{
"submission_id": "1830812",
"keywords": [
{
"keyword_id": "388035",
"keyword_name": "absalom hoolock",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "4"
},
{
"keyword_id": "632",
"keyword_name": "age difference",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "29706"
},
{
"keyword_id": "2411",
"keyword_name": "alcohol",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "4425"
},
{
"keyword_id": "57",
"keyword_name": "bunny",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "114135"
},
{
"keyword_id": "983",
"keyword_name": "chris",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "1197"
},
{
"keyword_id": "463149",
"keyword_name": "chris kirster",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "3"
},
{
"keyword_id": "13045",
"keyword_name": "commando",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "478"
},
{
"keyword_id": "2487",
"keyword_name": "cruise",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "161"
},
{
"keyword_id": "37",
"keyword_name": "cub",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "286903"
},
{
"keyword_id": "1908",
"keyword_name": "cunnilingus",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "12942"
},
{
"keyword_id": "52455",
"keyword_name": "drunkenness",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "86"
},
{
"keyword_id": "235",
"keyword_name": "exhibitionism",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "14091"
},
{
"keyword_id": "126049",
"keyword_name": "fashion police",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "3"
},
{
"keyword_id": "123",
"keyword_name": "female",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "1107295"
},
{
"keyword_id": "1068",
"keyword_name": "f/f",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "8604"
},
{
"keyword_id": "12252",
"keyword_name": "f/m",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "6590"
},
{
"keyword_id": "697",
"keyword_name": "groping",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "6061"
},
{
"keyword_id": "216622",
"keyword_name": "hobart",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "1"
},
{
"keyword_id": "463138",
"keyword_name": "hobart tudhoe",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "2"
},
{
"keyword_id": "302",
"keyword_name": "jackal",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "12093"
},
{
"keyword_id": "409",
"keyword_name": "jake",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "1077"
},
{
"keyword_id": "90457",
"keyword_name": "jake cottontail",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "54"
},
{
"keyword_id": "25214",
"keyword_name": "katie",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "347"
},
{
"keyword_id": "463148",
"keyword_name": "katie kirster",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "6"
},
{
"keyword_id": "60683",
"keyword_name": "limo",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "44"
},
{
"keyword_id": "350822",
"keyword_name": "locksley minesing",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "3"
},
{
"keyword_id": "165",
"keyword_name": "male",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "1218066"
},
{
"keyword_id": "2996",
"keyword_name": "maned wolf",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "2823"
},
{
"keyword_id": "1853",
"keyword_name": "marsupial",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "5030"
},
{
"keyword_id": "463093",
"keyword_name": "mister gary creedence",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "1"
},
{
"keyword_id": "14107",
"keyword_name": "mitch",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "91"
},
{
"keyword_id": "203317",
"keyword_name": "mitch savours",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "5"
},
{
"keyword_id": "942",
"keyword_name": "m/m",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "51428"
},
{
"keyword_id": "420",
"keyword_name": "mouse",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "54916"
},
{
"keyword_id": "24817",
"keyword_name": "no panties",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "2390"
},
{
"keyword_id": "762",
"keyword_name": "nudity",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "47000"
},
{
"keyword_id": "3541",
"keyword_name": "opossum",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "4709"
},
{
"keyword_id": "416",
"keyword_name": "oral",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "68949"
},
{
"keyword_id": "473",
"keyword_name": "otter",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "36721"
},
{
"keyword_id": "490",
"keyword_name": "pantsless",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "1975"
},
{
"keyword_id": "463151",
"keyword_name": "poor fashion choices",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "1"
},
{
"keyword_id": "4679",
"keyword_name": "porcupine",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "2931"
},
{
"keyword_id": "186",
"keyword_name": "rabbit",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "141491"
},
{
"keyword_id": "152",
"keyword_name": "raccoon",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "37510"
},
{
"keyword_id": "112",
"keyword_name": "rape",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "32439"
},
{
"keyword_id": "3394",
"keyword_name": "rodent",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "35437"
},
{
"keyword_id": "47971",
"keyword_name": "sex party",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "41"
},
{
"keyword_id": "3364",
"keyword_name": "shirtless",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "5025"
},
{
"keyword_id": "109059",
"keyword_name": "spider monkey",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "101"
},
{
"keyword_id": "463184",
"keyword_name": "stephanie patterson",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "1"
},
{
"keyword_id": "43",
"keyword_name": "travis",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "373"
},
{
"keyword_id": "463150",
"keyword_name": "travis small",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "3"
},
{
"keyword_id": "56725",
"keyword_name": "underage drinking",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "157"
},
{
"keyword_id": "227",
"keyword_name": "underwear",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "43835"
},
{
"keyword_id": "7405",
"keyword_name": "virginity",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "1009"
},
{
"keyword_id": "43385",
"keyword_name": "vomiting",
"contributed": "f",
"submissions_count": "312"
}
],
"hidden": "f",
"scraps": "f",
"favorite": "f",
"favorites_count": "61",
"create_datetime": "2019-03-04 01:31:40.084878+00",
"create_datetime_usertime": "04 Mar 2019 02:31 CET",
"last_file_update_datetime": "2022-09-13 14:39:49.746663+00",
"last_file_update_datetime_usertime": "13 Sep 2022 16:39 CEST",
"username": "Mizzyam",
"user_id": "292651",
"user_icon_file_name": "81180_Misternivens_avatar.gif",
"user_icon_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/81/81180_Misternivens_avatar.gif",
"user_icon_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/81/81180_Misternivens_avatar.gif",
"user_icon_url_small": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/81/81180_Misternivens_avatar.gif",
"file_name": "2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.doc",
"file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/2629/2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.doc",
"file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/2629/2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.doc",
"file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/2629/2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.doc",
"thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/2629/2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/2629/2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/2629/2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.jpg",
"thumb_huge_x": "300",
"thumb_huge_y": "192",
"thumb_large_x": "200",
"thumb_large_y": "128",
"thumb_medium_x": "120",
"thumb_medium_y": "77",
"files": [
{
"file_id": "2629570",
"file_name": "2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.doc",
"file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/2629/2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.doc",
"file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/2629/2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.doc",
"file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/2629/2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.doc",
"mimetype": "application/msword",
"submission_id": "1830812",
"user_id": "292651",
"submission_file_order": "0",
"full_size_x": null,
"full_size_y": null,
"screen_size_x": null,
"screen_size_y": null,
"preview_size_x": null,
"preview_size_y": null,
"initial_file_md5": "0d51baf7194e08824aeed5e0446e5008",
"full_file_md5": "0d51baf7194e08824aeed5e0446e5008",
"large_file_md5": "",
"small_file_md5": "",
"thumbnail_md5": "dd21a33b98afeb642e604388e759b5e7",
"deleted": "f",
"create_datetime": "2019-03-04 23:18:56.747451+00",
"create_datetime_usertime": "05 Mar 2019 00:18 CET",
"thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/2629/2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/2629/2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/2629/2629570_Mizzyam_cub_cruise_part_1.jpg",
"thumb_huge_x": "300",
"thumb_huge_y": "192",
"thumb_large_x": "200",
"thumb_large_y": "128",
"thumb_medium_x": "120",
"thumb_medium_y": "77"
},
{
"file_id": "4173558",
"file_name": "4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs.png",
"file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/4173/4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs.png",
"file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/4173/4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs.png",
"file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4173/4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs.jpg",
"mimetype": "image/png",
"submission_id": "1830812",
"user_id": "292651",
"submission_file_order": "1",
"full_size_x": "3064",
"full_size_y": "1958",
"screen_size_x": "920",
"screen_size_y": "588",
"preview_size_x": "300",
"preview_size_y": "192",
"initial_file_md5": "afa15eae9c7b5fa1a39be9063bce146a",
"full_file_md5": "5ddbac28e6b71a450e975e2f1663b46e",
"large_file_md5": "6280470b2d42375ac189a71c62d2eeaf",
"small_file_md5": "c910d5bced26310bd5b69727487de278",
"thumbnail_md5": "3e3f50a8af65b300156bbbdf74176da6",
"deleted": "f",
"create_datetime": "2022-09-13 14:39:49.746663+00",
"create_datetime_usertime": "13 Sep 2022 16:39 CEST",
"thumbnail_url_huge_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4173/4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_large_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4173/4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs_noncustom.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_medium_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4173/4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs_noncustom.jpg",
"thumb_medium_noncustom_x": "120",
"thumb_medium_noncustom_y": "77",
"thumb_large_noncustom_x": "200",
"thumb_large_noncustom_y": "128",
"thumb_huge_noncustom_x": "300",
"thumb_huge_noncustom_y": "192"
}
],
"pools": [],
"description": "[center][b]Disclaimer:[/b][/center]\n\nThis work of fiction is the product of joint collaboration with three other writers, with no intention to be shared beyond this site or sold in any way. It is merely the collective effort of a small group of friends having fun. As such, it's contents will not be suitable for most audiences. If you have issues with the following themes, please refrain from reading beyond this page.\n\n[center]Themes this role-play may contain:\n\nnudity and humiliation\t\nrape of underage characters (cubs)\ngroup sex (gang-bangs)\t\nconsensual sex between cubs\nexcessive nudity\nsex between cubs and adults\ngraphic violence\nalcohol and drug use\npsychological abuse\nsexual and medical abuse\nand more...[/center]\n\n\nThis list is subject to change as the story progresses. If you agree to these terms, we hope you enjoy the fruits of our labors. As an additional note, I would also like to add that to an extent (decided at my discretion) this RP, and future/past ones I maybe post, can all be considered roughly canon. Event-wise, if not backstory-wise. That being said, this is also quite experimental, so I welcome commentary on our performance. XD\n\nOne more thing: Neither me or my partner knows what getting drunk is like, so if we bungled that scene hilariously to an experienced drinker, we appreciate your suggestions. ^^",
"description_bbcode_parsed": "Disclaimer:
This work of fiction is the product of joint collaboration with three other writers, with no intention to be shared beyond this site or sold in any way. It is merely the collective effort of a small group of friends having fun. As such, it's contents will not be suitable for most audiences. If you have issues with the following themes, please refrain from reading beyond this page.
Themes this role-play may contain:
nudity and humiliation\t
rape of underage characters (cubs)
group sex (gang-bangs)\t
consensual sex between cubs
excessive nudity
sex between cubs and adults
graphic violence
alcohol and drug use
psychological abuse
sexual and medical abuse
and more...
This list is subject to change as the story progresses. If you agree to these terms, we hope you enjoy the fruits of our labors. As an additional note, I would also like to add that to an extent (decided at my discretion) this RP, and future/past ones I maybe post, can all be considered roughly canon. Event-wise, if not backstory-wise. That being said, this is also quite experimental, so I welcome commentary on our performance. XD
One more thing: Neither me or my partner knows what getting drunk is like, so if we bungled that scene hilariously to an experienced drinker, we appreciate your suggestions. ^^",
"writing": "[center][b]Disclaimer:[/b][/center]\n\nThis work of fiction is the product of joint collaboration with three other writers, with no intention to be shared beyond this site or sold in any way. It is merely the collective effort of a small group of friends having fun. As such, it's contents will not be suitable for most audiences. If you have issues with the following themes, please refrain from reading beyond this page.\n\n[center]Themes this role-play may contain:\n\nnudity and humiliation\t\nrape of underage characters (cubs)\ngroup sex (gang-bangs)\t\nconsensual sex between cubs\nexcessive nudity\nsex between cubs and adults\ngraphic violence\nalcohol and drug use\npsychological abuse\nsexual and medical abuse\nand more...[/center]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis list is subject to change as the story progresses. If you agree to these terms, we hope you enjoy the fruits of our labors. As an additional note, I would also like to add that to an extent (decided at my discretion) this RP, and future/past ones I maybe post, can all be considered roughly canon. Event-wise, if not backstory-wise. That being said, this is also quite experimental, so I welcome commentary on our performance. XD\n\nOne more thing: Neither me or my partner knows what getting drunk is like, so if we bungled that scene hilariously to an experienced drinker, we appreciate your suggestions. ^^\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[color=#6aa84f]In the Springwood Mall food court, Gary Creedence sat nibbling on a churro with little interest in food. The gray mouse was wearing a pink dress shirt with a white bow tie and black slacks. His dress shoes were well polished. From a distance, some would think he also had glasses on. This was just the white fur rings around his eyes. The rodent was constantly looking at his watch and around the room of shoppers. He was never good at being patient. There was still fifteen minutes until his client was due to arrive, but he was a very punctual man. Time was money, and the sooner things can get to work the better. \n\nHe took another bite of the cinnamon covered pastry when the phone in his shirt pocket buzzed. He took it out and smiled at seeing the name of the caller.\n\n“Hey! Wasn't expecting a call from you at this time,” Gary answered cheerily. “I thought you be busy with the... Oh, Yeah. That makes sense... Uh huh... Yeah, I am sorry about that. You know it's been slow for us the past few years, and the office moving... yeah, we settled in just fine... Thanks, I will tell her. And you can tell Lindsey later when she arrives. She'd be there already if she didn't have a commercial to film today... Yes, I was just about to tell you about this.”\n\nGary had gotten up while talking and walked towards a corner of the floor court so he can view the whole room easier as he talked. So no one can eavesdrop. \n\n“This place has been great. Quite the find. It's an old town, but has a lot of everything you'd want. Historical and modern all at the same time. And we already got some very eager clients that have potential. Particularly the one I am hopefully sending to you... Yes, her name is Katie. A river otter... She is working solo.. Yeah, walked in the door by herself. Seems she didn't want her dad knowing that she was wanting to work with us... Oh ho ho. She is a looker, no worries there. I guess you haven't checked your messages for awhile... Yes that's the one... Yes! That's her! Amazing right? That was all her doing. Only instructions I gave was to dress up using the clothes we provided in the wardrobe and do whatever she thought was needed to get every man's attention to win a competition... Ha, yeah. She gets my vote for sure... She is a bit of a valley girl type, but thankfully smarter than that. She is obviously knowledgeable and knows some-... No, she doesn't really know everything about what we do. Nor the 'convention' she is attending... She knows that there will be a lot of things going on that would make her dad upset... Yes, I'm certain she is aware that those kind of things will be happening. I pretty much asked her to go to this 'get together' as a representative of Little Bits, and to maybe even offer help for those who might be new and not understand what is wanted of them... Yes, I gave her that offer as well. If she brings others to help entertain the guests, she will be treated as a full paying guest herself... Yeah, we will see how that works out... Ah, yes. Those other pictures are of another client. Her name is Stephanie, but apparently she is called Rose by other kids... I know, I just thought she was cute and would be a nice spicy addition for the more adventurous... completely unaware... same excuses as I gave Katie. They are all going on a camping trip and will be out of contact for three days.”\n\nGary thought back on that encounter. The young child came into the office by herself just two days ago. She was shy and embarrassed, but also strongly determined. Gary already knew what the story would be. Stephanie was a porcupine. A species that were constantly shunned simply for the potential harm they can accidentally cause. Rose was kept at the back of lines, parents would not let their children play with her, and she was constantly teased for her cheap thrift store clothes. Since her quills had to puncture through the back of all her shirts and jackets, her family could only afford cheap clothes that had to be replaced often. Stephanie was hoping to be popular and make more friends if she was seen in ads and maybe even television.\n\nGary knew that porcupines were actually popular in adult magazines, all due to them being perceived as untouchable. For a lot of males, the idea of 'You can look, but not touch' will drive them crazy with lust. Of course, he did not tell the cub this. He gave her the same questions and audition as he had done with Katie, and Stephanie was a lot more conservative. However, Gary gently and cheerfully explained how model shows worked backstage, and that she would have to change clothes in the open in front of other models and parents and agents. Rose shyly bit her lip and looked to the floor embarrassed, but Gary saw he hands form fists and her feet stop fidgeting and firmly plant themselves. The girl was refusing to run away and was determined to stay.\n\n“You will also likely need help getting into clothes, due to your spines,” Gary carefully added. “To help ensure the clothes are not harmed as much as possible, and to ensure that you do not accidentally poke anothe-”\n\nThe cub had started to remove her clothes before he could finish that last point. It was something that clearly bothered her, and she was wanting to show that was not going to be an issue. And just like that, she was now standing in front of him completely nude. She trembled both from the cool air and the embarrassment, her clothes lying on the floor at her feet. Gary got up and wiped away the dampness that was forming under her eyes.\n\n“Good girl,” the mouse spoke with a soft tender voice. “Good. You will do anything to get work, I can see that. And I think I already have a job for you this coming weekend.”\n\nGary's thoughts came back to reality as he saw movement on the other side of the room.\n\n“Oh, I think I see Katie now,” Gary said into the phone. “... Same. Talk later.”\n\nGary was not a tall man, and just barely saw the distinct color of the otter's hair weaving among the tables and other people in the food court. He waved his hand for her to notice. He was eager to meet her friends. He quickly sent a text out to the driver that was waiting in the garage.[/color]\n\n---\n[color=#5b9bd5]It was indeed Katie that the mouse had spotted, her unmistakable pony-tail bobbing up and down as she bounced along. Today she was dressing up rather fancy though, with a sparkly scrunchie in her hair, and an equally flashy, one-piece dress that both accentuated her lithe figure and left her fuzzy thighs mostly exposed. Needless to say, the otter was dressed to impress, to the degree that she even wore make-up. If she were any older, people might’ve suspected her of being a prostitute, judging simply by her appearance, but thankfully she was only nine years old, and very clearly took the term ‘dressing up’ and exaggerated it to an almost embarrassing degree.\n\nOf course, the mustelid was impervious it seemed, to any sort of ridicule. Which made her quite popular at school. However… it also meant humiliation followed her everywhere, and ever since she’d set her eyes on Jake that first day, the poor buck had been dragged repeatedly into her orbit of influence. So, it should’ve been no surprise that, when Katie had found out about an acting audition for cubs, her inevitable ‘plus one’ ended up being a certain white rabbit. Whom even now, was being dragged along behind the otter after going through the ordeal of convincing his parents to let him go after he’d been pressed into accompanying her.\n\nBy some small miracle, Katie had made the proposal in the presence of her brother, Chris, prompting her sibling to sign up for auditions as well. For his plus one though, the boy had cleverly called on Mitch, for never had there been anything in existence as disruptive as that raccoon. And if his suspicions regarding his sister’s motives were correct, he would be glad to have brought that paranoid trash bandit along.\n\nAt the moment though, he was regretting it. Mitch hadn’t stopped talking about the plots of his favorite horror movies since they’d been dropped off at the mall. If not for the fact he was spoiling events in films he hadn’t seen yet, Chris might’ve been able to tune him out, but unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be a filter of any kind on the raccoon’s mouth.\n\nIt wasn’t until they reached the food court that the otter finally rounded on his masked companion to grasp his shirt and press their heads together as he locked eyes and said, calmly and kindly, despite the intensity of his actions, “That’s all really great, Mitch, but we’re here now, see? So stop talking pay attention, okay?”\n\nHe gave Mitch a big, forced smile before letting go and turning around again to catch up to Jake and Katie. With a scoff and a pointed effort to straighten his rumpled v-neck t-shirt, he muttered, “Eh, whatever.”\n\nFrankly, he’d been enjoying himself, even if Chris hadn’t, but now that he was thrust back into the moment of his current predicament, he was left wondering why he’d agreed to this. Although Mitch was quite skilled at acting, he didn’t have much interest in it beyond make-believe games. Being on camera was an opportunity to fool around, not read words from a script at the behest of some whiny, strict director. That was the opposite of fun, and if things came to that, he was prepared to pull some pranks for his own amusement.\n\nUntil then, however, Mitch followed his classmates from school, arms crossed over his blue sports jersey, with beige, long-sleeved cargo shorts sagging so low they completely covered his knees.\n\nUp ahead, dressed plainly in a blue t-shirt and red shorts, Chris met up with Jake again as he was being pulled through a crowd of shoppers, offering apologies and platitudes as he helped the buck through the milling masses. Although they seemed content to let Katie pass, they didn’t permit the rabbit the same clemency. Certainly it didn’t help that Jake was too meek to be assertive. So he couldn’t make his presence known, much less clear a path through presence alone.\n\nHe didn’t even want to be here, but once again, Katie had talked him into coming along. He hadn’t even signed up, but she said she was allowed to bring a friend, and she wanted him to come. No one else. So… how could he refuse…? Well, probably just by saying ‘no’, and sticking to it. But, saying ‘yes’ was hard enough. She was always so… insistent.\n\nAnd now here he was, wearing the nicest clothes he could find in his dresser—his Sunday best, a plain blue dress-shirt, brown khakis and black dress-shoes—and meeting up with their chaperone for the trip. A trip whose details still eluded him. All Jake was aware of, was some sort of acting agency being involved. He’d seen the sign-up sheet posted on the school bulletin board, but he never did more than look. It was Katie who actually signed up, and then, eventually, Chris as well. That was the only perk in this situation. At least he didn’t have to be alone with Katie. Not that he didn’t like her, but she had a tendency to get him involved in humiliating things.\n\nActing in front of a camera absolutely fit that bill in Jake’s mind, so he’d been stressed out about this inevitability ever since his parents agreed with little argument to his ‘crude’ explanation. They actually read the form he gave them though, so maybe they knew more than he did. He’d hoped they’d resist, honestly, but when it came to activities that put him in groups with other cubs, they rarely did.\n\nEventually they reached the middle of the food court, with Katie standing on her toes, on the prowl for a face she recognized. It didn’t take her long to find the mouse, but when she did, she gleefully declared, “Aha! There he is! See? I told yah he’d be here! Hiiiiiii Mister Creeeeedeeeeence!”\n\nThe otter called out from halfway across the court, waving one arm high in the air as she continued to drag Jake by his wrist, with Chris in tow, and a food-smell-distracted raccoon trailing behind. It was a challenge for him not to lose track of them, but although he failed to follow the exact same path, he still managed to keep up in the end, looking smug when he reappeared.\n\nChris, Jake and Katie had come to a stop before a rodent in a dress shirt and bow-tie. Hardly an impressive sight to Mitch, who was clearly expecting more.\n\n“Wait, this is the guy?” he snorted then, looking amused and disappointed at the same time. “He looks like some lame ol’ pencil pusher. What does he know about acting?”\n\n“Probably more than you,” Chris offered in rebuttal, but despite the lack of venom in his words, Mitch wrinkled his snout like he’d been personally offended. “C’mon, I’ve seen how you act when we’re playing. Ahem. Captain Nopants...?”\n\nAt the reference to his favorite pirate-themed character, the raccoon promptly scowled and crossed his arms again. \n\n“Better than yer lame supporting roles,” he sniffed.\n\n“Uhm… he does have a point,” Jake interjected then, to the surprise of both boys, “I-it’s just that… you sorta… you know… exaggerate a little, sometimes…”\n\n“What?! I don’t exaggerate! Are you kidding me?” Mitch exploded in a brief rage that was immediately snuffed out by Katie harshly hushing her group.\n\n“Shhhhhhhh! Would you boys pipe down?” she snapped, rounding on them to growl lowly at them through clenched teeth, “Don’t embarrass me in front of the talent agent!”\n\nThe girl immediately spun around again, leaving all three boys essentially stunned into silence, but it was Jake who muttered what they were all thinking.\n\n“Us..? Embarrass her..?”\n\nBoth Mitch and Chris snorted in their attempt to contain their mirth, but a brief glare from Katie ensured their compliance while she clasped her paws together and beamed up at the mouse with his ‘spectacle’ face markings.\n\n“Hi! You’re Mister Creedence, right? The agent we were supposed to meet? Remember me? I’m Katie!” she held out a paw for a handshake, ready to shake the heck out of it if he dared to accept. Meanwhile, she rambled on; “You said I could bring a friend, right? So I did! This is Jake! He’s a cutie! Oh… and this is my, eh... brother. He signed up to be with Jake, for some reason.” The girl fell silent for a moment then, until Mitch cleared his throat in irritation over being left out. “Ugh, oh yeah. And this is… some nameless trash panda that followed us. Just ignore him.”\n\n“Dude! I’m right here,” the raccoon barked with a glare.\n\n“Yes, I know, I can smell you from here,” Katie joked, giggling to herself for a few seconds before giving in with a sigh. “Fiiiine, this is Mitch, he’s okay at acting, but he didn’t sign up so it doesn’t count. He’s just my brother’s plus one, so you can ignore him.”\n\n“Yo, not better!” Mitch complained from the rear of the group.[/color]\n\n---\n[color=#6aa84f]“Hiiiiiii Mister Creeeeedeeeeence!”\n\nGary could only chuckle at the enthusiasm of the young lady running toward him. To add to his amusement, as well as his own retained enthusiasm, she was also dragging along a white male rabbit. And there was another otter following her as well. He was internally jubilant when he realized that a third boy, a raccoon, was with the group.\n\nHe held out his hand in greeting when the lagging stripe-tailed boy started to comment on his attire and professionalism. One of those kind of boys, Gary thought. The adult was still holding his smile and hand out as his possible future star turned on them all to be quiet. Katie quickly turned back around like nothing happened, taking his hand greedily as if they had never met and she was way too eager for a job. This was actually the thing he enjoyed about her. Katie might well do anything asked of her, if it meant a small piece of fame. She had already suggested as much in his office.\n\n“Of course I remember you,” laughed Gary, his voice vibrating due to his body being rattled from the fierce and excited handshake he was receiving. “How could I forget? And I see you brought friends, just as I suggested.”\n\nThe mouse took each of the boys’ hands as he was introduced. \n\n“Looking sharp there, little man,” he greeted Jake as he took the obviously shy boy’s paw. He gently shook Jake’s hand, noting how shy and insecure the boy was on first sight. There was another thing he noted, and that was that Jake was adorably cute. \n\n“Oh my. Might you two be twins?” Gary commented as he shook Chris’s hand. He gave Chris a more firm squeeze since the lad appeared to be more confident in himself. “I was going to ask if you two were brother and sister, if Katie had not said so. Twins tend to be popular for modeling and commercials.”\n\nThe adult took a step forward towards the boy Katie identified as Mitch. That kind smile was still on Gary’s face, but the mouse’s eyes suggested that he had worked with too many kids in his life to be surprised, or insulted, by the raccoon’s comments earlier.\n“Mitch is it?” Gary asked as he crouched down slightly so as to be eye level with the raccoon. “Or was it Captain NoPants? I think I might like the latter more.”\n\nThe gray mouse chuckled at his last statement.\n\n“What I do is to help young talent, like yourself, to be noticed by both the public and the many industries in need of it. I can get you a job modeling glasses for magazine ads, playing basketball in a shoe commercial, or even a spoken line for chewable vitamins. You could be a boy on a sidewalk as the hero runs by in an action film, or maybe even be rescued by Wonder Wombat. The girl that was in the burning building in that last Dark Bat film a few years back and was saved in the knick of time? She is one of my clients. She got to meet the stars of the film, and act alongside them for that scene. I heard she even got to go to a party after the shoot.”\n\nGary now held out his hand for Mitch.\n\n“Mister Gary Creedence of Little Bits of Hollywood, with over 20 years of experience in the industry. Nice to meet you.”[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#666666]Some people turned up half an hour earlier than the agreed-upon time for interviews. Others preferred to show up right on the dot, so there wouldn’t be any unnecessary waiting. And then, of course, there would always be the ones who were inevitably late.\nHow did that old nursery rhyme go again? There’s danger if I dare to stop and here’s the reason why: you see I’m overdue—I’m in a jackal stew; I’m late I’m late I’m late\nStupid song seemed stuck in his head for some reason as he vaulted laden tables and navigated aisles with reckless abandon; heedless of the startled and irritated patrons he was leaving in his wake. He was even feeling a little like Alice in Wonderland right now; and the fact that he’d come clad in an older sister’s hand-me-downs certainly wasn’t helping.\nThat train of thought had the diminutive jackal shuddering. Parents could be so unreasonable sometimes. So he had gotten a couple grease stains on his good shirt and torn some pants fooling around in the gravel pit—surely that wasn’t any reason to have to attend this…whatever…in girl’s clothing? Apparently, both elder Smalls had disagreed.\nServe ‘em both right if l get some cootie infection. That’ll show ‘em.\n“Sorry…’scuse me…comin’ through—oof!” Head currently turned to track the progress of an irate housewife brandishing a formidable looking umbrella at him, Travis suddenly found his forward momentum arrested by something solid and fuzzy. For a moment he saw stars, eventually regaining his senses seated flat on his rear peering up at three very familiar faces, plus—\n–a particular rabbit that’d occupied Lyle’s attentions for most of last year; one that he remembered...uh…inconveniencing… a time or two. As an ex-member of the avian’s coterie of cronies, Travis wasn’t one to forget faces in a hurry. Nor for that matter—judging from the look the bunny was giving him—was Jake. Accident though the collision had been, Jake probably had every reason to think the jackal had bumped into him on purpose.\nOh. Um. This certainly WAS awkward.\nFor a moment Travis entertained a fantasy of the floor opening up and swallowing him whole, girly hand-me-downs and all. “Sorry,” he found himself saying again; not really sure if he was apologizing for the accident, the events of the past year, neither, or all of them at once. Strange how one little word could make you feel like a terrible person. Was this what responsibility really felt like? Because if so, it totally sucked.\nFeeling himself not entirely up to the challenge of looking Jake in the eye, Travis settled for sizing up the others instead. Mitch’s claim that there were actually other people going to this thing seemed legit after all—here was an otter boy he sorta knew from school, a strange adult mouse he instantly pegged and dismissed as their chaperone, Mitch himself looking all too amused at the manner of his entrance, and…and—\nHis eyes widened, taking on a deer-in-the-headlights look of consternation. Paws automatically snagged hold of the raccoon’s jersey, attempting to steer them both to a location safely out of earshot.\n“Mitch—when you said we aren’t the only ones going to this thing I didn’t realize you meant there’d be—” the last word escaped almost as a squeak born of utter unimaginable horror. “—girls!”\nAnd not just any girl… an OLDER girl; if the dress and makeup were any kind of indication. Travis wasn’t sure if that made things better or worse. Speak of the devil—here were the others now, standing in a half circle that conveniently ruled out escape. Not that escape was ever an option anyway, given the nasty looks half the food court was aiming his way. Salvation from an angry mob would only come at the hands of their chaperone, or not at all. Travis knew when he was hosed.\nSighing, he reached into his oversized, sister-tainted T-shirt and fished out a surprisingly intact slip of paper, tugging the too-large shirt collar back into place from where it’d fallen lopsided across one furry shoulder as he did so. This he offered to the adult chaperone.\n“I’m…uh…s’posed to hand this to Mister Creedence? Sorry I’m late, commute was…” looking back at the messy aftermath of the food court, he did his best to ignore the totally unwelcome twinge of guilt upon his spine. “—awful,”.\nNot that he had any idea what it meant; or what a ‘commute’ even was—other than the fact that it sounded way cool when his Dad said it, and it seemed to excuse a multitude of faults at least where Mom was concerned. Maybe it would work its magic again.\nOne could always hope.[/color]\n---\n\n[color=#5b9bd5]The instant Mister Creedence had offered up his paw as a sacrifice, Katie had immediately pounced on it for an energetic handshake that included not one but both on her own little mitts, such was her enthusiasm for finally starting on the road to fame. She wasn’t totally blinded by her own dreams of stardom, of course. There was a reason why she’d practically begged on her knees for Jake to be her plus one. Because she wanted to share that fame with him; to maybe one day act out her fantasies on the big screen with her favorite little fluff muffin.\n\nIt had been all she could think about ever since finding out about the auditions for the talent agency. And though she’d been paranoid about her father finding out, her exciting flights of fancy had easily overridden the fear of getting busted by him. Besides she’d long since figured out how to play the man like a fiddle, so getting a signature out of him for this trip was quite literally child’s play. Heehee.\n\nThe broad grin on the otter’s face was as much from her fond memories of hustling her father, as it was from the very fact that she was here. Finally! Talking to the man who was going to whisk her and her soulmate away to a land of opportunity and fame. It had been a frustrating wait after her audition, and although she was certain she’d left him quite satisfied, there had still been lingering doubts. Maybe she’d been too forward. Too eager; too loud or too annoying.\n\nThus, she couldn’t have been more overjoyed and relieved when she finally received her acceptance letter. At least until she tried to rope Jake into being her plus one. Then Chris had to stick his big nose into her business and sign up right alongside her. Although he denied it, it was obviously a ploy to stay close to her little boo. That sting of jealousy was all too familiar, but she tamped it down and grudgingly released Gary from her vigorous handshake when he’d finally had enough.\n\nMuch as she wanted to hold on forever, he had to introduce himself to the other cubs, too. Unfortunately he made a beeline for Jake first. Even though the agent was a mouse, the sudden move towards him made the rabbit step back instinctively, only to be stopped by Chris, who was cleverly positioned behind him to block off his path of retreat. Left with no recourse, the buck was forced to raise his own paw to accept the offered handshake, although he did so with eyes cast downwards and ears flat against the back of his head.\n\nTimid as ever and unable to make eye contact, he was grateful for the man’s gentle grip. In truth, Jake was about as uncomfortable with the clothing he was wearing as he was about going on this trip with Katie. Even with Chris for moral support, he couldn’t completely overcome the anxiety of being dragged out of his comfort zone. The fact he was clearly overdressed—compared to everyone except Katie, anyway—certainly didn’t help, either. But then Gary had to comment on his attire, and just like that, a blush blossomed on Jake’s cheeks and radiated into his quivering ears, as he stammered an awkward explanation.\n\n“I-it was my Mommy’s idea… I tried to tell her it was a camping trip, but uhm...”\n\nOnce he was freed from the handshake, Jake’s paw quickly retracted to rub his neck awkwardly as he moved aside and away from the group slightly. Though Chris attempted to follow, he was held back for his own greeting. To the otter’s mild annoyance though, the first words out of Mister Creedence’s mouth were in recognition of his relationship to his sister Katie. The mouse was rewarded with a deadpan stare and a firm reactive grip to the adult’s stronger handshake.\n\n“Yeah. We’re related. Unfortunately,” he stated flatly, almost like he was bored, or… maybe distracted. He did seem to be keeping an eye on Jake nearby, but he was no less responsive when Gary claimed they’d be popular as twins. He’d still been trying to figure out just what Katie was hoping to get out of this excursion, when the talent agent practically spelled it out to him.\n\n“Modelling, huh?”\n\nSuddenly it made perfect sense why she was so desperate to get into this agency. For a show-off like Katie, a modelling career would certainly be an ideal occupation. Though he suspected she wouldn’t want to stop there. It was a talent business, after all, and his sister was nothing if not… talented. In a whole host of ways. Still, why the agency was sponsoring a camping trip was unclear. Perhaps it was a backwoods retreat or something.\n\nRegardless, it was clear to Chris that this particular excursion wasn’t going to be easy on Jake, who couldn’t even handle standing in front of his own class to give a presentation. No way could he stand in front of a camera with the knowledge that millions of strangers might see it one day. Even if the rabbit had any skills in acting, they’d be overridden by his anxiety. A fact which Katie seemed to consistently ignore. Or maybe she was just that oblivious.\n\nEither way, Chris planned to stay by his friend’s side, to keep him sane, if not calm. Hopefully this trip would be over sooner rather than later, though. As it was, introductions were going quickly, and once the male otter was released from his, he sculked closer to Jake again. Meanwhile, Gary’s attention had shifted to a scowling raccoon with crossed arms and a ‘touch me and I’ll bite you’ glint in his eyes.\n\nHe watched the short mouse crouch down to his level in greeting, but at first Mitch wrinkled his snout at the friendly gesture. To be fair, he was still ticked about being outmaneuvered by Katie, and looking for an opportunity for payback, so he was somewhat distracted. His ears were working just fine though, and they twitched gleefully when Mister Creedence showed his approval.\n\nThe man’s praise earned him a smirk from the raccoon, whose crossed arms loosened and then relaxed as he said, somewhat arrogantly, “Well, at least you have good taste, I guess.”\n\nThe agent explained his occupation in greater detail, for the benefit of the group, in case any were still unclear of why they were there, but Mitch just nodded along, half-listening as he stuck his tongue out at a quietly fuming Katie. She clearly wasn’t happy he was coming along, and that somehow made this whole inconvenience worth it, in his mind. He loved annoying the girls, in part because it was easy, but mostly because their reactions were priceless.\n\nThis whole trip reeked of boredom, though. Even Gary’s promises of being an extra in a movie weren’t that exciting. Mitch tried to disguise his disinterest, though, as he grudgingly accepted the man’s offered handshake.\n\n“You too, I guess. I mean, yeah, I suppose that sounds pretty impressive and cool but, man… I don’t wanna be some lame extra in a movie. If I was gonna do something like that, I’d rather be the superhero. Or like… some cool, butt-kicking ninja! With katanas and ninja stars! Yeah, see? That would be pretty awesome.”\n\nJust then, as Mitch’s arm was pulling away from the handshake, a disturbance arose from the food court, to the tune of clattering dishes and utensils as entire tables were relieved of their contents by a blundering whirlwind of scraggly-furred devastation in the form on one final, party member to join their crew. Despite the advance notice, everyone was still surprised by the jackal’s entrance, which involved cannon-balling a very startled Jake like he and his friends were a set of bowling pins.\n\nWith a choked off yelp, Jake was thrown forward into Chris’ arms, putting him off balance and making him stumble backwards. Unable to catch the rabbit, he fell back into the nearest wall, while Jake twisted mid-fall to land on his back with a sharp grunt. He laid flat on the floor staring up at the food court’s ceiling for a few stunned moments before snapping out of it to sit up on his elbows. A million and one possible causes for what had just happened crossed the buck’s mind in an instant, but none of them really prepared him for the sight of one of Lyle’s former lackeys.\n\nThe flicker of recognition in Jake’s eyes quickly swelled into fearful paranoia as the rabbit scrambled backwards across the floor, bumping into Chris’ legs just in time for his friend to reach down and help him back to his feet. The otter was less than amused, and the same could be said of Katie as well, but where the otter twins and Jake were shocked by the sudden arrival, there was one cub who was tickled pink.\n\nThree scowling faces were giving Travis the silent beat-down of a lifetime when Mitch suddenly leaned into view and jumped out in front of them like a shield. He was entirely focused on his quarry though, grinning from ear to ear as he reached an arm out to help the jackal up.\n\n“Duuuuude, you made it! I mean, you completely wiped out like a total scrub, but hey! You’re here! And to think I was worried you weren’t gonna show up. But I said to myself, I said, ‘noooo way would the T-bomb stand me up, cuz him and me are ti—”\n\nBefore Mitch could even finish his… lengthy greeting, Travis was grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and dragging him several feet away in a quiet panic. Still wholly amused by the pup’s dramatic arrival, it took him a moment to register his buddy’s complaint, but once he knew what had Travis so on edge, the raccoon happily used it as fodder to get back at Katie.\n\n“Ugh, I know, right? Girls are the worst. Sorry man, I’m in the same boat. Just try not to breathe the same air as her or you might catch a Cootie Cold,” Mitch snickered in obvious amusement.\n\nBy now Katie was practically fuming, and trying very hard to hide it in front of Mister Creedence, but she wasn’t doing very well. Chris could see it, and even Jake was not oblivious to the anger. This was an unexpected event, one clearly engineered by Mitch, but it wasn’t the rudeness of his arrival, his abuse of her crush, or the fact she now had two trouble-makers to deal with, that made her lose her cool. Oddly enough, it was the form Travis pulled from his shirt that was the last straw.\n\nAs he was handing the form over to Gary, Katie intercepted, snatching the paper out of the jackal’s paw and pinning him down with a seething glare.\n\n“Awful doesn’t even begin to describe it!” she hissed, “Look at what you did! You’re worse than a trainwreck! Why are you even here? An’ how did you get th—” Katie’s glare narrowed and shifted to Mitch who grinned sheepishly. “You! This is all your f—” She stopped again and her anger shifted to Chris next, inadvertently putting Jake in the line of fire as well. She was ready to chew out her brother as the true source of all her problems, but she was hopelessly disarmed by Jake’s timid gaze.\n\nHe didn’t get to see her angry often, as it only occured when her best laid plans had been sufficiently blown out of the water, but fortunately it rarely lasted long when Jake was around. Katie had to take a step back, breathe in deeply, and exhale long and slow, to calm herself, before re-engaging ‘party mode’. A warm, apologetic smile came over her, but she still hadn’t quite come down from her angry roost, which was clear in the underlying tone of her voice.\n\n“Hah.. I’m sorry. Got a little worked up there. I’m just really looking forward to this trip, and I’d like it you guys wouldn’t…” Katie’s eye twitched slightly as she abandoned that thought and practically glided back to Travis to snatch him up by one of his ears, pinching it painfully as she pulled him forward and slapped the paper against his chest before shoving him towards Gary. “Try to be a little more careful next time, okay?”\n\nShe was smiling still, but it was superficial as she disengaged from the situation and stood beside the talent agent looking cute. Mitch and Travis were left in mutually stunned silence until the raccoon elbowed the jackal and nodded towards to agent. “Go on, dude.”\n\nWhile he waited, Mitch gave Katie a bemused look, still amazed by how quickly he was able to trigger her this time. She must’ve been really excited about this trip to turn so ugly at the drop of a hat. It only meant one thing to him, though. This was gonna be a fun trip. Especially with Travis in tow, now.\n\nThough Katie was surprisingly quick to admit defeat, Mitch was still paranoid that the agent might refuse, so as Travis was handing in his form, he casually claimed, “Soooo... yeah, this guy’s my plus one.”\n\nOnce the jackal was by his side again, Mitch confidently wrapped an arm around him, to show they were buds.\n\n“Wait, how does that work?” Chris chimed in finally, to point out the obvious. “You’re my plus one. You can’t have a plus one, too!”\n\n“Plus one two? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, this is a talent agency, right? This guy’s suuuuper talented. I mean just look at what he accomplished!” he boldly declared, sweeping an arm dramatically to display the dying chaos that had followed Travis’ arrival. “Carnage like this isn’t easy to achieve, you know!”\n\n“Ugh! You’re so annoying, Mitch!” Katie blurted abruptly, surprising herself before railing on, “You and your little lap dog. Why are you even here? You hate Drama class.”\n\n“Au contraire, mon frere, I hate rules and teachers,” Mitch retorted smugly.\n\nIt was quickly becoming clear that if their verbal attacks continued, things might get out of hand. So it was no surprise then, when Gary himself finally intervened.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#6aa84f]As Gary listened to the boasts of the raccoon, he could hear the commotion of the preteen hurricane coming their way. Instinctively, the rodent glanced towards the chaos and was able to step out of the way of what he thought was a girl. It was not until the crazy kid ran into Jake and fell down that he saw that it was boy. A very unkempt boy; and of course Mitch knew him.\n\nMister Creedence was about to speak up when Katie's rage boiled over onto the two trouble makers. Gary took another step back so to observe this sudden interaction. After all, its best to know how your client's truly are. The otter was fuming, but she quickly turned back into the happy girl he knew. This would have seemed odd, but the adult saw the true reason for the change for he saw her looking at the cute rabbit cowering behind her brother.\n\n“Okay, Okay,” Gary spoke firmly with his hands palm out as a sign for all to calm down. He took the paper from Travis, but did not look at it. “I think we all better leave before we draw too much attention. Please, follow me.”\n\nAll about the room, annoyed and angry eyes stared upon the small group. Parents with crying cubs, teenagers giving the middle finger, a senior ram with a pizza stain on his suit, and a few more walking away who were obviously looking for a person to complain to. It was, indeed, time to leave.\n\nGary carefully placed a hand on Katie's shoulder to point her towards a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY, and waved for the four boys to follow. Pushing open the door, the otter and mouse entered a plain mustard colored hallway. There were other doors lining the walls, and posters preaching about work safety. Gary turned Katie toward her left, leading her to the end of the hallway. A door was here with a red EXIT sign over the frame.\n\nPushing this door open revealed an underground garage for mall staff and store deliveries. It was wide and spacious, dimly lit with rows of old concrete pillars stained dark from years of exhaust. There was a heavy smell of trash and gas fumes in the air. The sound of delivery truck engines could be heard as they were being unloaded of their wares at an upraised dock, and numerous cars of all kinds were parked about. There was also one car that stuck out like a pineapple in a box of raisins.\n\nA jet black stretch limousine. The luxurious car was taking up two parking spaces right in front of the door Katie stepped out of.\n\n“Get in the back of the limo, children,” instructed the short mouse as he held the door open for them. He enjoyed hearing their surprised gasps, and seeing their faces as they saw the ride they were about to get into. All except that cute rabbit. It was a good thing that Chris did come along, or Jake might not have even stepped into the garage. Let alone the limo. The rodent quickly followed, and got into the back of the car and shut the door. Him getting in last and closing the door was apparently the cue for the driver. The long car lurched forward just seconds after the door shut.\n\nThe inside of the limo was like that of a fancy dining room or hotel conference hall, just that the ceiling was four and a half feet from the floor. The inside was colored white with gray trim, making it almost match Gary's own face. The backseat was like sitting on a soft couch, with similar couches lining the walls. The windows were curtained with light blocking fabric, so that no light could get in. Also making it impossible to see out. At the far end of the car was a flat screen television, already turned on, with two gaming consoles set in a shelf next to it. Gary was not surprised to see that Mitch and Travis were already investigating that set up. He also saw Katie was oddly looking away from the others.\n\nNext to each door was a thin mini fridge, and a larger mini fridge on the opposite side of the TV from the consoles. Gary opened up one and pulled out a half sized can of coke and an even smaller sized bottle of rum. He opened the can and took a sip before pouring the contents of the bottle into it. He took a seat beside the lone girl in the car.\n\n“There are drinks and snacks in the large fridge. Help yourselves,” Gary cheerfully suggested to the boys as he put his own drink down in a cup holder. Putting a hand on Katie's shoulder, he carefully drew her towards him so he could see her. Just as he thought, her make up covered cheeks were now muddy from tears. But she was not crying. Gary knew that her sudden emotional shifts in the last five minutes had simply been too much to fully control, and that her body was just relieving itself as she calmed down. He positioned himself so that his back was towards the boys over at the console. Blocking their view, he pulled out a handkerchief and gently dabbed at her face, using the opportunity to also take off some of the makeup as he dried her fur.\n\n“There now,” the man whispered so that only those by him could hear. “Some males are just like that and can't be helped. And I'm sure you already knew there will be more like them, and maybe worse, this weekend.”\n\nGary finished cleaning Katie's face, and put the now rainbow colored handkerchief away. He then placed a calming hand onto the girl's thigh and gently rubbed as he continued to whisper to her.\n\n“You also know first hand that there are a lot of fun, nice boys and men. Like me. Oh, and like Jake. You're going to have so much fun this weekend. You are such a nice young lady, don't let the pestering of little boys ruin your fun.”\n\nAfter a small, reassuring squeeze to her leg, the mouse got his drink and moved over to the other side of the car and sat across from Katie. After taking a long gulp from his can, he took out the paper he was handed earlier from the scruffy dog and looked over it.\n\n“Travis, is it?” Gary said aloud, but not really looking for a confirmation as he read over the information. He folded the paper and placed it back with the other forms. He was about to ask about the choice of clothes the canine boy was wearing, but decided best not to bring it up. He was sure the child was from a low income family. And the lack of grooming, on the boy's tail especially, was not appealing. Definitely not a cub Gary would have called back if this was a more formal meeting. Gary considered questioning both Travis and Mitch about what it is they want from his services, and what it is that they really wanted out of this weekend retreat. How much did Katie say about this weekend to them? Did all of them think it was a camping trip? In the end, he figured that it did not matter. They were here now, and they would learn eventually.\n\n“We have one stop to make before we can go to the convention center,” Gary said happily. “So make yourselves comfortable and enjoy the ride.”\n\nGary then looked over towards Mitch with a smirk.\n\n“So why do they call you Captain NoPants?”[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#666666]Travis reclined against upscale leather upholstery, absently rubbing at a smarting ear. Though they did not look it, otter claws were sharp—knowing his luck he’d have another rip to add to the tally of battle scars the following day. Why did girls have to be jerks?\nMitch more than made up for that, he supposed. On top of the game, as always. Watching the verbal sparring match between raccoon and otter was better than any tennis match. And as for the way he himself had felt when the older kid had flung an arm about him and proclaimed them best buddies…the less said about that the better, because no actual words could possibly have sufficed. Basking in that offhand approval just felt so good, and he didn’t doubt that if Mitch had told him to jump off a bridge then he’d have totally gone and done it—no questions asked.\nKatie—now there was a totally different kettle of fish entirely. Already not a fan of girls in general from the start, everything about the otter’s take-charge attitude seemed to rub him the wrong way. It didn’t help that their shared membership in the Gymnasts club (parents had insisted; his own opinion had failed to register…as always) meant that they butted heads most days, certainly enough times for people to get to know each other really well. As older and ranking gymnast, Katie certainly hadn’t been subtle in her opinion of Travis as a screw up. She nagged and teased him at practice mercilessly…although maybe not nearly half as bad as how she bossed poor Jake. Kid must’ve had the patience of a saint, to put up with something like that without complaint.\nAs funny as it’d been to see the normally in-charge girl lose her cool, things had veered from fun to alarming the moment she’d rounded on him and gotten her mitts on his ear. That’d been wrong on so many levels. Girls weren’t supposed to get physical or play rough.\nAll things considered, it could have gone much better. Fortunately, their designated adult had read trouble brewing in the winds (or perhaps in the restless mob) and opted to get them out of there before somebody found one of the many rent-a-cops. Not a moment too soon, Travis had heaved a sigh of relief when they’d passed out of earshot, leaving the commotion behind. Since then he’d been too hopped up on raw adrenaline to even notice where they were going, allowing the restricted corridors and Staff-Only signages to pass without comment.\nTheir ride was pretty fly though, no doubt about it. He’d seen limos before on the TV, they kinda resembled the hearse Dad drove, except way longer. Even the inside smelled rich: new leather and pine freshener and maybe just a hint of what his dad called Old Spice. In other words, completely different from the usual combination of formaldehyde and hospital-quality bleach that characterized the family car. He’d spent a moment looking from Gary, to the car, and then back to Gary again—the startling revelation even taking his mind off the arguments from before. Who knew Gary was THIS rich?\nNonetheless, the universal preschool admonition to never get into cars with strange men had him hesitating at the door; and by the time he’d reacted to Mitch’s telling him to get his tail in gear, most of the good spots (barring impolitely inserting oneself in-between others) had been taken… A development which determined their current seating arrangements: Travis sandwiched between Jake on one side and Chris on the other; neither of the pair looking any more enthusiastic about this prospect than he was.\nChris was giving him what amounted to a fisheye—which; he supposed, was kinda understandable given the otter’s position as class monitor and the events of last term. But also rather unfair too, as he’d never intended for most of that to happen. Stuff just did.\n“Your sis really has an arm on her,” he informed the glowering otter. That was what you did to defuse awkward situations right? Make small talk.\nIt did not seem to be having much effect on that quarter, and so Travis swivelled with a drowning fur’s desperation to try his luck with Jake, taking in the rabbit’s neat formal attire at a glance. “Your mum picked out’cha clothes for ya too, huh?” He accompanied this observation with a friendly bro-punch, the kind that books and visual media purported to always happen around buddies. “Yeah, me too—sucks, doesn’t it?”\nProbably NOT the best thing to do to a nervous herbivore in hindsight. Especially if said nervous herbivore was presently accompanied by a no-nonsense bodyguard with an unfortunate lack of humor. “Whoa—cool it! Jus’ tryin’ ta be nice is all…Sheesh,”\nWith the prospects of friendship possibly dashed beyond repair, he settled for leaning back into the seat fully prepared to sulk for as long as the ride took, if not longer…\n--a resolution; apparently, that lasted ALL of fifteen seconds.\nWhoa! This car actually had a TV? And also a fridge—a fridge with actual food in it and not blood bags he wasn’t supposed to touch. And a game system, and—\nWas that a bona fide, remastered copy of Dog of War 3? The game the Parents Association collectively labelled the Worst Influence on cubs since Grand Theft Otter? One look at the gratuitous violence from its Youtube trailer (of which he’d snuck a peek over Sachel’s cousin’s shoulder) and the pup had been sold. Too bad that parents failed to see things the same way.\n…and here it was—the laminated case depicting its axe-crazy, canine protagonist in the act of ripping a gorgon’s head from its neck—less than a FOOT away from his eager, twitching paws. Jake, Chris, and the absolute fiasco in the food court dwindled away to a mere distant memory. Not even Katie’s presence registered in comparison to that. Heck, every girl in the gymnastics team could’ve been crammed into that limo alongside them and he wouldn’t have batted an eye.\n“Gimme!”\nNot so very surprising then in retrospect that it took a moment or so for Travis to realize that the chaperone had in fact been addressing him. “Yep. That’s me,” he agreed, arms crossed in unconscious mimicry of Lyle—a gesture which hopefully accomplished the dual objectives of making him appear tough AND also hiding the design of his shirt from view. Serviceable and appropriate wear for any sort of field trip though it was—the Smalls wouldn’t have sent him out in it otherwise had he not looked halfway presentable—everything about it from the glittery picture to its scratch-and-sniff perfumey smell just seemed to scream ‘girl’. Not even the madcap rush to join the others had done anything to improve it in that regard.\nNobody had said anything about it yet, however…which led the pup to hope that somehow in all that earlier noise and confusion it’d escaped Mitch’s eagle-eyed notice. Never the sort to look a gift horse in the mouth, he meant to take advantage of this minor miracle and not let it be seen from this point on if he could help it. “Travis Small—of Small Saints Mortuary? Mum’s State Coroner, Dad runs the place. An’ I ain’t a plus-one, n’matter what the wonder twins say,” the boy motioned towards the slip he’d handed off to Gary. “Got signed up an’ everythin by Nurse Pritchard at the clinic, letter came a coupla days later. Some stuff about an invite on ol’ buzzard’s reko..recommendations? With papers an’ stuff for dad to sign. Wasn’t gonna show neither; till Mitch here said he was goin’ and I should come as well. So here I am,”\nThinking about the clinic and its nurse’s cold, clammy paws dampened some of the excitement of being in a limo thoroughly equipped with the latest entertainment system money could buy. “I…I go there a lot,” he admitted in a tone of voice usually associated with people confessing they still wet the bed. “For somethin’ or other—don’t know, don’t care,” suiting action to word, Travis glowered at everyone and no one in particular, as if daring any of them to laugh.\nEvery word true…albeit true in part. What the Smalls didn’t—and would likely never know, was that their youngest hadn’t been sick a day in his life. Everything thus far had been smoke and mirrors, a game devised by a certain paediatric aide which allowed her free and regular access to some of the choicest clientele in town: information which she was not unwilling to share with interested parties…for the right price. And all that information—most of it in the form of typed code and shorthand of course—rested innocuously somewhere within the set of official papers Travis had handed over without a second thought, hardly suspecting how it’d affect him later on.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#5b9bd5]By the time Gary had placed a paw on Katie’s shoulder, the otter had lost her smile again and was quietly bristling with the urge to continue her verbal warfare with Mitch. That touch, thankfully, put out the fire in her heart; on the outside anyway. She appeared to relax and smile again as she was led along by the older mouse, even leading the way ahead to push on the heavy door leading into the Employee’s Only section. Unfortunately she struggled to push it open all the way without his help.\n\nFollowing behind, in appropriate order, was Jake and Chris, the pair mumbling to each other quietly as they hurried to catch up. The buck in particular wasn’t comfortable at all with so many eyes on him and their group, but one concern was of much greater importance to him now.\n\n“C-Chris…? Why is he here? Why him?” he whined softly to the older otter using his body as a shield against the angry glares following them into the off-limits corridor.\n\n“Ugh… I don’t know, Jake. I’m really sorry. Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea involving Mitch…” he groaned under his breath.\n\n“But… h-he had his own sign-up form,” he worried, the gears of paranoia already beginning to turn, “What if… Mitch told him I was going and then—w-what if he’s here to pick on me again?!”\n\n“No, I don’t think…” Chris started to say, before losing confidence in that line reasoning. Clearing his throat, he tried a different approach, “Look, Lyle disbanded his gang. He was just one of his lame minions that did whatever he was told. I don’t… I’m pretty sure he isn’t here to bother you. And if he is, well… uh… y’got me, okay? I won’t let him bother you.”\n\nIt was clear the fear was real, and Jake certainly had no reason to assume otherwise, considering Travis’... greeting, but Chris furrowed his brow in thought as they walked down the hall behind Gary, to the tune of clicking heels as Katie pranced along ahead of the agent, her stumpy high-heels announcing every gleeful step. Glad she’s happy again, he thought bitterly, maintaining his protective embrace with Jake. This whole thing was a terrible idea, but they were all committed now. No going back.\n\nJake was increasingly aware of that fact, as every step brought him closer to the moment of truth, and further away from the semi-comfort of his usual life. He hated going on trips. Especially camping trips. Though to be fair, most of his experiences involved Summer camps, where he would be picked on by other campers. This didn’t appear to be any different to him, so he wasn’t exactly going in with high hopes.\n\nNeither was Mitch, actually. But now that Travis had showed up, the raccoon wasn’t so glum. He kept an arm around the jackal as they walked in step behind Chris and Jake, chuckling to himself. Whether he was musing over setting Katie off or thinking of something else entirely wasn’t easy to tell, and it wasn’t made any clearer by the random commentary that came out of his mouth.\n\n“Man… I could really go for a hot-dog right about now. Maybe some chips. The rippled kind, y’know? I hope wherever we’re going has loads of food. I don’t wanna have to go Prankster on their butts to get a bite to eat, but I will. Hm.. actually, you know, now I’m hoping they don’t have food. Heheheh. Besides, not like I’m picky,” he snorted with amusement, patting the pup’s shoulder.\n\nBy now the group had reached the end of the corridor, which Katie was happy to announce after squeezing stubbornly through the equally heavy exit door to slip into the parking lot ahead of Gary and let out a joyful squeal at the sight she witnessed beyond. The gleeful cry was shrill enough for the others to hear, but it just made an involuntary shiver run up Jake’s spine. And Chris simply rolled his eyes. Mitch, however, was quick to pounce.\n\n“I wonder if she got run over, or just broke a claw,” he snickered. “Fifty-fifty odds, I guess. C’mon dude. Let’s see what’s so shriek-worthy. Fingers crossed it’s a giant, angry gorilla that hates otters!”\n\nPushing on ahead, Jake and Chris were next through the door after Gary held it open for them and the stragglers to catch up. But once everyone arrived, there was no confusion as to what had elicited such a reaction from Katie. Even the most timid of their group was wide-eye and open-mouthed with awe. His close friend however tried to maintain a neutral expression, but even he was impressed, and somewhat relieved, by the sight of such an expensive ride.\n\nHis amazement only lasted briefly though, because the second Gary opened the door to the darkened interior and asked them to climb in, Jake’s mouth clicked shut and his feet became rooted to the floor where he stood. Chris found that out the hard way when he tried to move forward with the rabbit, but met only resistance and the scraping of shoes on concrete.\n\n“Ah—it… it’s okay, Jake,” he said quietly into the buck’s ears, :”It’s a big, fancy limo. Limo’s are cool, right? You just… need to move… c’mon.. Lift your feet.”\n\n“S-s-s-sorry..!” Jake stammered nervously, desperately trying to regain control of limbs that had suddenly and spontaneously decided to seize all at once.\n\nIt was a fear reaction he wasn’t entirely in control of, but with enough effort, and Chris’ guidance, he was able to relax enough to duck into the vehicle, with the otter close behind. Once inside all the tension in the rabbit’s muscles seemed to disappear like it had never happened, allowing Jake a shaky sigh of relief. He still wasn’t sure why he found the open door to the car so intimidating. Once again though, the fear proved to be unwarranted.\n\nThis inside of the limo wasn’t nearly as dark as it appeared on the outside, and it fact, there was just enough standing room that the cubs could walk about without having to crouch. Even Katie’s head had barely brushed against the ceiling, but now she was seated on the rear cushion, paws in her lap and head turned to look out a small crack in the window blinds. All Chris saw was a pouting sibling, likely stirred into a froth over a perceived loss of control in a scenario she’d hoped to dominate.\n\nBut then that was why Chris was here. Whenever she got this way, trouble was rarely far behind, and he was tired of watching her drag Jake into her messes. For once he’d try to counter her efforts, before her swirling circle of influence swelled into a hurricane of otter carnage. Chris mentally slapped himself for that pun, but he wasn’t far off the mark.\n\nAt least for now Katie was whipped, so Chris led Jake to the seat-cushions on the same side as the game consoles up front. As soon as they sat down though, Mitch and Travis entered the limo, with the raccoon snickering as he intentionally bounced on the doorframe to make the whole vehicle rock side to side before slinking inside like the troublemaker he was. Of course he too was as amazed by the interior as he was by the exterior, but where the jackal decided to wedge himself between the last two cubs that wanted anything to do with him, Mitch made a beeline for the game system. \n\n“Sweeeeeeet!” he hissed excitedly, racing to the front of the rear cabin.\n\nBy the time he dropped down on his knees to dig through the equipment and its collection of games, Travis had forced his way in-between Jake and Chris by the sheer power of his presence, simply because, of the pair that had been embracing after Mitch shook the limo, it was the fearful rabbit who bailed first, creating the vacuum between them that sucked in the jackal’s scrawny hide.\n\nBoth boys were uncomfortable, with Chris being closer to outright anger, but he remained silent on the intrusion until Travis decided to speak. As usual, the pup’s tactless approach was met with disdain as the otter locked eyes with Travis, grinning broadly to reveal all of his teeth, before promptly returning to a deadpan expression.\n\n“So do I.”\n\nIt was subtle but the threat was there. Leave Jake alone or earn a rare black-eye from the class Zen master. He hoped the jackal got the hint, but as he turned away, Travis immediately turned on a swivel to appeal to Jake, after getting a very obvious cold shoulder from Chris. At first he tried to make small talk again, which deepened the otter’s scowl, but it was the ‘friendly’ punch that inevitable crossed the line Chris had set in his mind.\n\nJake was as much surprised by it as he was, after squeezing his eyes shut and hoping Travis would give up and sit somewhere else without expecting an answer. Instead, of course, the buck was punched in the arm hard enough to make him jump and fall over onto the cushions with a startled squeak. Anyone else might’ve taken that gesture in stride, but considering his history with the former bully groupie, Jake was anything but rational around the canine.\n\nWith a hurt whine, Jake rubbed the spot where he’d been hit and scrambled off the cushion to retreat to the opposite corner of seat-cushions on the other side. Chris watched the cowardly retreat with a rage of his own now and he roughly pushed Travis away from him and stood up, growling at the jackal, “What the heck is wrong with you? Just leave him alone, alright?”\n\nChris moved to rejoin Jake, now under the watchful eye of a certain sibling as Katie’s attention was briefly drawn to the scuffle. She wasn’t at all happy with what she was seeing from their uninvited guests—in her mind at least—but her brother got points for avenging her poor little fluff muffin. As much as she wanted to be there comforting Jake instead of him though, Katie was still dealing with her own issues. Specifically, coming to grips with the fact that her initial trip plans had been all but ruined. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but she was better than this. Better than that dumpster diver Mitch. And she wasn’t about to let the pair of troublemakers get in the way of her dreams of stardom for herself and Jake.\n\nStill, that disaster back in the food court had upset her deeply enough to bring tears to her eyes, and though Katie had been struggling to keep them from escaping, it was a losing battle, and now her make-up had begun to run. She didn’t realize it though, until Gary finally climbed into the vehicle and sat down next to her after directing the others to the generous accomodations the limo provided.\n\nOnce the door was closed, and the mouse seated, he discreetly positioned himself to obscure her from view as he pulled out a handkerchief to dab the tears out of her eyes. Katie immediately understood the gesture, though, gasping softly in embarrassment as she briefly snatched the rag away from Gary to go wholesale on wiping off her make-up as she apologized.\n\n“Ugh… I’m sorry.. My make-up’s a mess, isn’t it..?” she groaned, making use of the handkerchief to remove her eye liner and the blush on her fluffy cheeks, before handing it back for Mister Creedence to finish. He tried to offer her comfort and reassurance, but she sighed and sniffled, fussing with the dress draped over her lap. “I can deal with males like that, just fine.. But boys like Mitch, just… uugh! He’s so immature and rude and gross! Do you know, he actually digs around in dumpsters? Disgusting..!”\n\nThough Katie was ranting in a whisper, it was no less obvious how frustrated she was by the raccoon. Fortunately, she was resigned to his presence at this point. Besides, she was confident that if he tried anything to ruin this trip, Mister Creedence would take care of it. And, as if to reaffirm that belief, Gary placed a paw on her half-exposed thigh, the sensation of his fingers in her fur making her skin tingle.\n\n“Hah… I’ll try not to. I just.. I hope Jake has fun too. Y-you should, uhm… probably keep at eye on those two though,” Katie warned the mouse softly, pointing out Mitch and Travis specifically, “I don’t know if you know, but that one likes to pull pranks, and that one likes to do whatever he says. I’m almost positive they’re gonna try to ruin the party. Ugh. They’re childish like that.”\n\nOnce Gary was finished, he got up to grab himself a drink, leaving the young otter to fish her cellphone out of the front of her dress. The girl never went anywhere without it, likely because it was her lifeline connection to social media, and she had some steam to blow off online. She settled into her new activity as the vehicle began to move, the momentum forcing Gary back into his seat with a can of soda and a bottle of alcohol. Katie watched him spike his own drink, but she said nothing, having seen her father do the same thing on many occasions.\n\nTo her it meant the man was stressed, probably because of the surprise guests. In which case she didn’t blame him. Chris however, had a much different interpretation of that action as he watched warily. The boy had developed a distrust of anyone who drank alcohol, unlike his sister, so he held Jake a little tighter as Gary looked over the newest form.\n\nAt the front of their cab, Mitch’s tireless efforts had reaped infinite fruits. Not only had he gotten the tv and system to work correctly on the first try, but the limo came pre-stocked with all the latest games, including a particular title that Travis, after striking out with both other boys, was quick to notice as he returned to Mitch like a pup with his tail between his legs. The raccoon couldn’t help but snicker at that mental image coupled with the jackal’s current, and hilarious attire.\n\nIt had been a struggle not to comment on it, but now, without the distraction of irate otters, he could only stare in awe over how girly his friend was dressed. So it was only natural that when Travis spotted the Dog of War 3 game, Mitch swiftly snatched it up, holding it out of reach of the jackal as he toppled off the cushion trying to grab it.\n\n“Na-ah-ah! This game’s for boys only,” he said with a snicker. “Seriously though, dude. What are you wearing?! Ha-haaah! Man, you’re parents must hate you or something. I couldn’t imagine going outside like that, much less to school. You look like a walking glitter disaster, hehe! And… what is that smell?” Mitch leaned towards Travis to sniff the air before snorting with more laughter. “Really?! Perfume too? Hehehehehe, are you sure it was your parents who made you wear that?”\n\nBefore Travis had a chance to utter much of a rebuttal to the raccoon’s playful claims, Gary’s voice rang out from the back of the limo, inquiring about Mitch’s made-up character. And, just like that, the boy’s face lit up with glee as he jumped to his feet, nearly toppling over as the vehicle weaved slightly on the highway it had just pulled onto. He quickly grabbed one of the support bars overhead to steady himself, and proceeded with his dramatic—and clearly practiced—introduction.\n\n“Hwhy, you say? Well, hwhy not, laddy!” he declared loudly and confidently with a pretty convincing pirate accent. “Hwhat better a name fer a man so brave an’ so fearless that ‘e need not even wear pants!” And just like that, still sticking to his character, Mitch hiked up his large jersey and happily dropped trou in front of everyone.\n\nJake, who’d been drawn to the scene for lack of anything else to distract him, immediately looked away, before Chris could even shield his eyes. The otter scowled at his plus one though, not impressed in the least by his ever constant need to be the center of attention. At least he was doing it in the privacy of the limo, and not the front yard as usual. Chris was tired of their weekend roleplays gaining an unwanted audience because a certain raccoon wanted to wag his junk around.\n\nLuckily for everyone, except maybe Gary, Mitch’s shirt was more than big enough to completely cover his privates, keeping the embarrassing spectacle from having it’s full impact as the boy carried on with his impromptu presentation.\n\n“Fer none be as skilled or as swift as I, to dare lay a scratch on this fine, flawless specimen of manhood, known as Capt’n Nopants! The greatest pirate t’ever sail the sea! Arrrhahaharrr!!”\n\nAmidst striking various manly poses, Mitch flexed, risked spinning in a circle to make his shift lift high enough to show more of his lower body than he intended, and finally landed on a victory stance. He looked quite pleased with himself right up until a bubble of gleeful giggling arose from the back of the limo, where Katie had been trying to focus on her phone. She’d just so happened to have caught a glimpse of the raccoon’s genitals, and her reaction was almost as automatic as breathing.