"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Bucky asked a very glum looking Marty.

"Are you kidding me? You guys spent all of my money! And I know for a fact that neither you nor Eddie usually eat that much. At least Jimmy was considerate enough to eat less."

Charlie opened his mouth to say something, but Marty seemed to guess what he had to say:

"Yeah, yeah, slower metabolism or whatever. My point still stands."

We were standing just outside of the Hassled Hare, a small pub near the edge of town we had just eaten at. Wasn't a long drive from the base, 30 minutes give or take. The town itself was bigger than I expected. Sure, there weren't any skyscrapers, but most of the buildings did go up to 4 floors, the Hare being no exception. The streets were all pretty narrow though, could probably only fit two cars, and those would have to be rabbit sized cars. No surprise there, it being a town designed by rabbits for rabbits. Speaking of rabbits, there weren't as many as I expected. Most were probably out there in the frontlines doing the fighting. One in particular did catch my attention, as I saw a familiar looking reflection on the dark tinted windows of the Hare. I turned around and there she was, heading into a shop just across the street. I wonder what she'd be doing here. I should probably pop in and say hello. A small little bell rang as I opened the door and walked into the shop. She was standing by the counter, hadn't seen me yet.

"Fancy seeing you here, Miss Hopkins." Oh my god did that sound cheesy. Still, I could see a small smile as she turned around to face me.

"Afternoon, Lieutenant. Wasn't expecting to see you here. What brings you into town?"

"Oh, plane's still in for repairs, so the fellas and I figured we'd spend the day here. You?"

"Getting you that film roll I promised."

For the first time since entering, I actually took a look around. Sure enough, the store was filled with photography and film related stuff. How did I not notice that before?

"Don't they do that for you at the base?"

"Ha! You think the Air Force would spend any money on this type of stuff? They can barely afford anything since they have to keep replacing your planes every few weeks. Hell, they can't even afford to build proper barracks!"

"Wait, is that why we have to sleep in tents?"

I didn't get a reply as a pig came from a door in the back, staring down at a clipboard:

"Everything's set up, miss Hopkins, I'll let you know when the process is finished. Now, if there's anything else I can do for…you…" Said pig seemed to freeze, a look of pure shock on his face. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. I'm guessing he's never seen a fox before.

"That'll be fine, Henry. That film roll's just about all I need." Maggie didn't seem to notice. "I suppose you will be getting back to your friends now, isn't that right, Lieutenant?"

"What?"

She nodded her head towards the front of the store where, sure enough, a group of very familiar bunnies had their faces glued to the window. She waved, leading all of them to scatter.

"Yeah, I guess I should head back… Gotta keep them out of trouble."

"Good luck with that. I do hope to see you again soon, Lieutenant. Oh, and say hi to Andy for me."

"Will do."

I walked out to find my crew trying their very best to seem nonchalant. They were failing miserably, but the effort was still there. Smooth, guys, real smooth. Once the awkwardness died down a little, we decided to catch a movie. We did still have the rest of the day off, after all. The local theater seemed to be showing a war movie about a raid that went down two years earlier.

Before the movie could start, there was a brief war bulletin showing the progress made by the boys in the frontlines and the contribution of the medium bomber squadrons stationed further East. Makes me wonder what happened after our raid yesterday. Did we actually hit the target? I don't remember anyone saying so, and we didn't take any pictures. I guess we'll find out soon enough. As for the movie itself, it was pretty good. It followed a bomber pilot as he and his friends volunteered for a top secret mission. At the same time, he also had to worry about his pregnant wife and the consequences of taking on such a dangerous task. Charlie mentioned that it was based on a book, so I'll have to remember to pick up a copy later.

Just as the movie ended, we went back to the Hassled Hare for some drinks. Or they did, at least. Whatever happened last night, I don't really want to make drinking a habit. Besides, they'll need someone to drive the jeep back, right? After having a few, Marty had quite a different proposition:

"Foxy, you and me, drinking contest, right now."

"No thanks."

"Why, scared that I'll beat you?"

"I know for a fact you'd beat me."

"You could actually win though." Charlie whispered. "Slower metabolism means it's gonna take a lot longer for the alcohol to have any effect on you. As such, it doesn't really matter whether you drink more than him or not: It's about endurance. Play your cards right and Marty'll black out before you even finish your first beer."

"It's not about that though, I don't drink. Besides, doesn't someone have to drive us back to base?"

"Yeah, and you're looking at him. Look, the whole 'I don't drink' attitude doesn't really work here. We're at war: sooner or later you're gonna see something you won't be able to forget and when that happens, you'll need a drink. Besides, I have it on fairly good authority that you already broke that rule last night so…"

"Charlie, quit distracting him!" Marty all but shouted. I get the feeling he's drunk already. Hell, I might be able to win without even drinking half a bottle. "So, are we gonna do this or what? 5 bucks to the winner!"

"You're not gonna leave me alone until I say yes, are you?"

"Now you're getting it! So, are you in?"

"I get you to stop bugging me and 5 bucks, so sure, I'm in."

Apparently I was very wrong about how much Marty could drink. Which means that I ended up having to drink more, since I could only stop after he did. Eight bottles! We finished at least eight bottles each! Granted, they were rabbit sized bottles (Which looked pretty funny in my paws given how tiny they were), but still, eight bottles! Things were getting kinda hazy by the time I finished my fourth. Even hazier by the eighth. Marty did straight up collapse a few minutes later, so I guess I won? The conversation seemed to have changed topics though:

"I'll bet you none of those guys know how to actually fly a plane." Andy exclaimed.

"Why should they? They're actors, not pilots. Besides, it's not like you know how to fly a plane." Bucky replied.

"Well, I'm not pretending to know how to fly, now am I?"

"Even if they did know how to fly, they couldn't show it. We can't very well let just anyone see how to fly our planes, there could be spies in the theater. That's why they always make those cockpit shots dark, so that you can't see what they're doing. Not that they're actually bothering to hit the right switches. It's like how they get a hand double whenever they need a shot of one of the actors playing the piano." Charlie explained.

"Yeah, really bugs me when I can tell they're not actually hitting the right notes." Eddie joined the conversation.

"How do you know that?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"I play the piano. 5 years' worth of lessons." Eddie rather proudly declared.

"Well then, play us a song then, piano man!" Bucky encouraged.

Eddie finished his beer before moving over to the piano placed in the back of the room. He sat down and pulled the microphone closer, before he started playing a riff I was all too familiar with. Eddie began to sing and I'll admit, he had a pretty good singing voice:

Should old acquaintance be forgot

And never brought to mind?

Should old acquaintance be forgot

And old lang syne?

What sounded like most of the bar joined in for the chorus and hell, how could I not?

For auld lang syne, my dear

For auld lang syne

We'll take a cup of kindness yet

For auld lang syne

The song went on, and I guess it's been a while since I've last sung it, cause I did not remember any of the lyrics after the first chorus. Or maybe it was the alcohol. After Eddie was done, he was met by a round of drunken applause. He bowed before walking back to the table. We had a few more drinks and things seemed to get hazier and hazier after that.