"Are you going to eat all my fries?" Jake glared down at Roscoe, who was slumped over the table sneaking fries from Jake's tray. "I dunno, probably," said Roscoe, helping himself to another handful of fries. Jake let out a sigh as he just slid the tray in front of Roscoe. "One day, you're gonna have to start paying me back." He slumped backwards in his chair, letting his ears droop behind him as he stared out at the sky above through the skylight in the ceiling of the food court. It was such a nice day out, he was contemplating telling Roscoe he was just saying screw it, and they should go do something else. The only thing stopping him was the thought of getting yelled at, and dragged back here by his mother later. "We could just bail," Roscoe said, finishing off the rest of Jake's fries, apparently able to tell that Jake was none too enthused about their task. "Pfft, yeah, that'll go over well," Jake groaned as he lifted his head back up. He lazily scanned the crowds around the mall around them. It was nice being here on stormy days when there was nothing else to do, but the sense of obligation and the subsequent beautiful weather was killing his mood. "Uh oh, look who we got incoming." Jake suddenly motioned to Roscoe, pointing into the crowd. Roscoe looked up to see a familiar sight. A tan, white-tailed deer in a blue hoodie was among the crowd, but that wasn't what Jake was referring to. Instead, it was the golden-furred dog that was with him. "Oh man... should we just leave?" said Roscoe. "I hate avoiding Jess though," said Jake. "Maybe he won't see us?" Though no sooner had he said that had the deer noticed them and was approaching, dragging the dog by the arm, who seemed reluctant. "Uh, hey guys..." Jesse said nervously as he walked up to the table. "Hey Jess," Jake and Roscoe said in unison, giving Sammy only a mild nod, receiving only a disinterested brief glare back. "I don't see you out in the wild much," said Roscoe. "What got you out of your hole?" "Well... it's my shoes," said Jesse, pointing down at his feet. His shoes did look tattered, and the sole was starting to separate on one of them. "My parents just want me to take my older brother's hand-me-downs, but they're too big, so Sam offered to buy me new ones." Roscoe and Jake both let out a hooting cat call as huge grins crept across their faces as Jesse quickly hunched up in embarrassment. "Keep your comments to yourself please," Sammy glared at them. "Why are you two here anyway?" "Well, funny you should ask," said Roscoe, patting Jake on the back. "Fluff-butts got a similar situation." Jake rolled his eyes and sighed. "Not exactly. I'm getting dragged to my aunts for a family gathering, and these..." he held his feet out, showing the faded blue and black sandals on his feet, "are the only things that still fit me, and my mom wants me to have something nice." "Well come with us then!" Jesse pipped up, smiling. "Oh, uh..." Jake looked up specifically at Sammy. "C'mon guys, I never see you any more outside of school," Jesse pleaded. Jake glanced over at Roscoe, who gave him a half-hearted shrug. "Yeah, sure," he nodded up at Jesse. "C'mon Jess, really?" Sammy whispered to Jesse. "Please be nice, okay?" Jesse pleaded. Sammy let out a deep sigh, "Alright. I can't say no to that face." "Are you done eating my lunch?" said Jake as he stood up and turned to Roscoe, who held up his hand to tell him to wait a second as he poured the remainder of the fry container into his mouth before discarding it on the table and following Jake. Despite being such a lovely day, the mall was absolutely packed with people, leaving the four to weave in and out of the crowds before arriving at the large department store at the end of the mall. The clothing department was on the lower level, with men's shoes being off to the side. "Alright, what are we looking for?" Sammy said as he turned to Jake. "I dunno," Jake rolled his eyes. "My mom said I need something that covers up my toes." "That's some very broad criteria," Sammy sighed, scanning the shelves. "What's your size?" Jake looked down at his feet, as if he was trying to measure them with his eyes. "Uh... big?" Sammy groaned, already regretting agreeing to this. "Here, take your sandals off and measure them," He shoved a foot scale into Jake's hands. "Sheesh, what crawled up your butt?" Jake said as he sat down, undoing the straps on his sandals. "What about you Jess?" Sammy said, turning his attention to Jesse. "Oh! I'm a size 10," Jesse said nervously. "Well make sure you still are," said Sammy, handing Jesse another foot scale. "Wh-what? Do I have to?" Jesse squeaked. "Not unless you wanna start trying sizes at random," said Sammy. "But... my feet..." Jesse cringed, clinging the foot scale nervously. "You don't have to be shy," said Sammy. "It's normal to take