\n\n“Hehehehe! I get it now! It’s because it’s so tiny it’s impossible to hit, right?” she squeaked, and then broke into another fit of laughter. Unfortunately for Mitch, Chris and even Jake joined in in the wake of such an epic burn.\n\n“What—N-! Pfft, whatever. You just hate me ‘cause you ain’t me,” Mitch retorted, kicking off his shorts and plopping down onto the cushion where Travis had been sitting. “C’mon dude, I’m bored, let’s play,” he huffed, swatting the jackal on the back of the head with the empty part of his long jersey sleeve.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#6aa84f]The adult mouse in the car acted as if stunned by Mitch losing his pants, but in truth he had gotten what he was hoping for. After feigning shock at seeing the young boy’s bare crotch, he started to laugh and truly be entertained by this little troublemaker’s performance. As annoying as kids like him can be, they do tend to be a lot more open with their bodies and more imaginative.\n\nGary was giving a polite applause for the raccoon when Katie spoke up with an insult that was about as good as Mitch’s acting. He could not help but laugh along at the heckling.\n\n“That was a good one, Katie,” chuckled Mister Creedence, “but that was a bit of a low blow. Not that nice to make fun of a man’s privates like that. And Mitch, you might have had that coming too. But don’t worry about it, I’m sure you’re still growing and soon will be proud to show it off more. Being an exhibitionist does actually work well for modeling and acting too. After all, you’re showing off your body to everyone, right?”\n\nGary took another drink from the small can of soda, and pulled out some papers from a hidden compartment in an armrest. While he looked over the forms, his white fur rims adding more to the effect of him wearing glasses, the mouse was still chuckling to himself.\n\n“This town has some very interesting and fun kids,” he said to himself as he worked.\n\nWhile all this was happening, the Big Rocket Burger drive-in was picking up more business as Stephanie waited patiently at a small two seat table outside the fast food restaurant. It was nearing five in the afternoon and more parents and teenagers were stopping by to get their Friday night dinner. The short and thick porcupine girl was wearing her nicest dress, which was white with vertical green stripes. She hoped that it made her look thinner, even though she was a very average and healthy size for her species. She even wore matching lime green sandals. However, she ruined the attire by wearing a worn out black hoody with a popular late night cartoon character, Stick-it Ribbit Frog, imprinted on the back. This was made worse by the several quills puncturing through Mister Ribbit's body and face. The girl had the hood pulled over her head and face as if to hide from the world.\n\nStephanie nibbled on another french fry, and tapped at her small cell phone. She was playing a game a lot like the board game Scrabble against another person with the name 'BunbunBatter61'. She had several games playing against these game friends. She never met or even chatted with these people outside of a few emojis sent at the end of a game, but they were more friends than most she had in real life. Hardly anyone would go near her at school, let alone play with her. Especially after that first grader ran into her two years ago. There were a few people that she guessed could be called friends.\n\nThe one she confidently calls a friend was Jake Cottontail, a white rabbit buck that moved to town the previous school year. She was sitting at a table by herself, as usual, in the cafeteria at lunch and Jake sat down on the other side of the table one day. For the girl, it was like he just magically appeared there. He tried to not look up at her, and she was fine with that. It was not until the third day in a row that she finally said 'Hello'.\n\nIt was while making small talk that Jake admitted that he only sat with her because no one else sat at her table. “It felt... safe,” he had told her. Some people might have been a bit upset about Jake admitting this, but that was nothing compared to things she had been told by other kids and even adults. But Jake said it was safe to sit near her. She was safe?! She had never been told that by anyone! It was then that Jake became her best friend.\n\nThey shared no classes together, or went to any school clubs. Lunch time was the only time they met and got to talk. It was not long after that other kids started to sit at her table. Cubs like Katie and Chris Kirster. Stephanie was taken aback by how popular the new kid was becoming. The others would even talk with her in conversation, but most of the focus was on Jake. This just caused Stephanie to admire Jake even more. Not only did she have a friend, but had a friend that was popular. Regretfully, these other friends would also drag Jake away before lunch was over, cutting her time with him short. She did consider getting up and joining them several times, but Katie was too fast and forced her way through the crowds. Stephanie could never do that. She would have been upset with the otter girl, but Katie gave her the nickname Rose. Stephanie knew the name was because she had thorns, but she was glad to have such a pretty sounding nickname now.\n\nRight now, the thing that was truly running through her mind was the incident that had placed her waiting in front of the drive-in. And what she had done to get here now.\n\nI was naked in front of him! I was naked in front of him!, she thought over and over. And not just that. Mister Creedence had gotten naked too! She saw his private parts! She might have even touched them!\n\nShortly after Rose had taken her clothes off to show that she could handle changing in front of others, the talent agent said he was going to get nude as well. It was to help her get used to working around other naked people for apparently it was very common in this field of work. He even put in a video of a professional modeling session, and it seemed that he was right. The video showed men and women that were constantly stripping out of gowns and suits, and none of them wore underwear. They were then quickly getting into new fancy clothes, and even helping each other get more complicate fabrics on. They were even touching and shifting each others body parts to help make 'things' fit properly. After ten minutes of watching the video, it really did feel normal. There was even footage that showed cubs changing, were even playing around the set while nude. Both her and Mister Creedence watched the videos for twenty minutes, both just as naked as the people in the video.\n\nShe started to think the mouse was actually cute for an adult male. Maybe even handsome, even though he was not as tall as other men, and a bit chubby. He was easily one of the nicest men she met. Rose tried not to stare at his genitals, but she could not help herself. It became impossible to not look when the mouse started to get an erection while they watched the video footage.\n\n“Sorry, all males tend to get like this at some point or another,” the rodent casually explained when seeing where her eyes were looking. Stephanie blushed at being caught ,and looked away. She then looked back curiously to see him give his exposed pink flesh a rub with his hand, which made her own flesh even redder. “Can't be helped when you are doing nothing else but looking at naked people.”\n\nThe mouse laughed while saying that last part, which made Stephanie chuckle as well. She had heard and read about how a penis will get hard and big like this. This was just the first time she had seen one. Mister Creedence fast forward the video and then hit play.\n\n“See that man right there. He is also getting hard,” the mouse said while giving his now hard dick a few more strokes, “And its happening while he is trying to get dressed. It just happens.”\n\nStephanie watched the video, and in the background of the actual photo shoot was a male peacock with a very hard cock. She was sure she had heard people call boy privates cock before, so the thought of a peacock cock made her giggle. The porcupine started to giggle even more while she watched more of the footage for it really was a funny scene. The gorgeous, colorful bird was trying to fit into tights, and his erection was still poking out through the fabric. Then both her and Mister Creedence were laughing out loud together when a couple ladies walked past the male peacock, and gave the protruding object in the bird's tights playful swats.\n\nMister Creedence then turned the monitor off, and had her try on some clothes with him carefully helping her. After a few outfits and walking in front of the camera, the man had her help him put on a few clothes as well like they were in the video. It was while she was trying to pull up a pair of gym shorts that Stephanie thought she felt the soft fur of his balls and smooth flesh of his penis rub against the back of her paw. The agent then asked her to help adjust him in his new shorts, but she shyly could not get herself to deliberately touch and grope the adult's penis. Rose had started to feel like she was failing the audition at this point, but then he brought up the possible job opportunity again.\n\n“I think this job will help you get used to these kind of things,” said the mouse. “I know it seems very odd and weird, maybe even gross. And I know that your parents won't be happy about such things either. But I think you already knew they would be happening, since you came in by yourself. Working like this is common practice in acting and modeling.”\n\nWas that the reason why I came by myself?\n\nStephanie actually went to the office by herself because she was in a hurry to finally be popular at school. She was going to tell her mom and dad about the visit when she got home, but the cub sure wasn't planning to tell them now. The nice mouse was right. They would not like hearing that she was naked with a man, who was just as naked, while watching a video of naked people.\n\nShe was also now starting to notice the moist and tingling feeling between the plump lips of her privates. A feeling that she was only familiar with while in bed or in the shower. Or when thinking of Jake while in bed or in the shower.\n\nSo after hurriedly getting dressed in her own clothes again, Rose took home a paper that looked more like paperwork for a school field trip. It read that it was for a camping trip, but the nice talent agent told her that it was really going to be like a private nudist convention for famous people. Famous, rich people that wanted to have fun, and that a lot of them liked talented cubs like herself. Stephanie thought that sounded real weird, particularly the idea of her being talented. She was also uncomfortable about the idea of being around so many naked people the entire weekend. Mister Creedence encouraged her by explaining that it was to help her get used to such things. Stephanie supposed he was right, and agreed to go.\n\nMister Creedence also said that it would be great if she could bring another cub, that it would help her enjoy the convention even more if she brought extra help. She just could not tell them what was actually going on this weekend, since this was meant to be a private event. “Don't want everyone knowing, cause then it wouldn't be private,” Mister Creedence had laughed. Stephanie could not fathom the idea of bringing anyone else to such a convention. No one, except...\n\nThe idea of Jake coming on the trip with her sent her through a roller-coaster of mixed emotions. A ride of ups and downs that led to her masturbating for the first time in her life. As she slept that night, not caring about the dampness of the bed sheets, she dreamed that her and Jake were naked and walking among other nude people at a huge photo shoot. They were holding hands together and neither were shy or embarrassed about being nude. They were both smiling and happy.\n\nMister Creedence was also in her dream. He was standing next to that lovely, but also silly, peacock model. And both of them had their silly hard penises sticking out. Both her and Jake playfully slapped the adults' privates, making the genitals sway and bump together like one of those kinetic ball sets you see in offices. The two cubs ran away laughing as the two males' balls and peepees continued to bounce around together.\n\nThey ran until they were suddenly alone. With no one else around, Jake turned around so to get a good look at her body. Stephanie gladly allowed him the view as she got to see the rabbit's body as well. The buck stepped up, and pulled her up against his own nude body. She could feel his own hard penis rubbing against her belly and pelvis, even though she did not remember seeing it out of his sheath just earlier. She could also feel his tongue and teeth nibble and groom the fur of her neck.\n\n“Stephanie,” Jake spoke softly in her ear, “I lov-BREEEEEEEEE”\n\nThe young porcupine came close to breaking her clock when it woke her up from maybe the best dream she ever had. A dream that was sadly starting to fade away as she took her shower, got dressed for school, and ate breakfast. Stephanie was able to remember enough of it to give her the courage to actually ask Jake to come with her that weekend. Rose shyly and awkwardly tried to ask the rabbit at lunch about going with her on a trip, but Katie showed up and interrupted her by saying that Jake had already promised to be with her for the weekend.\n\nStephanie was not sure if she was grateful or angry with the otter.\n\nJake would probably think I was fat and ugly anyway, Stephanie thought as she looked around once more from her table, looking for any sign of her ride to a hopeful new future.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#741b47]Absalom Glenarm grunted as he lifted another box up and started making his way up the stairs.\n\n\"Locksley, do you really need that much stuff?\" he grumbled.\n\nThis was the third one he'd hauled out of the basement and Locksley was still busy filling two more. To Abe, this looked increasingly less like a \"convention trip\", as the maned wolf had characterized this business opportunity and more like he planned to move the entire store. \n\nLocksley didn't even bother answering. Oh there were plenty of answers he could have used to shut up the complaining monkey. That this sort of complaining was exactly why Abe had lost his latest job dishwashing at a sushi shop down the street. How did one make it sound hard to do dishwashing at a sushi shop of all place?! That he was going to be the only seller of this particular type of material on the ship, so he needed to make sure he had pretty much anything needed, and a lot of it for the simple stuff. That the boxes couldn't have been that heavy for the monkey who was a regular to the gym and liked to boast about it. Even though at the same time as he cultivated this built jock image, Absalom was careful not to build too much muscle mass: he liked the twink look better.\n\nOf course, Locksley thought smugly to himself, there was no way for the monkey to rock that look as well as Locksley himself did. As he stepped back from the box to take a look at a rack of easy-access clothing (i.e. with convenient zippers or either outright buttless or crotchless), he paused briefly to admire himself in the mirror. His gangly body with overly long limbs (a feature which he shared with his temp assistant) may not necessarily have been a hit with the ladies… or even the adult males. But those weren't exactly his target public, were they? He reminded himself that he would have to take out the neon green mankini at some point and put on something more appropriate for going out in public before they left. The silly clothing was fun and work-appropriate for a sex shop, but it wouldn't do again until he was on the ship… he wasn't even sure he would be wearing anything during the cruise. Last time he hadn't, but last time he hadn't set aside time for business over pleasure, either, had he?\n\nHe couldn't believe it had taken the second trip for him to realize… no one was selling the good stuff. This was basically an open sex buffet, but everyone brought their own toys and lube, and if you forgot or ran out… tough luck. So he'd asked. After all, he'd gotten wind of this through connections established at his business, so it was a natural extension, right? He was really surprised when they hadn't asked for any extra fee. After all, the trip was as much a moneygrab by the sponsors as it was a chance to let certain inhibitions loose without risk, so he'd expected they would make him pay through the nose, but nope. They hadn't even batted an eye when he'd asked for this to be an exclusive deal. He was a little concerned about that. After all, if the organizers went back on their word… what recourse did he have? Couldn't exactly get agreements like that in writing, right? He sighed. No time to get stressed out about it.\n\nSo for this third time on the cruise, he was coming on as a participant and a seller. The seller, if they held to their end of the bargain. And because he couldn't possibly pack everything on his own in a reasonable amount of time, he'd enlisted Abe to help after learning of the young man's latest job mishap. At least Absalom was thankful enough to not make much of a fuss, especially after learning the nature of the trip and that he was coming along. He better not make a mess of things, because Locksley had no intention to baby him through this. Not everyone made it back from the cruise, and if he was stupid enough, Locksley wouldn't put himself at risk to help. Thankfully, the monkey was not an idiot, and that was at best a very unlikely outcome. Just in case, though, he'd made sure that Abe would be very busy by enlisting him to the rest of the crew. He didn't know yet, and didn't care, what task they would or might assign the monkey. Absalom had done a lot of odd jobs, but none of them for very long, and none that could be considered skillmaking. It was mostly low-end work. But he was good with kids, even though they weren't the monkey's favored fare. Locksley had to give him that.\n\nHe looked down at his checklist: lubes, condoms, dildos, penetration toys from onaholes all the way to pocket pussies, vibrators, batteries (because some of those ran on watch batteries, and he knew for a fact that some may well run for twenty four plus hours in a row, which was plenty enough time for a vibrator to deplete a battery), anal beads, butt plugs, hidden toys, edible panties, chastity cages and other bondage materials (only the cub-sized stuff, though), leather and latex stuff (only a little: he expected people would have their own), a full rack of naughty clothes and outfits, and several boxes of DVDs, some of which select footages from his own store. And finally the big prizes: a fuck machine and a milker. Those he didn't intend to sell, only rent. Because he couldn't bring more than one of each. He didn't have much in the way of CBT, because he basically didn't sell the stuff in his store. Same with whips and other such torture or BDSM material other than some nipple clamps. The idea of it being used on his smaller customers turned his stomach. Besides, again, if someone wanted to do it, they would find a way and there was little Locksley could do about it.\n\nAll in all, he'd had to pack up and load in a rental truck almost half of the contents in his basement, plus a broad selection of stuff from upstairs. Between the two of them, it had taken three days. Three days during which he couldn't let clients in. \"Closed for inventory\" he'd told his regulars. People knew he took a couple days of vacations around this time of the year, so at least it wasn't like they couldn't plan around it at least a little. Locksley knew a few of his younger fuckbuddies would miss him, but it was less than a week. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? And he had still managed to fit a couple fuck sessions amidst the preparations to soften the blow.\n\nAbsalom wasn't sure how enthusiastic he was about this. When Locksley had described what they were getting into, that sounded like a lot of fun. Okay, so knowing most of those cubs weren't there out of their own free will and interest was a bit of a bummer, but he was still curious. Plus it was undeniably good money, and he needed that.\n\nAbsalom wasn't exactly a grifter or a drifter, but once you knew him, it never took all that much time before the lack of stability in his life came to life. He had never held a job more than half a year ever since moving to Springwood Falls five years ago. All the odd, mostly unqualified jobs, he'd done them: sales clerk, mopping, window cleaning, car washing, dishwashing, warehouse handler, daycamp organizer, pizza delivery, babysitting, so on so forth. He wished his libido didn't get so much in the way, since every time things had seemed to be going fine, he'd ended up fired for seducing either a client, a coworker, or, on one memorable occasion, his boss. He was still fuckbuddy with the latter, too, though it was a bit of a rocky relationship: \"I can't employ someone I'm fucking,\" the elephant had said. At the same time, that trunk and that prehensile dick were some incredible arguments against not returning his calls anymore.\n\nOf course, Locksley, being the type of man he was who had only eyes for those who didn't reach to his bellybutton, had come up with an idea: he was going to have him wear a chastity cage and plug the entire time he was on table duty. No better way to keep him busy, the maned wolf had figured. Fair play, Abe thought, even if he couldn't help being at least mildly concerned that this would leave him distracted in a different way. At least the wolf wasn't going to make him wear it for the entire duration of the cruise. He knew his libido couldn't have handled it.\n\nHe stepped down the stairs, panting a little and stopping at the bottom to wipe his face with a sweatrag that was really a pair of underwear someone had left behind earlier that week.\n\n\"Is that the last box?\"\n\nLocksley let out an exasperated sigh.\n\n\"For the fifteenth ti-... no wait. It is the last box,\" he realized. \"Alright. Your luggage's already in the truck?\"\n\n\"Yes, Mr. Minnesley,\" Absalom grinned cheekily as he went to get the box, hauling it to his shoulder like a character out of a movie. \"Yours too,\" he added.\n\nLocksley had already gotten the mankini off and was busy getting dressed.\n\n\"Alright. Get everything secured, then get a shirt on, then get in the cabin.\"\n\nHe got into tight leather pants and a bright, tight rainbow t-shirt, accessorizing the outfit with a pair of sheer elbow-length gloves.\n\n\"We're leaving, what, now?\" Absalom asked, clearly surprised at this development.\n\n\"What? Not like you have anyone you need to leave a note at home for. You can shower once we get there. I should be able to handle your sweaty smells during the drive,\" he snorted. \"That'll probably be an improvement over the smell of that truck's cabin...\"\n\nWhoever had driven it previously (the several previous times, in fact) was apparently a chain smoker, and no matter how much they'd aired out the cabin, it didn't help.\n\nMeanwhile, back at Big Rocket Burger, a young possum had gotten off the bus. He looked like a backpacker, cussing mentally at his mother for insisting that she help him pack. Not that she was being ridiculous. She was just all too aware of her son's tendency to pack poorly. Thankfully he'd managed to justify that this was a camping trip with furnished cabins, so there would be no need for a pillow or sleeping bag. Still, moms being moms, she had packed him a separate change of clothes for each day… and then an extra, and then a sweatshirt, then a raincoat… This was made ten times more embarrassing by the fact that Hob, knowing what the trip was really about, hadn't planned to bring much of any clothing at all!\n\nThe only good thing was that she'd forced herself to leave some room for his personals. Usually that meant stuff like toys, a portable game console, snacks or comic books. Today it was his toy-car shaped vibrator and favorite aloe lube. While his parents knew about the lube, they didn't know about the car. They had bought the story about the lube being a gift from Dasayo to the entire team, and never really suspected that it was obtained regularly from shopping at Locksley's Goods. For the same reason, they had not suspected one thing when the flier for the \"camping trip\" had come in. Just another team-building activity, right? Dasayo's such a nice guy. And he was, Hobart most definitely agreed. Nice guy with a nice… everything, so to say.\n\nMr. Creedence had a pretty nice… everything too. Between thinking of his teacher and the agent, Hobart needed to stop walking for a moment. He glanced around, then quickly shoved a paw down his loose shorts to readjust his genitals into a more comfortable position. Having a bifurcate dick sometimes meant it could wedge into extra uncomfortable positions. He continued his trek across the parking lot and stepped into the restaurant, garnering a few odd looks on the way. He did look like a hitchhiker, though he wasn't aware of it, merely frustrated by the weight of his backpack.\n\nHe noticed another cub alone by themselves, but didn't pay too much attention to the hoodie wearing figure. He went he dumped his backpack in a booth and sighed in overly dramatic relief. Stupid mom. Stupid backpack. Stupid—... no. the trip was going to be awesome. It'd be like when they went to tournaments and there were special parties. Yessssss… He actually stroked over his crotch before remembering where he was. He quickly glanced around, but no one seemed to have noticed him. He reached into his pocket and checked: mom had given him two tenners of pocket money to get dinner and the rest for the trip. With a smile, he slipped off the bench seat and made his way to the counter to order. His tail curled and slipped under his shirt to scratch idly at his shoulder blade.\n\nSoon after he was making his way back with a plain cheeseburger, and this time he got a better look at the small figure he'd noticed earlier. Well, at her hoodie, anyway. He'd seen that hoodie before, and that caused him to arch an eyebrow when he realised this was one of only two porcupines that attended Springwood Falls Elementary. What was Stephanie doing here? She couldn't be running away, could she? He didn't understand the whole \"stay away from her\" thing. Sure those spines could be dangerous… but so was the campfire, the cleaning products or a hot stovetop. You don't blame the stairs if you trip and hurt yourself on them, right?\n\nStill, he had never intervened in favor of the bullying victim. Mostly because he knew he didn't have the social heft for it. And if he started to attract this sort of negative social capital, even his wrestling club skills wouldn't help, and the other guys on the team would ostracize him just as soon as the rest of the school. Nonetheless he did feel sorry for the girl, though he didn't feel much guilt in never helping her. He went back to his seat, not really being thankful in any way that his bag hadn't gotten swiped. He was too young to realize this was a concern to be had. And even if he had, he wouldn't have had much time to dwell on it. He had a cheezburger, fries and cheap fast food sundae to gobble up before Mr. Creedence arrived in—he glanced at the clock on the wall—about five to ten minutes.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#666666]As it turns out, canine ears were pretty good at picking up elusive noises—a trait which no doubt had played a part in winning Travis a place in Lyle’s gang. Few other explanations could have sufficed to account for how quickly a relative newcomer—and a much younger kid at that—could’ve wormed his way into the avian boy’s inner circle of larger ne’er do wells. While not the most imposing or experienced in schoolyard skirmishes, the cub had possessed one redeeming trait so often invaluable to; yet somehow overlooked by the discerning troublemaker: the Art of Getting Away.\nHis better-than-average hearing more than contributed to that, making him an excellent lookout who could pick out the ominous stride of a teacher’s footsteps just in time to warn Lyle and his crew so they could make themselves scarce. Better yet, he tended to overhear pieces of information he shouldn’t have—all manner of things from the location of hiding places to a cub’s personal treasures. It had certainly not been his embarrassing display of combat prowess that once endeared Travis to Lyle’s heart. While he hadn’t physically hurt Jake, his penchant for eavesdropping had done its share of mischief in an indirect way; often providing Lyle with fodder for some of his more inspired schemes: Jake’s attachment to his sketchbook, Stephanie’s lack of self-esteem, even pop-quiz answers supposedly discussed in secret between Chris and the homeroom teacher all eventually found its way to Lyle soon enough. And while no longer an active member of the latter’s gang, old habits such as these were often pretty hard to break.\nInteresting. Katie found dumpster-diving disgusting, did she? Good to know.\nTravis filed this snippet of information away under the category of Things-to-tell-Mitch-about. Either it amounted to something, or it did not. Who could say? He’d never been the type to actually DO anything with the stuff he found out. Why bother, when it was so much easier to just snitch to somebody else and let them handle the headache of concocting a plan? Personally, he didn’t see what all the fuss was about, the fact that Mitch played around in dumpsters only made the raccoon that much cooler where Travis was concerned.\nOf course, eavesdropping did have its disadvantages. It took every iota of self-control the pup possessed to keep himself from jumping up and yelling “I do NOT!” in response to Katie’s insinuation that he was just his new alpha’s puppet. Judging from the way Katie’s conversation with Mr. Creedence had suspiciously petered out at this juncture, perhaps he hadn’t been as successful at smothering the outburst as he’d originally hoped.\nKatie’s comment, compounded with the observations of a certain raccoon regarding his unfortunate attire almost had Travis seriously reconsider the merit of attending this expedition. By now the general atmosphere of the cabin seemed pretty clear, enough for even a blind person to notice the majority’s animosity towards him. Jake apparently remained in fear of him—and that at least was understandable, though being a menacing presence clearly wasn’t all he’d hoped it would be. But so far as he knew, he’d done nothing to incur the otter pair’s ire…well, nothing overt anyways.\nWithout an appropriate rejoinder close at hand, Travis settled for flipping Mitch the bird—fully taking advantage of his mother not being there to prevent him. Play it cool, don’t rise to the bait…or so his inner voice advised him: advice he had honestly meant to heed, up until the point when the raccoon nabbed his precious cartridge case from his paws.\n“C’mooooon, Mitch—leggo!” Travis made a half-hearted attempt to snatch back the case, which went about as well as he’d expected. “S’not MY fault, you KNOW I’m a boy!” for a moment he raked the offending motif of his shirt in frustration—an exercise in futility that did absolutely nothing to the fabric whatsoever besides rumpling it further. “Gaaaaah!”\nThankfully, Mitch didn’t prolong the torment overlong and his brief foray into the identity of Captain Nopants gave Travis an opportunity to reclaim his prize. Then the cabin and its occupants all faded into unimportance as words rimmed in fire appeared on the screen demanding immediate attention—an imperative that the cub was all too happy to obey. Not even the spectacle of Captain Nopants and his fabled namesake merited much more than an absent-minded glance.\nBy sheer coincidence he managed to catch Jake’s eye on the downswing just as the rabbit was turning to look away from Mitch’s spectacle. For a moment their gazes locked, and what seemed like an eternity drifted by before Travis held out a controller to the bunny in wordless invitation. After what Chris had subtly insinuated just moments before, it seemed unhealthy to risk words or do otherwise.\nHe was almost relieved when Mitch absolved them of the awkwardness, relieved enough not to mind somebody else hogging the spare controller OR the coon’s discarded pants somehow landing in his lap.\n“Aye, Captain! Thar she blows!”\nNot that he had any idea what that even meant, of course. But it certainly sounded impressively authentic and piratey...just like that avian actor who played Jack Sparrow in that movie he’d watched at Sachel’s. Now that had been the height of cool, especially the way Sparrow courted death whilst hurling inventive insults at his opponents…sort of like…like—\n--Mitch…\nFor half a moment he could almost see the ghostly outline of a tricorne hat perched jauntily between the older raccoon’s ears, along with a flamboyant buccaneer’s coat complete with bandoliers and cutlass. Then he blinked and the illusion was gone, almost like a dream.\nScrew Lyle. What had he seen in the bird to begin with? Mitch was cooler, way cooler. Best of all, Mitch was his friend because he’d wanted to be; and not because of anything Travis could do. The raccoon had said they were buddies often enough after all, and so it MUST be true. So what if they were all seemingly headed into the unknown with a strange grownup and three other cubs who probably hated his guts? He had A friend; and a weekend with ONE friend surely had to be better than moping around the graveyard trying to find something halfway interesting to do…\nMaybe this trip wouldn’t suck after all.[/color]\n---\n\n[color=#5b9bd5]Amidst Mitch’s inappropriate disrobing and subsequent roleplaying, Jake had found himself locking eyes with the jackal who’d both knocked him to the ground and punched him in the arm, all within ten minutes of arriving. The poor buck was trapped like a deer in headlights by the predator’s gaze for what felt like ages before an annoyed raccoon, seeing his pal offer the controller to one of the worst gamers on the planet, swooped in to snatch it out of Travis’ paw.\n\n“Are you fer real, man? Don’t give it to him,” he groaned, having risen, pantsless from the cushion to claim his prize. As he plopped down on the floor beside the pup to sit indian-style, he explained, “Seriously, his folks only let him play ‘educational’ junk. He sucks at games like this. Now, if yah want a real challenge, I’m the Game Master, son! I’ll whoop yer skinny butt, let’s go!”\n\nGrateful as the rabbit was for the interruption that ended their infinite stare, he was more relieved that he didn’t have to accept the offered controller, much less speak a word of refusal like he wanted. Still, now that Travis had been distracted by Mitch, Jake continued to watch him quietly with slightly furrowed brows. What’s his game..? Is he just trying to be nice, or… is it a trick? The buck pondered in frustration.\n\nIt was clear that Travis was only here because of Mitch, and Mitch was only here because of Chris, so that had to be reason enough to assume the jackal hadn’t signed up to harass him. So then why was he still behaving like a tough guy? His attire certainly screamed otherwise, so… maybe he was compensating? Whatever the canine’s excuse though, Jake couldn’t shake the mental image of him standing by Lyle’s side, eager to do the woodpecker’s bidding.\n\nAlthough he hadn’t bruised ribs or left scratches like the avian’s former gang used to, Travis had caused his own share of pain in a different way. And in fact, he was one of the reasons the rabbit had grown paranoid about speaking in his presence. Too often, things he’d told others in confidence had reached Lyle’s ears, and led to incessant ridicule and many times, the destruction of Jake’s artwork.\n\nThose losses stung more than a kick or bite ever could. And it was the one thing Jake struggled to forgive the reformed bully’s assistant for. Even now he couldn’t help watching those twitching ears atop Travis’ head, likely picking up and parsing every little whisper and cough. It made the buck scowl with assumptions, then immediately frown with a twinge of guilt. As bad as Travis had been as a lackey for Lyle, he was obviously trying to change under Mitch’s ‘tutelage’. Whether that was enough for Jake to forgive him though, remained to be seen.\n\nFor now, the buck needed to vent, so he expressly turned to Chris, who sat beside him, with arms draped around Jake’s shoulders, and whispered softly with his snout practically in the otter’s ear, “I don’t like the way his ears twitch… What if he’s… still ‘listening’ to get dirt on us?”\n\nIn response to Jake’s paranoid theory, Chris wrinkled his snout in thought, eyeing the jackal nearby. The audio from the game playing on the television seemed loud enough to complicate eavesdropping, but Travis’ ears were twisting to hear behind him a little too often. Still, Chris leaned in on Jake to relay his doubt; “Who would he report it to, though? Lyle’s MIA. And Mitch certainly wouldn’t care.”\n\nAfter a moment or two of thought, Jake sighed, saying in a louder whisper, “I guess you have a point…”\n\nIn Travis’ defense, he hadn’t done more than be a nuisance. It was Jake’s imagination that was taking it to an exaggerated conclusion, but not without good reason. After Lyle had started using the jackal as some form of psychological warfare on the rabbit, the already timid and uncertain cub had become even more conflicted and paranoid. For a while it hadn’t felt safe to speak anywhere, not even at home.\n\nThose memories weren’t going to be easily forgotten, or forgiven, much as Jake wanted to be free of his fear. So he continued to remain silent, only speaking to Chris in the quietest whispers, and always watching Travis as he did so to make sure his ears weren’t reacting to his words. Of course, he didn’t have much to say beyond complaints about wanting to go home. But that was nothing new. Meanwhile, Mitch and Travis were deeply involved in their game, and likewise, Katie was buried in her phone.\n\nShe wasn’t as intensely focused on the screen as she pretended though, her gaze periodically shifting towards the busy mouse every time Gary took a sip of his spiked soda. The young otter half-wondered if such a small quantity would even get the man drunk, as her father typically downed five whole bottles or more before his speech even started to slur. He was partial to rum and coke on the weekends, but it was straight beer the rest of the time. Which had her wondering what Mister Creedence preferred, so she tried to approach the subject casually and matter-of-factly.\n\nWaiting for him to take his next sip, Katie promptly leaned over slightly, looking cute and curious as she asked, “So what’s your poison, hm? Hehe, I saw you put some mickey in there.”[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#6aa84f]\nGary stared at the words on the papers in his hands, but he was not concentrating on reading. The mouse looked over the papers toward the two boys playing the overly violent video game. He typically prefered more passive and submissive cubs for the pleasure cruise he was sending them on. When his chosen cubs brought along a friend or two, normally those friends tended to be like the other. That did not happen this time. Seems one invite deliberately brought along a distraction, and that distraction sent word for more back up. Gary knew that this was really nothing for him to worry about in the end, but dark thoughts kept creeping into his mind of what could result in him losing some potentially high earning clients. There was another thing he was going to have to clear up soon. After he took another sip of his drink, he saw Katie lean over towards him to ask what he was drinking.\n\n“This? Just rum and soda,” the mouse answered with a warm smile. “Coconut rum to be exact. Helps keep my anxieties down. Why, did you want to try some?”\n\nThe man patted the cushion next to him, inviting the girl to join him. As soon as she sat by him, he put an arm over her shoulder, and into a gentle hug. He left the can in easy reach if she was inclined to take the invitation. \n\n\nBack at the burger dive, Stephanie was putting her phone away when she was surprised to see one of her school’s wrestlers walk into the place. Did they just make eye contact? Why is he packed like that? Could he be going on the same trip?!\n\nThe porcupine quickly turned her back towards the window so that no one inside could see her face. She did not think that other students at her school could be going on such a trip as she was. Stephanie was still uncertain that she could go through with this. If someone at the school was there as well, then they would see her naked! They will tell everyone at the school, and she’ll be laughed at. However, was that not what this trip was meant for? To get popular with all the other people? Also, if another student was there then they would be just as naked. \n\nStephanie looked over her shoulder to see Hob walking back from the counter with a meal he had just purchased, and she could not help mentally stripping his clothes away. She quickly turned her head in embarrassment. There was no way that boy was going on such a trip. It was just a coincidence. As soon as Mister Creedence arrived, she'd quickly and discreetly get in the vehicle and be gone. Nobody at school would know.\n\nThe porcupine grabbed a bunch of fries and gobbled them down as she tried to calm her mind. She was just overthinking things because of what the weekend had in store. Just among a bunch of rich, naked strangers. And she too would be nude. And was that all? What else was she to do?\n\nStephanie was now forgetting all about the opossum upon realizing that she was unsure what it was that she was to be doing. Was it just to mingle and play, like those ads she had seen for nudist camps. Oh! Was this a nudist camp? Is that a freaking limousine pulling into the parking lot?!\n\nJust as Gary was getting comfortable with Katie leaning into him, the particular jolt of the car going over a bump told him they had already arrived at their next stop. He set the can of what remained of the drink in the cupholder, and put the papers back in their hidden compartment.\n\n“Sorry, dear. But I need to let our other passengers on board.”\n\nThe mouse got up and scooted his way to the back of the car to sit down on the back seat by the doors. As soon as the vehicle had come to a full stop, he opened the door and was glad to see Stephanie just some yards away with a surprised gaping mouth under an ugly hoodie. He simply gave a friendly wave for her to come to him, which she eagerly did as she grabbed a small bag under her table and quickly waddled over. As the porcupine bent over for her bag, he could see Hob inside getting up and walking towards the exit doors of the establishment. \n\nGary scooted to the side to give the porcupine space to safely get in the car.\n\n“Glad you could come, young lady,” Gary greeted as the hooded figure quickly hopped into the car.\n\n“Oh wow. Golly!” said the porcupine as she eagerly climbed into the large car. After she was inside, and safe from being seen from the public of the restaurant, she pulled the hood from her head “I can’t believe you’re picking me up in a limo-FUCK!”\n\nGary barely moved in time, diving for the other couch in front of him and towards Katie, before hundreds of quills could stab into him. Along with Stephanie’s shocking language, all of her quills were now springing up and out defensively as she stumbled backwards and fell into the seat where the mouse had previously been sitting. She was covering her face and on the verge of crying, and her feet were even starting to shake in her loss of control.\n\nStephanie had just seen who else was in the car. There was Katie. There was also her brother, Chris. That raccoon, Mitch. That bully, Travis. And there was Jake! \n\nWHAT IS JAKE DOING HERE?!\n\nThe young girl was about to bolt out of the car, but the quills had her slightly stuck to the seat, and there was now someone standing in her way.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#741b47]As he ate, Hobart's thought kept wandering back to Stephanie. It wasn't exactly the most cheerful of topics, but she was sitting right there in his field of vision as he kept an eye out to the parking lot for Mr. Creedence. Hard not think of her. He wondered what she did in her own time. His pity deepened as he realised that porcupines were pretty much barred from team sports wholesale. Not just contact sports like soccer or football, but also things like synchronized swimming (of which the school also had a team), and any combat sports. He'd often boasted to other people that Dasayo had never refused anyone on the team unless there was a medical condition, but that was incorrect. Mr. D. would probably not accept one on the team. Porcupines could swim, though, he knew that much. They were good at it, too: the spines made them pretty buoyant. \n\nHe tried to think of famous porcupines, and aside from that rock singer… Ashes, he drew a blank. No porcupines in his favorite movies. There was a secondary villain in Power Rangers that was a porcupine, but they were in that show only for, like three episodes.\n\nUh…\n\nHis mind bounced back to what the girl was doing here. Not that anybody would try to bother her, so at first blush she wasn't in any danger. He didn't really register that he wasn't even considering the idea that someone could possibly \"bother\" him and his mom would never know because she didn't know where he was. Since she was such a meek wallflower of a personality, the idea she was on the same trip as him was entirely unthinkable to him. His mind went back to his initial thought: that maybe she was running away. This seemed increasingly like a distinct possibility as the minutes went by, and Hobart panicked as he realized one thing: if this was true, he had absolutely no idea what to do! Was he supposed to just... go and talk her out of it? How would he even do that? Was he supposed to call an adult? The police? There would be questions. Wouldn't that put the trip into jeopardy? But if he waited, he might forget…\n\nIt was understandable that these distracting thoughts caused him to not notice the limousine at first. Mr. Creedence had only said he would pick him up. He hadn't said anything about anyone else coming along, much less about a limousine. In fact, his mind didn't register that it was a limousine at first, just a weird black wall obscuring a large amount of space in the parking lot. He had never even seen a limo in real life, after all. Finally the door opened and his jaw fell agape as he recognized the mouse whose dick he had ridden a few days ago.\n\nStephanie was only briefly chased from his mind. He grabbed his backpack… but it was heavy enough he couldn't really sprint for the entrance. He mumbled curses under his breath, jealous for a moment of boys like Graham who were stronger than himself. He swore that he would put more efforts in strength training on Wednesdays, a promise he would no doubt have forgotten entirely about by this time tomorrow, much less by Wednesday.\n\nHe hauled his stuff out the door and paused for a moment, jaw going agape again: Stephanie was walking right up to the car. Well, how about that. He wondered whether Creedence had given her the same interview that he had gone through. If this worked out for the porcupine, good for her! Still, this was unexpected. He certainly wasn't expecting anyone else from school to be on this trip, even though he saw plenty of them naked on the regular.\n\nAs he made his way to the car, a more serious promise than the one about training was forming into his mind: he would try to be as nice as he could to her during this trip. If they ever ended up running into each other anyway. There were supposed to be a lot of people, Mr. Creedence had said. And at school. Because he couldn't just be nice part-time with her, right? That was the sort of shitty bait-and-switch things that guys like Lyle did. He got to the car just in time to hear her curse, and loudly at that. His eyes widened. Well, how about that now. And what an appropriate curse too.\n\nHe tried his damnedest best to make sure he wasn't grinning. Wouldn't do to look like he was about to mock her mercilessly after what he'd promised himself he'd do. With a small grunt he slid his backpack off and casually slipped next to her on the seat. Mr. Creedence might not have fit there because of her erect quills, but there was enough room for him. He had a brief moment of hesitation as he reached toward her. Not because he was scared or repulsed, but rather because he had to take a moment to check where he could touch. He couldn't exactly pat her face or belly, that was too intimate. He knew her chest was a write off, even though she didn't have anything like breasts. That left the area between her collarbone and her shoulder. That would have to do. His paw went and gently pressed against the spot.\n\n\"It's okay… it's okay...\" he tried to sound soothing, like his mother when he used to wake up at night from nightmares, but it was still a little awkward.\n\nHe looked over to try and figure out what it was that had triggered this reaction. His eyes widened a little and he fell dumb at the sight of no less than five other cubs. Well, that certainly explained why she looked so surprised (or so he thought, anyway). His paw slowly left her shoulder as it became clear he wasn't really helping, but he didn't move from his spot, taking note of who he knew and who he didn't.\n\nThe otter in a dress was no problem to identify and although he had not expected her (again, mostly because Mr. Creedence had not mentioned other cubs), she was not that much of a surprise now that he thought about it. Katie was enough of a glory hound that pretty much every pupil at school knew her name. She was dressed even more over-the-top than usual today. Given Mr. Creedence's job, that was not surprising, though where she'd gotten the makeup he couldn't help but wonder.\n\nActually, there wasn't one, but two otters, Hobart realized as he arched an eyebrow at the other one; the male one. This one he didn't really recognize, even though he looked and smelled a lot like Katie. Siblings? He wondered. He had only ever heard about Katie herself, but she might well have had siblings and he wouldn't have known. He didn't exactly know her personally. The quivering overdressed rabbit next to Chris, though, he did recognize. He didn't know his name, but anyone that hung around Katie as much as he did inevitably garnered some degree of recognizability of their own. He looked just as ready to bolt out of the car as Stephanie did. As far as Hobart could remember, this wasn't much of a change from what Jake typically looked like. The possum had to ask himself how the rabbit made it through Creedence's… interview.\n\nFinally at the back were two very different cubs, sitting with their back to them, but now looking around, having been startled into a game over by the yell (wait, was that Dog of War?!). The raccoon, much like Katie, was known to Hobart. And for much the same reasons. Mitch was the worst troublemaker in the school by a huge margin, and Hobart himself had been inconvenienced by his schemes on more than one occasion. The other… was one of Lyle's flunkies. His eyes flickered between Stephanie and Travis. He didn't know the jackal's name or what exactly he might have done to her. Just his association with Lyle. He glowered at both boys. A mute warning. This one was under his protection.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#666666]Co-op mode had seemed the obvious option. Two sets of controllers, two players, customizable characters and an open sandbox of environments to choose from certainly hit all the right notes for a setup that guaranteed mindless diversion for hours…\n--all conditional, of course, on Travis successfully piloting his avatar out of its spawn location in the middle of a bone-strewn hall.\nHe’d pounced for his joystick the very second the miniature Anubis that was his character respawned into existence, urging it across the open landscape and to a convenient shadow laden alcove before—\n…a blinding flash of lightning sent the Death God staggering back, losing his momentum. It was followed by another, then yet another—a veritable fusillade of projectile attacks that trapped his poor character in a stun-lock whilst slowly sapping its precious health meter away. Once again, Travis could do nothing but watch in helpless horror as the white Alsatian that was Mitch’s avatar strolled casually up to his opponent; effortlessly disemboweling the God of Death in the most brutal of finishers—exactly as he had done the last five games in a row.\nMitch’s claim of being a GameMaster wasn’t entirely unsupported. The raccoon wasn’t just good. He was VERY good.\n“No fair, Mitch!” complained the cub, ears flat against his skull in frustration. “You can’t just stand there an’ use that one attack over’n over! Button mashing’s against the rules!”\nRather hypocritical in hindsight; considering that it was the exact same strategy Travis himself had intended to use right from the very start…if only he had been able to set up the stage for its execution. He’d chosen Anubis for his avatar solely from hearing Sachel’s cousin talk about the character, and was only now discovering that its powerful move set came with several annoying restrictions. By then he’d been too invested to consider a swap…a fact that Mitch appeared more than aware of and exploited for his own advantage.\nRespawn. Run. Charge epic underworld apocalypse… ZAAAAPP!\n“MEEEEEEEEECCCH!” his accent becoming more pronounced in his distress, Travis unconsciously echoed Sachel’s foreign inflection as he produced a screech that would’ve put his feral ancestors to shame. “Stop DOING that!” ZAP. “And that!” CRASH. “Also that!”\nPerhaps it was time to consider a change in tactics. “We’re pals, right? An’ we’ll always be, right?” he tore momentarily away from the screen to engage the raccoon with his best I’m-so-cute-and-fluffy stare, widening both eyes and tilting his head to one side in a manner that made most people do what he wanted. “So just…LET…ME…WIIIIN!”\nThe last word escaped in an unholy yell as Anubis died yet again. In retrospect, he had no idea WHY he thought that ploy was going to work: Mitch’s focus was clearly on the screen, and probably hadn’t even noticed his best disarming expression.\nAnd so they’d swapped to Campaign mode…once Mitch eventually got bored of kicking his tail all the way back to the underworld a couple more times. As was his right for being overall victor, the raccoon got to go first of course—with Travis lurking behind Mitch’s shoulder like the literal scavenger he was; all too ready to commandeer the controls at the very first sign of failure. Which had to be soon, right?\nRight?\nBeing a spectator wasn’t all that bad he supposed. The limo console’s graphics were good enough to convey the impression that he was watching an action packed film, one in which Mitch’s homicidal Alsatian chopped, ripped and stomped his way through horde after horde of lesser enemies. He only wished they’d had the foresight to toggle subtitles; being privy to multiple conversations at once—the one going on between Katie and Mr. Creedence, the whispered discussion between Chris and Jake, and Mitch’s own occasional exclamations whilst button spamming like a pro—all these got confusing after a while and made it difficult for Travis to focus on anything in particular. Having good hearing came at a cost, it seemed…and the current cost apparently was not being able to follow the game’s dialogue and story with everything else going on in the background.\nHe’d no idea what MIA was and some of the words had been too faint to make out, but the general tone of their conversation left little doubt that the rabbit was talking about him. It would appear that the rabbit was also feeling homesick, apparently—a condition too alien and foreign for Travis to understand. Being sick OF home he could certainly comprehend; it was why he spent so much time at Sachel’s or Mitch’s after all. But actually MISSING home? Home was dull. Home meant rules. Home meant unwelcome reminders of one’s oh-so-talented older sister in every nook and cranny—from the collection of gymnastic trophies collecting dust in their hall cabinet to the cootie-laden guest room she would stay in four weeks of every year; a room that was always kept aired and ready with her stuffed animals waiting on the bed for whenever she wanted it. Bleh. If that was home, you could shove it.\nHe supposed he did feel sorta bad for Jake though. Being made to go places he didn’t want to go WAS something Travis understood quite well. And so while not exactly empathizing with the rabbit’s homesickness, he could however sympathize with this particular notion. Maybe he should…nah. Chris was there; the otter probably had things well under control and wouldn’t be pleased by any outside interference. But the idea that he’d like to do something for Jake still persisted regardless, and to be frank he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it. Doing spontaneous stuff FOR others (as opposed to doing stuff because others SAID SO) was new territory for him; something he didn’t know how to handle.\nWhat if…I could watch out fer him. Just like Captain Nopants would. Just like Mitch would. No offense to Chris and his bodyguard skills, but the big otter couldn’t always be around to keep an eye on things could he? Good thing then that Chris now had backup…whether he wanted it or not.\nHaving resolved himself upon this course, Travis turned back to watch Mitch chaining quick-time-event combos on a level boss that occupied most of the screen. Gary’s abandoned cocktail he considered casually before dismissing it from mind after an exploratory sniff. The smell was strong and tart and made his nose itch. If THAT was what Katie referred to as ‘mickey’, he didn’t want anything to do with it.\nThen all of a sudden Mr. Creedence was saying something about ‘other passengers’ right before he swung open a door. The unexpected exposure to outside light after sitting in a cabin with shaded windows was hard on his eyes; a condition echoed by the majority and Mitch in particular judging from assorted complaints. Bringing up a paw to shade his eyes, he could just barely make out the shape of a hooded person heading their way. Too small to be an adult, so most likely a cub. A strange rattling seemed to accompany their approach…a dry rustle that sounded almost like wind on dead leaves to his ears. It nagged at him in the back of his mind as something he should know. Something important…\nAnd then revelation hit him. Hit him like a sack full of bricks, almost at the same time the newcomer’s F-bomb outburst assaulted his sensitive ears:\nQuills! Of course!\nAnd on the heels of that thought—Duck, you idiot! Duck!\nThen directly following that… What about—\n“…Jake, duck!”\nTravis first made to move in a heroic effort to place himself between Jake and the strange porcupine; then saw Chris had matters well in hand on that front and checked himself, nearly capsizing Gary’s soda as he did so. Stray splashes of cocktail caught him in the snout and drenched the collar of his shirt. And if THAT hadn’t been enough, his ears soon detected the sound of footsteps following close behind even as he strove with a paw to get alcohol out of his eyes.\nAn older kid: male, judging from the combined odor of musk and sweat. And then his eyes cleared enough to make out the big possum standing in the doorway blocking out the sun… A possum that, for some reason, seemed to have an axe to grind—seeing as how he had taken the seat directly beside the porcupine and was now scowling at them with chilly eyes.\nAnd; as was typical in these sort of cases, his mouth decided to skip the usual neural linkup between brain and tongue.\n“Whatssamatter, mate? Gotta problem with us or somethin’?” tilting his head up to match stares with the invader, Travis folded his arms and mentally estimated how soon he’d need to put himself between this loser and Jake. The fact that the possum was taller by at least a head and heftier too didn’t seem to bother him—not in the slightest. Bigger they are, harder they fall, right? Travis had no doubts about the outcome. Hadn’t he kicked a 6th grade tiger’s butt that one time in the schoolyard? Ok…so he’d blacked out and remembered nothing of the encounter. But he DID remember waking up in the parking lot where they’d staged their fight alone, with no opponent to be found—so that must’ve meant he’d won…right? Of course. Of course he had. He met the older boy glare for glare, silently daring the other to make the first move.\nAlmost had to pity this kid, Travis supposed. Possum wouldn’t know what hit him.[/color]\n---\n\n[color=#5b9bd5]The intentionally disarming smile that had been on Katie’s face, dropped slightly when Gary admitted to the same alcoholic habits as her father. She’d kind of hoped he’d have a more sophisticated palate, being such a big name in the talent agency business. Nonetheless, when he offered her the spot next to him, the otter practically teleported into his embrace, needing not even a second thought. In fact, she happily snuggled up against him as she eyed the beverage being held near her.\n\nIt certainly wouldn’t have been the first time the girl had tasted alcohol, so that wasn’t the reason for her momentary hesitation. Memories of the awful taste weren’t encouraging her either, so there was only one aspect of the vile drink that she sought when Katie accepted the soda can without a word to take three big, bitter sips. She handed it back with a silent gag and an animated expression that suggested the taste was overwhelmingly awful to her, before flopping back against Gary with a small groan to rest her head on his shoulder.\n\n“It’s because of those two, right?” she assumed in a sour whisper. “I don’t blame you one bit, Mister Creedence. Mitch alone is bad enough, but with Travis they’re like… this… perfect storm of awful. I hate it. What really ticks me off though, is Chris. Look at him, over there. Snuggling with my—ehm… my.. .plus one. He’s not even s’posed to be here. I bet he signed up just to ruin my weekend.”\n\nKatie huffed with arms crossed while the two ne’er-do-wells played their game to the tune of a near endless stream of laughter from Mitch and howling shrieks of frustration from Travis that only swelled in pitch with every loss in their unsavory, gore-filled game. The otter could only take listening to their racket for so long before grabbing Gary’s soda can for a few more angry sips. She wanted those anxiety relieving effects the mouse had spoken of, in the hopes it might relax her enough to stop fantasizing about throwing both boys out of the moving limo.\n\nOf course, Chris’ sister wasn’t the only one reaching their limit of tolerance for the two disruptive cubs and their loud, violent game. Only a couple rounds in and Jake’s sensitive ears couldn’t take it anymore, so they were hugged firmly against the back of his neck. And when that wasn’t enough to block out the noise, the otter hugged his arm firmly around the buck’s shoulders to hold the quivering appendages down.\n\nOnly then was Jake able to reach a semblance of calm, but Chris had no protection of his own. It was taking all of his willpower not to say something, though thankfully, patience inevitably prevailed. Simply because, after being so completely owned by Mitch for eight rounds—three more rounds than Travis wanted after his epic outburst that had the raccoon tickled pink—they eventually switched game modes, to everyone’s collective relief.\n\nUp until that point though, Mitch had been on fire. Aside from the fact the eight-year-old had played nearly every game he could get him grubby little mitts on, said mitts were in a realm of skill all their own. And the raccoon’s natural dexterity combined with a brain full to bursting with muscle memory for every game genre under the sun, meant that Dog of War was a cakewalk. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t yet played the game until today, or that it was supposed to be notoriously difficult to beat.\n\nMitch merely experimented in the first round until he found a method or two he liked, and then spammed his opponent into oblivion, all while cackling like a maniac at every frustrated reaction Travis had to his hopelessly repetitive destruction and disembowelment. Naturally, Travis tried to talk his way to victory, but the raccoon was every bit as invested in his wins.\n\n“Says who, T-Bomb? We didn’set no ground rules for this slaughter! Hehehehahaha! Eat lightning, Sucka’!” Mitch gleefully taunted, winning yet another round and triggering his player two to briefly lose his mind. “Haah! You sound almost like Sach; even he doesn’t lose this much! Where’s yer A-game at, man?”\n\nAt this point Travis changed tactics, and tried to appeal to Mitch’s better nature. He might as well have appealed to a grape fruit though. Nothing could sway the naturally competitive raccoon from his goal of ultimate victory, not even the jackal’s best puppy eyes. Though Mitch gave him the briefest of glances, just to see why he’d gone from his usual squealing to something approaching calm, but when it escalated into an almost demonic roar, Mitch briefly considered giving poor Travis a break.\n\nOnly to go and whoop his butt before the ego-crippled pup practically begged to switch modes. By then Mitch had finally grown bored enough of totally obliterating the poor canine to agree, even though they both understood that the unwritten rules of victory meant Travis would have to sit out until the raccoon’s single-player playthrough ended in death. A scenario which was almost as unlikely as Mitch letting someone else win at a videogame. Barring a major distraction, at least.\n\nAnd so, as if the fates aligned, partway into the second level of the campaign, Mitch felt the unmistakable jostling as the limo pulled into a parking lot. He squinted extra hard at the screen, trying to focus as Gary declared there would be more passengers, but then he went and opened the dang door and suddenly there was a HUGE blindspot on the TV screen, annoying the raccoon to no end.\n\n“Dude! Close the door, I can’t see the friggin’ screen!” he barked in irritation, struggling to maintain his killing spree, when a sudden commotion in the rear of the limo triggered an involuntary death. “Dangit! What the—!”\n\nAs Mitch turned around to see what was going on, he fell silent for a moment, staring at the scene before him in mild confusion that drifted into amusement. “Whoooa, who invited the pin cushion?”\n\nHe’d only been vaguely aware of his surroundings, but all he’d registered was Travis’ cocky remark that seemed to be addressed to another individual that had joined the living embodiment of “look but don’t touch”. Whoever he was, he didn’t seem happy with either boy for their insensitive remarks. The jackal already seemed ready to pick a fight, so Mitch awkwardly stepped in to put a paw on his shoulder.\n\n“Dude, I died. Your turn,” he told him, as an excuse to defuse whatever tension had been forming behind his back.\n\nAs he sat down on the cushion opposite Jake and Chris, the pantsless raccoon realized the buck had a bewildered look in his eyes. He wondered why for a second and then, his easily distracted brain finally made the obvious connection. Wait, did someone just swear?\n\nD-d-did she just say…! Jake held a paw over his mouth to contain the startled gasp that had tried to escape when that word was so suddenly uttered. At first, he’d been worried and curious, about Gary’s unexpected news that there’d be more cubs to pick up; worried the new arrivals would be former or currents bullies, but still curious that there might be someone else from school he recognized.\n\nOf all faces to have filled that bright void left by the open car door though, Jake had never expected to see Stephanie’s. Unfortunately, that feeling must’ve been mutual, because the second they made eye contact—the buck leaning forward to see past Chris—the girl unleashed that uncensored swear. And just like that, the brief smile of joy Jake wore initially, vanished and his eyes widened in shock as he lurched back into hiding. The curse word wasn’t nearly as startling though, as Stephanie’s sudden, defensive reaction that made everyone in her vicinity dive for cover. Even Katie had to throw herself against Chris to avoid the prickly nightmare that had been unleashed.\n\nLuckily for the occupants of the limo, the leather seat at the back took the bullet—or rather, the quill—for the rest of them. There was no doubt that her spines had handily pierced the material, judging by the girl’s inability to make the retreat she wanted, but even if she hadn’t been stuck like the pin-cushion she was, an older opossum was entering the vehicle after her. He seemed to be the only one brave enough to sit next to her, though.\n\nThe tense looks being bounced around certainly made Jake nervous, especially since Chris was involved in a glare-off with his sister as well. Amidst the fallout of the disruption though, Jake only had eyes for the girl who’d been so completely caught off guard, that she’d blurted out a swear and puffed up like a puffer fish.\n\n“St...Stephanie…?”Jake spoke softly into the brief silence that followed as he peeked out from behind Chris once more, “A-a-are you okay? W-what’re you doing here? I thought you said you… oh… y-you were going to invite me on the same trip, weren’t you…?”\n\nThat abrupt realization made the buck’s ears sag as he frowned. For some reason he kind of wished he’d resisted Katie’s advances now. At least until Stephanie had asked him instead. Nice as the otter was, she had a tendency to be overburdening and demanding. Unlike the porcupine who was just grateful to have someone to talk to during lunch break. He would’ve greatly preferred to have been her plus one, but he still had to wonder why she was even here. From the conversations he’d had with her previously, he learned she wasn’t very fond of camping, on account of her quills wrecking the equipment.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#6aa84f]\n“Everybody calm down,” Gary said calmly, but with enough force so to be heard. He rolled back up into a sitting position to see what all was happening in the car. Boys having a stare off, porcupine crying, otter piled on top of the other otter and rabbit. All seemed normal. “Hob. Please shut the door so we can get out of here.”\n\nThe car started to move as soon as the door was securely closed. The adult mouse got up and moved toward the back as he mentally processed the event that had occured. It was clear that Stephanie knew a number of the kids in the car already, but that outburst was quite extreme. Jake also reacted to seeing her, and seemed just as surprised. Which was odd since Jake should not have known what kind of trip they were on. Gary also noted the spilled cola on the floor, and it was not hard to tell who was responsible.\n\n“Travis, there should be towels over by the fridge. Clean your mess up. And Katie. Will you come over here and help me, please,” Mister Creedence instructed the cubs. Katie was already seeming a wee bit flushed around her face from the gulp of cocktail she took. As soon as Katie was with him in the back seat area of the limo, Gary grabbed one of the curtains and surprised everyone when he pulled it across the ceiling and connected it to the other side of the car. The curtain’s true length had been hidden behind the seats. It reached down to the floor, and had weights sewn into the lining on the bottom, which kept it nearly sealed to the floor. Besides blocking sunlight through the windows, the curtain also seemed to dampen sounds for the noise of the boys and the violent video game became much more tolerant in the back end of the car. As soon as Gary had closed the four of them off from the eyes of the other cubs, Gary turned towards Hob. \n\n“Give me a hand, big guy,” the rodent instructed as he carefully put a hand under the crying girl’s left arm. Stephanie had both of her hands up under her light purple glasses, and over her eyes, as she continued to cry. To Gary, she looked like a quivering ‘See no Evil’ monkey figurine.\n\n“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” the porcupine kept repeating to everyone around her while choking for breath. “I-I-I can’t stop myself from—” the child snorted a sob before she could continue.\n\nThe two males carefully lifted her off the seat, leaving behind about a baker’s dozen quills stuck in the cushions. Instead of standing, Stephanie just slumped onto her rump in front of the door with her arms wrapped around her knees and hiding her face. Gary pulled the quills out of the cushion and sat down so that he was near the upset female.\n\n“Maybe you can help calm her down, Katie,” suggested Gary. “Seems you guys know each other.”[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#741b47]Hobart was still staring at Travis. He wasn't growling or anything, but Travis escalating the situation (or so the canine thought) only cemented the bonebag's guiltiness in the older cub. He wanted to reassure Stephanie, but he was still too distracted by Travis talking smack, and she blubbered on loudly enough she might not have heard him anyway.\n\nThen Creedence spoke. It was not the same tone he'd used when he'd interviewed Hobart. Oooooh, no it wasn't. At the same time, it wasn't an angry tone either. Still, it was the sort of tone that bypassed your ears. That Middle Name tone that parents were so practiced with and went straight to push that little button in the brain that reads \"oh shit, now I'm in trouble\". Mr. D. was a master of the Tone. Hobart could not remember ever having heard the armadillo scream or yell in anger. All he ever had to do was use That Tone Of Voice and the entire team basically froze in silence. Jasper had never come close to mastering it (Dasayo joked you have to spend several years being surrounded by kids all day long), and that was why he could never keep the team in control when the coach wasn't there.\n\nHobart knew he hadn't done anything at all to warrant this. That it was just the general ambient chaos that had prompted Creedence to use the Tone. Still he could feel the fur raising and a shiver of punishment terror going down his spine. The first thing the mouse demanded… was for him to close the door? Oh right. With the sudden commotion their arrival had degenerated into, it had completely slipped his mind. He glanced somewhat nervously out the door before closing it. Stephanie had been awfully loud, and surely someone would have heard? He glanced around, but saw no one staring. No one coming to ask. Wanting to know how such a word could have come out of such a virgin little mouth.\n\nWell, Hobart assumed she was probably a virgin, an assumption he might have to revise before long, he now realised, given the nature of this trip. Point was, While Dasayo had no qualms with his… special pupils using as filthy a vocabulary as they felt they required when discussing their sexual life, he also made sure to let them know what was and was not appropriate for discussion with other adults. Hobart wished it was simpler. That they didn't have to dance around the subject the way Creedence had needed. If only it were like a normal clubhouse, y'know? Just say the password and you know the other's in. You both knew what to expect. Not that he went out of his way to find guys. There was Jasper, and Mr. D., Mr. Fergusson, the school Janitor, Locksley… the guys at the bathhouse—Hobart usually didn't remember their name. Well, and Creedence now. That had been pretty fun. The man had even given him a reach-around, which Mr. D. and Jasper almost never did.\n\nUltimately and to his relief, the opossum saw no one disturbed by the other cub's outburst. The car lurched forward as soon as the door slammed. Hobart was glad he was already sitting because he would probably have lost his balance when the vehicle made a turn from the parking lot onto the road. Losing one's balance next to the porcupine girl would have been… risky. Not her fault and he wasn't going to blame her for it. Still, Mr. D. would have disapproved and scheduled more training for him. Hobart didn't mind too much. He liked the balance board that had been fashioned from a mechanical bull, it was fun, though challenging to not use his tail to wrap around it to hold himself in place.\n\nThe cub beamed with pride when Creedence asked for his help getting the spiny girl unstuck. His grip was, again a little awkward, and he tried to reassure Stephanie.\n\n\"You're going to be okay,\" he said. \"I won't let him do anything to you.\"\n\nThe cub turned to his pack and fumbled briefly with a side pocket before pulling out a small packet of kleenexes.\n\n\"Here, use this...\"\n\nHis dad liked to use a fabric handkerchief, but Hobart thought the idea disgusting. They had often argued about the irony given that Hobart did often carry his wrestling kerchief even when he didn't have practice. Hobart didn't dare point out he didn't think the… other fluids he wiped with the kerchief were disgusting at all. His father may have encouraged him to be open about his sexual life, but Hobart still thought it was too awkward to discuss with his parents besides the most basic things. Not to mention that Dasayo had made quite sure everyone on the team knew they would be unable to stay on it if the fun they had with their coach came to be known.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#666666]On one of their ill-fated encounters, the in-house school psychologist at Springwood Elementary had once described Travis as easily distractible. This was apparently an understatement.\n“Cool!” reclaiming the controller from Mitch, he gave no further thought to the limousine’s newest occupants. Only vaguely did Travis register the underlying tension of their surroundings; an atmosphere he immediately proceeded to ignore as something not directly concerning him. Experience with cousins and siblings—both his own, as well as Sachel’s and Mitch’s—had deeply ingrained the following tenet of wisdom into his head: Unless the people shouting in the background were shouting at you directly, in 9 cases out of 10 it was best to just mind one’s own business.\nHe had picked up on a particular word that had been uttered—a word not currently in his vocabulary but; as judging from the gasps that followed its pronouncement, was probably BAD…and therefore something worth working into conversation at the next opportune moment. Although it seemed that nobody else had reacted other than Jake—which probably meant that the word was a minor swear at best—new cuss words were like gemstones: you took them when you could find them.\nIronically enough, his relatively short attention span meant that among present company Travis alone appeared the only one uninvolved in this random standoff; apparently too engrossed in the game to pay attention as uneasy glances and glares got traded left and right. As a concession to those behind, he’d muted the sound however. Just in case somebody felt the need to start an argument or something… Experience told him it was pretty hard to sustain an argument with fatalities and action music streaming from the foreground. He was considerate like that.\nThe fact that this made it easier to eavesdrop on what was going on in the background was merely a bonus.\n“St…Stephanie…? A-a-are you okay? … …y-you were going to invite me on the same trip weren’t you…?”\nOn their own, the rabbit’s statement made no sense to Travis whatsoever. Part of this could’ve been attributed to the fact that he was multitasking, carefully manoeuvring the titular Alsatian through a gauntlet of death traps even as he devoted part of his attention to what was going on. Invite? Trip? Stephanie?\nThe irritated hissing coming from Katie’s general direction—he’d mistaken it for a pixelated Medusa at first; and wasted time checking if the screen was muted before realizing it originated from real life—made everything else fall into place.\nPlus-ones… Invite… girls… How everybody else apart from him had seemed to come in twos: Mitch and Chris. Katie and Jake. Stephanie and the roadkill-wonder. The manner in which the grand total of girls in this vehicle had increased from one to two.\nOh gawd: Was this some kind of a…a…DATE?!\nThe controller fell from nerveless paws as he was struck by the enormity of this revelation. Were they going to some icky school prom, instead of the weekend getaway Nurse Pritchard had promised? Granted, nobody in the car currently LOOKED like they were going to a prom—except maybe Katie and Jake—but the enormous rucksack that jerk of a possum was hefting made Travis a trifle uneasy. Did people normally bring change of clothes to proms? The possum’s bag looked big enough to easily contain such attire for all seven of them if need be… Maybe his parents were in on it. Maybe they’d arranged this with the possum and Mr. Creedence. Maybe at any moment now the limo would turn into the familiar side street that would lead back to school, where possum-kid would pounce and wrestle him into some formal tux and make him groom his fur. Or—horror forbid—have him partner up with a girl!\nUnfortunately, the possum—Hob, was it?—had already shut the doors on Gary’s instructions and the vehicle was once again in motion…removing any hope Travis had of lighting out and running for the hills. Somewhere in the distance he dimly heard the chaperone telling everyone else to calm down, landing him with mop up duty in the meantime. Ordinarily, he would’ve protested the general unfairness of this situation—it hadn’t been HIS soda to begin with after all—but at the moment he didn’t have the energy.\nGrabbing a few of the paper towels the chaperone had pointed out, he set them down to soak up the spill and righted the soda can lying on its side. It was cold in his paw, and judging by the heft, there still seemed to be a modest quantity of liquid inside. Only part of its contents had leaked out when the vessel tipped over.\nAll of a sudden, Travis felt like he needed a drink. Mickey or no mickey, it couldn’t be as bad as the coffee his dad always insisted on drinking at breakfast.