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Tales From The BellHunterverse

The Crosser’s Quarrel

by WastedTimeEE

The fiery red vixen shot up from her chair. Her cold, icy blue glare leveled squarely on the older tod who shrank into the seat across from her. Cameron offered her a meek, uncomfortable smile. Guilt tugged at his features as he felt the unmistakable crawl of nervous sweat creeping up along his fur follicles.

"I-I uh..." The middle-aged mammal couldn't bear to bring his own blue irises to meet his daughter's judgmental, pained gaze. “W-We were experimenting-”

"I can't BELIEVE you!" The vixen spat bitterly, slamming a balled paw down onto the table with enough force to knock over several staged old western-style mini-figures from the vibration alone. Her furious gaze sharpened at the fox between her cross-hairs, no longer firing simple phantom needles in his direction, but outright blades as she sneered back at him. Without another word, the troubled teen turned on her heels, stomping around the table and off toward the exit of the game room.

"Like Father like daught-_ OOOF! _"

The sudden yelp caused the already anxious artist to nearly jump out of his pelt, and by the time Cameron turned in his chair to assess the source of the clamor, Lewis, the diminutive otter clerk who was his daughter's co-worker already lay crumpled into a heap on the floor. The little mammal was balled up into a fetal position. His claws, previously caught in a rigor as they grasped at his own stomach were quickly relaxing as his paws slid off his gut and to the floor as he slipped into total unconsciousness. Knocked out cold by what was presumably a mean right hook by Cameron’s own Vyfly, squared solely in the center of the little mustelid's gut. The emotionally ragged reynard barely managed to let a tired sigh slip from his muzzle before his attention was drawn to a large gray foot standing in the doorway of the game room next to the conked-out clerk.

Slowly his gaze trailed up to meet the hunter-green eyes of a familiar wolf. His daughter's country-spun former co-worker offered the flustered fox a toothy smirk as he leaned against the door frame.

"An otter, huh?" Vernon Hunter-Bellwether asked cheekily, uncrossing his arms as he pushed himself away from wall. The lumbering lupine squatted down, turning his attention to little lutrinae and let out a disappointed sigh.

“I keep tellin’ ya not ta rile Val up, you know what she’s like…” The wolf shook his head. “ At this point y’all ain’t gonna learn from it ‘iffin I keep takin’ pity and helpin’ ya out.”

Lewis let out a pained, bleary groan that came off as almost involuntary.

Vernon sighed, scanning the nearby area briefly until his eyes seemed to fixate on a pillow crumpled in the nearest corner of the room. Something Cameron believed to be a yoga pillow, presumably belonging to Melanie based on conversations he’d had with her mate. The compassion canine strode over to the colorful cast off, bringing the pillow over to the limp lutrinae and carefully shifting the balled up little mammal onto the fabric pad. Thanks to the size difference, the pillow made an excellent adhoc gurney for someone like Lewis.

Now on the particularly, plush pillow, the unconscious clerk reflexivly balled up.

“T-thanks Mommy…” Lewis murmured weakly.

With a roll of his eyes, the wolf turned his attention back to the tilted to sat at the table.

Cameron let out a frustrated groan before placing his arms on the table and slumping his head into the hastily constructed emotional nest. Although his head was down, his ears remained pointed and alert as they tracked the sound of soft padfalls on hardwood flooring. He could hear the wolf approach, a casual gait to the rhythm of his steps as they passed by to his left and trailed off to the opposing side of the gaming table. There was a soft squeal, the sound of wood scraping against wood. Then came a trill of dull creaking, the sound of the chair across from the tod adjusting to the weight of the lumbering canid now settling down on it as the wolf let out a soft groan.

"'Iffin' yer embarrassed about it, I can't figure why." Vernon chuckled softly. "Iffin' anything y'all and Val should be able to connect over that rather than...y'know..."

"It's not that Vernon..." The forlorn fox muttered into his arm fur. "Granted I never told Val I-" Cameron stammered, trying to parse his thoughts into the proper phrasing as he rubbed his face into his forearm with sluggish irritance. "I guess I was just never-I never liked having these sort of 'talks' with my daughter...and I probably should have had a lot more of them."

"Y'all mean about inter-species datin'?" The wolf asked. "'Er datin' in general?"

The droopy Dad weakly raised an arm, pointing a lame finger in the direction of the hulking hound. "The second one..." He muttered, allowing his arm to droop back into the morose mound he had built around himself. Slowly, Cameron managed to pull himself out of his slump, his gaze meeting Vernon's as he massaged the tension that was visibly crinkling the bridge of his snout with his fingertips.

"I'm well awa-I'm-" He shook his head briskly, an effort to cut a path of clarity through his currently muddled thoughts. "Look, I'm a father, and a part of me never wants to see his kit grow up…" His voice cracked slightly, forcing him to clear his throat before continuing. “I know you’ve only recently become a father yourself, but surely you understand?” He asked. “I know it’s impossible and unreasonable, but it’s hard to fight back against that desire sometimes.”

Vernon nodded softly, the barest hint of a grimace tugging at the edges of his muzzle.

“Nah I-I get it…” The wolf chuckled softly. “I ain’t lookin’ forward to givin’ Ally ‘er Edi my share o’ the talk when the time comes.” Vernon shook his head. “Teeth to tails, Ali’s eleven already, her talk is right around the corner.”

Cameron visibly cringed, the tod offering a meek yet sympathetic smile to the large lupine.

“You have my sympathies.” The reply elicited a chortle from the wolf that the middle-aged-mammal was quick to share.

As the pleasant laughter trailed away, Cameron returned to the conversation at paw.

"Still, another part of me just-I mean, with the way I talked about Marian I feel.” The frustrated fox’s paw massage shifted from the bridge of his snout to his temples as he continued. “There was no room to admit I'd done the normal teenage thing and dated before meeting her." The irritated illustrator let out a dull chuckle. "I may have had the propensity to paint my meeting Marian as though it were a perfect fairy-tale story. Nothing that happened before or after that part of my life mattered when held up against our 'happily ever after'...

Vernon was silent, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"Surely that was out the window when yer misses passed though?" There was a surprising timidity to the wolf's tone, and the worried-looking wince on his muzzle was impossible to hide. Clearly, he was fearful of even lightly treading over Cameron's old wounds, even if one could argue the formerly torn-up tod was finally on the mend in that department. "Happily ever afters don't usually end with terminal illnesses." He continued, Vernon averted his gaze, his ears sagging slightly. "Surely a part of y'all had to know that."

Cameron sighed. " I guess...I wanted her to aim for that sort of star-crossed love when she grew up too...I wanted what I had with Marian so badly for her. Her and Ellie." Once again, the tired tod was massaging the hinge of his snout, moving his glasses upward and squinting as his fingers spread up into his furrowed brow line. "I didn't want to muddy things by talking about the...er...miss-fires."

The amused architect chuckled softly to himself, his snickering trailing to a sustained silence between the pair that lasted several moments before the wolf picked up the conversation again.

