Tech moaned as he felt a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking as a voice whispered loudly, "Tech, Tech, wake up." Tech blinked his eyes open and saw Harriet standing over him. "Ugh… uh, Harriet? Is something wrong?" Tech groaned.
"No, no," Harriet said shaking her head, "But I am going to need some help today. Now get up and get dressed; I've got a couple of errands to run before Rev wakes up and I'm going to need the extra hands." Tech groaned as he scooted his blankets down and sat up, let out a wide yawn and stretched. After whipping the sleep from his eyes, Tech's eyes widened when he saw Rev wasn't in the recliner.
"Uh… where'd Rev go?" "Oh, I helped him up to his room sometime after you fell asleep," Harriet said with a wave, "He's still asleep and Rip just left for school so we should have plenty of time to go out and get what we need before Rev comes to."
"So, we're leaving him alone?" Tech asked worriedly. Harriet shook her head and pointed towards Ralph's office door. "Ralph took the day so he could stay home and keep an eye on things while we're out." "And… he trusts me to go along with you? Alone?" Tech asked suspiciously. Harriet just sighed and shrugged, "I told him it was either that or you stay here with Rev while he went to work and I ran errands alone." Tech gave a satisfied smirk and nodded before tossing his blankets off and standing up to stretch. Harriet shivered a bit as Tech yawned and bared his teeth, running his long fingernails through the fur on his face.
Tech reached into his backpack and pulled out a change of clothes and a hairbrush before heading upstairs and said, "Be down in ten." Harriet nodded quickly as Tech vanished around the corner. She quickly folded up the blankets on the fold-out mattress and put the sofa bed away, tidying up the area and sitting the folded sheets down on the side table before placing the throw pillows back on the couch, letting out a sigh as she sat down to wait for Tech to come down.
"Where'd Tech go?" Harriet looked up and saw Ralph standing in front of her. "Upstairs, tidying up before we head out." Harriet explained. "He should be down any second now." Just then the sound of footfalls on the stairs alerted them and they turned to see Tech coming down with his pajamas folded neatly along with his hairbrush under his arm.
"Morning, Ralph," Tech said cheerfully as he packed away his nightclothes. The two roadrunners watched as Tech ran the brush through the fur on his cheeks, head and ears. They were a bit taken aback by just how well he cleaned up. He wore a lovely blue turtleneck and a nice pair of tan colored pants; his shoes where white sneakers with green markings and they noticed the faintest hint of a woody-scented cologne.
As Tech put his brush away in his bag, he noticed the two looking at him and he tried his best not to flinch as he could feel their gaze on him. "Uh… is something wrong?" Tech asked. "Uh… no. Not at all," Ralph said shaking his head. "You clean up rather nicely," Harriet said with a smile, "Let me just go grab my purse and we can head out."
Tech felt his fur fly to the side as Harriet dashed off. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Tech reached into his bag and grabbed his hairbrush, running it through his fur to straighten it out again before putting it away and walking to the front door to wait for Harriet. Once Harriet popped up with her purse in hand, Tech opened the door for her as they stepped out; Tech could see Ralph watching him closely out of the corner of his eye, but he chose to ignore it. Tech internally grumbled as he followed Harriet outside and closed the door behind him.
He followed Harriet around the back of the house where a small hovercar sat on a patch of concrete partially surrounded by some cacti and other desert plants. "Wow, I didn't take you for the type to drive." Tech chuckled. "Why do you say that?" Harriet asked teasingly as she pulled out her keys. "Oh, well… you know. It's just… it seems like you and Ralph just run everywhere." Tech said with an awkward shrug. Harriet laughed and said, "Well, we try to use the old jalopy as little as possible. But, there are times when running fast isn't the best option."
The two shared a laugh before hopping into the car and zipping to a parking complex a few miles away. Tech followed close behind the fast-paced hen as she led him to a local farmers market where a variety of fruits, vegetables and exotic meats were hung up on display. Tech saw Harriet visibly shiver as they passed a booth that carried freshly slaughtered and plucked wild ducks and turkeys; a pair of male goshawks stood near the booth eyeing the selection. Tech felt his fur prickle as the two birds turned and eyed the two birds of prey turned and eyed Harriet with a disturbing look in their eyes.
Tech gently took Harriet's arm and pulled her away from the booth, snapping her out of her trance. The hen sighed and pointed towards a fresh produce stand and Tech nodded, walking close to her as they power-walked to the stand. As Harriet picked out some fresh lettuce, Tech scanned the area around them, taking in all the awkward stares he got as he just stood there waiting for Harriet to signal that she was done.
As the two moved on to grab some other veggies, Tech noticed the two goshawks from earlier had moved a few stands closer to them. Their eyes were still firmly fixed on Harriet as they slowly began to move in their direction. Tech's tail began to swish as he stood close to Harriet, letting out a soft growl as his fur fluffed up, alerting the stand manager.
"Sir is there a problem?" the man asked in a not-so-friendly manner. "Huh? Oh, no, sorry," Tech stammered, "I just don't do too well in crowded places. Guess I'm a bit more wound up than I thought." The stand manager just rolled his eyes unconvinced and walked off to spritz some water onto a batch of eggplants.
"Is something wrong, Tech?" Harriet asked quietly. Tech turned and spotted the hawks lingering a few stands away; their gaze now shifting between him and Harriet and their faces still sporting an off-putting smirk. "I'm not sure," Tech said, "I feel like we're being followed. But… maybe I'm just paranoid. I really don't do too well in crowds like this. That and a lot of people are giving me some very uncomfortable looks."