\nCorrection: It was.\nHe regretted his impulse the very moment it touched his tongue, but by then it’d been too late and the carbonated sour sensation was flooding down his throat. Did grown ups actually like this kind of thing? It seemed hard to believe. For a moment, there was a roiling sensation in his gut—almost as though the liquid sought to escape the way it’d come. From the jackal’s perspective, it was like pressure building in a volcano’s crater, and no one was more relieved than he when all that it led to was a few stray hiccups.\n--Hiccups that; with a curtain dividing the main plot of the drama from those four who remained, sounded very loud in the ensuing silence—loud enough for other heads (a certain raccoon among them) to turn his way…\nOnly then did Travis belatedly realize that the can he was holding was still a quarter-full of questionable contents. He glanced at each of their faces in turn, wondering if any of the other boys knew about that first illicit sip. Jake’s expression was uneasy as always, and Chris seemed his usual noncommittal self…and as for Mitch—\nSomething about the coon’s grin seemed to suggest that Mitch knew (or guessed) a lot more than he should, and that didn’t sound good. Not good at all. In hindsight, he really should’ve just put the can back in its holder and left it alone.\nToo late for that now though, now that it was here in his paw for everyone to see. Mitch wouldn’t let something like that pass without comment, he knew. No, his only way out was to try and redefine the situation; to somehow put the coon on the spot instead. And so Travis did his best to school his features into an expression of cool indifference, holding the can out to Mitch as he did so.\n“Want some?”[/color]\n---\n\n[color=#5b9bd5]After downing nearly half of Gary’s rum and coke, Katie was feeling… a lot better, actually. She wasn’t nearly so angry, or annoyed by the boys who’d come to ruin her perfect weekend getaway with the love of her life, sweet, innocent, little Jake. Instead, as the alcohol began to course through her small body, the otter’s sense of confidence grew exponentially until Katie was certain that the boys wouldn’t be able to wreck this trip.\n\nShe had good reason to believe it too, considering what she knew about this excursion that the others didn’t. With her irritation swiftly becoming a mere memory, the otter had sunk back into her phone again as she cuddled against the older rodent, enjoying the warmth from his body. Alas, it wasn’t long before the limo was pulling into another parking lot and Gary was rising from his spot with the promise of more cubs to join them.\n\nThere was a brief wave of emotion that washed over Katie, making her skin tingle with dreadful anticipation as the limo came to a stop and Gary opened the door the greet their first addition. The otter was already squinting with suspicion at the hooded figure she vaguely recognized, but it wasn’t until Stephanie had drawn back her hood that she realized who it was. In that instant the older girl’s eyes widened in shock.\n\nSomeone as popular as Katie, knew virtually everyone in school, so even a cub as socially isolated as the porcupine didn’t escape her radar. However, it had only been after Jake started sitting at her table that the otter got to know her a little better. The poor girl was a social outcast by virtue of her species alone. Unlike Katie, she’d never had the chance to make friends, because everyone automatically avoided her, and though the otter was initially guilty of that herself, she’d aimed to remedy that after meeting her personally.\n\nRight now though, the mustelid’s temper threatened to flare again. Not because of Stephanie specifically, but what she represented in Katie’s mind. Competition. There was no ignoring how the porcupine liked to fawn over Jake, and spend most of her time talking to him during lunch break. She very well might’ve had similar feelings for the rabbit as the otter, and that meant the two girls were automatically at odds with each other, over that unspoken conflict.\n\nThankfully, by now the rum was doing its job of turning the sour girl into an uninhibited giggle fiend, so the gloom brewing inside her didn’t last long. Although that might very well have had something to do with Stephanie’s sudden exclamation, as the impending threat of becoming a pin-cushion made the tipsy otter lurch to the side and immediately knock heads with her brother. Both cubs yelped as they collided, the weight of Katie pushing Chris against Jake on the his other side, before the boy could shove her back angrily.\n\nAt that point, both otters were giving each other the stink-eye, Chris for being bumped into, and Katie simply because her brother was scowling at her.\n\n“Ugh, stop pouting!” she snorted at him, waving a paw toward the scene behind her, “Look at that; I almost died just now!”\n\nThe girl was obviously exaggerating, but in her mind, getting quilled in the face, or worse, having her dress torn by Stephanie, would’ve been a fate as bad as dying. On top of that, she was beginning to feel flush and a little light-headed from the rum, so she was extra irritated by his attitude. And as if her brother wasn’t bad enough, Travis had opted to involve himself in the calamity. He’d clearly been trying to protect Jake for some odd reason, but amidst his effort to rise from the floor, to somehow put himself between Stephanie at the rear of the vehicle, and Jake at the front, he stopped himself. His momentum however continued, causing the pup the practically headbutt the seat cushions and knock Gary’s abandoned beverage onto his face.\n\nWet with rum-laced soda, the canine remained dazed for only a moment before his short attention span drifted away from a scowling Katie. That jackal was such a klutz, and worse was his attitude towards their second addition to the party. As the girl sat up to shake off the adrenaline, she, along with the others, all perked up when Gary issued his demand for calm. It was a very familiar tone that they all knew well, but not all of them responded in the same way.\n\nJake in particular cowered at that tone, where Chris just hugged him more firmly in response. Mitch just chuckled and rolled his eyes. He couldn’t help being amused by the sight of the porcupine stuck on the cushions thanks to her own quills, but at the same time he had an urge to step in to assist. By now though, Travis had returned to the videogame, and the raccoon’s attention became divided between the rest of the limo and the big screen.\n\nHe would’ve been content to sit there in just his jersey for the whole trip, to test Gary’s limits and patience, but once he’d called on Katie for her assistance, she retreated to the rear of the vehicle, where to the raccoon’s surprise, a curtain was pulled across the space to conceal the entire back seat from the rest on the cab. Mitch’s brows sank down in suspicion at that gesture. What were they going to be doing back there, that they felt the need to hide from view?\n\nThough the raccoon was curious enough to consider eavesdropping, before he could commit to the idea, Travis had paused his game to follow their chaperone’s order to clean up his mess. The movement drew his attention, and everything else faded into the background as he watched the jackal work. Heheh, he’s so whipped, Mitch thought to himself with a small snicker.\n\nNot that he’d have done any differently if the command had been given to him, but he’d certainly have protested more. Meanwhile Travis took to his chore with wordless obedience. However as he was soaking up the soda that spilled onto the limo’s carpet, the boy started to investigate the source of the mess. Mitch could only watch with a growing grin as the canine then took a sip. And immediately regretted it. His reaction was considerable enough to get a nasally, snickering, giggle out of the raccoon as he tried and failed to hold in his mirth.\n\nAs far as Mitch was concerned though, the reaction was in response to the carbonation. He hadn’t seen what Gary added to his drink, but Travis certainly didn’t approve. After a bout of hiccups that extracted more laughter from the ring-tailed troublemaker, the jackal looked around at the others, meeting Jake’s gaze first.\n\nThe buck had been quiet ever since realizing he’d have been doomed to go on this trip regardless of whether Katie had talked him into it. Because he liked Stephanie, he knew he probably would’ve accepted her offer, had she gotten to him first. Not that it made much difference in the end, but maybe… maybe she wouldn’t have freaked out like that if they’d gone together. It was obvious to him that she hadn’t expected him to be here, and that made him feel bad.\n\nEven if he had the guts to apologize to her though, he would have to wait, because as soon as Gary called for Katie, the otter perked up all bright and smiling once more, like she hadn’t been in the middle of a stare-off with her brother, and then promptly joined Mister Creedence, Stephanie and Hobart in the backseat, where they hid behind a curtain.\n\nWith half their group having retreated into privacy, Jake was trapped out here with the other boys, which might not have been so bad if two of them hadn’t been Travis and Mitch. A half naked raccoon and a former tormentor was the last kind of company he wanted right now, and he tried to make that clear by averting his gaze when Travis looked at him, but the boy just shifted to Chris where he was met with a deadpan, almost bored stare. However he adjusted his embrace around Jake as a wordless suggestion to move on.\n\nSo Travis locked onto Mitch next, and that raccoon’s broad, snarky grin widened even further. It dropped only briefly when the jackal uttered the immortal words “want some?”, then it was back bigger than ever.\n\n“Yeeeah, sure. What’s’matter? Don’t like the fizz?” he snickered as he leaned forward to accept the offered can. Of course, at this juncture, Mitch suspected Travis of putting something in it as a prank, as that was exactly what he would do,. So rather than go for a blind swig, the raccoon brought the can to his snout and took a few eager whiffs.\n\nUnfortunately the smell he was met with made Mitch lurch back with a small gag. He recognized that aroma all too well, from his daily exercises in dumpster diving. Having found many a discarded bottle of alcohol—empty of course—he’d become familiar with the awful smells of booze. Travis on the other hand, likely had no idea what was actually in this drink, and that gave Mitch a very devious idea. You could tell, because his grin was so broad it threatened to wrap all the way around to the back of his head.\n\n“Nngh.. wow, that’s a powerful smell. Dude, I think this drink’s gone bad,” he commented, leaning towards the middle of the cushions to plop the can into an empty cup holder. “Probably better not to drink that junk. Besides… I got a better idea!”\n\nEven though the vehicle had begun moving as soon as the door had closed, Mitch leapt to his feet with such balance and skill, they might as well have been stationary. Unfortunately, in doing so, the raccoon had little regard for hiding his privates, which he flashed the group with upon standing, and proceeded to tease them as he bounced over to the mini-fridge beside the television and dropped down onto his knees.\n\nIn his excitement, the raccoon’s tail was raised higher than it should’ve been, meaning anyone who dared to look in his direction, got an eyeful of bare, exposed anus as Mitch opened the fridge and dug around inside.\n\n“I wonder if… oooooh-ho-ho-ho! This thing’s got everything!” he exclaimed upon seeing a fridge packed primarily with mickeys of various forms of alcohol. All of the names meant little to him, but he did recognize some of the labels from empty bottles of their larger counterparts, and greedily rounded up about eight little containers of something called Captain Jackrabbit. The character on the label actually kind of reminded him of Jake, but Mitch doubted the buck would be up to the game he had in mind.\n\n“Alriiiiight, let’s do this!” the raccoon declared as he turned around with an armful of bottles to face a blushing rabbit and a vexed otter. “...What?”\n\n“You know, not everyone wants to see your hairy butt,” Chris stated bluntly, clearly trying to comfort a wide-eyed Jake who’d seen enough of the raccoon’s anatomy in that brief moment to last a lifetime. “Put your shorts back on before you get in trouble.”\n\nHis grin grew somewhat sheepish then, as he turned to Travis instead and rolled his eyes. “Aah… no need to include the party-poopers. Me an’ you can have all the fun. So you ready?!”\n\nDropping all the bottles on the floor, Mitch plopped down on his rump with legs folded under him and knees spread just wide enough to give Travis a view of his sheath and scrotum that he probably didn’t need or want to see. The raccoon didn’t seem to notice or care though, as he casually picked up one of the bottles and proceeded to lay out the ground rules.\n\n“I’m gonna call this game, ‘Drink Till You Puke’,” he declared with a snicker, “An’ the rules are simple. We’ll each chug one’a these, an’ the first to puke, loses! Got it? Hehehe, and if you thought that tasted bad,” he noted, pointing to the soda can, “These are waaaay worse!”\n\nPicking up another bottle, Mitch handed it to Travis and then uncapped his own to bring it to his lips while he waited for Travis to follow his lead. Although the raccoon has every confidence that the jackal would oblige his bizarre game, he still reached out with two fingers to help tip the pup’s bottle as he tilted his own, saying, “Ready? On three. One… two… ....three!”\n\nAnd just like that, Mitch upended his bottle, making absolutely sure that his buddy copied him. The race was on with both boys choking and sputtering as the foul fluids entered their bodies.\n\nMeanwhile, behind the curtain at the back, Katie, in her own drunken state, was attempting to comfort the girl she’d nearly been skewered by, at the behest of Gary. Unfortunately for her, Stephanie was still sitting on the floor beside her by the door, crying and hiding her face. Though Mister Creedence and Hobart had been able to pull her free, the girl’s self-esteem had taken a nosedive. And Katie wasn’t sure how to go about reversing it. Especially considering the perceived wedge between them as two cubs interested in the same boy.\n\nTo aid her efforts, Katie helped herself to the tissues Hobart was offering, kneeling down in front of Stephanie to put herself between the porcupine and the males as she fished a few kleenex out of the package.\n\nAs she bent down to speak privately with her, Katie’s thick tail inexplicably raised into the air, hiking up her short dress to reveal to Gary and Hob that the otter wasn’t wearing any panties. Thus, the two males were presented with a jaw-dropping view of her puffy little vagina squished between her thighs, and her exposed pucker of an anus. Whether she was aware of the peep-show however, wasn’t clear, as the mustelid conversed with Stephanie.\n\n“So… uhm… What Jake was saying…” she started softly, blushing a little as she tried to address the issue. “It’s true, isn’t it? You were gonna invite him too, huh…? Hah… it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, you know. Y-you should be happy. Now we’ll all get to spend the weekend together. It should be fun. Right? You… do know what it’s all about, don’t you? I… haven’t told Jake yet, because… well… he might freak out. So… maybe we could tell him together. How bout it?”\n\nAs she spoke softly to Stephanie, Katie gingerly pulled one paw away from the porcupine’s eyes, then the other, to help dab up the tears, before handing her the remaining tissues.\n\n“Don’t worry about what happened, okay? It was an accident, and it’s over. Now we have a whole weekend of fun to look forward to! So c’mon, let’s get off the floor, okay?” she cooed gingerly, helping the sniffling girl to her feet before guiding her into the spot next to Gary. Sitting next to her, Katie began to hyper focus on the damaged hoodie Stephanie was wearing, picking at loose strings of fabric, and carefully removing an errant quill or two that hadn’t been yanked clear of her clothes.\n\n“You poor thing,” Katie sympathized, “Just getting dressed up for the day must be a nightmare with all these quills in the way. Have you ever thought about getting them clipped?”[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#6aa84f]\nGary waited as the girls talked, and had to catch his breath from gasping aloud upon seeing that the otter was not wearing any underwear. He placed a hand on Hobart's shoulder as both a way to make sure that the younger male was quiet, and to draw his attention to the naughty girl’s attire. With his other hand, he adjusted his pants and groin to help with the tightness that was forming there. He continued to rub himself through his slacks while the girl attended to her prickly friend.\n\nThe shock of seeing Jake and her cafeteria friends was no longer an issue for Stephanie, as Katie dabbed the tissues at her face. It was the embarrassment of what all just happened that was upsetting her now. The porcupine was realizing that she was crying because she was crying, and that was just making her cry even more. It was when Katie mentioned how she understood that this was the trip that Stephanie wanted to bring Jake on that the porcupine was able to shift her thoughts properly, and direct her mental state towards a proper goal. \n\nI’m getting exactly what I originally wanted, so be happy!\n\n“Th-thanks,” Stephanie quietly said as she accepted the tissue. She carefully got to her feet, and after making sure everyone was safe, sat down where Katie directed. Some of the otter’s words about her clothes did sting some, but she had come to know that this was just how Katie was. “That jacket was just to make sure no one saw me. And.. I’m real sorry. I-I was just so surprised to see all of you.”\n\nThe porcupine girl leaned forward some so to look over at the opossum sitting on the other side of Mister Creedence.\n\n“And thank you for defending me?” said the girl to the older cub, unsure what it was that he was defending her from. “I think?”\n\nSeeing that Stephanie was calming down, Gary straightened up and cleared his throat so that the other three focused on him.\n\n“Now that’s over with,” the grown-up said softly so that only those in the backseat could hear, as if the curtain was not there, “you three are the ones I personally invited. That means you know more about what kind of a trip this is than the others in the car. I'd rather it remain that way so none them want to leave before arrival. Might sound mean that we’re tricking them, but it’ll help everyone in the long run in getting what we want.”\n\nGary then turned his attention to Katie with a smile and knowing eyes.\n\n“I also couldn’t help noticing that one of you came fully prepared for this trip,” Gary chuckled and still whispering, added, “Katie, did you want to show me more of that cute butt of yours, or are you hoping to play some before we arrive?” \n\nThe mouse gave the otter’s dress a flick, lifting it up high enough so all the others could see that she had no panties on. Stephanie did gasp at the sight, though it was more the fact that she just saw her friend’s privates. It was also helping the porcupine realize that she was going to see everyone’s private parts soon enough. Sooner than expected, it seemed, for Mister Creedence was unbuckling his belt and pants.\n\n”How about the rest of us follow Katie’s example, and show how willing and committed you are to doing what has to be done to have a good time on this trip. And become superstars while having fun.”\n\nStephanie rubbed at her eyes and nose once more, trying to dry them. She was real uncomfortable seeing the adult remove his pants and exposing his penis. A penis that was hard again. However, the talent agent did make sense. They were all going to be around nude people, and they were all going to be naked as well. This did seem like the best way to show that they were committed to the trip and to the agency. \n\nShe looked over at the older boy, who she barely even knew, and hesitantly reached under her dress and pulled her own underwear off. The panties were pink with flowers imprinted on them, and holes speckled the worn fabric. After placing her panties away in the hoody on her lap, she took a deep breath and lifted up the hem of her own dress so the others in the back seat could see her own bare crotch. After a few seconds, she started to slowly spread her legs. She even lifted the dress higher, but so to hide her face, which resulted in showing more of her chubbiness, and even some of her immature chest.\n\nStephanie could not believe that she was doing this, but Katie seemed more than fine with it. The otter obviously knew how to have fun, and knew what to do in order to be a star some day. There was no way the boys would like a pudgy porcupine as much as they liked Katie, but Stephanie had to try her best to compete with the lovely girl. The porcupine carefully shifted in the seat, and lifted her left leg onto the cushion so that the two males could see her much better. Her thick thighs, and the puffy fat lips of her vulva were now fully exposed. Due to her having one leg lifted and spread, they could even see some of the pink between her legs. She still held the dress over her face.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#5b9bd5]Now that the majority of Katie’s animosity towards Stephanie had been sufficiently eroded by the alcohol in her, the otter was much bubblier and giddy, and just a little bit fussy as she picked free another quill or two to add to the pile Gary had made. At the same time, the girl explained very simply that the hoodie was a disposable asset to hide her identity. Katie just couldn’t help but smile at that notion. Stephanie was already acting like a budding movie star, feeling like she had to hide from prying eyes that might recognize her.\n\nOf course, the real reason was far less glamorous, but a girl could still fantasize. It sounded like the perfect life for Katie, if she could just get her foot in the door. And at least she and the porcupine shared that lofty ambition. Even though they’d likely be in a competition for popularity. That made Katie’s smile shrink a little, but then Stephanie drew her out of her drunken thoughts with an apology, and the warmth returned.\n\n“That’s okay, the feeling’s mutual, hon,” she cooed sweetly, leaning against the porcupine slightly. She wasn’t bold enough to risk getting pricked, but the otter had clearly become more… cuddly. “I’m really surprised you came, honestly..! But, hey.. the more the merrier, right?”\n\nStephanie leaned over to one side to thank Hobart next, even though she seemed uncertain as to why, so Katie promptly leaned over to come up beside her and give the opossum a suspicious squint, before bluntly moving a paw in the infamous gesture to symbolize that she was keeping an eye on him for any funny business. Now that she had a girlfriend to hang out with, Katie was determined to helicopter over her.\n\nAs she was jabbing a stumpy black claw at the boy, Gary finally spoke up to address the trio, explaining what they already knew, before adding one caveat which made Katie frown for a moment. She’d really been hoping Stephanie and her could break the news to Jake on the limo, but instead, they would have to wait until after they arrived. It was disappointing but understandable. And Katie didn’t get long to dwell on it before the older rodent leveled a knowing look at her and grinned in such a way that the girl couldn’t stop herself from smiling sweetly in response.\n\nWhen he inevitably pointed out her distinct lack of underwear, the otter giggled and leaned back into her seat to let him reach over and lift the front of her dress. Katie was neither shy nor embarrassed when Gary exposed her privates for the other two to see, and in fact happily reached down to her small, fluffy mound and pulled up on the skin above her slit, making the clitoral hood bulge outward briefly as she spread her legs lewdly. It was a quick, playful gesture, but she made it pretty clear to the adult that it had naughtier implications.\n\n“I thought you’d never ask, Mister Creedence...” she answered coyly, putting on a bit of a British, upper-crust accent, like she were a proper lady instead of the sex-starved little slut her father had made her into. Not that she was particularly bothered by it. In fact, she loved the attention it got her more than anything. “...Mmnn.. but I was certainly hoping you would.”\n\nWith a seductive lick of her lips, it was clear that Katie was well-versed in the ways of manipulating men, but then it was easy when what they wanted and what she wanted were the same thing. And it was clear what the otter wanted as she wasted no time in stripping out of her fancy dress. All that time poring over her wardrobe, trying to decide which outfit to pick, just to throw it off fifteen minutes into their ride. Worth it, she thought drunkenly as she stood to lift her single piece of clothing up over it her head, showing off her long, lanky form, full, perfectly shaped hips, and her bare, fuzzy chest.\n\nShe did a quick twirl and plopped back down into her seat to set the dress aside while Gary encouraged the other two to follow her example, as he too began to disrobe. Katie watched him reveal his erection with keen interest, going so far as to lean forward for a closer look while he worked his pants down. As much as she wanted to go for it right away, she wanted his permission first. Before she could ask though, Stephanie had begun to undress as well, and now, bright, curious, hazel eyes had locked onto the porcupine as she removed her underwear and proceeded to expose herself.\n\nIn Katie’s inebriated state, she was quite fascinated by the other girl’s anatomy and bravery in spreading her legs as she raised her clothing high enough to expose her whole front. Even in her present condition, the otter knew she was probably blushing furiously behind her skirt, but self-control was suddenly out of the question for Katie. So when she saw that adorable little, untouched, virgin slit, begging to be broken in, the mustelid automatically phased into Stephanie’s personal bubble, lifting the leg the girl had raised onto the seat to wriggle under it simply so she could get close enough to reach for her privates.\n\n“Awww, it’s so cute, Rose! Can I play with it? Pleeeease?” she giggled eagerly.\n\nUnfortunately, she didn’t wait for an answer before suddenly and rudely shoving her index finger in-between those puffy lips. It’d been quite some time since Katie was a virgin, so she might’ve forgotten in her drunken haze, just how much it had hurt the first time. That didn’t stop her though, from trying to wriggle her little digit as far into her birth canal as she could. The reaction was about as obvious as one would’ve expected, and the second the otter realized her error, she pulled free in a hurry and held up her paws apologetically.\n\n“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” she repeated frantically, looking almost as shocked by her actions as Stephanie did. “I forgot to wait for permission first, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to—a-are you okay? Did I hurt you? I’m really sorry, I swear!”[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#6aa84f]\nThere is just no way they will want to look at me with Katie here, Stephanie thought as she blindly pictured how those with her in the backseat were reacting to her display of untouched porcupine puss. The girl was just starting to feel comfortable about what she was doing, and what was happening, when she heard Katie talk. And the otter sounded a lot closer than she thought!\n\nThere was a sudden pressure on her privates that felt both childish and knowledgeable. Stephanie did not have time to react to this surprise invasion of her privacy when that finger kept moving past the outer lips of her nethers, and deep into her vaginal canal. Not only was this a hole that had been vacant of any intruders, but these knuckled digits kicked down the door that was protecting this private space!\n\n“AHH!” screamed the violated child.\n\nKatie barely retracted her hand and arm from between the girl’s legs as they slapped shut with a loud smacking sound. The otter was forced to lean back into Mister Creedence as Stephanie rolled off the backseat and onto the car’s floor with a flump. The porcupine had bit down onto her dress to help draw focus away from the pain between her legs, and to try to keep quiet. On the floor, the others could only see her back and tail; a ball of quills that were rubbing up against the seat and the curtain as the cub cried quietly, the hollow spears echoing with each shuddering breath. She could hear the otter that hurt her repeatedly apologizing, and Katie did sound sincere. Stephanie, however, was overly confused as to what Katie was even trying to do. \n\nTHAT BLOODY HURT! And on that thought, Stephanie thought she could feel blood! She cut my coochie!\n\nBesides Katie’s frantic apologies, the girl on the floor could also hear Hob and Gary trying to comfort her. She could feel someone attempting to touch her, which only made her shake her tail defensively at them. It almost sounded like that of a rattlesnake’s tail. She suddenly heard Katie’s voice near her head. The otter must have slid over the seat to get around the quills. It was sounding as if Katie had been unaware about something, and saying that it would only be that one time. She was also wanting to see the porcupine’s face again.\n\nThe quills slowly settled down along her back and tail. Stephanie carefully raised her head to look over at Katie. She still had the hem of her dress in her mouth and between her buck teeth. Her nose was runny, her eyes were bloodshot, and the fur of her cheeks were damp once more. Stephanie now allowed the boys to help her back into her seat beside Katie, and to pull the dress from out of her mouth. \n\nHob was saying something about watching him as he took his own clothes off, but she could not get herself to look. Stephanie no longer had any interest, feeling like she had embarrassed herself twice. And her privates still stung. The porcupine kept her face leaned against the frame of the car while she heard the apparent stripping of marsupial pants and underwear. \n\n“I think I’m bleeding… down there,” Stephanie said softly, unsure if anyone was even going to hear or care.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#741b47]Hobart wanted to be reassuring. To be a little like his own dad treated him when he was scared. Unfortunately, he didn't have that much experience with it, and then Mr. Creedence had gone ahead and assigned Katie to the task. Oh well. As long as he could help keep bullies away from the porcupine, he would still be fulfilling his promise, right?\n\nWhen Katie flashed them, the possum at first didn't really register it. Being around naked girls was so completely alien to him that he hadn’t recognized what he was looking at. Even when Creedence grabbed his shoulder to make sure he didn't miss any of the action, it felt kind of like static in his brain. It wasn't until the mouse spoke that Hobart really snapped out of it. He still hadn't fully grasped that he’d seen her nethers by that point. A situation, he realized, she was about to fix in quite the forward fashion. She proceeded to slip out of her dress while all three of them watched—two of them struck dumb—like it was the most natural thing in the world for her to do.\n\nHobart glanced aside at Stephanie, ready to reassure or calm her if necessary. At the same time, he realized with embarrassment that he was growing as flushed as the porcupine was. How humiliating. The Interview with Creedence had gone over so well, too. So naturally; even when he'd slid that mouse cock into his bum all the way to the balls.\n\nAnd now he felt more nervous than he was the very first time he'd stripped in the locker room earlier that year, after Dasayo had invited him to try out for the after-school program he was putting together. His teacher had announced to the class he would be forming a new sports team. A wrestling team. Hobart loved to watch wrestling on television so it had been no surprise to anyone that he'd been one of the first to sign up. At the same time, almost none of the boys who'd done so had any idea what freestyle wrestling actually was. \n\nHe remembered it well. Almost fondly now, although at the time he'd wanted to melt through the floor. They were all somewhat mortified as Dasayo explained they would have to strip all the way down because they couldn't wear their normal underwear. And then the armadillo had spent a while making sure each and every one of the jockstraps was worn the right way. The teacher had always been a little handsy, but before the end of practice, multiple handys had happened.\n\nThings had gone downhill fast. Well, more accurate to say the cubs had gone down fast. Dasayo was a good coach. For both wrestling and… ‘cuddling’. He'd been very clear about what they could and could not tell other adults. By then, everyone enjoyed both wrestling and the… extracurricular asides too much to dare take the chance. While Hobart had not made a secret of his experience when talking to Creedence, he'd also made sure that his coach was never in the discussion.\n\nLater, he would come to realize why he was so blushy through this entire interaction. Where the mistake had been made along the way. After all the activities and… ‘team-building’ exercises that Dasayo and Jasper, his cheetah assistant coach, had subjected the cubs to, Hobart felt too smug and experienced to bother with Sex Ed. Each time he would spend the entire period goofing off and not paying attention, especially since they weren't tested on the material. The result was that, being a single child, he had never actually had a chance—okay, more like given himself a chance—to get a good look at a girl's genitals before, much less those of a fellow pupil.\n\nHe could understand Stephanie's apprehension, though. He had felt the same way his first time. It hadn't lasted, of course. Mostly because he realized early that when you are in a locker room, generally no one was usually interested in staring as you got naked. Well, at first no one was interested, because everyone was keeping away from each other and not mingling because they were all too busy being embarrassed (with a few exceptions). Then they'd gotten used to it and pretty much stopped noticing each other's nudity. After a few months of thrice-weekly practice and all those… bodily fluids, however, people were definitely looking again, but they had done so much stuff together naked that no one minded anymore.\n\nHe wanted to tell her that. Tell her that she would be doing this so much, that it was no use getting all shy and embarrassed about it. That in the end, people wouldn’t notice. But he also knew this was a lie. You had to be doing it with the same people, and if what Mr. Creedence had said was accurate, that wasn't what they were going to do on this trip. Besides, he'd noticed some people did find the shyness and embarrassment adorable.\n\nHobart himself, for one, he was beginning to realize. The sight of Creedence's throbbing erection and Katie's shameless exposure had definitely made him start to chub up, but watching Stephanie violate her own instincts as she revealed herself… now THAT made his twin-tipped member throb.\n\nUnfortunately, he was blushing and squirming too much to actually talk to her. This also accounted for how, despite reflexes honed by a room full of naughty cubs and combat sports, he couldn't possibly react fast enough to stop Katie’s impulsive advance, which triggered another loud outburst from Stephanie. He briefly palmed his forehead. And here I thought Travis was the one I was going to have to keep away from her… he thought.\n\nIt was worse this time. When she'd seen everyone, she'd just panicked and literally pinned herself in place. This time she protectively threw herself on the ground sobbing from the discomfort and humiliation.\n\n\"It's okay…! It's okay…! She won't do it again...\" Now it was his turn to glare at Katie: \"Right? You're going to be alright. You can get used to this.\" He meant getting undressed, but in his nervousness didn't realize what it actually sounded like.\n\nHe knew sexual contact, done well, wasn't supposed to hurt, but the thought didn't really come to him, much less the thought of trying to explain. Aside from the fact Stephanie was in no state to listen to, much less believe him, his concerns were elsewhere, specifically staying clear of the quills as he tried to reassure the poor girl. Eventually she did settle down a little and he helped her up. He couldn't hide his surprise when he saw that she still had the bottom of her dress in her mouth. In fact, her sharp incisors had bitten clear through the fabric and they needed to unhook it from her teeth before it could fall off.\n\nShe didn't answer. The situation had turned from sexy, to embarrassing, to unbearably awkward. It wasn't until Mr. Creedence reminded him that Hobart realized it wasn't fair he should be the only one still dressed.\n\n\"Erm… guess if I get to see you, you should get to see me,\" he offered as he stepped back. \n\nHe was still blushing in embarrassment himself. Unlike Creedence, he didn't have a big enough erection that it could be seen while he was still dressed (especially since, unlike the adult, he had underwear on). Now he was finding out how foolish he had been to tell her she'd get used to it. Because as it was turning out… he wasn't used to it either. Well, used to undressing in the company of others, sure. Used to undressing while people were just staring at him? Not so much.\n\nStill he had done it back then when starting with the team. Every one of the cubs on the team had. He wasn't going to back down now, especially after Katie had thrown down the gauntlet so casually. At the same time, he wanted to be cool about it. All that managed to do, really, was to make him look like he was trying to delay the inevitable as he slipped his T-shirt off. Then south went his shorts, revealing briefs in a 80's-style neon sunset pattern, complete with the silhouettes of palm trees and birds. The underwear alone, however, couldn't hide his erection anymore even though it wasn't particularly big.\n\nIgnoring Katie's inevitable commentary about his underwear, Hobart hooked his thumb into the waistband and yanked the briefs down all the way to his knees, where they promptly pooled at his feet so he could step out of them. He was mostly nervous about the reaction Stephanie might have to his unusual genitals. They didn't really start covering exotic reproductive anatomy until later in the year. His bifurcate penis had fascinated the whole team for a while, but eventually they'd gotten used to it. If Stephanie could get use to that particular visual, she could get through anything the trip might throw at her, he figured.\n\nShe didn't answer. In fact, she didn't look at him at all. She said something about bleeding. He glanced down at her crotch, but respectfully did not lift her dress again.\n\n\"When it's done right, it isn't supposed to. Katie has no self-control,\" another glare to the tipsy, if contrite girl. The jab was somewhat… okay it was entirely unnecessary, but he wanted to make it clear to Stephanie that none of this was her fault. \"Still, that was really sexy, how you did it,\" he tried to compliment the porcupine, still blushing a little as he remembered it, \"Before Katie ruined it, anyway.\"[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#5b9bd5]Initially Katie feared she’d been too forward with Stephanie, and that the physical contact had startled the girl, but when she screamed and threw herself off the backseat in an almost feral reaction to the pain, the otter began to reconsider. As it was, Katie was forced to throw herself into Gary to avoid the porcupine’s quills as she lunged into a spiky ball on the floor, but as she laid there with her back pressed against the adult rodent’s arm, her brows furrowed with growing concern.\n\nHobart was all too quick to come to Stephanie’s aid in light of Katie’s justifiably inappropriate behavior, but the otter wasn’t as miffed about his inevitable, dirty glare that followed his promise that she wouldn’t do it again. Rather than scowl, as she might have sober, Katie offered a small, sheepish smile as she met his gaze with sparkling innocence; even as the finger she’d so rudely shoved into the poor porcupine slowly slipped into her curious maw for a taste.\n\nHowever, the instant Katie’s licking tongue picked up a metallic taste amidst the girl’s natural flavor, her expression twisted into something close to horror. The finger slipped out of her muzzle suddenly with a pop as she clasped her other paw over her mouth in a muted gasp. The otter realized the depths of her mistake then, pushing away from Gary to crawl across the cushions on hands and knees.\n\nNaturally her tail was raised to show off her goods for the journey, but it wasn’t a conscious effort, as Katie bypassed the pointy quills that quivered and rattled defensively in response to the opossum’s efforts to get close and comfort the sobbing girl on the floor. Although the otter had lost some of her buzz after figuring out what had happened, she was still drunk enough to make her movements clumsy as she flopped down on the opposite end of the back seat, butt in the air as she lowered down close enough to apologize properly.\n\n“I’m really sorry, Steph, I didn’t know you were still a—I mean… I didn’t realize it was your… first time,” she stammered somewhat uncomfortably. It was clear she was genuinely sincere, perhaps even feeling guilty for having been the one take it from her like that. “But i-it only hurts that first time, I swear..! Then it gets better!”\n\nShe tried to smile, in the hopes her reassurance might pull Stephanie out of her thorny bubble, but when the porcupine didn’t respond right away, Katie’s brows sank and she frowned a little, before shifting to a more playful, friendly demeanor: “C’mon Rose… let me see that prize-winning smile. You know… the one that Jake gets to bask in all the time at lunch, mm..? It’s such a pretty smile.”\n\nWhen her softly spoken words finally yielded the response she hoped for, Katie let out a small, quiet sigh of relief. For a moment there, she was worried the girl might never forgive her, but as Stephanie’s quills began to relax, and her teary eyes emerged to meet Katie’s, the otter greeted her with the warmest smile she could muster. Although the sniffling girl didn’t say a word, she signaled she was amenable to their assistance to help her back into her seat. While the males lifted her to her feet to sit her down, Katie took over the task of separating the poor girl’s teeth from the fabric she’d bitten clean through.\n\nKatie couldn’t help feeling bad, seeing that. It must’ve hurt considerably, and given the resistance she’d met when worming her finger in there, she had a pretty good idea why. Not only had she been a virgin,but the opening to her vagina was probably very small. And Katie, always one to throw caution to the wind, hadn’t once considered that Stephanie might’ve been a first-timer. Which hurt her pride a little, because she liked to think herself pretty adept at accurately guessing one’s sexual activity based on smell and appearance alone. When she was sober, anyway.\n\nOnce Stephanie was on the back-seat again, Hobart was given the green-light to undress as well, with Katie fussing over the loose threads in the porcupine’s skirt—where she’d ripped a hole almost at crotch level—as she watched. Not that damage to her clothing would matter on a nudist cruise, but if it had been Katie’s outfit she would’ve been royally miffed. So she continued to baby the girl after her second date with the limo floor, hoping to avoid a third. All the while, the opossum slowly disrobed, and the otter could not help but be fascinated.\n\nShe always loved looking at and playing with other cub’s privates, but after a while she’d seen most of the forms that a boy’s penis came in. So the more exotic kinds really got her attention. And though she and Hobart weren’t on the best terms, given current events, she was more than happy to ogle at his body as it was revealed. However… when those… gaudy underpants emerged, Katie’s reaction was instant and displeased.\n\n“Good grief, my eyes!” she complained in clear exaggeration. “Get that awful thing off before we all go blind! What a fashion disaster!”\n\nIt felt good to get back at him a little for his earlier attitude, but then, that underwear clearly deserved it too. It should’ve come with warning signs, because that simulated sunset was almost as bright as the real thing. Luckily Hobart chose to ignore her blatant insult regarding his fashion choices, but more importantly, he was swift to remove the offending article of clothing and show off the erection he’d been hiding. At that point Katie leaned forward with interest and curiosity as she gave the twin-headed organ her full, undivided attention.\n\nShe was already reaching out with a paw to touch it when she mentally corrected herself. Katie had to literally pump the breaks on her own compulsive behavior to withdraw her eager digits at first. However that changed when Stephanie spoke up in a soft whisper to voice the inevitable concern the otter had been expecting. Before she could respond, Hobart butted in for another jab back at her, and Katie’s smile dropped briefly into a deadpan “oh no you just didn’t” expression.\n\nThe paw which had been starting to retract, promptly lunged outward to deliver a hefty pluck to the sensitive heads of Hobart’s erection, before her attention returned to Stephanie in a complete 180 from spiteful to caring.\n\n“It is my fault, Steph. And I really am sorry,” she apologized again, trying to ignore the older boy for the time being so she could make an offer she hoped Rose wouldn’t refuse. “Do you… want me to kiss it better? I promise it won’t hurt..”[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#6aa84f]\nGary had been a bit surprised by his own suggestion to get naked, or just pantsless in his case, but the sight of Katie’s lovely rear-end had caused the mouse to start thinking more with his dick and less with caution. And as things progressed, he had begun to regret the choice.\n\nEverything had started out great, of course. The otter was even more of an exhibitionist now than she was in her audition. It made Gary wish that there were not oblivious cubs on the other side of the privacy curtain. He wanted to see, and enjoy this girl without any hindrances. Then Stephanie, who he thought would need some prodding, had taken off her own panties and was spreading her legs to allow them all to see everything she’d originally kept hidden. They all had scooted themselves on the seat so to give the spikey girl more room to show herself off, and Gary could feel the possum’s own erection rubbing up on this elbow through the boy’s shorts as the lad watched the bashful girl attempt to not be shy. \n\nAnd that was when things slammed to a halt.\n\nThe boozed up water ferret dove right into the porcupine’s clam with one of her fingers, resulting in the porcupine’s grand prize being stolen away from all other potential lovers. Stephanie’s virginity was one of the things Gary was selling for this trip. For the talent agent, he was seeing his money vanish in that loud and regretful instant. All the rodent could do was sit and watch as the porcupine cried out in pain, and did a defensive flop onto the floor. Hob was then standing up and scooting towards the fallen girl, making comments toward Katie that were likely to make him more enemies than friends. Gary could appreciate the boy’s sincerity and desire to help, but Hob did not seem to realize that he would have to work with everyone that was in the limo, eventually.\n\nGary was starting to get up as well when Katie began to slink across the seat so she could avoid the quills, and thus get closer to Stephanie’s head. This action gave the grown up another eyeful of that cute cunt and asshole that got him horny to begin with. While Katie whispered to her friend, the mouse idly stroked his flagging erection back to full size while watching the cub work her charms. That was when he realized that Hob was still fully dressed, which Gary thought was odd considering how quick the child was to get out of his clothes in the office. \n\n“Hey, Hob,” whispered the mouse as he got up to assist in getting the girl off the floor, which was a risky task with his dick and balls exposed to the quills on her back. “Why don’t you go on and get undressed, so we can finish our commitment.”\n\nLike Hob, Gary was also hoping that the boy’s genitals would calm things down. It was definitely a distraction for Katie, who was going right for the young male’s double ended penis when it came into view. At least she was until something was muttered by Stephanie, which Gary did not quite catch as he had moved over to the other side of the seat. What he did hear was Hob’s comment about Katie, which was followed by a yelp, as the otter’s response was to flick her fingers at the tip of his erection. \n\nGary got an idea of what was said earlier when Katie suggested that she kiss Stephanie’s pussy to make it feel better. For Gary, this was a great idea. The adult placed a leg up on the seat so to face the girls easier, stroking himself in anticipation of the possible lesbian act.\n\n“Stephanie, dear,” Gary said with a soft and warm voice. “I suggest letting Katie make up with you, and let her do that for ya. In this particular situation, a kiss really can make the pain go away.”\n\nStephanie had been listening to everything as she tried to mentally calm down. She had also been enjoying the coolness of the plastic that was pressed against her face. A part of her almost looked over to see the underwear that Katie was talking about. She was also curious to see another boy’s penis, since she had only seen her daddy’s and Mister Creedence’s peepees prior to this moment. The pain between her legs, however, was just too distracting.\n\nThe time she saw her dad’s penis was long ago, and still a very odd thing for her to think about. It had been close to her sixth birthday. She had woken up early one morning, the sun not yet up. She’d gotten out of bed, and went to go use the restroom. In the dark hallway, she saw that the light in the restroom was turned on. Quietly opening the door, the young cub peeked through the crack. Looking in revealed her mother standing naked in the shower. Her father was standing outside of the tub and also just as naked. He had his dick fully out of its sheath, and was peeing all over her mother’s body!\n\nStephanie had quickly backed away from the door as soon as she realized what was happening in the bathroom, and that she was seeing something that cubs should not be witnessing. Ignoring the urge to pee, the young girl had gone to the living room to watch cartoons until her parents were done. Over the years, Stephanie would forget about that moment. But the image of her dad’s pink flesh and a stream of urine spraying out of it’s tip onto her smiling mother’s fur would resurface to the front of her memories at random moments, just as it was now.\n\nWait. Did Katie just suggest that kissing my foofy would help?!\n\nStephanie’s eye widened as she realized what was being said to her by both Katie and Mister Creedence. Finally, the cub moved her head off the wall to look at them. Katie was right by her side, and presenting the friendliest smile she had ever seen on the popular girl. Hob was turned away from her, giving her only a full view of his bare tail and butt cheeks. And Mister Creedence was…\n\nThe porcupine hurriedly turned away from the sight of the adult mouse’s lewdness. In the relaxed pose the agent was in, Stephanie was able to see everything as he leisurely stroked his erection up and down. His actions were causing his surprisingly large testicles to lift up with each tug and show off a dark, pink anus hiding behind them. Stephanie had seen these actions before during her audition, but the actions were now so much more… perverted? \n\nI saw his butt hole, the cub thought to herself as the image of her agent masturbating replayed through her head like a video on a repeated loop. Does everyone’s butthole look like that? \n\nStephanie gave her head a small shake to help clear her mind. They were suggesting that she allow Katie to kiss her where it hurt. The porcupine was not sure if that was a good idea. Did kissing a booboo ever actually work? And kissing a foofy sounded very dirty. But Mister Creedence was saying that it really would make her feel better down there. Also, it seemed to be a good idea to let another girl take a look, and make sure she was not hurt too badly. Even if that girl was the one that had caused the pain to begin with.\n\n“Uhm, uh, Okay?” Stephanie said in hesitant agreeance. Rose slowly allowed herself to open her legs again so that the otter could get between her thighs. “Pleeease be careful this time.”\n\nAs Katie prepared to treat Stephanie’s injury, Gary reached over to the opossum by his side. He placed a hand on the boy’s thick tail, giving it a stroking motion like he was with his other hand on his cock. When he had Hob’s attention, the mouse slowly pulled the boy toward his lap.\n\n“Let’s enjoy the show together,” Gary whispered so that only Hob could hear.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#741b47]Hobart was growing mildly frustrated. He'd been trying to be social with the porcupine girl. At least more social than he'd been before. But it was hard to do that with Katie being her boisterous self and relegating him to something of a third wheel. This was all the more embarrassing as he was interested in the happenings too. Not for quite the same reasons as Creedence. Whereas for the adult this was all about the naughtiness and the arousal, for Hobart, it was tickling his curiosity. He had done a lot of things with boys, but never really looked at a girl's parts, much less done anything with them.\n\nHe had wanted to get a good, close look at Stephanie's parts before Katie had nuked the mood from orbit. By now, trying to do so would not just be inappropriately butting into the girls' fun, but also give Katie a chance to full-on humiliate him, and there was no way Hobart was letting her do that. Still, it wasn't really Katie's fault events had unfolded to frustrate him, so he couldn't even be angry at the otter. Oh, he was annoyed by her habit of assuming the world revolved around herself, but she wasn't exactly doing it all on purpose to get at him. Well, she had done a few things, but they were all quite inconsequential. \n\nThe opossum had expected her comments about his underwear—if Katie was one thing, it was predictable—and already knew he couldn't care less whether she liked them or not. What was important was that he did. Besides it wasn't any less gaudy than the outfits of his heroes on television who fought, clotheslined, and piledrived each others with gusto. Hobart knew she wouldn't say that if he were in a ring, but at the same time, he knew not to fight someone with no fighting experience. He didn't want to turn into Lyle. Having conversation pieces in your wardrobe was supposed to be fashionable, too, or so he'd heard it said on TV at one point. Had TV been wrong? Or was Katie just messing with his mind?\n\nThe flick he should have seen coming. Again, Katie was predictable. It stung more from the fact that he hadn't been at the ready to block her than because of the fingerpluck itself. It was a reminder of how his earlier failure had resulted in Stephanie actually getting hurt, even after he'd promised he wouldn't let that happen. Of course, Katie hadn't been on Hobart's mind when he'd promised that, but that wasn't much comfort. When he'd enrolled, he thought wrestling would prove to have practical uses. Not so much, it was turning out.\n\nHe barely registered Katie's suggestions, distracted as he was growing with Creedence's masturbation. When the mouse had merely been exposed, it hadn't bothered him. Though 'bothered' was hardly the right word to describe it. Barely noticed was more accurate. But now that the mouse was working himself again, the light noises and especially the smells were definitely registering with Hobart. He wanted to look. No, not look. He wanted very much to help the nice man that might help make him into a true fighter like his pro-wrestling heroes. But at the same time, he wanted to look at what Katie was going to do. He couldn't help wondering how that worked. There was nothing transgressive to Hob about gay sex, even with an adult. Lesbian stuff, now, he had never even really considered, and as a result it seemed so very, very naughty.\n\nWhen Stephanie agreed to Katie's offer, not without some additional prodding from Creedence, he found himself letting out a sigh of relief. He hadn't even noticed that he had been holding his breath. He would get to see how girls did it. At the same time he wanted to shove his face in the ample sack of the mouse. Dasayo's balls were nice and all, but with the rodent there was just more to love. The possum had greatly enjoyed nuzzling at them, and right now he found himself torn between wanting to stuff his face down between Creedence's legs and staring at the upcoming girl-on-girl action.\n\nWhat tipped the scale definitely was a paw starting to stroke at the base of his tail. While Hobart was not quite as slutty as Katie, he too had been well groomed. The various cub fuckers that had been in his life since Dasayo had taken him under his wing and made sure it was pretty much a Pavlovian reflex already. Within seconds the possum's tail was slowly rising, revealing a firm butt that Creedence probably hadn't had as much time to admire last time as he'd have liked. The cub didn't really notice it either way, not until the larger mouse had started to actually tug him toward his genitals.\n\nHobart found himself drooling. He swallowed, eyes flickering between the throbbing, now leaking length that jutted between the agent's legs and the action that was starting to go down between the two girls. His concerns that Katie might pull off something stupid again were soon cast away. He sunk to his knees, not unlike Katie had, and started pressing his face against the mouse's sack. Before long his paws were gripping the length and replacing the adult's. He seemed to have forgotten about the girls.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#5b9bd5]The older opossum hadn’t been the only one waiting with bated breath for Stephanie’s approval, as Katie was quivering nervously in her seat, hoping she hadn’t damaged their relationship like she’d just done to the poor girl’s hymen, thanks to her overzealous, blunt approach to foreplay. The otter hadn’t even waited for permission, thus bulldozing through her own most important rule of engagement. Never harm your partner. Unless they wanted you to, of course.\n\nIt was a rule she struggled with daily around Jake, simply because she would always be denied if her request was too… extreme. And what counted as ‘extreme’ for the timid bunny was… well… almost everything. Far as she knew, Stephanie was similarly minded, seeing as how the two got along so well during their lunch break, so she fully expected to be shot down. Especially after the stunt she’d just pulled. She could still taste a hint of blood on her tongue as an unpleasant reminder, all the while hoping she would be permitted to make it all up to the porcupine.\n\nWhen Gary spoke up to state his own approval of the idea, Katie’s ears twitched and her spirit lifted slightly. If Mister Creedence was on her side, then she must’ve been on the right track with her offer, and that warmed her cheeks considerably. Also, with the mouse on board too, it was suddenly possible that the hurting girl would agree to it, and that had the otter’s smile widening ever so slightly in hopeful expectation.\n\nOf course, Katie failed to consider the possibility that maybe, possibly, the poor girl was going to be peer-pressured into the act. So when Stephanie finally uttered her consent, the otter sucked in air with an excited, barely contained squeak, nodding her head furiously in response to the girl’s request for caution even as she slithered off the cushion beside the porcupine and nestled in-between her tentatively spreading legs. Before Katie could dive right in though, her wandering gaze spotted the males nearby, beginning to engage in their own game.\n\nThe otter paused briefly to watch the interaction out of her peripherals while she examined the mess she’d caused between Stephanie’s legs. It wasn’t much to see, since the porcupine had such a recessive, squat little pussy, but Katie was able to gingerly press a thumb against her fuzzy mound to pull upwards and stretch it out slightly; just enough for her meaty clitoral hood to bulge outward. It was every bit as adorably chubby as the rest of Stephanie, but what the otter was looking for and found, made her frown a little.\n\nA single droplet of blood had formed at the entrance and trickled out as she carefully spread one of her lips to see into the small slit.\n\n“Uh—okay… if… if it hurts at all, just tell me and I’ll stop. I promise,” she said reassuringly, even as her attention shifted slightly towards Gary and Hob to suggest, “You can watch them play if you need a distraction.”\n\nThat might’ve been a risky suggestion of course. Certainly it would have been with Jake in Stephanie’s place, but there was a chance that the porcupine might be as interested as Katie was by the parallel activity playing out beside them. Of course, the otter was focused less on the main action, and more on the opossum’s neglected organ. Even as he sat kneeled beside her to service their collective talent agent’s enticing package, she couldn’t take her eyes of that bobbing, two-headed creature.\n\nDespite how they’d been treating each other—and the nigh-unforgivable act of wearing such flashy underwear—Katie was almost willing to forgive and forget if it meant she could play with that curious-looking appendage eventually. After all, Gary’s manhood was interesting, and his large testes most enjoyable to explore, but it was also nothing she hadn’t seen before. If you saw one rodent penis, you’d seen them all. Marsupials however, didn’t follow such a bland, evolutionary model. Case-in-point; one shaft, two heads.\n\nShe could just picture herself rolling them around with her tongue, and was already wondering if its weak spot laid between the tips or elsewhere. There were curiosities her brain demanded be satisfied, but she couldn’t oblige herself right now. For the time being at least, those fantasies would curtail the desire to insert herself into the boys’ fun for a threesome. Besides, she had her own partner to explore, and it felt like a rare opportunity she couldn’t refuse.\n\nIn her mind, in some way, playing with Stephanie would be like playing with a more willing, female version of Jake. She hoped, anyway. It was still entirely possible that the second Katie’s upstairs lips touched the porcupine’s downstairs lips, another freak-out might be triggered. It was the kind of ‘dangerous’ game the otter couldn’t help but find thrilling. An adrenaline rush of fear and pleasure, that was what swelled up inside her as Katie finally made her move, leaning in slowly and deliberately, her warm breath washing over Stephanie’s privates.\n\nRather than immediately create a seal with her lips though, the otter’s tongue protruded from her maw to gently lick up the blood that had stained the bottom half of the girl’s vagina, tracing the slimy muscle from the bottom, all the way to the tip, to apply pressure to Stephanie’s concealed clitoris, forcing it upward and slipping between the outer folds to graze the sensitive bulb inside, before her tongue popped out of the fleshy track.\n\nShe waited for a moment or two to gauge the girl’s initial response to her surface treatment, before taking the inevitable plunge with her tongue, between both sets of lips and up to the entrance of the hole she’d injured. Then, with all the expertise and care of a female experienced with her own gender, she proceeded to carefully lap at the bloodied walls and torn tissue, attempting to determine the extent of the damage while nursing and massaging at the same time. And, of course, she was ready to pull out in an instant. Though fear of that possibility ensured she gave it her best effort. In fact, she was almost determined to get a climax out of Stephanie, just to prove what she’d told the girl earlier was true.\n\nAnd while Katie had managed to get her tongue into someone else’s privates in almost record time, her counterpart, Chris, was annoyed as ever. On the other side of the curtain, he’d stopped wondering what his sister was up to when Mitch, in all his infinite ‘wisdom’ decided to make up a drinking game using the fully stocked mini-fridge and its likely expensive bounty of alcoholic beverages in convenient sample-sized containers. They were perfectly sized for cubs, actually. In fact, if Chris hadn’t known better, he’d suspect it was intentional.\n\nBut… there was no way anyone could have planned for Chris to bring along a disruptive hooligan like Mitch. Even less likely was anyone in the known universe accounting for Mitch dragging Travis along as well. That had surprised the otter for sure, and now he was really, really beginning to regret his decision to invite the raccoon. Even as he watched both troublemakers struggling to empty their first full mickeys of Captain Jackrabbit, it was clear this was a horrible mistake.\n\nLuckily Mitch was the first to finish his bottle, but when he came up for air, he was gasping and clutching his throat, teeth clenched as he worked his way through the bitter taste and the burning sensation that followed his esophagus all the way into his now grumbling stomach. Okay, so… sure, Mitch had had a sip or two of various forms of alcohol in the past, but never had he chugged a WHOLE bottle, even a little one. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea… he thought with a strained groan as he waited for the nausea to pass.\n\nWhen he could finally see clearly again—after blinking away the tears that had formed in his eyes—Mitch looked up to see Travis with his own empty bottle and not looking so hot either. However, it was clearly a little easier for him to stomach. The raccoon didn’t like that, so he tried to play off his own discomfort.\n\n“Mmm…! Man, that’s some good stuff, right?” he said with a smirk, tossing his empty bottle onto the carpet. “Yo, bartender, gimme another!”\n\nFrom the look of Mitch’s goofy expression, he was already feeling flush from such a sudden influx of alcohol, and Chris frowned, furrowing his brow in growing concern.\n\n“Mitch… I don’t think this is a good idea,” he stated bluntly, drawing a crooked glare from the raccoon.\n\n“Pssh..! Don’t be a… y’know… a mud-stick or… something. Whatever! Let loose a ‘lil, man. Have some fun for once!” the babbling trash panda ranted, waving his arms in the air and promptly flopping onto his back in an unflattering manner that put his privates on display once more; at least until he could get his arms under him to sit up again.\n\nOut of all the boys, none was more concerned by the current trend of events than Jake, who so far had observed with increasing anxiety and almost complete silence. Even if he’d known what to say though, it was unlikely anyone would actually listen to him. But then he was likely to only parrot what his own Mommy and Daddy had drilled into his head about alcohol and drugs.\n\nSo watching his friends indulge so freely in the forbidden beverage was setting off all kinds of alarm bells in Jake’s head. Cubs shouldn’t be drinking that stuff, but there was only one designated adult in this limo to stop them, and he was currently indisposed behind the curtain at the rear. He thought briefly about tattling out loud before things went any further, but the very idea made his throat clench with trepidation.\n\nEven if he could find his voice to shout, he’d be fulfilling the role of snitch again, which got him bullied enough at school. Mitch certainly wouldn’t appreciate the betrayal, but Travis… that was whom the rabbit feared crossing more than anything. Even if he was reformed, old habits usually died hard, and one thing the jackal had always been good at was spreading rumors at the behest of Lyle. So needless to say, the buck wasn’t eager to give him the pleasure of going around telling cubs at school later how he’d ratted them out.\n\nStill, increasingly flustered by what he was witnessing, Jake could only turn to Chris for advice. As he leaned into the larger otter, the buck tried to relay his concerns in a whisper.\n\n“S-somebody should tell Mister Creedence,” he suggest softly, “Before we all get in trouble… right?”\n\nChris listened, but frowned and sighed softly, before offering his rebuttal: “I hate to say it, Jake, but… something tells me he might not care that much..”[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#666666]How the bloody hell had he gotten himself into something like this?\nThe rational part of his mind dwelt briefly upon this question, dismissed it as unimportant and tossed it aside. It’d been fun to see Mitch gag on sniffing Gary’s abandoned beverage. The sight of the normally unflappable raccoon being fazed by something almost made up for how silly Travis himself felt for chugging strange drinks without even bothering to sniff them first.\nWhatever: the course of action was clear as day. Mitch’s legendary fortune had run out. He had the coon by the short hairs and was sure this unspoken dare was one he would win.\nWait…what? Travis blinked in confusion at Mitch’s refusal to take a sip. Were you allowed to do that? Simply change the rules mid-game…? Or did that somehow mean he’d won? Naturally, he preferred to interpret it as the latter. “Heh—if y’ say so…chicken!”\nIt wasn’t every day that he managed to get an upper hand on Mitch. The triumph of this rare occurrence happening so soon after that recent thrashing in pvp co-op mode conspired to put him in an oddly chipper mood: one that not even the mute disapproval of a certain goody-two-shoes otter OR the awkward avoidance of his scaredy-cat companion could ruin. \nMitch’s new idea, on the other hand…\n“An…idea?” Travis echoed warily, abandoning the console setup to focus entirely on Mitch. The still-sober part of his mind remained convinced that circumstances demanded nothing less…though he was rapidly forgetting why as seconds continued to tick by. For some reason or other even the most mundane things; such as Chris rolling his eyes in response to Mitch inadvertently flashing them again as he stood struck him as hilariously funny—funny enough that he found himself forced to clap a paw across his snout to stifle an unexpected burst of laughter, gesturing to the curtain barricade as he did so.\n“Pfft! Ride a limo, build a fence, Mitch has lost ‘is underpants!”\nHe’d no idea where that bit of doggerel came from. That didn’t make it any less funny though. Travis collapsed in laughter again, both paws clapped against his muzzle now lest Gary should overhear. Seeing the older boys’ reactions set him off once more, and it was with herculean effort that he managed to get ahold of himself to pay attention to what Mitch was doing. “Ooh—shiny!”\nOrdinarily, being a canine meant that he saw the world in greys and whites. That didn’t seem to apply this time, however. It was as though a switch had been flipped from ‘off’ to ‘on’ in his head, and the mesmerizing colours of the liquid sloshing in all those bottles Mitch busied himself laying out was tempting indeed. Greens, blues, reds… He didn’t know whether they looked that way because of the bottle, or if the contents were really those colours, and he couldn’t wait to find out.\nIt was all he could do to pay attention to Mitch’s proposal as the coon dealt them both four bottles of Captain Jackrabbit in two even rows. So far as he could tell the brewer’s mascot seemed strangely familiar—a discovery Travis wasted no time in pointing out.\n“Hey, Jake—this guy looks like you! Heeheeheheh! You’re famous…famouser than…than Katie, even!” This revelation had him squinting closely at the other sample bottles, somehow convinced he’d find a Chris-lookalike otter on one of them too. Sadly, this didn’t appear to be the case. “You aren’t here though, Chris. Wanna see?”\nHefting one of the unopened bottles by the neck, Travis held it out to the otter without bothering to get up from where he lay half sprawled on the ground. By this time it seemed pretty clear that neither Chris nor Jake knew exactly how to respond to this pronouncement. The semi-contemptuous expression Chris had been wearing since Travis first showed up seemed ready to slip, and he looked uncertain as he declined the bottle with a cautious shake of a head. As for Jake, the rabbit seemed to be having trouble deciding whether to feel afraid of him or amused by the proceedings. So far as Travis was concerned, this indicated Progress: at least Jake wasn’t stuttering nervously anymore, and Chris wasn’t threatening to flatten his snout.\nMitch chose this moment to make his re-emergence from the minibar with yet more bottles in hand to survey the situation—a development that Chris immediately rounded upon in equal parts relief and desperation; glad for any sort of distraction from a certain giggly jackal. He made an unfortunately-worded remark for Mitch to reclaim his pants, and the inadvertent use of the word ‘butt’ sent Travis into fresh paroxysms of mirth. All the same he did his best to attend to Mitch explaining the rules. Which were all well and good, exceeeept…\nBut the raccoon was already drinking, and so Travis followed his lead—unwilling that the other should get a head-start. As before he didn’t much appreciate the taste, and cared even less for how his rival was ‘helping’ him along with his own. It made the contents go down a little too fast, resulting in a spate of coughs and hiccups as he wiped an arm across his muzzle. “I’m not a baby, Mitch! I c’n drink on my own! Sheesh!”\nPrivately, Travis anxiously hoped that this would prove to be the case. The soda-diluted cocktail he’d swallowed earlier had already burnt his throat like lava, so naturally quaffing the actual stuff proved five times worse. Its fumes muddled his nose and made it sting. He could only hope that somehow Mitch would be feeling the same.\nNot that he intended on admitting this to his rival of course… Honour demanded no less.\n“s’not yet a game, Mitch,” words and concepts were getting harder to express, forcing Travis to shake his head once or twice to clear the fog from it before continuing on. “Y’need…we need a prize. Also referees an’ stuff: someone to keep score, an’ someone to stop YOU from cheating. Because you’ll cheat, an’ we all know it,” crossing both arms over his suddenly-colourful T-shirt, the cub appealed to Chris for backup. “You’re class moni..monit…class rep, an’ ev’ryone says you’re responsible. Referee for us, ‘kay? I reeeally wanna kick Mitch’s stripey butt.”\nBefore Chris could reply, he went on to address Jake as well. “An’ like Mitch says, we’ll also need a bar…bartend…person to be in charge of the fridge an’ keep score. Pleeeaase?”\nThen there was the other thing to address: “Also, we’re gonna be here forever if it’s Drink-till-ya-Puke. Let’s...let’s make it more int’resting…” A fuzzy memory of what he’d once seen when intruding on Dad’s occasional poker parties came to mind. “Let’s play, uh... Strip-Swallow also. S’like strip-poker only different: We both drink each bottle in ONE go; anybody who puts it down before finishing loses the round…and has to remove one bit of clothing like shirt or pants or whatever. So first one to puke loses…but if nobody pukes yet then whoever’s naked first loses. An’ loser’s gotta do one thing the winner chooses—that’s the prize!”\nIt was a considerable speech, one made all the more impressive by the fact that his head was feeling slightly out-of-sorts while he was saying it.\n“So, are you guys in, or are you chicken?”[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#5b9bd5]The instant Travis recovered from his own imbibement, the first words he choked out were in protest of Mitch’s intentional handling of the pup’s drink. However, the raccoon snickered and slumped into the shoulders he was using to prop himself up, looking thoroughly pleased and not at all concerned about it.\n\n“Oh, dude, that was just a percussion… a… precrish—precus… eh… precaution…? Yeah. Y’know, in case yah tried to fake out on me,” he tried to explain, but he was beginning to stumble over his tongue, so rather than argue with Travis, he lazily listened to the jackal’s inevitable attempt to up the ante.\n\nNot that Mitch minded, really. In fact, the other boy’s boldness and willingness to go that extra mile was what he’d always liked about him. Even when he was a Lyle stooge. He liked that fearless quality, because it was something they shared in common. Even Sachel had his limits when it came to the pranks Mitch liked to play, but not Travis. He was game for any crazy plan the raccoon could conjure.\n\nAs such, he wasn’t at all disappointed by the jackal’s suggestion not only to raise the stakes, but to include the party-poopers. He was more than game for making it a group effort, especially when the time came for blame to be dished out. It was always better to get caught as a group than on his own. Even if it meant his friends sharing his collective misery in detention. Besides, in the unlikely event that they weren’t all punished for getting into Gary’s alcohol, they all might just enjoy themselves and have a great time.\n\nJake especially could’ve used a helping hand in that regard, considering his reaction to Travis’ suggestion that he play bartender for them. Even though it was a nice, simple task, the buck withered at the opportunity, having already been teased by the jackal about being on the labels of some of the bottles. Though it did peak his curiosity enough to look at the bottle the younger boy had offered to Chris.\n\nFortunately, ever the responsible one, the otter turned it down without a word. However he couldn’t help thinking it over before making that decision. Chris was more than well aware of the effects of these drinks, having lived with his alcoholic father for the first half of his life, so he knew there was a relaxing quality to them. Such that a sip, if offered to Jake, might’ve helped to ease his nerves, but he’d felt a pang of guilt for considering it.\n\nThe claim it helped one to relax, was the excuse his father had used to get him drunk the first time. It had been a gateway to further abuse, simply for the fact he didn’t resist. Maybe he’d trusted him too much. Either way, he was wary of following in his father’s footsteps. Jake deserved better than that. And right now he really wished he could help the shivering rabbit to calm down, without resorting to alcohol.\n\nAt the very least, no one was trying to push it on Jake. Even Travis suggested the buck merely handle the bottles and keep score, an easy enough task, but one that made Jake tense in Chris’ arms. His embraced tightened ever so slightly, before the otter made the decision to separate, much to the bunny’s dismay. He’d gotten used to that warmth and physical contact, but more worryingly, it seemed that Chris was prepared to oblige the whims of these two tipsy boys.\n\nNeither boy had a chance to properly respond to their suggested roles, though, because Mitch, upon hearing Travis’ closing argument, dropped flat against the floor and kicked his legs up in the air, immediately throwing back his top to expose every inch of his naked, furry hide up to his nipples, before swinging himself upright once more with the momentum dropping them down again. His legs swiftly crossed as the landed, and Mitch leaned forward intensely with his best game face on.\n\n“Oh yer on dude! You wanna strip battle, do yah? Look at who yer playin’ against, man. I won’t even need t’cheat. This’ll be an easy win, hah! Oooh man, I can’t wait to win my prize,” he cackled confidently, rubbing his mitts together like a super-villain. “Seriously, T, yer goin’ down so hard, I won’t even need to lose this shirt. But I will anyway, even when I win, ‘cause that’s how chill I am. Hehehe… I’m gonna wait to cash in my prize, though. Gotta make it really good.”\n\n“Yo! BarTENDer!” Mitch called suddenly, snapping his fingers in such a way that even though he didn’t say his name, Jake still flinched with recognition. It helped that he was almost pinning the buck down with a pointy-clawed finger, demanding, “Fetch us..! The good stuff, if you’d please…!”\n\nHe was putting on a dramatic act, like he always did, which in its own way helped to ease Jake’s anxiety. Even in this strange new place, Mitch was as at home as if he was outside on the front lawn, or in his living-room. The bunny wished he had that kind of confidence and bravery himself, but just being around the raccoon helped sometimes. Right now though, as he was being singled out, it took a nudge from Chris to break him out of his momentary shock.\n\nWith a few quick blinks, Jake glanced between the two faces looking at him, before turning to Chris for direction.\n\n“Go on,” he said softly, “You can sit on the floor by the fridge, in the corner.” When Jake started to frown though, he quickly added, extra quietly, “It might feel safer down there, out of sight.”\n\nHe gave Jake’s shoulder a friendly pat and let the boy in his fancy dress-wear slip off the cushion and settle onto the floor in front of the mini-fridge. Almost right away the rabbit opened it and began exploring inside, mostly to sate his curiosity. Of course, when he picked up one of the bottles that looked like the one Travis had offered, he scowled at the illustration on the label. Typical, he thought, White rabbit with black-tipped ears; must be Jake, right? Nevermind that the rendition on the bottle was an adult with a beard and looked nothing like him.\n\nJust one more imagined slight for Jake to put on his mental list, even though he was probably being a little vindictive at this point. But then, his history with Travis hadn’t just disappeared the day Lyle told the jackal to find someone else to mooch off of. The boy just seemed to have a terrible habit of doing every stupid thing he was dared to do, without care for consequences. That made him hard to trust, even though now that he’d latched onto Mitch, his bad behavior had become less chaotic and personally harmful.