Chapter One: Between a Rock and a Sam Place
The Rainforest Riviera was as busy as it ever was on a Sunday night. Mammals of all shapes and sizes came to this prestigious place to enjoy its various selection of Rainforest classics as well as the many varieties from the different districts, which lured in animals from even the furthest districts. The main chef, Gerald, was busy making the food for all of the waiting customers, accompanied by his otter server.
"Onion soup for table six, Sam!" The bell dinged as the burly pig called the otter's attention.
"Coming, Gerald! When do ya think we'll be finished today?" Asked Sam, adjusting her wide glasses while also putting the soup on her silver platter.
"Like I tell you every single day, just send ze orders! I'm not a fortune teller!"
"Okay, okay, Jeez. Pipe it down there, big man. Message received," said Sam, leaving his vicinity to start delivering the order with her usual quickness. The onion soup was being delivered to a lone deer.
"One onion soup for you, dear! Haha, see what I did there?"
The deer stayed still looking at her for a second. Sam thought the worst, thinking her joke had fallen under very poor taste and had offended the deer. Soon enough, she got her answer when the mammal started guffawing. "That's hilarious. Thank you, miss." He smelled the soup, and his mouth began to water. "Hmm, this otter be good, am I right? Hahahahaha"
Sam didn't know whether he was being condescending or genuinely amused. She decided not to dwell on it and just focus on something else.
It had been about a year after the terrible events with the Nighthowlers, as well as her magical night going to the Gazelle concert (Aside from being pulled over by the cops, of course). Due to using her entire life savings for the concert, which she still felt was worth it, she had to cut back on spending and work more hours. Her life at twenty years old was more stressful than she had anticipated, but she had a job and an apartment, so she couldn't complain too much. Other mammals worked harder for less.
The orders kept coming. "One shrimp salad for you!" she said to a polar bear family. "Our finest cheese selection," to a mouse. "Spicy ant tacos!" she said excitedly to the anteater family. Fairly quickly, her shift was nearing its end. Just like that fateful night with the sloths, her shift would end when she finished all of her orders after five in the afternoon. However, she wasn't in any rush to finish early this time around, so she could take her time making sure every one of her customers were happy and fed.
"Whoo, I am on a roll today, Gerald," said the enthusiastic otter, talking to the cook. "All the tables are set, the customers are happy, and with only a few minutes to spare, I'll be out of here in a jiffy! Today couldn't get any bettah!"
"Don't jinx yourself, Sam. Remember what happened last year?"
"All water under the bridge, Gerald. Lightning can't possibly strike twice on the same pla-" she got interrupted by the sound of the door to the restaurant opening. Her mouth still open, her eyes widened as she slowly turned towards the door. Another customer.
"See? Jinxed?" Said Gerald, a smile forming on his face. "You better get his order," he told her, handing her the black pocket notepad and pen. She grunted.
"It's not a sloth this time. I can get his order and it'll be quick and easy. Just you watch," she walked towards the newly arrived mammal, making sure to have her usual greeting grin.
The customer seemed to be a fennec fox wearing small aviators. She found it weird to see a fox in the Rainforest District of all places, but who was she to judge? Mammals could go whenever they pleased. Maybe this fox was trying something new today.
"Welcome! I'm Sam, I'll be your waitress for tonight!"
"Hi there," he said, in a not so jolly way. "Table for one, please."
"Right this way, sir," she motioned the fox, sitting him in a small round table fit for his size. He walked slowly towards the table with his head lowered. Sam frowned as she saw the state of the poor fennec. Just what could have happened to him? As soon as he sat down, his head flopped on the table loudly.
"Uhhh, are you okay, sir? Can I start you off with a simple predator-friendly aperitive?" He didn't answer, his head still pressed up against the hardwood surface. She swore she could see a puddle forming where his face was resting. "W-would a nice bubbly drink fix your mood up a bit?" She tried again.
"Waaaaaa!" he cried out, gaining the attention of everyone else in the establishment, looking worriedly at the tiny fox. Tears were streaming out of his face like a faucet.
