FSE

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Chapter 3

"The lessons we take"

ACT 1

(Fallout 4 OST - The Stars My Solace) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tAA1rX9OGM

"Damnit... You were better at this once..." A figure in the shadows muttered by himself, giving slightly cautious gazes around himself as he was doing active movement with his fingers.

The dark hallway had just a slight glimmer of green light against a vault door, someone on his knees and tinkering with the lock. The lockpicking was taking its time, but the person the in the darkness knew what he was doing. This wasn't his first rodeo at this very same door. Far from it.

"Open up now... Please." The figured said, getting impatient as the door was arguing back.

Little more... There.

The lock opened with a click, making the man stare over his shoulder and listen for a while.

Not a sound to be heard. He was the only in these vault hallways... Most likely only one still awake.

The man pressed the door button as it lights itself up to green, opening the metallic door up and welcoming the trespasser into the room.

The smell of chemicals, cleaning powder, plastic, and other very industrial smells.

The shadow of a man walked in, slowly closing the door with another press of a button and stuffed the poppy pins in his pocket. The hardest part was over. Now... Light.

The person started to scan the room with his pip-boy, taking the usual steps towards the doorway at the end of the operation room. The surgical tables, cabinets and all the usual medical equipment were laying around the place neatly. Everything was in order, just like Amir liked it.

The cream furred bunny doctor called Amir was the only living doctor the vault had. He was a man at the age of thirty, being in charge of the medical bay. Gladly for this trespasser, Amir wasn't around. That bunny needed his goodnight sleep.

The figured moved in the darkroom with light steps, making sure nothing would fall and make noise. But he was nimble on his feet, making absolutely no sound.

He arrived in the doorway, looking at the small plate hanged on the wall.

"Medicine. Authorized personnel only"

"... I'm sorry, Amir." The figure said in the dark, walking past the doorway. He entered a slightly smaller room that was full of cabinets and boxed equipment stacked in the corners. He started walking to his left, gazing at a certain cabinet, third one on the left.

The person walked a few more steps towards it, seeing that the cabinet needed a key. The key only Amir would have in his possession. Unluckily for this thief, the rabbit didn't exactly leave his keys unattended, so it would be most likely in his room. Lockpicking was the only thing left for him, so he took his poppy pins out once again in order to open another lock. As much as he hated doing it... He needed to get into that cabinet and its contents.

"Now, I better-"

CLICK

The room lighted up completely, someone clicking the switch behind him and speaking.

"IT WAS ABOUT TIME I CAUGHT WHOEVER WAS STEALING AROUND HE-"

The voice spoke with a justified voice, clearly having waited for this moment a long time. But his voice got caught in his throat the moment he saw that the thief had such fast reactions to his presence, that he was in life danger. The baseball bat raised in his hands in order to threat the thief was no threat at all.

The figure was pointing right at him with a black pistol in his grip, two steady hands holding the deadly weapon. The barrel was perfectly pointed at his head all the way from across the room, the rabbit looking horrified as he saw who was aiming at him.

"M... M-mister Winchester?"

Charlie Winchester felt his expression change from steeled nerve into realization, lowering his gun rather quickly and with a professional spin, holstering it behind himself, tucking the steel behind his vault pants.

"My apologies, Amir. Didn't mean to startle you." Charlie said, clicking the safety on from the weapon and sighing.

"It... Seems like I was the one who startled you here, Charlie." The rabbit said, his heart pumping as he was taking cautious steps forward the old husky, wondering how to proceed. But what was sure, was that he laid his baseball bat against the wall right away.

"Slightly. How did you know someone was here?" Charlie asked casually.

"... Because I was in the bathroom. I was making sure everything was in order, since I don't have a lot else to do in my free time. Just... Sorting out medicine." The rabbit spoke carefully.

"I thought you would be praying during this hour, or sleeping. You shouldn't keep yourself up such far in the night, Amir. The kids here need their doctor focused." Charlie spoke, sighing and sitting down on the nearby chair, rubbing his face. He really didn't feel like chatting two in the morning with anyone. He had a class to teach tomorrow, and his business here would have taken only a minute. Now, he had to make sure that the rabbit wouldn't talk.

But there would be no way he would ever do it by violence. That wasn't his way... Not anymore.

"I... I don't pray a lot these days anymore, mister Winchester. I'm sure Allah is pleased with how I help everyone here. And it's not the same without my father. Wassalam, Waldi. " The rabbit said quietly with a nod, arriving slowly towards Charlie.

"I understand. He was a good man." Charlie said with a sympathetic tone.

"... Yes... He was." Amir agreed with sorrow in his tone, standing next to Charlie and leaning against the desk counter, dressed in his lab coat.

"..." Charlie was quiet for a moment, wondering how to go on with his business, now that Amir was here.

"Charlie... You didn't come in the middle of the night into my workplace to talk about my father... Why are you here?"

"... It should be more than obvious at this point, Amir. Put the pieces of the puzzle together. You keep clear papers of our inventory... The only reason that you would have not brought this issue to the Overseer... It is because you had your doubts about ME being the one who has stolen from here before. You are not dumb... But neither am I, Amir. I was your fathers' best friend... So, you have kept the reports of missing stuff to yourself. Otherwise, the overseer would have announced such thievery already."

The rabbit was indeed a bit dumbfounded of how quickly Charlie figured everything out right away, looking at him and wondering if the rabbit was going to deny any of it.

He took a moment before he spoke.

"I am... observant. Mister Winchester. At lunch... Your... Fingers move too much... You move slightly restlessly. You talk with everyone but lose interest in the conversations quickly. You bite your teeth together from time to time, which is the clear mark of-"

"Wait, really?" Charlie asked, now looking very concerned under the light of hearing all this. If the symptoms were visible...

The bunny measured his gaze at Charlie for a moment. Amir then gave a small sigh as he shook his head, answering truthfully this time.

"I saw you once coming out of the medical bay in the middle of the night. I saw you from behind the corner. Moving as shady as you did just now."

"... That makes more sense." Charlie said, relaxing right away and feeling relieved that he wasn't showing any visible signs of his trouble. Amir started talking again, looking at the floor.

"But what I thought was that you would be fetching something like antibiotics... In case your sons had caught a sudden fever. Or stepped on something sharp. A small, considerate and fatherly act to do, since waiting till morning would just make treating slightly bit more difficult. I could let such things slip. It's understandable... But you were not taking such things from here, Charlie. I know what you have been taking. What you came to get from here today... And we need to have talk about it-"

"Do we, Amir?" Charlie asked, making the authority known in his tone as he looked the bunny in the eye. He had no time for debates, nor will for it right now.

"What, are you going to leave this earth before your own sons? That is how it looks like. Otherwise, you wouldn't be playing with such a dang-"

"AMIR. Watch what you say to me." Charlie warned, the harsh question cutting deep. The bunny knew that he had spoken too straightforward out of his concern for the old husky, but he took a time to talk with a calmer approach.

".... Charlie... This man that is talking to me now... This is not you. A year ago, you were a different man. I've seen changes in your behavior."

"... Look. I know how much to take. I know my limits. Trust me on that." Charlie assured.

"... Charlie, the amounts that are missing from our inventory... They are not small. This has been going on for a while with you. A whole year in fact." Amir said with concern.

"... My choices are my own." Charlie said with a quiet tone, closing his eyes and exhaling as he just wanted to get back to sleep.

"... They are, Charlie... But this stuff that you are taking... It's... Alarming. What if mammals here in the vault would find out?"

"They won't, if you won't tell, Amir. I won't hold it against you if you want to tell them-"

"Charlie, you were ready to shoot someone just now over drugs. I don't even want to imagine how you would react if I went on telling everyone that Charlie Winchester has a drug problem. Every parent would force their kids out of your classes in the future, no matter how much they argued back-"

"Amir. I wouldn't hurt you. The gun was... It was just a natural reaction. A mistake. I haven't used that thing on a living mammal since-"

Charlie went quiet, realizing he had spoken a bit too much. Amir looked at Charlie with a raise of an eyebrow, knowing he had just heard right. A rather scared tone came out of the bunny, as what Charlie had just slipped was quite believable. It could be seen from his eyes when you looked deep enough.

"... So...You have used it on someone before? Up there? Before coming-"

"... Amir... You are making this conversation somewhere where it doesn't need to be. I am here as a humble old man, looking for your help. You can clearly see that. I know how much to take... And I certainly have the intention to stay in the book of the living for my two loved sons, thank you very much. Look, the night has been tiring... And how I see it, you have a choice. You tell me to fuck off from this room, wake up in the morning, tell the overseer what happened-"

"I doubt I would wake up at all after denying to give you what you want, Charlie. You are scaring me. During these ten years that I've known you... You have never acted like this. -"

"OR... You can open that cabinet for me, give me what I want, and we can both go to sleep."

