Boredom.
If there was one emotion Nick felt as he sat in his final class of the day, chemistry, it was boredom. Well, that, and complete and utter confusion as he stared down at the equations, trying and failing to make any sense of them. Not for the first time that week (nor that month, actually), Nick couldn't stop himself from wondering why he needed to know any of this. Just as he was about to admit defeat, the piercing sound of the bell broke him out of his funk.
"OK, everyone, that'll be it for today," the chemistry teacher, Mrs. Butler, announced. "We'll take another look at this on Monday."
'Thank. DOG,' Nick thought to himself, shoving his books into his bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, the todd quickly made his way out of the room. Weaving in and out of other students moving around him, Nick made his way to his locker to grab the rest of his things. As he was opening it, he heard from behind him:
"Hey, Nick, wait!"
The red fox turned to see another student, a river otter, running up to him, slightly out of breath. They held out their paw, which was holding a sheet of paper.
"You forgot this."
Nick took the paper, looking it over and realizing it was the list of equations from chemistry. He gave a small smile. "Thanks, Emmitt."
"No worries." He readjusted his glasses before asking, "So, was it just me, or was class a little confusing today?"
"'Today'? Try since the first day of the semester," Nick retorted, shaking his head as he closed his locker. "It feels like she's speaking in tongues. I mean, science is bad enough on its own, but now we're putting math with it? Come on."
Emmitt shrugged as he and Nick started walking down the hall. "I don't know, I think science is interesting. The thing is, so many fields are closely related to each other, with chemistry at the center of most of them."
"I guess; it just makes no sense at all." The two of them reached the entrance and Nick turned to the mustelid. "Well, if you're able to figure any of this out, can you dumb it down and help me?"
Emmitt chuckled. "I'll do my best."
"Thanks." The todd looked down at his watch. "What's taking her so long?"
"Who? Skye?"
"Yeah, she should be…" Nick trailed off as he then saw his sister sitting on the school steps, talking with one of her friends. "…right there, apparently. I gotta go; see ya Monday, Emmitt."
"See you Monday."
With that, Nick went up to his sister, drawing the attention of Skye's friend. "Hi, Nick," she said, giving a small wave.
"Hi, Kris," Nick responded. "You doing good?"
She nodded. "Yep! Usually I feel sick when I'm in biology, but today I only dry heaved once, which is progress!"
Nick blinked slowly and looked at his sister, who just shrugged. "…That's good. Mind if I take my sister back?"
"Hmm, I don't know," Kris said mischievously, bringing her paw up to her chin like she was thinking about it. "I think I might just keep her and kiss her and love her and squeeze her and hug her and call her George."
Skye chuckled as she stood up. "As flatteringly creepy as that is, Kris, I need to head out; got drum lessons tonight."
The otter playfully sighed. "Oh, alright, if you must. Play good drums tonight." Before either fox could respond, Kris turned and left.
"There is something not quite right with that girl," Nick said, watching his sister's friend walk away.
"Dude, you're friends with Honey; you do NOT get to judge who I hang out with."
"…Fair enough." Nick conceded as he and Skye started making their way off the school grounds. "How'd you even meet her, anyway?"
"We have biology together," the vixen answered. "She threw up on the first day."
"Yikes."
"She claims that she had food poisoning that day, but she always looks queasy in there. Anyway, she was getting harassed because of it, so I decided to help her out, and the rest is history," Skye finished up as they reached the bus stop.
"Ah." Nick sat down at the bench, Skye joining him shortly. "For what it's worth, she seems nice."
"She is. Really funny, too, though I don't know how much of it is on purpose."
The todd nodded his head. "How's Fru Fru? I haven't seen her in a while."
Skye perked up at the mention of her friend. "She's doing well! She met someone, actually, and they seem to be hitting it off."
"Oh, yeah? Well, good for her."
The two of them continued to talk until the city bus arrived. Skye then stood, shouldering her bag. "Come on."
