'Breathe in, hold for five…'
*INHALE*
'Breathe out, hold for five…'
*EXHALE*
'Breathe in, hold for five…'
*INHALE*
'Breathe out, hold for five…'
*EXHALE*
The striped bunny continued his little breathing exercise for a little while longer. He may have been playing shows for a while now, but no matter how many times he played in front of others, he would still feel little jitters of anxiety flow through him. This performance proved to be no exception, as he stood backstage, about to go on any second now.
There was one small thing that separated this performance from the others, though:
This was his biggest crowd yet.
'Breathe in, hold for five…'
*INHALE*
'Breathe out, hold for five…'
*EXHALE*
How did this even happen? A year ago, he was playing for an audience of one under a tree; now, he's playing a five-song set for that year's Carrots Festival, for…what, an audience of thirty mammals? Maybe forty?
'Breathe in.'
*INHALE*
'Breathe out.'
*EXHALE*
The exercise proved to be inefficient, as his breaths started to become quicker. This was a mistake; why did he say he could do this?!
It's not too late; he can still back out. He can say he lost his voice the night before, or say that he broke his paw when he tripped at school, or-
"Jack, are you OK?"
The buck jumped at the voice. He turned to see Josie, his best friend and (recent) bandmate, holding her violin case. A few months after first meeting each other, the doe started bringing her violin with her whenever Jack played at the park. Soon enough, both bunnies started performing together, doing renditions of old popular songs, and were starting to get a bit of traction in Bunnyburrow; hence, why they were performing at the festival this year.
Jack quickly nodded his head, trying to get his breathing under control. "Yeah, I'm good."
The brown-furred doe raised her brow, unconvinced. "Really?"
"Yeah."
"So, you're totally NOT going to pass out?"
Jack held her gaze for a few seconds before letting out a heavy sigh and leaned his head back, closing his eyes. "Am I really that easy to read?" he asked.
"Like a picture book," Josie confirmed. That got a groan from the striped bunny, prompting her to add, "You'll be fine, dude." She gestured with her paw. "C'mon, let's get set up onstage."
Jack grabbed his guitar, and the two kits walked onto the stage, which was hidden from the audience by the curtain. As Jack put on his guitar and started warming up his paws, Josie opened up her case and pulled out her violin and tuner. She turned to the buck.
"Did you tune up?"
Jack slapped his forehead and quickly reached for his tuner. "I knew I was forgetting something!"
Josie giggled, shaking her head. "Honestly, where would you be without me?"
"Not about to perform at the Carrots Festival, that's for damn sure."
"You're welcome."
"Did it sound like I was thanking you? Because I wasn't."
"Well, it came out that way," the brown doe said smugly, sticking her tongue out at him. At the buck's silence, she sighed; this was really starting to get to him. "Jack, don't worry about it, there are a lot of mammals out there that you know."
"Yeah, I do," the buck agreed, putting his tuner away. "That's the problem; I can't mess up in front of THEM."
"Even if you do mess up, which I find HIGHLY unlikely, you'll still do great," Josie reassured him. "Besides, I saw something out there that I think you'll really like."
Jack looked back at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
Josie smiled as she walked to the curtain and discreetly pulled it back.
"OK," she started, "tell me who you see out there."
"OK," Jack shrugged his shoulders as he walked over and looked out to the audience. "So, there's Sharla, Gareth, I see Judy with her siblings and my aunt and uncle and-" Jack sighed. "Holy Frith, I thought we established that Nick and Skye CANNOT sit next to each other; they always find a way to bug each other. Um, other than that, I don't recognize anyone else; just a small sea of mammals." He shook his head and looked back at the brown doe.
"Why did you have me look out there?" he asked.
Josie just smiled. "So, Nick and Skye aren't allowed to sit next to each other, huh?"
"Yeah," Jack confirmed. "It's been their rule since-" He suddenly stopped.
Wait a minute.
Jack quickly looked out to the audience again, and his ears shot up in excitement when he saw Nick, Skye, and Mrs. Wilde sitting in the crowd. The two younger foxes were pushing and poking each other, only for the elder fox to quietly but harshly tell them to cut it out. The buck quickly turned back to Josie.
"They're here. Nick. Skye. Mrs. Wilde. They're here."
"Yeah, they are," the doe said, grinning.
Jack found himself smiling. "They actually made it!"
"They said they were going to be here."
"Yeah, but how many mammals say things like that and actually do it?"
Josie smiled as she rubbed her neck. "OK, fair enough, but they're your best friends, right?"