The silence settled between the two. Charlie took his time to calm down, the bunny clearly feeling nervous right now, wondering if he was going to get his ass kicked any moment now. The old husky spoke with a heavy tone, taking a deep breath.

"What happens up there, Amir... In the wasteland... It changes your heart. Your nature. Your instincts... And your judgment. Once I stepped into this vault... I thought I would remain the same. Instead, every... Every damn thing that made me who I was, changed all over again. I found peace... And yet, I am lost. I changed... But not enough to forget. I did good things up in there, with good people... And I did bad things with bad people. I have done fucked up things but... I want to believe that I am a good man. If there is a god... If there truly, is someone watching over us all and judging every single damn thing that I had to do over there... And the day comes that I die... I imagine that he will have a lot to say to me... And I have a lot to say to him. But what I'm trying to say to YOU here, Amir-" Charlie spoke, standing up from his chair and making the rabbit flinch a bit... But then Charlie spoke with an emotional tone, Amir listening to the old dog.

"What I want... It's for me... I've earned it. Even if I hate myself for it... I need what it does to me. It might not make sense for you, and you might think of me as an old man who is a rambling addict, saying whatever he wants to get what he wants... I could quit whenever I want to... But I won't. It's my decision... And I will have to live with it." Charlie finished, trying to get Amir's understanding of the situation... And in some sense, he saw some of it in the rabbit's eyes.

Yet, Amir spoke.

"... You are a fascinating soul, Charlie Winchester... I do not know of things you have done or why are you doing this... But for what it causes, I can judge you for. It doesn't just affect you... Before you know it, it might affect people around you. WE LOVE YOU. We look up to you and admire you. Some of these kids here think of you as more of a father than their own... We don't want you to die-"

"Amir... We all die." Charlie said with a cynical tone, stating it like it was a law of some kind.

Amir wondered what to answer, but Charlie was already giving him command.

"Open the locker... Please?" Charlie asked politely... But Amir had a hunch of getting broken arm if he wouldn't obey the dog.

The bunny was quiet, looking at Charlie in his tired eyes. He hesitated for a moment and started to dig his pocket. The husky didn't even need to look down to realize that it was the key to the cabinet, not a trick. He kept staring at the husky, but the eyes were not judging... They were just purely sad. But Charlie didn't seem to care. He acted like everything was under his control.

"... There are other ways to feel good, Charlie." The bunny reminded quietly as he turned to shove the key into the cabinet.

The dog gave a frustrated, yet honest answer to the bunny as he turned the lock open.

"... Things here have made me happy. During these years, teaching and loving these kids, exercising, and fucking overseer's ex-wife were things that kept me happy... Until I realized slowly that before long, those things just kept me sane. Using these things... Those are what make me truly feel good. I love my sons, I do. I would die for them... But they wouldn't understand why I'm doing this, nor they need to. That is why I appreciate that you keep this between me and you."

The bunny turned to slowly look at Charlie, wondering how to answer to hearing that. The old husky kept looking right back, thinking what could the rabbit say.

"... You didn't need to tell me that you are having sex with a woman you are not married with, Charlie."

"Yeah well, I was raised differently than you."

"... Shouldn't you... Consider marrying this woman? If you like-"

"I am already married," Charlie said, and the tone was so cold and warning, that there was no subtle hiding in it. This was a subject that Amir truly had no business into.

The awkward silence continued for a moment until Amir had to ask.

"Is... Calvin approving you doing such activi-"

"When was the last time Calvin approved of anything?" Charlie asked, smiling for the first time in order of trying to lighten the heavy mood from earlier slip... But Amir was not smiling. And along with that, neither did Charlie.

The silence continued until the bunny opened the cabinet in front of him. Charlie started to randomly speak again.

"Remember when we were in that room, your father suggesting to Calvin that we should start already planning on how training our kids' self-defense? How I was the one that made your father realize during all those years, that staying in this vault was just delaying the inevitable? That we should teach these younglings how to survive?

"... Yes." Amir said quietly, taking stuff out of the cabinet and laying them on the table.

"Which is still true by the way. Within thirty years, the vault life is not going to be like this anymore. Not for them, not for you-"

"Charlie, what is the point that you are trying to make here?" Amir asked, now turning to look at him again.

"That you should TRUST ME, Amir. Like you have so far. Just trust me... And know that I won't overdose. You have seen how good of a father I am... You really think I would abandon my kids now? -"

"Charlie."

Amir said sternly, closing the cabinet and locking it. The husky went quiet, the bunny turning to him and getting everything out of his shoulder. Even if it was scary to talk sense to this tired, dangerous man.

"It wouldn't be too farfetched thing to do in your position, Charlie. Do you know how I know?... Because you have nothing but pain in your eyes. The justifications you are trying to give me, have truth in them... But I hear the voice of a man who is hanging on the edge, claiming that he is not going to fall. We all die, as you said... But that doesn't mean that you have to speed that process for your own personal needs, because the voices in your head tell it feels good. Dion counts on you. Ryan counts on you. We count on you. If you are not here to do what my father and you planned for so long, arguing countless of years with Calvin... Then who will help us? Was your presence here all for nothing? Don't make me be the man who has to burn your body after you are gone, just because these dangerous substances right here, MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD." Amir said, even a hint of anger in his tone. But caring kind. He was waiting to get a black eye even as return... But all he got was a simple answer.

"... Point very much taken." Charlie said politely, his hand going on top of two items on the table, being two small cases.

"Charlie-" Amir began desperately.

That made Charlie lose it a bit, as he had enough. He came very close to Amir and spoke to him with a low, serious tone.

"Amir, you are a doctor. Not a moral compass. I appreciate what you are saying. And yes, I have pain in me. Pain you know nothing about. Pain, that the shit in my paw right now, will fix. You can judge me all you want, you can try to sway my mind or hell, pray your Allah for me if you will, but I didn't come here in the middle of the night to have a mental examination, to be preached about my fucking actions. I am tired, I have a class to teach tomorrow, and that is what I will do, as I have done for years now. I know who I am... And I sure as fuck, am not going to die by drugs after all the shit I've been through. So, no worry, doctor. I am just fine the way I am now. Understood?"

Amir was quiet now, feeling a bit scared of how close to the face Charlie had been with his emotional rant just now... And he saw the regret Charlie held from his words after he calmed down.

There was no apology, but a slight moment of hesitation to say sorry to him. Charlie clearly wanted to... But didn't. The old dog took the drugs into his paw, one titled with words "Med-X" and other "Mentats".

Charlie slowly started to walk away from Amir, leaving the slightly scared bunny looking after him as he was walking away.

Just as Charlie was about to reach the doorway, Amir spoke to Charlie.

"Wait. Charlie."

The brown-furred husky turned around to look at the bunny, him taking a moment of hesitation to ask a question that had bothered him the whole time.

"The drugs in your hand... Together they are a dangerous mixture... And they might even in the worst case cause a heart attack or your nerve system to shut down, among countless other messy ways to... The effect that those two make... Would by scientific sense cause a strong distortion, tricking your mind out of reality, and traveling to your memories, along with bodily euphoria... Very strongly and aggressively... So, I have to ask... If the world up there is so forsaken and cruel, as you say, in the wasteland... As it creates tough, yet broken men like you... What on earth would you want to remember from such a shit place, Charlie?"

Charlie answered nothing. He gave no expression back to the bunny, but Omar could have sworn that for a moment... Just a slightly minor moment... Charlie looked like he was about to break down.

But he didn't. The dog just turned around, leaving the rabbit in the room.

Within seconds, the door to medical bay opened... And then closed.

Amir was alone, still staring at the doorway and speaking quietly.

"As-salamu alaykum... Charlie Winchester."

ACT 2

(Jackson 5 - I Want You Back) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGDyAb6pePo

Monday. The start of the week and pretty much each vault youngling's favorite day.

It would be the day when Charlie would gather everyone in his usual classroom for his usual teachings, uniting everyone in the same spirit.

Dion, Jacob, Sam, and Tio, were all sitting in their usual places, right in the front of the class on the right side. Dion was the closest to the middle walkway, thus not missing anything most of the time even if sleepy.

Everyone was on their usual seats, the classroom full of life. The discussions, laughter, gossiping, arguing, all in a very neat pack as always. Farin along with his friends sat all the way on the back on the same side as Dion. The dog could feel the eyes staring at the back of his head but ignored as since it was the best option.