Swiping their bus passes, the two foxes were soon riding through the district, talking about their day. Every few minutes, Nick would look out the window to see where they were, an action that his sister noticed.
"What're you doing?" she asked.
"I need to get off at a different stop today," Nick answered.
"Why-" Skye suddenly stopped and gave an annoyed sigh in realization. "Don't tell me you're helping him out again today."
"Hey, we have the permits saying we can do it, and it's not like we're hurting anyone," Nick reasoned. "Besides, it doesn't hurt to have some extra money, y'know?"
Skye just shook her head. "Just stay out of trouble, OK?"
"It'll be fine, don't worry about it."
Eventually, they arrived at Nick's stop. As the bus came to a stop, he stood, shouldering his bag. "You have a good lesson, OK?"
Skye nodded. "OK. See you later tonight."
"See you tonight."
After getting off the bus and watching it disappear around the next block, Nick made his way down the sidewalk, dodging and weaving between other mammals. A few minutes later, he finally arrived at the spot, just in time to see a familiar fennec fox pulling out a popsicle for a customer.
"Here you go," Finnick said, giving it to his customer, a leopard who towered over him.
"Thanks! Have a good day."
Nick waited for the feline to leave before approaching the stand. Finnick noticed the red fox and smirked. "You're late."
"Well, I have this thing called 'school' that takes up the majority of my time," Nick replied sarcastically.
"I'm just hearing excuses, Wilde."
Nick rolled his eyes as he sat behind the stand next to his friend. "Any idea if Honey will be here?"
"Yeah, should be here in a few minutes," Finnick answered, nodding his head. "I think she's bringing Flash with her."
Nick smiled. "Cool. How're we doing so far?"
The smaller vulpine shrugged. "Pretty good, though I'm going to lose it if they keep calling me 'adorable'."
"But you are, though!" Nick said, smirking.
Finnick gave him an icy look. "Call me that again, and I'll bite your face off." He then looked away only for something to catch his eye, causing his angry look to be replaced with one of sheer confusion. "Is that Honey and Flash?"
Nick looked where the smaller fox was pointing and felt his brain short circuit. "Uh…looks like."
"…The fuck is she wearing?"
Nick could only shrug his shoulders helplessly as Honey, carrying Flash on her back like a backpack, came up to the stand and sat down on the half wall, holding a drink in her paw. The fact that she was wearing a lab coat wasn't concerning to Nick; what WAS, however, were the random red spots that covered it. Flash got off her as the honey badger turned to the foxes, seemingly not noticing their perplexed expressions. "Howdy, boys."
"…Hey," Nick greeted, waving a little to the eccentric badger. He then turned to Flash. "How's it going, Flash?"
The sloth slowly smiled. "I'm…doing…OK...Nick...How…are…you?"
"I'm fine," Nick said, smiling back. "How's track going?"
"Oh…it's…going…well…I finally…finished…the…hundred…yard…dash…today."
Finnick snorted. "Yeah, just took about four hours," he said sotto voce.
Nick quickly shushed the fennec before saying to Flash, "Good job, dude! You'll be breaking records in no time." Flash smiled at that. "Hey, so, can you keep a look out for any cops coming our way?"
"You…got it…Nick," the sloth answered, slowly sitting down on the other side of Honey. Finnick rolled his eyes as Nick then turned his attention to Honey, taking a sip of her drink.
"So…" the todd drew out, taking in the badger's appearance, "whatcha got there?"
Honey held up her Styrofoam cup. "A smoothie."
Nick sighed. "OK, let me rephrase that question: why are you wearing a lab coat?"
"And why is there blood all over it?!" Finnick interjected, a little unnerved.
Honey glanced down at the coat, looking at the red splotches on it and scoffed. "Please, it's not MY blood."
"WHAT?!"
"Actually, it's not blood at all," the badger added nonchalantly.
Finnick looked ready to tear his ears off. "THEN WHY-"
"Finn, Finn, calm down, I'll handle this," Nick interrupted, gently patting the smaller fox on the shoulder. He then looked at Honey and asked, "Care to explain to us why you're wearing a lab coat covered in…what are you covered in?"
