Fireworks and Beer

Nick felt himself free falling as he desperately tried to grab the rope that was flying in the air next to him. Not that it would do much good since it had snapped in half. If the fox had managed to grasp the rope it wouldn't have changed what happened next.

The fox slammed into the ground. Luckily for him he managed to land on a soft patch of grass. Lucky may have been a bit of an overstatement though since the impact still knocked the wind out of him and hurt like hell.

His vision was blurry from pain and it took him a second to collect himself. Nick slowly sat up and let out a soft groan as he rubbed his back. "She is trying to kill me…plain and simple. She found out I was a fox and this is some cruel way of getting rid of me!" Nick grumbled as he began to dust himself off. As he stood up he felt a numb pain in his back and his leg was sore, someone upstairs must have been looking out for him since it should have been far worse but he would survive.

"So what kind of medical coverage do we have?" Nick groaned into the walkie as the fox began to limp towards a fallen tree so he could take a seat and check out the damage.

"Could be better….why?" Judy came back over the radio, her voice had a hint of concern. It took a second but she must have put two and two together, "Oh my gosh Nick! Are you ok? Please be ok!"

"I'm alright boss, but that rock slide is now properly named!" Nick reported as he took a seat and began to rub his leg. There was some dirt mixed into his fur and he could tell that there was a few scrapes. He would most likely be bruised up but for the most part nothing seemed to be broken or out of place.

"Oh No Nick! I am so sorry! Are you going to be ok?" Judy's voice was now filled with concern and he could tell she must be feeling terrible. He felt kinda bad for stressing her out. It was no one's fault really. The rope had snapped, what were the chances? As Nick looked up the slope he had just descended he felt somewhat embarrassed. It wasn't necessarily a difficult climb and he should have been able to handle it better.

Nick took a deep breath as he made up his mind. "I promise not to make a habit of this!" He thought to himself before keying up the radio.

"I'm ok, rope just slipped out of my paws a few feet from the bottom, gave myself a bit of a fright until my feet hit the ground, I have probably fallen off of bar stools that were higher up!" Nick lied. He couldn't explain why but he absolutely hated lying to Judy, it felt wrong.

"Oh gosh! Nick don't scare me like that you bum!" Judy came back, she sounded annoyed. It was better than having her feel terrible at least.

"Sorry, couldn't help it! I am at the bottom now, heading westward towards the lake!" Nick said, trying to get the conversation back on track. The more words he put in between his little lie the better.

"Try not to trip over a tree stump will ya there slick?" Judy teased. The little nickname made Nick freeze in his tracks. His eyes twitched as a memory crossed his mind.

"Oh, smooth Slick, real smooth," A female's voice filled his mind as a lovely looking vixen smiled at him from a memory.

"Don't..." Nick muttered.

"Don't what?" Came Judy's voice over the radio as Nick returned from a nightmarish memory.

"What? Sorry!" Nick blurted out, realizing he had keyed up the radio when he had spoken before.

"You said 'Don't'. Don't What?" Judy asked again.

"Sorry, didn't realize I keyed the mic," Nick said nervously, "Just do me a favor…don't call me Slick ok?" Nick was surprised at his own voice. It was demanding and firm, very unlike the fox. He shook his head and continued down a path away from the rock slide.

There was a pause on the radio before Judy spoke once more. Her voice was filled with caution but also kindness, "I'm sorry Nick, you ok?"

Nick groaned, he really didn't feel like going into detail but he had a feeling the subject wouldn't be dropped unless he said something. "Someone I knew once called me that, just…please don't ok? I don't wanna talk about it right now either so let's just focus on finding these pyrotechnics."

"Okay, Nick, I got you!" Judy said, the normal perkiness in her voice sadly absent.

Nick let out a silent curse as he shook his head. "Smooth Nick, real smooth!" He muttered as he came to the end of a large lush grove. He could see a large series of boulders ahead of him that sat at the edge of the lake.

"Wow, this field by the lake is amazing, must be great for camping!" Nick said into the radio, trying to cut through the tension.

"Haven't been in the area for a while now, but I do remember their being some nice camping spots near the lake! I will have to check it out next time I am over there!" Judy came back sounding like her regular self once more.

Nick felt a sudden spike of excitement at the thought of Judy visiting the area. "So you like what? Come over and inspect the region? When's the next inspection?" Nick asked, masking his excitement.

"Hahaha, no not really. I sometimes like to just wander during my relief days or when we aren't in a fire watch season. So fortunately for you, you won't have to clean your tower until it's time to leave!" Judy teased.

Nick snapped his fingers. He couldn't explain why but he felt a little disappointed that Judy wasn't going to be in the region anytime soon. "Good to hear, because I was planning to throw a kegger soon, didn't want to have to worry about my boss showing up!"

"Listen here bucko, if I find out you have some kind of party and I didn't get an invite I will just have to come over there and kick your butt! I haven't had a chance to dance in forever and need to stretch my legs!" Judy teased.