"Sir, please, calm down!" Why me? She thought. She felt bad thinking that. This fox was going through rough times, but did it really have to be with her, at this exact moment, at this hour? Right when her shift was about to end? It wasn't fair. The world really hated her for some reason.
"She left me, Whiskers!" the fox cried out. "She left me!"
Whiskers?! No one had ever called her that. She didn't know what to feel. She couldn't chew him out! It would make her look like a horrible person for putting down a mammal that was already down to begin with. Just what did she get herself into?
"Who left you?" she asked. Maybe if he let it all out, he could calm down and she could go home in time for the new episode of So You Think you can Prance?
"My wife!" He pulled out a picture from his pocket and showed her what looked to be a red vixen, sporting red lipstick and black eyeliner on her bulging green eyes, as well as a green Pawaiian blouse. "He-I mean she left me for a bunny! A bunny of all mammals!" He kept audibly crying, causing some of the mammals to be either annoyed or pityingly watching the sad state of the fennec. "We worked together too! When she quit, they saw no fit to have me there by myself so I got fired! Now I'm out of a job-aaahahaaa."
Sam didn't know how he could have any more tears. She could bus the table with them. Her natural instinct of helping everyone got triggered, so with determination she grabbed some napkins from a nearby table and offered them to him. Instead of filling out a cup of water for him as usual, she gave him the entire pitcher. He was not about to dehydrate on her watch.
"I'm so very sorry that happened to yah, sir," she said sincerely, her thick Otterlian accent showing. "Here's some water for you!" The fennec fox looked back at her and then at the pitcher. Without saying anything, he grabbed the pitcher and began sinking the water down his throat, not caring about spilling some of it on the mahogany table. Once again, she didn't know how the little fennec could gulp down so much water without his stomach exploding, not to mention his poor bladder later. She felt like she should stop him, but didn't want that poor guy to have more things to grieve over.
With one last big gulp, he gave a satisfied sigh. "Thank you very much, Whiskers. That helped a lot," he said thankfully, smiling at her. His brown eyes looked into her green ones intensely, making Sam blush from the long eye contact. With her server's platter, she shielded her face from looking at him anymore. In this moment, she decided that a little moment of gesture couldn't be all she did for him. She will make sure that the poor fennec has a lovely night.
"Would you care for something else?" she asked him.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have anything to pay you," he lamented, his eyes back to the wet table. "They didn't even give me my last paycheck."
"That's horrible!" she said. Some of the dining mammals who were listening in also gave disapproving grunts. Sam couldn't let him go without eating anything, she just couldn't. "You know what? It's on the house! Everything you eat today will be free." The mammals who heard her started clapping for her charitable action.
"For real?" he asked, a smile growing from ear to ear. Sam couldn't deny that face. She refrained from objectifying her fellow tiny mammals, but she really could not deny how happy it made her seeing that cute smile. Sam always enjoyed making people happy.
"For real!" she said with confidence.
"Thank you so much, Whiskers!" he began crying again, but Sam was sure it was from happiness this time.
"You can call me Sam, Mister," she told him. "What's your name?"
Pushing his aviators back into his eyes, the tiny fox replied. "I'm Nick."
"Alright, Nick, what do you want to start with?" Sam said, now with her notebook and pen on her paws. "I highly recommend the shrimp sticks to start with, they're to krill for! See what I did there?"
The fennec gave her a heartfelt smile. "The shrimp sticks it is! Thanks again, Sam," the fennec replied.
"It's my pleasure, Mr. Nick. Coming right up!"
It felt good. It really felt good to help someone. There were many moments in her life where Sam had needed help but never got it, so helping anyone she could came as second nature. She saw good things on that fennec, and there was no way she was gonna leave him in that sorry state.
"One order of shrimp sticks, please!" Sam told the chef.
"Hey, Sam, we do not serve food for free here! What were you thinking?" Asked the irritated pig.
"Just take it off my pay, Gerald! That poor fox needs to have a good night, and I'm the only one who's been kind to him the entire day."
"Hey, that fox is probably lying to you, Sam! You know how shifty they can be."
Sam gasped. "I do not want to hear that from you again, Gerald! Such backwards thinking will not be allowed in this judgment-free establishment!"