"It's paint," she answered. "I was making a sign and didn't want to get any on my clothes. I was going to stand outside City Hall with it, but Dad stopped me."
"Why were you-" Finnick stopped as he realized what she was talking about. He sighed heavily as he ran his paws down his snout. "Don't tell me this is about that stupid Cudspiracy thing again."
"It's not stupid!" Honey exclaimed, giving a pointed look at the fox. "It's very real, and I've got the paper trail to prove it!"
"Yes, because a top-secret organization that has been pulling the strings to every major event for decades would leave behind evidence of their existence for anyone to see," Finnick said sarcastically.
"Exactly!" Honey agreed, not picking up on the fennec's tone. "They're hiding in plain sight! Those arrogant bastards…"
While this was happening, none of them noticed Flash slowly turning to them, trying to get their attention.
"Look, Honey," Nick started diplomatically, "I'm not saying you're wrong, but have you ever considered that you're-"
"Fuckin' crazy?" Finnick interjected.
"Hey!" the honey badger said indignantly.
"I was going to say, 'looking into this too much' …" Nick continued quietly, which was ignored by the others.
"Why are you looking for an invisible shadow government to hate? Just hate the government we already have!" Finnick told her.
"Oh, so I should just hate everything like you do?" Honey challenged.
"No, I just hate the things that actually exist."
"OK, you know what-"
"GUYS."
Everyone turned to Flash, startled by his interjection. Just as Nick was about to say something, his eye caught a mammal in a blue uniform standing in front of them. 'Oh, dammit,' he thought to himself, withholding a groan. "Can we help you, officer?"
The cop, a pig who stood a little taller than them, said, "Well, you see-"
She was cut off by Flash saying, "There's…a police…officer…coming…this…way."
Everyone, including said police officer, just stared at the sloth for a few seconds, nonplussed. Nick then gave him a thumbs up and said, "Cool. Thanks, buddy." He turned back to the uniformed mammal. "You were saying, ma'am?"
"I'm going to need some form of documentation saying that you can sell here," she said, giving the foxes a suspicious look.
Nick nodded. "Sure." He turned to Finnick. "You have them with you?"
To Nick's surprise, the smaller fox looked confused. "Have what?"
"The permits."
"Uh…" Finnick's eyes quickly looked around to everyone there.
Nick sighed and turned back to the cop, who was giving them an even gaze. "If you'll excuse us for a minute," he said as he grabbed Finnick and led him away from the stand. This left Honey, Flash, and the cop alone together, the honey badger giving a distrustful look at the pig. The officer noticed and was about to comment on it before she noticed Honey's attire.
"What are those stains on your coat?"
Honey shook her head in disbelief. "Everybody's making a fuss. OK, so…"
Meanwhile, a little further back from the table, Nick turned to the smaller fox beside him. "Finn, give me the permits."
"I don't have them."
"Ha, that's funny, no, seriously, dude, where are they?"
"I told you; I don't have them."
Nick's calm demeanor fell. "You left them at home?"
"No, I didn't get any," Finnick said, shaking his head.
It became deathly quiet between the two of them as Nick stared at the smaller fox in front of him, trying (and failing) to stay calm. "You didn't- Then why did you say that you did?!"
"Look, Wilde," Finnick began, shrugging, "I say a lot of things, but half the things I say are true, and half of THOSE truths are partially lies."
"…So, which one is this? A truth, a lie, or a half truth?"
Finnick just stared at him blankly for a few seconds before a smile began to creep up on his face. Nick's panic was quickly replaced with annoyance once the realization kicked in. "Finn, I swear, one of these days, I'm gonna punt you across the block."
"Sorry, Wilde, couldn't resist," the fennec admitted, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out the permits, all the while chuckling. "That's for calling me 'adorable'."
Nick snatched up the papers and turned back to the stand. "Little bastard…" he grumbled under his breath as he returned to the officer, who was locked in a one-sided conversation with Honey. "Here you go, officer, sorry for the wait," he said, rescuing her from the badger's ramblings.