"I mean, I don't think there's a mammal alive right now who met their perfect mate on the first try...it's natural." Vernon finally interjected, breaking the silence. "I'd wager even bein' inter-species curious is natural. Most mammals experience that at some point 'er another, I'm sure." He continued, rolling a wrist lazily."Up until I reconnected Dawn I was pretty damn sure I was strictly a she-wolf kinda fella."

Vernon leaned in slightly, glancing around briefly with a conspiratorial glint behind his eyes before speaking in a hushed tone. "O' course, that doesn't mean I didn't get curious at all about other species.” He snickered. “I was a teen durin’ the broadband generation, and we had internet at the Ranch. Not to mention I went to a mixed species school, even if it was eighty percent sheepfolk."

Cameron leveled a sarcastic smirk in the wolf's direction. "I think some might call that an early indicator rather than 'natural'..."

The pair shared a chuckle.

"Still, I actually had a brief lil' crush on an otter gal myself in high school." The wolf seemingly grew wistful for a moment. "Never pursued it 'er nothin'. I mean...every red-blooded pred male heard about how 'flexible' otter gals are an-..." The wolf shook his head, letting out a soft scoff as he appeared to reign himself in. Cameron got the distinct impression the wolf was afraid of coming off uncouth somehow thanks to the nature of the conversation. "She was on the swim team and she was the only thang I paid attention to durin' the school's swim competitions. Even ‘iffin I was supposed to be there to root fer my brother Xavier." He snickered.

“I remember Winifred.”

The sudden interjection caused Cameron to cow reflexively in his seat, while the lumbering lupine sat across from him practically leaped out of his own. Vernon’s ears were at full attention, and the wolf did his best to hide the blush pooling under his muzzle fur with a paw. Turning in his seat, Cameron could see that Gus, Broomie, and Joel had entered the store’s game room. The Ruminerds each carried an incalculable number of BnB accessories in their arms. Everything from figurines, set pieces, and a variety of books, all carrying that distinct sepia pastiche to them that placed them all squarely in a Wild West setting.

Gus glanced down at the otter that still lay unconscious on the pillow to the side of the group, his brow furrowing as he let out a tired sigh.

“Lewis, what did you do now?” He muttered, shaking his head.

Turning his attention back to the table, the unfazed ungulate turned his attention back to the table.

“Winifred Schellber right?” The formerly battered-horned-billy added, seemingly indifferent to Lewis’ predicament as he rounded the head of the table, placing his box of assorted mini-figures and game books on the floor beside him. Joel and Broomie lingered in the doorway briefly, the pair still staring at the mound of mustelid napping on the ground. The pair glanced at one another before shrugging indifferently and taking off toward their respective seats at the game table.

“Y-Yeah, that was her…” The suddenly ashamed-looking sheepdog uttered weakly.

“I knew you weren’t going to those swim competitions for Xavier’s sake.” The bemused billy snickered as he began setting up his figurines and set pieces.

“W-well I mean...Ma made us go anyway…” The wolf chuckled. “Ain’t like I had a choice.”

“At least you seemed to get something out of it.” Broomie said with a chuckle, the ram kicking back in his chair as he cracked open his ‘Prong’ brand sports drink.

"But you never pursued it?" Cameron responded with curiosity, his interest now mildly piqued.

Vernon shook his head in the negative. "Nah…I was too worried about a whole bunch o’ stuff goin’ wrong.” The wolf held out a paw and began counting individual digits as he listed off his laundry list of teenage fears. “I was afraid o’ bein’ rejected fer one.” He pressed on the pad of his first finger as he continued.” Then there was the whole, ‘iffin she was disgusted and made a scene.’ factor_._” The large lupine shook his head again. “I had already been a bit of a pariah up till startin’ high school for gettin’ into fights all the time, so the last thing I needed was to be labeled a crosser by the student body. I don’t even think the BnB club would have accepted me over that…”

“Me, Broomie and Claire would have…” Gus chimed in. “Claire definitely would have, even if she probably would have been pissed you didn’t choose to cross with her.” The billy continued blithely.

“An otter is not a sheep.” Broomie added with a raised finger.

“An otter is prey to most mammals though…” Joel added his own two cents, cracking open a weird-looking glass soda whose label sported indecipherable Japandese Kanji. The bottle let out a dull ‘ting’ as a small glass ball dropped free from the mouth of the soft drink into a beveled chamber in the neck, the telltale hiss of carbonation escaping as it did so. “And from what you guys told me, Vern used to get the side-eye just for hanging out with so many prey mammals in the first place.”

“Honestly, I was less worried about that compared to the rejection and...well the third thang.” Vernon cut the back and forth quibbling off as he counted off his third finger. “See, I was also afraid ‘iffin she said yes and thangs got serious I-well, I was frettin’ over the size difference comin’ inta play should thangs get that far-." The canid let out a soft cough into his balled fist.

"I mean, I was purty sure anyway them feelin's would pass either way, which turned out ta be exactly what happened.” The suddenly shy sheepdog shrugged. “I didn't want to risk her catchin' feelin's 'iffin I didn't." The wolf sighed. "I was imaginin' situations where she'd tell me she loved me, and then 'iffin I didn't love her back I'd have to tell her to her face I was just datin' her to help 'figure myself out'."

"That's why you have to make that clear up front." Cameron chuckled softly. "Granted Emily and I both agreed to...well...experiment together."

The architect's ears perked up slightly, his emerald eyes narrowing on the diminutive Dad across from him. Vernon's attention was fully grabbed. And with a brief glance around the room, it was clear the other members of the Ruminerds were equally as engaged.

“Oh...wait, are you saying you were seeing an otter too?” Gus asked, the goat grinning with the barest hint of smugness behind his muzzle. “Like father, like daughter, it seems.”

The maroon-furred mammal rolled his eyes, letting out a dull chuckle. “Careful there, that’s exactly what Lewis was saying before my little Val punched him in the stomach.”

Broomie looked over at the still-slumbering store clerk on the yoga pad. Stabbing a thumb in his direction, a look of mild concern crossed the strapping sheep’s muzzle.

“She did that?” Broomie asked.

“You’re surprised?” Gus replied with a chuckle. “Lewis has the physical endurance of a sack of flour. It doesn’t help that he’s hydrophobic, that’s pretty much the main method of exercise for most otters.”

“So much for the ‘one big muscle’ rumor,” Joel added with a snicker, taking a swig of his Llamune.

“I take it the ‘one big muscle’ thing was how you got that gal to agree to ‘experimentin’?” Vernon interjected, seemingly trying to pull the conversation back to the topic at paw.

The middle-aged-mammal held out his paws defensively. "I feel like that makes it sound terrible but...let me explain." relaxing one of his arms, the other drew back slightly, leaning on its elbow as the suddenly tensed tod rolled his wrist lazily.