your shoes off in the shoe department." He turned to Roscoe, who was already barefoot, having propped himself against a bench with his feet up. "Some of us take that to extremes." "Pfft, shoes are completely pointless," said Roscoe, wiggling his toes at Sammy. "That's demonstrably untrue," Sammy folded his arms. "Protection, warmth... style." He grinned, looking down at his own loafers. "You call that style?" Roscoe laughed. "I call it imprisonment. Let ‘em free, man!" Sammy just stared at him disapprovingly. "I prefer to keep my feet nice and clean, thank you. What do your parents think about your care free choices?" "Meh, they don't care," Roscoe said casually. "I find that hard to believe," Sammy rolled his eyes. "Uh... hey Sam? I need a little help," Jake called out. Sammy turned to see him fiddling with the foot scale. "Seriously? What's wrong?" "It's too small," said Jake. His heel was pressed against the back of it, but his toes were spilling over the edge. "Wow, I knew rabbits had big feet, but I thought you'd still be on the scale," Sammy said, picking the scale back up. "Let me see if I can find a bigger one." "Uh, S-Sam?" Jesse was still standing where he'd been left, not having taken his shoes off. "This is going to be frustrating," Sammy sighed. "Can you give us a second?" "Um... ok," Jesse said nervously, stepping into one of the aisles. He looked down at his feet still clad in his worn-out shoes. The four of them were the only ones in the department, but there were still dozens of people scattered around the store. He let out a small whimper as he thought about taking his shoes off in front of anyone, let alone strangers, feeling like everyone would be staring at him, as he sunk down into the aisle. "Well, this is going smoothly," said Roscoe, grinning at Jake. "Har har," Jake sighed, slumping backwards in his chair. "I already regret this." "Me too. That's why I'm outta here," Roscoe said as he jumped up out of his chair. "Wait, you're ditching me?" said Jake, his head shooting back upwards. "Don't worry, I'll meet up with you later," said Roscoe as he started to walk away. "Wait! Ross! Don't leave me with him!" Jake jumped out of his seat, chasing after him. "Have fun with your new friend," Roscoe grinned as he disappeared around the corner. "Roscoe! No! Damnit!" Jake stomped his foot as he stormed back to the seat, crossing his legs and folding his arms, a scowl forming on his face. "Stupid... coon faced... ring tailed... bastard..." "Is there a problem?" Sammy had appeared again, holding an adjustable foot scale. "Let's just get this over with," Jake sighed, figuring Sammy wasn't all too thrilled about this either. "Fine by me," sad Sammy, kneeling down and taking one of Jake's massive feet in his hands. "G-goodness, you weren't kidding when you said big." "Yeah, no shit," Jake sighed. "Kinda common for rabbits." Sammy gulped nervously as he adjusted the scale against Jake's heel, taking his time to adjust it to measure his toes. "You enjoying yourself down there?" "W-what?" Sammy jumped nervously, taking his gaze off Jake's foot. "Dude, you keep fondling my foot," said Jake. "Are you ok?" "Uh, right, sorry," said Sammy, putting Jake's foot down. "You're a... uh... size 16 wide..." "Great, thanks... weirdo," Jake muttered under his breath as he stood up and moved toward the aisle. Sammy's gaze was fixed on his feet as he walked away, then shifting to his cotton tail peeking out near the top of his swim trunks. "Man... why are the hot ones so boorish?" Sammy huffed, adjusting his collar. ****************************************************************************** "The ultimate's night sleep?" Roscoe has wandered into the bedding department in his attempt to pass the time. "How does a mattress affect that?" The wording on a sales tag had caught his attention. He had never really thought about mattresses before, having never had the need to purchase one. His current sleeping conditions suited him fine. Why should he need to spend over a thousand dollars on a new bed? His curiosity getting the best of him, Roscoe climbed on top of the bed, letting his body rest on top of it. Instantly, a feeling of relief and comfort waved through his body. He let out an involuntary sigh as he felt his eyelids become heavy. He had never felt this comfortable in his life. Pulling the covers back, he slid his legs beneath them and rolled over, pressing his head into the pillows as he started to drift off to sleep. "Ahem!" "Mmf... just... 5 more minutes... Douglas..." "AHEM!!!" Roscoe's eyes opened once again to find a store associate standing over him, arms folded with a cross expression on his face. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep, but it had obviously been long enough to get the attention of store employees, and several confused customers who had circled around the bed. "We'd like to ask you not fall asleep on our displays, please," said the clerk in a slightly annoyed tone. "Well if that's your attitude," said Roscoe, throwing the covers off and stepping back onto the floor, "I'll take my business elsewhere." He walked away, letting out a small huff as his muzzle upturned, leaving the clerk and the other customers with a confused expression. ****************************************************************************** "Nope... nope... nope... wait, are these... nope." Sammy had flipped through several boxes looking for one that listed a size bigger than a 12. There were plenty of dress shoes to choose from, but not a single one came close to Jake's size. "This is pointless," said Jake, his ears drooping against the shelves as yet another row yielded no results. "Well nice shoes in this size are hard to find," said Sammy, not taking his eyes off the boxes. "Yeah? Well I've never had this problem before," said Jake, standing up and folding his arms. "When was the last time you had to buy shoes?" said Sammy, glancing up at Jake, who quickly became lost in thought. Sammy just rolled his eyes as he went back to scanning the boxes before giving up. "Damnit! These one's are a bust too." "Great," Jake sighed. "What am I supposed to do?" "Maybe we should try a big and tall shop?" said Sammy. Jake didn't say anything, instead just glared at him angrily. "Ok, I know that sounds stupid, but hear me out," said Sammy. "Hey Jake! These ones are a size 16!" The two looked up to see Jesse one aisle over holding out a shoebox for them. "Wow, Jess! Good find!" Jake grabbed the box from him excitedly, but upon opening it, was dismayed to find the same exact kind of sandals he had been wearing when he came in. ****************************************************************************** "No free samples?" Roscoe looked up at the sign above the rows of candy lining the walls. Customers were meant to fill bags for purchase by the pound. Roscoe didn't have the money for that, but the smell coming from the store was too enticing to ignore. The store was empty aside from him and the one clerk at the register who had taken very little interest in him. Other customers passed by the store, just glancing in, but none entered. Positioning himself so the clerk couldn't see him, Roscoe slid his hand into the container, grabbing a few gummy worms, and quickly popping them into his mouth. His tail waggled excitedly as he glanced back at the clerk, who still had taken no interest with him. He sidled over to the next container, swiping a couple malted milk balls into his mouth, and some peanut butter cups from the next one, and so on down the row of various candies. "What do you think you're doing?" Roscoe froze in place, his hand still in a container full of coconut filled chocolate. He turned to the clerk, who was now staring at him angrily. He tried to say "nothing", but only a muffled mess came through all the candy stuffed in his muzzle. "You gotta pay for that!" The clerk shouted at him. This was Roscoe's cue to leave, as he quickly ran for the exit, disappearing into the crowd of mall-goers. The clerk quickly gave up the pursuit, since she wasn't paid nearly enough to chase down a petty thief. ****************************************************************************** Jesse cringed as yet another person brushed by him in the aisle. He wished he could somehow be alone in the store. He needed privacy to do this. It felt like everyone was staring at him. He blushed nervously as he tried to turn his attention back to the rows of boxes. Why did he have to do this? He looked down at his shoe, thinking that it wasn't that badly damaged. Maybe he could just glue the sole back on? He was only doing this because Sammy had talked him into this, and now he had stupidly suggested he help Jake instead, and now he was on his own. Jesse was keeping his fingers crossed that he would finish with Jake soon. "OWWWWWWWWWWWW!" Jesse almost slammed his antlers into the shelf at the sound that rang out as he stood up and peeked over the shelves, seeing Jake lying on the floor with his leg in the air with Sammy trying to jam a shoe onto his foot. "Quit squirming!" Sammy growled as he tried to strain the leather shoe around Jake's heel. "OWWW! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!" Jake howled as he dug his fingers into the carpet. "Clench your toes!" Sammy pressed against the tip of the shoe trying to condense it. "I AM CLENCHING!" Jake cried, "YOU'RE GONNA BREAK SOMETHING!!!" "C'mon man! I've almost got it!" Sammy groaned as he tried to drape the heel of the shoe over Jake's foot. "STOP! STO-AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Sammy released the shoe, which dropped to the floor as Jake's toes mercifully uncurled and flexed. "Ok," Sammy sighed as he caught his breath. "Maybe 14 was a little too small..." "Ya think?" Jake snapped at him as he let out muffled groans as he tried to get blood flowing back to his toes. "Well we're running out of options!" Sammy snapped back at him. "I feel like we've searched the entire department, and that's the biggest..." he paused for a second, as Jake's leg was still resting against his shoulder, giving him a view right down the leg opening of Jake's swim trunks. "Uh... are you wearing underwear?" "What?" Jake glanced up, the question catching him off guard. "No, I don't need ‘em with these." "Oh... huh," Sammy nervously tugged at his collar. "Why?" Jake glared at him. "What are you..." It took him a moment to realize what Sammy was looking at. "Ah! Ah dude! Get off me!" He kicked Sammy away and rolled backwards, landing on his feet, pulling the drawstring of his trunks as tight as they would go as he stormed off, muttering ‘pervert' under his breath. Sammy just sat there, bewildered, glasses askew, and cheeks flushed. He straightened his glasses as he tried to compose himself. "So... I guess it's true what they say about guys with big feet." ************************************************************************ "RAAAWR!!! I COME FROM PLANET DESTRUCTION!!!" Small children were suddenly fleeing in surprise of the raccoon who had appeared wearing plastic play armor and brandishing two foam dart guns. The play area was soon littered with plastic blocks from Roscoe kicking over the various structures that had been built. "I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" He shouted, firing the remaining darts into the air, laughing manically. "Alright kid, let's go," a voice from behind Roscoe said as he felt someone grab him by the back of his shirt. "Woah! Hey! What?" Roscoe dropped the guns as he was yanked backwards by a rather large security guard who proceeded to drag him out of the store after pulling the toy armor after him. "Hey, c'mon, let's talk about this," said Roscoe as he was dragged out of the store. "We've gotten complaints from at least five different shops about you," said the guard, keeping his grip on the back of Roscoe's neck. "Well, y'know how it is," Roscoe laughed, trying to sound innocent. "I get it though, so I'll just be on my way." "I think we're gonna call your parents, kid," said the guard. "What! Hey, uh... let's not do that!" said Roscoe, squirming a bit more, but the guard's grip was too firm. "I mean, what's the point of that? Not gonna accomplish anything. You might as well just let me go, huh?" The guard remained silent as Roscoe was dragged through the crowds of people. "It would make your life easier, wouldn't it? Not worth making my life harder if nobody benefits. And it would save me from having to do this!" With a quick movement, Roscoe dropped to the ground, his arms slipping right out of his shirt before springing back up and dashing away as fast as he could. "Hey! Get back here!" the guard yelled, throwing the shirt aside and taking off after Roscoe as fast as he could, but keeping up with the young raccoon was proving difficult. Roscoe was darting through the crowd, thinking he had gotten away, only to be confronted by two more guards in front of him. With a nimble jump to the left, his feet landed on the railing. Managing to keep his balance, he pivoted around them, cutting onto a catwalk, running straight into the first guard. He managed to stop on the railing, looking over his shoulder to the lower level. Right below him was the mall fountain, which seemed like the best option to him. Taking a deep breath, Roscoe dove backwards off the railing, landing in the fountain with a huge splash, much to the surprise of the surrounding shoppers. Roscoe surfaced from the water, flipping his hair out of his eyes and catching his breath after having to land stomach first to avoid breaking his legs in the shallow water. "Well, hello there," Roscoe said with a smile to the two girls he had accidentally splashed with his landing. He glanced back up to the second floor to see his pursuers heading for the nearest stairwell. "Gotta go!" He jumped out of the fountain and took off running again, leaving a pretty damp trail behind him as he did. ************************************************************************ "I was not looking intentionally!" "Whatever!" Jake was doing his best to keep his distance from Sammy for now, flipping through boxes he had already checked. Sammy had taken to sitting in a quiet aisle, trying to cool off. He was all worked up after this, and was really wanting to go home at this point. "Uh... Sam?" Sammy glanced up to see Jesse standing over him, holding three different shoe boxes. "Do you wanna come to the dressing room with me so I can try these on?" Sammy