{"sf1_id":605336,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Let the Vacation Begin","author":"assilsasta","words":3557,"posted_at":"2013-10-22T05:52:00.000Z","tags":["Badger","Clean","Kangaroo Mouse","Liger","vacation"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/605336-let-the-vacation-begin","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/605336","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=605336\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"(June 7, 5:00AM) Lilliana Fargo sat in a booth at Denny's, cup of coffee in\none hand with maps and brochures spread across the table. With no plans to look\nfor work, and a hefty savings from years of IT contracting, the six foot tall\nliger was finally going to take the road trip she had always wanted. Now the\nquestion on her mind was where to start and what to see. The rough shot of her plan was to camp her way from coast to\ncoast. She had picked up a small tent and camp stove, along with a portable\ngenerator (don't want to go too long without her gaming fix). She had managed\nto sell off everything that would not fit in the trunk of the '73 custom\nrestored Camaro, leaving her free to just enjoy herself until the summer was\nover. \"Would you like a refill on your coffee miss?\" The young\nwaitress asked with coffee pot in hand. \"I just got the cream-to-coffee ratio perfect, if you touch\nit before it's empty I might have to kill you.\" Lilly said without looking up\nfrom the Grand Canyon brochure she was reading. The waitress just her shook\nhead and moved on. Starting the trip from Washington D.C. after the debriefing\nfor her last contract, she planned to get to Vancouver, British Columbia within\nthe month. She had managed to score some tickets on a Hawaiian cruise, and with\na month before the start, she had time to see all the things she had missed\nwhen moving around the country for contracts. Just as she picked up a highlighter to start marking out her\nroute, the waiter came with her All-American Slam breakfast with extra bacon\nand sausage. Looking at the table, the waiter paused and asked, \"Where do you\nwant these miss?\". Still not looking up from her task, \"Just set them on that\nstack of maps over there.\" When her\nhighlighter hit Washington D.C. she stopped and looked up at the waiter, a\nyoung Cocker Spaniel boy, \"What is really worth seeing in D.C?\" \"What do you mean?\" He asked with a confused look on his\nface. \"How old are you, nineteen? If you had the day off what\nwould you go and do in or around D.C.? It's not a hard question. Not that\ntourist junk, the real fun stuff.\" \"I am twenty-two, and I really have no idea. I would just\nstay home and sleep in; I just worked a double last night.\" Setting the plate\ndown on the stack she pointed out, \"Is there anything else you need?\" \"A waiter that does not have a stick lodged up their ass\nwould be nice.\" She retorted with a smirk. The waiter turned and walked away\nwithout another word. Looking over at her plate, she was suddenly glad it had\nalready made it to the table. She sat\ndown the brochure and pulled her food closer. With both salt and pepper shakers\nin hand, she coated the eggs and grits. Then breaking up the extra bacon and\nsausage, she mixed the bits into the grits, wishing she had asked for some\ncheese. She shoveled the eggs and grits into a slice of toast to cram as much\nas she could onto the fork before lifting them both to her mouth. With a muzzle\nfull of bacon, sausage, eggs, grits and toast, she leaned back and savored the\nflavor combination as is washed over her tongue, then washed it down with half\na glass of orange juice. As the glass hit the table, \"I wish they served OJ in\nbigger cups, this one is a pointless teaser.\"\nAnd went back to her meal. After she finished the simple meal and downed six or seven\nmore cups of coffee, she gathered her maps and paper to leave. Feeling sorry\nfor the poor kid, having to work a double then deal with her comments, she left\nhim a ten dollar tip, and slipped out quickly, she only had one hour to get to\nthe debriefing and it could take that long just to get into the building. --- (08:00) She ran full tilt, Doc Martins echoing through the halls.\nSnapping the lid closed on her silver pocket watch, she knew she would not have\ntime to change her shoes. Dropping the watch back into the breast pocket of her\nvest, she grabbed the arm of a nearby soldier to anchor herself as she slid\naround the corner to the conference room. Huffing for air as she looked at the\nthree officers sitting behind the table, she dropped her arm load of documents,\nand flopped into the closet chair. Without waiting for them to start, \"Non-disclosure,\nClassified, Don't tell, Blah Blah Blah. Does that cover it?\" \"Miss Fargo, I understant you do not vish to renew any DoD\ncontracts. Is zat correct?