"In my senior year, I had been unceremoniously and unfairly been kicked out of my school's BnB club." The suddenly awkward artist cleared his throat. " Or rather, the entirety of the club had formed a new one behind my back, essentially leaving me Battle Master to no one."

The visibly perplexed pup's head skewed quizzically, slowly joined by the other members of his group of friends. The assembled ungulates eyed Cameron curiously, earning a dismissive sigh from the irritated illustrator.

"It's a long, entirely different story I'd prefer not to go into right now." The diffident dad replied. "The fact of the matter is, it was the start of senior year, and it seemed foolish to stay in a club where I sat as the only member, as well as one that was no longer recognized as the school's official BnB club." He prattled on. "So I decided to pick a club based around one of my other passions..."

The curious canine quirked a brow. "Illustratin'?"

Cameron shook his head, letting out a bemused chuckle.

"No, you'd think so, but I actually joined the gardening club." The tod grinned. "Always had a green thumb, though mostly with produce rather than flowers, and it seemed like...well I'd get in much less trouble in a club like that one."

Again curiosity was written all over the attentive architect's muzzle, but whatever questions he had at that moment, he appeared to have thought better of asking them.

"I didn't even think about how I'd be the odd one out in a club like that, as gardening is more slanted toward prey mammals, or rather, ‘herbivorous’ mammals." A grimace tugged at the corners of Cameron's muzzle. "So most of the other mammals there steered clear of me with a ten-foot pole, save for the other predator outcast in the club, Emily."

“See, I told you!” The awkward-looking alpaca gestured energetically toward Vernon.

The wolf shook his head, letting out a dull chuckle of his own. "Joel ain’t wrong, though it's still surprisin' to me most folks see otters as herbivores."

The tod shrugged. "Most mammals see any animal classified as prey as being herbivorous by default. And otters are small enough to be seen as prey based on size alone. As well as the fact that they don't really have a history of eating sentient species."

"So then you two got together?" Broomie asked.

"Not at first, but..." The contemplative creative let out a wistful sigh. "We became really close friends. In fact, she was probably my best friend next to Rowan." The tod rolled his eyes. "Only other friend really." The middle-aged mammal grinned gleefully. " By late October, we were practically joined at the hip, and by November...well.."

"Y'all caught feelings?" The spellbound sheepdog asked.

"We caught the curiosity bug I guess." Cameron laughed. "We were having a long, rambling discussion about...I can't even remember what. But at some point, the topic came up about dating in general, and then 'dating outside of your species'." The spectacled scribbler sighed. "I'd only dated two foxes up to that point, and only been with one of them...intimately. And Emily had only ever been with one otter who she never went all the way with." He shook his head. "And both of us admitted to being curious about dating outside our species."

The attentive architect nodded, leaning his muzzle on the tip of his pressed-together paws as he listened to the tod's tale.

"It was when Emily lamented about how nice it would be to have a 'safe' mammal to explore those curiosities with. Someone we could trust, as well as be honest with about the goal of the whole thing. Essentially, it was important that it was the kind of relationship where we knew upfront that 'feelings' were off the table."

The tale-telling tod scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Emily's family was, very strict. After High School, she was expected to go to Rain Forest University for Botany studies, and they also expected her to meet and bring home a fine, young, upstanding dog otter once there. And she wanted to make her parents happy, so a serious relationship with a non-otter was a total non-starter."

"And yer parents?" Vernon asked.

Cameron shook his head dismissively. "My father wasn't in the picture and my mother just wanted me to be happy. So I had nothing to lose..." The scribbler snickered to himself. "Looking back on it now...I think she might have played me a little bit..." He laughed.

"I take it she floated the idea?" The watchful wolf asked.

The lanky llama seated to Vernon’s side let out a snorting snicker. “’Floated.’ Nice one…”

Vernon simply rolled his eyes, doing his best to stifle the urge to smirk at his accidental pun.

"Set me up hook, line and sinker I guess." The Dad dreamily replied. "Not that I could say no to a proposition like that, I was a horny teenager after all." He snickered. "Nor could I say no to a girl like Emmy."

"So what happened?" Gus asked. "How did things go from there?"

“Honestly things went very well...in retrospect, probably too well.” Cameron sighed. “Our relationship felt very natural and it...well, it escalated quickly thanks to the fact that I both wasn’t seen as a threat to her parents, and my Mother was almost never home.”

“A threat?” The curious canid asked.

“Their darling daughter Emily would never, ever consider having a sexual partner outside of her species.” The creative cracked a crooked smile. “So I was seen as just her charming fox friend, and given a bit more of the benefit of the doubt because they could relate to our species thanks to us all being predators, and therefore outcasts to an extent.”

“Apparently they didn’t get the memo on the whole ‘scammy fox’ stereotype,” Joel added with a snicker, only to land on the receiving end of an elbow to the ribs by Vernon.

“Ow-what!?” The aggrieved alpaca hissed, recoiling from the wolf as he rubbed his ribs with a hoof. The hulking hound to his side merely glared back at him.

“Relax guys, I’m not bothered by fox stereotypes at this point in my life.” Cameron chuckled. “Besides, if we're all going to get comfortable with me sitting on some of these games, I expect every form of speciest joke to be lobbed at me at some point. It’s the only way I’ll know I’ve been accepted.”

The group of mammals shared a laugh.

“Anyway, by graduation we were...we had a regular thing going.” The pensive parent continued, gesturing at nothing in particular. “And that extended well into the summer, pretty much right to the edge of when Emily was supposed to start preparing for college.” The pleased parent chuckled. “We pretty much tried to squeeze every drop we could out of our time together.”

“’Natch’…” The jovial Joel snickered to himself.

“I would have been lying though if I said by that point I wasn’t….starting to feel things for Emmy.” The tale-telling tod shook his head. “I just suppressed those feelings because I assumed I was alone in them, and we had an agreement after all. I knew this was at least a semi-transactional thing…”

“But...she caught feelin’s too?” Vernon asked.

The fox grew flustered, tapping his finger pads together uneasily as he mulled over just how to explain his and Emily’s last night together. It was a lurid, tawdry night. One of heat, of writing bodies with just a touch of playful scratching and nipping. Cameron had never been one for heavy ‘locker room talk’, and he got the impression the assembled group shared that sort of unspoken rule about keeping those sorts of details light and scarce. If not from Vernon’s own choice of words, (or lack thereof earlier), then the impression he had gotten from his daughter, and later Dawn and Clover in regards to how the group operated.

“Our last time together, a hot mid-August night in Sahara Square.” The reluctant reynard began, clearing his throat softly. “Emily had lied to her parents about staying at some of her girlfriends to study for her college’s entrance exam.” Cameron paused, holding up a finger. “Correction, it was more of a half lie. We did start the evening helping her study, but it admittedly wasn’t very long at all before paws began to wander and textbooks were tossed aside.”

Again Cameron halted, his head wobbling gently on his neck as he internally plotted out his choice of words. He would be skipping quite a bit to keep things fairly clean, but the ending of the affair, the crux of the story revolved around a particularly intimate and lurid moment. One that was almost impossible to get across without being blunt in a few places, something he hoped he could manage somewhat tactfully.