"Yeah, but so are you," Jack told her.
"Well, you guys have been through a lot together," the doe said. "This is the biggest show you've done; of COURSE they'd be here to support you."
Jack let out a little happy laugh. Any feelings of anxiety that he had left completely vanished. Before he could say anything else, they heard a soft voice from behind them.
"Hey."
Jack and Josie turned to see one of the stage mammals. "You guys ready?" Both kits nodded their heads. "OK, then we'll get started." He walked to the edge of the stage, ready to pull back the curtain fully. The two bunnies got to their spots in front of the microphones as they heard someone giving introductions:
"Ladies and gentlemammals, I hope you're ready for our next event, as these two buns have got quite a show for you! Please put your paws together for Josie Miller and Jack Savage!"
The two bunnies in question heard applause from the audience. Before the curtain was pulled back fully, Jack turned to the doe.
"How come your name was announced first?" he whispered.
Josie smiled. "Alphabetical order, bitch," she teased back.
Jack couldn't help but let out a laugh as the curtain opened up to the stage. The buck quickly looked out to the audience, particularly looking for the Wildes again. Once he found them, Skye waved while Nick quickly shot him a thumbs up in encouragement. Jack smiled as he counted off the first song: 'Just Like Heaven' by the Purr. While he played the chords underneath, Josie played the synth and guitar melodies on her violin, making for an interesting and unique sound. Eventually, Jack started the first verse:
(The Cure – Just Like Heaven [ watch?v=1ASpBpT8bRQ])
"Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick
The one that makes me scream", she said
"The one that makes me laugh", she said
And threw her arms around my neck
"Show me how you do it, and I promise you
I promise that I'll run away with you
I'll run away with you"
Josie picked up the next verse:
Spinning on that dizzy edge
Kissed her face and kissed her head
Dreamed of all the different ways I had to make her glow
"Why are you so far away?", she said
"Why won't you ever know that I'm in love with you?
That I'm in love with you?"
Both kits came in for the chorus:
You, soft and only
You, lost and lonely
You, strange as angels
Dancing in the deepest oceans
Twisting in the water
You're just like a dream
You're just like a dream
The two kits continued on with the rest of the song. Eventually, Jack hit the last chord, and after a brief silence, applause came from the crowd. The buck looked to the doe on his left, and they both smiled. Josie gestured to him to start the next song, and Jack counted it off.
Twenty minutes later, with tired fingers and tired voices, Jack and Josie walked backstage; they had just wrapped up their set. The two of them could still hear the audience clapping behind them. After a brief silence, the doe spoke up:
"Hey, Jack?"
"Yeah, Josie?"
"We came…"
"…we saw…"
"…we kicked its ass!" they both finished, high fiving each other and laughing.
"You were awesome!" Jack exclaimed.
Josie smiled. "You too, dude. Not as bad as you thought, huh?" Jack shook his head, still grinning. The brown doe added, "Well, let's get out there and face your adoring audience."
"OUR adoring audience," the striped bunny quickly corrected. "They were clapping for you, too."
"Trust me, everyone was there to see YOU," Josie said. She then sighed playfully. "But, if I MUST, then I guess I can go out there with ya."
The two kits set down their instruments and walked through the doors backstage to where the audience was. Jack immediately began looking for his friends.
"Do you see where Nick and Skye are?"
"No," Josie answered, shaking her head. "They might be with Judy and her family; let's look for them."
"Good idea."
The two of them continued walking through the crowd, looking for their friends. On the way, they got compliments and congratulations from members of the audience. While Josie readily accepted each and every one, Jack was still a little self-conscious about all the attention he was getting. Still, he gave his thanks to every mammal that gave one. After a while, he turned to Josie.
"How are you so good at that?" he asked her.
The doe looked confused. "What do you mean?"
Jack shrugged as they continued walking. "I mean, you just always look so comfortable talking with everybody, even those you don't know. How do you get better at that?"
Josie looked away for a bit, in thought, before saying, "Honestly? The best way to get better at it is to just…do it, y'know? It's like playing an instrument: the more you do it, the better you get at it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Head's up; guy on your left. You handle this one," the doe said quickly as she stepped away from him.
"Wait, what?" Jack quickly turned and found himself face to face with a nervous looking raccoon about his age. The buck's eyes were drawn to a necklace the kit was wearing: a heart with a feline skull in it. Both stood there in silence before Jack broke it, saying, "Um, hello."