\n\nEven if Jake could get over the personality bias, he had to admit there was also a species bias too. And though the rabbit had enough of his medication to get him through the trip without freaking out around every predator he encountered, that didn’t change the fact that Travis was both a former bully and a canine. Sure, he was younger, and practically skin and bone, but Jake’s natural instincts had never been the most logical.\n\nThe jackal’s punch from earlier hadn’t even hurt. It was the static shock of the sudden contact that had made Jake jump like he did. So why was he so afraid of him? He wasn’t doing mean things anymore, or spreading rumors as far as he knew. And even if Travis had tried, he probably couldn’t physically hurt Jake. Meaning the fear was all in his head, conjured from past experiences. But maybe they were irrelevant now.\n\nJake certainly hoped so. Either way, the first step towards mending that bridge in his mind was simply not to argue with his assigned task, and so he fished around in the mini-fridge for whatever Mitch considered ‘the good stuff’. Without a frame of reference though, he settled for grabbing one of every kind. The bottles were pretty small, so he was able to hold quite a few as he transferred them to the floor, so he could close the fridge door.\n\nAs he sorted through them, reading all the words he could understand on the labels, Chris leveled a hard stare at both Mitch and Travis. The pair were clearly already under the influence, judging by how they wobbled with the effort just to remain upright. So the otter was all but certain this game wouldn’t last for more than a couple rounds before one of them upchucked. And then Gary would certainly intervene to put his foot down. At this point, Chris was ambivalent about their chosen fate.\n\n“Y’know what? Fine. As stupid as this game is, it’ll be worth it to see you both pass out in your own vomit. And for the record? I hope you both lose,” he sighed in frustration, kneading his brow. “Alright, let’s get this over with. According to the… ‘rules’... you’re both tied. Let’s see…”\n\nLeaning forward on the cushions, Chris picked up both of the empty bottles to review their labels, his snout wrinkling at the starting percentage of alcohol in the boys’ chosen beverage. 35% had to be a lot, even for an adult. It was unlikely either Mitch or Travis could hold down what amounted to another whole glass of rum. But then the question was how quickly Chris wanted this trainwreck to last. He had to give it some thought.\n\n“Okay, Jake? Could you grab a couple that say, uh… 40% on the label?” Not the hardest decision he’d ever made, but the boys deserved it. And if they somehow survived this round, neither would win the next. That much Chris was certain of.\n\n“Uhm… hold on… uh… where does it say… o-oh, wait. I see, okay! Uhm, h-how about these two?” the buck suggested, handing over two differently labeled drinks that had the same amount of alcohol. Whether the brand would make a difference was anyone’s guess, but Mitch happily grabbed the once closest to him.\n\n“40%, huh? Sounds like a lot,” Mitch mused smugly, “Think you can handle it Travis? Mmmm?” The raccoon held up his chosen beverage, a mickey of Beavers Creek Whiskey, and jiggled it tauntingly. “Ready when you are, T,” he said, cracking open his bottle and putting it to his lips in preparation to chug it.\n\nWhether or not Travis had timed himself with Mitch, the raccoon went ahead first, ever the daredevil. He upended the bottle and proceeded to gurgle and glug down the foul substance, struggling every step of the way. He got halfway before his throat clenched for a few aching moments, his gag reflex threatening to trigger, but he didn’t stop to breathe until he’d emptied the remaining contents. Only then did he drop the bottle and clasp both paws over his mouth in a very obvious fight to keep the contents of his stomach from decorating the limo carpet.\n\nAlmost immediately, the raccoon started to look around for something to throw up in if he needed to, an action which spurred both Jake and Chris into doing the same in a sudden panic. The otter was first to spot the complimentary ice-bucket in a cavity of the limo nearby, pointing it out for the bunny to grab, but by the time they got the bucket into Mitch’s hands he was waving them off.\n\n“Nngh… guh… I’m fine.. I think,” he groaned, holding his head over the bucket just in case.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#666666]It took a moment or two of Jake saying his name—while waving the clear cut-glass bottle directly in front of his face in a manner only a blind mole would miss—before Travis belatedly registered the rabbit’s presence. “Huh? Oh! A’rite…”\nEverything appeared a little fuzzy around the edges. The startling new colours that were so recent a revelation hadn’t yet outlived their novelty; particularly since the cub had quickly discovered that they appeared to change whenever he would reach out with a paw to touch something, or look the other way. He had then proceeded to make the most of this discovery; touching the faux leather limo seats, plush carpeted floor, and even his fellow occupants to make them cycle through a rainbow of colours. Mitch’s over-the-top response to his earlier proposal for a strip battle proved a perfect opportunity to see his awesome new powers in motion, and he’d pounced upon his chance to reach out with a paw to poke experimentally at the raccoon’s uncovered torso—making its fur transition from pink to purple to blue and violet before Mitch scooted back upon his feet and the jersey fell back into place once more, interrupting the fun halfway.\nNor had that been the only stimulus demanding his attention. Chris appeared to the jackal’s alcohol-enhanced senses as equally psychedelic. So fascinated was he with the otter’s rudder-tail that Travis didn’t even feel indignant at Mitch fending his advances away. It seemed to take on a life of its own separate from Chris, and the way it twitched back and forth on the limo seat with its owner’s irritation proved too tempting to ignore. Travis couldn’t resist giving it a tiny bat with his paw, and then another—giggling inanely as it tensed and shifted away each time. It took several patient reminders from otter and rabbit both about how Mitch was already halfway into his swig and therefore in the lead before his own natural competitiveness resurfaced briefly to impose some manner of control upon this situation.\n“Yeah, yeah—gimme,” The first attempt to make contact with Jake’s outreached offering—the rabbit seemed to be keeping a prudent distance—resulted in failure, their paws somehow failing to connect. As did the second. And third… After a few rounds of this slapstick comedy Jake eventually relented and came forward, physically bringing the sample bottle into contact with his open paw-pad where he could close his fingers around it. “’Shanks, dude.”\nBottle safely in paw, Travis took a moment to look at it closely. The first thing he noticed was its somewhat…unfortunate…design. For some inexplicable reason or other the manufacturers had opted to package their beverage in a tiny novelty vessel shaped into the likeness of an certain—\n“Hahahaaha! Hey look you guys—it’s a…a…thingy! Like the one Sachel’s got!” Ironically enough, the size comparison seemed pretty accurate too; considering this was a sample bottle large enough to only hold a mouthful or two. The twin-sack design that composed its base made it impossible to set down on any kind of flat surface—apparently an intended feature to encourage drinkers to swig its contents in a single swallow without putting the bottle down. This; in conjunction with how the contents within said bottle appeared indistinguishable from plain water—true, his perception of colours were sliiiightly off at this point, but his arm still looked the same colour when he peered at it Through the bottle contents, so that meant the stuff was transparent (right?)—cheered Travis up considerably. Mitch better get ready to eat his shorts, because there was no way this drink could be any worse than the last one.\nHe made two unsuccessful attempts to pry out the cork with his fingers before giving up the idea as futile, resorting instead to gripping it by the neck/shaft with both paws and wrestling with the rubber stopper with his baby fangs in an unintended mimicry of fellatio which probably didn’t go unnoticed by the others. This evidently yielded success…as well as a snoot-full of potent fumes.\nSo much for this being water, then. Meh. But how bad could it possibly be, right?\nVery bad apparently: the vodka’s first contact upon his tongue burned like the terrible kimchi chilli that Mum was so fond of making, and only the sheer shock of it proved his saving grace when Travis swallowed in reflex instead of spitting it out entirely. That proved to be also a mistake, unfortunately. His throat was totally on fire and the rumbling he could feel deep down in his gut surely signalled nothing good. The speed at which he’d chugged that single swallow also triggered a spate of unexpected hiccups, forcing the puppy to hand over his half-emptied bottle to Jake whilst he drew in breath after deep breath in anxious effort to maintain some form of dignity. Knowing that he hadn’t even managed to empty his bottle after all that made everything worse; and the triumphant grin he could see forming on Mitch’s face—his struggle with his own drink had caused him to totally miss his rival’s near fiasco with the ice bucket—only confirmed just how badly Travis had forfeited being in the lead.\nDAMN IT!\nBut rules were rules, so Travis reluctantly hiked up the lower hem of his rainbow-and-unicorn themed shirt. Better to get things over and done with rather than be embarrassed further by having Chris or (Gods forbid) Mitch coming over to undress him. Being a total newcomer to sex-ed and its related concepts meant that this partial nudity didn’t exactly phase him the same way it would for Stephanie or Jake. Their section of the limo cabin being (for the moment) entirely girl-free also contributed to the relatively casual way Travis slipped out of his too-large shirt, exposing a scrawny rack of ribs and the downy paler fur of his underbelly as he did so. This wasn’t Gymnastics after all—no Katie around to give him noogies the way she always did in the showers, and definitely no Melissa to call him a ‘cutie-patootie’ while ruffling his head-fur and insisting on showing him the proper way to put on a leotard as she did it.\nBalling the offending material into a heap, Travis lobbed it somewhere in the direction of Chris for safekeeping. Who knows, maybe having the shirt out of the way might make Mitch quit it with the girl-jokes? Sadly the wolf-whistles and catcalls coming from the raccoon’s general position seemed to imply otherwise.\n“Shut…*hic*..UP, Mitch! Doc says I’ll…*hic*…grow!” He’d never noticed how cold the car’s air conditioning was without a shirt till then. But as much as he wanted to shiver or wrap his arms around himself, Travis didn’t want to risk giving Mitch any more ammunition. He resorted to puffing up his skinny chest instead and glaring daggers at all three of them—an attitude completely undermined by the fact that he couldn’t be more than a couple stones even when soaking wet. “What, you guys haven’t seen a jackal before?”\nThe way all three were staring at him was beginning to border on annoying. Despite never having had a problem with being shirtless before—living with a sister and being a friend of Sachel’s meant it was rarely an issue—Travis wasn’t used to being stared at. Nobody paid any attention to you in the locker changing rooms where nudity was commonplace after all. Mitch’s reaction wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to be honest, but the way Chris and Jake were staring too made him a little bit uncomfortable. Neither of the pair had fallen over themselves laughing as Mitch was, and their expressions were…strange, to say the least. Jake being reluctant to look him in the eyes was surely nothing new…but Chris as well? He’d no idea why the other two were acting so…odd. They were all boys, right? He wasn’t even that different from them, surely? Right?\nHe wasn’t sure he liked the look that was most-probably pity in the otter’s eyes. It was something he saw (or thought he saw) in the looks people tended to give him most days. Despite what his parents, his sister, Melissa, or even the bloody doctors thought; he knew he wasn’t weak. And he’d prove it to anyone who dared to claim otherwise! Screw ‘em.\n“I’m…*hic*…ok,” snapped the pup hurriedly before anyone could voice their concerns—or even worse—Mitch’s victory. “Really! Honest!”\nThe sudden onset of a coughing fit he had to muffle with one arm didn’t exactly coincide with this particular statement. But Travis had come too far to throw in the towel now. It was time to bring out the BIG GUNS.\n“Jeek,” he found he was having more and more trouble with pronunciation as time went by. “I needja…*hic*…needja to gimme one’ a dem sour whatsits in the fridge… Lemi? Lemons! Yeah, that’s it! Lemonds. Gimme one, an’ don’t drop the bottle-thingy!”\nBy this time Jake’s regular expression of apprehension seemed to have been replaced by one of confusion and uncertainty. All the same Travis paid it little mind, focusing entirely on the lemon wedge cupped in the hollow of his paw. The tart, sharp aroma of its pulp seemed to be counteracting the alcohol fumes somewhat. Holding it up to snout-level, Travis regarded the other three boys solemnly with the air of a magician about to perform some amazing trick.\n“Lemme show ya a liddle…*hic*…liddle sumthin,” that hiccup that escaped was one of the bigger ones; almost a belch, and he winced at how it dredged up the traces of vodka that’d gone down. “My…cuzzins and sis; they used ta do this back….back Home.”\nAnd without further ado, completely oblivious to the resulting looks on his captive audience’s faces, the jackal tilted his head up…and with the air of someone applying eye-drops, proceeded to squeeze juice from the lemon wedge first into one nostril, then the other. He grit his fangs as he did so, ignoring the tears that immediately welled up in the corners of his eyes. Tossing the depleted slice of lemon aside, Travis proceeded to grope blindly in Jake’s last-known direction, croaking something that was a close approximation of regular speech:\n“Bottle. NOW,”\nOnce again relying on Jake to guide the vodka to his paw—the way his eyes were streaming, he couldn’t even see the damn thing—he raised it to his snout… and emptied the entirety of its remaining contents in a single pull.\n“There. Wasn’t…wasn’t…so hard,” And for some reason, this was true. The little trick with the lemon had cleared his head to no end, and in the confusion he hadn’t even registered what he had been drinking. “Me an’ my cousins used ta play this…game back Home where we’d mix up gross stuff and dare each other to swallow ‘em. Not like these,” he gestured at the empty booze bottles with a grimace. “But stuff like coffee with chilli and ketchup and gross things mixed in. Only way t’ win is not think about whatcha drinking. And the only way t’ do That…” here he wiggled the shrivelled up lemon slice in front of them “Is to think about somethin’ worse while ya drinks it,”\nWith that Travis gave them all a toothy grin that somehow managed to be both jaunty and savage at the same time. This was mostly directed at Mitch, to portray a confident outlook he didn’t entirely feel. Although what he’d told them about his trick was true, he hadn’t bothered to mention that this stunt with the lemons only helped in the actual Drinking Process, and did absolutely nothing to quell the ominous rumblings in his belly and throat that were slowly but surely building into a violent crescendo… Sure, he might not be at risk to lose his pants or anything else, but there wasn’t any guarantee that he wouldn’t lose his guts in the next five minutes.\nThis outcome he did his best to forestall by taking small shallow breaths through his mouth instead of his nose, motioning to Jake to fetch more lemon slices for Round 3 as he did so.\nHe had a feeling he was going to need it.[/color]\n---\n\n[color=#5b9bd5]“T… Travis…?” Jake had repeated, after a concerned glance towards Chris when a response hadn’t been forthcoming. Mitch had taken his drink without hesitation, but the jackal appeared to be spacing out, so he tried a few more times. “Travis..? H-here, take it.”\n\nIt hadn’t been until the rabbit dared to lean forward enough to wag the uncomfortably shaped bottle in front of his eyes before Travis finally noticed him. Unfortunately for Jake, a clumsy canine made the exchange more difficult than it needed to be, and the bunny wasn’t terribly eager to close that gap, considering how touchy-feely he’d gotten after his first drink. Not only had he been absorbed in caressing every surface he could find, but Travis blasted through personal boundaries as well.\n\nHe’d started with Mitch, taking advantage of the raccoon’s brief, full-frontal exposure as he’d flopped back to sit up. Though he’d been startled, Mitch was content to simply swat the tickling finger away with a snicker on his way up. Chris however, wasn’t so forgiving when Travis’ alcohol-addled brain became mesmerized by his twitching tail. The otter had had the pup in his sights from the very second he’d found his next target, and the longer he’d watched, the more his hackles rose in irritation. He knew what the jackal was going to do, but it still made him angry when Travis started swatting at him.\n\nWith a sharp hiss of annoyance, Chris jerked his tail away in a two-step solution to get it out of range of further pestering and to draw the boy’s drunken gaze to meet his for a terse talking to.\n\n“Are you playing or not? If so you better hurry up, ‘cause Mitch has already started,” he warned the clearly drunk canine. This was still a terrible idea, but Chris was looking forward to these two knuckleheads upchucking more than ever now. It’ll serve them right, he thought with a grumble as he watched the ensuing disaster of a hand-off.\n\nHis words had obviously done the trick in snapping him out of his haze, but Travis was no longer coordinated enough to grab the bottle on his own, no matter how still Jake tried to hold it. But he didn’t dare get any closer, now. Not after the jackal had already gotten physical with the others. That meant he might be next, so he tried not to give the younger boy the opportunity. And yet... Jake was really getting uncomfortable holding this phallic-shaped bottle.\n\nIt may have been small enough to fit in his little palm, but there was no mistaking what it was modelled after. It was the only bottle he had left with the right percent of alcohol, though. So he didn’t have much choice. Eventually, however, he got fed up with Travis’ clumsy paw missing every time and lurched forward to smack the bottle into his palm with a scowl.\n\n“S-s-stop—no, what’re you… stop it, just—just take it!” Jake snapped in frustration, finally handing it off so he could retreat to the comfort of his corner.\n\nUnfortunately, even though Travis finally had his drink, he took forever to partake. Instead, the boy became obsessed with its clear contents, holding it up to his arm several times to Chris and Jake’s equal confusion. Naturally he couldn’t help commenting on its shape either, but only the rabbit found his commentary awkward enough to blush; the otter just wore a scowl that suggested he’d long since lost his patience for this ‘game’. When he did finally focus on opening the darn thing, it regrettably looked very much like Travis was nursing the tip of a particular organ, much to Jake’s chagrin as he looked away briefly. \n\nChris on the other hand actually found it amusing enough to crack a half-smile. It was kind of cute in a way, but that picture perfect moment was ruined the instant the canine figured out how to use his teeth to pop the tiny cork, clumsily dumping the liquid fire all over his nose. An action, and subsequent reaction, that made both Jake and Chris flinch simultaneously in sympathy.\n\nOnce he managed to get his lips around the opening, Travis only managed one big gulp before an involuntary fit of hiccups forced him to bail out. Which meant trying to hand off a bottle he’d already drenched in alcohol, to a bunny much too hesitant about taking it. Though Jake tried to grab it carefully with just his fingertips, the uncoordinated jackal thrust it into his paw at the last second and splashed some of its contents onto the buck’s wrist, much to his displeasure.\n\nWith a scowl borne of confusion and concern, he swapped the bottle to the fingertips of his free hand in advance of his inevitable and sudden need to acquire a bucket ASAP. By the time Travis had been able to recover from, much less recognize his loss, Mitch had overcome his nausea. So he got to witness that look of defeat and grin broadly, if somewhat crookedly, as the younger boy conceded and drunkenly wormed his way out of the girly, oversized shirt. However, as soon as he was relieved of his top, all eyes concentrated on his unusually thin figure.\n\nBoth Chris and Jake exchanged glances that seemed to reflect confusion, but as always it was Mitch’s reaction that drew all the attention. In his inebriated state, the boy had even less inhibitions than usual, which meant that not only was everything funnier, be he just couldn’t stop talking, despite his nausea.\n\n“Oh yeeeah, baby, looki’that sexy—hic—segsy figure,” the raccoon slurred as he sat up dramatically to put his fingers to his lips for a surprisingly well executed wolf-whistle that unfortunately trailed off into blustering as he struggled to maintain form. That effort had put some strain on his diaphragm, but he wasn’t about ready to give up with the remarks; “Dude, yer… yer so’skinny, like… seriously. Where’d th’rest of y’go, huh? I kin… I kin like… practically see yer ribs, man! I mean like… like… I knew you was a lightweight but duuuuude… whose bin’eating all yer food?”\n\nThe pup’s response was pretty much what he was hoping for, which got Mitch giggling, but the other two boys weren’t so comfortable with what they were seeing. Travis couldn’t possibly ignore their staring, so it was no surprise when he treated them like they’d never seen a jackal before. Of course when he actually asked it, with a helping of attitude, the otter and rabbit shook their heads in near unison. Frankly, they didn’t have many canines living in Springwood, so the natural state of their body-type was less obvious to a pair of cubs who were still learning anatomy in school.\n\nChris, personally, was beginning to feel a little bad about treating the boy with such hostility, even though he chose to blindly chuck his discarded shirt at the otter without so much as a warning. He raised his arm half-heartedly to block the lobbed ball of fabric, letting it drop into his lap in a heap. Although he’d expected a little more force behind it, the shirt had been lucky to even reach its intended destination. Either being drunk was making him sluggish, or the pup was just that weak.\n\nAt the very least it was quite clear from the definition of Travis’ ribs that he must be a little underweight for his age; if one wasn’t accounting for the species gap, one would’ve easily assumed the pup malnourished. Naturally, that was the otter’s initial conclusion on first sight, but what concerned him more was how light he must be. Compared to Mitch he was a featherweight, and younger to boot. So this idea had just gone from bad to worse.\n\nNo way could Travis hold all that liquor without severe consequences, be it poisoning or even just vomiting. Especially if he was sickly already, like his appearance suggested. So when the boy tried to play off the obvious concern in their eyes like he did it every day, Chris’ brow twisted just a little more with regret. Maybe he was being too hard on the boy. After all, the only thing he ever did wrong was decide to hang out with someone like Lyle. Mitch wasn’t much better, but going by fantasy rules, chaotic neutral had to be better than chaotic evil… right?\n\nAt least with him hanging out with Mitch, he was by extension interacting with others who could leave a better impression. Hopefully. Chris certainly would’ve loved to educate him personally on all the matters he found most offensive concerning the jackal, but it was a pretty long list that he was already trying to amend on the fly. Meanwhile, Jake had suddenly been assigned another task, following an unsettling coughing fit, that he was yet still hesitant to proceed with.\n\nHe’d asked for a lemon from the fridge, with Jake blinking in utter confusion, before slowly migrating back to the appliance to open the door. The poor rabbit could only wonder why Travis though there might be lemons in the mini-fridge, and then, after surprisingly finding a tray of pre-sliced wedges sitting in the door, he pondered how he knew they’d be there. For just a brief moment he considered the possibility that these foul-smelling drinks had given the jackal psychic powers, but as he handed over one of the slices, Travis confirmed it was just a trick he knew.\n\nEither way Jake found himself morbidly intrigued as he watched the younger boy, to everyone’s surprise, suddenly hold his head up and squeeze lemon juice into his nostrils. Chris immediately sucked in air sharply at the sight, perhaps in sympathy of experiencing something similarly painful in the past, but Jake and Mitch were both enraptured, for wildly different reasons. Suspicion radiated from the raccoon’s corner, but the buck was just plum dumbfounded by the gesture, such that when the jackal tossed the depleted lemon slice to reach for the bottle, it took the cub a moment to respond.\n\nJake didn’t know why he’d been expecting more to this trick, but when he realized no other steps were forthcoming, he snapped out of his daze and fumbled the bottle back into the canine’s blindly groping paw. The rabbit happily retreated back into his corner once his job was done, only to watch Travis choke down the rest of his drink despite having lost the round.\n\nWhen he came up for air again, he only seemed a little worse for wear, before touting the power of his lemon trick and explaining its origin. Jake and Chris might’ve been impressed by the boy’s knowledge, but Mitch clearly wasn’t. With arms crossed as he leaned over the bucket in his lap, he chuckled heartily.\n\n“Coffee, chilli an’ ket’sup, huh? That actually soun’s pretty tasty,” he cooed slyly, almost as though daring Travis to play that game with him, “But uh… y’know, I’m pretty—puh—pretty sure tha’there coun’s as uh... inner’ference. H’what say yous, h’oh mighty ref..?”\n\nAs he made his claim, Mitch drunkenly pointed a finger at Chris, which earned him a scowl and probably also the answer he didn’t want to hear. With a half-hearted shrug of his shoulders, the otter stated with his perceived authority, “Well, there’s no rule against it. Besides it’s not like you both can’t use the same technique; he just got to use it first. Frankly, I don’t think it’s going to matter, and I sincerely hope the two of you regret this. Bottom’s up; Jake, grab them a couple of 45%’s.”\n\nAlthough he delivered that instruction aloud, Chris promptly leaned over to revise the request secretly; “Give Mitch a 50 though… I don’t think Travis should be doing this at all, but he deserves it for suggesting this in the first place.”\n\nJake couldn’t help but giggle, in part because the whisper delivered directly into his ear for the utmost privacy, tickled the hairs in there, but mostly because of Chris’ commentary. Indeed it was true that Mitch typically deserved the trouble he always got himself into, but Travis was just an impressionable tag-a-long. He didn’t deserve that kind of treatment, so Jake very carefully picked his next two selections.\n\nThis time he placed them down on the floor between Travis and Mitch because neither had the stamina to reach so far anymore, and Jake certainly didn’t want to do anymore drunken hand-offs. So with the bottles set in front of them, it was up to the drinking boys to make their moves. Naturally Mitch went first, of course. Both a compulsive need to win and a fascination with the awful yet interesting flavour of the booze, were his encouragement, but before he could commit himself, the raccoon squinted awkwardly at the label, trying to read words that refused to stay put. It almost seemed like they were dancing; or maybe… exploding and reforming simultaneously while constantly trembling. Yeah… that was… accurate.\n\nIn spite of his eyes bugging out on him, Mitch was eventually able to identify the percentage of alcohol on his bottle, expecting it to be 45. Thanks to the whisper his buddies had shared though, his usual suspicions had gone off the charts. And, as always, his instincts were on the money, it seemed, as the label on his bottle clearly read 50%. Mitch scowled a little at that. Unbiased referee, huh? he thought with a sinking brow.\n\nThey wanted to get one over on him? Well, two could play that game. Assuming of course they’d given favor to Travis, who looked so frail without his shirt on that he wouldn’t be surprised if their bleeding hearts couldn’t resist. Considering Chris also had a habit of trying to make Mitch’s pranks backfire in his face, there was considerable precedent to assume he was the intended victim. Well, that was going to change in a hurry. He just need a good distract—\n\nThe scream that erupted from the rear of the limo, drew all eyes in an instant, every head except Mitch’s turning toward the sounds of distress and faint sobbing. All four boys were briefly stunned, and even Travis, who’d been in a drunken stupor after finishing his second drink, has his head turned. Just like that the perfect opportunity had presented itself, and with the skillful prowess of his species’ dexterity, Mitch grabbed for and immediately missed the third bottle on the right.\n\nWait… when was there three of them…? he pondered briefly, sweeping his clumsy paw toward the other bottles, only to hit the middle one and cause all three to topple over somehow. What the… just.. grab it already! He berated himself, fumbling until he could secure his paw around it. Step one complete. Bottle acquired. He brought it back to himself and stared at both bottles for a moment in confusion, one in each paw, before a rush of paranoia made him look up to make sure no one was watching him.\n\nAll of their heads were still turned, like they were frozen in time. Like he had all the time in the world to figure out this mess. Okay… Step two. Slowly, he tried to put 50% bottle down where the 45% one had been. Getting it over the drop-zone was the easy part, but he found letting it go difficult, even after it came to a shaky, upright landing. Once it was there he tried to let go in a hurry, and it suddenly wobbled like it was about to fall over, making Mitch raise his paws in a panic, as if he might will it into stability. And it must’ve worked, because it stopped moving without tipping. Sweet. Job done.\n\nNow to… wait, didn’t somebody just scream? Mitch raised his head slowly and deliberately to squint past the others at the curtain. Maybe it had just been a squeal from that hornball of an otter that Chris dared to call a sister. She was always doing that. Squeaking, squealing, shrieking, always making loud, obnoxious noises. Sort of like Mitch, but terrible, because girls. Girls were just terrible by default. Melissa was proof of that.\n\n“Who-a’what…? Di’somebody jus’... what’was that ssssound..?” he slurred, as his gaze shifted from one cub to the other for an answer.\n\n“It sounded like Stephanie,” Chris spoke up next, breaking the silence that had consumed them after the sobbing had trailed off. \n\n“I-i-is she okay?” came Jake’s inevitable concern, but Chris shook his head slowly.\n\n“I don’t know, but… I might go check it out,” he suggested, already looking like he was ready to move, but instead he just called out, “Hey, uh..! Is everything alright back there?” The otter didn’t wait for a response though before turning back to the two competing boys. “Now’s your last chance, better drink up or you both forfeit.”\n\n“Oh-ho-hooo… no… waaay am I f… ffffforfittin’! Yer.. hah… yer goin’ doooown, buddy,” Mitch blustered as he uncapped his stolen beverage. Without even hesitating he reached for the tray of lemon slices, which Jake had placed on the floor within reach, prepared to match Travis’ previous performance.\n\nUnfortunately the raccoon was not used to the jackal’s odd technique and found himself sniffling and sneezing involuntarily as the lemon juice burned his sinuses. One thing was for certain, it hurt more than the alcohol, but Mitch wasn’t going to let that stop him, as he swiftly threw his face to the sky to chug his weaker drink.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#666666]Forfeiting actually sounded really good to Travis right now. His gut was doing a pretty good impression of a straw canoe on the Nile delta and he suspected he only had seconds before his stomach ejected its recent contents. If not for the three sets of eyes appraising him—one pair in mute challenge, the other two with uneasy trepidation—he might’ve done just that.\nBut if there was one thing that rubbed his fur the wrong way it was being underestimated. Although he hadn’t exactly caught everything Chris whispered to Jake, the surreptitious glances that pair cast in his direction seemed too much like the ones he was accustomed to in the schoolyard: glances soon followed by long awkward silences whenever Travis asked if he could play. Team captains often proved less than enthusiastic about letting tagalongs join their groups…which meant lonely recesses by himself over at the girl’s side of the playground watching the games instead of joining in. Joining a gang had been the immediate solution, but with the leader gone and the gang dismantled it meant he was back at square one again. Which meant gaining street cred—one way or another\n“Ana… kawaii es,” insisted the jackal blearily, lapsing momentarily into his native dialect before becoming aware of the slip and translating for everyone else’s benefit. “’I’m fine, I’m fine,”\nHe didn’t feel fine though, and so it proved fortunate that Jake chose to set their drinks—and the caddy of cocktail garnishes—down within easy reach of both. From the looks of things Mitch had already grabbed the one closest and was currently engaged in studying it as though he fancied himself Capybara Jones. This left Travis with exactly one untouched bottle in front of him, one that he wasn’t all that keen on approaching anytime soon.\nBut if this was what it took to fit in, it was still a small enough cost to pay. Never mind that it was precisely these kinds of reasonings that kept the school shrink in business, or that canines statistically formed the highest at-risk group in need of psychiatric intervention because of their instinctual pack mentality and desire to fit in. The fact remained that he found himself no more capable of resisting the siren call of peer pressure than he was able to sprout wings and fly. And so…\n“Fekhis,” swore Travis as he reached for his share—which was when all Hell broke loose.\n“AHHHHHHHHH!”\nAlready pretty loud by mammalian standards, the shriek tore at his alcohol-fogged senses like a hurricane. The force of it actually caused Travis to overbalance and fall prone upon the limo’s carpeting, wincing as he brought both lemon-laden paws up to cover his ears. Juice from the poor pulped wedges he’d squeezed in sheer panic pooled on his pads and traced sticky trails down his neck and forearms to stain the exposed fur. On hindsight, it probably had been a good idea to hand his shirt to Chris for safekeeping after all. Who knew what his Mum would say if he’d dared show up with Lori’s favourite attire all smeared in pulp?\nAfter an episode like that, simply lying motionless on the limo floor was beginning to sound like the superior option. It took another few minutes before he even dared risk uncovering his ears and even more time after that to tear his attention away from the curtain divider in order to focus on getting up. This proved easier said than done: for some reason his limbs felt like lead and if not for one of the others’ intervention he might’ve never been able to regain a seated position at all. It was all he could manage to tip a nod at the Samaritan who’d lent a paw—at this point, Travis found himself unable to distinguish Chris from Jake for some reason—and mutter a weak thank you on finding the newest bottle conveniently uncapped and the tray of lemons in arm’s distance.\nThe heavy smell wafting from its uncorked neck was one that he recognized: Arak. The clear beverage had been a favourite of his grandpa; who brewed it himself out of grapes and aniseed. Unlike the former drinks, this was one Travis had experience of. Its mere fumes alone made him feel lightheaded, and even grandpa tended to savour its taste over occasional small sips. In the manner expected of elder sisters, Lori had once dared him to sneak a taste. The memory of that unfortunate incident still haunted him today.\nNope, there was no way he would be able to tackle that without some additional help.\nHe reached for the tray, unconsciously mimicking Mitch—then seemed to realize he still had the partially desiccated remnants of two wedges in his paws. The juice currently staining his fur proved an immediate irritation; one that he resorted to licking at in a vaguely feline fashion. Once this lesser problem had been seen to, Travis spent a Hamlet-like moment considering the lemons he held…before popping both into his mouth with a mental shrug. He dove for fresh replacements from the tray in the same motion, knowing that once the sour sensation hit not even Anubis himself could have persuaded him to follow through. Therefore, he wasted no time in snuffling his newly acquired wedges like an addict on cocaine—actually snorting the juice instead of merely squeezing it in trickles and chewing the lemon rinds still in his maw as he did so.\nThe effect when it eventually hit was nothing short of spectacular. His sinuses burned. His tongue was shrivelled. His vision all but fogged through a haze of tears. It was Luck alone that aided him in actually landing a paw upon the bottle, never mind drain its contents in a single protracted swallow. The sensation of cool liquid on his tongue was actually welcome after a mouthful of chewed lemons, and so he hardly noticed its effects on a newly lubricated throat. “Ha! Take zhat!”\nThe feeling of euphoria intensified on noticing that Mitch seemed to be having certain…difficulties. And as was traditional the younger cub wasted no time in pointing this out, hardly bothering with things as unimportant as language barriers while doing so. “Maalak fee ay (What’s wrong) Meech? I sink you lose, no?”\nGleefully, Travis leaned forward on both paws to watch the raccoon tackle his beverage. To say he was a newcomer with the Lemon Tactic might’ve been an understatement; and like most beginners Mitch had taken on more than he could chew. If the sniffling he could hear was any sort of indication, surely a drink-interrupting sneeze of epic proportions couldn’t be far away. The way the raccoon fidgeted at his shirt hem with his free paw seemed to suggest that deep down Mitch also anticipated such an outcome and was resigning himself to it. All he had to do was hold out. Just a few seconds longer….\nHe managed to hold on long enough to see Mitch hike his jersey up to the chest reluctantly before the pressure within became too much to bear. Only dimly was the jackal aware of frantic voices—Chris and Jake’s among them—in which the words ‘ice-bucket’ seemed to be repeated over and over with increasing urgency…followed by the item in question somehow materializing in his lap, right in the nick of time to catch the ensuing flood of liquid and bile.\nThat flood was soon followed by another, forcing Travis to abandon his seated position for a more convenient attitude of leaning over the bucket on all fours as complaining innards rejected their contents. Everything else faded into relative unimportance. For the moment nothing existed except him, the bucket, and whoever was currently engaged in patting him awkwardly upon the back in the meantime. Only one word could suffice for a situation as dismal as this. Only one word—learnt recently—could somehow sum up all the frustration and futility into a single unit of meaning.\n“Fuck,” commented the jackal, moments before he passed out.[/color]\n---\n\n[color=#5b9bd5]Even though his sinuses had been set ablaze, and every excruciating breath helped fuel that fire to the point he snorted and sniffled on the verge of sneezing, Mitch, oddly enough, couldn’t feel the magma pouring down his throat anymore. Almost like all the nerve-endings had been scorched away, leaving just the sensation of a dull warmth as the raccoon struggled hard and long to empty his bottle without stopping for little more than a quick snuffle of air here and there.\n\nWhen he did finally feel the last of it the liquid trickle into his mouth, the boy came up for air so suddenly that everything immediately began spinning around him. Mitch chucked the bottle away blindly, unaware that he nearly pelted a certain rabbit, who narrowly ducked out of the way. Then a paw appeared on the raccoon’s face, gripping his muzzle tightly in such a bizarre disembodied experience that it took the cub grasping his own wrist to realize it was him holding his own mouth shut, just in time to stop the instant, involuntary ejection of his stomach contents from escaping.\n\nMitch practically slumped over the ice bucket as his head reeled and throbbed, and his diaphragm flexed uncontrollably with the need to retch. Unfortunately, the ever competitive raccoon wasn’t willing to give up without a fight, so he clutched his snout with both paws, groaning and shuddering as his body tingled and throbbed. He waited with intense discomfort for the nausea from his latest drink to pass, completely oblivious to everything around him save for Travis’ drunken taunts.\n\nNot only had the pup been able to start later and finish sooner, but for what seemed like forever, he seemed completely unphased from his harder drink. And that frustrated the scowling ring-tail to no end as he tried to pin the jackal down with a teary-eyed glare. He was nearly going cross-eyed with the effort though, when a fresh wave of nausea suddenly washed over him, forcing Mitch’s eyes shut as he involuntary threw up into his mouth.\n\nThe struggle was real now. If he let even a little bit out it would count as vomiting, and he’d lose. Mitch only had one chance to save himself; swallow it back down. The very idea made his aching stomach twist into knots, but at the same time, the mouthful of bittersweet bile and liquor was oddly appealing to the garbage-digger’s senses. Of course, he was repulsed by the very idea that he might like the taste of vomit, but if he could use it to win this competition, well… Mitch wasn’t picky. He was however, willing to do whatever it took.\n\nStill, it was no easy effort to psyche himself up for gulping down a mouthful of vomit that had ballooned out his cheeks. Until it started to leak out though, he was still in the game, which led to a very tense few moments where Mitch began to legitimately fear failure was imminent. Even as he felt the moment of loss creep closer, he struggled to reclaim the contents of his stomach bit by bit, but the rising nausea that came from reintroducing that volatile cocktail to his sore tummy was greatly increasing the difficulty of keeping it down. He wasn’t out yet, though, so everyone was watching him closely for that moment of weakness.\n\nSeconds dragged on for what felt like minutes, and as the raccoon’s certainty that he was going to lose grew, he managed to relinquish a paw from clamp duty, to begin removing his shirt. If he was going to vomit, like he was expecting now, Mitch wanted to be out of his clothes first, so he didn’t upchuck all over them. Giving up was all but a certainty now, the cub pulling up the front of his shirt as high as his neck, prepared to thread his head through the neck-hole to immediately vomit into his bucket, when there was a sudden interruption.\n\nThanks to the keen eye of perhaps the only mature individual in this whole vehicle, Chris was the first to notice Travis’ distinctive body language, indicative of an impending expulsion that even the pup wasn’t aware of. Of course… he’d more or less been expecting this when, after the scream that had distracted them all, the frail little thing had no strength to even sit up anymore. The pathetic sight of him flopping uselessly on his back prompted the long-suffering otter to give him a helping hand.\n\nFortunately, he’d gotten at least some form of answer to his earlier query regarding the scream, but as he was mulling over the logic of a porcupine getting poked by her own quills, his otter senses had picked up on an impending dilemma.\n\n“Jake… Jake! The bucket, quick!” he snapped suddenly, pointing to the item currently sitting idly in a dazed Mitch’s lap. \n\n“Mm.. what..?” was the bunny’s timid response as he watched the bizarre, drunken stare-off the other two boys were having.\n\nPoor Jake was at a loss as to what was going on here, having observed the curious and increasingly worrisome behavior his companions were displaying. He couldn’t help admitting though… at least for a while there, the two of them seemed to be having a lot of fun. Now they weren’t looking so hot, but then… maybe they’d had too much? His mommy had always told him, “Even too much of a good thing, can be a bad thing”.\n\nSo, while the drink-off had been going, Jake dared to sniff at the alcohol which had soaked into the fur of his paw and wrist. It smelled kind of fruity, but mostly it made his nose tingle unpleasantly. When he attempted a lick, the bitterness on his tongue made him grimace and pause briefly to look back at the curtain at the opposite end of the cab. An explanation had been given for the scream, which was good enough for him, but he still couldn’t help being concerned for Stephanie. Having spent so much time with her during lunch time, he’d gotten to know quite well how cumbersome and restrictive they were to her lifestyle. He did wonder though, if getting poked by her own quills was a common problem, or just bad luck in this case.\n\nThe next thing Jake knew, he was suckling at the fur of his wrist, licking and squeezing the remnants of liquor onto his tongue. It had a bizarre, and mostly unpleasant taste, and yet it also had a peculiar numbing and soothing effect. In fact, the bunny had practically lulled himself into a mild stupor by the time Chris called on him for help. It took Jake a moment snap out of his haze, though as soon as he did, he turned to Chris, who pointed to Travis and redirected his gaze, demanding the bucket that Mitch had seemed to have forgotten.\n\n“O-oh! Right! Bucket!” he yelped, lurching into motion to reach for the stripping raccoon. Although he was quick to snatch it up from the boy’s lap, doing so exposed his genitals to an uncomfortable Jake. He tried not to stare in bewilderment, as was his typical response to other cubs flashing their privates so freely, but even as he was turning toward Travis to hand him the bucket he struggled to pull his gaze away.\n\n“H.. here.. Here..!” Jake stammered, half-distracted before he was finally able to refocus on his current duty. The rabbit practically thrust the bucket into the skinny pup’s lap, leaning back in fear of getting spewed upon, as he pleaded, “N-no, not on me, please! The bucket, i-i-in the bucket! Go on, take it!”\n\nThe second Travis realized there was a convenient receptacle in his lap in which to upchuck, Jake was retreating back to safety to avoid the waterfall of stomach acid and recently consumed spirits that poured freely from the canine’s maw. Then the retching really started, forcing the jackal to assume a better position for throwing up his guts. The sound was loud and awful, forcing the bunny to cover his ears and look away lest he start gagging in sympathy.\n\nChris unfortunately had the luxury of knowing how awful it felt to drink too much, so he had no trouble imagining what the two boys were going through. He had to cover his mouth and clench his throat to keep down his own sense of nausea as he listened to Travis’ vomit splattering into the ice bucket. Even though he knew the pup was likely to cave first, he was no less sorry that it had to happen. It was entirely Mitch’s fault of course, but he clearly didn’t care.\n\nThe raccoon had actually been smirking again, around his considerably smaller mouthful of ‘yuck’, but when he saw Travis succumb before him to the vomit fairy, all of his nausea seemed to disappear and instead he was filled with butterflies gleefully flapping their wings. This meant he’d won! And you know what? It actually wasn’t so bad! The last little bit of awful in his mouth went down with a final, victorious gulp as the raccoon awkwardly threw both arms up into the air.\n\n“YEEEAH…!! Whhhooo… whoz th’loozer.. Nnnaow!? Huh…?! Yeeah..! Isss me…! O’couse issme… I… allvez.. allvays… all was… ways… win..!”\n\nEven as the raccoon tried to proclaim his victory and rub it in Travis’ face, both boys were clearly so out of it that neither would last much longer. The jackal was inevitably the first to black out, uttering a garbled curse word that sounded more like a gurgling burp, before flopping flat on his belly, shirtless and unconscious. Meanwhile, Mitch had begun to lean backward further and further like he was on ground that was shifting, still with a paw half-raising his shirt, before he flopped onto his back, legs splayed and nakedness clearly on display for everyone to see.\n\nJake particularly couldn’t stop himself from staring, and it was making him increasing uncomfortable. When he eventually couldn’t take it anymore, he leaned forward to try and pull the shirt down the front of the snoozing raccoon. It wasn’t easily thanks to his awkward position though, and he gave up halfway through.\n\n“Well… That went about as well as I’d expected,” Chris commented dryly with a sigh.\n\n“A...are they gonna be okay, Chris?” Jake asked with a pang of concern for the two unconscious cubs.\n\n“Travis probably. He threw it back up at least. Mitch, though…” he muttered with a twinge of worry.\n\nJust then the curtain at the back of the cab whipped open briefly to admit a rodent fussing with his pants and looking quite peeved. When he inevitably demanded to know what was going on, Chris was all too happy to explain.\n\n“Exactly what you’d expect when you leave two troublemakers with full access to a mini fridge full of booze, I think,” he chirped, looking quite pleased with himself before inevitably sighing, “Of course, I tried to warn them, but…”[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#6aa84f]\nHearing Chris ask about her safety did help Stephanie calm down enough to actually allow the otter to kiss her privates so to make them feel better. Mister Creedence’s response to Chris was unflattering, but she could not get herself to answer back on her own. Nor could she think of any better answer that was not more embarrassing than the truth. “I’m fine, your sister shoved her hand up my peehole is all” was just not going to be told. It was bad enough that so many already saw it happen. Sitting on her own quill was a much better excuse. \n\nStephanie watched as the otter gave a reassuring smile back at her from between the porcupine’s thighs. Stephanie could not believe that she was going to let Katie kiss her privates like this. She wanted to look over to Mister Creedence and Hob, as Katie had suggested, to see what they were doing that the otter thought was so interesting. However, she could not stop staring as the Katie leaned in and did more than just kiss her.\n\nThe girl is licking my coochie!\n\nStephanie gasped out loud, her eyes opening wide to what she was feeling. She wanted to tell Katie to stop, but the sexually experienced girl made a deliberate lick under the small hooded cleft of flesh at the top of the porcupine’s outer pussy lips and tickled the sensitive flesh hidden within. The gasp that came out of Stephanie’s mouth was much louder than the first. She had to grip the seat cushions in an effort to not slam her legs together, and possibly injure Katie in doing so. The result of this caused her butt to slide forward, pushing her body further into Katie’s now open mouth, as if her body wanted more of this weird treatment. Stephanie was ashamed to think that she really might want more of Katie’s mouth and tongue.\n\nKatie seemed plenty eager to give the porcupine more of her nursing treatment as her tongue proceeded to enter the tight walls of the porcupine’s recently injured vagina. Stephanie let out a hiss through clenched teeth as she felt the warm muscle press against her insides, rubbing against the torn skin that this otter originally ripped just some minutes ago. \n\nStephanie thought to ask if French kissing her crotch was always the plan, but she was starting to notice that it was, indeed, starting to feel better. More than better. A groan of pleasure escaped her lips, and Stephanie realized what should have been obvious to her from the start. If it was not for all the screaming and pain and embarrassments, she would have realized it before Katie even slid before her legs. For confirmation, she finally looked over to the boys. Her eyes widened again, and another gasp escaped her lips.\n\nTo the porcupine’s shock, she saw the opossum kissing and licking Mister Creedence’s large rat testicles. A small part of her brain wanted to think that the talent agent had somehow hurt his balls and Hob was giving him the same treatment as Katie was for her. But the pleasure she was feeling told her already what was going on, even though Mister Creedence was seeming overly distracted than pleasured and looking toward the curtain.\n\n“Oh, oh, Oh no,” Stephanie blurted and stuttered as she palmed at Katie’s face to try to get the otter to stop licking her. The porcupine was feeling regret for ending the healing kisses as soon as Katie’s tongue and lips left her crotch. Seeing Katie’s questioning face, Stephanie could only whisper “Th, the, this is… sssex isn’t it?”\n\nGary was enjoying Hob’s attention to his testes. The boy seemed to not have been aware of a rodent’s anatomy until his audition back at the office earlier in the week. The boy was kissing, sucking, and fondling the loose skin and large orbs like a child playing with a new found toy, all while the mouse continued to stroke his cock. However, Gary was having trouble getting fully hard as his attention was being drawn to the noise of boistering boys on the other side of the curtain. He was glad that Chris did not just pull the curtain open to see what was happening, and had seemed to buy the excuse of Stephanie poking herself with a quill. That would also explain why she was bleeding, if that was later noticed. \n\nIt was the yelling of the raccoon and jackal that was making Gary concerned. It did not sound like they were playing a video game anymore. It sounded like one was urging on the other to do something, which was not comforting with what he had seen of those two already. Watching Stephanie getting eaten out by Katie was helping, especially the little squeaky noises the porcupine was making. Then there were more loud… noises? Sounded like the boys, but they were sounding like they had forgotten English. Something was feeling wrong and familiar at the same time, and then he heard Stephanie start to talk. Looking back at the cute young lesbians, he was disappointed to see that Stephanie had seemingly had enough. Just as she was whispering something to Katie, he could hear Chris barking out orders to someone about a bucket. It then hit Gary to what was happening on the other side of the curtain, just as a loud cry and retching sounds of a young boy violently heaving came through. \n\n“Dammit,” the mouse said aloud as he hurriedly moved Hob off his sack, and quickly moved to pull his pants back on. He was glad to see Katie was also making for her clothes, a disgusted look on her face at having to listen to the sound of someone vomiting. He was overly thankful that Stephanie never took her dress off, for trying to get the porcupine’s clothes back on would have taken too long.\n\n“Hob. Katie,” Gary said in a whisper, his pants pulled up but was having issues with the zipper caught on the bottom of his shirt. Mitch could be heard yelling about something, and the slurred speech of whatever it was raccoon was saying confirmed to Gary what he suspected. The boys got into the booze! “You two get dressed as fast as you can. That curtain will be opening pretty soon.” \n\nThe mouse had gotten the belt buckle tightened by the time he finished explaining why they had to hurry. His shirt was still stuck in the zipper of his pants, but he could not wait any longer as he carefully made his way around Katie and Hob. Seeing that Stephanie was already prepared to join him, the mouse cracked the curtain open to step through. He waved for Stephanie to follow, so the two much more naked cubs had more room to get dressed.\n\n“What the hell are you boys doing?” escaped Gary’s lips, even though he was already sure he knew. \n\nHe saw Jake sitting over by the mini fridge, which he did not expect at all. The rabbit seemed to be a nice boy, and too scared to do anything that could get him in trouble. ‘Easily manipulated?’ Travis was lying face first on the floor with an ice bucket in his hands. Mitch was on his back, and completely exposing himself with a stupid smile on his face. And Chris was sitting there accusing him for all of this?!\n\n“And you didn’t bother to tell me what they were doing?” stated the mouse in a tone that was not a question. Gary pointed over towards Jake, and the empty bottles and lemon rinds by the rabbit’s feet. “It looks like you and him were helping more than stopping these two.”\n\nStephanie was peeking from behind the curtain as their chaperone complained about what was happening. She was warily looking over the mess that had formed in the car since she had stepped into it. Bodies, citrus, and tiny bottles littered the floor. And one of those bodies had his penis out! \n\nSeeing Mitch’s sheath further reminded Stephanie that she was not wearing her panties now. She had opted to use the clothing to wipe away the dampness from between her legs before pulling the hem of her dress down. She was thankful that no blood was on them when done, but Katie really made everything wet down there. So she stuffed them deep between the seat cushions in an attempt to hide them before the curtain opened.\n\nShe slowly snuck out from behind Mister Creedence, careful to keep the torn hem of her dress down and her thighs together. She really wanted to find Jake. Once past the curtain, she saw that the rabbit was in the far corner with the jackal and a naked raccoon in the way. For fear of hurting anyone blocking her way to Jake, she settled to take a seat beside Chris. Stephanie gave the otter a grateful smile and ‘Hi’ as she sat down. She was also trying hard to not look down at Travis by her feet. The urge to keep looking at the other sleeping boy’s bare privates was shockingly hard for her resist, too. Stephanie knew that she was going to be seeing a lot more of those things over the weekend, but she just did not feel right looking at Mitch like this while he was unconscious. So she put a hand up to her face to block the view of the coon boy’s shame as she leaned over to see Jake, and waved at him with an uncertain and worried smile in an attempt to finally say hello to her friend. \n\nUsing the seat to not step on the two cubs, Gary moved to the front of the limo and slapped a small button on the back wall. \n\n“Yes?” asked a woman’s voice from an unseen speaker shortly after the button was pushed.\n\n“We need to pull over immediately,” explained the mouse as he scanned over the boys on the floor, taking count of the bottles lying around. “We have a bit of an emergency.”\n\nAlmost immediately, the over sized car could be felt moving to the right and slowing down. The sound of someone falling over could be heard on the other side of the curtain. Gary carefully pulled the ice bucket away from Travis’s paws. Gently cradling the bucket of bile in one arm, Gary grabbed the jackal by his arm and lifted him up until the cub was lying on his side and leaning against the seat.\n\n“How many of those did you all have?” Gary asked as he made his way to the back of the car, making glances over to Chris so that the otter knew the question was mostly directed towards him. The mouse then looked down at Mitch. Gary made sure that what he said could be heard by ‘everyone’ in the back of the limo. “Did Mitch throw up at all? If not, we need to get him outside of the car as soon as it stops.”\n\nJust as Gary said this, the car started to shake and rattle as it was obviously no longer on the road and was quickly coming to a stop.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#741b47]Hob couldn't really see the porcupine's reactions to the treatment Katie was \"inflicting\" on her. At this point, the opossum was too busy shoving his face into the rodent’s balls like they were pillows to snuggle up to. Even if he'd wanted Gary's hands occasionally pressed against the back of his head to keep him in place. He could, however, most definitely hear her. The noises were unlike anything he'd ever heard from her, and if Katie had heard them before, that certainly explained at least partly why she was so enthusiastic about providing oral, because they were adorable.\n\nStill, Stephanie seemed not particularly enthused about it all, from the sounds of it. Hobart couldn't fathom why, as she was clearly enjoying the treatment. He hoped that she would, for her own sake, get over that. At the same time, Dasayo and especially Locksley were always very adamant about stopping when you were told to. He was almost surprised when Katie, from the sounds of it, actually stopped as soon as Stephanie expressed doubts. He had never known the girl to stop on account of anyone else, least of all her own friends—case in point: Jake.\n\nUnlike Gary, Hobart had not paid much, if any attention to the noises coming from the other side of the curtain. With Mitch and Travis involved, shenanigans surely were happening. He knew that much. But he did not care. Not with such glorious organs in front of him that needed said care far more. The paw that stroked over Mr. Creedence's cock was a little haphazard. Hob clearly needed more practice at doing this blindly like so. Eventually the mouse's own paw wrapped over it to guide him, which Hob was a little split about. He appreciated the help, but at the same time he couldn't be entirely happy to see his skills being, in a way, belittled.\n\nHis other hand at first had been groping the sack alongside his nuzzling and suckling maw. Eventually though the limb moved down between his legs and started stroking. His thumb flicked alternatively at each of his dual heads. Despite Katie's curiosity, his organ really wasn't any more mystifying to pleasure than any regular penis. It just happened to split it two halfway along the shaft, but the most sensitive zones were pretty much in the same places that one might have otherwise expected.\n\nThe opossum still wasn't too concerned by the retching sounds. He'd been on a few school trips and there was always someone who got motion sickness. It was disgusting, sure, but it was hardly a cause for alarm, at least as he was concerned. It was utterly naive of him, of course, but unlike some of the passengers, the only serious experience he had with alcohol was people talking funny and seeing double in movies and cartoons. His dad had beer sometimes, sure, but like coffee, what little hint of the taste he'd had made sure he never went near the stuff. It hadn't even crossed the male cub's mind that there was booze in the car in the first place, much less that the younger ones would want to get in there.\n\nWhile he wasn't distracted by the vomiting, Gary clearly was, even though, judging by the comments about a bucket, the situation seemed under control. He could feel Gary tensing, and that drove him to redouble his efforts in pleasuring the rat to try and get him to relax. Unfortunately that didn't work and the adult took his new toys away when he stood up to go get his pants. Hobart was left there whining a little, face coated in sweat and musk. He licked at the precum on his paw and climbed back onto the seat while the mouse struggled back into his pants.\n\nHobart watched with some fascination, wondering how the male was going to fit his boner in there without it being blatant. Mr. D. hardly ever bothered, he'd noticed, with underwear, and being bigger than the mouse, his erection was not subtle at all. Gary's wasn't exactly hard to notice either, but he figured the mouse didn't care by now.\n\nThe opossum gave an audible whine as he and Katie were instructed to get dressed again. THe fun was over already? He hadn't even gotten to taste Creedence! Just the taste he had gotten during his \"audition\" was nowhere enough for him. He pouted a little, but the adult was already ignoring him and preparing to step over to the other side.He turned around to the girls only to see Stephanie wiping her crotch clean. Well, mostly clean anyway. And then she just… cast her panties off.\n\nWith the two girls going commando, Hobart felt a little self-conscious that he intended to put his own underwear back on. He was well aware not all furs were fans of wearing underwear. Dasayo, for starters, was the most prominent in his life. In fact the armadillo's example had encouraged several other members of the budding wrestling team to start doing the same. Hob, however, clung to the practice. He couldn't help it; he just liked having something tighter around his crotch and butt.\n\nHis concerns about fashion were soon replaced about concerns for his manhood. He had just started stepping into his briefs when a hand wrapped around his waist, triggering an undignified squeal. He looked over and to his horror Katie, her dress pulled halfway up her thighs, was reaching over for his manhood. Manhoods. Whatever. Aside from the fact that he wasn't particularly eager to have her paws anywhere near his privates after seeing what happened with Stephanie, they were supposed to be getting dressed before the other passengers of the limo could see them. A task which would be somewhat more work for the opossum than for either of the girls, not only because he had more to get back on himself, but he'd also taken the time to shove the clothing into the pockets of his backpack to keep them clean and avoid accidentally losing them.\n\nAnd right now he couldn't even get more than one leg into the briefs' leg-hole because he was having to fend off an amorous otter.\n\n\"Stoppit, Katie!\" he whispered between clenched teeth.\n\nHe needed both hands and tail to keep the girl from either grabbing his genitals or stealing his underwear. No doubt she had some nefarious fate already planned for the garments. Hobart wasn't having any of it: he liked those, dammit! He soon tried to resort to his wrestling holds, but found himself coming short for several reasons. Amongst these reasons was that he'd never had to wrestle an otter. Katie was a slippery wet noodle at the best of times, but the girl was so tipsy now, she was practically more liquid than solid, a schrödinger-esque, non-newtonian fluid, and Hobart was in no mood to experiment and discover what would happen if he just slapped her. All in all, it made wrestling the girl like nailing Jell-o to a wall, even with the advantage of a fully prehensile tail. Dasayo would probably spank his ass into oblivion if he saw him bumbling like this.\n\nThe foremost reason for Hobart's trouble, however, was that old saying about an experienced fighter fighting someone who doesn't know what they are doing. It's hard to plan for someone's move when they they themselves have no idea what they're doing, much less what they are going to do next. Hobart had still not even gotten his second leg into his underwear, and as Gary and Chris traded barbs out of sight, he was growing increasingly desperate. He heard the adult announce that the car would stop, and knew when the mouse pulled whoever had been vomiting outside, he couldn't possibly hide his state of undress. He needed the otter off him now.\n\nHe had already wrapped his tail around Katie's legs and was about to throw them under her when the car suddenly swerved to the side. That was the last straw and instead of getting her off him, it promptly sent both of them toppling into the nearest seat. The opossum found himself wincing as Katie’s snout ended up butting into his and knocking his head against the wall behind him. Temporarily dazed, he was unable to keep the no doubt delighted girl from doing whatever she wanted. If he'd been able to form a coherent thought at that moment, he would have been thankful that by this point he'd gotten halfway to flaccid.[/color]\n\n---\n\n[color=#5b9bd5]Although Katie would have been quite content to continue exploring Stephanie’s cute little twat for the next hour—even if it meant making the squirming girl cum multiple times—but unfortunately, not long into her practiced routine for making even the most timid of females vocal with arousal, paws were suddenly trying to push her snout away. The otter had been attempting to track Stephanie’s state of mind periodically, in-between glances towards the boys, and amidst less important noises from the hooligans on the other side of the curtain, and it had started off pretty well.\n\nDespite the initial shock, the porcupine was willing enough to continue not order Katie to stop. To her surprise even, the first lick of her clit had even startled the gasping cub into practically shoving the otter’s probing tongue deeper inside. She had to wonder if that was involuntary or if Stephanie really wanted it that badly, either way, she was more than happy to give her the experience of a lifetime.\n\nSo naturally, cruel fate had to rear its ugly head. First it was the sudden panic in Rose’s voice, striking into Katie the fear that she might’ve harmed her again, somehow. Her tongue had already stopped moving by the time she felt the girl pushing her away, and she obliged with only the smallest frown of disappointment. She opened her mouth with an apology on the tip of her tongue, but instead of Stephanie accusing her of harm, she correctly assumed what Katie had known all along.\n\n“Well…” she started to say with a half smirk and a brief glance towards the males, “I mean… I’d hardly call this foreplay, but… what..? Didn’t you know about this?” Her small smile gradually sank into a worried frown however, as she realized the possibility that Stephanie too hadn’t been told the whole story. “It’s.. not a problem is it..? A-are you going to freak out like—uhm..”\n\nKatie started to look a little uncomfortable then, as she’d very nearly compared her to Jake. She didn’t want to admit the possibility that she’d wanted to play with her because she and him were so close, but it was hard enough just to deny the thought. She certainly hadn’t meant to hurt her though, or… break her hymen like that.\n\nIf ever the otter was in need of a distraction it was now. So right on cue it seemed, a very obvious retching arose from behind the curtain, drawing everyone’s attention, but especially Gary’s. In fact, the sound was apparently so disturbing that the mouse put an unceremonious halt to his own fun to hike up his pants and trap his unsatisfied erection inside as he stood up to investigate.\n\nUnfortunately for Katie, in the process he ordered her and Hobart to get dressed, passing through the curtain with a signal for Stephanie to follow, which she seemed all too eager to oblige. As she got up to trail him into the larger section of the cab, the girl left the panties she’d wiped herself with tucked between the cushions beside the otter’s discarded dress. Katie spied a bit of it peaking out as, with a defeated sigh, the mustelid grudgingly reached for her own garment and scrunched it up from top to bottom in preparation to step into it.\n\nOnce she’d stood up to insert her first foot though—taking advantage of the extra space without Gary and Stephanie’s presence—Katie’s gaze was invariably drawn back to Hobart’s crotch. He too had been equally disappointed by their simultaneous activities coming to such an abrupt end, but he was also more resigned to getting dressed than she was. And he was even going to put on those nightmare briefs again!\n\nThe otter was already reaching out across the opossum’s waist to grasp as his exotic organ before she even had her dress around both feet. Then she proceeded to one-handedly pull it up around her legs while she fought with the boy to secure his boyhood in her eager paw. When he inevitably resisted, Katie voiced her flimsy reasoning.\n\n“What… an’ let you hide such a rare specimen under that awful thing again..?! No way!” she whispered back, making repeated, failed grabs for the flailing, floppy organ. “H—hold still already, I just wanna touch it..!”\n\nWhat ensued could only be described as a battle of epic—albeit nearly silent—proportions, as wrestling techniques faced off against the dexterity of an otter who also happened to be lead cheerleader. It was anyone’s guess who could’ve won the bout, but just as Hobart had been about to unbalance Katie, the laws of motion suddenly demanded they take an immediate seat instead.\n\nBoth cubs were startled upon bumping noses, but Hobart was the one to find himself dazed from the sudden, gravitational anomaly. Katie however found herself with the dress pulled up to her waist and knees spread to either side of the opossum’s lap. Certainly not the worst place she could’ve landed. In fact, she found this new position quite fun. After all, not only had she managed to halt the boy’s ill-advised plans to put on his underwear, but now there was a familiar warmth between her thighs that, with an appropriate wiggle of her tush, quickly found the crevice of her equally warm mound.\n\n“Hehehehe,” she giggled sweetly as her nose brushed against his, “And here I was afraid you didn’t like me.” While the boy was still stunned, she dared to push her lips against his for a kiss, curious as to whether he’d reciprocate or resist.\n\nMeanwhile, on the other side of the curtain, Chris was meeting Gary’s glare like he was no stranger to being shouted at, much less blamed for things. But that was okay, he knew exactly how to defend himself in this situation, even if he still harbored some responsibility for letting it get this far. But hey, he was only nine years old; what was Gary’s excuse?\n\n“And interrupt your private party over there? I wouldn’t dare, sir,” came Chris’ initial rebuttal to the argument he could’ve reported the incident. \n\nGary must not have liked that, because he pointed to Jake next, claiming they helped encourage it. The otter rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he surveyed the unconscious cubs, and a very guilty-looking Jake. He frowned then when he realized he was getting ahead of himself. The poor rabbit didn’t deserve to be singled out for his involvement, since it wasn’t voluntary.\n\nJake certainly was not taking too well to being accused. The finger that pointed critically at him, made the bunny hunch his shoulders as he lowered his ears and tried to make himself smaller. He hated to admit that for a brief time, he was actually enjoying this, but worse was the guilt that he’d let it happen without saying anything to an adult, like his ingrained programming told him to; not that he could’ve found the voice to do so, anyway. \n\nIt just made him feel bad to be blamed for something that was actually partly his fault. Even if the only fault had been doing as he was asked by the others. Thankfully though, Chris was right there to alleviate his concerns and shift that blame.\n\n“So what if we were, Mister Creedence? I think the real question is what kinda ‘talent agent’ rents a limo stocked full of beer, and leaves it alone with a bunch’a cubs.That’s real irresponsible if you ask me, sir. Besides, it’s not like either of us could’a stopped ‘em. Far as I’m concerned, it’ll be a learning experience for both of ‘em.”\n\nChris tried not to make eye-contact after his remarks, fully expecting a fuming glare for having the blame turned back on him, but he just couldn’t help pointing out one last thing as Stephanie was emerging from the curtain behind the adult.\n\n“I mean for Walrus’ sake, one of the bottles are even shaped like a—” he started, only to stop short of the word he’d intended to say. The second his gaze landed on Stephanie, his train of thought jumped tracks.\n\nLeaving the agent to navigate his way to the front of the cab, Chris leaned over slightly towards the girl, meeting her smile with one of his own as he pat a spot on the cushions for her to join him. She seemed a little uneasy by what she was seeing, but she still greeted him softly.\n\n“Hey.. don’t worry about them,” he assured her, with a lazy roll of his eyes towards the unconscious boys. “They did it to themselves. Mister Creedence will handle it..”\n\nAs soon as Gary had reached the intercom for the driver, he alerted their apparently female chauffeur to the situation, triggering a noticeable amount of centrifugal force as the limo was quick to slow down and pull over onto the shoulder. In the meantime, the rodent interrogated Chris for details which he provided indifferently as Stephanie leaned in front of him to wave to Jake.\n\nOf course the bunny was still on the floor, but thankfully even despite the urgency of the current situation, he was finally feeling relaxed. Almost a little sleepy even. It certainly didn’t help that Mitch seemed to be enjoying his nap. Jake had been considering curling up and laying his head down to rest after blame for the present predicament had been shifted away from him. But then he noticed that Stephanie had come out of hiding after Gary, making him perk up with fresh energy.\n\nHe watched her sit down next to Chris, turning away only briefly to watch Mister Creedence tip-toe around an unconscious Travis and Mitch, before being drawn back to the sight of the girl quietly waving at him. His paw rose awkwardly in response, but the cub was promptly distracted by Chris as he explained the situation with their companions.\n\n“Exactly three each, Officer,” Chris said with the smallest twinge of sarcasm, “two 40%’s, two 45’s, then a 45 for that one and a 50 for that o—uh… wait…” As he faltered in his initial assessment he realized that Travis had the wrong bottle in his possession. It took him a moment to piece together that particular puzzle, but then he scowled in understanding: That sneaky little twerp thinks he can just… ugh.. No wonder it was Travis who threw up.\n\n“No, that cheater hasn’t, but this bag of bones I’m pretty sure upchucked everything, including his guts,” Chris answered with an inevitable sigh at the mention of dragging their carcasses outside to finish the job. “Fine, I’ll take the smaller one. At least he’s lighter.”\n\nWith a groan, Chris moved to get up, incidentally severing an unspoken connection between Jake and Stephanie. Although he only noticed it after the vehicle had stopped and he was on his feet, the otter offered Jake a smile and held out a paw to help him to his feet so he could join the porcupine on the cushion. In the meantime, Chris helped himself to a face down, shirtless jackal, grabbing him by his ankles initially to drag him towards the rear of the vehicle. At least until Gary ordered him to do it properly. He sighed again, but obliged, scooping up the floppy canine with foamy bile caking his lips and carrying him to the curtain.\n\nBoth Jake and Stephanie watched as the mouse did the same with an equally limp Mitch, before the bunny’s attention eventually shifted back to the porcupine. He waited until Chris and Gary had retreated behind the curtain and the curb-side door was opened, before speaking softly.\n\n“A-a-are you okay, Steph?” he asked quietly but with some sense of urgency the second he was free to. There was still one concern he had to get off his mind before he could proceed with the rest. “I—I heard you scream earlier… i-i-it almost… sounded like you were crying, too…” he stammered nervously, unsure if he should be bringing it up at all, “Was it.. Really just a quill you sat on…? I didn’t even know that was possible.”\n\nHe tried to give her enough time for a proper response, but Jake had begun to feel urgency of another variety, now that they finally had a few moments alone. There was a lot more he wanted to get off his chest before they were interrupted,, to the point he almost didn’t fully register Stephanie’s awkwardly delivered answer, before diving into a lengthy, stammering monologue full of nervous pauses.\n\n“Hey.. I-I’m sorry about what happened earlier, by the way… I think… you were probably surprised to see me, huh…? I-I-I’ve uhm… never heard you say that word before, e-especially that loudly, so… y-you much have been… really surprised. I—I was pretty shocked too. I mean… I didn’t think you’d be interested in… in… w-whatever this is. I… thought it was a camping trip before, b-but then my mommy dressed me up, an’ I didn’t get to bring anything with me. A-an’ now we’re in this big fancy car that’s full of adult drinks, an’ they’re drinking it and then I heard you scream and I just thought… M-m-maybe I shouldn’t have come… That m-maybe this was a bad idea.. But—i-if I had gone with you instead, then… I’d still be here, so.. I dunno... Th-this is all just… too much for me, I think. And… and now it’s too late to turn back,” he whined softly, daring to close the gap between them to seek comfort from the warmth of Stephanie’s body in Chris’ absence.[/color]",
"writing_bbcode_parsed": "Disclaimer:
This work of fiction is the product of joint collaboration with three other writers, with no intention to be shared beyond this site or sold in any way. It is merely the collective effort of a small group of friends having fun. As such, it's contents will not be suitable for most audiences. If you have issues with the following themes, please refrain from reading beyond this page.