“We had been busy for a while and...when we were both approaching er…” Cameron coughed awkwardly into his paw. “C-Climax...well...”The fox grew increasingly flustered, tugging at his shirt collar slightly as the memory of the moment replayed in perfect crystal clarity in his mind’s eye.

“She gripped my head with her arm, and desperately pulled it down until her mouth was as close to my ear as she could manage due to the size difference.” Cameron winced slightly. “And she demanded, firmly, that I...er…” Again, he cleared his throat. “That I knot her, and get her pregnant!”

He watched the eyes of the assorted mammals around him grow wide, some electing to cover their muzzles in a clear effort to stifle their urge to laugh. Vernon smiled broadly, the wolf drawing back and fanning himself with a paw as he chuckled.

“Whew, when you said it was a hot night, y’all weren’t kiddin’…” The cheerful canine chirped. “Sweet Sawgrass, givin’ us all a bit of the vapors here.”

Cameron rolled his eyes, the tired tod knew when he was being teased. “Okay, okay, thanks for laughing at one of my more vulnerable moments during my teens.” Despite sounding offended, the tod was doing his best to bury the sarcastic smirk that was brimming just below the surface of his facade.

Vernon frowned as the laughter amidst the Ruminerds died down, the wolf rubbing the back of his neck uneasily as his glimmering green gaze shifted away from the comparatively tiny tod.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-.” Vernon winced. “It weren’t so much the story, just...how hard it looked like it was fer y’all ta say it.” He lamely rolled an open paw as he continued. “I mean, me and the fellas don’t like to go to deeply into the ‘nitty gritty’ of the intimate part of our lives aside from a joke here and there, but y’all almost looked like ya was gonna pass out just from droppin’ the ‘K’ word.”

“Like a caprid preacher with a dirty secret trying to stammer through a sermon involving the source of his shame. Not only is he getting worked up over the topic, but you can see the visible guilt on his face despite trying to look all stoic and serious.” Gus interjected with a snicker.

“Flustered, sweating, all the while screaming about how it’s a sin to look at young, muscular rams on the internet, and maybe lingering a little too long on describing examples from memory?“ Broomie added, taking a swig of his sports drink.

“Father McCrino?” Gus asked, raising a brow.

“That’s the one!” the robust ram replied, raising his sports drink in a mock toast. “I had no idea you went to my church Gus.”

“Nobody had to go to church to recognize that ol’ Fella.” Vernon interjected. “He was all over the news when he got busted on that predator sting. Everyone in the North Meadowlands was talkin’ about it fer months after.”

“Jeeze...how could I forget!?” Broomie laughed. “ZNN literally caught him with his pants down, because the decoy told him to undress outside…” The strapping sheep added, the group breaking into a laugh.

As the lumbering lupine’s own laugh died away he picked up the conversation once more.

“Anywho...I am...sorry ‘iffin I put ya off tellin’ yer story Cam.” Vernon’s tone was a regretful one. “I’ll understand ‘iffin y’all don’t want to say anythin’ else, I was ju-”

Cameron held up a paw, shaking his head softly. “No, no it’s fine.” The amused artist did his best to stifle a rising smirk, something he was failing at miserably. “Besides, I was mostly joking about taking offense…”

A look of relief washed over the wolf’s face as he offered a smirk of his own.

“Oldwyn’s great grey muzzle…” He sighed, shaking his head. “Y’all had me going there fer a moment.”

Cameron offered the hulking hound a rather smug grin. “I am Val’s Father after all, there is some of me in there…” He snickered.

Gus groaned from the other side of the table. “Great, just what we need, another Val…” The grumpy goat chortled sarcastically.

“So what did y’all do then?” The curious canine pressed the middle-aged-mammal. “What happened after she said that to ya?”

The slightly flushed fox took a moment to collect himself, taking a long, drawn-out deep breath before continuing. Once he felt as organized and calm as he was going to get, Cameron held up two fingers.

“In that moment, I realized two very important things.” The tod closed his eyes, once again reliving the moment in his mind. “One, clearly Emily had caught feelings as well, and things had gone much farther than we intended.” He stated, closing one finger into his palm.

“And the other thing?” Joel asked.

The reluctant reynard shook his head softly. “And number two.” He sighed. “Apparently having a girl demand that I ‘get her pregnant’ was the exact trigger phrase required during a rut to make me climax harder than I ever have in my life up to that point.”

The entire group broke into raucous laughter, with Broomie going so far as to pound the table as he gasped for breath. The sound of his hoof nails hitting the hardwood created an almost musical ‘tinkle’ with each impact. For his part in the affair, Cameron sheepishly smiled before breaking into a cackling fit of his own.

Being able to laugh like this felt almost freeing, a massive relief to the middle-aged-mammal. From the moment he had accepted Gus’ rather tentative invite to join their weekly Beast and Battlefields session, the seed of social anxiety had been planted. As the first session grew closer and closer, the pressure had begun to build inside of him. After all, he had only ever ‘sort of’ known Gus and Vernon, and knew even less about the friends they gamed with outside of Val’s colorful opinions of them. Like his daughter, the tod had spent a long time in a self-imposed social and emotional prison, uninterested in reaching out to form any substantial new relationships in his life after Marian’s passing. It was comfortable, or at least he had deluded himself to thinking it was when lost so deeply in the fog of mourning his mate for so long. He had only taken the time to learn as much about Gus and Vernon as was necessary, limited almost exclusively to matters that directly or indirectly involved his precious Vyfly. The tense tod had a decade or more on most of the assembled mammals, and despite sharing a love of Beast and Battlefields with them, he was fearful trying to connect with any of them would be an arduous task. The conversation would remain uncomfortable, awkward, and stilted for an agonizingly long time, perhaps forever. The age gap only feeling increasingly wider with each attempt at relating to the rest of the group.

But at that moment, the formerly anxious artist could feel a wave of relief wash over him as he slipped seamlessly into the fabric of the longtime party of friends. The woes and worries that had formerly weighed so heavily on his back that they would have made even Catlus strain under the pressure seemed to melt down his shoulders as the comfortable laughter began to taper off. Cameron let out a contented sigh, taking a moment to adjust his glasses before picking up from his rather bawdy bomb drop.

“After we came down from our respective highs, and the clarity of what she had just said rapidly set in for both of us we-.” The tod shook his head softly. “We just-we shared this look like-.” The tod rolled his wrist lamely as if trying to pull a proper explanation from the thin air around him. “We were already going to end things, but the look we shared was like ‘We absolutely have to end things right now, full stop.”

The maroon-furred mammal offered the assembly of mammals a rather sheepish smirk. “And three more ruts later we did, officially, end things.”