\" Asked a badger with three stars on his collar. \"Look Sir, I am just tired of doing this shit every year. If\nyou can put in a 'No Debriefing' clause in the next contract I might think\nabout it.\" She said as she sat up in the chair, \"Now here is the deal, I have\nbeen doing this for ten years, both in and out of uniform. I know what I can\nand can't talk about.\" Pointing at the stack of papers, \"There are the docs for\nthe code that your guys get to keep, not that any of them will understand a\ndamn thing. Do we really need to go over it all again, General Helfgrad?\" The general continued.\"Miss Fargo, you are an asset zat I do\nnot vant to lose. Vat vould it take to keep you vith us?\" Folding his hands in\nfront of him, elbows on the table, he leaned forward, \"I can offer you a hefty\nsum vith expense accounts, if you are villing to take the contract for the\nOn-Site System shpecialist here at the Army Annex.\" \"You can take your expense accounts and shove them...\" She stopped herself knowing that they could\nstill make her life a living hell for the next few years. \"Sir, I am not\ninterested in contracting at this time. I am planning on a change of careers\nand entering the teaching profession. I wish to\nmake a difference in young people's lives.\" Snickers were stifled by the two officers flanking the\ngeneral. Maintaining his composure Helfgrad said, \"If zat is the case, I have\nan openink at the Schoolhouse of Information\nTechnology, in Ft. Gordon, GA. You vould be a great asset, and sent many\nsoldiers on zee right path to becomink world class Information System\nVarriors.\" Holding in a laugh of her own at the acronym that the\nschoolhouse name would form, \"First, you could not pay me enough to work at\nthat specific schoolhouse. Second, what part of 'Not Interested in Contracting\"\nis so hard for you to understand? And before you ask, no I do not want a DoD\ncivilian position. GS jobs are not going to work for me right now. Call me in\nabout fifty years when I am closer to your age.\" Standing to leave, \"So if you\nhave nothing else to discuss, you are making me late for life.\" Standing and extending his hand, General Helfgrad finished\nthe briefing with, \"You seem set in your plans, and anyone who has vorket vith\nyou as long as I have chould know not to challenge it. I vish you the best of\nluck vith your new career.\" With a firm\ngrasp on her hand, \"And if you need a letter of recommendation, please do\ncall.\" With a smile on her face she turned to leave the room. As\nthe door closed behind her she heard them talking, \"I can't believe you did\nthat all with a straight face, Sir.\" \"Vell, I am surpriset che vas as collectet as she vas. After\nvorking vith her for seven years, I vas expectink a bit more color in the\nconfersation.\" Smiling to herself she checked to be sure the general's number\nwas saved in her phone, his recommendation just might come in handy later. --- (10:00) After the debriefing, Lilly went back to the hotel she had\nbeen staying at, extending her stay one night. She was not going to miss her\nchance to see D.C. again. She made her way to her room to change out of the\nuptight business outfit from the meeting and into something that felt more like\nher. Not wanting to struggle for parking, she opted to use the public\ntransportation, with that in mind she had to dress to conceal the S\u0026W 500,\na rather large 18 inch long .500 Cal hand cannon, a behemoth that was dubbed\nthe Bone Collector, which limited her selection to anything that would go well\nwith a hip length jacket to cover the shoulder holster. She settled for the\nclassic biker chick look with tight leather pants, old Metallica concert T and\nher leather street armor jacket to cover the oversized handgun. Fastening the\nchain from her wallet and pocket watch to her thick studded leather belt, she\nslipped her rooted Droid 4 into its holder and made her way to the bus stop to\nhead out to the Mall in downtown D.C. --- (18:00) She had spent a somewhat uneventful day visiting the\nmonuments and hours walking through just one of the Smithsonian buildings,\ngetting a picture of the Archie Bunker chair from the show All in the Family.\nHaving felt the day thus far a bit on the tame side, she pulled out her phone\nand extended the keyboard. Opening the browser to Google, she searched for Goth\nhangouts in the D.C. area, and plotted a course to the first one on the list. After two hours and several bus changes, Lilly found herself\nin what looked to be not the best neighborhood. She pulled the zipper of her\njacket down just far enough that the grip of her pistol was easily accessible.