Jill, along with her friends, sat on the front row of the class as well, Jill only three seats away from Dion.

"I love Mondays." Jacob sighed, snapping his fingers and leaning back and putting his feet on his study desk comfortably."

"Feet off the desk," Tio commanded sternly while sitting next to Jacob.

"What's that honey?" Jacob asked with smirk, Sam begging.

"Don't you two start. You guys can't go without one Monday class of arguing?" Sam sighed but smiled nevertheless.

With quick and agitated sweep of hand, Tio pushed the pair of feet off the table, making Jacob almost fell on the floor.

"Yo!" Jacob huffed, not expecting Tio to actually have guts to force his command. Which only made Jacob fuller of smirk and spoke teasingly.

"NOT SO ROUGH, PAPI!"

"Don't ever call me that again, you freaking moron." Tio huffed right away, Sam being only one noticing that the wolf had actually blushed slightly from the comment.

"Don't call me that anymore, uuu look at me!" Jacob teased, imitating Tio's low toned voice.

"Total eight-year-old." Tio hissed.

"Dion. How did it go?" Sam suddenly asked, concentrating out of the two arguing mammals next to him.

"Huh, what? Who?" Dion woke up, bringing himself back to earth. He had been staring at Jill with a side-eye time to time, deep in his own, warm thoughts.

"Dude. How did it go with Jill? What did you two talk about?" Sam asked excitedly.

"Yeah, spill the beans, Husker!" Jacob hissed.

I should have guessed that Jacob ended up telling them today. That dog can keep a secret barely a day. Not that it was much of a secret that two mammals talk, but... It was one of those rare times we actually talked with Jill... This time was the best by far though... The best.

"Respect Dion's privacy, both of you," Tio said quietly.

"My god, you are no fun." Jacob laughed, giving a friendly tap at Tio's back, earning an annoyed look at his way from physical contact.

"Stop touching me." The wolf spoke with a hard tone.

"Tsk, fine, fine. See? No fun. Dion! Focus!" Jacob said, raising his voice and snapping his fingers in front of Dion's face, the husky daydreaming again.

The wolf shook his head at Sam and Jacob, looking at the nearby clock impatiently and wanting the man of the hour already to be here. It seemed he was taking some extra time somewhere for some reason. It wasn't very usual for him.

"Jacob! It was nothing serious!" Dion fought back with laughter, the German shepherd trying to playfully wrestle the answer out of him, Sam trying to hold Dion's wrists.

The three were gathering attention in the class already from most, some laughing at the show going on in the front.

Dion was begging Jacob and Sam to stop, Jill not able to do nothing but give amused and curious peeks at his way with her friends from the front row, wondering what was going.

"You guys are embarrassing me!" Dion laughed, his face asking Tio for help as the two were overpowering him.

"I feel the same," Tio said with an uncomfortable tone, wishing his seat was somewhere else.

"OH, LOOK AT THAT! WE HAVE FULL HOUUUUUSE!" Charlie yelled cheeringly like a football coach, not spearing the theatrics as he entered the class through the open door.

The class went totally out of control, everyone cheering and some starting to chant "Charlie!" together, as the old husky was taking his time to give a fist bump to a few on his way in the front. If someone knew how to create team spirit, that was Charlie. He was born to do this.

The old husky circled around his teacher's desk, drumming the metal and sitting down. He let everyone keep up the hassle, starting to count through his students like he always did. It was important to him to keep a count of how many were present.

"Can you two stop messing around? He will begin at any moment, and I don't want to miss anything." Tio hissed at the three wrestling mammals next to him.

Charlie noticed two mammals rag dolling his son in the front, laughing at the amusing sight and keeping on with the count. As usual... Ryan and Niles were missing. He shouldn't be surprised. Sure, it made him slightly sad... But his son made his own choices. Besides, Ryan's free time hobby would be flawlessly more useful out there in the wasteland than book knowledge, would he ever have to leave this vault with his brother.

As for Dion... Well, all I can wish is that luck is on his side. My son was born too good-hearted for this world. That is all I could think as I was watching my son laughing with water in his eyes, Jacob and Sam teasingly bullying him over something that I didn't know of. Tio is his usual self, civil and preserved... Now... I guess I should start the class.

"Alright, alright, everyone! Time to settle down! We got things to learn!" Charlie announced, standing up from his seat.

The class started to slowly calm down with the rampage of excitement. The conversations stopped, screaming went down, table drumming ended, and everyone took a good posture. Charlie as always had noticeable authority. When he told everyone to get quiet, they would.

"Shh!" Tio hissed at his friends, all three calming down and Dion huffing, feeling saved by his father's arrival, Jacob still ruffling the fur on top of his head.

"You ain't getting away that easily." The German shepherd teased.

"No way." Sam agreed, smirking at that. Dion just shook his head and smiled, Charlie taking his time to start talking as his amused gaze lingered on the front row.

"Welcome! Now, we have quite the full week ahead of ourselves so, let's not waste time. The subject of the Monday class will beeee... Oh, you guys are gonna love this. Today I will teach you guys about... Poker." Charlie told, theatrically.

"... A what?" Was mostly the question on everyone's lips on the class, the confused smiles and whispers staring. Charlie was more than pleased, yet not surprised that anyone knew what he was talking about. He cleared his throat and spoke.

"As you all know, every single week I decide to take at least one class to tell one of the most useful skills in the wasteland, would your fates ever lead there. Which I highly doubt will happen, but precautions are everything... And if it happens, it will happen far after I'm gone." Charlie admitted someone, yelling from the back of the class. That person was surprisingly Farin.

"Would that be such a bad thing, teach? I mean... For all the cool shit you been telling so far about that place, it sounds hella lot more entertaining than this place."

Even as many did dislike Farin, his opinion did create some sort of reactions from the class as some did agree with it. Charlie chuckled at the arrogant attitude, wanting to eternally shake his head for the fact that these kids should pray every night that they would not end up wandering there... Even if Charlie did know that it would be inevitable before long. But they didn't need to know that.

"Well, Farin... That might only sound so because I only decide to tell all the cool shit on my classes. There is a lot that I cut out from not telling, for your own sakes."

"For our own sakes? Why do you always say that? Honestly, how bad can it be, mister Winchester?" Someone asked with a puzzled voice from the back as well. Before long, someone added to it, a girl's voice asking.

"Yeah, I mean... Shouldn't we know some of the negative stuff about life on the surface, since you keep always just telling something neat? I mean... Big roaches and things called mole rats... They don't sound like big negative when compared to all the fun out there."

"Yeh, what's up with that, mister Charlie? You started telling about all the stuff from out there when we were like seventeen. Why aren't we already going out there instead of staying here?" Jacob asked as well from the front row.

"Yeah, Charlie, tell us what's so bad about living out there? You and Dion and Ryan came from there and you are all totally fine and act normal." Some otter from the middle row pointed out.

The conversations started again; Charlie not able to hold a small smile. Partly out of a slight anxiety of sudden turn of subject, but partly out of proudness. He used his paw to wave a bit, signaling everyone to calm down. And they did. The old dog took his time to think of what to say but gave a small laugh first.

"You know... It's great to realize that the students you teach actually listen. I've watched all of you grow from the ages of barely ten into young adults you are today in front of me. I sometimes forget how smart you all actually are. But one thing that I want from you the most is trust. When the time comes... I will tell about the things that you need to know... And I will do it in total honesty. I owe every single one of you that much. But today is not that day. Not yet. I know you are all eager to know more and more of the life out there or what might wait for you, but only when I decide how and when." Charlie said with a dedicated tone, standing fully behind his words.

"... So, we just have to wait for like few more years for you tell us that the surface isn't that great after all? It doesn't make sense to me." Farin asked with a rather frustrated tone. The tiger was clearly not seeing any logic in this.

Charlie sighed at that, leaning against his metallic table and spoke, mostly aiming his answer at Farin.

"I don't see that I have many options here. None of you are dumb. So, you know that nothing is perfect in this life. Not in here. Not out there. Nowhere. Yet the only reason I would be creating these guidelines of what to tell and what not to tell would be that I have perfectly valid reasons behind that. And my advice to you is to stay in this vault as long as you can and live a happy life as you can. I won't go into details, like said... But I will tell you that it's harder out there than in here, underground. That is something you all should have picked up by now."

The silence settled in, Farin looking like he had something to say. But he couldn't really figure out what.

"Yeah, Charlie. Shut Farin down." Jacob had to let out teasingly. Dion winced at that, Farin right away yelling from the back of the class.

"Fuck off, clown dog!" The tiger shot back at Jacob, Charlie coming in between.

