A Dance for Two 3 (Jay Naylor's Furry Comics, Human!Semi-SI)
EDIT: This is a Commissioned Story from the Pxtreon.
Angelica wasn't sure what she was supposed to do now that she couldn't be a cheerleader.
It wasn't much about popularity's sake as she was as cute and beautiful as usual even with the glasses. No, what really pressed against the little bunny was the mere notion that she had a lot of free time she didn't know how to invest. Sure, the school offered plenty of opportunities to develop her extra-curricular life, yet the list was long and, in most part, full of boring things.
Gardening? She already did that with her mom.
Photography? She wasn't exactly the kind of girl that wanted to waste time with that.
More and more options came up, but they were either weird or lame.
Time and time again she was huffing and puffing, but she had the opportunity to find a viable solution just after helping Janie try to be a cheerleader and then pretty much having her break her arm due to her trying a risky position. To make thing worse in that front, she had to literally run away from a furious Janie for 'crippling her'- which was hilarious from an outsider's standpoint considering that Janie had her broken arm limping about and yet keeping up with her for a solid hour.
Never again was she going to lead that crazy moron into something somewhat normal for her existence.
Still, that fright had some 'last' perks she happily enjoyed. Cassie was her most recent friend and, despite that being the case, Angelica found herself setting her up close to herself. After the fright she got from 'mistakenly advising Janie', she was cared for by being given the 'lap pillow' experience.
Akin to what her mother would do when she felt cranky and sleeping, Angelica would have her head resting on the human girl's lap and Cassie would give her some comforting words while caressing her hair and then lightly-teasing her ears.
At first, that gesture was a bit awkward since her ears were a weak spot and something that Angelica was self-conscious about. But the kind words and soft touching felt immensely nice. It was a weird thing to look forward to, but in less than a week, the bespectacle blonde bunny was utterly submitted to that curious antic from Cassie.
She was clever, smart, always giving her advice and comfort. Cassie literally became the 'Charlie' to her 'Janie'. Which was really absurd to imagine since 1) She wasn't as insane as Janie, and 2) Cassie was cuter than Charlie. While it was not weird for many to just label out friends at this age as 'cute' or 'gorgeous', something about trying to even consider in telling to Cassie's face such a compliment felt 'embarrassing'. Her chest would tighen up and her face would burn red for a solid minute or two.
So, Angelica tended to be rather modest in handing out praise back to Cassie. But the smile those would get out of the usually stoic girl was... Well, it made her flutter about. And it was oddly pleasant despite how embarrassingly shy she would turn as she got hit by that beaming smile.
Still, the main focus of these days was the club she picked: journalism. Cassie had been the one that had suggested her to try.
"Dad used to do some journalist work. It's not stuck to just photography since you can also write and direct articles without relying much on pictures."
The idea was not bad upon first impression, and Angelica ended up approving it once she got a proper tour on how the club worked. The notion of 'giving wisdom' through the articles made her giddy on what she could achieve with some proper effort.
She was given a column, then time to get it done within a few days and... she couldn't resist the temptation and actually had the piece ready by the end of the day! Angelica just felt this urge to do a quick but fine job, and as the teacher in charge of the club confirmed this could be published, the bunny girl was pleased to learn that her article against the 'Evil of Consumerism' in School, following the teachings of what her mother and father had told her about this topic and the books she had read about it, proved to be a good hit with some readers.
The girl was approved for the task, with Cassie happily accepting being her minio-good reporter in case she needed someone in the spot to get something done there. The second article, following up the notes of the previous one, settled about the need to 'curb excesses' and used the 'overweight issue' reported by many doctors across the country. Once again, a big hit with the new readers and expanded awareness of those topics across the entire academy.
All was well and nice... until consequences came close to bite her in the tiny butt she got.
It was a day like any other... when Angelica noticed, as lunch break unfolded, that the girls were all eating muffins.
"Where'd you get muffins? I didn't see any at the cafeteria line."
She had looked again over at the counters, but saw no one providing that sort of treat.
"Jeffery," Cassie hummed quickly, raising one of the muffins from her tray to Angelica's face. Her lips watered at the heavenly smell coming from that thing. "Try it."
Without hesitation, Angelica nibbled at the muffin, then bit into it and... proceeded to devour is silently as her eyes widened astronomically at the absurdly good flavor injected in such a wonderful homemade product. She had to have more!
Thus, Angelica sprung into action, Cassie ditching her tray to chase her through the cafeteria until they found Jeffery and-
"No."
Her jaw hit the floor at that refusal, outrage soon manifesting within her next words. "WHY?!"
"You wrote an article that literally says that the kind of stuff I am giving away is bad, and then you said that fat kids are the product of such 'evil stuff', why would I want to give you anything?"
Angelica was stunned by this, mortified even as she realized that, while she was in the right to write those articles, she was also in a country that allows that sort of decision-making but-
"Wouldn't your denial pretty much confirm the articles?" Cassie inquired with a frown, and both looked at her in surprise.
