Gekking on your nerves (For MrShooter)
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Slomp…
Slomp…
Slomp…- BANG!
…
Rattle… clunk.
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And, with that, Nick practically flopped down into the house, wilting like half the plants out in the garden were. Today, like every day in the last week, had been a scorcher. And, being stuck out on bike patrol and with a bike commute, that had left the now off-duty fox cop panting for breath and panting for cooling, his long tongue rolling out.
"Want a drink or anything?" Came a call from inside, Skye peeking in from the garage, her blue denim overalls and dusty tan fur stained in grease.
Nick gave a slow 'uh-hu' grunt as he stood up again, trying to fan himself with his paws. After only a few wafts, his eyes narrowed. "It's hot in here," he groaned, making his way to the kitchen sink. "Why isn't the aircon on?"
"I was working in the garage," the swift fox mechanic spoke, "no point."
"There is a point," he groaned, pulling the tap on full blast and thrusting his head under it, free paw out to massage his scalp and help the water get in. "So that when walking out of the wave of heat out there, I don't just walk into a wave of heat in here."
His tail bristled just a bit as an annoyed sounding Skye paced back in. "Just turn the aircon on, it'll only take a moment. It's not that hot."
"Not that hot?" the fox moaned, stepping over as he searched for the remote control. "I swear I saw an elephant whose tusks had started to melt from the heat."
"That's impossible."
"They were drooping," the fox insisted, paws out in the air. "As he fanned himself I could see them… jiggling… from side to the side."
"Maybe they were just plastic tusk extensions," Skye said with a shrug.
"Oh, right. Speaking of extensions," Nick carried on, wearily. "Do you know what else extended? The railway overhead electricity wires. Got so hot they just drooped down, the trains got cancelled, and Carrots and I, two very hot and bothered cops, had to help the station staff manage thousands of hot and bothered commuters get onto the replacement busses. Not inside, of course, the crisp clean cool air of Zoot central is too got for us coppers! We were outside, hot engine running to the left of us, august sun to the right, and right now here I am, stuck in this griddle with you."
"If you were really bothered by this heat, you could have turned on the aircon by now," Skye remarked.
"Fine," Nick groaned. "I shall." He marched over, for real this time. "Though maybe next you could stick it on a little… before… -Where is it?"
He was stood by the empty remote holder, and underneath the teasingly inert white mass of the aircon unit above them, closed up and sparing none of its cool bliss. He looked up at it for a second, before glancing down at the vixen. "Skye."
"Don't look at me," she said.
"You're the one who's been here all day."
"In the garage," the swift fox pointed out.
"And at lunch?" he pressed.
"I didn't turn it on, I don't need it," she remarked, tail giving a flick behind her.
"Because you're a desert fox," Nick grumbled. "You can cope with it. I, and our two bunnies who'll be getting here very soon, can't!"
"I'm not a desert fox, I'm a prairie fox who actually gets her fur clipped down for summer," she said, beginning to walk forward. "Why don't you give it a go, instead of having one at me?"
"Because then, if I get a call to TundraTown, I'll end up freezing my tail off," he said back, eyes fixing on. "And even if you didn't want to turn the air con on, couldn't you have just left the windows open, or something?"
Her eyes narrowed. "The garage door…"
"-And the rest of the house?" he cut in.
"I… -It's just an aircon unit on a hot day, it's not like we don't have others in the other rooms. Why are you even kicking up this fuss!" She threw her paws up into the air, before stepping forward, thumbpad pressed on his tie. "Just because I'm at home doesn't mean I'm not working. I've been busy doing repair jobs all day. Why is it my job to get things here just right for you, huh?"
Nick looked at her for a second, before the front right of his muzzle ticked up, showing a flash of his teeth. "You know, maybe it wouldn't be so bad if we weren't always getting things right for you."
Skye blinked. "What?"
"I mean," Nick said, undoing his tie and holding it out, a black smudge on prominent display. "We all have to remove grease stains from our clothes all the time, and from bits of furniture, and the walls, and the floor! Last week I stood on some grease in the hall and ended up doing the splits! Funnily enough, there's only one of us that's always mucking about in that stuff."
"Oh come on, that was once! I cleaned it up," she exclaimed. "When else has that happened?"
"More times than you know. Far less than if we weren't always cleaning up after you!"