Gerald gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine, fine, whatever, it's your salary, not mine. Just don't say I didn't warn you. Shrimp sticks coming right up!"
It was clear to Sam that fennec was now having the time of his life. The restaurant wasn't just known for its variety. Everything that the skilled cook prepared was delicious. Gerald had once said that one of his customers fainted from the smell alone. She did not believe him, but that's not to say that the smell wasn't intoxicating. Just like with the water, the fennec wasn't shy when it came to eating, having ordered three more plates of shrimp sticks after that, which he devoured as soon as they got to his table.
The fennec hadn't stopped at that, ordering Gerald's famous Bug Burger consisting of only the most top of the line and hardest to acquire insects, which made it quite pricey. The fennec also ate it as if he were a wild animal, using the pitcher of water (which she had already refilled twice) in between bites. Minutes later, he was ordering a breaded salmon. She looked at the steadily emptied chairs as the customers left satisfied, the fennec still eating. Along came the dessert, in which he ordered a caramel flan and cookies and cream ice cream. Surely he can't eat that too, she foolishly thought. As if he were a vacuum, the sweet foods were stored in his belly as soon as they touched the table. The poor fennec must've been starving for weeks.
With those desserts, the fennec was done, and now it was time to check on his ta-
"ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS?!"
"And twenty more bucks in tips!" Said Gerald. "How generous of him, hahahaha!"
"This is more than I make in a day!" Sam depressively stated. She would be lucky if she managed to get a hundred bucks per day.
"Guess this entire day you worked for free, huh?" mocked Gerald.
"Grrrrr," she growled, but quickly calmed herself. She remembered this was for a good cause. "You know what, Gerald? It doesn't matter. That fennec is now walking out of here a happy guy."
As if on cue, she heard him sobbing loudly on his table. Thanks to her quick service, everyone else had left for the night except for the sad fennec.
"W-what's wrong now?" the otter asked fearfully. She wanted him to be happy, but another order would be a hard blow to her already diminished salary.
"You've just been so nice to me and I have nothing to offer."
"Oh please, Mr. Nick, you don't have to give me anything," she told him honestly. "Just seeing you smile is enough of a reward."
"Oh. Well, that's great," Nick said timidly. "If that is so, would it be terrible if I asked for another favor?"
"Not at all!"
The fennec had asked her to drive him home. She accepted without first checking where he lived. Turns out, he had a place in Downtown Zootopia that was only about five miles from where they were. The problem was, Sam's vehicle of choice (the one she could afford) was a measly electric scooter, not to mention it was a vehicle supposed to allocate one small mammal, which made the fennec press up on her body very uncomfortably. She also had to tuck her tail between her legs, maximizing the discomfort. Despite it all, through one of the rearview mirrors, she saw the fox smile brightly, which made her think it was all worth it.
"Hey, Nick!" She asked him a bit loudly, the sound of the scooter almost drowning out her voice.
"Yeah?"
"Did your wife actually leave you for a rabbit? I've never heard of a fox being with a rabbit before."
"You better believe it, Whiskers. That traitorous vixen said she wanted a better life with him. As if she could have a better life than the one we had! We were great together! Yeah, we did odd jobs and stuff, and sometimes we fought, but it wasn't enough to warrant her leaving me!"
The fox let out a few more expletives about the vixen and then became silent again, focused on the sights of Savanna Central. "You know, Sam, I think you're the nicest person I've met today."
This warmed the female otter's heart even more. "Aww, thanks Nick. You didn't deserve everything that happened to you."
"Thanks." The fox said, not crying this time, but with a melancholic expression. Without thinking, he rested his head on Sam's back. His long ears were grazing Sam's brown-furred neck, distracting her even more.
"Pull over right here," after a few more minutes, they arrived at a complex of apartments. They were all four-story buildings. Sam shut off the engine of her scooter and let the little fox get off.
"Are you sure you don't need anything else? Do you need me to make you something? I may not look it, but I make a mean green island tea, heheheh," You're embarrassing yourself, Sam, she thought to herself.