"Hm? You mean that I would be propagating those ideas? I am just defending my business and myself-"
"By restricting the product to a limited group of individuals because it is convenient to your feelings rather than a rational purpose, thus creating a form of selective business that would then violate the First Amendment and could also be reported negatively about because objectively wrong," Cassie argued once more, interrupting Jeffery and actually raising a good point since that would violate Angelica's right to have an opinion. "Jeffery, I can assure neither me or Angelica think that you are not that kind of 'fat' moron and are just a big-boned smart guy. There's no need to escalate this and you know that."
...
Jeffery looked uncertain, clearly upset that he would be giving up this 'last stand', but he conceded to them as he gave them the muffins. Angelica beamed and... apoligized.
"Y-You are not like those in the articles, Jeffy," The blonde admitted truthfully, "You're an exception to the rule and you are a good guy."
He rolled his eyes, but both girls could see a ghost of a smile creep on his face as the bunny said that.
After that encounter, both girls were back to the table with Charlie and Janie, but Angelica couldn't help but notice two issues. First, these two were looking at her oddly, with Charlie having an amused look on her face as she held back a need to snickers, and Janie just looked perplexed. The Second issue was that she felt she was 'sitting taller' than usual.
"Angie?"
A shiver went down Angelica's spine as she heard how close Cassie's voice was. And as she looked by her shoulder and saw her a head below hers, the bunny realized she had sat on her human friend's lap.
Without hesitation, she hurled a panicked 'sorry' and slipped away from that warm, comforting and smooth lap and into the unforgiving, cold and sturdy bench attached to the table.
That was embarrassing but... can anyone really blame her for finding Cassie's lap far better than the poopy bench at the table?!
When Beth had been told that part of the neighborhood was organizing a small BBQ party in the weekend to welcome them in the area, she hadn't expected for the one to organize it to be another old acquaintance from her past- and someone from her time in college at that!
Jessica was super-giddy to see how she was going, and while their family was greeted at the party in the dog girl's home, she couldn't help but notice that...
"That's a lot of kids you got, Jess."
"Yup, and I love them all a lot!" The dog girl happily beamed.
Beth couldn't fault Jessica since she was a strangely horny and yet very romantic individual. She always planned to have a big family, and that was what she had been saying for as long as they were in college, but to see her go ahead and actually get roughly six children, each quite young and bearing her 'childish' streak sounded like a nightmarish task.
As much as Beth loved her babies, she would have gone insane if they hadn't been born with a particularly 'modest' battery when it came to antics. And as much as she pitied Jessica, she could also tell the woman was fine with the difficult chore of keeping up with their needs.
Many familiar faces were there too, but some others were actually new one. The Swansons, the Keynes and even the Inez were definitely cordial people that were somewhat familiar with their kids through their own, with the Keynes in particular having 'nice words' for Cassie and, through the interactions both Beth and John could see between their daughter and little Angelica, it was quite clear they were hitting it off quite well.
At the same time, however, she didn't expect him to be there too. Fisk Black looked just like the last time she saw him. He was stable, happy and now with a loving wife and cute kids. In their last meeting, back when she was still single, Beth had been rather 'awkward' with him. She couldn't blame him for tensing up as she realized she was there but... he looked extremely relieved when he noticed her husband.
"John?"
"Fisk, it's been two months now," Her human hubby replied jovially, surprising both wives with that interaction.
"You know each other?"
"Well, we did a few jobs together, but he was more of the 'handler' while I was the one at the radio," John explained as he turned to the two women. "Which is why we were moving a lot around the States."
This last line was meant for Beth and she nodded at this. "And now?"
"Now I am technically not assigned to him anymore," The bespectacled human explained, finally getting a surprised look from Fisk. "They didn't tell you?"
"I only knew you were getting a promotion."
"With a desk job in here. And I can finally settle my family somewhere safe."
There was a hint of 'sadness' in Fisk's face. A rare occurrence, Beth was sure, but... he still smiled at this. "Good to hear that, bud. Still, I could get you to finally met Scarlet-"
"And get irked by her? Please not."
"She is not that bad," He argued and John snorted.
"Who is Scarlet?" Beth finally asked, and it was Elizabeth that answered after sighing tiredly. "Trouble?"
"Someone that Fisk mentored for a few years and... she has a thing about looking to harass stable family man. Not her fault, she got a lot going her way-"
"And too little obstacle by some people," Fisk added dryly. "She means well most of the time but she is definitely stuck."
This wording resonated with Beth's own past but... at the same time, that sounded like a threat to her stable life. So, the next line kind of left her dreading.
"She also lives a few blocks away. I suggest to not be surprised to find her while strolling about."
Well, that is indeed troublesome. At least the party was good...
AN
Beth has no idea on who Scarlet is. But John has an idea and... she's quite a gun-loving troublemaker.