Verne never liked to brag, but he considered himself pretty smart.

Granted he knew he wasn't on the same level of intelligence as someone like RJ or Heather, but what he lacked in areas that the aforementioned two had, he made up for in logic. He was not easy to fool by any means, and even if he seemed like he was close to being fooled he always had his tail to fall back onto. He always sung the praises of his tail tingling, and even though the last time that tail tingling worked wonders was last year when it came to uncovering RJ's true intentions. Granted RJ managed to beat the tail tingle, but he was right in the end, so he still had a reason to fall back on it.

Verne was very good at guessing how others acted, and he could tell that right now RJ was not doing very well.

Ever since the whole incident with that Taxidermist, and the fallout that followed, it was decided that RJ take a step back from joining the others on heists in order to focus on himself. Verne had to admit, all that stuff RJ had very little time to actually deal with meant that maybe some of RJ's previous stories seemed more plausible. He still remembered RJ talking about this "weedwacker incident", but never really went into detail about it.

Probably for the best, as based on RJ's reaction to the Taxidermist, it didn't seem like a good idea to pry.

Of course, with RJ staying back from heists, that led to worry that the heists wouldn't be anywhere near as fruitful as their previous encounters. RJ may be cocky and a little reckless, but stupid he was not. He knew the ins and outs of places better than his own tail, and even if things went wrong, his plans usually ended up saving the day.

While things haven't gone wrong ever since his break, his absence was still felt. Even more, since Verne wasn't comfortable leaving him alone back at the hedge, that meant that some of the other family members stayed back on heists. Usually that wouldn't be a problem if it were someone like the kids, but the two who stayed back most often were Penny and Heather.

Verne got why Penny was the one who stayed back. She was pretty much the one that RJ could open up to the most about his past, and while Verne greatly appreciated that, that usually meant that Lou was all alone in having to deal with the kids whenever they got distracted by something they wanted. It was pretty much the equivalent of trying to deal with three Hammys, and one Hammy was already hard to manage.

As for Heather, Verne had recently found out he was only the second family member to become aware of her crush on the raccoon. After that spuddies heist, he asked Stella when she finally calmed down and promised not to mess with Verne the situation with Heather. The two managed to break off and talk by that throne, which Verne took great care not to sit in due to the worry of Stella deciding to return to her pettiness.

Their conversation went like this:

"Hey Stella, so about Heather-" Verne started to ask, before Stella cut him off.

"Lemme guess, you know too?" She asked. "About how she's making eyes at RJ?"

"How'd you know?" Verne asked, clearly surprised.

"During the heist, I remembered a lot of things she's been doing recently; sharing his opinions, his world views…" Stella started.

"That doesn't seem so-"

"Liking the same food as him, trying way too hard to impress him…" Stella continued. "Plus of course, the fact she told me."

Verne, in addition to praising himself for his own logic when it came to matching intelligence, also liked to fancy himself as a sort of thing the humans called a "people person". One of those types that everyone can just get along with swimmingly. That, along with his penchant for knowing how to solve problems when it came to life problems justified his whole view that he was smart.

Unfortunately for him, it turns out that he didn't know all the answers, mainly because he never dealt with something like this before.

Throughout his time with the family, relationship issues were never really too serious. The most that would happen back then is maybe Stella would get a bit too irritable, but even then that was about it. Other problems ranged from mere disagreements about berries or Hammy hoarding nuts, but once again, it was very simple stuff.

A crush…that was different.

Verne knew that Heather was getting older. Heck, according to that calendar they got from one of their heists, the younger opossum's birthday was two days away, and of course with each passing day, Heather started to display more and more traits that, according to RJ were relatively (or stereotypically), common for human girls that would theoretically be around her age.

He just wondered if having a crush was among them.

The worst part is that logic dictates that he should ask RJ about this, as anything that Verne didn't know RJ surely knew about. What was stopping him however were three things.