"Now, now... Listen, there was nothing wrong with Farin's questions. There are no dumb questions. Just flawed answers. But I try my best. How about we get into the subject at hand here?" Charlie suggested, trying to get everyone back into the same energy as they had when he entered the class.

"Farin is going to give you a black eye," Tio said quietly.

"Can you protect me, Tio? Pretty please?" Jacob asked without any sign of worry.

"No."

"Here I thought that we are friends," Jacob said.

"That is what you want to believe. Be quiet. Winchester is talking." Tio grunted, Charlie, staring at Jacob.

"Jacob. Since you are so full of energy this morning, you shall be helping me with a demonstration for the class. You want to assist me a bit here?" Charlie asked with a sly smile, nodding Jacob to rise up from his seat.

"Me?" Jacob asked in confusion, Sam laughing at the situation the dog had gotten himself into by disturbing Charlie from starting to teach his class.

Now everyone got more excited right away, the class pondering together what on earth would Charlie need an assistant for. It had happened a few times every year, but it was always about something entertaining.

The German shepherd had all eyes on him as he slowly crawled out of his chair, Dion giving his best friend thumbs up enthusiastically. Jacob slowly walked in front of the class, right next to Charlie. He was used to being a center of attention because of wild and joking nature, so he wasn't really bothered by the fact that he had an audience.

Charlie gave a friendly tap at Jacob's shoulder. He then started speaking.

"As you most likely all know by now what gambling means... Am I correct?" Charlie made sure, scanning the glass with his finger in gun motion smoothly as he was leaning against the table.

The agreeing nods came all around, Charlie giving a pleased nod at that and continued.

"As far as I can say, gambling is risky, addictive, and in worst case can make a person lose everything they own in the process. This activity is forbidden in the vault by the words of overseer himself, and I do have to say that I agree with that. Surely some of you have done some of you have gambled one way or another over small things. Ain't that correct? Come on now. Raise your paw if you have gambled as competition and lost some sort of possession." Charlie pointed out.

Pretty much over half of the class raised their paws in the air slowly, but most of them being boys over the girls. Dion did not raise a paw, but it didn't come to Charlie as a surprise. His son would never do something forbidden.

"Alright. There we go. Don't worry, I won't run to Calvin." Charlie said, most starting to laugh, some even in relief. Charlie continued.

"Gambling... It is one of the very practiced habits over in the Texas wasteland. ESPECIALLY in Texas. Out there, we have things called card tables, roulettes, gamble dens. Now, the most active form of gambling is in the form of card games. You might not know what card games are, but that is why I am here today to talk about."

"Oh, this is so cool..." Sam said in awe.

"Quiet," Tio said, not wanting to miss a thing.

Dion was just as focused, wondering where this would lead. The whole class was like they always were. Enchanted into Charlie's teaching. The old husky spoke after holding the class in excitement for a short time, smiling.

"Now, many card games are existing out there. It all requires a card deck. What is a card deck, you wonder? It's a standard, stacked number of cards in order to need to play any of the games. It consists of fifty-two pieces of cards. I.... Have one deck right here." Charlie said.

The dog saw the eyes glimmer as he lifted up something from his pocket, presenting the folded object to his class. He opened the case, tapping out all of the neat cards in his paw. He began speaking with almost nostalgia-filled tone, having somewhat of a wondering smile as he held the cards.

"I had accidentally grabbed this thing here along with me before entering this very vault, among other things. It's odd... Sometimes the most ridiculous and pointless things we keep might end up being so much use later..." Charlie said, chuckling by himself as he started counting the cards. They were all so preserved, being in perfect condition. But Charlie had clearly held them in his hands more than once. It could be seen from his expression.

"Mister Winchester, this is super interesting and all but like... What you need me for here?" Jacob asked, party bit impatiently.

"Patience, Jacob," Charlie said, ruffling the fur on top of Jacob's head and spoke continued to the fully focused class, snapping out of his pleasant and wild memories the cards brought to him.

"Now, there are all different kinds of ways to play with these cards. One is called Blackjack. One is called Caravan. But the greatest, most famous and played of them all... Is poker. One of the very foundation games of gambling, I'd say. Fascinating game that you won't ever get bored of, and by a mile more enjoyable if you become skilled at it by practice." Charlie explained, laying his deck on the desk next to him and snapped his fingers theatrically. He then presented a question.

"Hot quizz. Which do you younglings think is the most used thing that is used as a physical form of bet when it comes to cards?"

The class took it's time to process the question until Tio lifted his paw as the first one.

"Tio. You seem to have a guess there." Charlie said with interest. Tio was easily the most model student one could have, paying nonstop attention all the time.

"Caps."

"That is absolutely the right question. Caps, the currency of the wasteland. We have been over this topic many times. Surprising that no one else remembered as fast. Very good, Tio." Charlie said as praise, Tio actually peeking a small smile, which was very rare of him.

"Nice one, Tio," Dion said quietly, suddenly someone yelling from the background.

"Mexican nerd weirdo!"

Tio tried to ignore it but was back to his grumpy self and just gave an annoyed look over his shoulder, not answering anything to the insult. Of course, it had to be Farin. As much as some agreed silently with the tiger out of jealousy by the praise of Charlie from a teacher to student, most knew the comment was uncalled for. Charlie wasn't going to ignore it. The old husky spoke out, but not by anger. More as in tired tone.

"Farin, from now on, you keep such comments in your head instead of your mouth. Out there you can act any way you prefer but I don't need the negativity in my class that ends up disturbing your classmates. Am I understood?"

"... Yes, mister Winchester." Farin said humbly but clearly had to fight to back against his rebel nature to say something snarky. Charlie was quiet for a while and nodded.

"I'm very glad to hear it. Now, back to where I was. Caps. They are the other half of the game. There is a system with an object called chips, as well. Chips are plastic objects of different colors, bought in exchange for caps. But I won't get into those today, as it's not that needed information."

Jacob was just standing there, looking at Charlie with puzzled expression still, wondering why Charlie had him just standing there awkwardly. The old dog could see the restlessness of the German shepherd, giving him assuring wink and took the deck of cards from the table.

"Now before I teach all of you the rules of poker or as some call it by its popular nickname: Texas hold'em, I'm going to show you what else the mammals have figured out with these cards. This is where you come in to assist me, Jacob." The old husky said, making his assistant look excited right away. Charlie continued.

"You all have seen me done some magic tricks haven't you?" Charlie asked teasingly, making the class go nuts the moment he said it.

The cheering and excited table banging started, Charlie chuckling by himself from the expected reaction.

Charlie didn't even bother to silence the class down. He just passed the deck to Jacob, whispering to the young dog.

"Take these will ya?"

Jacob nodded with interest, now the students being the ones to hiss each other to shut up as Charlie was about to do something wicked. Charlie spoke loudly to the class as he stopped leaning against his desk, getting ready to see if he still knew his tricks.

"Now, the backside of each card is identical. There is no way of telling from behind which card it holds. There are two colors. Red and Black cards. Both colors have two teams. Black cards consist of spades and clubs. The red ones consist of hearts and diamonds. Every single team, as well as both colors, are in the same in value completely. They all hold numbers individually from one to ten. Number one is called Ace, which is most valuable of the cards. After tens, the cards continue in pictures instead of numbers. After number ten comes a guy called Jack. He represents the number eleven. Then comes the queen. She represents the number twelve. Then comes the king. He represents the number thirteen. Finally, and last comes Ace, which represents number fourteen as well as number one. It might sound complicated first to process, but once learned, the game is very simple. Now, look at these cards. I will take show one cards out of all four teams to show."

Charlie chose a few cards from the deck after going through them a moment. He then showed them to the class, taking a short walk in the middle of the rows, making each student get a good gaze of 4 chosen cards. After a while of showing them, letting a few hold the cards in their paws, he returned in front of the class as he kept explaining himself.

"I am not going to go into great detail in explaining the game since it's a form of gamble. Which I nor the overseer would approve of. NOW, don't look so down. Rules are the rules. Yet... I can show you all kinds of tricks with them." Charlie assured.

For some reason, Tio looked the most down. He clearly showed great interest in this game Charlie was explaining for some reason. Dion could see it, but it was because he agreed. He found himself very surprised by the fact that he was for the first time actually interested in gambling. Nevertheless, Charlie continued his demonstrations on magic.

"Jacob... Shuffle the deck in your hand. Basically, just change the places of the cards as much as possible, if you could." Charlie said with a confident smirk.

Jacob started to slowly do as the old dog told, changing the places of cards randomly and wondering when he should stop. Charlie clicked his tongue and spoke.