The other mammal slightly jumped before rapidly saying, "Hi! I, uh, just wanted to say that, uh, you guys did a great job up there."
"Oh! Um, thanks," Jack said. "Did you like it?"
"…Yes," the raccoon drew out. "That's why I said you guys did great up there."
Jack felt his ears heating up. "Right! Right." More silence. "So…what did you think was the best part?"
"Well, um, you know," the raccoon started clumsily, "the music, the playing, the songs you guys picked; I liked that."
"Well, I'm glad you liked it," the buck said, ears now on fire. After more silence, he finished with, "Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of the festival."
"Yeah! Um, yeah, you too," came the nervous reply, and the raccoon quickly walked away. Once he was out of earshot, Jack let out an embarrassed groan. He turned to Josie, who now had a sympathetic expression on her face.
"Well, THAT went well…" he said sarcastically.
Josie shrugged. "Well, if it's any consolation, he made it just as awkward as you did."
"It really isn't."
"Well, look on the bright side," she said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, "it can only get better from here."
Before he could say anything else, Jack picked up a noise behind him as Josie quickly removed her arm. He didn't have a chance to turn around, though, when he suddenly felt a heavy mass on his back. The buck stumbled forward, but quickly regained his balance. Meanwhile, he could hear Josie laughing to his right.
Jack couldn't help but laugh as well and said, "You do know that you're gonna crush me one of these days, right?"
"Maybe, but today's not that day!" came the cheeky reply. The added weight was soon removed as she jumped off, and the striped bunny turned to see a familiar white vixen behind him.
"How's it going, dude?" Skye asked him, grinning.
Jack smiled as the vixen gave him a hug. "I'm so glad you guys could make it!"
"Are you kidding me?" Skye asked, breaking off the hug. "We wouldn't have missed it for anything!" She then turned to Josie. "And you, girl, absolutely killed it!"
The buck's smile grew bigger as the two girls hugged. Jack remembered how nervous he was when he first introduced Nick, Skye, and Judy to Josie, but it turned out to be all for naught, as they all got along like a house on fire.
"Thanks!" Josie said. "How're things going with you guys?"
"Things are going good!" Skye then broke off the hug and faced both of them. "Nick and I just finished up our midterms for this semester, so that's a load off our minds." The vixen then huffed and muttered under her breath, "Seriously, fuck math…"
Jack laughed. "How's drumming coming along?"
A month after the bunnies' first trip to the city, Skye decided to pick up drumming as a hobby. Over the course of more than half a year, she became obsessed with it, and soon enough it was the only thing she would talk about with them.
"It's going great!" Skye paused. "It's a lot harder than I thought it would be, though."
Jack gave her a confused look. "What do you mean? I thought you picked it up really quickly."
"I did, but then I started taking lessons, and turns out there was a lot I was doing wrong," she revealed.
"Like what?"
"Like I how I'm supposed to hold the sticks, how I'm supposed to hit the drums using my wrists and not my arms, how I need to let the stick rebound off the drumhead, how I need to grip the sticks both loosely AND firmly, whatever the fuck THAT means…" the vixen sighed. "And that's before you even start really playing and keeping time."
"Are you still enjoying it?" Josie asked.
The vixen's eyes lit up. "Oh, absolutely! I welcome the challenge!"
That brought a laugh from all three kits. Jack then heard someone calling out Skye's name and turned to see Nick and Judy both running up to them.
"OK, you have GOT to stop running off like that," the todd said, panting.
Judy nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, seriously."
The vixen had the decency to look a little embarrassed. "Sorry, I was just so excited."
Nick just shook his head and turned to Jack. "You guys did great up there," he said, holding out his fist.
The bunny bumped it, smiling. "Thanks!"
"You guys ready to check out the rest of the festival?" Judy asked.
"Yeah, let's go!"
With that, the group of kits made their way to the fairgrounds. For the next couple of hours, they partook in many of the events, playing games, going on rides, trying out all the different types of food; they all had a blast. Eventually, though, it was getting late, and Jack and Josie needed to grab their things. The two of them returned to the backstage area, talking idly about the events.
"Damn shooting gallery; I was so close to beating the top score!" Jack lamented.
The doe just laughed. "Ah well, there's always next year." That prompted a small laugh from the buck. As he was checking to make sure he had everything, Josie spoke again.
"Hey, Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"…Do you, I don't know, wanna go out and do something together later tonight?"
Jack stopped what he was doing and turned to Josie, who was now wearing a nervous look on her face. "You mean, just…me and you?" the buck clarified.