"Oh, thank goodness," the cop said quietly as she took a look at the documents. After a few seconds, she gave them back and said, "OK, everything looks good. Just have these ready next time."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Thank you for your cooperation. Keep your noses clean," the cop said, though was looking at both Nick and Finnick specifically. She then turned and started walking away. Once she was out of range, Finnick snorted.
"That was fun," he said, smirking. Nick then reached out and yanked on his ear. "Ow!"
"You deserve that, asshole," Honey said, Flash slowly nodding his head in agreement.
"Oh, like you two wouldn't have done the same," Finnick retorted.
Honey gave some thought before shrugging while Flash said, "Of…course…not…I…would…never do…that…in front…of…a cop."
"Thank you, Flash," Nick said.
"You're…welcome…Nick." With that, Flash slowly turned away from the others. It fell silent between everyone before Finnick spoke up:
"Slick, remind me again why we have a sloth as our lookout?"
"Because he's the only one who will put up with both of your guys' bullshit," Nick immediately answered, pointing between Finnick and Honey.
"…Yeah," the honey badger conceded.
"…That's fair," Finnick agreed.
Nick was about to add something when Flash said, "And…yours…too…Nick."
"And I'm glad for that, dude; you keep me humble that way," the red fox said, taking a seat next to Finnick. It was silent between the four of them until Honey broke it:
"Do you think I could hack the ZIA?"
"Bitch, in what world?" Finnick blurted out, immediately sparking a discussion between them. Flash gradually turned to them and slowly joined in.
Nick sighed as he leaned forward on the table, rubbing his temples. Never a dull moment with these guys.
This was going to be a long day.
Skye set her sticks down on the drum, stretching her arms behind her head. Her lesson had started over half an hour ago, and after her warmup, she had been playing practically nonstop. She looked over at her instructor, a bobcat named Jay, who looked to be deep in thought. "How was that?" the vixen asked, a little out of breath.
Jay nodded his head. "It definitely sounds better; I can tell you worked on it a lot. Just keep an eye on that left paw," he raised his to demonstrate, "it looks like you're still tensing up a little. You need to relax if you want to get it up to speed."
Skye sighed a little; it's always that damn left paw. "OK, any tips?"
"Just slow down and use your fingers more; practice the motion until it feels comfortable," the feline said, playing on the drum in front of him to show her. The two of them tried it together, and after a few minutes, Jay waved his paw, signaling her to stop. "How does that feel?"
Skye shrugged. "A little weird, but I think I've got it."
"Good." Jay then checked his watch. "OK, let's move on. How're your rudiments coming?"
"Fine, I guess," Skye said. "Still don't really see the point of them, though."
The feline chuckled. "Trust me, I get the feeling, but they will help out with fills and the like. Let's hear them." Skye then proceeded to go through each one, and about five minutes later, Jay waved his paw again. "Sounding good. OK, we have a few minutes left; is there anything that you want to work on?"
Skye thought about it for a few seconds before she said, "There's the song my friends and I are writing."
"Oh, yeah, that's right, you had mentioned that," Jay said, sitting up more in his seat. "Any progress on it?"
"I guess?" the vixen answered, giving a small shrug. "It's just hard to write and practice together when we live so far away."
"Sometimes it's like that," Jay said, nodding his head sympathetically. "Do you want to show me what you've got for the drumbeat?"
Skye nodded and readied herself, taking a breath. A moment later, she started to play. While not a complex part (she's played more difficult parts than this), this was the first one she was writing herself. A few minutes later, she came to the end. The vixen glanced at Jay, who had a small smile on his face. "What do you think?"
"I think it's got promise; love the energy to it," the bobcat answered. "I just wish I could hear the other parts though, for context."
"Yeah. Honestly, we haven't even tried it yet as a full band."
"Hmm…" Jay leaned back in thought before snapping his fingers. "How about this: your friends come down often, right?"