"I think that is enough. Now, I have no idea which card is where. Jacob. Pull out a random card and do not show it to me. Only you can see it."

Jacob quickly took a card from the middle of the deck, slowly looking at the card. Charlie then spoke.

Jacob. I'm going to close my eyes. I want you to go in front of the class and show everyone the cards you picked.

"Alrighty," Jacob said, doing as told.

Within a few, everyone saw the card. It was number four of spades. Charlie kept his eyes closed firmly as everyone clearly would see if there would be peeking. Charlie then spoke with his eyes closed.

"Now... Jacob. Is the card black of color?"

"... Yes." He said.

Charlie smiled a bit at that, knowing how good he was at this.

"Is it a spade?"

"I... I think so." Jacob said, looking at it again.

"It is a spade, teacher," Tio said to back up the guess since Jacob had already forgot the names of the teams.

(Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T38v3-SSGcM

"There we go... Aaand last one... It is number four, isn't it?" Charlie asked with a smirk.

"NO WAY!" Jacob yelled in disbelief.

Charlie didn't even open his eyes as everyone the class started to cheer for him.

Suddenly, Jill gave a request excitedly.

"Can you do that again, mister Charlie?" The Siamese cat girl asked from the row, her excited friends in the same spirit. Dion could not help but smile even more than he already was because of his dads talented trick, but because the girl that he liked was just as much in awe.

"Hmmm let's see, Jill. Jacob, choose another card from anywhere." Charlie said casually.

"Will do," Jacob said happily, taking the second last card from the bottom this time. He showed the card to the class.

After a while, Charlie hummed with his eyes closed, sticking his tongue out with a smile.

"It's reeeed... Hearts... It's a pictured one... It's a king."

The class started to cheer again, Charlie exhaling and opening his eyes, rubbing his nose bridge and wanting to tap himself into back. But what he was about to do next would be even cooler.

"That was incredible, mister Winchester!" Jacob said with a laugh, showing the exact card Charlie had guessed to his face. Charlie gave a self-satisfied chuckle, handing his paw over in order to get the deck back. Jacob gave back the cards, Charlie giving thankful tap at Jacob's shoulder and spoke.

"You can go sit back down."

The dog nodded, smiling as he went back for his seat, talking right away to his friends.

"That shit was amazing."

"More to come I think," Sam said excitedly.

Charlie indeed had more to come, putting the deck on the desk and taking one single card. He showed it to the class theatrically, making the conversations go down within a second as he took the attention again.

He was showing Ace of spades between his fingers, slowly taking his other finger to hold the other, opposite corner of the card.

The class waited. Charlie took a deep breath... And let go of the card from his both fingertips. But instead of the card falling down as it should have by all logic, it stayed in the air.

Pretty much every jaw in the class dropped and eyes widened, Charlie having a totally relaxed face as he separated his paws even slightly further away from the levitating card, making the card suddenly spin a steady circle in the air.

"WWWWOOOOOOOOOAA!" The whole class started yelling, the whole class totally enchanted by the trick. Even Tio had to speak out as he witnessed this.

"Impossible."

"Dad, how do you do that?!" Dion asked loudly in total amazement, Charlie not able to hold a small smile as he slowly moved his paws steadily back and forth, making the card perfectly move in the air between his paws. Charlie started to talk, and the whole class once again had to quickly hold their amazement to hear every word their teacher was about to say.

"What you all see right now... You all see exactly... And only... What I choose... To show you." Charlie spoke with concentrated and dedicated voice, focusing now hard as he was about to do something magical again.

He snapped his fingers at the exact same time.

Within a moment of quick breath... The card vanished into thin air. No one saw it anymore.

It made the class go totally speechless.

"In that spilt..." Charlie began, starting to walk towards Dion. His son watched with wide, enchanted eyes as his father brought his paw closer to his face. Charlie snapped two fingers this time.

And the very same card that had just disappeared, was completely visible to see again, right between Charlie's fingers.

"Second." Charlie finished with a smirk.

The class went completely out of control, starting to yell their amazement for the teacher, him giving the card to his son with a wink and walking back towards his desk, starting to bow to everyone as he backed up in front of the class again.

"WHAT?!" Jacob yelled like what Charlie just did was insane, Dion looking at the card in his hand with wide eyes. Tio was totally speechless, looking at the show before him like he was enchanted.

Sam just chanted "more!"

The class was in total hysteria.

Charlie spoke.

"Dion! Stuff that card in your pocket, will you? It will come in handy. Trust me."

Everyone took note of that.

The totally confused husky took the card, giving hesitant look at his father as he slowly put the card in his pocket.

Charlie continued; even as harder it was this time for the class to calm down from the trick he just did. So, the husky kept on with his speech, taking the deck in his paws from the table again.

He sat down on his desk, taking another card from the deck and showing it to everyone. It was a jack of clubs. Charlie spoke.

"THAT... Is an illusion, everyone. It is a lie, that I tell your eyes. Making the magic happen..." Charlie announced, slowly turning the card that he was showing for the class. And on the other side, instead of just blank full of nothing, was the same Ace of spades that Dion just put in his pocket.

The class froze, Dion, starting to tap his pockets with wide eyes, yelling in disbelief.

"I don't have it anymore!"

"In the moment." Charlie finished, exhaling with a face of a victor, giving a kiss to the card in his paw.

"NO WAAAAYYY!" Pretty much everyone yelled.

The clapping that the class started to give was most likely heard a long way in the tunnels of vault fifty-five that day, being one of the most amazing Monday classes that Charlie had given to these younglings, Charlie's name being chanted over and over.

Tio was totally smiling, seeing Charlie bow, Sam and Jacob having risen from their seats to clap at the old husky as hard as they could.

In middle of clapping and cheering for the man before them, Charlie boasting and making the deck of cards fly in the air and making them rain on him and fall on the floor, Sam spoke to Dion in total envy, the husky having stood up as well while he kept clapping.

"Dion... You have the coolest dad in the whole world."

"... Yeah... I do." Dion said quietly, moments like these making him wonder, how on earth could he be the same blood as the old husky before him.

ACT 3

Now... You all might wonder... Where was Ryan this whole time while absent of the class that was held just two levels up?

See, skipping the classes was their usual thing. You might have all sorts of own ideas what these two would be such a free time for... But Charlie said it the best... What they would do down here... It would matter the most up there... Would that day ever arrive?

When Ryan and Dion were still kids in the vault, barely the age of ten, Charlie would tell them stories that he had been told when he was just a child. Dion's favorite would always be a story of a lonely guitar man, telling about the stories of a famous wolf musician who would travel around the world with nothing but his guitar, getting into adventures and making money as well as friends.

But Ryan's favorite story... It was about a man called Huang the tiger.

It was an ancient story of a hero that lived in ancient china far ago... The story told by a person very dear to Charlie when he was just a child as well.

Ryan was obsessed with the story all the way until the point that he knew it from outside memory.

Huang was a mighty warrior, master of the sword and an ancient fighting style called kung-fu. Huang would be a hero of the people, fighting the evil and being the true terror to his enemies. Nothing stood in Huang's way, the master swordsman being loved and respected through the great country of China. He saved villagers, orphans, and dueled the deadliest enemies you could think of... And won them all.

Ryan wanted to be just like Huang. The love that Ryan had for the story had amused yet intrigued Charlie, till the point that he made something very special for Ryan on his next birthday. At the age of eleven, Charlie gave a gift to his son.

He had taken one of the security batons from the vault, spending a few days to make a few alterations to it. He made it look like a really short sword making so that the edges were blunt and wouldn't hurt unless used with adult force. So, he gave it to Ryan for the fun of it and told that he should never hit anyone with it, or he would take it back. Ryan promised not to.

As Charlie expected Ryan to be bored of his new toy like most kids would within time... Ryan didn't. Far from it. He saw his fox kit one day at the maintenance deck below, swinging at the air with his sword, trying to do kicks and different kinds of steps all around, doing things Charlie told in his stories... But what took Charlie's attention... Was that Ryan was good. Very good.

He was calm, collected and very agile for his age as Charlie followed his moves. And Charlie saw what he did best. Supported his son's hobby. Charlie made another training sword out of the batons, one day joining in the company of his son, kneeling and talking to him.

"Ryan... Do you want to learn how to fight with your sword? Because if you do... You going to need more than invisible dummies. Do you want me to teach you?"

Ryan had but one answer with an excited smile on his face. "Yes."

For a year, Charlie would teach Ryan everything. Base forms, how to move his legs, how to try different techniques... How to be one with the sword. Within time as Charlie thought him for a whole two years... Niles, Ryan's best friend took an interest. In the end, he had no choice. Ryan was training almost every day, the lynx just watching and watching... Until one day, he said the words.