"Well, we're almost done here. One more booth and we can head over to the local grocery to get you some toilet paper. There's also a few other things I've been needing to pick up for the house so your visit was well-timed." Harriet flashed Tech a smile as she collected her produce and trotted off to another nearby booth. As Tech moved to follow Harriet, he felt something ram into him and rush past him. After taking a second to collect himself, he spotted the two male goshawks rushing towards Harriet. "Oh, hell no!" Tech snarled as he rushed after them.
Harriet gasped as one of the hawks put his hand on her shoulder and spun her around. "Oh, c-can I help you?" Harriet stammered. "Yeah, actually you can." The one male smirked. "You by any chance… in season?" the other one clucked. "I… I don't understand the question," Harriet said nervously. In truth, she knew exactly what they were referring to, but wasn't about to dignify their gross question with an honest response.
"Oh, come on, lady," The first hawk squawked, "Don't play dumb. We can smell you and you know it." "Just come along without a fuss and it'll be over quick," the second male said with a smarmy snort, "I promise, you won't feel a thing." Just as they went to reach for her again, Harriet lifted her foot and stomped down hard on the first hawk's unshod foot, slapping the other across the beak with her purse and nearly dropping her produce as she turned to run. "Hey, get back here, hen!"
"Leave her alone!" The two hawks turned to see Tech standing about a yard in front of them. "Buzz off, scavenger, this doesn't concern you." The one hawk snapped, "Yeah, go find your own fresh meat." The other one said with a cruel laugh. "You know, I never really did care for hunters that kill strictly for pleasure. And trust me when I tell you… that one ain't looking for whatever kind of 'pleasure' you two have got in mind. She's married."
"So what?" The first hawk scoffed, "That's never been an issue for us before. And besides," The two males turned towards where Harriet had run off and chuckled, "It is the season for lovin'. Why should we deny the old gal what she wants?" Tech's fur fluffed up at that comment, his blood grew hot as he realized exactly what they were talking about. Tech leapt forward as the goshawks turned to pursue Harriet, grabbing their long tail plumes and yanking hard, earning an angry screech from both of them.
Harriet watched from behind a nearby stand as the two goshawks turned and snapped at Tech's hands, forcing him to let go of their tails and back up. Suddenly, their aggression had switched to Tech, but the young canid didn't flinch. In fact, his expression hardened, and he assumed what Harriet could only assume was some kind of fighting stance before giving a sort of 'come and get it' gesture with his hand. The two males burst into laughter, pointing at Tech and slapping their knees in amusement.
"What the heck kind of pose is that? Kung-Fu?" The first hawk hooted, "Oh boy, this is just sad." The second one joked. "I think we may have to teach this mutt a lesson. Then we can go track down that piece of sweet meat. What do ya' say, Dick?" "Sounds like a plan to me, Butch." The second hawk said with a confident nod. Tech had to refrain from laughing at hearing the birds' names as they quickly rushed at him, reaching out to try to grab him around his neck only for them to get snatched up by their wrists and flung up over Tech who rolled onto his back and kicked them hard. They flew a good few feet before crashing down onto the ground. Tech turned and reassumed his pose, waiting for the two birds to get up.
"Had enough?" Tech asked with a slight growl. "Ugh… dang." Butch grumbled, "Why haven't you come at us yet?" Dick asked. "Because this isn't a hunt, it's a fight." Tech explained, "There's no point in striking a downed opponent in a fight if your life isn't on the line." The two hawks scoffed as they got up and dusted themselves off. Just then, they spotted Harriet in her hiding spot; Dick stopped Butch before he could lunge at Tech and pointed to the cowering hen. The two birds smirked and took a single step towards Tech, only to turn fast on their heels and rush in the other direction towards Harriet.
Harriet found herself frozen as the male birds closed the gap, letting out a scream as she thought they would grab her, but her shouting was quickly drowned out by the sound of the two male hawks' own shrieks. Harriet opened her eyes to a shocking sight. Tech had somehow caught up to Dick and Butch and tackled them. Dick laid on the ground with his head pinned under Tech's foot while Butch was held tight by his tail feathers and the back of his neck; he dared not move as he could feel the coyote's claws poking through his feathers and scraping against his flesh.
"Harriet, did you get everything you needed?" Tech asked. Harriet shook her head and said in an unusually slow voice, "N-no, but I suppose the sweet potatoes can wait." Tech nodded before turning and chucking Butch away. He lifted his foot off of Dick's head and stomped the ground hard next to his beak, making the hawk squeak as he scrambled away to join his companion.
"Now, here's what's going to happen," Tech began, "We're going to leave, and you two are going to go in the opposite direction and not follow us. Trust me, the last thing you want is for us to report this incident to the authorities. It will not end well for you two. Hear me?" The two hawks nodded fast and Tech smiled saying, "Good. Now get!" Dick and Butch let out frightened whimpers as they ran past Harriet and vanished into the crowd on the other far end of the market.
Harriet let out a squeak as she turned to see Tech standing next to her; he placed his hand gently on her shoulder and asked, "Are you okay, Harriet?" The hen gave a nervous smile and nodded, "Yes, I am. T-thank you." Tech smiled back and gently took the bags from her, taking her by the hand and guiding her over to the stand where the sweet potatoes were sold saying, "So, where to next?"