Chapter 5
"So, how was your movie?" Maverick asked when he approached James the next day.
"It was good, but I'm more excited to go Christmas shopping with you" he replied.
"Who are you going to be shopping for?" Maverick asked.
"Other than my parents? I'll probably get something for Theo and Bandit. I might even get something for Lana" James answered.
"Oh? Not getting anything for your best friend?" Maverick winked.
"I can't buy your Christmas present when you're with me" James grinned, "did you really think I would get something for your girlfriend and not you?"
"Of course not, I just wanted to give you a hard time" he chuckled.
After they thought they got something for everyone they were thinking about, James said, "Well, it was fun to go shopping with you, see you Sunday."
"See ya, James" Maverick responded, exchanging a quick hug with his vulpine friend.
While he was driving home, James decided to give Theo a call. "Hello?" came the voice of Theo.
"Hey, Theo, it's James" he stated.
"Oh, hey James, what's up?" he asked.
"I was wondering, are we allowed to decorate our rooms?" James inquired.
"Do you mean like the inside of the room, for Christmas?" Theo replied.
"Yeah, I was hoping to bring a bit of festivity" James stated, "especially since it'll be just for a month."
"Uh, let me ask my dad" Theo answered, stepping away from the phone for a minute. "So, when my dad asked why I wanted to know, I told him I was asking for you and his face lit up. He said and I quote, "Whatever those boys want, they can get it." Needless to say, you and Maverick are his favorites for getting this far with his program."
"I'm taking that as a sure fire yes, then" James interpreted.
"Absolutely, he said bring any decorations you'd like" Theo answered.
"Awesome, thanks a lot Theo" James smiled.
"So, how did Thanksgiving with Maverick go?" Theo inquired.
"Really well" James smiled, "my parents already knew him and getting to meet Lana was so incredible. Also, their little boy was insanely adorable."
"That's great!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, we'll have to tell you about it" James responded, "anyway, thank you for your help. See you in a few days."
"Sounds good, James" he stated, "I look forward to seeing what you do with your room."
"Me too" he chuckled, "Oh! By the way, don't tell Maverick about it. I want it to be a surprise."
"You got it, bud" the hound dog replied, "talk to you later."
James got back to his parents' home and decided to leave their presents in his car's trunk to keep them hidden. When he walked into the house, his parents were sitting in the living room. Robin was reading a book and Marian was knitting something. They looked up, hearing the sound of footsteps approaching, "How was your time at the movies?" Robin asked.
"It was a good movie" James answered, "hey mom."
"Yes, dear?" she asked.
"Do we have any Christmas decorations that the family never uses anymore?" he inquired.
"I'd have to do some digging, but I'm sure we do" she replied, "why do you ask?"
"I found out that we can decorate our rooms at the Academy for Christmas and thought it would be kind of a nice thing to be festive" he explained.
"I see" she stated, standing up "Let's go see if we can find a few different decorations that you can use."
The two of them pulled out four bins full of Christmas decorations. James knew that he would want to use at least one set of lights, but other than that he wasn't entirely sure how he wanted to go about decorating his and Maverick's room in a way that's festive but not over the top. After about an hour and a half of sifting through the many decorations, James settled on a few that he liked most. "Thank you, mom" he said, "I hope Maverick likes it."
"I'm sure he will, sweetie" she smiled, "who doesn't like Christmas decorations?"
"You'd be surprised" James stated, "Oh, by the way, sometime tomorrow, I'll be going to see about getting Maverick a present."
"Why didn't you do that while you were out today?" his mom asked.
"He and I were out getting presents for the other important animals in our lives" James replied, "there would've been no way for me to get him something without it being obvious."
"Well, don't spend too much on him" Marian suggested, walking away.
"Okay, mom" James replied, pulling out his phone.
"Hello?" came the voice of Lana on the other end of the line.
"Hey, Lana, it's James" he stated.
"Oh, hey!" she exclaimed, "You do know you called my phone and not Maverick's, right?"
