pressed.
"C'mon Gideon, let's go 'try everything' too, huh?" Sharla suggested, flashing a nice smile at Gideon. It seemed like she wouldn't force him, though. Gideon considered for a moment, downing his last swallow of beer and giving a satisfied exhale. He gave a tentative smile to Sharla.
"Yeah, Sharla. Sounds like fun to me," Gideon led her by the hand and moved to the dance floor with the delighted sheep.