The raccoon is unaware.
He leans under the shade of the great oak tree, seeking respite from the merciless sun; oblivious to his peril. His eyes are not on guard, nor are his ears vigilant. No weapon exists at his side, it has been left behind, and he has not plotted an escape route if danger were to come.
The raccoon believes himself to be safe, and has afforded no contingency for escape or defense; he thinks that his spot beneath the tree in the park is not vulnerable. He shall pay for his mistake.
The hunter creeps forward.
Unlike his unwitting prey, the hunter follows his instincts. Silent, keeping to the shadows formed by the vast tree's spreading boughs, the hunter creeps forward. Unbearably slow, with every care taken, every move run through a predator's mind. So close, and yet, one wrong move and all is lost; the element of surprise must be his.
Nearly there, the hunter moves into position…Strong legs tense, ready to spring at the right moment. Patience, patience is key; but so close to his target! He is in position. He leaps.
"GOTCHA!" Dante shouted.
"Ahhhh!" Sly Cooper yelped as the larger fox tackled him around the waist and both of them fell to the soft green turf with a dull thud.
Half flattened by the man on top of him, Sly pushed at him with mock resistance, while the red fox half-fought to keep him down. Then, with a mischievous grin, Dante began to viciously tickle the ringtail on the ribs and underarms.
Sly began to laugh uncontrollably, and with a burst of desperate strength, flipped Dante over and pinned the fox to the ground. With a shout of "Oh, now you're in for it!" he unleashed a barrage of merciless tickling on him.
Dante's eyes bulged and his chest heaved as he laughed. He tried to roll out from under the raccoon, but his former prey had him held tight. The hunter had become the prey, it seemed.
"S-Sly-Come on, St-stop it! Ah, Please!" he begged. Sly stopped for a moment and cocked his head; beneath him Dante panted, and looked pleadingly up at the raccoon.
Cooper grinned, "Convince Me." He said childishly.
Dante's eyes narrowed and his lip pouted out defiantly. "Never." He quipped.
"Oh really?" Sly growled, raising an inquisitive eyebrow; "well, I guess I'll have to just keep going until you do!" He waggled a finger threateningly.
Dante looked around, for anything that could aid him; seeing none he sighed.
"Well?" Sly demanded. Thrusting his neck upwards, Dante brought his lips up to the raccoon's. Taken totally by surprise, his chocolate brown eyes widened. The raccoon's grip on the fox slackened; Sly broke the kiss and straightened.
"I suppose that works." He said, blushing slightly, trying to sound indifferent as he slid off of the fox beneath him. Dante grinned smugly as he sat up and dusted himself off.
Sly had scooted to the side and sat with his back against the tree. Dante stood up and walked to the spot he had leapt at Sly from; a brown paper sack and two clear plastic bottles of mineral water sat on the grass. Dante stooped and picked them up and walked back over to where Sly was sitting and settled down next to the raccoon.
He handed the raccoon one of the bottles and tore open the sack and retrieved two chicken salad sandwiches and tossed one to Sly, who nodded in gratitude and began hungrily tearing into it. Dante sighed and opened his bottle, taking a long draught and pouring a small quantity onto his hair.
"Boy, it is hot out." He said, and looked around. Far above, the noonday sun was beating down heavily on the park and its groups of recreational visitors.
"Mm hm," Sly replied; his eyes were unfocused, and his gaze seemed to have no particular destination. Dante stared at the raccoon worriedly; his husband seemed to be so distracted.
He sighed and grabbed Sly's hand. "You should really be more careful of what's around you, you know." He admonished. What if it had been someone else, someone dangerous, who had crept up on the distracted Cooper?
Sly turned his head towards him, frowning. "Oh come on Dante; it was just you sneaking up on me, what's the big deal?" he said, trying to dismiss the concerned fox.
Dante wasn't going to have any of that, "But what it hadn't been me? What then?" He pressed the question.
Sly pulled one of his famous grins. "Dante, we're in the middle of one of the busiest parks in the city, surrounded by people. What's someone going to do, throw a Frisbee at me when my back is turned?" He laughed at his joke, "Come on, seriously."
Dante wasn't convinced; "What if you weren't surrounded by people, what if you were alone and I couldn't get to you in time?" he cried. His hand squeezed Sly's even tighter, and the raccoon's eyes widened; he hadn't realized how suddenly distressed Dante was.
"Look, Dante; who is there that could pose any threat to us? Some random street thug isn't even on the charts for danger; there's no Clockwerk, Neyla's gone, Jack is in prison," he saw the fox's face twist momentarily with fury, and continued, "Hell, your sister isn't even able to chase us anymore; she got kicked off the case a few weeks ago. There is no one who can hurt me anymore."
He squeezed Dante's hand reassuringly in turn. The fox said nothing, and averted his eyes.
"Aw, come on; I thought you said you were going to relax a little, we're married, you don't have to worry about losing me. " He tried to use that piece of reasoning with the overprotective fox.
Slowly, Dante looked back up into the raccoon's chocolate brown eyes and a slight smile grew on his face. "That's all the more reason to spend every moment I can spare watching you," His smile grew wider, "Striped Tail."
"And with you watching me, what could happen? A speck of dust could land on my shirt and you'd kick its ass all the way to Switzerland," He leaned on the fox and nuzzled his cheek into his neck. "whipping Tail." He said teasingly.
Dante stroked the messy stand of hair on his husband's head; "You were right though, it is hooot! I think I'll take a nap." The raccoon said as he snuggled closer to the fox.
Despite the sounds of the people around them, the raccoon's gentle breathing soon slowed and he began gently snoring on Dante's shoulder.
The ex-cop sat there for a long while, simply listening to his love's sweet breathing and feeling the soft rhythm of the raccoon's heart. He thought about their conversation; how he couldn't imagine living without the Cooper snoring away next to him, and how he would die for the man.
'With you watching me, what could happen?' He listened to that voice in his head over and over, seeing how much faith and trust his love had for him. He would go to the ends of existence, fight fate itself if he could to protect Sly.
Yes, if ever it came to it, he would die for him.
Alright, I would like to apologize in advance for this. I simply, cannot, write, fluff. So I'm really sorry about this chapter, but I suppose that to help dramatic interaction, I've got to have a little reference to the relationship stuff. Also, this chapter is shorter than I would like, and hopefully the others will be longer. The story shall continue onwards.
And thanks to the magnanimous Slylady for letting me use her characters; Dante and Jack belong to her. Sly and all of the other characters from the games belong to Sucker Punch.
Review, I'd love to hear your input. Feel free to also flame or troll, I can always use a good laugh.