Themes this role-play may contain:
nudity and humiliation\t
rape of underage characters (cubs)
group sex (gang-bangs)\t
consensual sex between cubs
excessive nudity
sex between cubs and adults
graphic violence
alcohol and drug use
psychological abuse
sexual and medical abuse
and more...
This list is subject to change as the story progresses. If you agree to these terms, we hope you enjoy the fruits of our labors. As an additional note, I would also like to add that to an extent (decided at my discretion) this RP, and future/past ones I maybe post, can all be considered roughly canon. Event-wise, if not backstory-wise. That being said, this is also quite experimental, so I welcome commentary on our performance. XD
One more thing: Neither me or my partner knows what getting drunk is like, so if we bungled that scene hilariously to an experienced drinker, we appreciate your suggestions. ^^
In the Springwood Mall food court, Gary Creedence sat nibbling on a churro with little interest in food. The gray mouse was wearing a pink dress shirt with a white bow tie and black slacks. His dress shoes were well polished. From a distance, some would think he also had glasses on. This was just the white fur rings around his eyes. The rodent was constantly looking at his watch and around the room of shoppers. He was never good at being patient. There was still fifteen minutes until his client was due to arrive, but he was a very punctual man. Time was money, and the sooner things can get to work the better.
He took another bite of the cinnamon covered pastry when the phone in his shirt pocket buzzed. He took it out and smiled at seeing the name of the caller.
“Hey! Wasn't expecting a call from you at this time,” Gary answered cheerily. “I thought you be busy with the... Oh, Yeah. That makes sense... Uh huh... Yeah, I am sorry about that. You know it's been slow for us the past few years, and the office moving... yeah, we settled in just fine... Thanks, I will tell her. And you can tell Lindsey later when she arrives. She'd be there already if she didn't have a commercial to film today... Yes, I was just about to tell you about this.”
Gary had gotten up while talking and walked towards a corner of the floor court so he can view the whole room easier as he talked. So no one can eavesdrop.
“This place has been great. Quite the find. It's an old town, but has a lot of everything you'd want. Historical and modern all at the same time. And we already got some very eager clients that have potential. Particularly the one I am hopefully sending to you... Yes, her name is Katie. A river otter... She is working solo.. Yeah, walked in the door by herself. Seems she didn't want her dad knowing that she was wanting to work with us... Oh ho ho. She is a looker, no worries there. I guess you haven't checked your messages for awhile... Yes that's the one... Yes! That's her! Amazing right? That was all her doing. Only instructions I gave was to dress up using the clothes we provided in the wardrobe and do whatever she thought was needed to get every man's attention to win a competition... Ha, yeah. She gets my vote for sure... She is a bit of a valley girl type, but thankfully smarter than that. She is obviously knowledgeable and knows some-... No, she doesn't really know everything about what we do. Nor the 'convention' she is attending... She knows that there will be a lot of things going on that would make her dad upset... Yes, I'm certain she is aware that those kind of things will be happening. I pretty much asked her to go to this 'get together' as a representative of Little Bits, and to maybe even offer help for those who might be new and not understand what is wanted of them... Yes, I gave her that offer as well. If she brings others to help entertain the guests, she will be treated as a full paying guest herself... Yeah, we will see how that works out... Ah, yes. Those other pictures are of another client. Her name is Stephanie, but apparently she is called Rose by other kids... I know, I just thought she was cute and would be a nice spicy addition for the more adventurous... completely unaware... same excuses as I gave Katie. They are all going on a camping trip and will be out of contact for three days.”
Gary thought back on that encounter. The young child came into the office by herself just two days ago. She was shy and embarrassed, but also strongly determined. Gary already knew what the story would be. Stephanie was a porcupine. A species that were constantly shunned simply for the potential harm they can accidentally cause. Rose was kept at the back of lines, parents would not let their children play with her, and she was constantly teased for her cheap thrift store clothes. Since her quills had to puncture through the back of all her shirts and jackets, her family could only afford cheap clothes that had to be replaced often. Stephanie was hoping to be popular and make more friends if she was seen in ads and maybe even television.
Gary knew that porcupines were actually popular in adult magazines, all due to them being perceived as untouchable. For a lot of males, the idea of 'You can look, but not touch' will drive them crazy with lust. Of course, he did not tell the cub this. He gave her the same questions and audition as he had done with Katie, and Stephanie was a lot more conservative. However, Gary gently and cheerfully explained how model shows worked backstage, and that she would have to change clothes in the open in front of other models and parents and agents. Rose shyly bit her lip and looked to the floor embarrassed, but Gary saw he hands form fists and her feet stop fidgeting and firmly plant themselves. The girl was refusing to run away and was determined to stay.
“You will also likely need help getting into clothes, due to your spines,” Gary carefully added. “To help ensure the clothes are not harmed as much as possible, and to ensure that you do not accidentally poke anothe-”
The cub had started to remove her clothes before he could finish that last point. It was something that clearly bothered her, and she was wanting to show that was not going to be an issue. And just like that, she was now standing in front of him completely nude. She trembled both from the cool air and the embarrassment, her clothes lying on the floor at her feet. Gary got up and wiped away the dampness that was forming under her eyes.
“Good girl,” the mouse spoke with a soft tender voice. “Good. You will do anything to get work, I can see that. And I think I already have a job for you this coming weekend.”
Gary's thoughts came back to reality as he saw movement on the other side of the room.
“Oh, I think I see Katie now,” Gary said into the phone. “... Same. Talk later.”
Gary was not a tall man, and just barely saw the distinct color of the otter's hair weaving among the tables and other people in the food court. He waved his hand for her to notice. He was eager to meet her friends. He quickly sent a text out to the driver that was waiting in the garage.
---
It was indeed Katie that the mouse had spotted, her unmistakable pony-tail bobbing up and down as she bounced along. Today she was dressing up rather fancy though, with a sparkly scrunchie in her hair, and an equally flashy, one-piece dress that both accentuated her lithe figure and left her fuzzy thighs mostly exposed. Needless to say, the otter was dressed to impress, to the degree that she even wore make-up. If she were any older, people might’ve suspected her of being a prostitute, judging simply by her appearance, but thankfully she was only nine years old, and very clearly took the term ‘dressing up’ and exaggerated it to an almost embarrassing degree.
Of course, the mustelid was impervious it seemed, to any sort of ridicule. Which made her quite popular at school. However… it also meant humiliation followed her everywhere, and ever since she’d set her eyes on Jake that first day, the poor buck had been dragged repeatedly into her orbit of influence. So, it should’ve been no surprise that, when Katie had found out about an acting audition for cubs, her inevitable ‘plus one’ ended up being a certain white rabbit. Whom even now, was being dragged along behind the otter after going through the ordeal of convincing his parents to let him go after he’d been pressed into accompanying her.
By some small miracle, Katie had made the proposal in the presence of her brother, Chris, prompting her sibling to sign up for auditions as well. For his plus one though, the boy had cleverly called on Mitch, for never had there been anything in existence as disruptive as that raccoon. And if his suspicions regarding his sister’s motives were correct, he would be glad to have brought that paranoid trash bandit along.
At the moment though, he was regretting it. Mitch hadn’t stopped talking about the plots of his favorite horror movies since they’d been dropped off at the mall. If not for the fact he was spoiling events in films he hadn’t seen yet, Chris might’ve been able to tune him out, but unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be a filter of any kind on the raccoon’s mouth.
It wasn’t until they reached the food court that the otter finally rounded on his masked companion to grasp his shirt and press their heads together as he locked eyes and said, calmly and kindly, despite the intensity of his actions, “That’s all really great, Mitch, but we’re here now, see? So stop talking pay attention, okay?”
He gave Mitch a big, forced smile before letting go and turning around again to catch up to Jake and Katie. With a scoff and a pointed effort to straighten his rumpled v-neck t-shirt, he muttered, “Eh, whatever.”
Frankly, he’d been enjoying himself, even if Chris hadn’t, but now that he was thrust back into the moment of his current predicament, he was left wondering why he’d agreed to this. Although Mitch was quite skilled at acting, he didn’t have much interest in it beyond make-believe games. Being on camera was an opportunity to fool around, not read words from a script at the behest of some whiny, strict director. That was the opposite of fun, and if things came to that, he was prepared to pull some pranks for his own amusement.
Until then, however, Mitch followed his classmates from school, arms crossed over his blue sports jersey, with beige, long-sleeved cargo shorts sagging so low they completely covered his knees.
Up ahead, dressed plainly in a blue t-shirt and red shorts, Chris met up with Jake again as he was being pulled through a crowd of shoppers, offering apologies and platitudes as he helped the buck through the milling masses. Although they seemed content to let Katie pass, they didn’t permit the rabbit the same clemency. Certainly it didn’t help that Jake was too meek to be assertive. So he couldn’t make his presence known, much less clear a path through presence alone.
He didn’t even want to be here, but once again, Katie had talked him into coming along. He hadn’t even signed up, but she said she was allowed to bring a friend, and she wanted him to come. No one else. So… how could he refuse…? Well, probably just by saying ‘no’, and sticking to it. But, saying ‘yes’ was hard enough. She was always so… insistent.
And now here he was, wearing the nicest clothes he could find in his dresser—his Sunday best, a plain blue dress-shirt, brown khakis and black dress-shoes—and meeting up with their chaperone for the trip. A trip whose details still eluded him. All Jake was aware of, was some sort of acting agency being involved. He’d seen the sign-up sheet posted on the school bulletin board, but he never did more than look. It was Katie who actually signed up, and then, eventually, Chris as well. That was the only perk in this situation. At least he didn’t have to be alone with Katie. Not that he didn’t like her, but she had a tendency to get him involved in humiliating things.
Acting in front of a camera absolutely fit that bill in Jake’s mind, so he’d been stressed out about this inevitability ever since his parents agreed with little argument to his ‘crude’ explanation. They actually read the form he gave them though, so maybe they knew more than he did. He’d hoped they’d resist, honestly, but when it came to activities that put him in groups with other cubs, they rarely did.
Eventually they reached the middle of the food court, with Katie standing on her toes, on the prowl for a face she recognized. It didn’t take her long to find the mouse, but when she did, she gleefully declared, “Aha! There he is! See? I told yah he’d be here! Hiiiiiii Mister Creeeeedeeeeence!”
The otter called out from halfway across the court, waving one arm high in the air as she continued to drag Jake by his wrist, with Chris in tow, and a food-smell-distracted raccoon trailing behind. It was a challenge for him not to lose track of them, but although he failed to follow the exact same path, he still managed to keep up in the end, looking smug when he reappeared.
Chris, Jake and Katie had come to a stop before a rodent in a dress shirt and bow-tie. Hardly an impressive sight to Mitch, who was clearly expecting more.
“Wait, this is the guy?” he snorted then, looking amused and disappointed at the same time. “He looks like some lame ol’ pencil pusher. What does he know about acting?”
“Probably more than you,” Chris offered in rebuttal, but despite the lack of venom in his words, Mitch wrinkled his snout like he’d been personally offended. “C’mon, I’ve seen how you act when we’re playing. Ahem. Captain Nopants...?”
At the reference to his favorite pirate-themed character, the raccoon promptly scowled and crossed his arms again.
“Better than yer lame supporting roles,” he sniffed.
“Uhm… he does have a point,” Jake interjected then, to the surprise of both boys, “I-it’s just that… you sorta… you know… exaggerate a little, sometimes…”
“What?! I don’t exaggerate! Are you kidding me?” Mitch exploded in a brief rage that was immediately snuffed out by Katie harshly hushing her group.
“Shhhhhhhh! Would you boys pipe down?” she snapped, rounding on them to growl lowly at them through clenched teeth, “Don’t embarrass me in front of the talent agent!”
The girl immediately spun around again, leaving all three boys essentially stunned into silence, but it was Jake who muttered what they were all thinking.
“Us..? Embarrass her..?”
Both Mitch and Chris snorted in their attempt to contain their mirth, but a brief glare from Katie ensured their compliance while she clasped her paws together and beamed up at the mouse with his ‘spectacle’ face markings.
“Hi! You’re Mister Creedence, right? The agent we were supposed to meet? Remember me? I’m Katie!” she held out a paw for a handshake, ready to shake the heck out of it if he dared to accept. Meanwhile, she rambled on; “You said I could bring a friend, right? So I did! This is Jake! He’s a cutie! Oh… and this is my, eh... brother. He signed up to be with Jake, for some reason.” The girl fell silent for a moment then, until Mitch cleared his throat in irritation over being left out. “Ugh, oh yeah. And this is… some nameless trash panda that followed us. Just ignore him.”
“Dude! I’m right here,” the raccoon barked with a glare.
“Yes, I know, I can smell you from here,” Katie joked, giggling to herself for a few seconds before giving in with a sigh. “Fiiiine, this is Mitch, he’s okay at acting, but he didn’t sign up so it doesn’t count. He’s just my brother’s plus one, so you can ignore him.”
“Yo, not better!” Mitch complained from the rear of the group.
---
“Hiiiiiii Mister Creeeeedeeeeence!”
Gary could only chuckle at the enthusiasm of the young lady running toward him. To add to his amusement, as well as his own retained enthusiasm, she was also dragging along a white male rabbit. And there was another otter following her as well. He was internally jubilant when he realized that a third boy, a raccoon, was with the group.
He held out his hand in greeting when the lagging stripe-tailed boy started to comment on his attire and professionalism. One of those kind of boys, Gary thought. The adult was still holding his smile and hand out as his possible future star turned on them all to be quiet. Katie quickly turned back around like nothing happened, taking his hand greedily as if they had never met and she was way too eager for a job. This was actually the thing he enjoyed about her. Katie might well do anything asked of her, if it meant a small piece of fame. She had already suggested as much in his office.
“Of course I remember you,” laughed Gary, his voice vibrating due to his body being rattled from the fierce and excited handshake he was receiving. “How could I forget? And I see you brought friends, just as I suggested.”
The mouse took each of the boys’ hands as he was introduced.
“Looking sharp there, little man,” he greeted Jake as he took the obviously shy boy’s paw. He gently shook Jake’s hand, noting how shy and insecure the boy was on first sight. There was another thing he noted, and that was that Jake was adorably cute.
“Oh my. Might you two be twins?” Gary commented as he shook Chris’s hand. He gave Chris a more firm squeeze since the lad appeared to be more confident in himself. “I was going to ask if you two were brother and sister, if Katie had not said so. Twins tend to be popular for modeling and commercials.”
The adult took a step forward towards the boy Katie identified as Mitch. That kind smile was still on Gary’s face, but the mouse’s eyes suggested that he had worked with too many kids in his life to be surprised, or insulted, by the raccoon’s comments earlier.
“Mitch is it?” Gary asked as he crouched down slightly so as to be eye level with the raccoon. “Or was it Captain NoPants? I think I might like the latter more.”
The gray mouse chuckled at his last statement.
“What I do is to help young talent, like yourself, to be noticed by both the public and the many industries in need of it. I can get you a job modeling glasses for magazine ads, playing basketball in a shoe commercial, or even a spoken line for chewable vitamins. You could be a boy on a sidewalk as the hero runs by in an action film, or maybe even be rescued by Wonder Wombat. The girl that was in the burning building in that last Dark Bat film a few years back and was saved in the knick of time? She is one of my clients. She got to meet the stars of the film, and act alongside them for that scene. I heard she even got to go to a party after the shoot.”
Gary now held out his hand for Mitch.
“Mister Gary Creedence of Little Bits of Hollywood, with over 20 years of experience in the industry. Nice to meet you.”
---
Some people turned up half an hour earlier than the agreed-upon time for interviews. Others preferred to show up right on the dot, so there wouldn’t be any unnecessary waiting. And then, of course, there would always be the ones who were inevitably late.
How did that old nursery rhyme go again? There’s danger if I dare to stop and here’s the reason why: you see I’m overdue—I’m in a jackal stew; I’m late I’m late I’m late
Stupid song seemed stuck in his head for some reason as he vaulted laden tables and navigated aisles with reckless abandon; heedless of the startled and irritated patrons he was leaving in his wake. He was even feeling a little like Alice in Wonderland right now; and the fact that he’d come clad in an older sister’s hand-me-downs certainly wasn’t helping.
That train of thought had the diminutive jackal shuddering. Parents could be so unreasonable sometimes. So he had gotten a couple grease stains on his good shirt and torn some pants fooling around in the gravel pit—surely that wasn’t any reason to have to attend this…whatever…in girl’s clothing? Apparently, both elder Smalls had disagreed.
Serve ‘em both right if l get some cootie infection. That’ll show ‘em.
“Sorry…’scuse me…comin’ through—oof!” Head currently turned to track the progress of an irate housewife brandishing a formidable looking umbrella at him, Travis suddenly found his forward momentum arrested by something solid and fuzzy. For a moment he saw stars, eventually regaining his senses seated flat on his rear peering up at three very familiar faces, plus—
–a particular rabbit that’d occupied Lyle’s attentions for most of last year; one that he remembered...uh…inconveniencing… a time or two. As an ex-member of the avian’s coterie of cronies, Travis wasn’t one to forget faces in a hurry. Nor for that matter—judging from the look the bunny was giving him—was Jake. Accident though the collision had been, Jake probably had every reason to think the jackal had bumped into him on purpose.
Oh. Um. This certainly WAS awkward.
For a moment Travis entertained a fantasy of the floor opening up and swallowing him whole, girly hand-me-downs and all. “Sorry,” he found himself saying again; not really sure if he was apologizing for the accident, the events of the past year, neither, or all of them at once. Strange how one little word could make you feel like a terrible person. Was this what responsibility really felt like? Because if so, it totally sucked.
Feeling himself not entirely up to the challenge of looking Jake in the eye, Travis settled for sizing up the others instead. Mitch’s claim that there were actually other people going to this thing seemed legit after all—here was an otter boy he sorta knew from school, a strange adult mouse he instantly pegged and dismissed as their chaperone, Mitch himself looking all too amused at the manner of his entrance, and…and—
His eyes widened, taking on a deer-in-the-headlights look of consternation. Paws automatically snagged hold of the raccoon’s jersey, attempting to steer them both to a location safely out of earshot.
“Mitch—when you said we aren’t the only ones going to this thing I didn’t realize you meant there’d be—” the last word escaped almost as a squeak born of utter unimaginable horror. “—girls!”
And not just any girl… an OLDER girl; if the dress and makeup were any kind of indication. Travis wasn’t sure if that made things better or worse. Speak of the devil—here were the others now, standing in a half circle that conveniently ruled out escape. Not that escape was ever an option anyway, given the nasty looks half the food court was aiming his way. Salvation from an angry mob would only come at the hands of their chaperone, or not at all. Travis knew when he was hosed.
Sighing, he reached into his oversized, sister-tainted T-shirt and fished out a surprisingly intact slip of paper, tugging the too-large shirt collar back into place from where it’d fallen lopsided across one furry shoulder as he did so. This he offered to the adult chaperone.
“I’m…uh…s’posed to hand this to Mister Creedence? Sorry I’m late, commute was…” looking back at the messy aftermath of the food court, he did his best to ignore the totally unwelcome twinge of guilt upon his spine. “—awful,”.
Not that he had any idea what it meant; or what a ‘commute’ even was—other than the fact that it sounded way cool when his Dad said it, and it seemed to excuse a multitude of faults at least where Mom was concerned. Maybe it would work its magic again.
One could always hope.
---
The instant Mister Creedence had offered up his paw as a sacrifice, Katie had immediately pounced on it for an energetic handshake that included not one but both on her own little mitts, such was her enthusiasm for finally starting on the road to fame. She wasn’t totally blinded by her own dreams of stardom, of course. There was a reason why she’d practically begged on her knees for Jake to be her plus one. Because she wanted to share that fame with him; to maybe one day act out her fantasies on the big screen with her favorite little fluff muffin.
It had been all she could think about ever since finding out about the auditions for the talent agency. And though she’d been paranoid about her father finding out, her exciting flights of fancy had easily overridden the fear of getting busted by him. Besides she’d long since figured out how to play the man like a fiddle, so getting a signature out of him for this trip was quite literally child’s play. Heehee.
The broad grin on the otter’s face was as much from her fond memories of hustling her father, as it was from the very fact that she was here. Finally! Talking to the man who was going to whisk her and her soulmate away to a land of opportunity and fame. It had been a frustrating wait after her audition, and although she was certain she’d left him quite satisfied, there had still been lingering doubts. Maybe she’d been too forward. Too eager; too loud or too annoying.
Thus, she couldn’t have been more overjoyed and relieved when she finally received her acceptance letter. At least until she tried to rope Jake into being her plus one. Then Chris had to stick his big nose into her business and sign up right alongside her. Although he denied it, it was obviously a ploy to stay close to her little boo. That sting of jealousy was all too familiar, but she tamped it down and grudgingly released Gary from her vigorous handshake when he’d finally had enough.
Much as she wanted to hold on forever, he had to introduce himself to the other cubs, too. Unfortunately he made a beeline for Jake first. Even though the agent was a mouse, the sudden move towards him made the rabbit step back instinctively, only to be stopped by Chris, who was cleverly positioned behind him to block off his path of retreat. Left with no recourse, the buck was forced to raise his own paw to accept the offered handshake, although he did so with eyes cast downwards and ears flat against the back of his head.
Timid as ever and unable to make eye contact, he was grateful for the man’s gentle grip. In truth, Jake was about as uncomfortable with the clothing he was wearing as he was about going on this trip with Katie. Even with Chris for moral support, he couldn’t completely overcome the anxiety of being dragged out of his comfort zone. The fact he was clearly overdressed—compared to everyone except Katie, anyway—certainly didn’t help, either. But then Gary had to comment on his attire, and just like that, a blush blossomed on Jake’s cheeks and radiated into his quivering ears, as he stammered an awkward explanation.
“I-it was my Mommy’s idea… I tried to tell her it was a camping trip, but uhm...”
Once he was freed from the handshake, Jake’s paw quickly retracted to rub his neck awkwardly as he moved aside and away from the group slightly. Though Chris attempted to follow, he was held back for his own greeting. To the otter’s mild annoyance though, the first words out of Mister Creedence’s mouth were in recognition of his relationship to his sister Katie. The mouse was rewarded with a deadpan stare and a firm reactive grip to the adult’s stronger handshake.
“Yeah. We’re related. Unfortunately,” he stated flatly, almost like he was bored, or… maybe distracted. He did seem to be keeping an eye on Jake nearby, but he was no less responsive when Gary claimed they’d be popular as twins. He’d still been trying to figure out just what Katie was hoping to get out of this excursion, when the talent agent practically spelled it out to him.
“Modelling, huh?”
Suddenly it made perfect sense why she was so desperate to get into this agency. For a show-off like Katie, a modelling career would certainly be an ideal occupation. Though he suspected she wouldn’t want to stop there. It was a talent business, after all, and his sister was nothing if not… talented. In a whole host of ways. Still, why the agency was sponsoring a camping trip was unclear. Perhaps it was a backwoods retreat or something.
Regardless, it was clear to Chris that this particular excursion wasn’t going to be easy on Jake, who couldn’t even handle standing in front of his own class to give a presentation. No way could he stand in front of a camera with the knowledge that millions of strangers might see it one day. Even if the rabbit had any skills in acting, they’d be overridden by his anxiety. A fact which Katie seemed to consistently ignore. Or maybe she was just that oblivious.
Either way, Chris planned to stay by his friend’s side, to keep him sane, if not calm. Hopefully this trip would be over sooner rather than later, though. As it was, introductions were going quickly, and once the male otter was released from his, he sculked closer to Jake again. Meanwhile, Gary’s attention had shifted to a scowling raccoon with crossed arms and a ‘touch me and I’ll bite you’ glint in his eyes.
He watched the short mouse crouch down to his level in greeting, but at first Mitch wrinkled his snout at the friendly gesture. To be fair, he was still ticked about being outmaneuvered by Katie, and looking for an opportunity for payback, so he was somewhat distracted. His ears were working just fine though, and they twitched gleefully when Mister Creedence showed his approval.
The man’s praise earned him a smirk from the raccoon, whose crossed arms loosened and then relaxed as he said, somewhat arrogantly, “Well, at least you have good taste, I guess.”
The agent explained his occupation in greater detail, for the benefit of the group, in case any were still unclear of why they were there, but Mitch just nodded along, half-listening as he stuck his tongue out at a quietly fuming Katie. She clearly wasn’t happy he was coming along, and that somehow made this whole inconvenience worth it, in his mind. He loved annoying the girls, in part because it was easy, but mostly because their reactions were priceless.
This whole trip reeked of boredom, though. Even Gary’s promises of being an extra in a movie weren’t that exciting. Mitch tried to disguise his disinterest, though, as he grudgingly accepted the man’s offered handshake.
“You too, I guess. I mean, yeah, I suppose that sounds pretty impressive and cool but, man… I don’t wanna be some lame extra in a movie. If I was gonna do something like that, I’d rather be the superhero. Or like… some cool, butt-kicking ninja! With katanas and ninja stars! Yeah, see? That would be pretty awesome.”
Just then, as Mitch’s arm was pulling away from the handshake, a disturbance arose from the food court, to the tune of clattering dishes and utensils as entire tables were relieved of their contents by a blundering whirlwind of scraggly-furred devastation in the form on one final, party member to join their crew. Despite the advance notice, everyone was still surprised by the jackal’s entrance, which involved cannon-balling a very startled Jake like he and his friends were a set of bowling pins.
With a choked off yelp, Jake was thrown forward into Chris’ arms, putting him off balance and making him stumble backwards. Unable to catch the rabbit, he fell back into the nearest wall, while Jake twisted mid-fall to land on his back with a sharp grunt. He laid flat on the floor staring up at the food court’s ceiling for a few stunned moments before snapping out of it to sit up on his elbows. A million and one possible causes for what had just happened crossed the buck’s mind in an instant, but none of them really prepared him for the sight of one of Lyle’s former lackeys.
The flicker of recognition in Jake’s eyes quickly swelled into fearful paranoia as the rabbit scrambled backwards across the floor, bumping into Chris’ legs just in time for his friend to reach down and help him back to his feet. The otter was less than amused, and the same could be said of Katie as well, but where the otter twins and Jake were shocked by the sudden arrival, there was one cub who was tickled pink.
Three scowling faces were giving Travis the silent beat-down of a lifetime when Mitch suddenly leaned into view and jumped out in front of them like a shield. He was entirely focused on his quarry though, grinning from ear to ear as he reached an arm out to help the jackal up.
“Duuuuude, you made it! I mean, you completely wiped out like a total scrub, but hey! You’re here! And to think I was worried you weren’t gonna show up. But I said to myself, I said, ‘noooo way would the T-bomb stand me up, cuz him and me are ti—”
Before Mitch could even finish his… lengthy greeting, Travis was grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and dragging him several feet away in a quiet panic. Still wholly amused by the pup’s dramatic arrival, it took him a moment to register his buddy’s complaint, but once he knew what had Travis so on edge, the raccoon happily used it as fodder to get back at Katie.
“Ugh, I know, right? Girls are the worst. Sorry man, I’m in the same boat. Just try not to breathe the same air as her or you might catch a Cootie Cold,” Mitch snickered in obvious amusement.
By now Katie was practically fuming, and trying very hard to hide it in front of Mister Creedence, but she wasn’t doing very well. Chris could see it, and even Jake was not oblivious to the anger. This was an unexpected event, one clearly engineered by Mitch, but it wasn’t the rudeness of his arrival, his abuse of her crush, or the fact she now had two trouble-makers to deal with, that made her lose her cool. Oddly enough, it was the form Travis pulled from his shirt that was the last straw.
As he was handing the form over to Gary, Katie intercepted, snatching the paper out of the jackal’s paw and pinning him down with a seething glare.
“Awful doesn’t even begin to describe it!” she hissed, “Look at what you did! You’re worse than a trainwreck! Why are you even here? An’ how did you get th—” Katie’s glare narrowed and shifted to Mitch who grinned sheepishly. “You! This is all your f—” She stopped again and her anger shifted to Chris next, inadvertently putting Jake in the line of fire as well. She was ready to chew out her brother as the true source of all her problems, but she was hopelessly disarmed by Jake’s timid gaze.
He didn’t get to see her angry often, as it only occured when her best laid plans had been sufficiently blown out of the water, but fortunately it rarely lasted long when Jake was around. Katie had to take a step back, breathe in deeply, and exhale long and slow, to calm herself, before re-engaging ‘party mode’. A warm, apologetic smile came over her, but she still hadn’t quite come down from her angry roost, which was clear in the underlying tone of her voice.
“Hah.. I’m sorry. Got a little worked up there. I’m just really looking forward to this trip, and I’d like it you guys wouldn’t…” Katie’s eye twitched slightly as she abandoned that thought and practically glided back to Travis to snatch him up by one of his ears, pinching it painfully as she pulled him forward and slapped the paper against his chest before shoving him towards Gary. “Try to be a little more careful next time, okay?”
She was smiling still, but it was superficial as she disengaged from the situation and stood beside the talent agent looking cute. Mitch and Travis were left in mutually stunned silence until the raccoon elbowed the jackal and nodded towards to agent. “Go on, dude.”
While he waited, Mitch gave Katie a bemused look, still amazed by how quickly he was able to trigger her this time. She must’ve been really excited about this trip to turn so ugly at the drop of a hat. It only meant one thing to him, though. This was gonna be a fun trip. Especially with Travis in tow, now.
Though Katie was surprisingly quick to admit defeat, Mitch was still paranoid that the agent might refuse, so as Travis was handing in his form, he casually claimed, “Soooo... yeah, this guy’s my plus one.”
Once the jackal was by his side again, Mitch confidently wrapped an arm around him, to show they were buds.
“Wait, how does that work?” Chris chimed in finally, to point out the obvious. “You’re my plus one. You can’t have a plus one, too!”
“Plus one two? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, this is a talent agency, right? This guy’s suuuuper talented. I mean just look at what he accomplished!” he boldly declared, sweeping an arm dramatically to display the dying chaos that had followed Travis’ arrival. “Carnage like this isn’t easy to achieve, you know!”
“Ugh! You’re so annoying, Mitch!” Katie blurted abruptly, surprising herself before railing on, “You and your little lap dog. Why are you even here? You hate Drama class.”
“Au contraire, mon frere, I hate rules and teachers,” Mitch retorted smugly.
It was quickly becoming clear that if their verbal attacks continued, things might get out of hand. So it was no surprise then, when Gary himself finally intervened.
---
As Gary listened to the boasts of the raccoon, he could hear the commotion of the preteen hurricane coming their way. Instinctively, the rodent glanced towards the chaos and was able to step out of the way of what he thought was a girl. It was not until the crazy kid ran into Jake and fell down that he saw that it was boy. A very unkempt boy; and of course Mitch knew him.
Mister Creedence was about to speak up when Katie's rage boiled over onto the two trouble makers. Gary took another step back so to observe this sudden interaction. After all, its best to know how your client's truly are. The otter was fuming, but she quickly turned back into the happy girl he knew. This would have seemed odd, but the adult saw the true reason for the change for he saw her looking at the cute rabbit cowering behind her brother.
“Okay, Okay,” Gary spoke firmly with his hands palm out as a sign for all to calm down. He took the paper from Travis, but did not look at it. “I think we all better leave before we draw too much attention. Please, follow me.”
All about the room, annoyed and angry eyes stared upon the small group. Parents with crying cubs, teenagers giving the middle finger, a senior ram with a pizza stain on his suit, and a few more walking away who were obviously looking for a person to complain to. It was, indeed, time to leave.
Gary carefully placed a hand on Katie's shoulder to point her towards a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY, and waved for the four boys to follow. Pushing open the door, the otter and mouse entered a plain mustard colored hallway. There were other doors lining the walls, and posters preaching about work safety. Gary turned Katie toward her left, leading her to the end of the hallway. A door was here with a red EXIT sign over the frame.
Pushing this door open revealed an underground garage for mall staff and store deliveries. It was wide and spacious, dimly lit with rows of old concrete pillars stained dark from years of exhaust. There was a heavy smell of trash and gas fumes in the air. The sound of delivery truck engines could be heard as they were being unloaded of their wares at an upraised dock, and numerous cars of all kinds were parked about. There was also one car that stuck out like a pineapple in a box of raisins.
A jet black stretch limousine. The luxurious car was taking up two parking spaces right in front of the door Katie stepped out of.
“Get in the back of the limo, children,” instructed the short mouse as he held the door open for them. He enjoyed hearing their surprised gasps, and seeing their faces as they saw the ride they were about to get into. All except that cute rabbit. It was a good thing that Chris did come along, or Jake might not have even stepped into the garage. Let alone the limo. The rodent quickly followed, and got into the back of the car and shut the door. Him getting in last and closing the door was apparently the cue for the driver. The long car lurched forward just seconds after the door shut.
The inside of the limo was like that of a fancy dining room or hotel conference hall, just that the ceiling was four and a half feet from the floor. The inside was colored white with gray trim, making it almost match Gary's own face. The backseat was like sitting on a soft couch, with similar couches lining the walls. The windows were curtained with light blocking fabric, so that no light could get in. Also making it impossible to see out. At the far end of the car was a flat screen television, already turned on, with two gaming consoles set in a shelf next to it. Gary was not surprised to see that Mitch and Travis were already investigating that set up. He also saw Katie was oddly looking away from the others.
Next to each door was a thin mini fridge, and a larger mini fridge on the opposite side of the TV from the consoles. Gary opened up one and pulled out a half sized can of coke and an even smaller sized bottle of rum. He opened the can and took a sip before pouring the contents of the bottle into it. He took a seat beside the lone girl in the car.
“There are drinks and snacks in the large fridge. Help yourselves,” Gary cheerfully suggested to the boys as he put his own drink down in a cup holder. Putting a hand on Katie's shoulder, he carefully drew her towards him so he could see her. Just as he thought, her make up covered cheeks were now muddy from tears. But she was not crying. Gary knew that her sudden emotional shifts in the last five minutes had simply been too much to fully control, and that her body was just relieving itself as she calmed down. He positioned himself so that his back was towards the boys over at the console. Blocking their view, he pulled out a handkerchief and gently dabbed at her face, using the opportunity to also take off some of the makeup as he dried her fur.
“There now,” the man whispered so that only those by him could hear. “Some males are just like that and can't be helped. And I'm sure you already knew there will be more like them, and maybe worse, this weekend.”
Gary finished cleaning Katie's face, and put the now rainbow colored handkerchief away. He then placed a calming hand onto the girl's thigh and gently rubbed as he continued to whisper to her.
“You also know first hand that there are a lot of fun, nice boys and men. Like me. Oh, and like Jake. You're going to have so much fun this weekend. You are such a nice young lady, don't let the pestering of little boys ruin your fun.”
After a small, reassuring squeeze to her leg, the mouse got his drink and moved over to the other side of the car and sat across from Katie. After taking a long gulp from his can, he took out the paper he was handed earlier from the scruffy dog and looked over it.
“Travis, is it?” Gary said aloud, but not really looking for a confirmation as he read over the information. He folded the paper and placed it back with the other forms. He was about to ask about the choice of clothes the canine boy was wearing, but decided best not to bring it up. He was sure the child was from a low income family. And the lack of grooming, on the boy's tail especially, was not appealing. Definitely not a cub Gary would have called back if this was a more formal meeting. Gary considered questioning both Travis and Mitch about what it is they want from his services, and what it is that they really wanted out of this weekend retreat. How much did Katie say about this weekend to them? Did all of them think it was a camping trip? In the end, he figured that it did not matter. They were here now, and they would learn eventually.
“We have one stop to make before we can go to the convention center,” Gary said happily. “So make yourselves comfortable and enjoy the ride.”
Gary then looked over towards Mitch with a smirk.
“So why do they call you Captain NoPants?”
---
Travis reclined against upscale leather upholstery, absently rubbing at a smarting ear. Though they did not look it, otter claws were sharp—knowing his luck he’d have another rip to add to the tally of battle scars the following day. Why did girls have to be jerks?
Mitch more than made up for that, he supposed. On top of the game, as always. Watching the verbal sparring match between raccoon and otter was better than any tennis match. And as for the way he himself had felt when the older kid had flung an arm about him and proclaimed them best buddies…the less said about that the better, because no actual words could possibly have sufficed. Basking in that offhand approval just felt so good, and he didn’t doubt that if Mitch had told him to jump off a bridge then he’d have totally gone and done it—no questions asked.
Katie—now there was a totally different kettle of fish entirely. Already not a fan of girls in general from the start, everything about the otter’s take-charge attitude seemed to rub him the wrong way. It didn’t help that their shared membership in the Gymnasts club (parents had insisted; his own opinion had failed to register…as always) meant that they butted heads most days, certainly enough times for people to get to know each other really well. As older and ranking gymnast, Katie certainly hadn’t been subtle in her opinion of Travis as a screw up. She nagged and teased him at practice mercilessly…although maybe not nearly half as bad as how she bossed poor Jake. Kid must’ve had the patience of a saint, to put up with something like that without complaint.
As funny as it’d been to see the normally in-charge girl lose her cool, things had veered from fun to alarming the moment she’d rounded on him and gotten her mitts on his ear. That’d been wrong on so many levels. Girls weren’t supposed to get physical or play rough.
All things considered, it could have gone much better. Fortunately, their designated adult had read trouble brewing in the winds (or perhaps in the restless mob) and opted to get them out of there before somebody found one of the many rent-a-cops. Not a moment too soon, Travis had heaved a sigh of relief when they’d passed out of earshot, leaving the commotion behind. Since then he’d been too hopped up on raw adrenaline to even notice where they were going, allowing the restricted corridors and Staff-Only signages to pass without comment.
Their ride was pretty fly though, no doubt about it. He’d seen limos before on the TV, they kinda resembled the hearse Dad drove, except way longer. Even the inside smelled rich: new leather and pine freshener and maybe just a hint of what his dad called Old Spice. In other words, completely different from the usual combination of formaldehyde and hospital-quality bleach that characterized the family car. He’d spent a moment looking from Gary, to the car, and then back to Gary again—the startling revelation even taking his mind off the arguments from before. Who knew Gary was THIS rich?
Nonetheless, the universal preschool admonition to never get into cars with strange men had him hesitating at the door; and by the time he’d reacted to Mitch’s telling him to get his tail in gear, most of the good spots (barring impolitely inserting oneself in-between others) had been taken… A development which determined their current seating arrangements: Travis sandwiched between Jake on one side and Chris on the other; neither of the pair looking any more enthusiastic about this prospect than he was.
Chris was giving him what amounted to a fisheye—which; he supposed, was kinda understandable given the otter’s position as class monitor and the events of last term. But also rather unfair too, as he’d never intended for most of that to happen. Stuff just did.
“Your sis really has an arm on her,” he informed the glowering otter. That was what you did to defuse awkward situations right? Make small talk.
It did not seem to be having much effect on that quarter, and so Travis swivelled with a drowning fur’s desperation to try his luck with Jake, taking in the rabbit’s neat formal attire at a glance. “Your mum picked out’cha clothes for ya too, huh?” He accompanied this observation with a friendly bro-punch, the kind that books and visual media purported to always happen around buddies. “Yeah, me too—sucks, doesn’t it?”
Probably NOT the best thing to do to a nervous herbivore in hindsight. Especially if said nervous herbivore was presently accompanied by a no-nonsense bodyguard with an unfortunate lack of humor. “Whoa—cool it! Jus’ tryin’ ta be nice is all…Sheesh,”
With the prospects of friendship possibly dashed beyond repair, he settled for leaning back into the seat fully prepared to sulk for as long as the ride took, if not longer…
--a resolution; apparently, that lasted ALL of fifteen seconds.
Whoa! This car actually had a TV? And also a fridge—a fridge with actual food in it and not blood bags he wasn’t supposed to touch. And a game system, and—
Was that a bona fide, remastered copy of Dog of War 3? The game the Parents Association collectively labelled the Worst Influence on cubs since Grand Theft Otter? One look at the gratuitous violence from its Youtube trailer (of which he’d snuck a peek over Sachel’s cousin’s shoulder) and the pup had been sold. Too bad that parents failed to see things the same way.
…and here it was—the laminated case depicting its axe-crazy, canine protagonist in the act of ripping a gorgon’s head from its neck—less than a FOOT away from his eager, twitching paws. Jake, Chris, and the absolute fiasco in the food court dwindled away to a mere distant memory. Not even Katie’s presence registered in comparison to that. Heck, every girl in the gymnastics team could’ve been crammed into that limo alongside them and he wouldn’t have batted an eye.
“Gimme!”
Not so very surprising then in retrospect that it took a moment or so for Travis to realize that the chaperone had in fact been addressing him. “Yep. That’s me,” he agreed, arms crossed in unconscious mimicry of Lyle—a gesture which hopefully accomplished the dual objectives of making him appear tough AND also hiding the design of his shirt from view. Serviceable and appropriate wear for any sort of field trip though it was—the Smalls wouldn’t have sent him out in it otherwise had he not looked halfway presentable—everything about it from the glittery picture to its scratch-and-sniff perfumey smell just seemed to scream ‘girl’. Not even the madcap rush to join the others had done anything to improve it in that regard.
Nobody had said anything about it yet, however…which led the pup to hope that somehow in all that earlier noise and confusion it’d escaped Mitch’s eagle-eyed notice. Never the sort to look a gift horse in the mouth, he meant to take advantage of this minor miracle and not let it be seen from this point on if he could help it. “Travis Small—of Small Saints Mortuary? Mum’s State Coroner, Dad runs the place. An’ I ain’t a plus-one, n’matter what the wonder twins say,” the boy motioned towards the slip he’d handed off to Gary. “Got signed up an’ everythin by Nurse Pritchard at the clinic, letter came a coupla days later. Some stuff about an invite on ol’ buzzard’s reko..recommendations? With papers an’ stuff for dad to sign. Wasn’t gonna show neither; till Mitch here said he was goin’ and I should come as well. So here I am,”
Thinking about the clinic and its nurse’s cold, clammy paws dampened some of the excitement of being in a limo thoroughly equipped with the latest entertainment system money could buy. “I…I go there a lot,” he admitted in a tone of voice usually associated with people confessing they still wet the bed. “For somethin’ or other—don’t know, don’t care,” suiting action to word, Travis glowered at everyone and no one in particular, as if daring any of them to laugh.
Every word true…albeit true in part. What the Smalls didn’t—and would likely never know, was that their youngest hadn’t been sick a day in his life. Everything thus far had been smoke and mirrors, a game devised by a certain paediatric aide which allowed her free and regular access to some of the choicest clientele in town: information which she was not unwilling to share with interested parties…for the right price. And all that information—most of it in the form of typed code and shorthand of course—rested innocuously somewhere within the set of official papers Travis had handed over without a second thought, hardly suspecting how it’d affect him later on.
---
By the time Gary had placed a paw on Katie’s shoulder, the otter had lost her smile again and was quietly bristling with the urge to continue her verbal warfare with Mitch. That touch, thankfully, put out the fire in her heart; on the outside anyway. She appeared to relax and smile again as she was led along by the older mouse, even leading the way ahead to push on the heavy door leading into the Employee’s Only section. Unfortunately she struggled to push it open all the way without his help.
Following behind, in appropriate order, was Jake and Chris, the pair mumbling to each other quietly as they hurried to catch up. The buck in particular wasn’t comfortable at all with so many eyes on him and their group, but one concern was of much greater importance to him now.
“C-Chris…? Why is he here? Why him?” he whined softly to the older otter using his body as a shield against the angry glares following them into the off-limits corridor.
“Ugh… I don’t know, Jake. I’m really sorry. Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea involving Mitch…” he groaned under his breath.
“But… h-he had his own sign-up form,” he worried, the gears of paranoia already beginning to turn, “What if… Mitch told him I was going and then—w-what if he’s here to pick on me again?!”
“No, I don’t think…” Chris started to say, before losing confidence in that line reasoning. Clearing his throat, he tried a different approach, “Look, Lyle disbanded his gang. He was just one of his lame minions that did whatever he was told. I don’t… I’m pretty sure he isn’t here to bother you. And if he is, well… uh… y’got me, okay? I won’t let him bother you.”
It was clear the fear was real, and Jake certainly had no reason to assume otherwise, considering Travis’... greeting, but Chris furrowed his brow in thought as they walked down the hall behind Gary, to the tune of clicking heels as Katie pranced along ahead of the agent, her stumpy high-heels announcing every gleeful step. Glad she’s happy again, he thought bitterly, maintaining his protective embrace with Jake. This whole thing was a terrible idea, but they were all committed now. No going back.
Jake was increasingly aware of that fact, as every step brought him closer to the moment of truth, and further away from the semi-comfort of his usual life. He hated going on trips. Especially camping trips. Though to be fair, most of his experiences involved Summer camps, where he would be picked on by other campers. This didn’t appear to be any different to him, so he wasn’t exactly going in with high hopes.
Neither was Mitch, actually. But now that Travis had showed up, the raccoon wasn’t so glum. He kept an arm around the jackal as they walked in step behind Chris and Jake, chuckling to himself. Whether he was musing over setting Katie off or thinking of something else entirely wasn’t easy to tell, and it wasn’t made any clearer by the random commentary that came out of his mouth.
“Man… I could really go for a hot-dog right about now. Maybe some chips. The rippled kind, y’know? I hope wherever we’re going has loads of food. I don’t wanna have to go Prankster on their butts to get a bite to eat, but I will. Hm.. actually, you know, now I’m hoping they don’t have food. Heheheh. Besides, not like I’m picky,” he snorted with amusement, patting the pup’s shoulder.
By now the group had reached the end of the corridor, which Katie was happy to announce after squeezing stubbornly through the equally heavy exit door to slip into the parking lot ahead of Gary and let out a joyful squeal at the sight she witnessed beyond. The gleeful cry was shrill enough for the others to hear, but it just made an involuntary shiver run up Jake’s spine. And Chris simply rolled his eyes. Mitch, however, was quick to pounce.
“I wonder if she got run over, or just broke a claw,” he snickered. “Fifty-fifty odds, I guess. C’mon dude. Let’s see what’s so shriek-worthy. Fingers crossed it’s a giant, angry gorilla that hates otters!”
Pushing on ahead, Jake and Chris were next through the door after Gary held it open for them and the stragglers to catch up. But once everyone arrived, there was no confusion as to what had elicited such a reaction from Katie. Even the most timid of their group was wide-eye and open-mouthed with awe. His close friend however tried to maintain a neutral expression, but even he was impressed, and somewhat relieved, by the sight of such an expensive ride.
His amazement only lasted briefly though, because the second Gary opened the door to the darkened interior and asked them to climb in, Jake’s mouth clicked shut and his feet became rooted to the floor where he stood. Chris found that out the hard way when he tried to move forward with the rabbit, but met only resistance and the scraping of shoes on concrete.
“Ah—it… it’s okay, Jake,” he said quietly into the buck’s ears, :”It’s a big, fancy limo. Limo’s are cool, right? You just… need to move… c’mon.. Lift your feet.”
“S-s-s-sorry..!” Jake stammered nervously, desperately trying to regain control of limbs that had suddenly and spontaneously decided to seize all at once.
It was a fear reaction he wasn’t entirely in control of, but with enough effort, and Chris’ guidance, he was able to relax enough to duck into the vehicle, with the otter close behind. Once inside all the tension in the rabbit’s muscles seemed to disappear like it had never happened, allowing Jake a shaky sigh of relief. He still wasn’t sure why he found the open door to the car so intimidating. Once again though, the fear proved to be unwarranted.
This inside of the limo wasn’t nearly as dark as it appeared on the outside, and it fact, there was just enough standing room that the cubs could walk about without having to crouch. Even Katie’s head had barely brushed against the ceiling, but now she was seated on the rear cushion, paws in her lap and head turned to look out a small crack in the window blinds. All Chris saw was a pouting sibling, likely stirred into a froth over a perceived loss of control in a scenario she’d hoped to dominate.
But then that was why Chris was here. Whenever she got this way, trouble was rarely far behind, and he was tired of watching her drag Jake into her messes. For once he’d try to counter her efforts, before her swirling circle of influence swelled into a hurricane of otter carnage. Chris mentally slapped himself for that pun, but he wasn’t far off the mark.
At least for now Katie was whipped, so Chris led Jake to the seat-cushions on the same side as the game consoles up front. As soon as they sat down though, Mitch and Travis entered the limo, with the raccoon snickering as he intentionally bounced on the doorframe to make the whole vehicle rock side to side before slinking inside like the troublemaker he was. Of course he too was as amazed by the interior as he was by the exterior, but where the jackal decided to wedge himself between the last two cubs that wanted anything to do with him, Mitch made a beeline for the game system.
“Sweeeeeeet!” he hissed excitedly, racing to the front of the rear cabin.
By the time he dropped down on his knees to dig through the equipment and its collection of games, Travis had forced his way in-between Jake and Chris by the sheer power of his presence, simply because, of the pair that had been embracing after Mitch shook the limo, it was the fearful rabbit who bailed first, creating the vacuum between them that sucked in the jackal’s scrawny hide.
Both boys were uncomfortable, with Chris being closer to outright anger, but he remained silent on the intrusion until Travis decided to speak. As usual, the pup’s tactless approach was met with disdain as the otter locked eyes with Travis, grinning broadly to reveal all of his teeth, before promptly returning to a deadpan expression.
“So do I.”
It was subtle but the threat was there. Leave Jake alone or earn a rare black-eye from the class Zen master. He hoped the jackal got the hint, but as he turned away, Travis immediately turned on a swivel to appeal to Jake, after getting a very obvious cold shoulder from Chris. At first he tried to make small talk again, which deepened the otter’s scowl, but it was the ‘friendly’ punch that inevitable crossed the line Chris had set in his mind.
Jake was as much surprised by it as he was, after squeezing his eyes shut and hoping Travis would give up and sit somewhere else without expecting an answer. Instead, of course, the buck was punched in the arm hard enough to make him jump and fall over onto the cushions with a startled squeak. Anyone else might’ve taken that gesture in stride, but considering his history with the former bully groupie, Jake was anything but rational around the canine.
With a hurt whine, Jake rubbed the spot where he’d been hit and scrambled off the cushion to retreat to the opposite corner of seat-cushions on the other side. Chris watched the cowardly retreat with a rage of his own now and he roughly pushed Travis away from him and stood up, growling at the jackal, “What the heck is wrong with you? Just leave him alone, alright?”
Chris moved to rejoin Jake, now under the watchful eye of a certain sibling as Katie’s attention was briefly drawn to the scuffle. She wasn’t at all happy with what she was seeing from their uninvited guests—in her mind at least—but her brother got points for avenging her poor little fluff muffin. As much as she wanted to be there comforting Jake instead of him though, Katie was still dealing with her own issues. Specifically, coming to grips with the fact that her initial trip plans had been all but ruined. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but she was better than this. Better than that dumpster diver Mitch. And she wasn’t about to let the pair of troublemakers get in the way of her dreams of stardom for herself and Jake.
Still, that disaster back in the food court had upset her deeply enough to bring tears to her eyes, and though Katie had been struggling to keep them from escaping, it was a losing battle, and now her make-up had begun to run. She didn’t realize it though, until Gary finally climbed into the vehicle and sat down next to her after directing the others to the generous accomodations the limo provided.
Once the door was closed, and the mouse seated, he discreetly positioned himself to obscure her from view as he pulled out a handkerchief to dab the tears out of her eyes. Katie immediately understood the gesture, though, gasping softly in embarrassment as she briefly snatched the rag away from Gary to go wholesale on wiping off her make-up as she apologized.
“Ugh… I’m sorry.. My make-up’s a mess, isn’t it..?” she groaned, making use of the handkerchief to remove her eye liner and the blush on her fluffy cheeks, before handing it back for Mister Creedence to finish. He tried to offer her comfort and reassurance, but she sighed and sniffled, fussing with the dress draped over her lap. “I can deal with males like that, just fine.. But boys like Mitch, just… uugh! He’s so immature and rude and gross! Do you know, he actually digs around in dumpsters? Disgusting..!”
Though Katie was ranting in a whisper, it was no less obvious how frustrated she was by the raccoon. Fortunately, she was resigned to his presence at this point. Besides, she was confident that if he tried anything to ruin this trip, Mister Creedence would take care of it. And, as if to reaffirm that belief, Gary placed a paw on her half-exposed thigh, the sensation of his fingers in her fur making her skin tingle.
“Hah… I’ll try not to. I just.. I hope Jake has fun too. Y-you should, uhm… probably keep at eye on those two though,” Katie warned the mouse softly, pointing out Mitch and Travis specifically, “I don’t know if you know, but that one likes to pull pranks, and that one likes to do whatever he says. I’m almost positive they’re gonna try to ruin the party. Ugh. They’re childish like that.”
Once Gary was finished, he got up to grab himself a drink, leaving the young otter to fish her cellphone out of the front of her dress. The girl never went anywhere without it, likely because it was her lifeline connection to social media, and she had some steam to blow off online. She settled into her new activity as the vehicle began to move, the momentum forcing Gary back into his seat with a can of soda and a bottle of alcohol. Katie watched him spike his own drink, but she said nothing, having seen her father do the same thing on many occasions.
To her it meant the man was stressed, probably because of the surprise guests. In which case she didn’t blame him. Chris however, had a much different interpretation of that action as he watched warily. The boy had developed a distrust of anyone who drank alcohol, unlike his sister, so he held Jake a little tighter as Gary looked over the newest form.
At the front of their cab, Mitch’s tireless efforts had reaped infinite fruits. Not only had he gotten the tv and system to work correctly on the first try, but the limo came pre-stocked with all the latest games, including a particular title that Travis, after striking out with both other boys, was quick to notice as he returned to Mitch like a pup with his tail between his legs. The raccoon couldn’t help but snicker at that mental image coupled with the jackal’s current, and hilarious attire.
It had been a struggle not to comment on it, but now, without the distraction of irate otters, he could only stare in awe over how girly his friend was dressed. So it was only natural that when Travis spotted the Dog of War 3 game, Mitch swiftly snatched it up, holding it out of reach of the jackal as he toppled off the cushion trying to grab it.
“Na-ah-ah! This game’s for boys only,” he said with a snicker. “Seriously though, dude. What are you wearing?! Ha-haaah! Man, you’re parents must hate you or something. I couldn’t imagine going outside like that, much less to school. You look like a walking glitter disaster, hehe! And… what is that smell?” Mitch leaned towards Travis to sniff the air before snorting with more laughter. “Really?! Perfume too? Hehehehehe, are you sure it was your parents who made you wear that?”
Before Travis had a chance to utter much of a rebuttal to the raccoon’s playful claims, Gary’s voice rang out from the back of the limo, inquiring about Mitch’s made-up character. And, just like that, the boy’s face lit up with glee as he jumped to his feet, nearly toppling over as the vehicle weaved slightly on the highway it had just pulled onto. He quickly grabbed one of the support bars overhead to steady himself, and proceeded with his dramatic—and clearly practiced—introduction.
“Hwhy, you say? Well, hwhy not, laddy!” he declared loudly and confidently with a pretty convincing pirate accent. “Hwhat better a name fer a man so brave an’ so fearless that ‘e need not even wear pants!” And just like that, still sticking to his character, Mitch hiked up his large jersey and happily dropped trou in front of everyone.
Jake, who’d been drawn to the scene for lack of anything else to distract him, immediately looked away, before Chris could even shield his eyes. The otter scowled at his plus one though, not impressed in the least by his ever constant need to be the center of attention. At least he was doing it in the privacy of the limo, and not the front yard as usual. Chris was tired of their weekend roleplays gaining an unwanted audience because a certain raccoon wanted to wag his junk around.
Luckily for everyone, except maybe Gary, Mitch’s shirt was more than big enough to completely cover his privates, keeping the embarrassing spectacle from having it’s full impact as the boy carried on with his impromptu presentation.
“Fer none be as skilled or as swift as I, to dare lay a scratch on this fine, flawless specimen of manhood, known as Capt’n Nopants! The greatest pirate t’ever sail the sea! Arrrhahaharrr!!”
Amidst striking various manly poses, Mitch flexed, risked spinning in a circle to make his shift lift high enough to show more of his lower body than he intended, and finally landed on a victory stance. He looked quite pleased with himself right up until a bubble of gleeful giggling arose from the back of the limo, where Katie had been trying to focus on her phone. She’d just so happened to have caught a glimpse of the raccoon’s genitals, and her reaction was almost as automatic as breathing.
“Hehehehe! I get it now! It’s because it’s so tiny it’s impossible to hit, right?” she squeaked, and then broke into another fit of laughter. Unfortunately for Mitch, Chris and even Jake joined in in the wake of such an epic burn.
“What—N-! Pfft, whatever. You just hate me ‘cause you ain’t me,” Mitch retorted, kicking off his shorts and plopping down onto the cushion where Travis had been sitting. “C’mon dude, I’m bored, let’s play,” he huffed, swatting the jackal on the back of the head with the empty part of his long jersey sleeve.
---
The adult mouse in the car acted as if stunned by Mitch losing his pants, but in truth he had gotten what he was hoping for. After feigning shock at seeing the young boy’s bare crotch, he started to laugh and truly be entertained by this little troublemaker’s performance. As annoying as kids like him can be, they do tend to be a lot more open with their bodies and more imaginative.
Gary was giving a polite applause for the raccoon when Katie spoke up with an insult that was about as good as Mitch’s acting. He could not help but laugh along at the heckling.
“That was a good one, Katie,” chuckled Mister Creedence, “but that was a bit of a low blow. Not that nice to make fun of a man’s privates like that. And Mitch, you might have had that coming too. But don’t worry about it, I’m sure you’re still growing and soon will be proud to show it off more. Being an exhibitionist does actually work well for modeling and acting too. After all, you’re showing off your body to everyone, right?”
Gary took another drink from the small can of soda, and pulled out some papers from a hidden compartment in an armrest. While he looked over the forms, his white fur rims adding more to the effect of him wearing glasses, the mouse was still chuckling to himself.
“This town has some very interesting and fun kids,” he said to himself as he worked.
While all this was happening, the Big Rocket Burger drive-in was picking up more business as Stephanie waited patiently at a small two seat table outside the fast food restaurant. It was nearing five in the afternoon and more parents and teenagers were stopping by to get their Friday night dinner. The short and thick porcupine girl was wearing her nicest dress, which was white with vertical green stripes. She hoped that it made her look thinner, even though she was a very average and healthy size for her species. She even wore matching lime green sandals. However, she ruined the attire by wearing a worn out black hoody with a popular late night cartoon character, Stick-it Ribbit Frog, imprinted on the back. This was made worse by the several quills puncturing through Mister Ribbit's body and face. The girl had the hood pulled over her head and face as if to hide from the world.