Again the Beast and Battlefields guild broke into another raucous laughing session, the pleased parent momentarily reveling in his irreverent comedic stylings before joining in. It was the hardest he’d laughed in a good long while, so much so that it felt that he would surely break a rib as he struggled to compose himself. Eventually, with a Purrculean effort, the cackling canid managed to reign himself in. He had managed to force himself down to sporadic, stray giggling as the rest of the gang struggled to follow suit. Wiping a stray tear from his eye, the amused artist let out a contented sigh.

“Once Marian found out about that, she abused it shamelessly I’ll tell you that much.” He let out a soft snicker. “With her, my vision went white a few times. I swear I could see Oldywin seated on his throne, looking down on us with approval from Asgrowl’s hallowed halls.”

“I guess the Prench call it the ‘little death’ for a reason.” Broomie mused, punctuating his sentence with a sly smirk and eyebrow bob.

“P-Prench….” The murmured, almost inaudible word had floated up from the archway drew the groups attention for a brief moment. It was clear at least some of the conversation was filtering into the comatose creature on the yoga pillow. But with nothing more coming from the slumbering otters muzzle, the Ruminerd’s returned to the conversation at hoof as Cameron picked up from his previous romantic reflections.The middle-aged mammal grew misty-eyed, letting out a forlorn sigh.

“Marian really was…She really was something else.” He shook his head somberly. “Being intimate…” The reddening reynard coughed awkwardly. “Making love with the love of your life, your soul mate, it’s just...nothing can compare. When you can be that vulnerable, and share such a personal, intimate moment with that one mammal, it’s just…It’s beyond description.” Cameron shook his head. “Or at least beyond my capabilities anyway.”

Cameron frowned, looking suddenly nervous as he pointed a claw up at Vernon.

“Please don’t let that get back to Clover. We may not be at that point in our relationship yet, and we’ve ‘discussed’ our place in each other's lives as not being meant to replace our former spouses, but I still think hearing something like that might hurt her.”

The large wolf offered the distraught-looking Dad a reassuring smile. “What happens at the table, stays at the table.”

Cameron’s ears drooped slightly as he let out a relieved sigh. Vernon meanwhile, rubbed the back of his neck, looking suddenly bashful as a warm tinge began to creep up under his muzzle fur.

“That said, I know what ya mean…” Vernon replied, the wolf taking on his own dreamy expression as he stared off into space. “I feel the same way about bein’ with my Honey Lamb.” The wolf chuckled softly. “Maybe she could write a purty and flowery description that nails just how it feels to be together like that, with her bein’ a writer and all, but me, I ain’t got a big enough word bank fer it...”

Gus rolled his eyes at the pair of passionate predators currently swooning over the loves in their lives both past and present, doing his best to try and stifle his own knowing smirk as he thought briefly of his Mellowmar.

“Alright ‘Puppy-Love’ and ‘Partner in crime’…” The bemused billy uttered, drawing the canids out of their respective romantic retreats. “Let’s wind this conversation down and start setting up the game.”

“But he didn’t tell us what happened from there,” Broomie interjected, wiping a dribble of electrolytes from his lip. “I mean, you said you ended things, but-?”

“Oh.” The tod shook his head briskly, chasing away the lingering memories of Marian as he tried to recall what he had even been talking about up to that point.

“Right, right, Emmy.” He continued, sounding unsure of himself as he pressed on with the tail end of his tale. “Well, that whole...incident was ultimately what made us decide to go full ‘no-contact’ when she left for college.” The fox frowned. “Before that, we planned to keep up our friendship up. Texting, calls, the occasional visit at college.” Cameron prattled on, rolling his wrist as he listed off various methods of social contact. “But after that night, we knew keeping in touch risked a romantic relapse, and Emmy, sweet as she was, couldn’t afford that. Even if I was willing to be open to it.”

“Shame…” Gus replied, shaking his head. “Always sucks to lose a friend, with or without benefits.”

Murmurs of agreement came from the other members of the group as the billy began setting up the board, staging models on top of the table. The collective crowd grew silent for a while, the barest hint of awkward discomfort hanging in the silence above the room as everyone seemed to sink into themselves and their own respective thoughts. It was a silence that seemed to stretch on for an eternity, only broken up by the periodic clicks and clacks of plastic storefronts and wagons being placed down on the hardwood table before them in a rough configuration meant to represent a frontier town.

But eventually, Vernon spoke up and diffused the vacuum left by Cameron’s story.

“Still, after all that I don’t see how it could connect ta’ Val and Kodi…” The wolf uttered warily, clearly uncertain over his choice of words, and wether he was overstepping. “Like I said before, ‘iffin you was willin’ to experiment with an otter, what’s the harm in lettin’ her experiment with a wolf?”

“A wolf is much closer to a fox in terms of species difference all things considered…” Gus muttered.

Cameron simply rolled his eyes, shaking his head in a firm, decisive negative. “Again, that’s not the reason! I don’t care that Kodi’s a wolf, and I’ll readily admit I’m struggling with the idea of my daughter being an adult but-.” The annoyed artist continued, growing increasingly worked up as he spoke. “It’s Jus-” He shook his head again. “It’s just that he-.” Cameron let out a frustrated groan, running a paw up under his glasses and pressing the pads of his fingers into his forehead. “He’s a jarhead!”

The distressed Dad huffed, crossing his arms defensively as the Ruminerds exchanged half-cocked quizzical expressions. It was clear they weren’t entirely sure how to deconstruct Cameron’s declaration. Despite this, Vernon was the first to brave the uncomfortable silence left in the wake of the tod’s definitive statement.

“A...Jarhead?” Vernon asked with a chuckle. “I mean, I think that’s a term fer a Marine, not a mammal in the Zootopian Reserve, which is technically the army.”

Cameron gestured a paw up at the wolf, letting off another huff. “You know what I mean, he’s a jock. Just like those show-boating wolves I knew in high school who were always prattling on and on about the notches on their headboard.” The creative canid sneered, the bridge of his muzzle crinkling in disgust as he stuck out his tongue. “The gods know almost every time I run into Kodi he’s going into graphic detail about rutting my daughter in some form or another!” He huffed. “So very classy.”

The grey wolf winced, trying his best to stifle the urge to snicker considering the serious tone of the conversation.

“Yeaaah….” Gus chimed in as he placed down the model of a large, wooden structure labeled ‘Dolly’s Saloon’. “He’s talked about that a few times at the table...he’s...really not proud of those moments.”

Cameron let out a scoff of disbelief.

While Vernon had done well to suppress his urge to laugh at the absurdity of the idea of a mammal like Kodi boasting about his bedroom prowess, Joel was happy to snicker in place of him, taking a swig of his Llamune before speaking.

“Talk about some terrible luck stats.” The Llama laughed. “Nat ones every time, in real time.”

“It’s almost unbelievable how one mammal gets caught so many times by his mate’s parent in the middle of a conversation that he would never want to have with said parent under any circumstances,” Gus interjected with a chuckle. “Especially one he’s desperate to win over.”

“He said ‘I’d rather be waterboarded’ the last time this topic came up,” Broomie added.