The brown bunny nodded. "Yeah, just you and me."
Jack looked down and wrung his paws, feeling bad. "Well, uh…"
"Yes?"
"It's just that, uh, Nick and Skye were staying the night, and I kinda wanted to, you know…"
Josie's ears fell back. "Oh! Oh, yeah, um, duh," she said, running her paws down her ears in embarrassment.
"…But they're leaving tomorrow afternoon, and I can come up with something for tomorrow night; would that work?" Jack offered.
"Yeah!" the doe quickly answered. "I mean, uh, yeah, th-that totally works."
The two bunnies stood there in awkward silence before Josie said, "Well, I-I gotta get going; see you tomorrow night?"
Jack quickly nodded his head. "Yeah, I'll, uh, I'll see you tomorrow night." Josie nodded, grabbing her violin case and walking towards the exit. Jack stood there in silence for what felt like hours, before finally grabbing his guitar case. As he walked out to the crowd, looking for his friends, one thought was running through his head:
'Did Josie Miller just ask me out?'
The buck was pacing back and forth in his room; they had just gotten back home about an hour ago. Josie's words kept echoing in his mind:
'…Do you, I don't know, wanna go out and do something together later tonight?'
Then, like a total dumbass, he said he could do tomorrow night instead.
Jack groaned as he smacked his forehead. Why did he tell her tomorrow night? That's not nearly enough time to come up with something. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he had NO idea what he was doing: they hadn't discussed a time, they hadn't discussed a dress code, they hadn't even said who was picking who up for their…
Jack paused in his pacing. What would he even call this? Was it a simple outing with a good friend, or was it…you know…a date?
The buck soon found himself staring at a photo on his dresser. It was an older picture, but it was a pretty significant one: it was the only photo he still had of him and his mother. Despite the fact that she ran out on him almost six years ago now, Jack just couldn't bring himself to get rid of it; at this point, he had more memories of the photo than of his mother herself.
"I suppose I could ask what YOU would do," he said quietly, "but something tells me you're not great at the whole 'strong relationship' thing."
As per usual, the photo did not respond to him.
Jack sighed. "Good talk as always, Mom."
The buck continued pacing for another ten minutes, trying to think about what he could do for their night out, but nothing came. Jack sighed in defeat; he needed help.
But who could he ask? Sure, he could ask some of Judy's older siblings for advice, but he still kept getting vibes that they didn't want anything to do with him, despite it having been nearly six years now.
'Seriously,' the buck thought, 'when are they going to realize that I'm here for good?'
That only left…
Jack groaned. 'Oh, Frith dammit…'
He had been wanting to put off telling them, but now he didn't really have a choice; he NEEDED their help with this.
Or at least, HER help.
Jack exited his room and made his way down the hall to his cousin's room. Once he arrived, he softly knocked on the door.
"It's open," came Judy's voice from the other side.
The buck opened the door and entered the room. Nick was sitting in Judy's chair, Skye on the floor, and Judy on her bed crisscross. He noticed the doe was holding her bass, and she had a music book in front of her. Jack smiled; his cousin had picked up the instrument as a hobby about a year ago (around the same time as Skye, actually), and she was already making really good progress on it.
"Am I in the middle of something…?" he asked.
Judy shook her head as she set the instrument aside. "Nah, I was about to take a break anyways," she said. The doe then turned back to her cousin. "What's up?"
Jack paused, then looked towards the foxes. "Is it OK if I talk to Judy alone for a second?"
Both Nick and Skye looked a little surprised at the request, but eventually looked at each other and shrugged. "Yeah, sure," Nick said, getting up. "Take your time."
Skye got up as well, though she gave Jack a concerned look. "Is everything OK?"
The buck nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine. I just need to talk with Jude; it shouldn't take too long."
"OK, well, if you need anything just let us know." With that, both foxes left the room, leaving only the two bunnies. Jack went over and closed the door.
Judy turned to her cousin, a little confused. "What's going on?"
Jack sighed as he shoved his paws into his pockets. "I need your help with something."
"What do you mean?"
The buck took a deep breath. "Josie asked me out."
Judy's response was what one would expect:
"REALLY?!" she squealed. "That's great!" The doe then noticed the subdued look on Jack's face. "That is a good thing, right?"
He shrugged helplessly. "Maybe if I knew what the hell I'm going to do for it."
Judy's head tilted in confusion. "Wait, if she asked YOU out, why are YOU planning the date?"