"Yes, I know" he chuckled, "I was hoping to pick your brain about something real quick."
"Ah!" she stated, "What can I do ya for?"
"I was hoping you could help me think of an idea for a present for Maverick" James stated.
"Oh, askin' the girlfriend for help, are ya?" she snickered.
"Of course, you two have known each other your whole lives, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, he was brought to the orphanage when he was a baby" she explained.
"Then you're obviously the perfect animal to ask what he loves most in the world" James confirmed, "aside from you and Wolf, of course."
Lana paused for a few minutes, in thought of a good gift for James to get Maverick. "You know, I think I've got a great idea" she stated.
"Well, come on girl, tell a fox!" he exclaimed.
"Remember how Maverick was super competitive with Rummy, last night?" she asked.
"Who can forget that?" he chuckled, "What about it?"
"Believe it or not, Maverick is extremely competitive with other games too" she stated.
"Oh, I believe it" James laughed.
"I think if you were to get him a board game that the two of you could play, he'd love it" she explained.
"Do you think he'd like a strategic boardgame like Risk?" James asked.
"Oh, that sounds like the perfect game for you two" she admitted, "I think that'd be a great game for you guys to play during your down time at the Academy. It could help you sharpen your strategy making skills."
"I agree" James stated, thinking about what she said. "Thank you for the great advice."
"My pleasure" Lana responded, "thank you for keeping an eye out for Maverick at the Academy."
"Not a problem" James responded, "I've loved having him as a roommate. I think we've been good for each other."
"I'm glad you two are so supportive of each other" Lana spoke, "also, thank you for not giving him a hard time about having a two-year-old at such a young age."
"Honestly, I was just shocked when Mav told me, it's not something you hear every day" James admitted, "it really made me respect him, seeing what was driving him to join the Cornerian Army."
"Alright, I better get going" Lana said, "I'll see you on Christmas for the Rummy rematch."
Sunday afternoon, James got to the Academy early, so he could get the room all decorated before Maverick got there. James had gone and bought a small fake Christmas tree to put up in the corner of the room. After he had finished decorating the room, James went to the gym to get a quick workout. Upon arrival at the gym, he ran into Andross, who noticed James was alone. "Look who it is, the punk who flipped me onto a table, in front of EVERYBODY" Andross stated.
"Look, I'm not in the mood to deal with you, today" James crossed his arms.
"That may be true, but I can't just let a first year nobody get away with humiliating me in front of the entire Academy" Andross stated, standing in James' way.
"I knew there'd come a day when I'd be stuck in a room alone with you" James admitted, "that being said, I'm ready for whatever crap you're about to throw at me."
Andross grinned, "Is that so?" He snapped his fingers, and two other apes James didn't recognize came out of the shadows.
Feeling nervous, James started backing up slowly toward the exit. He kept the three monkeys in his sights. "So, the mighty Andross brought some goons to help him take on a lowly first year cadet, do you realize how sad that is?" James mocked.
"You don't get it do you" Andross smirked, "they're here to help me kill you."
In a split second, James took off sprinting away toward his room. He looked back seeing the apes were chasing him. Then, James had an idea and redirected his path towards Theo's room, hoping he'd be here by now. When he knew he was close enough to Theo's room, James started shouting "Theo! Are you there?!"
The door to Theo's room opened and the young hound dog walked out, "James?" he asked, seeing the fox running past his room "Andross?!"
"Stay out of this, Pepper!" Andross stated, pointing at the hound dog.
James accidentally ran into a dead-end and turned around to see the three apes walking towards him. James readied himself for the fight of his life. Just as one of Andross' friends was about to attack, someone tackled him from behind. The figure stood up, "Mav! What are you doing here?" James asked.
"I was in Theo's room just now" Maverick stated, panting "what's going on?"
"Apparently, Andross brought some goons to help him try to kill me" James replied.
Maverick scoffed, "That's so pathetic!"
"I know, right!" James chuckled, "Anyway, when did you get back to the Academy?"