“Kodi ain’t like that though.” Vernon chimed in. “He ain’t got that kinda...’Alpha’ mindset in ‘em.”

“We’ve all got high school baggage, Cameron.” Gus continued. “Hel, Dawn wrote a book about bully baggage...well part of one anyway. But you can’t let that kind of hang up paint every mammal of that species with a broad brush.” The suddenly hesitant herd mammal winced slightly. “Though I understand where you are coming from about overhearing that kinda stuff about your own kid, especially considering Kodi’s locker room talk tends to be a bit more...detailed than the rest of us.”

The impassive illustrator let out another dismissive scoff, although he seemed to hesitate halfway through it with a clear air of uncertainty.

“Look, I know, I know...I shouldn’t just judge like that, but he’s dating my daughter.” The canid continued complaining. “And I know this is probably going to come off a little...egotistical, but he’s...well he’s not that bright.”

“Just like a wolf,” Joel interjected, earning a dull, unamused glare from Vernon.

Cameron held up his paws defensively. “L-Look, you know I’m not saying all wolves are like that.” The vexed vulpine pointed a claw to himself. “And by Saint Robin’s Quiver, as a perceived pred and a fox I know how much species stereotypes can suck. B-but it’s just-.”

The middle-aged mammal let out a defeated sigh, leaning his head into a paw as the other began to pantomime gesture at the rest of the table.

“My daughter is so smart, and she’s got a good head on her shoulders.” Cameron shook his head. “She’s so much like her mother in that regard, and she could do amazing things...and-…”

“And…?” Vernon asked, trying to press the perturbed parent to his point.

With a harsh sigh, Cameron looked up to Vernon, his gaze trailing to the other Ruminerds as he spoke.

“Again, this is going to sound rutted up but…” He grimaced. “My Val is just too good for him.”

The silence returned, the group of grazers sharing a brief look of shock before all turning their gaze away from the agitated artist that had been the center of their shared focus. To the tod, it almost looked like something out of a sitcom, with the pack of players surrounding him all trying and failing to look as nonchalant as possible. There were indecisive, wishy-washy murmurs that even the formerly frenzied fox couldn’t make out despite his exceptional canine hearing. It was only when the telltale sound of stymied snickering escaping between clenched teeth hissed to life did the father’s confusion turn to a grimace as he turned his attention to Gus.

The clearly bemused billy was shaking with suppressed snickering, his eyes wrenched tightly shut as the start of tears began to well in the corners of them. He managed to hang on for another few seconds before breaking into a full-throated guffaw. Which was joined in short order by the rest of the group's own howls of laughter.

Cameron’s ears were pointed, his line of sight snapping from incapacitated mammal to mammal as he stared back at each, utterly baffled.

“What? What did I say!?” The confused canid uttered. His delivery was genuine, with the barest lilt of hurt in his overall tone.

“S-SweeEEEt SawHawHawg-grass…” Vernon had managed to maintain his composure better than the other members of the Ruminerds, but that hadn’t stopped him from laughing altogether.

“Seriously, What!?” Cameron asked again.

“I-I’m s-s-sorry…” Gus was gasping between his laughter, holding himself up with one hoof gripping the edge of the table for dear life while holding the other out toward the mystified mammal. “I-I just...Sweet Sawgrass, you-you’ve met your daughter right?”

The fox furrowed his brow, attempting to cross his arms defensively. He tried his best to look offended on his daughter’s behalf, but his wince betrayed just how much stock he took in his previous assertions.

“Y-Yes, I-.”

“T-Then trust me when I say if anything, K-Kodi’s too good for her…” Gus replied, cutting off the faltering father’s attempt at daughter defense.

“Excuse me!?” Cameron cried, again, trying to bolster a genuine look of offense.

“Oh don’t even try to pretend...Sw-Sweet Cervidwen’s hooves, you remember as well as I do h-how we all met and just why V-Val had to start working for me.” Gus had mostly stifled his snickering as he wiped a tear from his eye.

“Not ta’ mention the street race mess she got herself into a few months back because she couldn’t handle how Kodi felt about her…”

Cameron sunk into his shoulders, guilt starting to tug at the corners of his muzzle as he continued his faltering argument for his offspring.

“I-I mean...we all-.” The flustered fox shook his head. “She’s a teenager, s-sometimes they a-act out and-.”

“Barely anymore...and compared to the ray of sunshine that is your adopted daughter Ellie, that vixen is like a category five hurricane bearing down on the Brayjun coastline.” The grumpy goat chuckled dully.

“Oh come on now, she’s n-.”

The suddenly stern and serious-looking billy placed a hoof on his hip, holding up his free hoof as he prepared to list off his grievances. “She’s rude.” He started, folding the first finger into his palm. “She’s crass.” The second hoofnail followed. “Never takes anything seriously. Laz-”. At that point, the bearded battle master realized he had run out of digits on his dominant hoof, shifting over to his other in order to continue. “Very, VEEERY Lazy.” Gus pressed on with renewed vigor as his count continued. “Prone to sudden bouts of violence-.!

“Sudden bouts of vio-!?” Cameron cut the goat off, but in turn, was cut off by the bearded billy as he aggressively gestured over to the otter that still lay crumpled on the cushion near the entryway. By now, Lewis had begun to stir from his impromptu nap, his head swaying dizzily as he peered back at the group.

“YES, did you just forget what she did to Lewis literally five minutes ago!?” The raged ruminant spat so sharply, that spittle flew freely from his muzzle.

“A-anyone get the number of t-that truuck?” Lewis uttered weakly. His speech was slurred, almost drunken sounding as he continued to sway in place.

“It’s not the first time, or her only victim either!” Gus continued. “Honestly I should be calling the police to bring up assault charges on Lewis’ behalf!”

“Luckily fer you, Lewis is a lot like Val and prideful ta boot, so he’d never call on his own…” Vernon snickered softly. “And even ‘iffin he did, he’d never tell the paramedics ‘er police just ‘how’ he got hurt…”

“He’s eighty-five percent ego, fifteen percent hot gas.” Joel uttered with a smirk.

“I-I mean..” Cameron murmured weakly, the suddenly timid tod starting to shrink in his seat under the heated herder’s haranguing. “Isn’t t-that a bit excess-?”

“NO IT’S NOT!” The cantankerous caprid snapped back. “This isn’t high school anymore, letting someone off with a warning for getting physically aggressive isn’t something that’s tolerated in the real world and you know it!” He shook his head briskly. “You’d think the fact that she’s a fox means that she’d show more restraint considering how often they get profiled by the ZPD, but nope!”