"Maybe that's because you guys didn't tell me," she complained, paws on hips. "If you don't tell me stuff, how can I do anything about it?"
"What, like when I told you not to eat that turkey jerky?"
"And I said before, you shouted it across the house and I didn't hear you! And it's not like you don't cause messes we don't have to clean up either."
"Oh, like when?" he asked, voice dripping in frustration.
"Like all the fur you're shedding by not clipping yourself?" she asked, pointing at some on the floor.
"What about the scratch marks you leave on the floor by not filing down your toe-claws?"
"What about the fact you're not even bothered about the heat anymore?"
"I am! Just more important stuff came up."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah really…" he spoke, marching forward. Skye shook her head and turned around, only to pause as she saw something on the table, beneath a pile of spare manuals she'd left there. She leant in and held it up.
"Here, your remote."
"So, you did mislay it!"
"Do you want it or not?"
"Yes I want it."
"Fine then," she snarked, only to squeeze it just a bit too much. Out of her greased up paws it slipped, dropping to the floor and bouncing, shedding its battery.
"And now you've broken it!"
"Just stick the battery back in."
"You're the one in charge of fixing stuff!"
"Are you really that lazy?" she exclaimed, turning to face him and growling.
"No… Yes… I don't know, but it was you who broke it!" Nick stared at her back, a growl beginning to burn up his throat too.
They stared each other off, Skye walking forward. "Why do you have to be such a drama llama!"
"I just wanted a simple thing, a tiny little creature comfort, after a long shift, but oh no…"
They came together, nose against nose, Skye's paws out and pushing back on his shoulders.
"Stop Gek… -getting grease on me," Nick spoke, his voice tripping up slightly.
"Oh I'm gonna get it on you," she hissed, beginning to rub her paws over his shoulders. "Gonna Gek…" Just like Nick, she let the tic come out, her voice twanging up into a high pitch gnarly staccato. Almost like a taught string being pulled, she let it go again. "Ge-Gek over it you Gek-gek-gegegeeeekkk…."
Nick gave a gek back and pushed forward, their paws grabbing onto each other as they reached up for dominance, voices rising higher and higher as they began a full-on fox gekkering session, their eyes locked and shrill voices screaming as they fought for dominance.
.
.
The door opened slowly, Jack and Judy stepping in, nervous looks on their faces. All around them, the same sound was ringing out. Gek-gek-gek-gek-gek-gek-gek….
And then the two entered. Skye came in, stepping backwards, reaching up and her mouth opened wide. She walked past them, followed by Nick, standing up, same pose, gekkering after her. He pushed her back into the garage, leaving the bunnies looking at each other.
"Is that a fox sex thing?" Jack asked.
Judy's stood looked on, slack-jawed at where they'd gone.
"-Because if it isn't, I don't get it."
Judy thought she heard it get louder, which made her want to intervene… But at the same time, it only served to make it sound stupider. Which made her feel like not intervening.
"And if it is, I also don't get it."
Finally, she shook the confusion out of her. "Come on, it's just a strange fox thing," she said, the pair entering past sounds of far off gekkering and entering the kitchen.
"So the plan is we let them get it out of their system," Jack mused, smiling. "Great plan!"
Judy's interest though had already moved on. "What's this…" she said, reaching down, putting the battery back in the remote, and turning on the aircon. With a beep, it stirred to life, the two buns quickly awash with a blissful wave of cool.
"Ooooh," Jack said, relacing. "Is nice."
Gek-gek-gek-gek-gek-gek…
And then in marched Nick, retreating backwards from Skye and planting himself right under the cool blast. Skye looked up at it, threw her paws out, and jabbed a finger into a tuft of his chest floor. "GEK-GEK-GEEEEK-GEK-GEEEEYAAAHHHHH!"
Nick threw his paws out. "GEK-GEK GEEEEYAAAAAAA GEK-GEK-GEK… -GEK!"
…
"Go gek yourself," Skye huffed, marching off.
"Fine!" Nick shot back. "I will in this blissful, blissful cool."
Nick stood there, panting, before turning around and embracing the cool air. Only then, noticing the two bunnies looking up at him. "We had a little argument."
Judy blinked. "Little?"
As did Jack, eyes widening and ears shooting up. "Oh! Argument."