"Yeah," Skye answered. "They're actually coming down tonight for the weekend."
"OK, so, maybe not tomorrow, but the next time they come down, why don't they tag along? We can move the lesson to Saturday or Sunday; just let me know ahead of time," Jay offered.
Skye perked up, all excited. "Wait, really?!"
"Heck yeah," the feline confirmed. "I want to hear this song of yours." He then stood, stretching as he did. "Alright, we're out of time today; you know what to work on?" At the vixen's nod, he added, "Then I'll see you next week, OK?"
"OK!" Skye packed up her sticks and books, shouldering her bag and standing. As she was about to leave, however, she heard Jay call out behind her:
"Oh, hey, I nearly forgot: front desk wanted me to tell you to remind your mom to send in payment."
"OK, I'll text her now," Skye said, pulling out her phone. She sent a quick text before pocketing it again. "Alright, see ya, Jay!"
"See ya! Get home safe."
With that, Skye left and made her way outside the building which housed the studio Jay worked at. Once her feet hit the pavement, she couldn't help but jump in the air, doing a fist pump in excitement. "YES! Yes, yes, yesyesyesyesyes!" She then realized that everyone walking by was staring at her, giving weird looks. She gave a nervous laugh, feeling embarrassed, quickly walking away. A few blocks later, she pulled out her phone, dialing a certain striped bunny's number. After a few seconds, he answered:
["Hello?"]
"Yo, it's Skye; guess what?"
["Skunk butt."]
The vixen rolled her eyes, but still wore her smile. "I just got out of my lesson; Jay wants to hear our song!"
["Wait, really?!"]
"Yeah! Not tomorrow, but whenever you guys are coming down again, he said you guys can come with me."
["Sweet! Would we need to bring anything?"]
"Nah," Skye said, shaking her head. "We've got all that we'll need here. Well, OK, Jo would need to bring her violin, but that's it."
["OK, cool, we'll tell her that she's welcome to come with us next time."]
The vixen was approaching the bus stop now. "OK, I need to go now, but we'll talk more when you guys get here."
["Totally! See you tonight, Skye!"]
"Bye!"
Skye ended the call and put her phone away, sitting down on the bench. She could not help but smile at the thought of playing their song for her teacher. Outside of her family and Jack and Judy, Jay was one of her biggest supporters when it came to drums. 'Even if didn't feel like that at first,' the vixen thought, remembering their first lesson together, where the bobcat was brutally honest with her about her playing:
"OK, you've definitely got chops, I'll give you that," Jay began after Skye finished playing for a few minutes, "but your technique is sloppy, your tempo is all over the place, and there was no sense of dynamics. Let's fix all of that."
While what he said definitely hurt, after the lesson had finished, she realized that her playing felt better, so she decided to keep doing them. Each week, though, it felt like Jay had done nothing but criticize everything she did:
"Tempo's off. Start it over."
"Your left paw is wandering on the drum; keep it in one place."
"What was that? Are you even in the right spot? Do it again."
Skye tried to push through all of it, though it was starting to wear her down. Some days, it was hard to be in the same room with him; other days, she flat out hated his guts. Then one day it all came to a head:
Skye ran down the sidewalk, dodging and weaving in between mammals around her. She had been having a rough week; what, with school just piling on assignment after assignment right before exams, more hurtful notes getting stuck to her locker, and it getting closer to the one year anniversary of…well, it was a bad week.
So, naturally, the bus took off without her, leaving her to have to run all the way to the studio; she was already running late to her lesson, so why not make her day worse? Skye could already hear the smartass remarks from Jay about it…
Finally, she reached the building, quickly stepping inside, ignoring the greeting from the front desk and racing down the hall to the drum room. Skye practically burst through the door and saw Jay sitting at one of the drum kits, scrolling through his phone. He looked up, startled at the sudden sound, though he relaxed when he saw who it was.
"There you are, was beginning to think…" he trailed off as he took in the vixen's frazzled appearance. Skye didn't notice.