Cameron was thoroughly browbeaten down. When forced to listen to his own defense of his daughter being thrown back at him with a laundry list of obvious, glaring contradictions it was clear he didn’t have a leg to stand on. Had he purposely been so blind to the bulk of his daughter's behavior due to a misplaced sense of parental pride, or was it more the lack of seeing how his daughter behaved among her ‘friends’ due to being so selfishly wrapped up in his own devotion to Marian’s memory for so long? Either way, it was very clear he had been trying his damnedest to turn a blind eye to some serious, and very uncomfortable truths about his precious Vyfly. Perhaps, much like with not being able to accept Val growing up and starting to date, her bad behavior was simply another casualty to the mental image of his adorable, gap-toothed four-year-old little Motobug that remained anchored to his perception of her. Sweet and sassy, but never actually cruel, just like her Mom and Grandmother. A vision of his daughter, frozen in the past he had chosen to live in for so long. A world where his precious Vyfly could still easily fit in his arms, or be carried upon his shoulders without a struggle. The pint-sized ball of fluff that often latched herself around his tail. All the while Marian watched them with motherly glee, doing her best to hold back her giggling.

“Look, we ain’t sayin’ Val’s insufferable…” Vernon chimed in.

“I’m saying that.” Gus corrected his friend.

The lumbering lupine merely rolled his eyes. “If she was so bad, you wouldn’t keep her on workin’ here no matter what and you know it.” He retorted, jabbing a clawed finger in the direction of his friend.

Now it was Gus’ turn to cross his arms defensively, yet despite his defiant posture, his muzzle remained shut, free of any rebuff of Vernon’s valid point.

“Yer right, yer daughter’s a genius when it comes ta machines. ‘Specially cycles…” Vernon began acting as a counterpoint to the billy’s own bluster from earlier. The defense attorney to Gus’ prosecution. “And she’s also too smart fer own good sometimes, fer better ‘er worse thanks to havin’ a sharp tongue to match. She’s cunnin’, keen-eyed, determined-”.

“Some folks would call that stubborn…”

“DE-termined.” Vernon reiterated sharply over Gus’ interjection in an effort to silence him.

“There’s a real good egg under there.” The wolf continued, tapping a finger to the tip of his snout. “I can smell it, and Hunter’s are known fer smellin’ whether ‘er not somethin’ ‘er someone’s bullshit from a mile away.”

The cowed canid sat across from Vernon remained silent, the guilt written all over his features as his sight remained leveled at the little plastic town set up before him. He was still reeling a bit from the tirade Gus had delivered just moments ago, yet somehow, he still managed to absorb at least some degree of Vernon’s case for his daughter’s virtues. Even if the bulk of his thoughts were now completely consumed with doubts about his parental abilities.

“And when it comes to Kodi, sure he’s naive…”

“’Natch…” Joel interjected with a snicker.

Vernon leveled a glare at the long-necked llama, letting out an irritated sigh before continuing.

“He’s also loyal to a fault, good-hearted, and despite his natural talent when it comes ta’ puttin’ both feet firmly in his muzzle due to his social anxiety, he’s devoted to yer daughter.” His filibusterer continued, the country canine slamming a paw down on the table in order to hold everyone’s attention, and presumably emphasize his upcoming point. The sudden, concussive force caused the little Plasticine set pieces to rattle and dance in place across the hardwood surface, which finally drew Cameron fully out of his own thoughts and his gaze up to the wolf and his impassioned performance.

“Fer god’s sake that pup nearly kilt himself tryin’ ta ‘save’ Val! He refused ta give up on that gal even when she spat in his face!” He stated sharply, stabbing a claw at Cameron for good measure.

“Even if she ended up having to save him in the process…” Joel again sniped.

“Joel would ya put a sock in it fer five minutes, Please!” Vernon snapped back, his finger switching from the forlorn father right over to the lanky llama in a blink.

Joel raised his hooves defensively, backing up against his chair in order to better convey that he was electing to back down. Vernon let out a sigh, shaking his head in exasperation.

“What I’m sayin’ is…” The suddenly wordy wolf shifted his attention back to the recoiled Reynard seated across from him. “Kodi can be an idjiot sometimes, but can’t we all be?” He huffed. “At least he’s got a good heart, and the best o’ intentions when it comes ta yer daughter…”

Seeming to settle down, Vernon eased back into his seat. His raised hackles started to soften as he made his closing arguments.

“And ‘iffin I’m bein’ honest, I really think they’re good fer each other. He’s a good influence on her, and she’s just what he needs to get fully wedged outta that shell o’ his…”

“Don’t you have mixed feelings about Kodi?” Gus interjected, his tone laced with genuine curiosity and confusion.

“That’s fer bein’ such a wolf stereotype and that’s on me…” The worked-up wolf retorted. “Includin’ the stuff with his sister...Sweet Sawgrass…” He shook his head dismissively.

“I’m sorry, what is this about his sister now?” Cameron asked, utterly baffled.

Vernon shook his head. “T-That ain’t important fer this discussion. What is important is I’m askin’ ya give the boy a chance.” The wolf’s wavering reply was sudden and sharp, marking whatever the story behind Kodi’s sister both all the more damning but simultaneously not worth pressing at the moment. It was true, at least from Cameron’s perspective anyway, the stakes were much larger than he had initially imagined when it came to his daughter’s beau compared to whatever gossip surrounded Kodi’s sister.

“He’s just a goof, and despite his job, he’s as big a dork as the rest of us here…” The wolf chuckled dully. “He’s earned his place in our lil’ Herd.”

With that, the group fell silent, and the now tilted tod was left with his own thoughts once again. Vernon was right, hel, even Gus was right. Even if it was already well past the point where Cameron could do much of anything to try and correct Val’s behavior in a meaningful way.

He had ultimately failed his daughter. Somehow, he had managed to hold on to her both too tightly and too loosely at the same time. He so desperately wanted her to never grow up, to never date, or deal with ‘boy troubles’. To protect her from the world, to spare her any more ‘complicated’ life issues after what she had already been forced to endure at such a young age. But at the same time, as the vixen grew into her teens, he had actively chosen to remain selectively blind to the signs of her struggling with more ‘adult’ issues. He gave her too much space when she probably needed more attention and not enough space when she really needed to be alone.

Perhaps he should have sought therapy for her, especially right after Marian had passed. But Cameron had let his own dismissive and maligned perspective on therapy poison any potential conversation to be had on the topic. He wrote therapy off because, in all honesty, he refused to let therapists even try to help him. And just how compelling of an argument could he have stood to make to advocate for his Vyfly going to therapy when at the time, deep in his heart, he saw it as a useless profession. Maybe if he had given it an earnest try, allowed himself to be open to the therapist’s suggestions, he could have gotten the genuine help he had so desperately needed well before Clover came along and gave him a powerful dose of the reality he had been living in. Before she held the mirror in his muzzle long enough to actually force him to see the instrument of his own self-destruction that was masquerading under his pelt. To see what his friends, and even his daughter had been pleading with him to see for years. What Marian had begged him not to do during her last days.

Maybe then he could have made an actual compelling argument for why his Vyfly should enter therapy herself. Maybe then she wouldn’t have closed herself off to new relationships like he had for so long. Maybe then, the near disaster that had been the vixen being unable to deal with her feelings for Kodi at the beginning of the year wouldn’t have happened at all. She could have been open to him, been open to being genuinely loved by...