Stephanie nibbled on another french fry, and tapped at her small cell phone. She was playing a game a lot like the board game Scrabble against another person with the name 'BunbunBatter61'. She had several games playing against these game friends. She never met or even chatted with these people outside of a few emojis sent at the end of a game, but they were more friends than most she had in real life. Hardly anyone would go near her at school, let alone play with her. Especially after that first grader ran into her two years ago. There were a few people that she guessed could be called friends.
The one she confidently calls a friend was Jake Cottontail, a white rabbit buck that moved to town the previous school year. She was sitting at a table by herself, as usual, in the cafeteria at lunch and Jake sat down on the other side of the table one day. For the girl, it was like he just magically appeared there. He tried to not look up at her, and she was fine with that. It was not until the third day in a row that she finally said 'Hello'.
It was while making small talk that Jake admitted that he only sat with her because no one else sat at her table. “It felt... safe,” he had told her. Some people might have been a bit upset about Jake admitting this, but that was nothing compared to things she had been told by other kids and even adults. But Jake said it was safe to sit near her. She was safe?! She had never been told that by anyone! It was then that Jake became her best friend.
They shared no classes together, or went to any school clubs. Lunch time was the only time they met and got to talk. It was not long after that other kids started to sit at her table. Cubs like Katie and Chris Kirster. Stephanie was taken aback by how popular the new kid was becoming. The others would even talk with her in conversation, but most of the focus was on Jake. This just caused Stephanie to admire Jake even more. Not only did she have a friend, but had a friend that was popular. Regretfully, these other friends would also drag Jake away before lunch was over, cutting her time with him short. She did consider getting up and joining them several times, but Katie was too fast and forced her way through the crowds. Stephanie could never do that. She would have been upset with the otter girl, but Katie gave her the nickname Rose. Stephanie knew the name was because she had thorns, but she was glad to have such a pretty sounding nickname now.
Right now, the thing that was truly running through her mind was the incident that had placed her waiting in front of the drive-in. And what she had done to get here now.
I was naked in front of him! I was naked in front of him!, she thought over and over. And not just that. Mister Creedence had gotten naked too! She saw his private parts! She might have even touched them!
Shortly after Rose had taken her clothes off to show that she could handle changing in front of others, the talent agent said he was going to get nude as well. It was to help her get used to working around other naked people for apparently it was very common in this field of work. He even put in a video of a professional modeling session, and it seemed that he was right. The video showed men and women that were constantly stripping out of gowns and suits, and none of them wore underwear. They were then quickly getting into new fancy clothes, and even helping each other get more complicate fabrics on. They were even touching and shifting each others body parts to help make 'things' fit properly. After ten minutes of watching the video, it really did feel normal. There was even footage that showed cubs changing, were even playing around the set while nude. Both her and Mister Creedence watched the videos for twenty minutes, both just as naked as the people in the video.
She started to think the mouse was actually cute for an adult male. Maybe even handsome, even though he was not as tall as other men, and a bit chubby. He was easily one of the nicest men she met. Rose tried not to stare at his genitals, but she could not help herself. It became impossible to not look when the mouse started to get an erection while they watched the video footage.
“Sorry, all males tend to get like this at some point or another,” the rodent casually explained when seeing where her eyes were looking. Stephanie blushed at being caught ,and looked away. She then looked back curiously to see him give his exposed pink flesh a rub with his hand, which made her own flesh even redder. “Can't be helped when you are doing nothing else but looking at naked people.”
The mouse laughed while saying that last part, which made Stephanie chuckle as well. She had heard and read about how a penis will get hard and big like this. This was just the first time she had seen one. Mister Creedence fast forward the video and then hit play.
“See that man right there. He is also getting hard,” the mouse said while giving his now hard dick a few more strokes, “And its happening while he is trying to get dressed. It just happens.”
Stephanie watched the video, and in the background of the actual photo shoot was a male peacock with a very hard cock. She was sure she had heard people call boy privates cock before, so the thought of a peacock cock made her giggle. The porcupine started to giggle even more while she watched more of the footage for it really was a funny scene. The gorgeous, colorful bird was trying to fit into tights, and his erection was still poking out through the fabric. Then both her and Mister Creedence were laughing out loud together when a couple ladies walked past the male peacock, and gave the protruding object in the bird's tights playful swats.
Mister Creedence then turned the monitor off, and had her try on some clothes with him carefully helping her. After a few outfits and walking in front of the camera, the man had her help him put on a few clothes as well like they were in the video. It was while she was trying to pull up a pair of gym shorts that Stephanie thought she felt the soft fur of his balls and smooth flesh of his penis rub against the back of her paw. The agent then asked her to help adjust him in his new shorts, but she shyly could not get herself to deliberately touch and grope the adult's penis. Rose had started to feel like she was failing the audition at this point, but then he brought up the possible job opportunity again.
“I think this job will help you get used to these kind of things,” said the mouse. “I know it seems very odd and weird, maybe even gross. And I know that your parents won't be happy about such things either. But I think you already knew they would be happening, since you came in by yourself. Working like this is common practice in acting and modeling.”
Was that the reason why I came by myself?
Stephanie actually went to the office by herself because she was in a hurry to finally be popular at school. She was going to tell her mom and dad about the visit when she got home, but the cub sure wasn't planning to tell them now. The nice mouse was right. They would not like hearing that she was naked with a man, who was just as naked, while watching a video of naked people.
She was also now starting to notice the moist and tingling feeling between the plump lips of her privates. A feeling that she was only familiar with while in bed or in the shower. Or when thinking of Jake while in bed or in the shower.
So after hurriedly getting dressed in her own clothes again, Rose took home a paper that looked more like paperwork for a school field trip. It read that it was for a camping trip, but the nice talent agent told her that it was really going to be like a private nudist convention for famous people. Famous, rich people that wanted to have fun, and that a lot of them liked talented cubs like herself. Stephanie thought that sounded real weird, particularly the idea of her being talented. She was also uncomfortable about the idea of being around so many naked people the entire weekend. Mister Creedence encouraged her by explaining that it was to help her get used to such things. Stephanie supposed he was right, and agreed to go.
Mister Creedence also said that it would be great if she could bring another cub, that it would help her enjoy the convention even more if she brought extra help. She just could not tell them what was actually going on this weekend, since this was meant to be a private event. “Don't want everyone knowing, cause then it wouldn't be private,” Mister Creedence had laughed. Stephanie could not fathom the idea of bringing anyone else to such a convention. No one, except...
The idea of Jake coming on the trip with her sent her through a roller-coaster of mixed emotions. A ride of ups and downs that led to her masturbating for the first time in her life. As she slept that night, not caring about the dampness of the bed sheets, she dreamed that her and Jake were naked and walking among other nude people at a huge photo shoot. They were holding hands together and neither were shy or embarrassed about being nude. They were both smiling and happy.
Mister Creedence was also in her dream. He was standing next to that lovely, but also silly, peacock model. And both of them had their silly hard penises sticking out. Both her and Jake playfully slapped the adults' privates, making the genitals sway and bump together like one of those kinetic ball sets you see in offices. The two cubs ran away laughing as the two males' balls and peepees continued to bounce around together.
They ran until they were suddenly alone. With no one else around, Jake turned around so to get a good look at her body. Stephanie gladly allowed him the view as she got to see the rabbit's body as well. The buck stepped up, and pulled her up against his own nude body. She could feel his own hard penis rubbing against her belly and pelvis, even though she did not remember seeing it out of his sheath just earlier. She could also feel his tongue and teeth nibble and groom the fur of her neck.
“Stephanie,” Jake spoke softly in her ear, “I lov-BREEEEEEEEE”
The young porcupine came close to breaking her clock when it woke her up from maybe the best dream she ever had. A dream that was sadly starting to fade away as she took her shower, got dressed for school, and ate breakfast. Stephanie was able to remember enough of it to give her the courage to actually ask Jake to come with her that weekend. Rose shyly and awkwardly tried to ask the rabbit at lunch about going with her on a trip, but Katie showed up and interrupted her by saying that Jake had already promised to be with her for the weekend.
Stephanie was not sure if she was grateful or angry with the otter.
Jake would probably think I was fat and ugly anyway, Stephanie thought as she looked around once more from her table, looking for any sign of her ride to a hopeful new future.
---
Absalom Glenarm grunted as he lifted another box up and started making his way up the stairs.
"Locksley, do you really need that much stuff?" he grumbled.
This was the third one he'd hauled out of the basement and Locksley was still busy filling two more. To Abe, this looked increasingly less like a "convention trip", as the maned wolf had characterized this business opportunity and more like he planned to move the entire store.
Locksley didn't even bother answering. Oh there were plenty of answers he could have used to shut up the complaining monkey. That this sort of complaining was exactly why Abe had lost his latest job dishwashing at a sushi shop down the street. How did one make it sound hard to do dishwashing at a sushi shop of all place?! That he was going to be the only seller of this particular type of material on the ship, so he needed to make sure he had pretty much anything needed, and a lot of it for the simple stuff. That the boxes couldn't have been that heavy for the monkey who was a regular to the gym and liked to boast about it. Even though at the same time as he cultivated this built jock image, Absalom was careful not to build too much muscle mass: he liked the twink look better.
Of course, Locksley thought smugly to himself, there was no way for the monkey to rock that look as well as Locksley himself did. As he stepped back from the box to take a look at a rack of easy-access clothing (i.e. with convenient zippers or either outright buttless or crotchless), he paused briefly to admire himself in the mirror. His gangly body with overly long limbs (a feature which he shared with his temp assistant) may not necessarily have been a hit with the ladies… or even the adult males. But those weren't exactly his target public, were they? He reminded himself that he would have to take out the neon green mankini at some point and put on something more appropriate for going out in public before they left. The silly clothing was fun and work-appropriate for a sex shop, but it wouldn't do again until he was on the ship… he wasn't even sure he would be wearing anything during the cruise. Last time he hadn't, but last time he hadn't set aside time for business over pleasure, either, had he?
He couldn't believe it had taken the second trip for him to realize… no one was selling the good stuff. This was basically an open sex buffet, but everyone brought their own toys and lube, and if you forgot or ran out… tough luck. So he'd asked. After all, he'd gotten wind of this through connections established at his business, so it was a natural extension, right? He was really surprised when they hadn't asked for any extra fee. After all, the trip was as much a moneygrab by the sponsors as it was a chance to let certain inhibitions loose without risk, so he'd expected they would make him pay through the nose, but nope. They hadn't even batted an eye when he'd asked for this to be an exclusive deal. He was a little concerned about that. After all, if the organizers went back on their word… what recourse did he have? Couldn't exactly get agreements like that in writing, right? He sighed. No time to get stressed out about it.
So for this third time on the cruise, he was coming on as a participant and a seller. The seller, if they held to their end of the bargain. And because he couldn't possibly pack everything on his own in a reasonable amount of time, he'd enlisted Abe to help after learning of the young man's latest job mishap. At least Absalom was thankful enough to not make much of a fuss, especially after learning the nature of the trip and that he was coming along. He better not make a mess of things, because Locksley had no intention to baby him through this. Not everyone made it back from the cruise, and if he was stupid enough, Locksley wouldn't put himself at risk to help. Thankfully, the monkey was not an idiot, and that was at best a very unlikely outcome. Just in case, though, he'd made sure that Abe would be very busy by enlisting him to the rest of the crew. He didn't know yet, and didn't care, what task they would or might assign the monkey. Absalom had done a lot of odd jobs, but none of them for very long, and none that could be considered skillmaking. It was mostly low-end work. But he was good with kids, even though they weren't the monkey's favored fare. Locksley had to give him that.
He looked down at his checklist: lubes, condoms, dildos, penetration toys from onaholes all the way to pocket pussies, vibrators, batteries (because some of those ran on watch batteries, and he knew for a fact that some may well run for twenty four plus hours in a row, which was plenty enough time for a vibrator to deplete a battery), anal beads, butt plugs, hidden toys, edible panties, chastity cages and other bondage materials (only the cub-sized stuff, though), leather and latex stuff (only a little: he expected people would have their own), a full rack of naughty clothes and outfits, and several boxes of DVDs, some of which select footages from his own store. And finally the big prizes: a fuck machine and a milker. Those he didn't intend to sell, only rent. Because he couldn't bring more than one of each. He didn't have much in the way of CBT, because he basically didn't sell the stuff in his store. Same with whips and other such torture or BDSM material other than some nipple clamps. The idea of it being used on his smaller customers turned his stomach. Besides, again, if someone wanted to do it, they would find a way and there was little Locksley could do about it.
All in all, he'd had to pack up and load in a rental truck almost half of the contents in his basement, plus a broad selection of stuff from upstairs. Between the two of them, it had taken three days. Three days during which he couldn't let clients in. "Closed for inventory" he'd told his regulars. People knew he took a couple days of vacations around this time of the year, so at least it wasn't like they couldn't plan around it at least a little. Locksley knew a few of his younger fuckbuddies would miss him, but it was less than a week. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? And he had still managed to fit a couple fuck sessions amidst the preparations to soften the blow.
Absalom wasn't sure how enthusiastic he was about this. When Locksley had described what they were getting into, that sounded like a lot of fun. Okay, so knowing most of those cubs weren't there out of their own free will and interest was a bit of a bummer, but he was still curious. Plus it was undeniably good money, and he needed that.
Absalom wasn't exactly a grifter or a drifter, but once you knew him, it never took all that much time before the lack of stability in his life came to life. He had never held a job more than half a year ever since moving to Springwood Falls five years ago. All the odd, mostly unqualified jobs, he'd done them: sales clerk, mopping, window cleaning, car washing, dishwashing, warehouse handler, daycamp organizer, pizza delivery, babysitting, so on so forth. He wished his libido didn't get so much in the way, since every time things had seemed to be going fine, he'd ended up fired for seducing either a client, a coworker, or, on one memorable occasion, his boss. He was still fuckbuddy with the latter, too, though it was a bit of a rocky relationship: "I can't employ someone I'm fucking," the elephant had said. At the same time, that trunk and that prehensile dick were some incredible arguments against not returning his calls anymore.
Of course, Locksley, being the type of man he was who had only eyes for those who didn't reach to his bellybutton, had come up with an idea: he was going to have him wear a chastity cage and plug the entire time he was on table duty. No better way to keep him busy, the maned wolf had figured. Fair play, Abe thought, even if he couldn't help being at least mildly concerned that this would leave him distracted in a different way. At least the wolf wasn't going to make him wear it for the entire duration of the cruise. He knew his libido couldn't have handled it.
He stepped down the stairs, panting a little and stopping at the bottom to wipe his face with a sweatrag that was really a pair of underwear someone had left behind earlier that week.
"Is that the last box?"
Locksley let out an exasperated sigh.
"For the fifteenth ti-... no wait. It is the last box," he realized. "Alright. Your luggage's already in the truck?"
"Yes, Mr. Minnesley," Absalom grinned cheekily as he went to get the box, hauling it to his shoulder like a character out of a movie. "Yours too," he added.
Locksley had already gotten the mankini off and was busy getting dressed.
"Alright. Get everything secured, then get a shirt on, then get in the cabin."
He got into tight leather pants and a bright, tight rainbow t-shirt, accessorizing the outfit with a pair of sheer elbow-length gloves.
"We're leaving, what, now?" Absalom asked, clearly surprised at this development.
"What? Not like you have anyone you need to leave a note at home for. You can shower once we get there. I should be able to handle your sweaty smells during the drive," he snorted. "That'll probably be an improvement over the smell of that truck's cabin..."
Whoever had driven it previously (the several previous times, in fact) was apparently a chain smoker, and no matter how much they'd aired out the cabin, it didn't help.
Meanwhile, back at Big Rocket Burger, a young possum had gotten off the bus. He looked like a backpacker, cussing mentally at his mother for insisting that she help him pack. Not that she was being ridiculous. She was just all too aware of her son's tendency to pack poorly. Thankfully he'd managed to justify that this was a camping trip with furnished cabins, so there would be no need for a pillow or sleeping bag. Still, moms being moms, she had packed him a separate change of clothes for each day… and then an extra, and then a sweatshirt, then a raincoat… This was made ten times more embarrassing by the fact that Hob, knowing what the trip was really about, hadn't planned to bring much of any clothing at all!
The only good thing was that she'd forced herself to leave some room for his personals. Usually that meant stuff like toys, a portable game console, snacks or comic books. Today it was his toy-car shaped vibrator and favorite aloe lube. While his parents knew about the lube, they didn't know about the car. They had bought the story about the lube being a gift from Dasayo to the entire team, and never really suspected that it was obtained regularly from shopping at Locksley's Goods. For the same reason, they had not suspected one thing when the flier for the "camping trip" had come in. Just another team-building activity, right? Dasayo's such a nice guy. And he was, Hobart most definitely agreed. Nice guy with a nice… everything, so to say.
Mr. Creedence had a pretty nice… everything too. Between thinking of his teacher and the agent, Hobart needed to stop walking for a moment. He glanced around, then quickly shoved a paw down his loose shorts to readjust his genitals into a more comfortable position. Having a bifurcate dick sometimes meant it could wedge into extra uncomfortable positions. He continued his trek across the parking lot and stepped into the restaurant, garnering a few odd looks on the way. He did look like a hitchhiker, though he wasn't aware of it, merely frustrated by the weight of his backpack.
He noticed another cub alone by themselves, but didn't pay too much attention to the hoodie wearing figure. He went he dumped his backpack in a booth and sighed in overly dramatic relief. Stupid mom. Stupid backpack. Stupid—... no. the trip was going to be awesome. It'd be like when they went to tournaments and there were special parties. Yessssss… He actually stroked over his crotch before remembering where he was. He quickly glanced around, but no one seemed to have noticed him. He reached into his pocket and checked: mom had given him two tenners of pocket money to get dinner and the rest for the trip. With a smile, he slipped off the bench seat and made his way to the counter to order. His tail curled and slipped under his shirt to scratch idly at his shoulder blade.
Soon after he was making his way back with a plain cheeseburger, and this time he got a better look at the small figure he'd noticed earlier. Well, at her hoodie, anyway. He'd seen that hoodie before, and that caused him to arch an eyebrow when he realised this was one of only two porcupines that attended Springwood Falls Elementary. What was Stephanie doing here? She couldn't be running away, could she? He didn't understand the whole "stay away from her" thing. Sure those spines could be dangerous… but so was the campfire, the cleaning products or a hot stovetop. You don't blame the stairs if you trip and hurt yourself on them, right?
Still, he had never intervened in favor of the bullying victim. Mostly because he knew he didn't have the social heft for it. And if he started to attract this sort of negative social capital, even his wrestling club skills wouldn't help, and the other guys on the team would ostracize him just as soon as the rest of the school. Nonetheless he did feel sorry for the girl, though he didn't feel much guilt in never helping her. He went back to his seat, not really being thankful in any way that his bag hadn't gotten swiped. He was too young to realize this was a concern to be had. And even if he had, he wouldn't have had much time to dwell on it. He had a cheezburger, fries and cheap fast food sundae to gobble up before Mr. Creedence arrived in—he glanced at the clock on the wall—about five to ten minutes.
---
As it turns out, canine ears were pretty good at picking up elusive noises—a trait which no doubt had played a part in winning Travis a place in Lyle’s gang. Few other explanations could have sufficed to account for how quickly a relative newcomer—and a much younger kid at that—could’ve wormed his way into the avian boy’s inner circle of larger ne’er do wells. While not the most imposing or experienced in schoolyard skirmishes, the cub had possessed one redeeming trait so often invaluable to; yet somehow overlooked by the discerning troublemaker: the Art of Getting Away.
His better-than-average hearing more than contributed to that, making him an excellent lookout who could pick out the ominous stride of a teacher’s footsteps just in time to warn Lyle and his crew so they could make themselves scarce. Better yet, he tended to overhear pieces of information he shouldn’t have—all manner of things from the location of hiding places to a cub’s personal treasures. It had certainly not been his embarrassing display of combat prowess that once endeared Travis to Lyle’s heart. While he hadn’t physically hurt Jake, his penchant for eavesdropping had done its share of mischief in an indirect way; often providing Lyle with fodder for some of his more inspired schemes: Jake’s attachment to his sketchbook, Stephanie’s lack of self-esteem, even pop-quiz answers supposedly discussed in secret between Chris and the homeroom teacher all eventually found its way to Lyle soon enough. And while no longer an active member of the latter’s gang, old habits such as these were often pretty hard to break.
Interesting. Katie found dumpster-diving disgusting, did she? Good to know.
Travis filed this snippet of information away under the category of Things-to-tell-Mitch-about. Either it amounted to something, or it did not. Who could say? He’d never been the type to actually DO anything with the stuff he found out. Why bother, when it was so much easier to just snitch to somebody else and let them handle the headache of concocting a plan? Personally, he didn’t see what all the fuss was about, the fact that Mitch played around in dumpsters only made the raccoon that much cooler where Travis was concerned.
Of course, eavesdropping did have its disadvantages. It took every iota of self-control the pup possessed to keep himself from jumping up and yelling “I do NOT!” in response to Katie’s insinuation that he was just his new alpha’s puppet. Judging from the way Katie’s conversation with Mr. Creedence had suspiciously petered out at this juncture, perhaps he hadn’t been as successful at smothering the outburst as he’d originally hoped.
Katie’s comment, compounded with the observations of a certain raccoon regarding his unfortunate attire almost had Travis seriously reconsider the merit of attending this expedition. By now the general atmosphere of the cabin seemed pretty clear, enough for even a blind person to notice the majority’s animosity towards him. Jake apparently remained in fear of him—and that at least was understandable, though being a menacing presence clearly wasn’t all he’d hoped it would be. But so far as he knew, he’d done nothing to incur the otter pair’s ire…well, nothing overt anyways.
Without an appropriate rejoinder close at hand, Travis settled for flipping Mitch the bird—fully taking advantage of his mother not being there to prevent him. Play it cool, don’t rise to the bait…or so his inner voice advised him: advice he had honestly meant to heed, up until the point when the raccoon nabbed his precious cartridge case from his paws.
“C’mooooon, Mitch—leggo!” Travis made a half-hearted attempt to snatch back the case, which went about as well as he’d expected. “S’not MY fault, you KNOW I’m a boy!” for a moment he raked the offending motif of his shirt in frustration—an exercise in futility that did absolutely nothing to the fabric whatsoever besides rumpling it further. “Gaaaaah!”
Thankfully, Mitch didn’t prolong the torment overlong and his brief foray into the identity of Captain Nopants gave Travis an opportunity to reclaim his prize. Then the cabin and its occupants all faded into unimportance as words rimmed in fire appeared on the screen demanding immediate attention—an imperative that the cub was all too happy to obey. Not even the spectacle of Captain Nopants and his fabled namesake merited much more than an absent-minded glance.
By sheer coincidence he managed to catch Jake’s eye on the downswing just as the rabbit was turning to look away from Mitch’s spectacle. For a moment their gazes locked, and what seemed like an eternity drifted by before Travis held out a controller to the bunny in wordless invitation. After what Chris had subtly insinuated just moments before, it seemed unhealthy to risk words or do otherwise.
He was almost relieved when Mitch absolved them of the awkwardness, relieved enough not to mind somebody else hogging the spare controller OR the coon’s discarded pants somehow landing in his lap.
“Aye, Captain! Thar she blows!”
Not that he had any idea what that even meant, of course. But it certainly sounded impressively authentic and piratey...just like that avian actor who played Jack Sparrow in that movie he’d watched at Sachel’s. Now that had been the height of cool, especially the way Sparrow courted death whilst hurling inventive insults at his opponents…sort of like…like—
--Mitch…
For half a moment he could almost see the ghostly outline of a tricorne hat perched jauntily between the older raccoon’s ears, along with a flamboyant buccaneer’s coat complete with bandoliers and cutlass. Then he blinked and the illusion was gone, almost like a dream.
Screw Lyle. What had he seen in the bird to begin with? Mitch was cooler, way cooler. Best of all, Mitch was his friend because he’d wanted to be; and not because of anything Travis could do. The raccoon had said they were buddies often enough after all, and so it MUST be true. So what if they were all seemingly headed into the unknown with a strange grownup and three other cubs who probably hated his guts? He had A friend; and a weekend with ONE friend surely had to be better than moping around the graveyard trying to find something halfway interesting to do…
Maybe this trip wouldn’t suck after all.
---
Amidst Mitch’s inappropriate disrobing and subsequent roleplaying, Jake had found himself locking eyes with the jackal who’d both knocked him to the ground and punched him in the arm, all within ten minutes of arriving. The poor buck was trapped like a deer in headlights by the predator’s gaze for what felt like ages before an annoyed raccoon, seeing his pal offer the controller to one of the worst gamers on the planet, swooped in to snatch it out of Travis’ paw.
“Are you fer real, man? Don’t give it to him,” he groaned, having risen, pantsless from the cushion to claim his prize. As he plopped down on the floor beside the pup to sit indian-style, he explained, “Seriously, his folks only let him play ‘educational’ junk. He sucks at games like this. Now, if yah want a real challenge, I’m the Game Master, son! I’ll whoop yer skinny butt, let’s go!”
Grateful as the rabbit was for the interruption that ended their infinite stare, he was more relieved that he didn’t have to accept the offered controller, much less speak a word of refusal like he wanted. Still, now that Travis had been distracted by Mitch, Jake continued to watch him quietly with slightly furrowed brows. What’s his game..? Is he just trying to be nice, or… is it a trick? The buck pondered in frustration.
It was clear that Travis was only here because of Mitch, and Mitch was only here because of Chris, so that had to be reason enough to assume the jackal hadn’t signed up to harass him. So then why was he still behaving like a tough guy? His attire certainly screamed otherwise, so… maybe he was compensating? Whatever the canine’s excuse though, Jake couldn’t shake the mental image of him standing by Lyle’s side, eager to do the woodpecker’s bidding.
Although he hadn’t bruised ribs or left scratches like the avian’s former gang used to, Travis had caused his own share of pain in a different way. And in fact, he was one of the reasons the rabbit had grown paranoid about speaking in his presence. Too often, things he’d told others in confidence had reached Lyle’s ears, and led to incessant ridicule and many times, the destruction of Jake’s artwork.
Those losses stung more than a kick or bite ever could. And it was the one thing Jake struggled to forgive the reformed bully’s assistant for. Even now he couldn’t help watching those twitching ears atop Travis’ head, likely picking up and parsing every little whisper and cough. It made the buck scowl with assumptions, then immediately frown with a twinge of guilt. As bad as Travis had been as a lackey for Lyle, he was obviously trying to change under Mitch’s ‘tutelage’. Whether that was enough for Jake to forgive him though, remained to be seen.
For now, the buck needed to vent, so he expressly turned to Chris, who sat beside him, with arms draped around Jake’s shoulders, and whispered softly with his snout practically in the otter’s ear, “I don’t like the way his ears twitch… What if he’s… still ‘listening’ to get dirt on us?”
In response to Jake’s paranoid theory, Chris wrinkled his snout in thought, eyeing the jackal nearby. The audio from the game playing on the television seemed loud enough to complicate eavesdropping, but Travis’ ears were twisting to hear behind him a little too often. Still, Chris leaned in on Jake to relay his doubt; “Who would he report it to, though? Lyle’s MIA. And Mitch certainly wouldn’t care.”
After a moment or two of thought, Jake sighed, saying in a louder whisper, “I guess you have a point…”
In Travis’ defense, he hadn’t done more than be a nuisance. It was Jake’s imagination that was taking it to an exaggerated conclusion, but not without good reason. After Lyle had started using the jackal as some form of psychological warfare on the rabbit, the already timid and uncertain cub had become even more conflicted and paranoid. For a while it hadn’t felt safe to speak anywhere, not even at home.
Those memories weren’t going to be easily forgotten, or forgiven, much as Jake wanted to be free of his fear. So he continued to remain silent, only speaking to Chris in the quietest whispers, and always watching Travis as he did so to make sure his ears weren’t reacting to his words. Of course, he didn’t have much to say beyond complaints about wanting to go home. But that was nothing new. Meanwhile, Mitch and Travis were deeply involved in their game, and likewise, Katie was buried in her phone.
She wasn’t as intensely focused on the screen as she pretended though, her gaze periodically shifting towards the busy mouse every time Gary took a sip of his spiked soda. The young otter half-wondered if such a small quantity would even get the man drunk, as her father typically downed five whole bottles or more before his speech even started to slur. He was partial to rum and coke on the weekends, but it was straight beer the rest of the time. Which had her wondering what Mister Creedence preferred, so she tried to approach the subject casually and matter-of-factly.
Waiting for him to take his next sip, Katie promptly leaned over slightly, looking cute and curious as she asked, “So what’s your poison, hm? Hehe, I saw you put some mickey in there.”
---
Gary stared at the words on the papers in his hands, but he was not concentrating on reading. The mouse looked over the papers toward the two boys playing the overly violent video game. He typically prefered more passive and submissive cubs for the pleasure cruise he was sending them on. When his chosen cubs brought along a friend or two, normally those friends tended to be like the other. That did not happen this time. Seems one invite deliberately brought along a distraction, and that distraction sent word for more back up. Gary knew that this was really nothing for him to worry about in the end, but dark thoughts kept creeping into his mind of what could result in him losing some potentially high earning clients. There was another thing he was going to have to clear up soon. After he took another sip of his drink, he saw Katie lean over towards him to ask what he was drinking.
“This? Just rum and soda,” the mouse answered with a warm smile. “Coconut rum to be exact. Helps keep my anxieties down. Why, did you want to try some?”
The man patted the cushion next to him, inviting the girl to join him. As soon as she sat by him, he put an arm over her shoulder, and into a gentle hug. He left the can in easy reach if she was inclined to take the invitation.
Back at the burger dive, Stephanie was putting her phone away when she was surprised to see one of her school’s wrestlers walk into the place. Did they just make eye contact? Why is he packed like that? Could he be going on the same trip?!
The porcupine quickly turned her back towards the window so that no one inside could see her face. She did not think that other students at her school could be going on such a trip as she was. Stephanie was still uncertain that she could go through with this. If someone at the school was there as well, then they would see her naked! They will tell everyone at the school, and she’ll be laughed at. However, was that not what this trip was meant for? To get popular with all the other people? Also, if another student was there then they would be just as naked.
Stephanie looked over her shoulder to see Hob walking back from the counter with a meal he had just purchased, and she could not help mentally stripping his clothes away. She quickly turned her head in embarrassment. There was no way that boy was going on such a trip. It was just a coincidence. As soon as Mister Creedence arrived, she'd quickly and discreetly get in the vehicle and be gone. Nobody at school would know.
The porcupine grabbed a bunch of fries and gobbled them down as she tried to calm her mind. She was just overthinking things because of what the weekend had in store. Just among a bunch of rich, naked strangers. And she too would be nude. And was that all? What else was she to do?
Stephanie was now forgetting all about the opossum upon realizing that she was unsure what it was that she was to be doing. Was it just to mingle and play, like those ads she had seen for nudist camps. Oh! Was this a nudist camp? Is that a freaking limousine pulling into the parking lot?!
Just as Gary was getting comfortable with Katie leaning into him, the particular jolt of the car going over a bump told him they had already arrived at their next stop. He set the can of what remained of the drink in the cupholder, and put the papers back in their hidden compartment.
“Sorry, dear. But I need to let our other passengers on board.”
The mouse got up and scooted his way to the back of the car to sit down on the back seat by the doors. As soon as the vehicle had come to a full stop, he opened the door and was glad to see Stephanie just some yards away with a surprised gaping mouth under an ugly hoodie. He simply gave a friendly wave for her to come to him, which she eagerly did as she grabbed a small bag under her table and quickly waddled over. As the porcupine bent over for her bag, he could see Hob inside getting up and walking towards the exit doors of the establishment.
Gary scooted to the side to give the porcupine space to safely get in the car.
“Glad you could come, young lady,” Gary greeted as the hooded figure quickly hopped into the car.
“Oh wow. Golly!” said the porcupine as she eagerly climbed into the large car. After she was inside, and safe from being seen from the public of the restaurant, she pulled the hood from her head “I can’t believe you’re picking me up in a limo-FUCK!”
Gary barely moved in time, diving for the other couch in front of him and towards Katie, before hundreds of quills could stab into him. Along with Stephanie’s shocking language, all of her quills were now springing up and out defensively as she stumbled backwards and fell into the seat where the mouse had previously been sitting. She was covering her face and on the verge of crying, and her feet were even starting to shake in her loss of control.
Stephanie had just seen who else was in the car. There was Katie. There was also her brother, Chris. That raccoon, Mitch. That bully, Travis. And there was Jake!
WHAT IS JAKE DOING HERE?!
The young girl was about to bolt out of the car, but the quills had her slightly stuck to the seat, and there was now someone standing in her way.
---
As he ate, Hobart's thought kept wandering back to Stephanie. It wasn't exactly the most cheerful of topics, but she was sitting right there in his field of vision as he kept an eye out to the parking lot for Mr. Creedence. Hard not think of her. He wondered what she did in her own time. His pity deepened as he realised that porcupines were pretty much barred from team sports wholesale. Not just contact sports like soccer or football, but also things like synchronized swimming (of which the school also had a team), and any combat sports. He'd often boasted to other people that Dasayo had never refused anyone on the team unless there was a medical condition, but that was incorrect. Mr. D. would probably not accept one on the team. Porcupines could swim, though, he knew that much. They were good at it, too: the spines made them pretty buoyant.
He tried to think of famous porcupines, and aside from that rock singer… Ashes, he drew a blank. No porcupines in his favorite movies. There was a secondary villain in Power Rangers that was a porcupine, but they were in that show only for, like three episodes.
Uh…
His mind bounced back to what the girl was doing here. Not that anybody would try to bother her, so at first blush she wasn't in any danger. He didn't really register that he wasn't even considering the idea that someone could possibly "bother" him and his mom would never know because she didn't know where he was. Since she was such a meek wallflower of a personality, the idea she was on the same trip as him was entirely unthinkable to him. His mind went back to his initial thought: that maybe she was running away. This seemed increasingly like a distinct possibility as the minutes went by, and Hobart panicked as he realized one thing: if this was true, he had absolutely no idea what to do! Was he supposed to just... go and talk her out of it? How would he even do that? Was he supposed to call an adult? The police? There would be questions. Wouldn't that put the trip into jeopardy? But if he waited, he might forget…
It was understandable that these distracting thoughts caused him to not notice the limousine at first. Mr. Creedence had only said he would pick him up. He hadn't said anything about anyone else coming along, much less about a limousine. In fact, his mind didn't register that it was a limousine at first, just a weird black wall obscuring a large amount of space in the parking lot. He had never even seen a limo in real life, after all. Finally the door opened and his jaw fell agape as he recognized the mouse whose dick he had ridden a few days ago.
Stephanie was only briefly chased from his mind. He grabbed his backpack… but it was heavy enough he couldn't really sprint for the entrance. He mumbled curses under his breath, jealous for a moment of boys like Graham who were stronger than himself. He swore that he would put more efforts in strength training on Wednesdays, a promise he would no doubt have forgotten entirely about by this time tomorrow, much less by Wednesday.
He hauled his stuff out the door and paused for a moment, jaw going agape again: Stephanie was walking right up to the car. Well, how about that. He wondered whether Creedence had given her the same interview that he had gone through. If this worked out for the porcupine, good for her! Still, this was unexpected. He certainly wasn't expecting anyone else from school to be on this trip, even though he saw plenty of them naked on the regular.
As he made his way to the car, a more serious promise than the one about training was forming into his mind: he would try to be as nice as he could to her during this trip. If they ever ended up running into each other anyway. There were supposed to be a lot of people, Mr. Creedence had said. And at school. Because he couldn't just be nice part-time with her, right? That was the sort of shitty bait-and-switch things that guys like Lyle did. He got to the car just in time to hear her curse, and loudly at that. His eyes widened. Well, how about that now. And what an appropriate curse too.
He tried his damnedest best to make sure he wasn't grinning. Wouldn't do to look like he was about to mock her mercilessly after what he'd promised himself he'd do. With a small grunt he slid his backpack off and casually slipped next to her on the seat. Mr. Creedence might not have fit there because of her erect quills, but there was enough room for him. He had a brief moment of hesitation as he reached toward her. Not because he was scared or repulsed, but rather because he had to take a moment to check where he could touch. He couldn't exactly pat her face or belly, that was too intimate. He knew her chest was a write off, even though she didn't have anything like breasts. That left the area between her collarbone and her shoulder. That would have to do. His paw went and gently pressed against the spot.
"It's okay… it's okay..." he tried to sound soothing, like his mother when he used to wake up at night from nightmares, but it was still a little awkward.
He looked over to try and figure out what it was that had triggered this reaction. His eyes widened a little and he fell dumb at the sight of no less than five other cubs. Well, that certainly explained why she looked so surprised (or so he thought, anyway). His paw slowly left her shoulder as it became clear he wasn't really helping, but he didn't move from his spot, taking note of who he knew and who he didn't.
The otter in a dress was no problem to identify and although he had not expected her (again, mostly because Mr. Creedence had not mentioned other cubs), she was not that much of a surprise now that he thought about it. Katie was enough of a glory hound that pretty much every pupil at school knew her name. She was dressed even more over-the-top than usual today. Given Mr. Creedence's job, that was not surprising, though where she'd gotten the makeup he couldn't help but wonder.
Actually, there wasn't one, but two otters, Hobart realized as he arched an eyebrow at the other one; the male one. This one he didn't really recognize, even though he looked and smelled a lot like Katie. Siblings? He wondered. He had only ever heard about Katie herself, but she might well have had siblings and he wouldn't have known. He didn't exactly know her personally. The quivering overdressed rabbit next to Chris, though, he did recognize. He didn't know his name, but anyone that hung around Katie as much as he did inevitably garnered some degree of recognizability of their own. He looked just as ready to bolt out of the car as Stephanie did. As far as Hobart could remember, this wasn't much of a change from what Jake typically looked like. The possum had to ask himself how the rabbit made it through Creedence's… interview.
Finally at the back were two very different cubs, sitting with their back to them, but now looking around, having been startled into a game over by the yell (wait, was that Dog of War?!). The raccoon, much like Katie, was known to Hobart. And for much the same reasons. Mitch was the worst troublemaker in the school by a huge margin, and Hobart himself had been inconvenienced by his schemes on more than one occasion. The other… was one of Lyle's flunkies. His eyes flickered between Stephanie and Travis. He didn't know the jackal's name or what exactly he might have done to her. Just his association with Lyle. He glowered at both boys. A mute warning. This one was under his protection.
---
Co-op mode had seemed the obvious option. Two sets of controllers, two players, customizable characters and an open sandbox of environments to choose from certainly hit all the right notes for a setup that guaranteed mindless diversion for hours…
--all conditional, of course, on Travis successfully piloting his avatar out of its spawn location in the middle of a bone-strewn hall.
He’d pounced for his joystick the very second the miniature Anubis that was his character respawned into existence, urging it across the open landscape and to a convenient shadow laden alcove before—
…a blinding flash of lightning sent the Death God staggering back, losing his momentum. It was followed by another, then yet another—a veritable fusillade of projectile attacks that trapped his poor character in a stun-lock whilst slowly sapping its precious health meter away. Once again, Travis could do nothing but watch in helpless horror as the white Alsatian that was Mitch’s avatar strolled casually up to his opponent; effortlessly disemboweling the God of Death in the most brutal of finishers—exactly as he had done the last five games in a row.
Mitch’s claim of being a GameMaster wasn’t entirely unsupported. The raccoon wasn’t just good. He was VERY good.
“No fair, Mitch!” complained the cub, ears flat against his skull in frustration. “You can’t just stand there an’ use that one attack over’n over! Button mashing’s against the rules!”
Rather hypocritical in hindsight; considering that it was the exact same strategy Travis himself had intended to use right from the very start…if only he had been able to set up the stage for its execution. He’d chosen Anubis for his avatar solely from hearing Sachel’s cousin talk about the character, and was only now discovering that its powerful move set came with several annoying restrictions. By then he’d been too invested to consider a swap…a fact that Mitch appeared more than aware of and exploited for his own advantage.
Respawn. Run. Charge epic underworld apocalypse… ZAAAAPP!
“MEEEEEEEEECCCH!” his accent becoming more pronounced in his distress, Travis unconsciously echoed Sachel’s foreign inflection as he produced a screech that would’ve put his feral ancestors to shame. “Stop DOING that!” ZAP. “And that!” CRASH. “Also that!”
Perhaps it was time to consider a change in tactics. “We’re pals, right? An’ we’ll always be, right?” he tore momentarily away from the screen to engage the raccoon with his best I’m-so-cute-and-fluffy stare, widening both eyes and tilting his head to one side in a manner that made most people do what he wanted. “So just…LET…ME…WIIIIN!”
The last word escaped in an unholy yell as Anubis died yet again. In retrospect, he had no idea WHY he thought that ploy was going to work: Mitch’s focus was clearly on the screen, and probably hadn’t even noticed his best disarming expression.
And so they’d swapped to Campaign mode…once Mitch eventually got bored of kicking his tail all the way back to the underworld a couple more times. As was his right for being overall victor, the raccoon got to go first of course—with Travis lurking behind Mitch’s shoulder like the literal scavenger he was; all too ready to commandeer the controls at the very first sign of failure. Which had to be soon, right?
Right?
Being a spectator wasn’t all that bad he supposed. The limo console’s graphics were good enough to convey the impression that he was watching an action packed film, one in which Mitch’s homicidal Alsatian chopped, ripped and stomped his way through horde after horde of lesser enemies. He only wished they’d had the foresight to toggle subtitles; being privy to multiple conversations at once—the one going on between Katie and Mr. Creedence, the whispered discussion between Chris and Jake, and Mitch’s own occasional exclamations whilst button spamming like a pro—all these got confusing after a while and made it difficult for Travis to focus on anything in particular. Having good hearing came at a cost, it seemed…and the current cost apparently was not being able to follow the game’s dialogue and story with everything else going on in the background.
He’d no idea what MIA was and some of the words had been too faint to make out, but the general tone of their conversation left little doubt that the rabbit was talking about him. It would appear that the rabbit was also feeling homesick, apparently—a condition too alien and foreign for Travis to understand. Being sick OF home he could certainly comprehend; it was why he spent so much time at Sachel’s or Mitch’s after all. But actually MISSING home? Home was dull. Home meant rules. Home meant unwelcome reminders of one’s oh-so-talented older sister in every nook and cranny—from the collection of gymnastic trophies collecting dust in their hall cabinet to the cootie-laden guest room she would stay in four weeks of every year; a room that was always kept aired and ready with her stuffed animals waiting on the bed for whenever she wanted it. Bleh. If that was home, you could shove it.
He supposed he did feel sorta bad for Jake though. Being made to go places he didn’t want to go WAS something Travis understood quite well. And so while not exactly empathizing with the rabbit’s homesickness, he could however sympathize with this particular notion. Maybe he should…nah. Chris was there; the otter probably had things well under control and wouldn’t be pleased by any outside interference. But the idea that he’d like to do something for Jake still persisted regardless, and to be frank he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it. Doing spontaneous stuff FOR others (as opposed to doing stuff because others SAID SO) was new territory for him; something he didn’t know how to handle.
What if…I could watch out fer him. Just like Captain Nopants would. Just like Mitch would. No offense to Chris and his bodyguard skills, but the big otter couldn’t always be around to keep an eye on things could he? Good thing then that Chris now had backup…whether he wanted it or not.
Having resolved himself upon this course, Travis turned back to watch Mitch chaining quick-time-event combos on a level boss that occupied most of the screen. Gary’s abandoned cocktail he considered casually before dismissing it from mind after an exploratory sniff. The smell was strong and tart and made his nose itch. If THAT was what Katie referred to as ‘mickey’, he didn’t want anything to do with it.
Then all of a sudden Mr. Creedence was saying something about ‘other passengers’ right before he swung open a door. The unexpected exposure to outside light after sitting in a cabin with shaded windows was hard on his eyes; a condition echoed by the majority and Mitch in particular judging from assorted complaints. Bringing up a paw to shade his eyes, he could just barely make out the shape of a hooded person heading their way. Too small to be an adult, so most likely a cub. A strange rattling seemed to accompany their approach…a dry rustle that sounded almost like wind on dead leaves to his ears. It nagged at him in the back of his mind as something he should know. Something important…
And then revelation hit him. Hit him like a sack full of bricks, almost at the same time the newcomer’s F-bomb outburst assaulted his sensitive ears:
Quills! Of course!
And on the heels of that thought—Duck, you idiot! Duck!
Then directly following that… What about—
“…Jake, duck!”
Travis first made to move in a heroic effort to place himself between Jake and the strange porcupine; then saw Chris had matters well in hand on that front and checked himself, nearly capsizing Gary’s soda as he did so. Stray splashes of cocktail caught him in the snout and drenched the collar of his shirt. And if THAT hadn’t been enough, his ears soon detected the sound of footsteps following close behind even as he strove with a paw to get alcohol out of his eyes.
An older kid: male, judging from the combined odor of musk and sweat. And then his eyes cleared enough to make out the big possum standing in the doorway blocking out the sun… A possum that, for some reason, seemed to have an axe to grind—seeing as how he had taken the seat directly beside the porcupine and was now scowling at them with chilly eyes.
And; as was typical in these sort of cases, his mouth decided to skip the usual neural linkup between brain and tongue.
“Whatssamatter, mate? Gotta problem with us or somethin’?” tilting his head up to match stares with the invader, Travis folded his arms and mentally estimated how soon he’d need to put himself between this loser and Jake. The fact that the possum was taller by at least a head and heftier too didn’t seem to bother him—not in the slightest. Bigger they are, harder they fall, right? Travis had no doubts about the outcome. Hadn’t he kicked a 6th grade tiger’s butt that one time in the schoolyard? Ok…so he’d blacked out and remembered nothing of the encounter. But he DID remember waking up in the parking lot where they’d staged their fight alone, with no opponent to be found—so that must’ve meant he’d won…right? Of course. Of course he had. He met the older boy glare for glare, silently daring the other to make the first move.
Almost had to pity this kid, Travis supposed. Possum wouldn’t know what hit him.
---
The intentionally disarming smile that had been on Katie’s face, dropped slightly when Gary admitted to the same alcoholic habits as her father. She’d kind of hoped he’d have a more sophisticated palate, being such a big name in the talent agency business. Nonetheless, when he offered her the spot next to him, the otter practically teleported into his embrace, needing not even a second thought. In fact, she happily snuggled up against him as she eyed the beverage being held near her.
It certainly wouldn’t have been the first time the girl had tasted alcohol, so that wasn’t the reason for her momentary hesitation. Memories of the awful taste weren’t encouraging her either, so there was only one aspect of the vile drink that she sought when Katie accepted the soda can without a word to take three big, bitter sips. She handed it back with a silent gag and an animated expression that suggested the taste was overwhelmingly awful to her, before flopping back against Gary with a small groan to rest her head on his shoulder.
“It’s because of those two, right?” she assumed in a sour whisper. “I don’t blame you one bit, Mister Creedence. Mitch alone is bad enough, but with Travis they’re like… this… perfect storm of awful. I hate it. What really ticks me off though, is Chris. Look at him, over there. Snuggling with my—ehm… my.. .plus one. He’s not even s’posed to be here. I bet he signed up just to ruin my weekend.”
Katie huffed with arms crossed while the two ne’er-do-wells played their game to the tune of a near endless stream of laughter from Mitch and howling shrieks of frustration from Travis that only swelled in pitch with every loss in their unsavory, gore-filled game. The otter could only take listening to their racket for so long before grabbing Gary’s soda can for a few more angry sips. She wanted those anxiety relieving effects the mouse had spoken of, in the hopes it might relax her enough to stop fantasizing about throwing both boys out of the moving limo.
Of course, Chris’ sister wasn’t the only one reaching their limit of tolerance for the two disruptive cubs and their loud, violent game. Only a couple rounds in and Jake’s sensitive ears couldn’t take it anymore, so they were hugged firmly against the back of his neck. And when that wasn’t enough to block out the noise, the otter hugged his arm firmly around the buck’s shoulders to hold the quivering appendages down.
Only then was Jake able to reach a semblance of calm, but Chris had no protection of his own. It was taking all of his willpower not to say something, though thankfully, patience inevitably prevailed. Simply because, after being so completely owned by Mitch for eight rounds—three more rounds than Travis wanted after his epic outburst that had the raccoon tickled pink—they eventually switched game modes, to everyone’s collective relief.
Up until that point though, Mitch had been on fire. Aside from the fact the eight-year-old had played nearly every game he could get him grubby little mitts on, said mitts were in a realm of skill all their own. And the raccoon’s natural dexterity combined with a brain full to bursting with muscle memory for every game genre under the sun, meant that Dog of War was a cakewalk. It didn’t matter that he hadn’t yet played the game until today, or that it was supposed to be notoriously difficult to beat.
Mitch merely experimented in the first round until he found a method or two he liked, and then spammed his opponent into oblivion, all while cackling like a maniac at every frustrated reaction Travis had to his hopelessly repetitive destruction and disembowelment. Naturally, Travis tried to talk his way to victory, but the raccoon was every bit as invested in his wins.
“Says who, T-Bomb? We didn’set no ground rules for this slaughter! Hehehehahaha! Eat lightning, Sucka’!” Mitch gleefully taunted, winning yet another round and triggering his player two to briefly lose his mind. “Haah! You sound almost like Sach; even he doesn’t lose this much! Where’s yer A-game at, man?”
At this point Travis changed tactics, and tried to appeal to Mitch’s better nature. He might as well have appealed to a grape fruit though. Nothing could sway the naturally competitive raccoon from his goal of ultimate victory, not even the jackal’s best puppy eyes. Though Mitch gave him the briefest of glances, just to see why he’d gone from his usual squealing to something approaching calm, but when it escalated into an almost demonic roar, Mitch briefly considered giving poor Travis a break.
Only to go and whoop his butt before the ego-crippled pup practically begged to switch modes. By then Mitch had finally grown bored enough of totally obliterating the poor canine to agree, even though they both understood that the unwritten rules of victory meant Travis would have to sit out until the raccoon’s single-player playthrough ended in death. A scenario which was almost as unlikely as Mitch letting someone else win at a videogame. Barring a major distraction, at least.
And so, as if the fates aligned, partway into the second level of the campaign, Mitch felt the unmistakable jostling as the limo pulled into a parking lot. He squinted extra hard at the screen, trying to focus as Gary declared there would be more passengers, but then he went and opened the dang door and suddenly there was a HUGE blindspot on the TV screen, annoying the raccoon to no end.
“Dude! Close the door, I can’t see the friggin’ screen!” he barked in irritation, struggling to maintain his killing spree, when a sudden commotion in the rear of the limo triggered an involuntary death. “Dangit! What the—!”
As Mitch turned around to see what was going on, he fell silent for a moment, staring at the scene before him in mild confusion that drifted into amusement. “Whoooa, who invited the pin cushion?”
He’d only been vaguely aware of his surroundings, but all he’d registered was Travis’ cocky remark that seemed to be addressed to another individual that had joined the living embodiment of “look but don’t touch”. Whoever he was, he didn’t seem happy with either boy for their insensitive remarks. The jackal already seemed ready to pick a fight, so Mitch awkwardly stepped in to put a paw on his shoulder.
“Dude, I died. Your turn,” he told him, as an excuse to defuse whatever tension had been forming behind his back.
As he sat down on the cushion opposite Jake and Chris, the pantsless raccoon realized the buck had a bewildered look in his eyes. He wondered why for a second and then, his easily distracted brain finally made the obvious connection. Wait, did someone just swear?
D-d-did she just say…! Jake held a paw over his mouth to contain the startled gasp that had tried to escape when that word was so suddenly uttered. At first, he’d been worried and curious, about Gary’s unexpected news that there’d be more cubs to pick up; worried the new arrivals would be former or currents bullies, but still curious that there might be someone else from school he recognized.
Of all faces to have filled that bright void left by the open car door though, Jake had never expected to see Stephanie’s. Unfortunately, that feeling must’ve been mutual, because the second they made eye contact—the buck leaning forward to see past Chris—the girl unleashed that uncensored swear. And just like that, the brief smile of joy Jake wore initially, vanished and his eyes widened in shock as he lurched back into hiding. The curse word wasn’t nearly as startling though, as Stephanie’s sudden, defensive reaction that made everyone in her vicinity dive for cover. Even Katie had to throw herself against Chris to avoid the prickly nightmare that had been unleashed.
Luckily for the occupants of the limo, the leather seat at the back took the bullet—or rather, the quill—for the rest of them. There was no doubt that her spines had handily pierced the material, judging by the girl’s inability to make the retreat she wanted, but even if she hadn’t been stuck like the pin-cushion she was, an older opossum was entering the vehicle after her. He seemed to be the only one brave enough to sit next to her, though.
The tense looks being bounced around certainly made Jake nervous, especially since Chris was involved in a glare-off with his sister as well. Amidst the fallout of the disruption though, Jake only had eyes for the girl who’d been so completely caught off guard, that she’d blurted out a swear and puffed up like a puffer fish.
“St...Stephanie…?”Jake spoke softly into the brief silence that followed as he peeked out from behind Chris once more, “A-a-are you okay? W-what’re you doing here? I thought you said you… oh… y-you were going to invite me on the same trip, weren’t you…?”
That abrupt realization made the buck’s ears sag as he frowned. For some reason he kind of wished he’d resisted Katie’s advances now. At least until Stephanie had asked him instead. Nice as the otter was, she had a tendency to be overburdening and demanding. Unlike the porcupine who was just grateful to have someone to talk to during lunch break. He would’ve greatly preferred to have been her plus one, but he still had to wonder why she was even here. From the conversations he’d had with her previously, he learned she wasn’t very fond of camping, on account of her quills wrecking the equipment.
---
“Everybody calm down,” Gary said calmly, but with enough force so to be heard. He rolled back up into a sitting position to see what all was happening in the car. Boys having a stare off, porcupine crying, otter piled on top of the other otter and rabbit. All seemed normal. “Hob. Please shut the door so we can get out of here.”
The car started to move as soon as the door was securely closed. The adult mouse got up and moved toward the back as he mentally processed the event that had occured. It was clear that Stephanie knew a number of the kids in the car already, but that outburst was quite extreme. Jake also reacted to seeing her, and seemed just as surprised. Which was odd since Jake should not have known what kind of trip they were on. Gary also noted the spilled cola on the floor, and it was not hard to tell who was responsible.
“Travis, there should be towels over by the fridge. Clean your mess up. And Katie. Will you come over here and help me, please,” Mister Creedence instructed the cubs. Katie was already seeming a wee bit flushed around her face from the gulp of cocktail she took. As soon as Katie was with him in the back seat area of the limo, Gary grabbed one of the curtains and surprised everyone when he pulled it across the ceiling and connected it to the other side of the car. The curtain’s true length had been hidden behind the seats. It reached down to the floor, and had weights sewn into the lining on the bottom, which kept it nearly sealed to the floor. Besides blocking sunlight through the windows, the curtain also seemed to dampen sounds for the noise of the boys and the violent video game became much more tolerant in the back end of the car. As soon as Gary had closed the four of them off from the eyes of the other cubs, Gary turned towards Hob.
“Give me a hand, big guy,” the rodent instructed as he carefully put a hand under the crying girl’s left arm. Stephanie had both of her hands up under her light purple glasses, and over her eyes, as she continued to cry. To Gary, she looked like a quivering ‘See no Evil’ monkey figurine.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” the porcupine kept repeating to everyone around her while choking for breath. “I-I-I can’t stop myself from—” the child snorted a sob before she could continue.
The two males carefully lifted her off the seat, leaving behind about a baker’s dozen quills stuck in the cushions. Instead of standing, Stephanie just slumped onto her rump in front of the door with her arms wrapped around her knees and hiding her face. Gary pulled the quills out of the cushion and sat down so that he was near the upset female.
“Maybe you can help calm her down, Katie,” suggested Gary. “Seems you guys know each other.”
---
Hobart was still staring at Travis. He wasn't growling or anything, but Travis escalating the situation (or so the canine thought) only cemented the bonebag's guiltiness in the older cub. He wanted to reassure Stephanie, but he was still too distracted by Travis talking smack, and she blubbered on loudly enough she might not have heard him anyway.
Then Creedence spoke. It was not the same tone he'd used when he'd interviewed Hobart. Oooooh, no it wasn't. At the same time, it wasn't an angry tone either. Still, it was the sort of tone that bypassed your ears. That Middle Name tone that parents were so practiced with and went straight to push that little button in the brain that reads "oh shit, now I'm in trouble". Mr. D. was a master of the Tone. Hobart could not remember ever having heard the armadillo scream or yell in anger. All he ever had to do was use That Tone Of Voice and the entire team basically froze in silence. Jasper had never come close to mastering it (Dasayo joked you have to spend several years being surrounded by kids all day long), and that was why he could never keep the team in control when the coach wasn't there.
Hobart knew he hadn't done anything at all to warrant this. That it was just the general ambient chaos that had prompted Creedence to use the Tone. Still he could feel the fur raising and a shiver of punishment terror going down his spine. The first thing the mouse demanded… was for him to close the door? Oh right. With the sudden commotion their arrival had degenerated into, it had completely slipped his mind. He glanced somewhat nervously out the door before closing it. Stephanie had been awfully loud, and surely someone would have heard? He glanced around, but saw no one staring. No one coming to ask. Wanting to know how such a word could have come out of such a virgin little mouth.
Well, Hobart assumed she was probably a virgin, an assumption he might have to revise before long, he now realised, given the nature of this trip. Point was, While Dasayo had no qualms with his… special pupils using as filthy a vocabulary as they felt they required when discussing their sexual life, he also made sure to let them know what was and was not appropriate for discussion with other adults. Hobart wished it was simpler. That they didn't have to dance around the subject the way Creedence had needed. If only it were like a normal clubhouse, y'know? Just say the password and you know the other's in. You both knew what to expect. Not that he went out of his way to find guys. There was Jasper, and Mr. D., Mr. Fergusson, the school Janitor, Locksley… the guys at the bathhouse—Hobart usually didn't remember their name. Well, and Creedence now. That had been pretty fun. The man had even given him a reach-around, which Mr. D. and Jasper almost never did.
Ultimately and to his relief, the opossum saw no one disturbed by the other cub's outburst. The car lurched forward as soon as the door slammed. Hobart was glad he was already sitting because he would probably have lost his balance when the vehicle made a turn from the parking lot onto the road. Losing one's balance next to the porcupine girl would have been… risky. Not her fault and he wasn't going to blame her for it. Still, Mr. D. would have disapproved and scheduled more training for him. Hobart didn't mind too much. He liked the balance board that had been fashioned from a mechanical bull, it was fun, though challenging to not use his tail to wrap around it to hold himself in place.
The cub beamed with pride when Creedence asked for his help getting the spiny girl unstuck. His grip was, again a little awkward, and he tried to reassure Stephanie.
"You're going to be okay," he said. "I won't let him do anything to you."
The cub turned to his pack and fumbled briefly with a side pocket before pulling out a small packet of kleenexes.
"Here, use this..."
His dad liked to use a fabric handkerchief, but Hobart thought the idea disgusting. They had often argued about the irony given that Hobart did often carry his wrestling kerchief even when he didn't have practice. Hobart didn't dare point out he didn't think the… other fluids he wiped with the kerchief were disgusting at all. His father may have encouraged him to be open about his sexual life, but Hobart still thought it was too awkward to discuss with his parents besides the most basic things. Not to mention that Dasayo had made quite sure everyone on the team knew they would be unable to stay on it if the fun they had with their coach came to be known.
---
On one of their ill-fated encounters, the in-house school psychologist at Springwood Elementary had once described Travis as easily distractible. This was apparently an understatement.
“Cool!” reclaiming the controller from Mitch, he gave no further thought to the limousine’s newest occupants. Only vaguely did Travis register the underlying tension of their surroundings; an atmosphere he immediately proceeded to ignore as something not directly concerning him. Experience with cousins and siblings—both his own, as well as Sachel’s and Mitch’s—had deeply ingrained the following tenet of wisdom into his head: Unless the people shouting in the background were shouting at you directly, in 9 cases out of 10 it was best to just mind one’s own business.
He had picked up on a particular word that had been uttered—a word not currently in his vocabulary but; as judging from the gasps that followed its pronouncement, was probably BAD…and therefore something worth working into conversation at the next opportune moment. Although it seemed that nobody else had reacted other than Jake—which probably meant that the word was a minor swear at best—new cuss words were like gemstones: you took them when you could find them.
Ironically enough, his relatively short attention span meant that among present company Travis alone appeared the only one uninvolved in this random standoff; apparently too engrossed in the game to pay attention as uneasy glances and glares got traded left and right. As a concession to those behind, he’d muted the sound however. Just in case somebody felt the need to start an argument or something… Experience told him it was pretty hard to sustain an argument with fatalities and action music streaming from the foreground. He was considerate like that.
The fact that this made it easier to eavesdrop on what was going on in the background was merely a bonus.
“St…Stephanie…? A-a-are you okay? … …y-you were going to invite me on the same trip weren’t you…?”
On their own, the rabbit’s statement made no sense to Travis whatsoever. Part of this could’ve been attributed to the fact that he was multitasking, carefully manoeuvring the titular Alsatian through a gauntlet of death traps even as he devoted part of his attention to what was going on. Invite? Trip? Stephanie?
The irritated hissing coming from Katie’s general direction—he’d mistaken it for a pixelated Medusa at first; and wasted time checking if the screen was muted before realizing it originated from real life—made everything else fall into place.
Plus-ones… Invite… girls… How everybody else apart from him had seemed to come in twos: Mitch and Chris. Katie and Jake. Stephanie and the roadkill-wonder. The manner in which the grand total of girls in this vehicle had increased from one to two.
Oh gawd: Was this some kind of a…a…DATE?!
The controller fell from nerveless paws as he was struck by the enormity of this revelation. Were they going to some icky school prom, instead of the weekend getaway Nurse Pritchard had promised? Granted, nobody in the car currently LOOKED like they were going to a prom—except maybe Katie and Jake—but the enormous rucksack that jerk of a possum was hefting made Travis a trifle uneasy. Did people normally bring change of clothes to proms? The possum’s bag looked big enough to easily contain such attire for all seven of them if need be… Maybe his parents were in on it. Maybe they’d arranged this with the possum and Mr. Creedence. Maybe at any moment now the limo would turn into the familiar side street that would lead back to school, where possum-kid would pounce and wrestle him into some formal tux and make him groom his fur. Or—horror forbid—have him partner up with a girl!
Unfortunately, the possum—Hob, was it?—had already shut the doors on Gary’s instructions and the vehicle was once again in motion…removing any hope Travis had of lighting out and running for the hills. Somewhere in the distance he dimly heard the chaperone telling everyone else to calm down, landing him with mop up duty in the meantime. Ordinarily, he would’ve protested the general unfairness of this situation—it hadn’t been HIS soda to begin with after all—but at the moment he didn’t have the energy.
Grabbing a few of the paper towels the chaperone had pointed out, he set them down to soak up the spill and righted the soda can lying on its side. It was cold in his paw, and judging by the heft, there still seemed to be a modest quantity of liquid inside. Only part of its contents had leaked out when the vessel tipped over.
All of a sudden, Travis felt like he needed a drink. Mickey or no mickey, it couldn’t be as bad as the coffee his dad always insisted on drinking at breakfast.
Correction: It was.
He regretted his impulse the very moment it touched his tongue, but by then it’d been too late and the carbonated sour sensation was flooding down his throat. Did grown ups actually like this kind of thing? It seemed hard to believe. For a moment, there was a roiling sensation in his gut—almost as though the liquid sought to escape the way it’d come. From the jackal’s perspective, it was like pressure building in a volcano’s crater, and no one was more relieved than he when all that it led to was a few stray hiccups.
--Hiccups that; with a curtain dividing the main plot of the drama from those four who remained, sounded very loud in the ensuing silence—loud enough for other heads (a certain raccoon among them) to turn his way…
Only then did Travis belatedly realize that the can he was holding was still a quarter-full of questionable contents. He glanced at each of their faces in turn, wondering if any of the other boys knew about that first illicit sip. Jake’s expression was uneasy as always, and Chris seemed his usual noncommittal self…and as for Mitch—
Something about the coon’s grin seemed to suggest that Mitch knew (or guessed) a lot more than he should, and that didn’t sound good. Not good at all. In hindsight, he really should’ve just put the can back in its holder and left it alone.
Too late for that now though, now that it was here in his paw for everyone to see. Mitch wouldn’t let something like that pass without comment, he knew. No, his only way out was to try and redefine the situation; to somehow put the coon on the spot instead. And so Travis did his best to school his features into an expression of cool indifference, holding the can out to Mitch as he did so.
“Want some?”
---
After downing nearly half of Gary’s rum and coke, Katie was feeling… a lot better, actually. She wasn’t nearly so angry, or annoyed by the boys who’d come to ruin her perfect weekend getaway with the love of her life, sweet, innocent, little Jake. Instead, as the alcohol began to course through her small body, the otter’s sense of confidence grew exponentially until Katie was certain that the boys wouldn’t be able to wreck this trip.
She had good reason to believe it too, considering what she knew about this excursion that the others didn’t. With her irritation swiftly becoming a mere memory, the otter had sunk back into her phone again as she cuddled against the older rodent, enjoying the warmth from his body. Alas, it wasn’t long before the limo was pulling into another parking lot and Gary was rising from his spot with the promise of more cubs to join them.
There was a brief wave of emotion that washed over Katie, making her skin tingle with dreadful anticipation as the limo came to a stop and Gary opened the door the greet their first addition. The otter was already squinting with suspicion at the hooded figure she vaguely recognized, but it wasn’t until Stephanie had drawn back her hood that she realized who it was. In that instant the older girl’s eyes widened in shock.
Someone as popular as Katie, knew virtually everyone in school, so even a cub as socially isolated as the porcupine didn’t escape her radar. However, it had only been after Jake started sitting at her table that the otter got to know her a little better. The poor girl was a social outcast by virtue of her species alone. Unlike Katie, she’d never had the chance to make friends, because everyone automatically avoided her, and though the otter was initially guilty of that herself, she’d aimed to remedy that after meeting her personally.