First, he knew for a fact that RJ, as wild as he could be sometimes, was not dumb. Knowing him, it would take him maybe an hour tops to find out why Verne, out of the blue, asked him what to do about crushes. He'd probably tease him for about thirty or so minutes, eat something for twenty-five, and then if Verne was lucky, take about five minutes to find out the real reason.

The second reason was because Stella told him not to.

"RJ and Heather…shouldn't Ozzie or RJ know about this?" Verne asked. "Could this be bad?"

"Don't tell them Verne." Stella replied. "Especially not those two, that'd be the worst idea possible…and trust me, it'd be even worse than telling Hammy." That's how serious this was huh? Hammy would be a better option to tell than her father and the ringleader? This whole situation was going to make Verne's head spin.

"Why's that?" He asked, trying to understand the importance of all this.

"Two things." Stella replied, holding up her paw. "Privacy, and growth." She spoke, holding up one digit with each reason. Verne felt he should've got it by now, but he hated to say it, he still didn't. The expression on Verne's face also helped give it away.

"One, I promised Heather that I would keep this a secret, so confirming your suspicions already means that I'm already breaking that promise, and not only that, everyone deserves their own privacy." She spoke. "Can you imagine if Ozzie, you know, her father knew about this?"

She made a good point. Ever since the reality of Heather getting older set in for Ozzie, the older opossum seemed to do everything in his power to keep Heather from growing apart from him. It was an understandable goal for sure, since Heather was not only his daughter, but pretty much the only family he had left that was blood-related or something. However, Verne did remember that Ozzie tended to be a bit…clingy.

Yeah, telling Ozzie was not a good idea.

"She deserves at least one secret." Stella spoke.

"Okay, and what about growth?" Verne asked. That prompted Stella to roll her eyes in response. Clearly she was both unamused and a bit surprised that this wasn't getting into Verne's head.

"Look, I know what crushes are like, trust me, I've listened to enough of RJ's ramblings and watched that one human from the Anderson house." Stella replied. "They're weird, awkward, kind of messy, and most importantly, strange for anyone going through this for the first time."

"You think this is Heather's first crush?" Verne asked.

"Who else could she crush on?" Stella replied.

Stella did bring up a fair point of course. With Heather getting older, it was more than likely she was going to think about this sort of thing a lot more. Granted, it wasn't exactly likely that Heather had any romantic feelings towards anyone in the family before RJ showed up. She was young and even then, like Stella said, who was there for her to crush on? Lou, the kids, and Ozzie were out of the question for obvious reasons, Verne had high doubts that Heather showed any interest in him, and while he did consider the idea of Stella and Penny, those two ideas fell apart quickly as well. Stella was more like a friend to Heather, and Penny was out for the same reason as Lou. Really the only one that could be feasibly possible was Hammy, and even then, Heather usually treated him as a younger brother.

Then he remembered in their first week with RJ, Heather was pretty much glued at RJ's side whenever she wasn't around Ozzie. Granted, Hammy was the same, but that was to be expected since he was meeting someone new. Heather on the other hand, from what Verne remembered, was almost around anyone other than Ozzie or, on occasion, Stella.

Come to think of it, even during the heist that of course resulted in them being captured by the Sniffer, Heather seemed a bit too eager to distract the woman.

"Okay, yeah, so Heather may like RJ, so why don't we tell him?" Verne asked. That of course prompted Stella to give Verne an unamused look, as if Verne had just said something really stupid. Like, running in front of a moving truck stupid.

"What if RJ doesn't like her in that way?" Stella asked. "I just told you crushes are awkward, and ones that aren't returned are apparently really awkward."

"You know this how?" Verne asked.

"Anderson girl asked someone out, turned it down, and for about an hour they had their face in a bowl of ice cream." Stella replied, before taking a moment to get back on topic. They weren't talking about how rejection was handled in humans after all, although Verne could tell both he and Stella were thinking the same thing.

Have an ice cream bowl on stand-by in case the worst happens.