"What, that I wouldn't show? Sorry, but I missed the bus and everyone decided that today was the perfect day to go for a stroll," she said, not realizing how sharply and tensely it came out.
Jay had a concerned look as she sat down at the other kit. "Is everything-"
"So, ready to get started?" Skye interrupted, her voice starting to shake. The vixen opened her bag, reaching in to grab…a textbook. She froze.
Her sticks were in her locker at school. She forgot them.
Skye couldn't remember everything that happened immediately after, though she's pretty sure that she threw her bag across the room. What she DID remember, though, was sitting against the wall with her knees pulled up to her chest, and Jay sitting next to her, his arm around her shoulders as she cried.
After a few minutes, Jay asked, "Rough day?"
"Rough w-week," Skye corrected, taking a deep breath. "I-I'm sorry, I-"
"Don't worry about it," the bobcat reassured her. He paused before asking, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Skye sighed as she ran her paws over her ears. "It's just…school sucks, y'know? And my classmates suck, my teachers su- everyone just sucks, OK?"
Jay gave a small chuckle. "Do I suck?"
"Only sometimes," Skye said, giving a small smirk.
"'Sometimes', huh? Darn, guess I need to try harder," Jay said in a joking tone, which managed to get a little laugh from the vixen. "In all seriousness, I'm sorry you had a bad week, and I know that I can be, you know…difficult, but if you ever need someone to talk to…"
Skye was silent for a beat before she said, "My dad died a year ago next week. I guess I didn't realize that it would hurt that much. He never even heard me play drums…"
"I think he'd be proud of your progress," Jay told her. "I know I am."
Skye looked at him, surprised. Before she could stop herself, her arms shot out and wrapped around him, tearing up again. After a moment, the bobcat returned the hug, the two breaking it off a few seconds later.
"So, anything fun coming up?" Jay asked her quietly.
Skye sniffed as she wiped her eyes. "Um…well, two of my friends are playing a show at a festival in two months."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah," the vixen said, nodding her head. "It's their first big show, actually."
"You going?" the feline inquired.
"Of course, I am."
"Good. Be sure to tell me how it goes."
Skye nodded her head again, feeling a little better. "OK." She then glanced at the clock above the door and sighed. "Well, we just wasted fifteen minutes of the lesson…"
To her surprise, Jay just shrugged. "Do you feel up to playing right now?"
"…Not yet…"
"Then I can wait."
The two of them sat there for the rest of the hour.
Skye smiled at the memory. The next lesson went on as if nothing had happened, but things had changed between them. Jay would still nitpick, still make little remarks about her playing, but she didn't let it bother her anymore.
She had gotten his praise; that was enough.
The sound of brakes caught her attention, and Skye looked up to see the city bus finally approaching. She shouldered her bag and boarded the bus, sitting in an empty seat. Just as the bus started moving, she felt her phone vibrate. Pulling it out, she saw a text from Judy:
['We're going to play our song?!']
Skye giggled at the bunny's message and started to text her back, talking with her the rest of the way home. About thirty minutes later, the vixen reached the apartment building. Getting off the bus, she made her way up to the apartment, entering it and locking it behind her. Setting her bag down by the couch, Skye sat down and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she eventually heard the door unlock. She opened her eyes to see her brother walking down the entry way. "Hey, Slick," she greeted, letting out a yawn; she must've fallen asleep.
"Hey," Nick said, dropping his bag in the hall. "How was your lesson?"
"It was pretty good," Skye answered. "How was business with Finn?"
"Eh, it was fine, though I wanted to strangle him and swing him around by his ears," Nick said, sitting down and leaning back on the couch.
"…So, the usual?"
"The usual. Honey didn't help, either."
Skye's head tilted in confusion. "Wait, Honey was there?" Nick nodded and proceeded to explain everything that had happened. Once he finished, she scoffed. "Wow. They were really arguing about that?"
"Yep," Nick confirmed. "They were really going at it."
The two of them stared silently at each other before Skye smirked. "They like each other."