"I kinda could try to train with you... But I don't have one of those cool swords like you."

Charlie smiled at that, looking at Ryan and speaking to Niles.

"You know what... This old man has thought his son pretty much everything I can... It's time for my son to teach someone else. This is yours, Niles." Charlie had told, handing the sword over to the lynx, the kid taking it from him with shining eyes.

Then... The rest was history. Ryan's boyfriend might have been quiet, timid and easily spooked nature... But he was the only one from the vault who could match Ryan's in the ancient dance of life and death.

Nobody in the vault wanted to try their luck angering these two.

And for a damn good reason.

(Isaac Hayes - Three Tough Guys) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Vo7llGp0c

"Seven strikes and out," Ryan said confidently with a wink.

"... Ten." Niles answered with a smirk.

"... Bring it then." Ryan nodded, enjoying the attitude.

The fox circled within a fair distance, taking light steps on his toes as he pointed his sword towards Niles in challenge, the lynx taking long, collected breath.

"He is thinking... Which side..." Ryan teased.

"Shut up," Niles commanded with chuckle, poking his tongue out in concentration.

The lynx lunged forward.

He tried to pierce Ryan with the tip of his sword, yet Ryan expected this. With his left hand, he guided the attack past him, making quick spin and giving a light tackle with his side at the lynx and making him almost lose his balance a bit, the lynx taking two jump steps away and grunting in frustration.

"Cooonceentraaate...." Ryan taunted, turning his back on the lynx and spinning the sword with talent in his wrist.

"HYA!" Niles let out, running towards the fox and taking a light swing from the left.

Ryan leaned back, Niles having run past him but returning right back to bring a strong strike from up, trying to hit Ryan right on top of his head, until the strong sound of metals colliding echoed bluntly.

Ryan was in a good stance, bending his other knee back a bit as he held the sword sideways on top of his head with both of his paws, having blocked the strong attack. Both were huffing, testing their force as their hands trembled.

"That's a two... Where from here?" Ryan asked with a charming smile.

"Hmm... Let me think! -" Niles let out with a smile as well, making a surprise move and trying to spin kick Charlie right at the side of his head from the right.

The fox reacted, storming to tackle the lynx with his whole weight as a full-body dive, just before the leg was about to hit him in the head.

The lynx went flying down on the ground, the fox pinning him down and making Niles's sword fall down next to him.

The fox tried to attack from up, aiming at the pinned lynx's forehead, Niles catching the wrists of the fox just time, the struggle very visible on his face. The fox huffed.

"Give uuup, you can't do anything!" Ryan taunted, Niles, huffing heavily as Ryan was clearly stronger than him, the sword coming closer and closer to his nose.

"Plenty... Of... Things... I could... Do..." The lynx huffed in struggle, visible sweat drop going on his forehead as he was fighting against defeat.

"Better get to it th-" Ryan was about to say until the lynx quickly freed one of his paws and hit Ryan in the stomach as hard as he could, making the fox's eyes widen in surprise and gasping for air. The fox fell on the side from top of the lynx. Niles smiled in victory, quickly bending his back and with agile move, and managing to jump back on his feet. Ryan had just a slight second to prepare.

The fox rolled on the ground, the lynx quickly going after Ryan and used one second to grab his sword from the ground in pursuit.

Ryan managed to get on his feet just in time before Niles arrived, swinging from the left, Ryan answering the attack from the right and blocking it. The loud metallic sound echoed again.

Lynx tried to quickly punch Ryan in the face with a hook, the fox dodging it by turning his body around and letting the attack go past him. In the process, the fox did a spin kick in the air with the back of his foot, giving light but still effective tap at the back of Niles's head.

The lynx stumbled a few steps, Ryan gaining distance from outplayed and agitated lynx, Niles turning around and rubbed the back of his head.

"That hurt." The lynx admitted but still smirked.

"So did your punch. We even." The fox winked with a flirty gaze.

"Not even close!" Niles let out in challenge, storming to attack Ryan again, the fox getting ready with a new stance and yelled back.

"Come on then!" Ryan said, turning his body sideways and pointing his sword with one arm at the attacking lynx, getting ready.

Niles hit from the right, Ryan blocking it perfectly.

The lynx swung from left, Ryan blocking it effortlessly.

Niles tried to leg sweep the fox out of nowhere, Ryan giving a talented backflip barely in time to evade the unsuspected move that would have definitely made him fall down.

The lynx gave no break to fox on his attack, spinning the sword in his wrist and lunging with it. About to hit Ryan in the middle of his chest.

Ryan was about to lose, until he figured out the solution out of instinct, taking light step to the side just in time to evade the lunge, the sword traveling under his armpit, fox quickly closing his arm against his side, trapping Niles's sword from moving.

Before the wide-eyed lynx managed to even realize what had happened, the fox had drawn his own sword, holding it with his free hand, crossed right against the lynx's throat.

Ryan huffed out with a proud smile, having won the duel just barely.

"Almost got me... Very good."

Niles exhaled, clearly frustrated, yet not able but to smile for his achievement.

Both relaxed their bodies, fox taking the sword away from the lynx's throat, freeing the others sword out of the improvised armpit hold. Both gave few wrist spins with their swords, panting from the theatrical and adrenaline-filled combat, just looking at each other.

"... You might actually beat me one of these days." Ryan said with a proud tone, rubbing his stomach from the spot the lynx had hit. Niles cached his breath as well, speaking.

"I know I will. I'm getting closer every day."

"Could it be maybe because I might be doing it on purpose?" The fox teased.

"Words of a guy who is afraid to lose." Niles chuckled and shook his head.

"Uuh. The lynx has claws." Ryan smirked.

"Whatever."

"Whatever huh? You might have a chance of stubbing my toe within the next... Year or two? And that is just being optimistic."

"I'd say days." Niles laughed out, the fox walking closer as the lynx was stretching, his back turned against him.

"Days huh? Someone is getting cocky." Ryan spoke with a smirk, getting closer.

"I have a very cocky teacher. Maybe the aggravating attitude of his is starting to rub off before long. I've had to go through your mental torture every time we duel for too many years now. It would-"

The lynx suddenly felt his body tense up and eyes widen, Ryan right behind him. He stopped talking.

The fox had scooped his hands around the waist of the lynx gently, his whole body pressed against his. The lynx's eyelids relaxed, feeling the loving smile creeping on his face as he placed his paw on top of Ryan's, the fox inhaling the fur on his neck a bit and spoke.

"I hope I've been more than just mental torture every year..." Ryan spoke.

"Oh, I don't know... Have you? There are all kinds of mental torture, you know?" Niles asked hazily, his heart pumping from the romantic hug that he had zero intention to fight back against.

"... I want to kiss." Ryan said suddenly with a warm tone.

"... Ryan... You know we shouldn't." The lynx said quietly, looking concerned right away.

"... It's been so long since we did... Why are you so afraid?" Ryan asked.

"... Ryan, you ask that question like you wouldn't know the answer. We need to be careful. Kissing in here, DURING DAY, isn't careful." Niles said with a sad tone.

"Look, we will hear if someone is coming... Just a little... Please?" Ryan asked with a smirk, the lynx thinking for a moment and answering.

"... One kiss."

"Three."

"Why are you like this?" The lynx asked, but not able to hold a chuckle, turning around.

He was staring Ryan for a while a warm smile, both looking at each other with half-lidded eyes.

The fox started to guide the lynx towards the wall, pressing him against it. The huge pile of crates was blocking the clear view from the nearby metal door, so they wouldn't be spotted immediately.

Ryan leaned in, the shyly smiling lynx trying to relax like his boyfriend as they started to kiss. But it was difficult. He was paranoid for a good reason. The thing with Ryan was that his self-confidence clouded his clear thinking in many situations, the fox being mostly guided by his emotions. That was the reason they had been almost caught in many situations. It was the reason Dion saw them in the first place. Doing this in the daytime was not a good idea. And it would be only a matter of time before their friends might have decided to come and hang out here.

It was usual for them to come and spend many hours here during the day, watching Ryan and Niles compete, being the observing and discussing audience.

"R-Ryan-we should st-" The lynx was trying to mumble through the kissing, but Fox wasn't having the objections. He kept kissing with the lynx passionately, Niles feeling warm shivers as the fox was forcing him to relax and enjoy the forbidden moment, they had done countless of times.

Within a few seconds, Niles did finally relax his shoulders, starting to smile and hug the fox back.

After a long moment, both huffed after the passionate and loving kiss, opening their eyes and looking at each other for a moment. Neither said a word. It felt like they didn't need to.