"Look, this is a first for anyone in the family, and honestly, I'm not that surprised it's with Heather." Stella spoke. "No one here knows how things are gonna go, or if there's even a chance it's gonna work out with those two, but I think the best thing to do is at the very least let things take their course."

Let things take their course…

"Hey Stella, don't you think it's odd considering RJ and Heather are…you know…not the same?" Verne asked.

"I'm with a cat." The skunk bluntly replied. "I've stopped caring about what I go out with a long time ago."

That was the last thing Stella said before admitting she was tired, and heading to turn in early. Probably the rage and adrenaline from the heist hit her like a truck and that was enough to tell her she needed to sleep it off. That of course left Verne to really consider things.

What Stella essentially told him was to let things play out.

That could've led to a bunch of scenarios. On one hand, Heather could confess, they go out, Ozzie predictably is uneasy because Heather is doing something new, and the best case scenario is that things turn out okay. Even if things don't work out, the two aren't exactly the type to hold grudges against each other. They could just be natural friends.

On the other hand, Heather could confess, and RJ could turn it down. Heather could be okay, or she could become a wreck. RJ would be okay, or Ozzie and Stella would make him suffer for breaking Heather's heart.

Of course, the situation RJ was in right now didn't help.

Oh yeah, this was still a thing.

It had been about a week or so since the raccoon in the road incident, and this "Taxidermist" that RJ spoke of was revealed to have lived in the neighborhood, and since that day, more things had happened involving the latter.

For one, a lot of thinking had been done on that heist, with Heather in particular being rather unnerved as she mentioned the strange meat she found in the freezer. Verne was tempted to ask RJ if he knew what it was, but he immediately decided against it, especially since a small glance at Hammy from Heather told Verne what that meat was supposed to be.

Speaking of other animals, Ozzie had taken note that the other group (or family in Verne's terminology) they had apparently encountered before that Spuddies heist had gone eerily quiet. Not only that, they had disappeared around the same time the Taxidermist's presence was known. Verne was optimistic though, as they did pass a message along to this mysterious group, warning them about the Taxidermist.

He just hoped they were okay.

Of course, RJ was still however their top priority, and in the state that RJ was in now, he was in no mood whatsoever to hear some confessions or really, do anything heist related. While that was fine initially, they were slowly starting to run out of places to loot. The residents had been growing smarter, getting more traps that the others were not comfortable dealing with unless they had an expert to guide them.

That expert was currently sleeping in his chair, his paw curled tightly around a bag of some chips.

Verne did feel awful for RJ's situation. In fact, he felt so bad that he put every single instance of being hit by a truck in italics, just so he could remind himself to kick himself later. However, this couldn't go on much longer, and as much as he wanted to let RJ heal at his own pace, they had to do something.

No RJ, meant no food.

"You all know why you're here today, right?"

"It's about Heather, right, that's why I'm here I assume?" Ozzie replied.

"No, it's not, Heather's done nothing wrong." Stella piped in.

"I'm guessing it's about RJ." Penny spoke.

Penny was right on the button of course as the four sat in a rather scheduled area away from the others. They of course made sure that everyone (especially RJ), was asleep before having this meeting, otherwise things would've gotten awkward. Verne especially didn't want to invalidate RJ's emotional plight at the moment.

As for why he chose these three to have this conversation with? It's simple.

Penny was the one who probably had the most knowledge of RJ's situation, so she was automatically important. Stella was the one who could keep the focus on getting RJ out of his funk, and Ozzie…

Ozzie just happened to be awake and Verne decided to roll with it.

"Look, I know RJ's not doing great at the moment, but we're running out of houses fast." Verne spoke.

"RJ's still in a bad spot right now, I know it's going to be tough, but we need to give him the time he needs." Penny replied. "Besides, he's coming to terms with a lot of stuff right now, such as that raccoon incident, and his old family, it's a lot for someone to take in."

"Penny, we get that, but it's been a week." Stella replied. "He needs to get through with it." This line prompted a pretty noticeable glare from both Penny and Ozzie, which admittedly, Verne shouldn't have been surprised by. They were some of the more laid back animals of the gang (mostly when Ozzie wasn't fretting over Heather), but they knew when to be serious.