"No, thanks, Sam, you've done more than enough. You've made this fox's day a little more bearable, and I appreciate it." The fox smiled at her, making her heart flutter.
"It was my unending pleasure," she said softly, a hand on her heart. "Do you have any ideas about finding a job?" she asked him in concern.
"I have some friends that can help me out a bit. I think I'll pull through," the fennec said hopefully.
"Okay. Oh, hold on a sec," she got out a piece of paper and a pencil from her bag. Writing something on it, she handed it to the small fox. "If anything comes up and you need my help, don't hesitate to call me."
The fennec fox could see she had written her phone number and deliberately given it to him. He looked at her shockingly. "A-are you sure I should have this?"
"Of course. Remember, don't hesitate, okay?" The fox nodded. Satisfied with herself, she made her way back to the scooter, until some alien thought sneaked its way into her brain, making her turn back to the fox. "Here's my last gift to you."
Sam didn't know why she had done it. It had been an impulsive decision. One her mind couldn't escape from. Kneeling a little bit to be on the fennec's eye level, she gave him a small peck in the cheek, shocking the small fennec. As quickly as she came in contact with his cream-colored skin, she let go of it with the same intensity.
'H-hang in there, okay?" she managed to say, before making a one-eighty degree turn that made her dizzy, getting on her scooter just as suddenly. Turning on the engine, she made her way back home. Stupid stupid stupid!, she thought. You freaking kissed him? Seriously? You probably freaked the poor guy out! Are you insane? Those were her mind's machinations until she had reached her home back at the Rainforest. Heat had never left her cheeks, still embarrassed by that awful action.
Sam's home was a small apartment, the one place she could afford with her monthly salary. Despite being a little abode, Sam had no complaints about it. It was large enough to keep her electric scooter by one corner and still have a bed, bathroom, and kitchen. Not to mention the terrific views of the Zootopia Bullet Train as it passed by every morning without fail. She also loved sleeping to the constant rain of the district, making her feel like she was back in her native country.
But Sam was not comfortable. At least, not at the moment. She was still thinking about that kiss. It was nothing, Sam. He probably thought you were being nice, that's all. Don't go too crazy over it.
"It was just a kiss," she told herself, closing her eyes and breathing deeply as she sat on her couch. "Just a normal, formal, person-you-first-met-kiss. Ugh, who am I kidding?" She slouched against the couch, distressed. After a few minutes in the first position, Sam thought of something else.
"Wait a second!" She got up from the couch. It seemed like an eureka moment had fallen on her brain. "I didn't ask for his number!"
Sam sat back down, dejected. There was no way he would ever call her.
Until the sound of a notification rang on her phone. It was a message from an unknown number.
The fox waited until she could no longer see the otter in the distance and went the other way. Obviously, he didn't have a home. His private residence was still his red van, which he had shared with the traitor right before he left him. It was a few blocks down the street, hidden well enough in an alleyway. He knew the folks in this vicinity wouldn't try to do anything to it, so he felt safe enough leaving it there. In a few minutes, he was there.
His baby. An orange-red van with a paint job of his favorite album cover from his favorite band. Pulling his keys from his pocket, the fennec opened the double doors of the back of his van, going inside with gusto. At this point, he couldn't handle it anymore, letting out the fit of laughter he was holding.
"AAAhahahahahahaaaaa. What a dumb otter, hahahahahahahahahahaha." The fit went on for a few minutes until the fox let out tears of laughter. It had all been too easy. "Nick, you're missing out, man, hahahahahahaha," he talked to the spot where Nick used to sleep whenever they were done hustling too late at night.
"What are you laughing about, Uncle Fin?" asked a smiling arctic fox in the driver's seat, scaring the fennec.
"Ahhhhh! Greg? What in all the fox hell are you still doing here?"
The arctic fox in his 20s smiled politely. "I just thought I'd guard the van for you, Uncle! A lot of bad mammals are out in these parts."
"I told ya to go home! I've been gone for like three hours!"
"Frankly, I thought you weren't coming back today. Anyway, what were you laughing about? Something about a dumb otter?"