Right now though, the mustelid’s temper threatened to flare again. Not because of Stephanie specifically, but what she represented in Katie’s mind. Competition. There was no ignoring how the porcupine liked to fawn over Jake, and spend most of her time talking to him during lunch break. She very well might’ve had similar feelings for the rabbit as the otter, and that meant the two girls were automatically at odds with each other, over that unspoken conflict.
Thankfully, by now the rum was doing its job of turning the sour girl into an uninhibited giggle fiend, so the gloom brewing inside her didn’t last long. Although that might very well have had something to do with Stephanie’s sudden exclamation, as the impending threat of becoming a pin-cushion made the tipsy otter lurch to the side and immediately knock heads with her brother. Both cubs yelped as they collided, the weight of Katie pushing Chris against Jake on the his other side, before the boy could shove her back angrily.
At that point, both otters were giving each other the stink-eye, Chris for being bumped into, and Katie simply because her brother was scowling at her.
“Ugh, stop pouting!” she snorted at him, waving a paw toward the scene behind her, “Look at that; I almost died just now!”
The girl was obviously exaggerating, but in her mind, getting quilled in the face, or worse, having her dress torn by Stephanie, would’ve been a fate as bad as dying. On top of that, she was beginning to feel flush and a little light-headed from the rum, so she was extra irritated by his attitude. And as if her brother wasn’t bad enough, Travis had opted to involve himself in the calamity. He’d clearly been trying to protect Jake for some odd reason, but amidst his effort to rise from the floor, to somehow put himself between Stephanie at the rear of the vehicle, and Jake at the front, he stopped himself. His momentum however continued, causing the pup the practically headbutt the seat cushions and knock Gary’s abandoned beverage onto his face.
Wet with rum-laced soda, the canine remained dazed for only a moment before his short attention span drifted away from a scowling Katie. That jackal was such a klutz, and worse was his attitude towards their second addition to the party. As the girl sat up to shake off the adrenaline, she, along with the others, all perked up when Gary issued his demand for calm. It was a very familiar tone that they all knew well, but not all of them responded in the same way.
Jake in particular cowered at that tone, where Chris just hugged him more firmly in response. Mitch just chuckled and rolled his eyes. He couldn’t help being amused by the sight of the porcupine stuck on the cushions thanks to her own quills, but at the same time he had an urge to step in to assist. By now though, Travis had returned to the videogame, and the raccoon’s attention became divided between the rest of the limo and the big screen.
He would’ve been content to sit there in just his jersey for the whole trip, to test Gary’s limits and patience, but once he’d called on Katie for her assistance, she retreated to the rear of the vehicle, where to the raccoon’s surprise, a curtain was pulled across the space to conceal the entire back seat from the rest on the cab. Mitch’s brows sank down in suspicion at that gesture. What were they going to be doing back there, that they felt the need to hide from view?
Though the raccoon was curious enough to consider eavesdropping, before he could commit to the idea, Travis had paused his game to follow their chaperone’s order to clean up his mess. The movement drew his attention, and everything else faded into the background as he watched the jackal work. Heheh, he’s so whipped, Mitch thought to himself with a small snicker.
Not that he’d have done any differently if the command had been given to him, but he’d certainly have protested more. Meanwhile Travis took to his chore with wordless obedience. However as he was soaking up the soda that spilled onto the limo’s carpet, the boy started to investigate the source of the mess. Mitch could only watch with a growing grin as the canine then took a sip. And immediately regretted it. His reaction was considerable enough to get a nasally, snickering, giggle out of the raccoon as he tried and failed to hold in his mirth.
As far as Mitch was concerned though, the reaction was in response to the carbonation. He hadn’t seen what Gary added to his drink, but Travis certainly didn’t approve. After a bout of hiccups that extracted more laughter from the ring-tailed troublemaker, the jackal looked around at the others, meeting Jake’s gaze first.
The buck had been quiet ever since realizing he’d have been doomed to go on this trip regardless of whether Katie had talked him into it. Because he liked Stephanie, he knew he probably would’ve accepted her offer, had she gotten to him first. Not that it made much difference in the end, but maybe… maybe she wouldn’t have freaked out like that if they’d gone together. It was obvious to him that she hadn’t expected him to be here, and that made him feel bad.
Even if he had the guts to apologize to her though, he would have to wait, because as soon as Gary called for Katie, the otter perked up all bright and smiling once more, like she hadn’t been in the middle of a stare-off with her brother, and then promptly joined Mister Creedence, Stephanie and Hobart in the backseat, where they hid behind a curtain.
With half their group having retreated into privacy, Jake was trapped out here with the other boys, which might not have been so bad if two of them hadn’t been Travis and Mitch. A half naked raccoon and a former tormentor was the last kind of company he wanted right now, and he tried to make that clear by averting his gaze when Travis looked at him, but the boy just shifted to Chris where he was met with a deadpan, almost bored stare. However he adjusted his embrace around Jake as a wordless suggestion to move on.
So Travis locked onto Mitch next, and that raccoon’s broad, snarky grin widened even further. It dropped only briefly when the jackal uttered the immortal words “want some?”, then it was back bigger than ever.
“Yeeeah, sure. What’s’matter? Don’t like the fizz?” he snickered as he leaned forward to accept the offered can. Of course, at this juncture, Mitch suspected Travis of putting something in it as a prank, as that was exactly what he would do,. So rather than go for a blind swig, the raccoon brought the can to his snout and took a few eager whiffs.
Unfortunately the smell he was met with made Mitch lurch back with a small gag. He recognized that aroma all too well, from his daily exercises in dumpster diving. Having found many a discarded bottle of alcohol—empty of course—he’d become familiar with the awful smells of booze. Travis on the other hand, likely had no idea what was actually in this drink, and that gave Mitch a very devious idea. You could tell, because his grin was so broad it threatened to wrap all the way around to the back of his head.
“Nngh.. wow, that’s a powerful smell. Dude, I think this drink’s gone bad,” he commented, leaning towards the middle of the cushions to plop the can into an empty cup holder. “Probably better not to drink that junk. Besides… I got a better idea!”
Even though the vehicle had begun moving as soon as the door had closed, Mitch leapt to his feet with such balance and skill, they might as well have been stationary. Unfortunately, in doing so, the raccoon had little regard for hiding his privates, which he flashed the group with upon standing, and proceeded to tease them as he bounced over to the mini-fridge beside the television and dropped down onto his knees.
In his excitement, the raccoon’s tail was raised higher than it should’ve been, meaning anyone who dared to look in his direction, got an eyeful of bare, exposed anus as Mitch opened the fridge and dug around inside.
“I wonder if… oooooh-ho-ho-ho! This thing’s got everything!” he exclaimed upon seeing a fridge packed primarily with mickeys of various forms of alcohol. All of the names meant little to him, but he did recognize some of the labels from empty bottles of their larger counterparts, and greedily rounded up about eight little containers of something called Captain Jackrabbit. The character on the label actually kind of reminded him of Jake, but Mitch doubted the buck would be up to the game he had in mind.
“Alriiiiight, let’s do this!” the raccoon declared as he turned around with an armful of bottles to face a blushing rabbit and a vexed otter. “...What?”
“You know, not everyone wants to see your hairy butt,” Chris stated bluntly, clearly trying to comfort a wide-eyed Jake who’d seen enough of the raccoon’s anatomy in that brief moment to last a lifetime. “Put your shorts back on before you get in trouble.”
His grin grew somewhat sheepish then, as he turned to Travis instead and rolled his eyes. “Aah… no need to include the party-poopers. Me an’ you can have all the fun. So you ready?!”
Dropping all the bottles on the floor, Mitch plopped down on his rump with legs folded under him and knees spread just wide enough to give Travis a view of his sheath and scrotum that he probably didn’t need or want to see. The raccoon didn’t seem to notice or care though, as he casually picked up one of the bottles and proceeded to lay out the ground rules.
“I’m gonna call this game, ‘Drink Till You Puke’,” he declared with a snicker, “An’ the rules are simple. We’ll each chug one’a these, an’ the first to puke, loses! Got it? Hehehe, and if you thought that tasted bad,” he noted, pointing to the soda can, “These are waaaay worse!”
Picking up another bottle, Mitch handed it to Travis and then uncapped his own to bring it to his lips while he waited for Travis to follow his lead. Although the raccoon has every confidence that the jackal would oblige his bizarre game, he still reached out with two fingers to help tip the pup’s bottle as he tilted his own, saying, “Ready? On three. One… two… ....three!”
And just like that, Mitch upended his bottle, making absolutely sure that his buddy copied him. The race was on with both boys choking and sputtering as the foul fluids entered their bodies.
Meanwhile, behind the curtain at the back, Katie, in her own drunken state, was attempting to comfort the girl she’d nearly been skewered by, at the behest of Gary. Unfortunately for her, Stephanie was still sitting on the floor beside her by the door, crying and hiding her face. Though Mister Creedence and Hobart had been able to pull her free, the girl’s self-esteem had taken a nosedive. And Katie wasn’t sure how to go about reversing it. Especially considering the perceived wedge between them as two cubs interested in the same boy.
To aid her efforts, Katie helped herself to the tissues Hobart was offering, kneeling down in front of Stephanie to put herself between the porcupine and the males as she fished a few kleenex out of the package.
As she bent down to speak privately with her, Katie’s thick tail inexplicably raised into the air, hiking up her short dress to reveal to Gary and Hob that the otter wasn’t wearing any panties. Thus, the two males were presented with a jaw-dropping view of her puffy little vagina squished between her thighs, and her exposed pucker of an anus. Whether she was aware of the peep-show however, wasn’t clear, as the mustelid conversed with Stephanie.
“So… uhm… What Jake was saying…” she started softly, blushing a little as she tried to address the issue. “It’s true, isn’t it? You were gonna invite him too, huh…? Hah… it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, you know. Y-you should be happy. Now we’ll all get to spend the weekend together. It should be fun. Right? You… do know what it’s all about, don’t you? I… haven’t told Jake yet, because… well… he might freak out. So… maybe we could tell him together. How bout it?”
As she spoke softly to Stephanie, Katie gingerly pulled one paw away from the porcupine’s eyes, then the other, to help dab up the tears, before handing her the remaining tissues.
“Don’t worry about what happened, okay? It was an accident, and it’s over. Now we have a whole weekend of fun to look forward to! So c’mon, let’s get off the floor, okay?” she cooed gingerly, helping the sniffling girl to her feet before guiding her into the spot next to Gary. Sitting next to her, Katie began to hyper focus on the damaged hoodie Stephanie was wearing, picking at loose strings of fabric, and carefully removing an errant quill or two that hadn’t been yanked clear of her clothes.
“You poor thing,” Katie sympathized, “Just getting dressed up for the day must be a nightmare with all these quills in the way. Have you ever thought about getting them clipped?”
---
Gary waited as the girls talked, and had to catch his breath from gasping aloud upon seeing that the otter was not wearing any underwear. He placed a hand on Hobart's shoulder as both a way to make sure that the younger male was quiet, and to draw his attention to the naughty girl’s attire. With his other hand, he adjusted his pants and groin to help with the tightness that was forming there. He continued to rub himself through his slacks while the girl attended to her prickly friend.
The shock of seeing Jake and her cafeteria friends was no longer an issue for Stephanie, as Katie dabbed the tissues at her face. It was the embarrassment of what all just happened that was upsetting her now. The porcupine was realizing that she was crying because she was crying, and that was just making her cry even more. It was when Katie mentioned how she understood that this was the trip that Stephanie wanted to bring Jake on that the porcupine was able to shift her thoughts properly, and direct her mental state towards a proper goal.
I’m getting exactly what I originally wanted, so be happy!
“Th-thanks,” Stephanie quietly said as she accepted the tissue. She carefully got to her feet, and after making sure everyone was safe, sat down where Katie directed. Some of the otter’s words about her clothes did sting some, but she had come to know that this was just how Katie was. “That jacket was just to make sure no one saw me. And.. I’m real sorry. I-I was just so surprised to see all of you.”
The porcupine girl leaned forward some so to look over at the opossum sitting on the other side of Mister Creedence.
“And thank you for defending me?” said the girl to the older cub, unsure what it was that he was defending her from. “I think?”
Seeing that Stephanie was calming down, Gary straightened up and cleared his throat so that the other three focused on him.
“Now that’s over with,” the grown-up said softly so that only those in the backseat could hear, as if the curtain was not there, “you three are the ones I personally invited. That means you know more about what kind of a trip this is than the others in the car. I'd rather it remain that way so none them want to leave before arrival. Might sound mean that we’re tricking them, but it’ll help everyone in the long run in getting what we want.”
Gary then turned his attention to Katie with a smile and knowing eyes.
“I also couldn’t help noticing that one of you came fully prepared for this trip,” Gary chuckled and still whispering, added, “Katie, did you want to show me more of that cute butt of yours, or are you hoping to play some before we arrive?”
The mouse gave the otter’s dress a flick, lifting it up high enough so all the others could see that she had no panties on. Stephanie did gasp at the sight, though it was more the fact that she just saw her friend’s privates. It was also helping the porcupine realize that she was going to see everyone’s private parts soon enough. Sooner than expected, it seemed, for Mister Creedence was unbuckling his belt and pants.
”How about the rest of us follow Katie’s example, and show how willing and committed you are to doing what has to be done to have a good time on this trip. And become superstars while having fun.”
Stephanie rubbed at her eyes and nose once more, trying to dry them. She was real uncomfortable seeing the adult remove his pants and exposing his penis. A penis that was hard again. However, the talent agent did make sense. They were all going to be around nude people, and they were all going to be naked as well. This did seem like the best way to show that they were committed to the trip and to the agency.
She looked over at the older boy, who she barely even knew, and hesitantly reached under her dress and pulled her own underwear off. The panties were pink with flowers imprinted on them, and holes speckled the worn fabric. After placing her panties away in the hoody on her lap, she took a deep breath and lifted up the hem of her own dress so the others in the back seat could see her own bare crotch. After a few seconds, she started to slowly spread her legs. She even lifted the dress higher, but so to hide her face, which resulted in showing more of her chubbiness, and even some of her immature chest.
Stephanie could not believe that she was doing this, but Katie seemed more than fine with it. The otter obviously knew how to have fun, and knew what to do in order to be a star some day. There was no way the boys would like a pudgy porcupine as much as they liked Katie, but Stephanie had to try her best to compete with the lovely girl. The porcupine carefully shifted in the seat, and lifted her left leg onto the cushion so that the two males could see her much better. Her thick thighs, and the puffy fat lips of her vulva were now fully exposed. Due to her having one leg lifted and spread, they could even see some of the pink between her legs. She still held the dress over her face.
---
Now that the majority of Katie’s animosity towards Stephanie had been sufficiently eroded by the alcohol in her, the otter was much bubblier and giddy, and just a little bit fussy as she picked free another quill or two to add to the pile Gary had made. At the same time, the girl explained very simply that the hoodie was a disposable asset to hide her identity. Katie just couldn’t help but smile at that notion. Stephanie was already acting like a budding movie star, feeling like she had to hide from prying eyes that might recognize her.
Of course, the real reason was far less glamorous, but a girl could still fantasize. It sounded like the perfect life for Katie, if she could just get her foot in the door. And at least she and the porcupine shared that lofty ambition. Even though they’d likely be in a competition for popularity. That made Katie’s smile shrink a little, but then Stephanie drew her out of her drunken thoughts with an apology, and the warmth returned.
“That’s okay, the feeling’s mutual, hon,” she cooed sweetly, leaning against the porcupine slightly. She wasn’t bold enough to risk getting pricked, but the otter had clearly become more… cuddly. “I’m really surprised you came, honestly..! But, hey.. the more the merrier, right?”
Stephanie leaned over to one side to thank Hobart next, even though she seemed uncertain as to why, so Katie promptly leaned over to come up beside her and give the opossum a suspicious squint, before bluntly moving a paw in the infamous gesture to symbolize that she was keeping an eye on him for any funny business. Now that she had a girlfriend to hang out with, Katie was determined to helicopter over her.
As she was jabbing a stumpy black claw at the boy, Gary finally spoke up to address the trio, explaining what they already knew, before adding one caveat which made Katie frown for a moment. She’d really been hoping Stephanie and her could break the news to Jake on the limo, but instead, they would have to wait until after they arrived. It was disappointing but understandable. And Katie didn’t get long to dwell on it before the older rodent leveled a knowing look at her and grinned in such a way that the girl couldn’t stop herself from smiling sweetly in response.
When he inevitably pointed out her distinct lack of underwear, the otter giggled and leaned back into her seat to let him reach over and lift the front of her dress. Katie was neither shy nor embarrassed when Gary exposed her privates for the other two to see, and in fact happily reached down to her small, fluffy mound and pulled up on the skin above her slit, making the clitoral hood bulge outward briefly as she spread her legs lewdly. It was a quick, playful gesture, but she made it pretty clear to the adult that it had naughtier implications.
“I thought you’d never ask, Mister Creedence...” she answered coyly, putting on a bit of a British, upper-crust accent, like she were a proper lady instead of the sex-starved little slut her father had made her into. Not that she was particularly bothered by it. In fact, she loved the attention it got her more than anything. “...Mmnn.. but I was certainly hoping you would.”
With a seductive lick of her lips, it was clear that Katie was well-versed in the ways of manipulating men, but then it was easy when what they wanted and what she wanted were the same thing. And it was clear what the otter wanted as she wasted no time in stripping out of her fancy dress. All that time poring over her wardrobe, trying to decide which outfit to pick, just to throw it off fifteen minutes into their ride. Worth it, she thought drunkenly as she stood to lift her single piece of clothing up over it her head, showing off her long, lanky form, full, perfectly shaped hips, and her bare, fuzzy chest.
She did a quick twirl and plopped back down into her seat to set the dress aside while Gary encouraged the other two to follow her example, as he too began to disrobe. Katie watched him reveal his erection with keen interest, going so far as to lean forward for a closer look while he worked his pants down. As much as she wanted to go for it right away, she wanted his permission first. Before she could ask though, Stephanie had begun to undress as well, and now, bright, curious, hazel eyes had locked onto the porcupine as she removed her underwear and proceeded to expose herself.
In Katie’s inebriated state, she was quite fascinated by the other girl’s anatomy and bravery in spreading her legs as she raised her clothing high enough to expose her whole front. Even in her present condition, the otter knew she was probably blushing furiously behind her skirt, but self-control was suddenly out of the question for Katie. So when she saw that adorable little, untouched, virgin slit, begging to be broken in, the mustelid automatically phased into Stephanie’s personal bubble, lifting the leg the girl had raised onto the seat to wriggle under it simply so she could get close enough to reach for her privates.
“Awww, it’s so cute, Rose! Can I play with it? Pleeeease?” she giggled eagerly.
Unfortunately, she didn’t wait for an answer before suddenly and rudely shoving her index finger in-between those puffy lips. It’d been quite some time since Katie was a virgin, so she might’ve forgotten in her drunken haze, just how much it had hurt the first time. That didn’t stop her though, from trying to wriggle her little digit as far into her birth canal as she could. The reaction was about as obvious as one would’ve expected, and the second the otter realized her error, she pulled free in a hurry and held up her paws apologetically.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” she repeated frantically, looking almost as shocked by her actions as Stephanie did. “I forgot to wait for permission first, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to—a-are you okay? Did I hurt you? I’m really sorry, I swear!”
---
There is just no way they will want to look at me with Katie here, Stephanie thought as she blindly pictured how those with her in the backseat were reacting to her display of untouched porcupine puss. The girl was just starting to feel comfortable about what she was doing, and what was happening, when she heard Katie talk. And the otter sounded a lot closer than she thought!
There was a sudden pressure on her privates that felt both childish and knowledgeable. Stephanie did not have time to react to this surprise invasion of her privacy when that finger kept moving past the outer lips of her nethers, and deep into her vaginal canal. Not only was this a hole that had been vacant of any intruders, but these knuckled digits kicked down the door that was protecting this private space!
“AHH!” screamed the violated child.
Katie barely retracted her hand and arm from between the girl’s legs as they slapped shut with a loud smacking sound. The otter was forced to lean back into Mister Creedence as Stephanie rolled off the backseat and onto the car’s floor with a flump. The porcupine had bit down onto her dress to help draw focus away from the pain between her legs, and to try to keep quiet. On the floor, the others could only see her back and tail; a ball of quills that were rubbing up against the seat and the curtain as the cub cried quietly, the hollow spears echoing with each shuddering breath. She could hear the otter that hurt her repeatedly apologizing, and Katie did sound sincere. Stephanie, however, was overly confused as to what Katie was even trying to do.
THAT BLOODY HURT! And on that thought, Stephanie thought she could feel blood! She cut my coochie!
Besides Katie’s frantic apologies, the girl on the floor could also hear Hob and Gary trying to comfort her. She could feel someone attempting to touch her, which only made her shake her tail defensively at them. It almost sounded like that of a rattlesnake’s tail. She suddenly heard Katie’s voice near her head. The otter must have slid over the seat to get around the quills. It was sounding as if Katie had been unaware about something, and saying that it would only be that one time. She was also wanting to see the porcupine’s face again.
The quills slowly settled down along her back and tail. Stephanie carefully raised her head to look over at Katie. She still had the hem of her dress in her mouth and between her buck teeth. Her nose was runny, her eyes were bloodshot, and the fur of her cheeks were damp once more. Stephanie now allowed the boys to help her back into her seat beside Katie, and to pull the dress from out of her mouth.
Hob was saying something about watching him as he took his own clothes off, but she could not get herself to look. Stephanie no longer had any interest, feeling like she had embarrassed herself twice. And her privates still stung. The porcupine kept her face leaned against the frame of the car while she heard the apparent stripping of marsupial pants and underwear.
“I think I’m bleeding… down there,” Stephanie said softly, unsure if anyone was even going to hear or care.
---
Hobart wanted to be reassuring. To be a little like his own dad treated him when he was scared. Unfortunately, he didn't have that much experience with it, and then Mr. Creedence had gone ahead and assigned Katie to the task. Oh well. As long as he could help keep bullies away from the porcupine, he would still be fulfilling his promise, right?
When Katie flashed them, the possum at first didn't really register it. Being around naked girls was so completely alien to him that he hadn’t recognized what he was looking at. Even when Creedence grabbed his shoulder to make sure he didn't miss any of the action, it felt kind of like static in his brain. It wasn't until the mouse spoke that Hobart really snapped out of it. He still hadn't fully grasped that he’d seen her nethers by that point. A situation, he realized, she was about to fix in quite the forward fashion. She proceeded to slip out of her dress while all three of them watched—two of them struck dumb—like it was the most natural thing in the world for her to do.
Hobart glanced aside at Stephanie, ready to reassure or calm her if necessary. At the same time, he realized with embarrassment that he was growing as flushed as the porcupine was. How humiliating. The Interview with Creedence had gone over so well, too. So naturally; even when he'd slid that mouse cock into his bum all the way to the balls.
And now he felt more nervous than he was the very first time he'd stripped in the locker room earlier that year, after Dasayo had invited him to try out for the after-school program he was putting together. His teacher had announced to the class he would be forming a new sports team. A wrestling team. Hobart loved to watch wrestling on television so it had been no surprise to anyone that he'd been one of the first to sign up. At the same time, almost none of the boys who'd done so had any idea what freestyle wrestling actually was.
He remembered it well. Almost fondly now, although at the time he'd wanted to melt through the floor. They were all somewhat mortified as Dasayo explained they would have to strip all the way down because they couldn't wear their normal underwear. And then the armadillo had spent a while making sure each and every one of the jockstraps was worn the right way. The teacher had always been a little handsy, but before the end of practice, multiple handys had happened.
Things had gone downhill fast. Well, more accurate to say the cubs had gone down fast. Dasayo was a good coach. For both wrestling and… ‘cuddling’. He'd been very clear about what they could and could not tell other adults. By then, everyone enjoyed both wrestling and the… extracurricular asides too much to dare take the chance. While Hobart had not made a secret of his experience when talking to Creedence, he'd also made sure that his coach was never in the discussion.
Later, he would come to realize why he was so blushy through this entire interaction. Where the mistake had been made along the way. After all the activities and… ‘team-building’ exercises that Dasayo and Jasper, his cheetah assistant coach, had subjected the cubs to, Hobart felt too smug and experienced to bother with Sex Ed. Each time he would spend the entire period goofing off and not paying attention, especially since they weren't tested on the material. The result was that, being a single child, he had never actually had a chance—okay, more like given himself a chance—to get a good look at a girl's genitals before, much less those of a fellow pupil.
He could understand Stephanie's apprehension, though. He had felt the same way his first time. It hadn't lasted, of course. Mostly because he realized early that when you are in a locker room, generally no one was usually interested in staring as you got naked. Well, at first no one was interested, because everyone was keeping away from each other and not mingling because they were all too busy being embarrassed (with a few exceptions). Then they'd gotten used to it and pretty much stopped noticing each other's nudity. After a few months of thrice-weekly practice and all those… bodily fluids, however, people were definitely looking again, but they had done so much stuff together naked that no one minded anymore.
He wanted to tell her that. Tell her that she would be doing this so much, that it was no use getting all shy and embarrassed about it. That in the end, people wouldn’t notice. But he also knew this was a lie. You had to be doing it with the same people, and if what Mr. Creedence had said was accurate, that wasn't what they were going to do on this trip. Besides, he'd noticed some people did find the shyness and embarrassment adorable.
Hobart himself, for one, he was beginning to realize. The sight of Creedence's throbbing erection and Katie's shameless exposure had definitely made him start to chub up, but watching Stephanie violate her own instincts as she revealed herself… now THAT made his twin-tipped member throb.
Unfortunately, he was blushing and squirming too much to actually talk to her. This also accounted for how, despite reflexes honed by a room full of naughty cubs and combat sports, he couldn't possibly react fast enough to stop Katie’s impulsive advance, which triggered another loud outburst from Stephanie. He briefly palmed his forehead. And here I thought Travis was the one I was going to have to keep away from her… he thought.
It was worse this time. When she'd seen everyone, she'd just panicked and literally pinned herself in place. This time she protectively threw herself on the ground sobbing from the discomfort and humiliation.
"It's okay…! It's okay…! She won't do it again..." Now it was his turn to glare at Katie: "Right? You're going to be alright. You can get used to this." He meant getting undressed, but in his nervousness didn't realize what it actually sounded like.
He knew sexual contact, done well, wasn't supposed to hurt, but the thought didn't really come to him, much less the thought of trying to explain. Aside from the fact Stephanie was in no state to listen to, much less believe him, his concerns were elsewhere, specifically staying clear of the quills as he tried to reassure the poor girl. Eventually she did settle down a little and he helped her up. He couldn't hide his surprise when he saw that she still had the bottom of her dress in her mouth. In fact, her sharp incisors had bitten clear through the fabric and they needed to unhook it from her teeth before it could fall off.
She didn't answer. The situation had turned from sexy, to embarrassing, to unbearably awkward. It wasn't until Mr. Creedence reminded him that Hobart realized it wasn't fair he should be the only one still dressed.
"Erm… guess if I get to see you, you should get to see me," he offered as he stepped back.
He was still blushing in embarrassment himself. Unlike Creedence, he didn't have a big enough erection that it could be seen while he was still dressed (especially since, unlike the adult, he had underwear on). Now he was finding out how foolish he had been to tell her she'd get used to it. Because as it was turning out… he wasn't used to it either. Well, used to undressing in the company of others, sure. Used to undressing while people were just staring at him? Not so much.
Still he had done it back then when starting with the team. Every one of the cubs on the team had. He wasn't going to back down now, especially after Katie had thrown down the gauntlet so casually. At the same time, he wanted to be cool about it. All that managed to do, really, was to make him look like he was trying to delay the inevitable as he slipped his T-shirt off. Then south went his shorts, revealing briefs in a 80's-style neon sunset pattern, complete with the silhouettes of palm trees and birds. The underwear alone, however, couldn't hide his erection anymore even though it wasn't particularly big.
Ignoring Katie's inevitable commentary about his underwear, Hobart hooked his thumb into the waistband and yanked the briefs down all the way to his knees, where they promptly pooled at his feet so he could step out of them. He was mostly nervous about the reaction Stephanie might have to his unusual genitals. They didn't really start covering exotic reproductive anatomy until later in the year. His bifurcate penis had fascinated the whole team for a while, but eventually they'd gotten used to it. If Stephanie could get use to that particular visual, she could get through anything the trip might throw at her, he figured.
She didn't answer. In fact, she didn't look at him at all. She said something about bleeding. He glanced down at her crotch, but respectfully did not lift her dress again.
"When it's done right, it isn't supposed to. Katie has no self-control," another glare to the tipsy, if contrite girl. The jab was somewhat… okay it was entirely unnecessary, but he wanted to make it clear to Stephanie that none of this was her fault. "Still, that was really sexy, how you did it," he tried to compliment the porcupine, still blushing a little as he remembered it, "Before Katie ruined it, anyway."
---
Initially Katie feared she’d been too forward with Stephanie, and that the physical contact had startled the girl, but when she screamed and threw herself off the backseat in an almost feral reaction to the pain, the otter began to reconsider. As it was, Katie was forced to throw herself into Gary to avoid the porcupine’s quills as she lunged into a spiky ball on the floor, but as she laid there with her back pressed against the adult rodent’s arm, her brows furrowed with growing concern.
Hobart was all too quick to come to Stephanie’s aid in light of Katie’s justifiably inappropriate behavior, but the otter wasn’t as miffed about his inevitable, dirty glare that followed his promise that she wouldn’t do it again. Rather than scowl, as she might have sober, Katie offered a small, sheepish smile as she met his gaze with sparkling innocence; even as the finger she’d so rudely shoved into the poor porcupine slowly slipped into her curious maw for a taste.
However, the instant Katie’s licking tongue picked up a metallic taste amidst the girl’s natural flavor, her expression twisted into something close to horror. The finger slipped out of her muzzle suddenly with a pop as she clasped her other paw over her mouth in a muted gasp. The otter realized the depths of her mistake then, pushing away from Gary to crawl across the cushions on hands and knees.
Naturally her tail was raised to show off her goods for the journey, but it wasn’t a conscious effort, as Katie bypassed the pointy quills that quivered and rattled defensively in response to the opossum’s efforts to get close and comfort the sobbing girl on the floor. Although the otter had lost some of her buzz after figuring out what had happened, she was still drunk enough to make her movements clumsy as she flopped down on the opposite end of the back seat, butt in the air as she lowered down close enough to apologize properly.
“I’m really sorry, Steph, I didn’t know you were still a—I mean… I didn’t realize it was your… first time,” she stammered somewhat uncomfortably. It was clear she was genuinely sincere, perhaps even feeling guilty for having been the one take it from her like that. “But i-it only hurts that first time, I swear..! Then it gets better!”
She tried to smile, in the hopes her reassurance might pull Stephanie out of her thorny bubble, but when the porcupine didn’t respond right away, Katie’s brows sank and she frowned a little, before shifting to a more playful, friendly demeanor: “C’mon Rose… let me see that prize-winning smile. You know… the one that Jake gets to bask in all the time at lunch, mm..? It’s such a pretty smile.”
When her softly spoken words finally yielded the response she hoped for, Katie let out a small, quiet sigh of relief. For a moment there, she was worried the girl might never forgive her, but as Stephanie’s quills began to relax, and her teary eyes emerged to meet Katie’s, the otter greeted her with the warmest smile she could muster. Although the sniffling girl didn’t say a word, she signaled she was amenable to their assistance to help her back into her seat. While the males lifted her to her feet to sit her down, Katie took over the task of separating the poor girl’s teeth from the fabric she’d bitten clean through.
Katie couldn’t help feeling bad, seeing that. It must’ve hurt considerably, and given the resistance she’d met when worming her finger in there, she had a pretty good idea why. Not only had she been a virgin,but the opening to her vagina was probably very small. And Katie, always one to throw caution to the wind, hadn’t once considered that Stephanie might’ve been a first-timer. Which hurt her pride a little, because she liked to think herself pretty adept at accurately guessing one’s sexual activity based on smell and appearance alone. When she was sober, anyway.
Once Stephanie was on the back-seat again, Hobart was given the green-light to undress as well, with Katie fussing over the loose threads in the porcupine’s skirt—where she’d ripped a hole almost at crotch level—as she watched. Not that damage to her clothing would matter on a nudist cruise, but if it had been Katie’s outfit she would’ve been royally miffed. So she continued to baby the girl after her second date with the limo floor, hoping to avoid a third. All the while, the opossum slowly disrobed, and the otter could not help but be fascinated.
She always loved looking at and playing with other cub’s privates, but after a while she’d seen most of the forms that a boy’s penis came in. So the more exotic kinds really got her attention. And though she and Hobart weren’t on the best terms, given current events, she was more than happy to ogle at his body as it was revealed. However… when those… gaudy underpants emerged, Katie’s reaction was instant and displeased.
“Good grief, my eyes!” she complained in clear exaggeration. “Get that awful thing off before we all go blind! What a fashion disaster!”
It felt good to get back at him a little for his earlier attitude, but then, that underwear clearly deserved it too. It should’ve come with warning signs, because that simulated sunset was almost as bright as the real thing. Luckily Hobart chose to ignore her blatant insult regarding his fashion choices, but more importantly, he was swift to remove the offending article of clothing and show off the erection he’d been hiding. At that point Katie leaned forward with interest and curiosity as she gave the twin-headed organ her full, undivided attention.
She was already reaching out with a paw to touch it when she mentally corrected herself. Katie had to literally pump the breaks on her own compulsive behavior to withdraw her eager digits at first. However that changed when Stephanie spoke up in a soft whisper to voice the inevitable concern the otter had been expecting. Before she could respond, Hobart butted in for another jab back at her, and Katie’s smile dropped briefly into a deadpan “oh no you just didn’t” expression.
The paw which had been starting to retract, promptly lunged outward to deliver a hefty pluck to the sensitive heads of Hobart’s erection, before her attention returned to Stephanie in a complete 180 from spiteful to caring.
“It is my fault, Steph. And I really am sorry,” she apologized again, trying to ignore the older boy for the time being so she could make an offer she hoped Rose wouldn’t refuse. “Do you… want me to kiss it better? I promise it won’t hurt..”
---
Gary had been a bit surprised by his own suggestion to get naked, or just pantsless in his case, but the sight of Katie’s lovely rear-end had caused the mouse to start thinking more with his dick and less with caution. And as things progressed, he had begun to regret the choice.
Everything had started out great, of course. The otter was even more of an exhibitionist now than she was in her audition. It made Gary wish that there were not oblivious cubs on the other side of the privacy curtain. He wanted to see, and enjoy this girl without any hindrances. Then Stephanie, who he thought would need some prodding, had taken off her own panties and was spreading her legs to allow them all to see everything she’d originally kept hidden. They all had scooted themselves on the seat so to give the spikey girl more room to show herself off, and Gary could feel the possum’s own erection rubbing up on this elbow through the boy’s shorts as the lad watched the bashful girl attempt to not be shy.
And that was when things slammed to a halt.
The boozed up water ferret dove right into the porcupine’s clam with one of her fingers, resulting in the porcupine’s grand prize being stolen away from all other potential lovers. Stephanie’s virginity was one of the things Gary was selling for this trip. For the talent agent, he was seeing his money vanish in that loud and regretful instant. All the rodent could do was sit and watch as the porcupine cried out in pain, and did a defensive flop onto the floor. Hob was then standing up and scooting towards the fallen girl, making comments toward Katie that were likely to make him more enemies than friends. Gary could appreciate the boy’s sincerity and desire to help, but Hob did not seem to realize that he would have to work with everyone that was in the limo, eventually.
Gary was starting to get up as well when Katie began to slink across the seat so she could avoid the quills, and thus get closer to Stephanie’s head. This action gave the grown up another eyeful of that cute cunt and asshole that got him horny to begin with. While Katie whispered to her friend, the mouse idly stroked his flagging erection back to full size while watching the cub work her charms. That was when he realized that Hob was still fully dressed, which Gary thought was odd considering how quick the child was to get out of his clothes in the office.
“Hey, Hob,” whispered the mouse as he got up to assist in getting the girl off the floor, which was a risky task with his dick and balls exposed to the quills on her back. “Why don’t you go on and get undressed, so we can finish our commitment.”
Like Hob, Gary was also hoping that the boy’s genitals would calm things down. It was definitely a distraction for Katie, who was going right for the young male’s double ended penis when it came into view. At least she was until something was muttered by Stephanie, which Gary did not quite catch as he had moved over to the other side of the seat. What he did hear was Hob’s comment about Katie, which was followed by a yelp, as the otter’s response was to flick her fingers at the tip of his erection.
Gary got an idea of what was said earlier when Katie suggested that she kiss Stephanie’s pussy to make it feel better. For Gary, this was a great idea. The adult placed a leg up on the seat so to face the girls easier, stroking himself in anticipation of the possible lesbian act.
“Stephanie, dear,” Gary said with a soft and warm voice. “I suggest letting Katie make up with you, and let her do that for ya. In this particular situation, a kiss really can make the pain go away.”
Stephanie had been listening to everything as she tried to mentally calm down. She had also been enjoying the coolness of the plastic that was pressed against her face. A part of her almost looked over to see the underwear that Katie was talking about. She was also curious to see another boy’s penis, since she had only seen her daddy’s and Mister Creedence’s peepees prior to this moment. The pain between her legs, however, was just too distracting.
The time she saw her dad’s penis was long ago, and still a very odd thing for her to think about. It had been close to her sixth birthday. She had woken up early one morning, the sun not yet up. She’d gotten out of bed, and went to go use the restroom. In the dark hallway, she saw that the light in the restroom was turned on. Quietly opening the door, the young cub peeked through the crack. Looking in revealed her mother standing naked in the shower. Her father was standing outside of the tub and also just as naked. He had his dick fully out of its sheath, and was peeing all over her mother’s body!
Stephanie had quickly backed away from the door as soon as she realized what was happening in the bathroom, and that she was seeing something that cubs should not be witnessing. Ignoring the urge to pee, the young girl had gone to the living room to watch cartoons until her parents were done. Over the years, Stephanie would forget about that moment. But the image of her dad’s pink flesh and a stream of urine spraying out of it’s tip onto her smiling mother’s fur would resurface to the front of her memories at random moments, just as it was now.
Wait. Did Katie just suggest that kissing my foofy would help?!
Stephanie’s eye widened as she realized what was being said to her by both Katie and Mister Creedence. Finally, the cub moved her head off the wall to look at them. Katie was right by her side, and presenting the friendliest smile she had ever seen on the popular girl. Hob was turned away from her, giving her only a full view of his bare tail and butt cheeks. And Mister Creedence was…
The porcupine hurriedly turned away from the sight of the adult mouse’s lewdness. In the relaxed pose the agent was in, Stephanie was able to see everything as he leisurely stroked his erection up and down. His actions were causing his surprisingly large testicles to lift up with each tug and show off a dark, pink anus hiding behind them. Stephanie had seen these actions before during her audition, but the actions were now so much more… perverted?
I saw his butt hole, the cub thought to herself as the image of her agent masturbating replayed through her head like a video on a repeated loop. Does everyone’s butthole look like that?
Stephanie gave her head a small shake to help clear her mind. They were suggesting that she allow Katie to kiss her where it hurt. The porcupine was not sure if that was a good idea. Did kissing a booboo ever actually work? And kissing a foofy sounded very dirty. But Mister Creedence was saying that it really would make her feel better down there. Also, it seemed to be a good idea to let another girl take a look, and make sure she was not hurt too badly. Even if that girl was the one that had caused the pain to begin with.
“Uhm, uh, Okay?” Stephanie said in hesitant agreeance. Rose slowly allowed herself to open her legs again so that the otter could get between her thighs. “Pleeease be careful this time.”
As Katie prepared to treat Stephanie’s injury, Gary reached over to the opossum by his side. He placed a hand on the boy’s thick tail, giving it a stroking motion like he was with his other hand on his cock. When he had Hob’s attention, the mouse slowly pulled the boy toward his lap.
“Let’s enjoy the show together,” Gary whispered so that only Hob could hear.
---
Hobart was growing mildly frustrated. He'd been trying to be social with the porcupine girl. At least more social than he'd been before. But it was hard to do that with Katie being her boisterous self and relegating him to something of a third wheel. This was all the more embarrassing as he was interested in the happenings too. Not for quite the same reasons as Creedence. Whereas for the adult this was all about the naughtiness and the arousal, for Hobart, it was tickling his curiosity. He had done a lot of things with boys, but never really looked at a girl's parts, much less done anything with them.
He had wanted to get a good, close look at Stephanie's parts before Katie had nuked the mood from orbit. By now, trying to do so would not just be inappropriately butting into the girls' fun, but also give Katie a chance to full-on humiliate him, and there was no way Hobart was letting her do that. Still, it wasn't really Katie's fault events had unfolded to frustrate him, so he couldn't even be angry at the otter. Oh, he was annoyed by her habit of assuming the world revolved around herself, but she wasn't exactly doing it all on purpose to get at him. Well, she had done a few things, but they were all quite inconsequential.
The opossum had expected her comments about his underwear—if Katie was one thing, it was predictable—and already knew he couldn't care less whether she liked them or not. What was important was that he did. Besides it wasn't any less gaudy than the outfits of his heroes on television who fought, clotheslined, and piledrived each others with gusto. Hobart knew she wouldn't say that if he were in a ring, but at the same time, he knew not to fight someone with no fighting experience. He didn't want to turn into Lyle. Having conversation pieces in your wardrobe was supposed to be fashionable, too, or so he'd heard it said on TV at one point. Had TV been wrong? Or was Katie just messing with his mind?
The flick he should have seen coming. Again, Katie was predictable. It stung more from the fact that he hadn't been at the ready to block her than because of the fingerpluck itself. It was a reminder of how his earlier failure had resulted in Stephanie actually getting hurt, even after he'd promised he wouldn't let that happen. Of course, Katie hadn't been on Hobart's mind when he'd promised that, but that wasn't much comfort. When he'd enrolled, he thought wrestling would prove to have practical uses. Not so much, it was turning out.
He barely registered Katie's suggestions, distracted as he was growing with Creedence's masturbation. When the mouse had merely been exposed, it hadn't bothered him. Though 'bothered' was hardly the right word to describe it. Barely noticed was more accurate. But now that the mouse was working himself again, the light noises and especially the smells were definitely registering with Hobart. He wanted to look. No, not look. He wanted very much to help the nice man that might help make him into a true fighter like his pro-wrestling heroes. But at the same time, he wanted to look at what Katie was going to do. He couldn't help wondering how that worked. There was nothing transgressive to Hob about gay sex, even with an adult. Lesbian stuff, now, he had never even really considered, and as a result it seemed so very, very naughty.
When Stephanie agreed to Katie's offer, not without some additional prodding from Creedence, he found himself letting out a sigh of relief. He hadn't even noticed that he had been holding his breath. He would get to see how girls did it. At the same time he wanted to shove his face in the ample sack of the mouse. Dasayo's balls were nice and all, but with the rodent there was just more to love. The possum had greatly enjoyed nuzzling at them, and right now he found himself torn between wanting to stuff his face down between Creedence's legs and staring at the upcoming girl-on-girl action.
What tipped the scale definitely was a paw starting to stroke at the base of his tail. While Hobart was not quite as slutty as Katie, he too had been well groomed. The various cub fuckers that had been in his life since Dasayo had taken him under his wing and made sure it was pretty much a Pavlovian reflex already. Within seconds the possum's tail was slowly rising, revealing a firm butt that Creedence probably hadn't had as much time to admire last time as he'd have liked. The cub didn't really notice it either way, not until the larger mouse had started to actually tug him toward his genitals.
Hobart found himself drooling. He swallowed, eyes flickering between the throbbing, now leaking length that jutted between the agent's legs and the action that was starting to go down between the two girls. His concerns that Katie might pull off something stupid again were soon cast away. He sunk to his knees, not unlike Katie had, and started pressing his face against the mouse's sack. Before long his paws were gripping the length and replacing the adult's. He seemed to have forgotten about the girls.
---
The older opossum hadn’t been the only one waiting with bated breath for Stephanie’s approval, as Katie was quivering nervously in her seat, hoping she hadn’t damaged their relationship like she’d just done to the poor girl’s hymen, thanks to her overzealous, blunt approach to foreplay. The otter hadn’t even waited for permission, thus bulldozing through her own most important rule of engagement. Never harm your partner. Unless they wanted you to, of course.
It was a rule she struggled with daily around Jake, simply because she would always be denied if her request was too… extreme. And what counted as ‘extreme’ for the timid bunny was… well… almost everything. Far as she knew, Stephanie was similarly minded, seeing as how the two got along so well during their lunch break, so she fully expected to be shot down. Especially after the stunt she’d just pulled. She could still taste a hint of blood on her tongue as an unpleasant reminder, all the while hoping she would be permitted to make it all up to the porcupine.
When Gary spoke up to state his own approval of the idea, Katie’s ears twitched and her spirit lifted slightly. If Mister Creedence was on her side, then she must’ve been on the right track with her offer, and that warmed her cheeks considerably. Also, with the mouse on board too, it was suddenly possible that the hurting girl would agree to it, and that had the otter’s smile widening ever so slightly in hopeful expectation.
Of course, Katie failed to consider the possibility that maybe, possibly, the poor girl was going to be peer-pressured into the act. So when Stephanie finally uttered her consent, the otter sucked in air with an excited, barely contained squeak, nodding her head furiously in response to the girl’s request for caution even as she slithered off the cushion beside the porcupine and nestled in-between her tentatively spreading legs. Before Katie could dive right in though, her wandering gaze spotted the males nearby, beginning to engage in their own game.
The otter paused briefly to watch the interaction out of her peripherals while she examined the mess she’d caused between Stephanie’s legs. It wasn’t much to see, since the porcupine had such a recessive, squat little pussy, but Katie was able to gingerly press a thumb against her fuzzy mound to pull upwards and stretch it out slightly; just enough for her meaty clitoral hood to bulge outward. It was every bit as adorably chubby as the rest of Stephanie, but what the otter was looking for and found, made her frown a little.
A single droplet of blood had formed at the entrance and trickled out as she carefully spread one of her lips to see into the small slit.
“Uh—okay… if… if it hurts at all, just tell me and I’ll stop. I promise,” she said reassuringly, even as her attention shifted slightly towards Gary and Hob to suggest, “You can watch them play if you need a distraction.”
That might’ve been a risky suggestion of course. Certainly it would have been with Jake in Stephanie’s place, but there was a chance that the porcupine might be as interested as Katie was by the parallel activity playing out beside them. Of course, the otter was focused less on the main action, and more on the opossum’s neglected organ. Even as he sat kneeled beside her to service their collective talent agent’s enticing package, she couldn’t take her eyes of that bobbing, two-headed creature.
Despite how they’d been treating each other—and the nigh-unforgivable act of wearing such flashy underwear—Katie was almost willing to forgive and forget if it meant she could play with that curious-looking appendage eventually. After all, Gary’s manhood was interesting, and his large testes most enjoyable to explore, but it was also nothing she hadn’t seen before. If you saw one rodent penis, you’d seen them all. Marsupials however, didn’t follow such a bland, evolutionary model. Case-in-point; one shaft, two heads.
She could just picture herself rolling them around with her tongue, and was already wondering if its weak spot laid between the tips or elsewhere. There were curiosities her brain demanded be satisfied, but she couldn’t oblige herself right now. For the time being at least, those fantasies would curtail the desire to insert herself into the boys’ fun for a threesome. Besides, she had her own partner to explore, and it felt like a rare opportunity she couldn’t refuse.
In her mind, in some way, playing with Stephanie would be like playing with a more willing, female version of Jake. She hoped, anyway. It was still entirely possible that the second Katie’s upstairs lips touched the porcupine’s downstairs lips, another freak-out might be triggered. It was the kind of ‘dangerous’ game the otter couldn’t help but find thrilling. An adrenaline rush of fear and pleasure, that was what swelled up inside her as Katie finally made her move, leaning in slowly and deliberately, her warm breath washing over Stephanie’s privates.
Rather than immediately create a seal with her lips though, the otter’s tongue protruded from her maw to gently lick up the blood that had stained the bottom half of the girl’s vagina, tracing the slimy muscle from the bottom, all the way to the tip, to apply pressure to Stephanie’s concealed clitoris, forcing it upward and slipping between the outer folds to graze the sensitive bulb inside, before her tongue popped out of the fleshy track.
She waited for a moment or two to gauge the girl’s initial response to her surface treatment, before taking the inevitable plunge with her tongue, between both sets of lips and up to the entrance of the hole she’d injured. Then, with all the expertise and care of a female experienced with her own gender, she proceeded to carefully lap at the bloodied walls and torn tissue, attempting to determine the extent of the damage while nursing and massaging at the same time. And, of course, she was ready to pull out in an instant. Though fear of that possibility ensured she gave it her best effort. In fact, she was almost determined to get a climax out of Stephanie, just to prove what she’d told the girl earlier was true.
And while Katie had managed to get her tongue into someone else’s privates in almost record time, her counterpart, Chris, was annoyed as ever. On the other side of the curtain, he’d stopped wondering what his sister was up to when Mitch, in all his infinite ‘wisdom’ decided to make up a drinking game using the fully stocked mini-fridge and its likely expensive bounty of alcoholic beverages in convenient sample-sized containers. They were perfectly sized for cubs, actually. In fact, if Chris hadn’t known better, he’d suspect it was intentional.
But… there was no way anyone could have planned for Chris to bring along a disruptive hooligan like Mitch. Even less likely was anyone in the known universe accounting for Mitch dragging Travis along as well. That had surprised the otter for sure, and now he was really, really beginning to regret his decision to invite the raccoon. Even as he watched both troublemakers struggling to empty their first full mickeys of Captain Jackrabbit, it was clear this was a horrible mistake.
Luckily Mitch was the first to finish his bottle, but when he came up for air, he was gasping and clutching his throat, teeth clenched as he worked his way through the bitter taste and the burning sensation that followed his esophagus all the way into his now grumbling stomach. Okay, so… sure, Mitch had had a sip or two of various forms of alcohol in the past, but never had he chugged a WHOLE bottle, even a little one. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea… he thought with a strained groan as he waited for the nausea to pass.
When he could finally see clearly again—after blinking away the tears that had formed in his eyes—Mitch looked up to see Travis with his own empty bottle and not looking so hot either. However, it was clearly a little easier for him to stomach. The raccoon didn’t like that, so he tried to play off his own discomfort.
“Mmm…! Man, that’s some good stuff, right?” he said with a smirk, tossing his empty bottle onto the carpet. “Yo, bartender, gimme another!”
From the look of Mitch’s goofy expression, he was already feeling flush from such a sudden influx of alcohol, and Chris frowned, furrowing his brow in growing concern.
“Mitch… I don’t think this is a good idea,” he stated bluntly, drawing a crooked glare from the raccoon.
“Pssh..! Don’t be a… y’know… a mud-stick or… something. Whatever! Let loose a ‘lil, man. Have some fun for once!” the babbling trash panda ranted, waving his arms in the air and promptly flopping onto his back in an unflattering manner that put his privates on display once more; at least until he could get his arms under him to sit up again.
Out of all the boys, none was more concerned by the current trend of events than Jake, who so far had observed with increasing anxiety and almost complete silence. Even if he’d known what to say though, it was unlikely anyone would actually listen to him. But then he was likely to only parrot what his own Mommy and Daddy had drilled into his head about alcohol and drugs.
So watching his friends indulge so freely in the forbidden beverage was setting off all kinds of alarm bells in Jake’s head. Cubs shouldn’t be drinking that stuff, but there was only one designated adult in this limo to stop them, and he was currently indisposed behind the curtain at the rear. He thought briefly about tattling out loud before things went any further, but the very idea made his throat clench with trepidation.
Even if he could find his voice to shout, he’d be fulfilling the role of snitch again, which got him bullied enough at school. Mitch certainly wouldn’t appreciate the betrayal, but Travis… that was whom the rabbit feared crossing more than anything. Even if he was reformed, old habits usually died hard, and one thing the jackal had always been good at was spreading rumors at the behest of Lyle. So needless to say, the buck wasn’t eager to give him the pleasure of going around telling cubs at school later how he’d ratted them out.
Still, increasingly flustered by what he was witnessing, Jake could only turn to Chris for advice. As he leaned into the larger otter, the buck tried to relay his concerns in a whisper.
“S-somebody should tell Mister Creedence,” he suggest softly, “Before we all get in trouble… right?”
Chris listened, but frowned and sighed softly, before offering his rebuttal: “I hate to say it, Jake, but… something tells me he might not care that much..”
---
How the bloody hell had he gotten himself into something like this?
The rational part of his mind dwelt briefly upon this question, dismissed it as unimportant and tossed it aside. It’d been fun to see Mitch gag on sniffing Gary’s abandoned beverage. The sight of the normally unflappable raccoon being fazed by something almost made up for how silly Travis himself felt for chugging strange drinks without even bothering to sniff them first.
Whatever: the course of action was clear as day. Mitch’s legendary fortune had run out. He had the coon by the short hairs and was sure this unspoken dare was one he would win.
Wait…what? Travis blinked in confusion at Mitch’s refusal to take a sip. Were you allowed to do that? Simply change the rules mid-game…? Or did that somehow mean he’d won? Naturally, he preferred to interpret it as the latter. “Heh—if y’ say so…chicken!”
It wasn’t every day that he managed to get an upper hand on Mitch. The triumph of this rare occurrence happening so soon after that recent thrashing in pvp co-op mode conspired to put him in an oddly chipper mood: one that not even the mute disapproval of a certain goody-two-shoes otter OR the awkward avoidance of his scaredy-cat companion could ruin.
Mitch’s new idea, on the other hand…
“An…idea?” Travis echoed warily, abandoning the console setup to focus entirely on Mitch. The still-sober part of his mind remained convinced that circumstances demanded nothing less…though he was rapidly forgetting why as seconds continued to tick by. For some reason or other even the most mundane things; such as Chris rolling his eyes in response to Mitch inadvertently flashing them again as he stood struck him as hilariously funny—funny enough that he found himself forced to clap a paw across his snout to stifle an unexpected burst of laughter, gesturing to the curtain barricade as he did so.
“Pfft! Ride a limo, build a fence, Mitch has lost ‘is underpants!”
He’d no idea where that bit of doggerel came from. That didn’t make it any less funny though. Travis collapsed in laughter again, both paws clapped against his muzzle now lest Gary should overhear. Seeing the older boys’ reactions set him off once more, and it was with herculean effort that he managed to get ahold of himself to pay attention to what Mitch was doing. “Ooh—shiny!”
Ordinarily, being a canine meant that he saw the world in greys and whites. That didn’t seem to apply this time, however. It was as though a switch had been flipped from ‘off’ to ‘on’ in his head, and the mesmerizing colours of the liquid sloshing in all those bottles Mitch busied himself laying out was tempting indeed. Greens, blues, reds… He didn’t know whether they looked that way because of the bottle, or if the contents were really those colours, and he couldn’t wait to find out.
It was all he could do to pay attention to Mitch’s proposal as the coon dealt them both four bottles of Captain Jackrabbit in two even rows. So far as he could tell the brewer’s mascot seemed strangely familiar—a discovery Travis wasted no time in pointing out.
“Hey, Jake—this guy looks like you! Heeheeheheh! You’re famous…famouser than…than Katie, even!” This revelation had him squinting closely at the other sample bottles, somehow convinced he’d find a Chris-lookalike otter on one of them too. Sadly, this didn’t appear to be the case. “You aren’t here though, Chris. Wanna see?”
Hefting one of the unopened bottles by the neck, Travis held it out to the otter without bothering to get up from where he lay half sprawled on the ground. By this time it seemed pretty clear that neither Chris nor Jake knew exactly how to respond to this pronouncement. The semi-contemptuous expression Chris had been wearing since Travis first showed up seemed ready to slip, and he looked uncertain as he declined the bottle with a cautious shake of a head. As for Jake, the rabbit seemed to be having trouble deciding whether to feel afraid of him or amused by the proceedings. So far as Travis was concerned, this indicated Progress: at least Jake wasn’t stuttering nervously anymore, and Chris wasn’t threatening to flatten his snout.
Mitch chose this moment to make his re-emergence from the minibar with yet more bottles in hand to survey the situation—a development that Chris immediately rounded upon in equal parts relief and desperation; glad for any sort of distraction from a certain giggly jackal. He made an unfortunately-worded remark for Mitch to reclaim his pants, and the inadvertent use of the word ‘butt’ sent Travis into fresh paroxysms of mirth. All the same he did his best to attend to Mitch explaining the rules. Which were all well and good, exceeeept…
But the raccoon was already drinking, and so Travis followed his lead—unwilling that the other should get a head-start. As before he didn’t much appreciate the taste, and cared even less for how his rival was ‘helping’ him along with his own. It made the contents go down a little too fast, resulting in a spate of coughs and hiccups as he wiped an arm across his muzzle. “I’m not a baby, Mitch! I c’n drink on my own! Sheesh!”
Privately, Travis anxiously hoped that this would prove to be the case. The soda-diluted cocktail he’d swallowed earlier had already burnt his throat like lava, so naturally quaffing the actual stuff proved five times worse. Its fumes muddled his nose and made it sting. He could only hope that somehow Mitch would be feeling the same.
Not that he intended on admitting this to his rival of course… Honour demanded no less.
“s’not yet a game, Mitch,” words and concepts were getting harder to express, forcing Travis to shake his head once or twice to clear the fog from it before continuing on. “Y’need…we need a prize. Also referees an’ stuff: someone to keep score, an’ someone to stop YOU from cheating. Because you’ll cheat, an’ we all know it,” crossing both arms over his suddenly-colourful T-shirt, the cub appealed to Chris for backup. “You’re class moni..monit…class rep, an’ ev’ryone says you’re responsible. Referee for us, ‘kay? I reeeally wanna kick Mitch’s stripey butt.”
Before Chris could reply, he went on to address Jake as well. “An’ like Mitch says, we’ll also need a bar…bartend…person to be in charge of the fridge an’ keep score. Pleeeaase?”
Then there was the other thing to address: “Also, we’re gonna be here forever if it’s Drink-till-ya-Puke. Let’s...let’s make it more int’resting…” A fuzzy memory of what he’d once seen when intruding on Dad’s occasional poker parties came to mind. “Let’s play, uh... Strip-Swallow also. S’like strip-poker only different: We both drink each bottle in ONE go; anybody who puts it down before finishing loses the round…and has to remove one bit of clothing like shirt or pants or whatever. So first one to puke loses…but if nobody pukes yet then whoever’s naked first loses. An’ loser’s gotta do one thing the winner chooses—that’s the prize!”
It was a considerable speech, one made all the more impressive by the fact that his head was feeling slightly out-of-sorts while he was saying it.
“So, are you guys in, or are you chicken?”
---
The instant Travis recovered from his own imbibement, the first words he choked out were in protest of Mitch’s intentional handling of the pup’s drink. However, the raccoon snickered and slumped into the shoulders he was using to prop himself up, looking thoroughly pleased and not at all concerned about it.
“Oh, dude, that was just a percussion… a… precrish—precus… eh… precaution…? Yeah. Y’know, in case yah tried to fake out on me,” he tried to explain, but he was beginning to stumble over his tongue, so rather than argue with Travis, he lazily listened to the jackal’s inevitable attempt to up the ante.
Not that Mitch minded, really. In fact, the other boy’s boldness and willingness to go that extra mile was what he’d always liked about him. Even when he was a Lyle stooge. He liked that fearless quality, because it was something they shared in common. Even Sachel had his limits when it came to the pranks Mitch liked to play, but not Travis. He was game for any crazy plan the raccoon could conjure.
As such, he wasn’t at all disappointed by the jackal’s suggestion not only to raise the stakes, but to include the party-poopers. He was more than game for making it a group effort, especially when the time came for blame to be dished out. It was always better to get caught as a group than on his own. Even if it meant his friends sharing his collective misery in detention. Besides, in the unlikely event that they weren’t all punished for getting into Gary’s alcohol, they all might just enjoy themselves and have a great time.
Jake especially could’ve used a helping hand in that regard, considering his reaction to Travis’ suggestion that he play bartender for them. Even though it was a nice, simple task, the buck withered at the opportunity, having already been teased by the jackal about being on the labels of some of the bottles. Though it did peak his curiosity enough to look at the bottle the younger boy had offered to Chris.
Fortunately, ever the responsible one, the otter turned it down without a word. However he couldn’t help thinking it over before making that decision. Chris was more than well aware of the effects of these drinks, having lived with his alcoholic father for the first half of his life, so he knew there was a relaxing quality to them. Such that a sip, if offered to Jake, might’ve helped to ease his nerves, but he’d felt a pang of guilt for considering it.
The claim it helped one to relax, was the excuse his father had used to get him drunk the first time. It had been a gateway to further abuse, simply for the fact he didn’t resist. Maybe he’d trusted him too much. Either way, he was wary of following in his father’s footsteps. Jake deserved better than that. And right now he really wished he could help the shivering rabbit to calm down, without resorting to alcohol.
At the very least, no one was trying to push it on Jake. Even Travis suggested the buck merely handle the bottles and keep score, an easy enough task, but one that made Jake tense in Chris’ arms. His embraced tightened ever so slightly, before the otter made the decision to separate, much to the bunny’s dismay. He’d gotten used to that warmth and physical contact, but more worryingly, it seemed that Chris was prepared to oblige the whims of these two tipsy boys.
Neither boy had a chance to properly respond to their suggested roles, though, because Mitch, upon hearing Travis’ closing argument, dropped flat against the floor and kicked his legs up in the air, immediately throwing back his top to expose every inch of his naked, furry hide up to his nipples, before swinging himself upright once more with the momentum dropping them down again. His legs swiftly crossed as the landed, and Mitch leaned forward intensely with his best game face on.
“Oh yer on dude! You wanna strip battle, do yah? Look at who yer playin’ against, man. I won’t even need t’cheat. This’ll be an easy win, hah! Oooh man, I can’t wait to win my prize,” he cackled confidently, rubbing his mitts together like a super-villain. “Seriously, T, yer goin’ down so hard, I won’t even need to lose this shirt. But I will anyway, even when I win, ‘cause that’s how chill I am. Hehehe… I’m gonna wait to cash in my prize, though. Gotta make it really good.”
“Yo! BarTENDer!” Mitch called suddenly, snapping his fingers in such a way that even though he didn’t say his name, Jake still flinched with recognition. It helped that he was almost pinning the buck down with a pointy-clawed finger, demanding, “Fetch us..! The good stuff, if you’d please…!”
He was putting on a dramatic act, like he always did, which in its own way helped to ease Jake’s anxiety. Even in this strange new place, Mitch was as at home as if he was outside on the front lawn, or in his living-room. The bunny wished he had that kind of confidence and bravery himself, but just being around the raccoon helped sometimes. Right now though, as he was being singled out, it took a nudge from Chris to break him out of his momentary shock.
With a few quick blinks, Jake glanced between the two faces looking at him, before turning to Chris for direction.
“Go on,” he said softly, “You can sit on the floor by the fridge, in the corner.” When Jake started to frown though, he quickly added, extra quietly, “It might feel safer down there, out of sight.”
He gave Jake’s shoulder a friendly pat and let the boy in his fancy dress-wear slip off the cushion and settle onto the floor in front of the mini-fridge. Almost right away the rabbit opened it and began exploring inside, mostly to sate his curiosity. Of course, when he picked up one of the bottles that looked like the one Travis had offered, he scowled at the illustration on the label. Typical, he thought, White rabbit with black-tipped ears; must be Jake, right? Nevermind that the rendition on the bottle was an adult with a beard and looked nothing like him.
Just one more imagined slight for Jake to put on his mental list, even though he was probably being a little vindictive at this point. But then, his history with Travis hadn’t just disappeared the day Lyle told the jackal to find someone else to mooch off of. The boy just seemed to have a terrible habit of doing every stupid thing he was dared to do, without care for consequences. That made him hard to trust, even though now that he’d latched onto Mitch, his bad behavior had become less chaotic and personally harmful.
Even if Jake could get over the personality bias, he had to admit there was also a species bias too. And though the rabbit had enough of his medication to get him through the trip without freaking out around every predator he encountered, that didn’t change the fact that Travis was both a former bully and a canine. Sure, he was younger, and practically skin and bone, but Jake’s natural instincts had never been the most logical.
The jackal’s punch from earlier hadn’t even hurt. It was the static shock of the sudden contact that had made Jake jump like he did. So why was he so afraid of him? He wasn’t doing mean things anymore, or spreading rumors as far as he knew. And even if Travis had tried, he probably couldn’t physically hurt Jake. Meaning the fear was all in his head, conjured from past experiences. But maybe they were irrelevant now.
Jake certainly hoped so. Either way, the first step towards mending that bridge in his mind was simply not to argue with his assigned task, and so he fished around in the mini-fridge for whatever Mitch considered ‘the good stuff’. Without a frame of reference though, he settled for grabbing one of every kind. The bottles were pretty small, so he was able to hold quite a few as he transferred them to the floor, so he could close the fridge door.
As he sorted through them, reading all the words he could understand on the labels, Chris leveled a hard stare at both Mitch and Travis. The pair were clearly already under the influence, judging by how they wobbled with the effort just to remain upright. So the otter was all but certain this game wouldn’t last for more than a couple rounds before one of them upchucked. And then Gary would certainly intervene to put his foot down. At this point, Chris was ambivalent about their chosen fate.
“Y’know what? Fine. As stupid as this game is, it’ll be worth it to see you both pass out in your own vomit. And for the record? I hope you both lose,” he sighed in frustration, kneading his brow. “Alright, let’s get this over with. According to the… ‘rules’... you’re both tied. Let’s see…”
Leaning forward on the cushions, Chris picked up both of the empty bottles to review their labels, his snout wrinkling at the starting percentage of alcohol in the boys’ chosen beverage. 35% had to be a lot, even for an adult. It was unlikely either Mitch or Travis could hold down what amounted to another whole glass of rum. But then the question was how quickly Chris wanted this trainwreck to last. He had to give it some thought.
“Okay, Jake? Could you grab a couple that say, uh… 40% on the label?” Not the hardest decision he’d ever made, but the boys deserved it. And if they somehow survived this round, neither would win the next. That much Chris was certain of.
“Uhm… hold on… uh… where does it say… o-oh, wait. I see, okay! Uhm, h-how about these two?” the buck suggested, handing over two differently labeled drinks that had the same amount of alcohol. Whether the brand would make a difference was anyone’s guess, but Mitch happily grabbed the once closest to him.