"Oooh, yeah," Nick agreed, chuckling.
Skye giggled a little when she remembered her call with Jack earlier. "Oh! I almost forgot: Jay wants to hear the song we're working on!"
"Wait, really?!" Nick said, sitting up in excitement. "The one you're working on with Jack, Judy, and Jo?"
"Yeah! I think we might work on it more tomorrow," the vixen said.
"Do you guys have a name for it, yet?"
"Dude, we don't have lyrics."
"So? You can always change the name once you write some."
Skye thought it over and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. But I don't even know what to call it." That instantly got a mischievous smirk from her brother. 'Oh no…'
"How about 'Aliens on Motorcycles'?"
The vixen sighed. "No."
That did not discourage the todd. "How about 'Atomic Donut'?"
"No," she answered again, though she was starting to smile.
"'Tangerine Rollercoaster'?"
"No." Skye rubbed her eyes, giggling now. "Are you done yet?"
"Not even close," Nick said teasingly. This caused his sister to roll her eyes as he kept suggesting names.
Vivian let out a breath as she finished wiping down the table. Looking over her work, she nodded to herself in satisfaction, grabbing plates and dishes to bring them back to the kitchen. The restaurant just hit its rush, and everyone was barely keeping up with the influx of diners. She reached the kitchen, setting down the dishes to be cleaned.
"Hey, Viv. Little help here?"
She turned to the voice and saw an otter struggling to hold up a stack of plates. Rushing over, Vivian grabbed the top half and brought them to the sink. Placing them down, the mustelid sighed a breath of relief.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome, Sam." Vivian rubbed her eyes, suddenly tired. "It's not even 6:30 yet, and I feel like I'm going to drop."
"Tell me about it," the otter agreed. "Apparently it's going to get worse next Friday."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. The local high school is having a big game next week, and they reserved that night for after the game."
Vivian sighed. "Great."
Sam shrugged. "Hey, as long as they're paying for it, I won't complain. Much." Before she could say anything else, the two of them heard someone bark out their names:
"Vivian! Sam!"
They turned to see the head chef, a pig wearing a stained apron, glaring at them. "What are you two doing back here? Get back to work!"
"Yes, sir."
"Sorry, Gerald."
Vivian and Sam quickly left the kitchen, making their way up front. "Asshole," the otter muttered under her breath.
"Just let it go, Sam," Vivian said to her. "Just a few more hours to go."
Sam sighed. "Right." She looked at the entrance to see a new group of customers. "I'll take this group."
"OK. Take them to table twelve; that should still be good to go," the vixen told her. Sam nodded and went to greet the group. With no one up front and no other tables to bus, Vivian took a moment to take a seat and catch her breath. She reached down to rub her feet; they've been killing her lately…
"Excuse me?"
Vivian looked up to see two mammals standing at the entrance. She put on a smile and stood. "Welcome to Rainforest Riviera, how many do we have tonight?"
Work went on for a few more hours, until finally, Vivian reached the end of her shift. Signing out, the vixen said goodbye to Sam and stepped outside the restaurant. Taking a deep breath, she made her way to her car. On the way, she heard her phone start ringing, and she brought it out to see Bonnie's contact on the screen. "Hey, Bon."
["Hey, Viv. How're you doing?"]
"I'm OK, just got off my shift. What's up?"
["Just calling to let you know that Jack, Judy, and I are on our way, though we might be a bit late."]
"Everything alright?" Vivian asked, approaching the car.
["Oh, yeah. There were just some delays trying to get out of the station."]
"Ah." Vivian got in, setting her bag down in the seat next to her. "Do you have an ETA?"
["Um…"] The bunny trailed off, presumably to look at the time. ["Maybe around 10:00?"]
Vivian looked at the time and saw that it was already close to 9:00. "OK, that doesn't sound too bad. Do you want us to pick you up at the station?"
["No, thank you, I think we'll be fine."]
"OK." Vivian started the car, ready to leave. "Well, then I guess I'll see you guys in about an hour."