"I don't know; isn't it kind of an unspoken rule that the guy has to plan these out?" Jack's shoulders slumped. "Point is, we didn't talk about anything regarding it, so I have no idea what to do."
"OK," Judy began, looking thoughtful, "so, when is it?"
"Tomorrow night."
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Hey, she asked me if I could do TONIGHT, and I told her no; give me SOME credit here." Jack groaned as he ran his paws down his ears. "Judy, I need your help to come up with something, and fast."
Judy shrugged. "I don't know, Jack; I mean, you know Josie better than I do."
"Yeah, but…you're a girl…"
"Nothing gets by you, huh?" Judy snorted. At the buck's expression, she said, "Sorry. You were saying?"
"If someone was taking you out for a date, a FIRST date, what would YOU want them to do?" Jack asked her.
Judy sat there in silence, looking contemplative. Finally, she said, "Well, I wouldn't want something overly romantic; for a first date, it seems like too much."
"Especially if it goes poorly," Jack agreed. "OK, nothing too romantic; anything else?"
"Maybe go and attend an event: a movie, a sports game, something." Judy shrugged. "Again, you know her better than I do; what are her interests?"
"Well, we can rule out movies and games," the striped bunny said, shaking his head. "She doesn't hate them, but she also never cared for them." Jack sighed. "There's got to be SOMETHING…"
"Maybe Nick and Skye have some ideas?" Judy offered. "Should we go ask them?"
Jack looked contemplative, then nodded in agreement. "Yeah, OK. Let me go get them." He turned and opened the door…
Only to immediately jump back as Nick and Skye fell into the room from leaning on the door. Jack stared at them for a few seconds before demanding, "Were you guys there the entire time?!"
"Sorry, but you were acting all serious," Skye groaned out, her brother lying on top of her. "We just wanted to make sure that everything was OK."
The buck sighed as he ran his paws down his face. "You guys are so lucky I love you."
"Aw, we love you, too," Nick playfully told him. At Jack's glare, he then quietly added, "Sorry, not helping here."
"No, you're not; also, get the fuck off me!" Skye said, pushing her brother off. "Seriously, why were you leaning over me? There was enough space at the door for you to be next to me."
"No, there wasn't! You've gotten so much bigger!" Nick retorted.
"You calling me fat? At least I'm not heavier than a bag of bricks, and definitely not dumber-"
"GUYS!" Jack interrupted the two bickering siblings. "Any other time, I'd let you sort this out, but right now, I'm trying really hard to NOT freak the fuck out about tomorrow night, so if you can just-"
"Right, right, let's get back on track here," the todd said, shaking his head as he and Skye both got up. "OK, so we determined nothing romantic, right?"
Jack nodded. "Right."
"OK, so what do you guys normally do together outside of music?" Nick asked.
"Well, nothing that's date worthy," the buck said, shaking his head. "We hang out at the park, we always get food together, we talk all the time…"
The four kits fell silent for a moment, trying to think of something.
"Y'know…"
Jack, Judy, and Nick looked at Skye, who had a thoughtful look on her face. "Josie seemed to be really into the games at the festival today." She looked at the striped bunny. "Maybe you guys could do something like that?"
Jack thought it over, and soon a smile started to form. "Yeah, yeah!" he nodded, snapping his fingers. "That'll work! That's a great idea!"
Skye grinned. "See? That took, what, a minute? Maybe two? Keep it simple, stupid."
The buck chuckled. "Feeling the love here, Skye."
"What can I say? I'm a loveable fox."
That brought a laugh from all four kits. Jack then looked at his watch and noticed the time. "It's getting a little late; we should probably get ready for bed."
Nick snorted and shook his head. "Killjoy."
"We can still hang out and talk," Judy said, "but Jack's right: it IS getting late. Meet back here in a few minutes?"
Nick and Skye nodded and left the room to change. Jack turned to leave as well, but once he reached the door, he turned back to his cousin as she was picking up her bass.
"Y'know," he started, "my offer still stands."
Judy nodded. "I know, and I will take you up on it eventually, but," she gestured to her bass, "I wanna get a little better at this first."
"Don't worry, there's no pressure." With that, Jack left the room.
The striped bunny made his way back to his bedroom, now in a much better headspace regarding tomorrow night with Josie. Afterall, Skye was right: the doe was really enjoying all of the games that day. Why not make a date out of it?
The best part was, he knew the best place to go.
Jack grinned as he changed into his pajamas.
'Yeah, I got this.'