Greg was not Finnick's nephew. He had been abandoned by his parents as a pup and was alone ever since. They tried to get him in the foster system, but he escaped all of the Child Service mammals, preferring life in the streets. Despite his terrible past, he managed to maintain a wholesome and carefree mentality, something that still puzzled the older fox. Either way, he and Nick met Greg a couple of years ago when he was about fourteen years old, and they had helped him earn enough money to get a place to live, which he still had today. Due to being the only mammals who ever cared for him like that, he ended up calling them uncles, something Finnick was always against, but no matter how much he threatened him, Greg just kept on doing it, so Finnick decided to just let it go. Greg started working solo years later, but since Nick decided to ditch Finnick, he recruited Greg back to help him.
"Eh, it's nothing. Just this dumb otter server at the RR," said Finnick. "Anyway, since you're here, take this." He took out two shrimp sticks from his pocket, giving one of them to him. "Bon appetit."
"Alright!" Greg said, gulping down the shrimp in one bite. "Man, this shrimp stick is awesome. How much did it cost?"
"That's the thing, Greg. Absolutely nothing!" the fennec said with a smile.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Greg asked with interest.
"I gave this otter server a sob story about my wife leaving me and me losing my job, and she believed it! I even pulled this picture of Nick in a dress and she totally thought he was a vixen!" Another fit of laughter entered the fennec, but he calmed down to finish the story. "I ordered so much food I almost blew up from how full I was. Then, she even took me here in her electric scooter."
"Whoah, really?"
"Yeah. And the craziest part? She gave me her number, and even kissed me!"
"Wait, what?!" This time, the arctic fox became alarmed at that statement. "Uncle, you have to call her and tell her the truth!"
To this, the fennec became confused. "Greg, what the heck do you mean call her back? I'm not gonna confess anything!"
"I would've been fine with you hustling her for money, but have her fall for you thinking you're a different person? That's a whole new low, man!"
"Why do you even care about this, Greg?"
"Because you can't play with a lady's heart like that, Uncle," the arctic fox said.
Finnick sighed. Ever since the arctic fox became infatuated with an arctic vixen (who rejected him multiple times), he became a total gentleman, preferring not to hustle women whenever he had the chance. He still did it on occasion, but never too harshly. "If it makes you feel better, it was only on the cheek."
"What was on the cheek?"
"The kiss!"
"It doesn't matter where the kiss was! A kiss is still a kiss!"
"Ugh, it doesn't matter! If she even liked me, she would've asked for my number but she didn't!"
"Oh, Uncle, you're not as smart as I thought. Obviously, she wants you to call her first! Duh! I don't even know why I have to tell you that."
"Oh, can it, Greg! I don't see you with any girls around you."
"I'm working on it! I have a system-"
"A system that fails," Finnick retorted, sighing. "Just go home. We'll talk in the morning, alright."
The yellowish brown fox made an exasperated sigh. "Haven't you ever thought of settling down with a good girl."
"Sure as heck not with an otter, Greg. Just drop it and go home."
"Fine. At least thank her for the meal in a text or something!" he said, opening the car door to leave. "It's the least you could do," he whispered, but it was enough for Finnick to hear it.
That last comment actually got him thinking. Had he really been that big of an asshole to that otter? Yes. She had been nothing but nice, even paying money for someone she had only just met. You're an ass. She totally believed he was a down-on-his-luck fox that didn't deserve anything that happened to him. You deserve that and more.
"Okay I get it!" he said to no one in particular. Greg had a way of getting into your head. Now all he thought was how happy Sam must be feeling, believing the crazy lies Finnick had told her. Searching in his pocket, he found the piece of paper that belonged to the girl. He could smell a hint of seawater and lime perfume. The number was (555)-694-4934. "I'm gonna regret this so much," he told himself.
Saving the number in his contacts, Finnick tapped the message button. He wrote:
Thanks again! We otter meet sometime! ;)
"Wait, why the fuck did I say I want to meet her?!" The fox scrambled to delete the message, but it had been too late. The little checkmark at the bottom indicated she had read it.
"I'm gonna kill Greg tomorrow," he said with determination, burying his face in a pillow and screaming into it.