["OK. Bye, Viv!"]
"Bye, Bon."
Ending the call, Vivian backed out of the parking space, leaving the restaurant and beginning the drive home. Because it was later in the evening, she managed to make it back to the apartment building at a decent time. 'Small blessings,' she thought to herself. Parking in her spot, Vivian exited the vehicle and made it inside, taking the elevator up to her floor. After going down the hall, she entered the apartment, hearing her kits in the living room. She made it to the living room entrance just in time to see Skye laughing at something Nick was saying:
"OK, but what about this one: 'Days Where I Wish I Was a Slug'?" Nick asked.
"No," Skye answered, holding her stomach from laughing.
Vivian was beyond confused. 'What on Earth is happening?'
"'Violently Eating Grapes'?"
"No."
"How about-"
"NO."
"C'mon, you didn't even hear it!"
"…Fine."
"'AUGH! BEES'!"
"No!" Skye let out, unable to stop laughing. "We are not calling our song, 'AUGH! BEES'!"
"Um…" Both kits looked over at their mother as she added, "Do I want to know what you guys are talking about?"
"Skye asked me for song names, but she's being picky about 'which ones are good'," Nick explained, using air quotes. Skye just rolled her eyes, still giggling.
"Ah," Vivian said, still a little confused but dropping it. "Did you guys have a good day today?"
"Yeah."
"Yep."
"Good." Vivian then checked her watch for the time. "OK, I got off the phone with Bonnie about twenty minutes ago: she said that they will most likely get here at around 10. They're staying with us for the weekend, so you guys make sure everything's tidied up. I'll get started on dinner."
"Yes, momma," Skye said as she stood, Nick following her. As they went down the hall towards their rooms, Vivian couldn't hold back her smile.
'What did I do to deserve them?' she thought as she went into the kitchen and pulled out a pot for pasta.
Vivian lost track of how much time had passed when she heard a knock on the door. She looked at the clock and saw that it was just a little past 10:15, which meant…
"Hey, can one of you get the door? I think that's them," she called out to one of her kits.
"Yeah, I got it!" Nick yelled back from his room before heading down the hall. Vivian heard him open the door, greeting the bunnies and letting them inside the apartment. She turned and saw Bonnie, Jack, and Judy walk into the living room, Jack with his guitar.
"Hey, guys!" the vixen said as she stirred the pasta. "How was the trip?"
"It was fine," Bonnie answered as she set her bag down by the couch. She entered the kitchen as Jack and Judy immediately struck up a conversation with Nick and Skye. "Anything you need help with?"
Vivian shook her head. "I've got it here, thanks. And you just got off the train; relax for a bit."
The Hopps matriarch chuckled. "OK, fine. Oh! Almost forgot." She reached into her purse and pulled out a couple of envelopes. "The mammal downstairs asked me to bring these to you; they meant to give you these earlier."
Vivian quickly glanced at the small stack and immediately saw that the top one was a bill, withholding a groan. "OK, thanks. Can you set them down on the counter? I'll take a look at them tomorrow."
Bonnie nodded and set the envelopes down. She then turned to say something, only to see the vixen was starting to nod off. "You alright?"
"Hmm?"
"You look exhausted."
"Oh," Vivian let out a little laugh. "Yeah, I'm fine, just tired from work."
Bonnie sighed. "Viv, we've talked about this-"
"I know, I know," Vivian interrupted as she began to strain the pasta. "I've been meaning to change my hours, but there never seems to be a good time. I'll do it this week."
"Good," Bonnie said, relaxing a bit. "You've got to start taking care of yourself."
"I know," the fox reiterated to the bunny. Done with straining, she then started to mix in tomato sauce. "Dinner's just about done; can you get my kits to set the table?"
"Way ahead of you," Nick said, suddenly next to her grabbing plates and silverware. A few minutes later, everyone was sitting around the table, talking about their day and joking with each other. Vivian smiled at the sight.
All in all, just another day for the Wildes.