The lynx was getting his instincts clouded slowly as he stared at Ryan, the strong fox running his thumb on his cheek endearingly and just looking at him. With a slow movement of shaking paw, the lynx huffed and grabbed the zipper of Ryan's vault suit, located at his collar. The fox gave a questioning smile at the lynx, wondering what he was doing.

The scared but shy looking lynx spoke quietly with nervous tone, yet with a small hint of even lust in it.

"I... I think I want to... Kiss something else as well..."

"... Damn, Niles." Ryan huffed, smirking in total surprise.

"Shut up. You started this. Your fault. All of it. Don't look at me. Don't even talk." Niles mumbled hornily, taking the zipper down and starting to get on his knees.

Ryan quickly gave look from behind the boxes at the door in small caution, not seeing or hearing anybody. The fox smiled in victory, biting his tongue and whispering.

"Yeah, we clear."

"Thank god... I've missed this." Niles huffed in lust, almost having pulled Ryan's whole zipper down, his face blushed.

"You need to be quick-" Ryan began until something happened.

Both of their furs sparked up as they heard a very loud yell from the hallway, coming right from behind the door Ryan had just gazed. The voice of a very familiar German shepherd was heard more than clear.

"AND THAT TRICK THAT HE DID, SPINNING THE CARD AROUND! I WAS LIKE HOW DO YOU-"

That was all that Ryan and Niles needed to hear, the lynx jumping up in total panic. Ryan started to quickly pull the zipper of his blue vault suit back up, Niles cursing by himself.

"Ohmygodohmygod I'm an idiot!" The lynx repeated in panic. He, the smarter and always more cautious of the two, had just almost gotten them caught because of his own selfish ideals.

"Shit..." Ryan cursed as well, the zipper getting stuck a bit at his chest, both walking out of their suspicious hiding place together.

"I'm an idiot!" The lynx repeated, huffing in total frustration. Ryan spoke right away, pulling the rest of his zipper up just in time and spoke.

"Stop blaming yourself, you were right. I was the one who started it-" Ryan admitted, not wanting the lynx to start dwelling in self-blame again.

"Exactly! That is why we shouldn't do this anymore or we end up getting killed our some-"

"No one is killing anyone, you overreacting-"

"STOP ALWAYS SAYING THAT!" Niles said in a frustrated tone, his heart pumping still from the anxiety.

"HHSH, they coming!" Ryan warned quickly.

Just after saying that, the door opened. Both mammals relaxed, quickly having grabbed the swords from the floor.

Dion walked in first, waving at his bother as a greeting and giving a small smile... But Ryan could see that the energy between them was a bit different after what he had said the day before. They never really had a chance to talk after that, as Dion had spent the rest of the day with Tio, reading in the wolf's room and talking about stories. The husky went to sit down on a pile of crates, looking with a smile as his best friend was waving his hands around.

Jacob kept imitating Charlie's movies and his words.

"In that split... Second." The dog said, snapping his fingers, yelling right after.

"THAT SHIT WAS CRAZY!"

"It was quite spectacular, indeed." Tio had to agree, yet remaining calm and contained, deep in thought.

"Or that when he just, SWOOSH! Took the whole deck and made the cards fly perfectly to his other paw!" Sam hyped.

"Yeah, that one!" Jacob agreed with an excited smile.

"Dion, why aren't you as hyped as we are?! THAT WAS LIKE... At least on top ten coolest classes, he's had!" Jacob said, jumping around and still imitating Charlie's moves with his paws.

"Yeah, I mean... I loved all of it, but... I just wished he would have taught us the game itself." Dion said with a genuine smile.

"My thoughts exactly." Tio agreed with a nod, sitting down on one of the nearby crates, right next to where Dion had sat down.

Ryan and Niles stared at each other in slight confusion, both going through the same question. Ryan then asked by shrugging his shoulders in slight frustration.

"What are you guys even talking about?"

"NOW THAT is the reason you two should sometimes attend to your father's classes." Jacob pointed out with a finger gun, the fox rolling his eyes.

"No matter what the old geezer teaches, you always say that it's SUPER cool. I'm afraid that I don't do much with the information about radroaches or-"

"Our dad is not that old," Dion said in between with a bit hurt tone.

"Forty-five... Is old, big brother." Ryan argued back.

"Yeah, it kind of is," Jacob said, shrugging his shoulders.

Tio suddenly added in between.

"By the standard of an average lifespan of a male in vault, Charlie's age shouldn't be considered in the term of a-"

"Oh, for fucks sake." Ryan sighed, going to the point.

"Fine, just tell me what our father did now, or I have to listen to this nonsense the rest of the day," Ryan said with a bored tone.

"Be nice," Niles said from the side, giving a light poke against Ryan's side with the sword, making the fox wince.

"OW."

"Well deserved," Tio said calmly. The lynx smiled at the comment, giving an agreeing nod as he walked next to his friends, sitting down on the floor with his back against the crate. Sam started explaining to the fox, who was rubbing his ribs with his paw.

"Your dad took a deck of cards and started to tell us about gambling... And he showed like... Coolest stuff ever with those things. A lot of different tricks." Sam said, the show still vividly in his head.

"Ryan, did you know that our dad can do magic tricks with cards?" Dion asked with the tone that was amazed by his father once again, smiling at his brother.

"... No." Ryan just said casually, like this didn't strike any interest in him.

"Ryan, you might look bored now. But I'm saying, you missed some of the coolest shit he has ever shown." Jacob agreed, climbing on the crate that was one level up from Dion and Tio. He instantly ruffled top of Tio's head, the wolf giving a warning look to the snickering dog behind him.

"Woopdiedoo. I'm sorry, but a warrior has no time to sit on his ass and listen to his dad all day." Ryan said with an egoistic tone, sometimes everyone forgetting how immature Ryan could be.

"Fair enough. Just saying." Jacob said withheld back laugh, letting the subject go.

"What a warrior you are. You almost just lost a duel to me before they came through the door." Niles said with a confident tone.

"HA!" Ryan laughed, but Sam spoke right away.

"Wait, you did?"

"Was pretty close, yeah," Niles admitted. Ryan spoke nothing, crossing his arms and looking at Niles act all proud of himself.

"How many strikes before you were out?" Tio asked quietly, going through something on his pip-boy with a focused look.

"I... I think we kind of lost count." Niles aid genuinely, trying to remember.

"Niles, you are never going to bear Ryan in his own game." Jacob teased, Niles, rolling his eyes and Ryan smiling at that.

"See? The truth comes out of mouths of sheppy boys." Ryan bowed.

"Now that... Is a fact." Jacob added with a smirk, giving invisible high five to the fox.

"No sé sobre eso, jefe." Tio said quietly, tinkering with his wrist device.

"Talking about truths..." Sam said suddenly with a mischievous tone.

Nobody understood why Sam was looking at Dion with an evil smile first.

But then Jacob started to smile as well, starting to talk.

"Oooooh riiiight... Husker... You are in trouble." The German shepherd said, grabbing Dion's tail quickly so couldn't escape.

Dion's eyes widened, knowing that he was about to get attacked. So, he surrendered before it even began.

"OKAY, okay! You guys win... I'll tell."

"What is going on?" Niles asked with a puzzled smile, Ryan walking closer as well and thinking what this could be about.

"Dion, you don't have to tell, if you don't want to." Tio said, finally done fixing something on his pip-boy and looking at his hyena and dog friend judgingly.

"Don't listen to the wolf. He speaks two languages. Never trust a guy who speaks two languages." Jacob teased, the wolf cursing at the smirking dog.

"Juro que si tengo que mirar esa estúpida sonrisa solo un poco más..." The wolf started talking with intense eye contact. Jacob only enjoyed to get Tio this agitated, even if he had no idea what was coming out of his mouth.

"I love you too!" Jacob began.

No one could hold a laugh but Dion and Niles, who felt bad for their wolf friend. The wolf tried not to huff and lose his temper, looking away from Jacob awkwardly and muttering.

"Deja de decirme eso, estúpido perro guapo... Te odio..."

"Leave Tio alone, Jacob. Dion. What was the thing that you were about to tell?" Niles asked, saving the situation by shifting everyone's attention back to Dion. The lynx knew that it was only a matter of time before Tio might actually hit his friend. He had only done so once, but apologized right away, Jacob laughing it off with bruise on cheek. But everyone had their total breaking point.

"Oh... Right... Umm... I..."

"Here it comes. What happened? Tell every detail. If you lie, I pull the tail. It will hurt a ton and you know it. I have lie detector in my head." Jacob warned.