“40%, huh? Sounds like a lot,” Mitch mused smugly, “Think you can handle it Travis? Mmmm?” The raccoon held up his chosen beverage, a mickey of Beavers Creek Whiskey, and jiggled it tauntingly. “Ready when you are, T,” he said, cracking open his bottle and putting it to his lips in preparation to chug it.
Whether or not Travis had timed himself with Mitch, the raccoon went ahead first, ever the daredevil. He upended the bottle and proceeded to gurgle and glug down the foul substance, struggling every step of the way. He got halfway before his throat clenched for a few aching moments, his gag reflex threatening to trigger, but he didn’t stop to breathe until he’d emptied the remaining contents. Only then did he drop the bottle and clasp both paws over his mouth in a very obvious fight to keep the contents of his stomach from decorating the limo carpet.
Almost immediately, the raccoon started to look around for something to throw up in if he needed to, an action which spurred both Jake and Chris into doing the same in a sudden panic. The otter was first to spot the complimentary ice-bucket in a cavity of the limo nearby, pointing it out for the bunny to grab, but by the time they got the bucket into Mitch’s hands he was waving them off.
“Nngh… guh… I’m fine.. I think,” he groaned, holding his head over the bucket just in case.
---
It took a moment or two of Jake saying his name—while waving the clear cut-glass bottle directly in front of his face in a manner only a blind mole would miss—before Travis belatedly registered the rabbit’s presence. “Huh? Oh! A’rite…”
Everything appeared a little fuzzy around the edges. The startling new colours that were so recent a revelation hadn’t yet outlived their novelty; particularly since the cub had quickly discovered that they appeared to change whenever he would reach out with a paw to touch something, or look the other way. He had then proceeded to make the most of this discovery; touching the faux leather limo seats, plush carpeted floor, and even his fellow occupants to make them cycle through a rainbow of colours. Mitch’s over-the-top response to his earlier proposal for a strip battle proved a perfect opportunity to see his awesome new powers in motion, and he’d pounced upon his chance to reach out with a paw to poke experimentally at the raccoon’s uncovered torso—making its fur transition from pink to purple to blue and violet before Mitch scooted back upon his feet and the jersey fell back into place once more, interrupting the fun halfway.
Nor had that been the only stimulus demanding his attention. Chris appeared to the jackal’s alcohol-enhanced senses as equally psychedelic. So fascinated was he with the otter’s rudder-tail that Travis didn’t even feel indignant at Mitch fending his advances away. It seemed to take on a life of its own separate from Chris, and the way it twitched back and forth on the limo seat with its owner’s irritation proved too tempting to ignore. Travis couldn’t resist giving it a tiny bat with his paw, and then another—giggling inanely as it tensed and shifted away each time. It took several patient reminders from otter and rabbit both about how Mitch was already halfway into his swig and therefore in the lead before his own natural competitiveness resurfaced briefly to impose some manner of control upon this situation.
“Yeah, yeah—gimme,” The first attempt to make contact with Jake’s outreached offering—the rabbit seemed to be keeping a prudent distance—resulted in failure, their paws somehow failing to connect. As did the second. And third… After a few rounds of this slapstick comedy Jake eventually relented and came forward, physically bringing the sample bottle into contact with his open paw-pad where he could close his fingers around it. “’Shanks, dude.”
Bottle safely in paw, Travis took a moment to look at it closely. The first thing he noticed was its somewhat…unfortunate…design. For some inexplicable reason or other the manufacturers had opted to package their beverage in a tiny novelty vessel shaped into the likeness of an certain—
“Hahahaaha! Hey look you guys—it’s a…a…thingy! Like the one Sachel’s got!” Ironically enough, the size comparison seemed pretty accurate too; considering this was a sample bottle large enough to only hold a mouthful or two. The twin-sack design that composed its base made it impossible to set down on any kind of flat surface—apparently an intended feature to encourage drinkers to swig its contents in a single swallow without putting the bottle down. This; in conjunction with how the contents within said bottle appeared indistinguishable from plain water—true, his perception of colours were sliiiightly off at this point, but his arm still looked the same colour when he peered at it Through the bottle contents, so that meant the stuff was transparent (right?)—cheered Travis up considerably. Mitch better get ready to eat his shorts, because there was no way this drink could be any worse than the last one.
He made two unsuccessful attempts to pry out the cork with his fingers before giving up the idea as futile, resorting instead to gripping it by the neck/shaft with both paws and wrestling with the rubber stopper with his baby fangs in an unintended mimicry of fellatio which probably didn’t go unnoticed by the others. This evidently yielded success…as well as a snoot-full of potent fumes.
So much for this being water, then. Meh. But how bad could it possibly be, right?
Very bad apparently: the vodka’s first contact upon his tongue burned like the terrible kimchi chilli that Mum was so fond of making, and only the sheer shock of it proved his saving grace when Travis swallowed in reflex instead of spitting it out entirely. That proved to be also a mistake, unfortunately. His throat was totally on fire and the rumbling he could feel deep down in his gut surely signalled nothing good. The speed at which he’d chugged that single swallow also triggered a spate of unexpected hiccups, forcing the puppy to hand over his half-emptied bottle to Jake whilst he drew in breath after deep breath in anxious effort to maintain some form of dignity. Knowing that he hadn’t even managed to empty his bottle after all that made everything worse; and the triumphant grin he could see forming on Mitch’s face—his struggle with his own drink had caused him to totally miss his rival’s near fiasco with the ice bucket—only confirmed just how badly Travis had forfeited being in the lead.
DAMN IT!
But rules were rules, so Travis reluctantly hiked up the lower hem of his rainbow-and-unicorn themed shirt. Better to get things over and done with rather than be embarrassed further by having Chris or (Gods forbid) Mitch coming over to undress him. Being a total newcomer to sex-ed and its related concepts meant that this partial nudity didn’t exactly phase him the same way it would for Stephanie or Jake. Their section of the limo cabin being (for the moment) entirely girl-free also contributed to the relatively casual way Travis slipped out of his too-large shirt, exposing a scrawny rack of ribs and the downy paler fur of his underbelly as he did so. This wasn’t Gymnastics after all—no Katie around to give him noogies the way she always did in the showers, and definitely no Melissa to call him a ‘cutie-patootie’ while ruffling his head-fur and insisting on showing him the proper way to put on a leotard as she did it.
Balling the offending material into a heap, Travis lobbed it somewhere in the direction of Chris for safekeeping. Who knows, maybe having the shirt out of the way might make Mitch quit it with the girl-jokes? Sadly the wolf-whistles and catcalls coming from the raccoon’s general position seemed to imply otherwise.
“Shut…*hic*..UP, Mitch! Doc says I’ll…*hic*…grow!” He’d never noticed how cold the car’s air conditioning was without a shirt till then. But as much as he wanted to shiver or wrap his arms around himself, Travis didn’t want to risk giving Mitch any more ammunition. He resorted to puffing up his skinny chest instead and glaring daggers at all three of them—an attitude completely undermined by the fact that he couldn’t be more than a couple stones even when soaking wet. “What, you guys haven’t seen a jackal before?”
The way all three were staring at him was beginning to border on annoying. Despite never having had a problem with being shirtless before—living with a sister and being a friend of Sachel’s meant it was rarely an issue—Travis wasn’t used to being stared at. Nobody paid any attention to you in the locker changing rooms where nudity was commonplace after all. Mitch’s reaction wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to be honest, but the way Chris and Jake were staring too made him a little bit uncomfortable. Neither of the pair had fallen over themselves laughing as Mitch was, and their expressions were…strange, to say the least. Jake being reluctant to look him in the eyes was surely nothing new…but Chris as well? He’d no idea why the other two were acting so…odd. They were all boys, right? He wasn’t even that different from them, surely? Right?
He wasn’t sure he liked the look that was most-probably pity in the otter’s eyes. It was something he saw (or thought he saw) in the looks people tended to give him most days. Despite what his parents, his sister, Melissa, or even the bloody doctors thought; he knew he wasn’t weak. And he’d prove it to anyone who dared to claim otherwise! Screw ‘em.
“I’m…*hic*…ok,” snapped the pup hurriedly before anyone could voice their concerns—or even worse—Mitch’s victory. “Really! Honest!”
The sudden onset of a coughing fit he had to muffle with one arm didn’t exactly coincide with this particular statement. But Travis had come too far to throw in the towel now. It was time to bring out the BIG GUNS.
“Jeek,” he found he was having more and more trouble with pronunciation as time went by. “I needja…*hic*…needja to gimme one’ a dem sour whatsits in the fridge… Lemi? Lemons! Yeah, that’s it! Lemonds. Gimme one, an’ don’t drop the bottle-thingy!”
By this time Jake’s regular expression of apprehension seemed to have been replaced by one of confusion and uncertainty. All the same Travis paid it little mind, focusing entirely on the lemon wedge cupped in the hollow of his paw. The tart, sharp aroma of its pulp seemed to be counteracting the alcohol fumes somewhat. Holding it up to snout-level, Travis regarded the other three boys solemnly with the air of a magician about to perform some amazing trick.
“Lemme show ya a liddle…*hic*…liddle sumthin,” that hiccup that escaped was one of the bigger ones; almost a belch, and he winced at how it dredged up the traces of vodka that’d gone down. “My…cuzzins and sis; they used ta do this back….back Home.”
And without further ado, completely oblivious to the resulting looks on his captive audience’s faces, the jackal tilted his head up…and with the air of someone applying eye-drops, proceeded to squeeze juice from the lemon wedge first into one nostril, then the other. He grit his fangs as he did so, ignoring the tears that immediately welled up in the corners of his eyes. Tossing the depleted slice of lemon aside, Travis proceeded to grope blindly in Jake’s last-known direction, croaking something that was a close approximation of regular speech:
“Bottle. NOW,”
Once again relying on Jake to guide the vodka to his paw—the way his eyes were streaming, he couldn’t even see the damn thing—he raised it to his snout… and emptied the entirety of its remaining contents in a single pull.
“There. Wasn’t…wasn’t…so hard,” And for some reason, this was true. The little trick with the lemon had cleared his head to no end, and in the confusion he hadn’t even registered what he had been drinking. “Me an’ my cousins used ta play this…game back Home where we’d mix up gross stuff and dare each other to swallow ‘em. Not like these,” he gestured at the empty booze bottles with a grimace. “But stuff like coffee with chilli and ketchup and gross things mixed in. Only way t’ win is not think about whatcha drinking. And the only way t’ do That…” here he wiggled the shrivelled up lemon slice in front of them “Is to think about somethin’ worse while ya drinks it,”
With that Travis gave them all a toothy grin that somehow managed to be both jaunty and savage at the same time. This was mostly directed at Mitch, to portray a confident outlook he didn’t entirely feel. Although what he’d told them about his trick was true, he hadn’t bothered to mention that this stunt with the lemons only helped in the actual Drinking Process, and did absolutely nothing to quell the ominous rumblings in his belly and throat that were slowly but surely building into a violent crescendo… Sure, he might not be at risk to lose his pants or anything else, but there wasn’t any guarantee that he wouldn’t lose his guts in the next five minutes.
This outcome he did his best to forestall by taking small shallow breaths through his mouth instead of his nose, motioning to Jake to fetch more lemon slices for Round 3 as he did so.
He had a feeling he was going to need it.
---
“T… Travis…?” Jake had repeated, after a concerned glance towards Chris when a response hadn’t been forthcoming. Mitch had taken his drink without hesitation, but the jackal appeared to be spacing out, so he tried a few more times. “Travis..? H-here, take it.”
It hadn’t been until the rabbit dared to lean forward enough to wag the uncomfortably shaped bottle in front of his eyes before Travis finally noticed him. Unfortunately for Jake, a clumsy canine made the exchange more difficult than it needed to be, and the bunny wasn’t terribly eager to close that gap, considering how touchy-feely he’d gotten after his first drink. Not only had he been absorbed in caressing every surface he could find, but Travis blasted through personal boundaries as well.
He’d started with Mitch, taking advantage of the raccoon’s brief, full-frontal exposure as he’d flopped back to sit up. Though he’d been startled, Mitch was content to simply swat the tickling finger away with a snicker on his way up. Chris however, wasn’t so forgiving when Travis’ alcohol-addled brain became mesmerized by his twitching tail. The otter had had the pup in his sights from the very second he’d found his next target, and the longer he’d watched, the more his hackles rose in irritation. He knew what the jackal was going to do, but it still made him angry when Travis started swatting at him.
With a sharp hiss of annoyance, Chris jerked his tail away in a two-step solution to get it out of range of further pestering and to draw the boy’s drunken gaze to meet his for a terse talking to.
“Are you playing or not? If so you better hurry up, ‘cause Mitch has already started,” he warned the clearly drunk canine. This was still a terrible idea, but Chris was looking forward to these two knuckleheads upchucking more than ever now. It’ll serve them right, he thought with a grumble as he watched the ensuing disaster of a hand-off.
His words had obviously done the trick in snapping him out of his haze, but Travis was no longer coordinated enough to grab the bottle on his own, no matter how still Jake tried to hold it. But he didn’t dare get any closer, now. Not after the jackal had already gotten physical with the others. That meant he might be next, so he tried not to give the younger boy the opportunity. And yet... Jake was really getting uncomfortable holding this phallic-shaped bottle.
It may have been small enough to fit in his little palm, but there was no mistaking what it was modelled after. It was the only bottle he had left with the right percent of alcohol, though. So he didn’t have much choice. Eventually, however, he got fed up with Travis’ clumsy paw missing every time and lurched forward to smack the bottle into his palm with a scowl.
“S-s-stop—no, what’re you… stop it, just—just take it!” Jake snapped in frustration, finally handing it off so he could retreat to the comfort of his corner.
Unfortunately, even though Travis finally had his drink, he took forever to partake. Instead, the boy became obsessed with its clear contents, holding it up to his arm several times to Chris and Jake’s equal confusion. Naturally he couldn’t help commenting on its shape either, but only the rabbit found his commentary awkward enough to blush; the otter just wore a scowl that suggested he’d long since lost his patience for this ‘game’. When he did finally focus on opening the darn thing, it regrettably looked very much like Travis was nursing the tip of a particular organ, much to Jake’s chagrin as he looked away briefly.
Chris on the other hand actually found it amusing enough to crack a half-smile. It was kind of cute in a way, but that picture perfect moment was ruined the instant the canine figured out how to use his teeth to pop the tiny cork, clumsily dumping the liquid fire all over his nose. An action, and subsequent reaction, that made both Jake and Chris flinch simultaneously in sympathy.
Once he managed to get his lips around the opening, Travis only managed one big gulp before an involuntary fit of hiccups forced him to bail out. Which meant trying to hand off a bottle he’d already drenched in alcohol, to a bunny much too hesitant about taking it. Though Jake tried to grab it carefully with just his fingertips, the uncoordinated jackal thrust it into his paw at the last second and splashed some of its contents onto the buck’s wrist, much to his displeasure.
With a scowl borne of confusion and concern, he swapped the bottle to the fingertips of his free hand in advance of his inevitable and sudden need to acquire a bucket ASAP. By the time Travis had been able to recover from, much less recognize his loss, Mitch had overcome his nausea. So he got to witness that look of defeat and grin broadly, if somewhat crookedly, as the younger boy conceded and drunkenly wormed his way out of the girly, oversized shirt. However, as soon as he was relieved of his top, all eyes concentrated on his unusually thin figure.
Both Chris and Jake exchanged glances that seemed to reflect confusion, but as always it was Mitch’s reaction that drew all the attention. In his inebriated state, the boy had even less inhibitions than usual, which meant that not only was everything funnier, be he just couldn’t stop talking, despite his nausea.
“Oh yeeeah, baby, looki’that sexy—hic—segsy figure,” the raccoon slurred as he sat up dramatically to put his fingers to his lips for a surprisingly well executed wolf-whistle that unfortunately trailed off into blustering as he struggled to maintain form. That effort had put some strain on his diaphragm, but he wasn’t about ready to give up with the remarks; “Dude, yer… yer so’skinny, like… seriously. Where’d th’rest of y’go, huh? I kin… I kin like… practically see yer ribs, man! I mean like… like… I knew you was a lightweight but duuuuude… whose bin’eating all yer food?”
The pup’s response was pretty much what he was hoping for, which got Mitch giggling, but the other two boys weren’t so comfortable with what they were seeing. Travis couldn’t possibly ignore their staring, so it was no surprise when he treated them like they’d never seen a jackal before. Of course when he actually asked it, with a helping of attitude, the otter and rabbit shook their heads in near unison. Frankly, they didn’t have many canines living in Springwood, so the natural state of their body-type was less obvious to a pair of cubs who were still learning anatomy in school.
Chris, personally, was beginning to feel a little bad about treating the boy with such hostility, even though he chose to blindly chuck his discarded shirt at the otter without so much as a warning. He raised his arm half-heartedly to block the lobbed ball of fabric, letting it drop into his lap in a heap. Although he’d expected a little more force behind it, the shirt had been lucky to even reach its intended destination. Either being drunk was making him sluggish, or the pup was just that weak.
At the very least it was quite clear from the definition of Travis’ ribs that he must be a little underweight for his age; if one wasn’t accounting for the species gap, one would’ve easily assumed the pup malnourished. Naturally, that was the otter’s initial conclusion on first sight, but what concerned him more was how light he must be. Compared to Mitch he was a featherweight, and younger to boot. So this idea had just gone from bad to worse.
No way could Travis hold all that liquor without severe consequences, be it poisoning or even just vomiting. Especially if he was sickly already, like his appearance suggested. So when the boy tried to play off the obvious concern in their eyes like he did it every day, Chris’ brow twisted just a little more with regret. Maybe he was being too hard on the boy. After all, the only thing he ever did wrong was decide to hang out with someone like Lyle. Mitch wasn’t much better, but going by fantasy rules, chaotic neutral had to be better than chaotic evil… right?
At least with him hanging out with Mitch, he was by extension interacting with others who could leave a better impression. Hopefully. Chris certainly would’ve loved to educate him personally on all the matters he found most offensive concerning the jackal, but it was a pretty long list that he was already trying to amend on the fly. Meanwhile, Jake had suddenly been assigned another task, following an unsettling coughing fit, that he was yet still hesitant to proceed with.
He’d asked for a lemon from the fridge, with Jake blinking in utter confusion, before slowly migrating back to the appliance to open the door. The poor rabbit could only wonder why Travis though there might be lemons in the mini-fridge, and then, after surprisingly finding a tray of pre-sliced wedges sitting in the door, he pondered how he knew they’d be there. For just a brief moment he considered the possibility that these foul-smelling drinks had given the jackal psychic powers, but as he handed over one of the slices, Travis confirmed it was just a trick he knew.
Either way Jake found himself morbidly intrigued as he watched the younger boy, to everyone’s surprise, suddenly hold his head up and squeeze lemon juice into his nostrils. Chris immediately sucked in air sharply at the sight, perhaps in sympathy of experiencing something similarly painful in the past, but Jake and Mitch were both enraptured, for wildly different reasons. Suspicion radiated from the raccoon’s corner, but the buck was just plum dumbfounded by the gesture, such that when the jackal tossed the depleted lemon slice to reach for the bottle, it took the cub a moment to respond.
Jake didn’t know why he’d been expecting more to this trick, but when he realized no other steps were forthcoming, he snapped out of his daze and fumbled the bottle back into the canine’s blindly groping paw. The rabbit happily retreated back into his corner once his job was done, only to watch Travis choke down the rest of his drink despite having lost the round.
When he came up for air again, he only seemed a little worse for wear, before touting the power of his lemon trick and explaining its origin. Jake and Chris might’ve been impressed by the boy’s knowledge, but Mitch clearly wasn’t. With arms crossed as he leaned over the bucket in his lap, he chuckled heartily.
“Coffee, chilli an’ ket’sup, huh? That actually soun’s pretty tasty,” he cooed slyly, almost as though daring Travis to play that game with him, “But uh… y’know, I’m pretty—puh—pretty sure tha’there coun’s as uh... inner’ference. H’what say yous, h’oh mighty ref..?”
As he made his claim, Mitch drunkenly pointed a finger at Chris, which earned him a scowl and probably also the answer he didn’t want to hear. With a half-hearted shrug of his shoulders, the otter stated with his perceived authority, “Well, there’s no rule against it. Besides it’s not like you both can’t use the same technique; he just got to use it first. Frankly, I don’t think it’s going to matter, and I sincerely hope the two of you regret this. Bottom’s up; Jake, grab them a couple of 45%’s.”
Although he delivered that instruction aloud, Chris promptly leaned over to revise the request secretly; “Give Mitch a 50 though… I don’t think Travis should be doing this at all, but he deserves it for suggesting this in the first place.”
Jake couldn’t help but giggle, in part because the whisper delivered directly into his ear for the utmost privacy, tickled the hairs in there, but mostly because of Chris’ commentary. Indeed it was true that Mitch typically deserved the trouble he always got himself into, but Travis was just an impressionable tag-a-long. He didn’t deserve that kind of treatment, so Jake very carefully picked his next two selections.
This time he placed them down on the floor between Travis and Mitch because neither had the stamina to reach so far anymore, and Jake certainly didn’t want to do anymore drunken hand-offs. So with the bottles set in front of them, it was up to the drinking boys to make their moves. Naturally Mitch went first, of course. Both a compulsive need to win and a fascination with the awful yet interesting flavour of the booze, were his encouragement, but before he could commit himself, the raccoon squinted awkwardly at the label, trying to read words that refused to stay put. It almost seemed like they were dancing; or maybe… exploding and reforming simultaneously while constantly trembling. Yeah… that was… accurate.
In spite of his eyes bugging out on him, Mitch was eventually able to identify the percentage of alcohol on his bottle, expecting it to be 45. Thanks to the whisper his buddies had shared though, his usual suspicions had gone off the charts. And, as always, his instincts were on the money, it seemed, as the label on his bottle clearly read 50%. Mitch scowled a little at that. Unbiased referee, huh? he thought with a sinking brow.
They wanted to get one over on him? Well, two could play that game. Assuming of course they’d given favor to Travis, who looked so frail without his shirt on that he wouldn’t be surprised if their bleeding hearts couldn’t resist. Considering Chris also had a habit of trying to make Mitch’s pranks backfire in his face, there was considerable precedent to assume he was the intended victim. Well, that was going to change in a hurry. He just need a good distract—
The scream that erupted from the rear of the limo, drew all eyes in an instant, every head except Mitch’s turning toward the sounds of distress and faint sobbing. All four boys were briefly stunned, and even Travis, who’d been in a drunken stupor after finishing his second drink, has his head turned. Just like that the perfect opportunity had presented itself, and with the skillful prowess of his species’ dexterity, Mitch grabbed for and immediately missed the third bottle on the right.
Wait… when was there three of them…? he pondered briefly, sweeping his clumsy paw toward the other bottles, only to hit the middle one and cause all three to topple over somehow. What the… just.. grab it already! He berated himself, fumbling until he could secure his paw around it. Step one complete. Bottle acquired. He brought it back to himself and stared at both bottles for a moment in confusion, one in each paw, before a rush of paranoia made him look up to make sure no one was watching him.
All of their heads were still turned, like they were frozen in time. Like he had all the time in the world to figure out this mess. Okay… Step two. Slowly, he tried to put 50% bottle down where the 45% one had been. Getting it over the drop-zone was the easy part, but he found letting it go difficult, even after it came to a shaky, upright landing. Once it was there he tried to let go in a hurry, and it suddenly wobbled like it was about to fall over, making Mitch raise his paws in a panic, as if he might will it into stability. And it must’ve worked, because it stopped moving without tipping. Sweet. Job done.
Now to… wait, didn’t somebody just scream? Mitch raised his head slowly and deliberately to squint past the others at the curtain. Maybe it had just been a squeal from that hornball of an otter that Chris dared to call a sister. She was always doing that. Squeaking, squealing, shrieking, always making loud, obnoxious noises. Sort of like Mitch, but terrible, because girls. Girls were just terrible by default. Melissa was proof of that.
“Who-a’what…? Di’somebody jus’... what’was that ssssound..?” he slurred, as his gaze shifted from one cub to the other for an answer.
“It sounded like Stephanie,” Chris spoke up next, breaking the silence that had consumed them after the sobbing had trailed off.
“I-i-is she okay?” came Jake’s inevitable concern, but Chris shook his head slowly.
“I don’t know, but… I might go check it out,” he suggested, already looking like he was ready to move, but instead he just called out, “Hey, uh..! Is everything alright back there?” The otter didn’t wait for a response though before turning back to the two competing boys. “Now’s your last chance, better drink up or you both forfeit.”
“Oh-ho-hooo… no… waaay am I f… ffffforfittin’! Yer.. hah… yer goin’ doooown, buddy,” Mitch blustered as he uncapped his stolen beverage. Without even hesitating he reached for the tray of lemon slices, which Jake had placed on the floor within reach, prepared to match Travis’ previous performance.
Unfortunately the raccoon was not used to the jackal’s odd technique and found himself sniffling and sneezing involuntarily as the lemon juice burned his sinuses. One thing was for certain, it hurt more than the alcohol, but Mitch wasn’t going to let that stop him, as he swiftly threw his face to the sky to chug his weaker drink.
---
Forfeiting actually sounded really good to Travis right now. His gut was doing a pretty good impression of a straw canoe on the Nile delta and he suspected he only had seconds before his stomach ejected its recent contents. If not for the three sets of eyes appraising him—one pair in mute challenge, the other two with uneasy trepidation—he might’ve done just that.
But if there was one thing that rubbed his fur the wrong way it was being underestimated. Although he hadn’t exactly caught everything Chris whispered to Jake, the surreptitious glances that pair cast in his direction seemed too much like the ones he was accustomed to in the schoolyard: glances soon followed by long awkward silences whenever Travis asked if he could play. Team captains often proved less than enthusiastic about letting tagalongs join their groups…which meant lonely recesses by himself over at the girl’s side of the playground watching the games instead of joining in. Joining a gang had been the immediate solution, but with the leader gone and the gang dismantled it meant he was back at square one again. Which meant gaining street cred—one way or another
“Ana… kawaii es,” insisted the jackal blearily, lapsing momentarily into his native dialect before becoming aware of the slip and translating for everyone else’s benefit. “’I’m fine, I’m fine,”
He didn’t feel fine though, and so it proved fortunate that Jake chose to set their drinks—and the caddy of cocktail garnishes—down within easy reach of both. From the looks of things Mitch had already grabbed the one closest and was currently engaged in studying it as though he fancied himself Capybara Jones. This left Travis with exactly one untouched bottle in front of him, one that he wasn’t all that keen on approaching anytime soon.
But if this was what it took to fit in, it was still a small enough cost to pay. Never mind that it was precisely these kinds of reasonings that kept the school shrink in business, or that canines statistically formed the highest at-risk group in need of psychiatric intervention because of their instinctual pack mentality and desire to fit in. The fact remained that he found himself no more capable of resisting the siren call of peer pressure than he was able to sprout wings and fly. And so…
“Fekhis,” swore Travis as he reached for his share—which was when all Hell broke loose.
“AHHHHHHHHH!”
Already pretty loud by mammalian standards, the shriek tore at his alcohol-fogged senses like a hurricane. The force of it actually caused Travis to overbalance and fall prone upon the limo’s carpeting, wincing as he brought both lemon-laden paws up to cover his ears. Juice from the poor pulped wedges he’d squeezed in sheer panic pooled on his pads and traced sticky trails down his neck and forearms to stain the exposed fur. On hindsight, it probably had been a good idea to hand his shirt to Chris for safekeeping after all. Who knew what his Mum would say if he’d dared show up with Lori’s favourite attire all smeared in pulp?
After an episode like that, simply lying motionless on the limo floor was beginning to sound like the superior option. It took another few minutes before he even dared risk uncovering his ears and even more time after that to tear his attention away from the curtain divider in order to focus on getting up. This proved easier said than done: for some reason his limbs felt like lead and if not for one of the others’ intervention he might’ve never been able to regain a seated position at all. It was all he could manage to tip a nod at the Samaritan who’d lent a paw—at this point, Travis found himself unable to distinguish Chris from Jake for some reason—and mutter a weak thank you on finding the newest bottle conveniently uncapped and the tray of lemons in arm’s distance.
The heavy smell wafting from its uncorked neck was one that he recognized: Arak. The clear beverage had been a favourite of his grandpa; who brewed it himself out of grapes and aniseed. Unlike the former drinks, this was one Travis had experience of. Its mere fumes alone made him feel lightheaded, and even grandpa tended to savour its taste over occasional small sips. In the manner expected of elder sisters, Lori had once dared him to sneak a taste. The memory of that unfortunate incident still haunted him today.
Nope, there was no way he would be able to tackle that without some additional help.
He reached for the tray, unconsciously mimicking Mitch—then seemed to realize he still had the partially desiccated remnants of two wedges in his paws. The juice currently staining his fur proved an immediate irritation; one that he resorted to licking at in a vaguely feline fashion. Once this lesser problem had been seen to, Travis spent a Hamlet-like moment considering the lemons he held…before popping both into his mouth with a mental shrug. He dove for fresh replacements from the tray in the same motion, knowing that once the sour sensation hit not even Anubis himself could have persuaded him to follow through. Therefore, he wasted no time in snuffling his newly acquired wedges like an addict on cocaine—actually snorting the juice instead of merely squeezing it in trickles and chewing the lemon rinds still in his maw as he did so.
The effect when it eventually hit was nothing short of spectacular. His sinuses burned. His tongue was shrivelled. His vision all but fogged through a haze of tears. It was Luck alone that aided him in actually landing a paw upon the bottle, never mind drain its contents in a single protracted swallow. The sensation of cool liquid on his tongue was actually welcome after a mouthful of chewed lemons, and so he hardly noticed its effects on a newly lubricated throat. “Ha! Take zhat!”
The feeling of euphoria intensified on noticing that Mitch seemed to be having certain…difficulties. And as was traditional the younger cub wasted no time in pointing this out, hardly bothering with things as unimportant as language barriers while doing so. “Maalak fee ay (What’s wrong) Meech? I sink you lose, no?”
Gleefully, Travis leaned forward on both paws to watch the raccoon tackle his beverage. To say he was a newcomer with the Lemon Tactic might’ve been an understatement; and like most beginners Mitch had taken on more than he could chew. If the sniffling he could hear was any sort of indication, surely a drink-interrupting sneeze of epic proportions couldn’t be far away. The way the raccoon fidgeted at his shirt hem with his free paw seemed to suggest that deep down Mitch also anticipated such an outcome and was resigning himself to it. All he had to do was hold out. Just a few seconds longer….
He managed to hold on long enough to see Mitch hike his jersey up to the chest reluctantly before the pressure within became too much to bear. Only dimly was the jackal aware of frantic voices—Chris and Jake’s among them—in which the words ‘ice-bucket’ seemed to be repeated over and over with increasing urgency…followed by the item in question somehow materializing in his lap, right in the nick of time to catch the ensuing flood of liquid and bile.
That flood was soon followed by another, forcing Travis to abandon his seated position for a more convenient attitude of leaning over the bucket on all fours as complaining innards rejected their contents. Everything else faded into relative unimportance. For the moment nothing existed except him, the bucket, and whoever was currently engaged in patting him awkwardly upon the back in the meantime. Only one word could suffice for a situation as dismal as this. Only one word—learnt recently—could somehow sum up all the frustration and futility into a single unit of meaning.
“Fuck,” commented the jackal, moments before he passed out.
---
Even though his sinuses had been set ablaze, and every excruciating breath helped fuel that fire to the point he snorted and sniffled on the verge of sneezing, Mitch, oddly enough, couldn’t feel the magma pouring down his throat anymore. Almost like all the nerve-endings had been scorched away, leaving just the sensation of a dull warmth as the raccoon struggled hard and long to empty his bottle without stopping for little more than a quick snuffle of air here and there.
When he did finally feel the last of it the liquid trickle into his mouth, the boy came up for air so suddenly that everything immediately began spinning around him. Mitch chucked the bottle away blindly, unaware that he nearly pelted a certain rabbit, who narrowly ducked out of the way. Then a paw appeared on the raccoon’s face, gripping his muzzle tightly in such a bizarre disembodied experience that it took the cub grasping his own wrist to realize it was him holding his own mouth shut, just in time to stop the instant, involuntary ejection of his stomach contents from escaping.
Mitch practically slumped over the ice bucket as his head reeled and throbbed, and his diaphragm flexed uncontrollably with the need to retch. Unfortunately, the ever competitive raccoon wasn’t willing to give up without a fight, so he clutched his snout with both paws, groaning and shuddering as his body tingled and throbbed. He waited with intense discomfort for the nausea from his latest drink to pass, completely oblivious to everything around him save for Travis’ drunken taunts.
Not only had the pup been able to start later and finish sooner, but for what seemed like forever, he seemed completely unphased from his harder drink. And that frustrated the scowling ring-tail to no end as he tried to pin the jackal down with a teary-eyed glare. He was nearly going cross-eyed with the effort though, when a fresh wave of nausea suddenly washed over him, forcing Mitch’s eyes shut as he involuntary threw up into his mouth.
The struggle was real now. If he let even a little bit out it would count as vomiting, and he’d lose. Mitch only had one chance to save himself; swallow it back down. The very idea made his aching stomach twist into knots, but at the same time, the mouthful of bittersweet bile and liquor was oddly appealing to the garbage-digger’s senses. Of course, he was repulsed by the very idea that he might like the taste of vomit, but if he could use it to win this competition, well… Mitch wasn’t picky. He was however, willing to do whatever it took.
Still, it was no easy effort to psyche himself up for gulping down a mouthful of vomit that had ballooned out his cheeks. Until it started to leak out though, he was still in the game, which led to a very tense few moments where Mitch began to legitimately fear failure was imminent. Even as he felt the moment of loss creep closer, he struggled to reclaim the contents of his stomach bit by bit, but the rising nausea that came from reintroducing that volatile cocktail to his sore tummy was greatly increasing the difficulty of keeping it down. He wasn’t out yet, though, so everyone was watching him closely for that moment of weakness.
Seconds dragged on for what felt like minutes, and as the raccoon’s certainty that he was going to lose grew, he managed to relinquish a paw from clamp duty, to begin removing his shirt. If he was going to vomit, like he was expecting now, Mitch wanted to be out of his clothes first, so he didn’t upchuck all over them. Giving up was all but a certainty now, the cub pulling up the front of his shirt as high as his neck, prepared to thread his head through the neck-hole to immediately vomit into his bucket, when there was a sudden interruption.
Thanks to the keen eye of perhaps the only mature individual in this whole vehicle, Chris was the first to notice Travis’ distinctive body language, indicative of an impending expulsion that even the pup wasn’t aware of. Of course… he’d more or less been expecting this when, after the scream that had distracted them all, the frail little thing had no strength to even sit up anymore. The pathetic sight of him flopping uselessly on his back prompted the long-suffering otter to give him a helping hand.
Fortunately, he’d gotten at least some form of answer to his earlier query regarding the scream, but as he was mulling over the logic of a porcupine getting poked by her own quills, his otter senses had picked up on an impending dilemma.
“Jake… Jake! The bucket, quick!” he snapped suddenly, pointing to the item currently sitting idly in a dazed Mitch’s lap.
“Mm.. what..?” was the bunny’s timid response as he watched the bizarre, drunken stare-off the other two boys were having.
Poor Jake was at a loss as to what was going on here, having observed the curious and increasingly worrisome behavior his companions were displaying. He couldn’t help admitting though… at least for a while there, the two of them seemed to be having a lot of fun. Now they weren’t looking so hot, but then… maybe they’d had too much? His mommy had always told him, “Even too much of a good thing, can be a bad thing”.
So, while the drink-off had been going, Jake dared to sniff at the alcohol which had soaked into the fur of his paw and wrist. It smelled kind of fruity, but mostly it made his nose tingle unpleasantly. When he attempted a lick, the bitterness on his tongue made him grimace and pause briefly to look back at the curtain at the opposite end of the cab. An explanation had been given for the scream, which was good enough for him, but he still couldn’t help being concerned for Stephanie. Having spent so much time with her during lunch time, he’d gotten to know quite well how cumbersome and restrictive they were to her lifestyle. He did wonder though, if getting poked by her own quills was a common problem, or just bad luck in this case.
The next thing Jake knew, he was suckling at the fur of his wrist, licking and squeezing the remnants of liquor onto his tongue. It had a bizarre, and mostly unpleasant taste, and yet it also had a peculiar numbing and soothing effect. In fact, the bunny had practically lulled himself into a mild stupor by the time Chris called on him for help. It took Jake a moment snap out of his haze, though as soon as he did, he turned to Chris, who pointed to Travis and redirected his gaze, demanding the bucket that Mitch had seemed to have forgotten.
“O-oh! Right! Bucket!” he yelped, lurching into motion to reach for the stripping raccoon. Although he was quick to snatch it up from the boy’s lap, doing so exposed his genitals to an uncomfortable Jake. He tried not to stare in bewilderment, as was his typical response to other cubs flashing their privates so freely, but even as he was turning toward Travis to hand him the bucket he struggled to pull his gaze away.
“H.. here.. Here..!” Jake stammered, half-distracted before he was finally able to refocus on his current duty. The rabbit practically thrust the bucket into the skinny pup’s lap, leaning back in fear of getting spewed upon, as he pleaded, “N-no, not on me, please! The bucket, i-i-in the bucket! Go on, take it!”
The second Travis realized there was a convenient receptacle in his lap in which to upchuck, Jake was retreating back to safety to avoid the waterfall of stomach acid and recently consumed spirits that poured freely from the canine’s maw. Then the retching really started, forcing the jackal to assume a better position for throwing up his guts. The sound was loud and awful, forcing the bunny to cover his ears and look away lest he start gagging in sympathy.
Chris unfortunately had the luxury of knowing how awful it felt to drink too much, so he had no trouble imagining what the two boys were going through. He had to cover his mouth and clench his throat to keep down his own sense of nausea as he listened to Travis’ vomit splattering into the ice bucket. Even though he knew the pup was likely to cave first, he was no less sorry that it had to happen. It was entirely Mitch’s fault of course, but he clearly didn’t care.
The raccoon had actually been smirking again, around his considerably smaller mouthful of ‘yuck’, but when he saw Travis succumb before him to the vomit fairy, all of his nausea seemed to disappear and instead he was filled with butterflies gleefully flapping their wings. This meant he’d won! And you know what? It actually wasn’t so bad! The last little bit of awful in his mouth went down with a final, victorious gulp as the raccoon awkwardly threw both arms up into the air.
“YEEEAH…!! Whhhooo… whoz th’loozer.. Nnnaow!? Huh…?! Yeeah..! Isss me…! O’couse issme… I… allvez.. allvays… all was… ways… win..!”
Even as the raccoon tried to proclaim his victory and rub it in Travis’ face, both boys were clearly so out of it that neither would last much longer. The jackal was inevitably the first to black out, uttering a garbled curse word that sounded more like a gurgling burp, before flopping flat on his belly, shirtless and unconscious. Meanwhile, Mitch had begun to lean backward further and further like he was on ground that was shifting, still with a paw half-raising his shirt, before he flopped onto his back, legs splayed and nakedness clearly on display for everyone to see.
Jake particularly couldn’t stop himself from staring, and it was making him increasing uncomfortable. When he eventually couldn’t take it anymore, he leaned forward to try and pull the shirt down the front of the snoozing raccoon. It wasn’t easily thanks to his awkward position though, and he gave up halfway through.
“Well… That went about as well as I’d expected,” Chris commented dryly with a sigh.
“A...are they gonna be okay, Chris?” Jake asked with a pang of concern for the two unconscious cubs.
“Travis probably. He threw it back up at least. Mitch, though…” he muttered with a twinge of worry.
Just then the curtain at the back of the cab whipped open briefly to admit a rodent fussing with his pants and looking quite peeved. When he inevitably demanded to know what was going on, Chris was all too happy to explain.
“Exactly what you’d expect when you leave two troublemakers with full access to a mini fridge full of booze, I think,” he chirped, looking quite pleased with himself before inevitably sighing, “Of course, I tried to warn them, but…”
---
Hearing Chris ask about her safety did help Stephanie calm down enough to actually allow the otter to kiss her privates so to make them feel better. Mister Creedence’s response to Chris was unflattering, but she could not get herself to answer back on her own. Nor could she think of any better answer that was not more embarrassing than the truth. “I’m fine, your sister shoved her hand up my peehole is all” was just not going to be told. It was bad enough that so many already saw it happen. Sitting on her own quill was a much better excuse.
Stephanie watched as the otter gave a reassuring smile back at her from between the porcupine’s thighs. Stephanie could not believe that she was going to let Katie kiss her privates like this. She wanted to look over to Mister Creedence and Hob, as Katie had suggested, to see what they were doing that the otter thought was so interesting. However, she could not stop staring as the Katie leaned in and did more than just kiss her.
The girl is licking my coochie!
Stephanie gasped out loud, her eyes opening wide to what she was feeling. She wanted to tell Katie to stop, but the sexually experienced girl made a deliberate lick under the small hooded cleft of flesh at the top of the porcupine’s outer pussy lips and tickled the sensitive flesh hidden within. The gasp that came out of Stephanie’s mouth was much louder than the first. She had to grip the seat cushions in an effort to not slam her legs together, and possibly injure Katie in doing so. The result of this caused her butt to slide forward, pushing her body further into Katie’s now open mouth, as if her body wanted more of this weird treatment. Stephanie was ashamed to think that she really might want more of Katie’s mouth and tongue.
Katie seemed plenty eager to give the porcupine more of her nursing treatment as her tongue proceeded to enter the tight walls of the porcupine’s recently injured vagina. Stephanie let out a hiss through clenched teeth as she felt the warm muscle press against her insides, rubbing against the torn skin that this otter originally ripped just some minutes ago.
Stephanie thought to ask if French kissing her crotch was always the plan, but she was starting to notice that it was, indeed, starting to feel better. More than better. A groan of pleasure escaped her lips, and Stephanie realized what should have been obvious to her from the start. If it was not for all the screaming and pain and embarrassments, she would have realized it before Katie even slid before her legs. For confirmation, she finally looked over to the boys. Her eyes widened again, and another gasp escaped her lips.
To the porcupine’s shock, she saw the opossum kissing and licking Mister Creedence’s large rat testicles. A small part of her brain wanted to think that the talent agent had somehow hurt his balls and Hob was giving him the same treatment as Katie was for her. But the pleasure she was feeling told her already what was going on, even though Mister Creedence was seeming overly distracted than pleasured and looking toward the curtain.
“Oh, oh, Oh no,” Stephanie blurted and stuttered as she palmed at Katie’s face to try to get the otter to stop licking her. The porcupine was feeling regret for ending the healing kisses as soon as Katie’s tongue and lips left her crotch. Seeing Katie’s questioning face, Stephanie could only whisper “Th, the, this is… sssex isn’t it?”
Gary was enjoying Hob’s attention to his testes. The boy seemed to not have been aware of a rodent’s anatomy until his audition back at the office earlier in the week. The boy was kissing, sucking, and fondling the loose skin and large orbs like a child playing with a new found toy, all while the mouse continued to stroke his cock. However, Gary was having trouble getting fully hard as his attention was being drawn to the noise of boistering boys on the other side of the curtain. He was glad that Chris did not just pull the curtain open to see what was happening, and had seemed to buy the excuse of Stephanie poking herself with a quill. That would also explain why she was bleeding, if that was later noticed.
It was the yelling of the raccoon and jackal that was making Gary concerned. It did not sound like they were playing a video game anymore. It sounded like one was urging on the other to do something, which was not comforting with what he had seen of those two already. Watching Stephanie getting eaten out by Katie was helping, especially the little squeaky noises the porcupine was making. Then there were more loud… noises? Sounded like the boys, but they were sounding like they had forgotten English. Something was feeling wrong and familiar at the same time, and then he heard Stephanie start to talk. Looking back at the cute young lesbians, he was disappointed to see that Stephanie had seemingly had enough. Just as she was whispering something to Katie, he could hear Chris barking out orders to someone about a bucket. It then hit Gary to what was happening on the other side of the curtain, just as a loud cry and retching sounds of a young boy violently heaving came through.
“Dammit,” the mouse said aloud as he hurriedly moved Hob off his sack, and quickly moved to pull his pants back on. He was glad to see Katie was also making for her clothes, a disgusted look on her face at having to listen to the sound of someone vomiting. He was overly thankful that Stephanie never took her dress off, for trying to get the porcupine’s clothes back on would have taken too long.
“Hob. Katie,” Gary said in a whisper, his pants pulled up but was having issues with the zipper caught on the bottom of his shirt. Mitch could be heard yelling about something, and the slurred speech of whatever it was raccoon was saying confirmed to Gary what he suspected. The boys got into the booze! “You two get dressed as fast as you can. That curtain will be opening pretty soon.”
The mouse had gotten the belt buckle tightened by the time he finished explaining why they had to hurry. His shirt was still stuck in the zipper of his pants, but he could not wait any longer as he carefully made his way around Katie and Hob. Seeing that Stephanie was already prepared to join him, the mouse cracked the curtain open to step through. He waved for Stephanie to follow, so the two much more naked cubs had more room to get dressed.
“What the hell are you boys doing?” escaped Gary’s lips, even though he was already sure he knew.
He saw Jake sitting over by the mini fridge, which he did not expect at all. The rabbit seemed to be a nice boy, and too scared to do anything that could get him in trouble. ‘Easily manipulated?’ Travis was lying face first on the floor with an ice bucket in his hands. Mitch was on his back, and completely exposing himself with a stupid smile on his face. And Chris was sitting there accusing him for all of this?!
“And you didn’t bother to tell me what they were doing?” stated the mouse in a tone that was not a question. Gary pointed over towards Jake, and the empty bottles and lemon rinds by the rabbit’s feet. “It looks like you and him were helping more than stopping these two.”
Stephanie was peeking from behind the curtain as their chaperone complained about what was happening. She was warily looking over the mess that had formed in the car since she had stepped into it. Bodies, citrus, and tiny bottles littered the floor. And one of those bodies had his penis out!
Seeing Mitch’s sheath further reminded Stephanie that she was not wearing her panties now. She had opted to use the clothing to wipe away the dampness from between her legs before pulling the hem of her dress down. She was thankful that no blood was on them when done, but Katie really made everything wet down there. So she stuffed them deep between the seat cushions in an attempt to hide them before the curtain opened.
She slowly snuck out from behind Mister Creedence, careful to keep the torn hem of her dress down and her thighs together. She really wanted to find Jake. Once past the curtain, she saw that the rabbit was in the far corner with the jackal and a naked raccoon in the way. For fear of hurting anyone blocking her way to Jake, she settled to take a seat beside Chris. Stephanie gave the otter a grateful smile and ‘Hi’ as she sat down. She was also trying hard to not look down at Travis by her feet. The urge to keep looking at the other sleeping boy’s bare privates was shockingly hard for her resist, too. Stephanie knew that she was going to be seeing a lot more of those things over the weekend, but she just did not feel right looking at Mitch like this while he was unconscious. So she put a hand up to her face to block the view of the coon boy’s shame as she leaned over to see Jake, and waved at him with an uncertain and worried smile in an attempt to finally say hello to her friend.
Using the seat to not step on the two cubs, Gary moved to the front of the limo and slapped a small button on the back wall.
“Yes?” asked a woman’s voice from an unseen speaker shortly after the button was pushed.
“We need to pull over immediately,” explained the mouse as he scanned over the boys on the floor, taking count of the bottles lying around. “We have a bit of an emergency.”
Almost immediately, the over sized car could be felt moving to the right and slowing down. The sound of someone falling over could be heard on the other side of the curtain. Gary carefully pulled the ice bucket away from Travis’s paws. Gently cradling the bucket of bile in one arm, Gary grabbed the jackal by his arm and lifted him up until the cub was lying on his side and leaning against the seat.
“How many of those did you all have?” Gary asked as he made his way to the back of the car, making glances over to Chris so that the otter knew the question was mostly directed towards him. The mouse then looked down at Mitch. Gary made sure that what he said could be heard by ‘everyone’ in the back of the limo. “Did Mitch throw up at all? If not, we need to get him outside of the car as soon as it stops.”
Just as Gary said this, the car started to shake and rattle as it was obviously no longer on the road and was quickly coming to a stop.
---
Hob couldn't really see the porcupine's reactions to the treatment Katie was "inflicting" on her. At this point, the opossum was too busy shoving his face into the rodent’s balls like they were pillows to snuggle up to. Even if he'd wanted Gary's hands occasionally pressed against the back of his head to keep him in place. He could, however, most definitely hear her. The noises were unlike anything he'd ever heard from her, and if Katie had heard them before, that certainly explained at least partly why she was so enthusiastic about providing oral, because they were adorable.
Still, Stephanie seemed not particularly enthused about it all, from the sounds of it. Hobart couldn't fathom why, as she was clearly enjoying the treatment. He hoped that she would, for her own sake, get over that. At the same time, Dasayo and especially Locksley were always very adamant about stopping when you were told to. He was almost surprised when Katie, from the sounds of it, actually stopped as soon as Stephanie expressed doubts. He had never known the girl to stop on account of anyone else, least of all her own friends—case in point: Jake.
Unlike Gary, Hobart had not paid much, if any attention to the noises coming from the other side of the curtain. With Mitch and Travis involved, shenanigans surely were happening. He knew that much. But he did not care. Not with such glorious organs in front of him that needed said care far more. The paw that stroked over Mr. Creedence's cock was a little haphazard. Hob clearly needed more practice at doing this blindly like so. Eventually the mouse's own paw wrapped over it to guide him, which Hob was a little split about. He appreciated the help, but at the same time he couldn't be entirely happy to see his skills being, in a way, belittled.
His other hand at first had been groping the sack alongside his nuzzling and suckling maw. Eventually though the limb moved down between his legs and started stroking. His thumb flicked alternatively at each of his dual heads. Despite Katie's curiosity, his organ really wasn't any more mystifying to pleasure than any regular penis. It just happened to split it two halfway along the shaft, but the most sensitive zones were pretty much in the same places that one might have otherwise expected.
The opossum still wasn't too concerned by the retching sounds. He'd been on a few school trips and there was always someone who got motion sickness. It was disgusting, sure, but it was hardly a cause for alarm, at least as he was concerned. It was utterly naive of him, of course, but unlike some of the passengers, the only serious experience he had with alcohol was people talking funny and seeing double in movies and cartoons. His dad had beer sometimes, sure, but like coffee, what little hint of the taste he'd had made sure he never went near the stuff. It hadn't even crossed the male cub's mind that there was booze in the car in the first place, much less that the younger ones would want to get in there.
While he wasn't distracted by the vomiting, Gary clearly was, even though, judging by the comments about a bucket, the situation seemed under control. He could feel Gary tensing, and that drove him to redouble his efforts in pleasuring the rat to try and get him to relax. Unfortunately that didn't work and the adult took his new toys away when he stood up to go get his pants. Hobart was left there whining a little, face coated in sweat and musk. He licked at the precum on his paw and climbed back onto the seat while the mouse struggled back into his pants.
Hobart watched with some fascination, wondering how the male was going to fit his boner in there without it being blatant. Mr. D. hardly ever bothered, he'd noticed, with underwear, and being bigger than the mouse, his erection was not subtle at all. Gary's wasn't exactly hard to notice either, but he figured the mouse didn't care by now.
The opossum gave an audible whine as he and Katie were instructed to get dressed again. THe fun was over already? He hadn't even gotten to taste Creedence! Just the taste he had gotten during his "audition" was nowhere enough for him. He pouted a little, but the adult was already ignoring him and preparing to step over to the other side.He turned around to the girls only to see Stephanie wiping her crotch clean. Well, mostly clean anyway. And then she just… cast her panties off.
With the two girls going commando, Hobart felt a little self-conscious that he intended to put his own underwear back on. He was well aware not all furs were fans of wearing underwear. Dasayo, for starters, was the most prominent in his life. In fact the armadillo's example had encouraged several other members of the budding wrestling team to start doing the same. Hob, however, clung to the practice. He couldn't help it; he just liked having something tighter around his crotch and butt.
His concerns about fashion were soon replaced about concerns for his manhood. He had just started stepping into his briefs when a hand wrapped around his waist, triggering an undignified squeal. He looked over and to his horror Katie, her dress pulled halfway up her thighs, was reaching over for his manhood. Manhoods. Whatever. Aside from the fact that he wasn't particularly eager to have her paws anywhere near his privates after seeing what happened with Stephanie, they were supposed to be getting dressed before the other passengers of the limo could see them. A task which would be somewhat more work for the opossum than for either of the girls, not only because he had more to get back on himself, but he'd also taken the time to shove the clothing into the pockets of his backpack to keep them clean and avoid accidentally losing them.
And right now he couldn't even get more than one leg into the briefs' leg-hole because he was having to fend off an amorous otter.
"Stoppit, Katie!" he whispered between clenched teeth.
He needed both hands and tail to keep the girl from either grabbing his genitals or stealing his underwear. No doubt she had some nefarious fate already planned for the garments. Hobart wasn't having any of it: he liked those, dammit! He soon tried to resort to his wrestling holds, but found himself coming short for several reasons. Amongst these reasons was that he'd never had to wrestle an otter. Katie was a slippery wet noodle at the best of times, but the girl was so tipsy now, she was practically more liquid than solid, a schrödinger-esque, non-newtonian fluid, and Hobart was in no mood to experiment and discover what would happen if he just slapped her. All in all, it made wrestling the girl like nailing Jell-o to a wall, even with the advantage of a fully prehensile tail. Dasayo would probably spank his ass into oblivion if he saw him bumbling like this.
The foremost reason for Hobart's trouble, however, was that old saying about an experienced fighter fighting someone who doesn't know what they are doing. It's hard to plan for someone's move when they they themselves have no idea what they're doing, much less what they are going to do next. Hobart had still not even gotten his second leg into his underwear, and as Gary and Chris traded barbs out of sight, he was growing increasingly desperate. He heard the adult announce that the car would stop, and knew when the mouse pulled whoever had been vomiting outside, he couldn't possibly hide his state of undress. He needed the otter off him now.
He had already wrapped his tail around Katie's legs and was about to throw them under her when the car suddenly swerved to the side. That was the last straw and instead of getting her off him, it promptly sent both of them toppling into the nearest seat. The opossum found himself wincing as Katie’s snout ended up butting into his and knocking his head against the wall behind him. Temporarily dazed, he was unable to keep the no doubt delighted girl from doing whatever she wanted. If he'd been able to form a coherent thought at that moment, he would have been thankful that by this point he'd gotten halfway to flaccid.
---
Although Katie would have been quite content to continue exploring Stephanie’s cute little twat for the next hour—even if it meant making the squirming girl cum multiple times—but unfortunately, not long into her practiced routine for making even the most timid of females vocal with arousal, paws were suddenly trying to push her snout away. The otter had been attempting to track Stephanie’s state of mind periodically, in-between glances towards the boys, and amidst less important noises from the hooligans on the other side of the curtain, and it had started off pretty well.
Despite the initial shock, the porcupine was willing enough to continue not order Katie to stop. To her surprise even, the first lick of her clit had even startled the gasping cub into practically shoving the otter’s probing tongue deeper inside. She had to wonder if that was involuntary or if Stephanie really wanted it that badly, either way, she was more than happy to give her the experience of a lifetime.
So naturally, cruel fate had to rear its ugly head. First it was the sudden panic in Rose’s voice, striking into Katie the fear that she might’ve harmed her again, somehow. Her tongue had already stopped moving by the time she felt the girl pushing her away, and she obliged with only the smallest frown of disappointment. She opened her mouth with an apology on the tip of her tongue, but instead of Stephanie accusing her of harm, she correctly assumed what Katie had known all along.
“Well…” she started to say with a half smirk and a brief glance towards the males, “I mean… I’d hardly call this foreplay, but… what..? Didn’t you know about this?” Her small smile gradually sank into a worried frown however, as she realized the possibility that Stephanie too hadn’t been told the whole story. “It’s.. not a problem is it..? A-are you going to freak out like—uhm..”
Katie started to look a little uncomfortable then, as she’d very nearly compared her to Jake. She didn’t want to admit the possibility that she’d wanted to play with her because she and him were so close, but it was hard enough just to deny the thought. She certainly hadn’t meant to hurt her though, or… break her hymen like that.
If ever the otter was in need of a distraction it was now. So right on cue it seemed, a very obvious retching arose from behind the curtain, drawing everyone’s attention, but especially Gary’s. In fact, the sound was apparently so disturbing that the mouse put an unceremonious halt to his own fun to hike up his pants and trap his unsatisfied erection inside as he stood up to investigate.
Unfortunately for Katie, in the process he ordered her and Hobart to get dressed, passing through the curtain with a signal for Stephanie to follow, which she seemed all too eager to oblige. As she got up to trail him into the larger section of the cab, the girl left the panties she’d wiped herself with tucked between the cushions beside the otter’s discarded dress. Katie spied a bit of it peaking out as, with a defeated sigh, the mustelid grudgingly reached for her own garment and scrunched it up from top to bottom in preparation to step into it.
Once she’d stood up to insert her first foot though—taking advantage of the extra space without Gary and Stephanie’s presence—Katie’s gaze was invariably drawn back to Hobart’s crotch. He too had been equally disappointed by their simultaneous activities coming to such an abrupt end, but he was also more resigned to getting dressed than she was. And he was even going to put on those nightmare briefs again!
The otter was already reaching out across the opossum’s waist to grasp as his exotic organ before she even had her dress around both feet. Then she proceeded to one-handedly pull it up around her legs while she fought with the boy to secure his boyhood in her eager paw. When he inevitably resisted, Katie voiced her flimsy reasoning.
“What… an’ let you hide such a rare specimen under that awful thing again..?! No way!” she whispered back, making repeated, failed grabs for the flailing, floppy organ. “H—hold still already, I just wanna touch it..!”
What ensued could only be described as a battle of epic—albeit nearly silent—proportions, as wrestling techniques faced off against the dexterity of an otter who also happened to be lead cheerleader. It was anyone’s guess who could’ve won the bout, but just as Hobart had been about to unbalance Katie, the laws of motion suddenly demanded they take an immediate seat instead.
Both cubs were startled upon bumping noses, but Hobart was the one to find himself dazed from the sudden, gravitational anomaly. Katie however found herself with the dress pulled up to her waist and knees spread to either side of the opossum’s lap. Certainly not the worst place she could’ve landed. In fact, she found this new position quite fun. After all, not only had she managed to halt the boy’s ill-advised plans to put on his underwear, but now there was a familiar warmth between her thighs that, with an appropriate wiggle of her tush, quickly found the crevice of her equally warm mound.
“Hehehehe,” she giggled sweetly as her nose brushed against his, “And here I was afraid you didn’t like me.” While the boy was still stunned, she dared to push her lips against his for a kiss, curious as to whether he’d reciprocate or resist.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the curtain, Chris was meeting Gary’s glare like he was no stranger to being shouted at, much less blamed for things. But that was okay, he knew exactly how to defend himself in this situation, even if he still harbored some responsibility for letting it get this far. But hey, he was only nine years old; what was Gary’s excuse?
“And interrupt your private party over there? I wouldn’t dare, sir,” came Chris’ initial rebuttal to the argument he could’ve reported the incident.
Gary must not have liked that, because he pointed to Jake next, claiming they helped encourage it. The otter rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he surveyed the unconscious cubs, and a very guilty-looking Jake. He frowned then when he realized he was getting ahead of himself. The poor rabbit didn’t deserve to be singled out for his involvement, since it wasn’t voluntary.
Jake certainly was not taking too well to being accused. The finger that pointed critically at him, made the bunny hunch his shoulders as he lowered his ears and tried to make himself smaller. He hated to admit that for a brief time, he was actually enjoying this, but worse was the guilt that he’d let it happen without saying anything to an adult, like his ingrained programming told him to; not that he could’ve found the voice to do so, anyway.
It just made him feel bad to be blamed for something that was actually partly his fault. Even if the only fault had been doing as he was asked by the others. Thankfully though, Chris was right there to alleviate his concerns and shift that blame.
“So what if we were, Mister Creedence? I think the real question is what kinda ‘talent agent’ rents a limo stocked full of beer, and leaves it alone with a bunch’a cubs.That’s real irresponsible if you ask me, sir. Besides, it’s not like either of us could’a stopped ‘em. Far as I’m concerned, it’ll be a learning experience for both of ‘em.”
Chris tried not to make eye-contact after his remarks, fully expecting a fuming glare for having the blame turned back on him, but he just couldn’t help pointing out one last thing as Stephanie was emerging from the curtain behind the adult.
“I mean for Walrus’ sake, one of the bottles are even shaped like a—” he started, only to stop short of the word he’d intended to say. The second his gaze landed on Stephanie, his train of thought jumped tracks.
Leaving the agent to navigate his way to the front of the cab, Chris leaned over slightly towards the girl, meeting her smile with one of his own as he pat a spot on the cushions for her to join him. She seemed a little uneasy by what she was seeing, but she still greeted him softly.
“Hey.. don’t worry about them,” he assured her, with a lazy roll of his eyes towards the unconscious boys. “They did it to themselves. Mister Creedence will handle it..”
As soon as Gary had reached the intercom for the driver, he alerted their apparently female chauffeur to the situation, triggering a noticeable amount of centrifugal force as the limo was quick to slow down and pull over onto the shoulder. In the meantime, the rodent interrogated Chris for details which he provided indifferently as Stephanie leaned in front of him to wave to Jake.
Of course the bunny was still on the floor, but thankfully even despite the urgency of the current situation, he was finally feeling relaxed. Almost a little sleepy even. It certainly didn’t help that Mitch seemed to be enjoying his nap. Jake had been considering curling up and laying his head down to rest after blame for the present predicament had been shifted away from him. But then he noticed that Stephanie had come out of hiding after Gary, making him perk up with fresh energy.
He watched her sit down next to Chris, turning away only briefly to watch Mister Creedence tip-toe around an unconscious Travis and Mitch, before being drawn back to the sight of the girl quietly waving at him. His paw rose awkwardly in response, but the cub was promptly distracted by Chris as he explained the situation with their companions.
“Exactly three each, Officer,” Chris said with the smallest twinge of sarcasm, “two 40%’s, two 45’s, then a 45 for that one and a 50 for that o—uh… wait…” As he faltered in his initial assessment he realized that Travis had the wrong bottle in his possession. It took him a moment to piece together that particular puzzle, but then he scowled in understanding: That sneaky little twerp thinks he can just… ugh.. No wonder it was Travis who threw up.
“No, that cheater hasn’t, but this bag of bones I’m pretty sure upchucked everything, including his guts,” Chris answered with an inevitable sigh at the mention of dragging their carcasses outside to finish the job. “Fine, I’ll take the smaller one. At least he’s lighter.”
With a groan, Chris moved to get up, incidentally severing an unspoken connection between Jake and Stephanie. Although he only noticed it after the vehicle had stopped and he was on his feet, the otter offered Jake a smile and held out a paw to help him to his feet so he could join the porcupine on the cushion. In the meantime, Chris helped himself to a face down, shirtless jackal, grabbing him by his ankles initially to drag him towards the rear of the vehicle. At least until Gary ordered him to do it properly. He sighed again, but obliged, scooping up the floppy canine with foamy bile caking his lips and carrying him to the curtain.
Both Jake and Stephanie watched as the mouse did the same with an equally limp Mitch, before the bunny’s attention eventually shifted back to the porcupine. He waited until Chris and Gary had retreated behind the curtain and the curb-side door was opened, before speaking softly.
“A-a-are you okay, Steph?” he asked quietly but with some sense of urgency the second he was free to. There was still one concern he had to get off his mind before he could proceed with the rest. “I—I heard you scream earlier… i-i-it almost… sounded like you were crying, too…” he stammered nervously, unsure if he should be bringing it up at all, “Was it.. Really just a quill you sat on…? I didn’t even know that was possible.”
He tried to give her enough time for a proper response, but Jake had begun to feel urgency of another variety, now that they finally had a few moments alone. There was a lot more he wanted to get off his chest before they were interrupted,, to the point he almost didn’t fully register Stephanie’s awkwardly delivered answer, before diving into a lengthy, stammering monologue full of nervous pauses.
“Hey.. I-I’m sorry about what happened earlier, by the way… I think… you were probably surprised to see me, huh…? I-I-I’ve uhm… never heard you say that word before, e-especially that loudly, so… y-you much have been… really surprised. I—I was pretty shocked too. I mean… I didn’t think you’d be interested in… in… w-whatever this is. I… thought it was a camping trip before, b-but then my mommy dressed me up, an’ I didn’t get to bring anything with me. A-an’ now we’re in this big fancy car that’s full of adult drinks, an’ they’re drinking it and then I heard you scream and I just thought… M-m-maybe I shouldn’t have come… That m-maybe this was a bad idea.. But—i-if I had gone with you instead, then… I’d still be here, so.. I dunno... Th-this is all just… too much for me, I think. And… and now it’s too late to turn back,” he whined softly, daring to close the gap between them to seek comfort from the warmth of Stephanie’s body in Chris’ absence.",
"pools_count": 0,
"title": "Cub Cruise (Group RP) Part 1",
"deleted": "f",
"public": "t",
"mimetype": "application/msword",
"pagecount": "2",
"rating_id": "2",
"rating_name": "Adult",
"ratings": [
{
"content_tag_id": "2",
"name": "Nudity",
"description": "Nonsexual nudity exposing breasts or genitals (must not show arousal)",
"rating_id": "1"
},
{
"content_tag_id": "4",
"name": "Sexual Themes",
"description": "Erotic imagery, sexual activity or arousal",
"rating_id": "2"
}
],
"submission_type_id": "12",
"type_name": "Writing - Document",
"guest_block": "t",
"friends_only": "f",
"comments_count": "16",
"views": "5656",
"latest_file_name": "4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs.png",
"latest_mimetype": "image/png",
"latest_file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/4173/4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs.png",
"latest_file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/4173/4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs.png",
"latest_file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4173/4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs.jpg",
"latest_thumbnail_url_huge_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/4173/4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs.jpg",
"latest_thumbnail_url_large_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/4173/4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs_noncustom.jpg",
"latest_thumbnail_url_medium_noncustom": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/4173/4173558_Mizzyam_limo-cubs_noncustom.jpg",
"latest_thumb_medium_noncustom_x": "120",
"latest_thumb_medium_noncustom_y": "77",
"latest_thumb_large_noncustom_x": "200",
"latest_thumb_large_noncustom_y": "128",
"latest_thumb_huge_noncustom_x": "300",
"latest_thumb_huge_noncustom_y": "192"
}