"I'll be sure to send you an invite then! You can dance, I'll just hang out and enjoy the show!" Nick shot back as he continued to walk through the field.

"Oh no you don't mister! I fully expect you to save a dance for me!"

"I don't dance!" Nick grumbled.

"Correction, you just haven't found the proper mammal to dance with!" Judy said playfully.

"Wow...just...wow"

"Yeah, that's right, you got this to look forward to all summer!" Judy giggled over the radio.

"So what is the transfer process here? Do I file a form or what?" Nick said jokingly.

"Nope, you are stuck with the bestest supervisor in the whole service! Deal with it!"

Nick felt his heart lift at the banter, he was enjoying every second of this. His mind however focused on the task at paw when he suddenly spied a small makeshift campsite ahead of him. As Nick approached he felt something under his feet and looked down. He had stepped on an empty beer can which had been tossed onto the path. As the fox looked around he noticed the area had a few empty beer cans of the same brand all strewn around.

"Well I think I found the campsite of our little fireworks crew!" Nick muttered as he scanned the area and saw a pair of backpacks nearby. As Nick approached he found a case of unopened beer.

"Really? Good to hear! They on site?" Judy asked excitedly. There was another crack nearby and Nick spied a firework exploding in the sky.

"No, my money is on the lake, I think it's just right around the corner." Nick informed. He looked around for a moment and insured no one was watching him. He then scooped a few cans of beer up and shoved them into his backpack. Figuring the least these campers could do was let him numb the pain he had suffered because of them.

"What do ya know, shitty mammals like shitty beers." Nick said as he took a moment to inspect the cans he had just procured. They were a brand Nick recognized. He wouldn't normally touch the stuff but he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to find a pub anywhere nearby so it would have to do.

"Really? Well that explains a lot. Be careful, last thing I need is to come rescue you from a bunch of drunk teenagers or something!" Judy teased.

"I know how to handle myself! Thank you very much!" Nick shot back.

As Nick continued through the campsite he found a small pile of embers still smoking and giving off warmth. He couldn't understand how mammals could be so reckless. To leave a fire like this unattended during the dry season was very dangerous. The fox acted quickly and stomped the coals out and then threw some dirt on just to be safe. He admired his handy work for a second and then keyed his microphone up once more.

"Better start preparing a speech for the award ceremony. They are gonna be giving me a medal for stomping out that campfire!" Nick boasted.

"They had a campfire? Geeze! You know they label the fire season with colors for a reason! What exactly do they think red means?" Judy shouted over the walkie, obviously furious about the danger Nick had just stopped.

There was a pause for a moment as the female in the other end of the radio collected herself. "Oh well, I would have named that fire something really good too!"

"I can always start it back up ya know? What name were ya thinking? I vote 'My crazy boss is trying to get me killed mountain fire'"

Judy suddenly burst out with laughter, her mood changing to something more calm thanks to Nick.

"Oh gosh! That would have been great! I am so glad I have you for the summer!" Judy said gleefully.

Nick felt like there were butterflies in his stomach. He couldn't help but keep a dumb grin on his face while he continued to inspect the campsite. After another minute of looking around Nick came across two full bottles of liquor which he 'confiscated'. He had a feeling they wouldn't be missed since there were about another half dozen empty bottles strewn around the site.

As Nick continued looking about he came across a series of fireworks that had all been bound together with twine. He let out a low growl and shook his head as he stuffed the fireworks into his bag.

"So found some of the fireworks, got them stuffed in my bag with the beer-" Nick winced, realizing taking the beer would probably not get Judy's approval, "mean I confiscated the fireworks! That's it! Nothing else!"

There was a few moments pause before Judy responded, "don't care about the beer, they got any hard liquor though I got dibs!"

It was Nick's turn to burst out laughing. He really liked this mammal. "Got two bottles for ya boss!"

"Awesome!" Judy whispered into the radio. As if she was trying to hide a secret from an authority figure. Nick actually thought it was kind of cute.

As Nick began to head out of the campsite he spied a pile of clothing near the path that led to the lake. This wasn't like a pile of clothing left out to be cleaned. It was obvious that they had been thrown aside in haste. Nick thought it was somewhat odd but shrugged it off.

As the fox continued down the path he turned a corner and froze. In front of him was a different kind of clothing. Nick quickly grabbed a stick and looked at the articles of clothing nervously. He had to be sure what it was before moving on. He felt his heart sink and he closed his eyes as he realized just what at the end of the stick. It was a large black bra.

"Judy…we have a problem," Nick groaned into the radio.

"What's up Nick?" Judy asked in concern.

The fox took a second to collect himself as he set the stick down and counted two pairs of bras and panties.

"I think they are naked..." Nick informed as another firework burst in the sky overhead.

All Nick heard was cackling from the radio as Judy proceeded to lose it. "Oh this. This is gonna be good!" Came her voice between fits of laughter.

Hope you are all enjoying the story so far!

I am enjoying this nice break from my main story.

Reviews are always appreciated!

-Blue