The tod shook his head in disbelief. Once again he had been willfully blind. This time to the poor, dumb wolf that had given Val just what Clover had given him. A much-needed shot of clarity, and recognition of a need for change in her life. His persistence, his determination to show Val he wouldn’t let her go. That he’d go above and beyond what a reasonable, arguably sane mammal would put himself through just to show her that he’d fight to stay by her side. He would do anything and everything in his power to remain with her if he could help it. To help her, not to completely get over the fear of losing those she loved, but to be open about that fear, to allow herself to be vulnerable, and learn to live with it the best she could. To convince her to finally allow herself to love despite the fear the loss of Marian had implanted in both her and her father so long ago. The loss of her mother that had so crippled her, she couldn’t bear to allow herself to love another mammal she hadn’t already loved. Limiting herself essentially to himself and Ellie, along with Ol’ Red despite it being an inanimate object. A pain she feared more than the worst accident she could get into with her precious motorcycle, something she couldn’t bear to even take the risk of reliving. Val really was her father’s daughter.

This is why Val fought so hard for Kodi. It’s why, in the same solepads, he would have fought so hard for Clover. Kodi loved her. He helped her learn to love again. And now in some way, Cameron’s obvious distrust and dislike of the wolf could be seen as a tacit attempt of making her choose between her father’s approval and the mammal who had actually helped her begin to mend her broken wings. Two mammals she revered in different ways, although she probably wouldn’t admit it. And the one mammal she’s loved the longest, who should understand just how hard it was to even allow herself to open up to a new love in her life, was now actively pressuring her to drive the wolf away. To force herself to lose him. The canid cursed himself under his breath. He was a fool, a damned fool.

Cameron stood up sharply, the suddenly determined Dad slamming his open paws sharply on the table, which startled some of the silent mammals that had been seated around him.

“Gentlemammals…” He started, clearing his throat sharply before continuing. “Unfortunately, I think I’m going to have to skip tonight’s session.”

Vernon offered the middle-aged-mammal a knowing smirk.

“You do what you gotta do, ol’Mam.” The wolf replied.

“We can back burner your character intro into to next week’s session. I don’t think we’ll be getting out of Montana Town until then anyway.” Gus added with a chuckle.

With that, the tod turned sharply on his heels and made a beeline for the door. However, he barely managed two steps before colliding into a tall, white wall of fur and stumbling backward. The clumsy canid tripped over his own tail on the rebound, falling back onto his rump sharply enough to send a shooting sting of pain up his spine, and forcing his tail into a tensed fray of fur.

Cursing under his breath as he rubbed his hindquarters, the maroon-furred mammal’s line of sight traced its way up the obstacle that had broken his stride only to come face to face with a terrified-looking Kodiak Convel. Once again, it seemed the military mammal had rolled a nat one.

“M-Mister Vulpes!” He gulped, the towering pillar of pristine white fur wearing a timid expression that didn’t befit a wolf of his stature.

“I-uh-.” The worried wolf briefly glanced back at the otter still lying on the floor to his right, awake but still lost in a daze. “I was looking at-what happened to Lewis?” The Arctic Animal asked.

Cameron slowly rose to his feet, taking a moment to dust himself off before sizing the wolf up. A moment of disconcerting silence passed between them, during which Kodi only continued to wither under cryptic canine’s pensive gaze. The military mammal’s black furred ears sagged sharply, his wince deepening as Cameron’s stare down persisted, and for a moment the poor wolf wondered if he was no longer welcome at the table now that Val’s father had joined the game.

“I-I’m really so-.”

In a sudden, swift movement that left everyone in the room stunned, especially Kodi, Cameron would wrap his arms around the perplexed pup’s waist, pulling him into the tightest hug the comparatively tiny tod could muster.

Kodi was frozen, looking to the rest of the Ruminerd’s with an expression that made it clear he wasn’t sure whether he should be asking for help or simply embracing the gesture. Eventually, he decided on the latter, though despite his best efforts, the most he could offer at the moment was an awkward but reassuring series of pats on the back for Cameron’s trouble.

“Thank you,” Cameron said coolly, rubbing his dewy blue eyes into the wolf’s military print tank top as he let out a nearly inaudible sniffle. “Thank you for loving my Vyfly.”

Despite his utter confusion over the whole scene, the suddenly affectionate artist’s words had managed to cut through the haze well enough to earn a warm smile from the white-furred wolf, and an aggressive wagging of his tail.

“You say that like it’s hard to love Val…” Kodi chuckled.

“Only you would find that easy.” Muttered Gus with a grumble, shaking his head.

Withdrawing from the hug suddenly, Cameron offered Kodi a warm smile of his own. It was a brief gesture, one that quickly gave way to the fox’s previously frenzied state as he pulled away from the wolf and began to quickly pace toward the doorframe once again.

“I’m sorry Kodi, I promise I’ll try to be better, but right now I have to find Val!”

As he sped through the open entryway to the game room, the fox passed between two very familiar sheep with a mixture of various fast foods in tow. The pair were deeply engrossed in conversation, at least until the resolute reynard slipped by.

“You know the lambs will be fine with me for the weekend, now please stop worrying.” The elder ewe attempted to reassure her daughter. “Honestly, you’ll never butt that stomach bug if you don’t actually try to rel-OH!” Clover chirped as a maroon blur swished by her and Dawn at a rapid clip. “Cameron Dear, is that-?”

Before she could finish her statement, the formerly fleeing fox leaned back between the pair of sheep, planting a quick peck on older ovid’s lips before taking off again.

“I’ll be back soon love, I have to find Val!” And with that, the fox was gone, leaving the three new arrivals in a stupor as the entry doorbell for the shop rang out.

Kodi, Clover, and Dawn exchanged equally baffled glances before turning their attention to the group at large.

“Wh-what just happened?” Kodi asked, his tail still wagging a mile a minute despite his utter bewilderment.

“Is Cameron okay?” Asked Clover, a lilt of concern in her voice as she spoke.

“Puppy? Did we miss something?” Dawn asked.

“AAA-Ahh….The Prench….”

The smaller group of mammal’s attention now turned to the little otter on the yoga pad, now clumsily trying to rise to a standing position.

“champagne has...always been celebrated f-for it’s excellence…” Lewis continued to slur, clasping a paw to his head. “P-Paul Massow’s Prench Excellence…”

“And what in Sweet Cervidwen’s hooves happened to him?” Dawn added.

The Ruminerd’s exchanged a brief glance before Vernon turned his attention back to the dizzied otter, wincing with guilt.

“I-It’s a long story but uh…I think I might o’ underestimated just how mean Val’s right hook was…”

The worried wolf maintained his wince as he cast his gaze toward the billy battlemaster. Gus rolled his eyes, letting out an irritated huff.

“I’ll call the Ambulance…this time.” The grumpy goat shook his head dismissively. “Shaping up to be one of ‘those’ nights it seems."