stared at him quizzically for a second before it dawned on him what Jesse was suggesting. "Oh... Oh! Yeah! Absolutely!" He eagerly grabbed Jesse's hand and dragged him off to the dressing room. Jesse blushed slightly as he clutched the boxes in one arm as he was led into the dressing room. Sammy glanced around to see if anyone else was there as they stepped behind a curtain. "I thought these ones were- MMFPH!!" Jesse was cut off mid-sentence as Sammy pounced on him, pressing him against the wall as his muzzle met Jesse's, his tongue finding its way into his mouth. "W-w-what are you doing?!" Jesse squeaked as he managed to get a breath. "I really needed this," Sammy moaned as his hips began to rub against Jesse's as he started to undo his pants. "W-woah! W-w-w-we can't do this here!" Jesse whimpered and pushed Sammy back. "What are you talking about?" said Sammy, his pants falling to his ankles, revealing a large bulge in his briefs. "I thought that's why we came in here!" "I said I wanted to try on shoes!" Jesse whimpered. "I thought that was a lame excuse," said Sammy. "Nobody uses a dressing room for shoes!" Jesse let out a low whine as his gaze fell to his old beat-up shoes. "Aww, don't be that way," Sammy gently placed his hands on Jesse's shoulders. "You know I'm into ‘em." He began to gently nibble on Jesse's neck in a spot he knew he enjoyed. Jesse let out a small moan as he relaxed a little, but he quickly pushed Sammy off again. "No! We can't do this here!" "Aww c'mon!" Sammy whined. "I'm all pent up after dealing with your friend all day." "Yeah, I see the way you were looking at him," Jesse huffed, crossing his arms. "Can you blame me?" said Sammy. "How can you say that?" Jesse shouted. "Hey! Relax," said Sammy. "I mean, sure, he's hot. But he's also incredibly dumb, and dresses like a vagrant." Jesse didn't seem to be listening, instead slinking lower and lower to the ground. "Besides," Sammy propped Jesse up. "Why should I take any real interest in him when I already have someone way better?" "I'm not better than Jake..." Jesse let out a low whine. "You know me enough to know that if I thought that, I wouldn't bother," Sammy smiled as he perked Jesse's muzzle up, and gave him another passionate kiss. Jesse wanted to protest again, the rational part of his mind screaming that they could easily get caught, but he just felt so good with Sammy going at him like this. He relaxed his body as his small tail shook feverishly as Sammy's hand started to move into his pants. "Hey! Lovebirds!" Sammy and Jesse froze instantly at the sound of Jake pounding against the wall just outside. "Just thought I'd let you know I'm giving up, so once you're done playing hide the dog treat, I'll be outside," said Jake, followed by the sound of his footsteps as he walked away. Both parties in the dressing room decided to pack it in and call it a day with Jesse choosing a pair of shoes that were identical to his old ones. Jake was waiting for them outside the store with a massive grin on his face as they walked out. "Find what you were looking for?" he said smugly as Sammy shot him a dirty look while Jesse tried to hide behind Sammy. The sun was starting to set as the three emerged out of the mall. Jake yawned as he stretched, feeling like the whole day was a wash. "So... what are you going to do for your family gathering?" said Jesse. "Dunno," Jake muttered. "Maybe I'll just go barefoot. Hell, I'll just go naked and make it a whole outfit." "That would be an improvement over your current outfit," Sammy said as he rolled his eyes. "Pfft, you wish!" Jake shrugged him off as he glanced around. "Now where is Roscoe?" "Psst!" A sound behind them drew their attention to a bush that appeared to be moving. "Uh... Double R? Is that you?" Jake leaned in close, seeing a figure hiding in the bushes. "Oh! Hey guys!" Roscoe peeked his head out from the bush, a few twigs stuck in his hair. "What did I miss?" "Why are you in a bush?" said Jake. "And why are you all wet?" said Sammy. "And what happened to your shirt?" said Jesse. "What? What bush? I'm not wet. I never wear shirts. What are you talking about?" Roscoe quickly stepped out of the bush in front of the bewildered three. "But..." "We should leave," Roscoe ignored any more questions and quickly took off across the parking lot. Sammy, Jesse, and Jake merely exchanged confused glances and followed along after him. "So, is this kind of thing normal with you guys?" Sammy glanced over at Jake. "Kind of, yeah," said Jake. "Hmm, well I suppose it's good for a laugh," said Sammy. "Oh? Is someone getting into our groove?" Roscoe spun around with a smirk. "That's not all he got into?" said Jake with a massive grin. The two exchanged another cat call and a high five as Jesse blushed and hid behind Sammy, who tried to suppress a slight grin.