"I..." Dion said, starting to circle his thumbs around and smiled, looking at the floor as he took in some breath. He then let it out.

"Jill asked me on a date."

Everyone went quiet, Ryan starting to smile out of surprise, all the eyes widening in the group.

"... And what was your answer?" Ryan asked, sitting down on the floor with his legs crossed.

"... The same answer I've wanted to give him for many years-"

"YYYYYYYEAAAH THAT'S MY HUSKER!" Jacob cheered, attacking to rattle his shoulders and making the dog shake. Dion started laughing, Sam giving him a shoulder bump and joining the attack.

"That's great, Dion!" Niles said with a smile, Tio speaking with a shrug.

"Took you long enough."

"Well, I'm proud of you bro," Ryan said with a chuckle, genuinely surprised that the day had finally come.

"... Thanks." Dion said, giving a genuine smile as Jacob ruffled the top of his head, everyone letting Dion breathe a bit.

"So, what will you two do?" Sam asked with interest.

"I... I honestly don't know." Dion said, starting to actually look a bit concerned after pondering the question. What exactly would they do? He was already bad at talking with Jill. What on earth could he do to entertain or keep the girl that he liked from not dying to boredom? Dion didn't exactly think highly of himself if it came to the question of being an interesting personality.

"Oooh, then you have come to the right man! I got lots of ideas that you can do!" Jacob spoke right away, scooting to jump between Tio and his best friend, the wolf giving annoyed grumble of the invasion of private space. Even if Jacob did that pretty much every day.

"What on earth would you know about when it comes to girls, Jacob?" Niles asked with an unamused tone.

"Well, I mean... He's had, girlfriends." Sam said with an honest tone.

"Had" Ryan pointed out, with a smirk.

Jacob just snickered confidently and spoke.

"Well, as it so happens, I actually have kissed a lot with a certain unnamed girl recently."

Everyone went quiet, Ryan raising an eyebrow. Tio actually looked like he froze.

"No shit?" The fox asked with an interested smile.

"R-really?! Why didn't you tell me, Jacob? I thought that we were best friends!" Dion asked loudly, feeling actually hurt that his best friend had not shared of having some secret girlfriend.

"Yyeaah, I'm sorry, husker. We just... Kinda... You know. Keeping it on the low. Going slowly." Jacob assured, sounding genuinely convincing.

"There is no way on earth that someone would tolerate you," Niles said with a sharp gaze at the dog, suspecting this claim a lot.

"I mean... It's not that far-fetched. Jacob isn't exactly ugly." Sam said with a wondering tone.

"It doesn't take a smarter individual to learn that Jacob is blatantly lying as a defense mechanism to prove something out of himself, as a usual habit. If there was a girl you were with, we would know. I doubt you have ever even kissed a girl." Tio suddenly said with a serious tone, looking at the dog.

"Oooooo..." Niles added with a smirk, always loving when Tio gave it back to Jacob.

"How would you know, Tio? By what I hear from the girls you have dated, you never kissed any of them. It's not exactly a secret. They all say you rather choose book overseeing them naked." Jacob laughed at the wolf, making the Tio's eyes widen in anger.

"You are lying."

"Weeell... have to admit, Tio. He is right. I heard Jessy once say that she tried to kiss you a few times but you always had some... I don't know, excuses?" Sam said awkwardly with a shrug of shoulders.

"Look, maybe he just doesn't want to talk about it. It's not exactly our business." Niles said, defending the wolf.

"And here I thought that we share everything." Ryan snorted out with a smile.

"..." Tio didn't have an answer. He clearly felt more than uncomfortable with the subject. He had no intention of saying anything.

"What's thaaaaat? Where is the smart tongued wolf that I know? Got nothing to sayyyy?" Jacob teased, bringing his arm around Tio's shoulder and shaking him a bit.

He got no reaction from the quiet wolf, visibly annoyed due to the situation.

"I just don't like physical contact too much or find it to be the main priority in relation-"

"PFffff, just say you don't have guts to kiss girls like I do." Jacob snickered and made the wolf more uncomfortable by shaking him around.

"Get off me, idiot. Stop touching me." Jacob muttered, trying to shove Jacob away from pestering him.

Dion spoke right away to defend Tio.

"I... I mean I understand that. I don't think I would have the courage to kiss anyone either." The brown-furred husky said with a shy tone.

"Well, I do. I have to say, out of many things in my life... There is nothing better than kissing a girl. Or getting naked with one and-" Jacob began, suddenly Tio moving.

The wolf rose up from the top of the crate, starting to walk away from the spot and towards the metallic door with his head down.

"Heyhey, Tio. W-where you going?" The husky asked hesitantly. There were meant to have another reading session in his room shortly.

"I just remembered that I have to do something." The Mexican wolf said with bluntly.

"B-but am I coming later to read stuff with you-" The husky began, the wolf opening the door.

"Tomorrow. I remembered that I needed to talk to my dad. I forgot. He had something to tell. I'll be back later." The wolf answered emotionlessly, walking to the hallway.

The door closed right after him, Jacob talking right away.

"... What the fuck was that?" The dog asked in confusion.

"I have no idea," Sam said, still gazing at the door.

"Oh, so the uncomfort on his face wasn't enough to show that you were basically bullying him, Jacob?" Niles asked with the annoyed sigh.

"Me?!" Jacob asked and shook his head.

"It wasn't bullying in my eyes. It's just Jacob being Jacob. Tio can act like a total weirdo sometimes, ain't exactly new." Ryan said with a bored tone.

"That's a mean thing to say." Dion pointed out in wolf's defense.

"Mean. Harsh. Fair. All in the same bunch. Tio might be smartest of us but doesn't make him any less awkward. Hell, the wolf could do a staring contest with drying paint." Ryan said with an amused chuckle.

"What a choice of words." Jacob snickered.

"Okay, now you two just being jerks," Niles said with a bored face.

"When are they not, when they get to speed?" Sam asked with a shrug and smiled casually.

"... I just hope everything is okay with him." Dion said.

"He is fine. I guess he just took a lesson from you about over-dramatic exit strategies." Ryan pointed out.

"... You starting to sound more and more like Farin every year." Dion said back with a hurt tone from the unneeded comment.

"What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. Just like father said. The offense is taken, not given." Ryan said back humbly.

"Smooth defense. But at least Dion left for a reason., Ryan. You were a bit mean, come one now. But Tio... I have no idea what is going on in that wolf's head. he gets always like that when I talk about girls." Jacob said with a snap of tongue.

"Look, just let him be. Tio just being Tio. How about we... Keep on going with our training?" Ryan said, just to make sure no one was bringing back the subject of yesterday's arguments. He had no energy for them, and he felt training again.

The fox pointed at the lynx with his sword in the challenge, giving suggesting a smile.

"... You are on." Niles said, raising up from the top of the crate and starting to spin the sword in his wrist.

"Show me what you got. Keep the strike count, will ya, brother?" Ryan asked from Dion.

Suddenly, the fox saw his brother by the metallic door and pressing the open button.

"Yo, Dion, where you going?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah, you supposed to keep on count, brother," Ryan said disappointedly.

Dion turned around and pressed the button.

"Let Jacob do it. I'm going after Tio to have a word. Because that's what good friends do... They care about each other's well-being." Dion said, shooting the sneaky shadow at his brother, which was noticed by everyone more than easily.

"I'll be right back. I just make sure he is okay." Dion sighed, turning around and walking through the door.

Right away after the door closed, Ryan spoke in frustration.

"For fuck's sake, why is everyone such a drama queen lately? It's like an open season of dramatic exits over small things."

"I'm sure you've had few of those during your life as well, Ryan?" Sam asked genuinely.

"Whatever, Sam. Let's just keep going on with this training. I'm getting pissed off. Jacob, keep on count." Ryan said with a shook of head, readying his sword in the air.

"... Jac-?" Ryan was about to ask to confirm that the dog was ready, until he got a bored expression, seeing the dog discuss with Sam.

"So that one cool magic trick that Charlie did, where you used the cards to- "

Niles gave an amused smirk as the two were totally uninterested and still talking about the class.

"Seems like we should have attended that class after all," Niles said with a kind of sad tone. Ryan smirked at that and spoke with a suave tone.

"Nah. The magic trick you were about to show me before they came in would have been way more neat-"

"SHHHyouidiot!" Niles hissed quickly in warning and with looks that could kill, but the two mammals on top of crates had not paid any attention in the middle of their excited rambling.

"You look red." Ryan pointed out with a flirty whisper.

"Shut up and fight," Niles said, trying to force his blush back as he stormed to attach the fox, the melody of metal echoing in the room once more.

END