"Sorry, I'm just…lost on what to do." Stella replied. "I want him better, but we can't hold out like this."

"I know, and that's why we're having this meeting." Verne spoke. "Right now, I'm looking for any ideas on what could help him, and I'm willing to take anything at this point."

The other three animals looked at each other for a moment, not saying anything. Verne initially thought that maybe Penny and Ozzie were trying to get back on track after Stella's admittedly callous view on RJ, and Stella herself was just keeping quiet to avoid inciting anymore wrath. The ways they looked at each other, and not only at Stella though told a different story.

Maybe no one had any idea on what to do…except one look at Ozzie gave Verne a small idea.

"Hey Ozzie, did you hear anything back from that other family or something?" He asked.

"No, they're still silent." Ozzie replied. "...why do you ask?"

"I was thinking maybe if we meet them, that'll be a start for RJ." Verne spoke.

"Meet hoo?"

That voice was new, and the way the new voice said it prompted them to look up into the trees. The animals may not be avid readers, but they knew the difference between who and hoo.

Perched on a branch was a massive silhouette of something. Verne knew immediately it wasn't that Rufus bird due to the size of it, and judging from the apprehensive looks from Stella and Penny and the fact that Ozzie had played dead once more, they knew it as well.

The silhouette swooped down out of the shadows, revealing it to be a massive owl of sorts, landing right with its back to Verne. No one dared make a move, knowing what owls were capable of.

"Sorry, I meant 'meet who?'" The owl replied in a surprisingly light voice.

Way to ruin the intimidation factor.

"You should also apologize for scaring us." Verne spoke up. The owl, without even turning his body to look at him, turned his head around to face him. Verne had to admit, it gave him shivers. No animal should be able to do that.

"Oh, sorry!" The owl spoke. "I kinda forget that I'm really big and all that and, a 'bird of prey'."

Okay, clearly this owl, despite being really big and scary-looking, didn't seem to be bad by any stretch. In fact, in combination with his light voice and apologetic demeanor, he seemed almost pleasant to be around, Verne thought as the owl continued to ramble on about this bird of prey thing.

"I mean, I know I'm classified as one, but that doesn't mean I want to be." He continued on. "I've been trying to eat other things like grass and leaves, but no, Jasper says that I can't eat that stuff…what does he know?!"

Wait, what?

"Wait, there's someone else?" Verne asked the owl, which cut his rambling short. It was a good thing too, because Verne noticed out of the corner of his eye the expression on Stella's face. It was the expression she had when she was getting annoyed, and while this thankfully clocked out on a two on the Stella Anger Scale™, it did have the possibility to go up at the drop of a hat.

"Yeah, there's a few others I live with." He replied.

As the owl continued to ramble about the others he lived with (more specifically, went into great detail about Jasper), Verne contemplated this. This owl, whoever he was, apparently had a family of his own. A family that, for all intents and purposes, should probably be met.

This could get RJ moving again…

"Hey, uh, Mr. Owl?" Verne spoke up again, which again cut the owl's rambling and Stella's wrath short.

"It's Norbert, Mr. Owl was my father's name." He quickly replied, adding a little laugh at his own joke.

"Norbert, right, we have a bit of a situation and uh…I was wondering if we could all take a visit over to meet your family." Verne spoke. Stella appeared to want to say something, but before she could, Norbert answered.

"Of course!"

Welp, this is officially one of the longest chapters I've written so far.

Anyways, if you can't tell, this is a continuation of sorts of the Taxidermist, and now it's dealing with the aftermath.

Additionally, if you can't tell by the title and the conversation, this story might be a bit more Heather focused than previously. I can't just write RJ and stuff, so why not give the others a chance to have their story?

Not only that, a new character has been introduced in the form of the adapted Norbert! He's a talkative one that's for sure...

Anyways, I'll see you later!