"Not too long ago" he stated, "I went straight to Theo's room because I wanted to hang out with him."
"Will you two just shut up!" Andross shouted, having heard enough from the two canines. "The plan was just to kill James, here, but I think I can make an exception and kill both of you."
"You will do no such thing!" came an old, strained but firm voice.
Annoyed, Andross turned around, "Who do you think you are to interrupt… General Pepper" his tone of voice changing quickly, "What are you doing here, Sir?"
"My son called me and told me there was a problem I needed to be part of" he explained, "good thing he did, or you might've killed the two greatest cadets this Academy has yet to witness."
"I wasn't going to kill them" Andross stuttered.
"No? Because from what I heard, I'm certain I heard the words 'kill James' spill out of your muzzle" the General countered, "now, I may be an old hound dog, but my ears still work perfectly. Now, if you'd like to remain a cadet at this Academy, I suggest you and your friends get out of here."
Andross and his friends walked away as fast as possible, disappearing around the corner. "Thank you, Sir" James stated, relieved.
"James, my boy, you're just lucky I was able to get here quick enough" the General warned.
"You're right, Sir, but you wouldn't even be here if Theo wasn't in his room when I was running past" James pointed out, "I would've gone to my own room, but thought Theo would help me out, somehow."
Theo walked up, "What was that all about, anyway?"
"From what I understood" James started, "Andross was still salty about me slamming him on that table in front of everybody and since I was alone, wanted his revenge."
"Why were you even in the vicinity of him in the first place?" Maverick asked.
"I just wanted to go get a workout, and he just happened to be there" James stated, defending himself "but how he knew I was going to be there alone is what worries me."
"You don't need to worry about him anymore, James" General Pepper commented.
James turned to Maverick, "So, you haven't been to the room yet?"
"No, not yet I was about to head there when you ran past" Maverick replied.
"Maverick took off as soon as he saw Andross' goons run past" Theo pointed out.
"Is that true, Mav?" James smirked.
"I didn't want to lose my partner in crime" Maverick stated.
"Don't worry, Mav" James winked, "it'll take much more than that to get rid of me."
"You gunna go workout now that your life isn't at risk?" Theo asked.
"Nope! I just got a good run in" James chuckled, "besides, I want to see the look on Mav's face when he sees our room."
Maverick looked at James confused, "What are you talking about? What did you do to our room?"
"You'll just have to wait and see for yourself" James stated, walking away from the group.
Curious, Theo and the General followed James and Maverick back to their room. As they were walking, Theo remembered the surprise James had waiting for Maverick, and pulled out his phone to record the reaction. When James opened the door, the room was dark. "So, you wanted to show me what our room looks like with the lights off?" Maverick asked. James smirked, turning the lights on. Suddenly, the four canines were bathed in a beautiful multicolored scenery. James noticed Maverick's face light up, "James, did you do this?"
"I did" James smiled, "I wanted to surprise you with a festive room."
"This is the most amazing thing anyone's ever done for me" Maverick stated, giving his roommate a big hug.
"I see you went all out with the decorations" Theo stated, pointing at the wrapped boxes under the small tree. "Are those there just for show?"
"No, those are real presents" James commented.
"Dang! You already wrapped them all?" Maverick exclaimed.
"Yep, they're all wrapped and labeled so I know which one is for who" James responded, "I brought my parent's presents too, since I knew there'd be no chance for me to wrap them and they'd find them if I left them home."
"So, can I add my presents to the pile?" Maverick asked.
"Of course!" James smiled, pulling out his phone "Can one of you take a picture of us in front of the tree, so we can send it to Lana?"
"Sure can" Theo said, grabbing the phone. "Just so you know, I recorded Maverick's reaction, if you want me to send that to you."
"That'd be awesome, thanks Theo" James replied.
"Are you trying to make Lana jealous of you?" Maverick joked.
"Ha, I'm not that kind of fox" James winked, "besides, she knows you and I are best friends."