\nGlancing at the map, she had only a block to go before she would be at her\ndestination. Walking with her head on a swivel, tracking every movement that\ncaught her eye, she moved with a purpose through the dimly lit streets. She\nrelaxed a bit as she saw the line for the club come into view. The sound coming\nout of the club was not what she was expecting, in the place of thrash or grind\nmetal, the rhythmic beat of techno filled the air. Pulling out her watch, she\nsighed realizing it was too late to head to a different place on the busses,\nand she hated cabs. She resolved to still make a night of it and at least get a\ndrink and see if this techno shit is as easy to dance to in real life as it is\non DDR. Waiting in the line with the constant beat pounding through\nthe wall was almost more than she could stand. With two calicos in front of her\nthe door man waved her through, \" I got room for one.\" With no further\nprompting needed she pushed past the small cats and through the door. On the\nother side, she quickly scanned the room with the fast beat and moving ocean of\nbodies, she found the bar to be at the far end from where she was. The first\nthought that came to mind, was the poor location of the bar and the D.J. booth.\nWhen she tried to move to the bar, Lilly was stopped by a short weasel, \"ID,\nmiss\" She looked down at him, thinking he could not be over\nnineteen years old. \"Really? You going to ask me for my I.D. then call me Miss?\nYou better be glad this is not a school night or I might have to call your\nparents.\" Looking up at her, \"If you want to drink you have to get the\nstamp. If you want the stamp you have to show me your I.D. Those are the rules;\nI don't make them I just follow.\" Fishing her wallet out of her pocket she\nflashed her out of state Driver's license at him. He looked it over for a\nmoment, and then asked, \"Where is the date of birth on this?\" Having not looked\nat it herself in a few years, she pulled it back and took a gander. Having\nfound it she placed her thumb by the 1986 and showed him again. \"Thank you.\" He\nsaid placing the rubber stamp on the back of her hand. She made her way through the gyrating crowd to the bar, and\nquickly ordered a Long Island ice tea, more long island than ice tea, then sat\nback on a stool to watch the hormone driven teens jump, bump, and gyrate to the\nmusic. Multi colored lights flashed in time with the beat, giving the entire\nplace an almost nauseating strobe effect. Just as she finished off her watered\ndown drink, obviously more tea than island, and her attention was drawn to four\ncoyotes pulling a small kangaroo mouse out the back door. \"I am going to kick\nmyself in the morning for this.\" She\nstood and followed the questionable group into the alley. Once there, the scene was just what she expected. The four\nboys had the mouse girl pinned to the wall, starting to remove her clothes. She\nwas almost non responsive to their actions. Without hesitation she shouted to\nget their attention. One turned and said, \"If you know what's good for you ,\nyou'll head back in and dance, Bitch.\" And turned back to their unsavory\nactivities. Pulling out her bone collector, and cocking the hammer\nback hard to echo the sound off the\nwalls, she cradled it in both hands and took aim, \"I have one question for you\nkids.\" The same coyote that responded before pulled a small .22 out\nof the waistline of his pants and whirled around at her, \"Look Bitch, I will\ncapp...\" His threat trailed off as he saw the barrel as wide as a hunting rifle pointed at him. \"So, which one of you wants to be the first for an impromptu\ngender reassignment?\" She said, lining the sights up in her eye. The one looking\nat her turned and ran, prompting the others to take notice and quickly follow\nsuit. Breathing a sigh of relief. \"That was the stupidest thing I have ever\ndone.\" Pausing for a moment to look around, \"Note to self, don't do that\nagain.\" Gun still in hand; she walked over to the small girl. She\nwas so far beyond doped or drunk to have done anything to help herself. She\nchecked the girl for any wounds or signs that the act had been accomplished.\nFinding no reason to call the cops or ambulance, she lifted the completely\nincoherent teen onto her shoulder and slid the gun back into its holster she\nsaid, \"What a way to start a vacation.\" Walking to the street she hails a\npassing cab, sitting the girl on one side she got in the other and directed the\ndriver back to her hotel. --- (23:30) The girl had thrown up twice on the ride back to the hotel;\nLilliana gave the cabby a $20 tip for the inconvenience before carrying the\nkangaroo mouse up to her room. Taking her into the bathroom, Lilly starts a\nwarm bath and strips the girl out of her soiled clothes. Dipping the mouse girl\ninto the water Lilly realized how potent whatever drug those coyotes used must\nhave been, the poor thing did not react to the change in temperature at all. Wrapping a bar of the hotel soap in a rag, Lilly dipped it\nin the water and kneaded it until suds covered the entire surface. She gently\nwashed over the kangaroo mouse's fur, her thin, wafer like frame was\nundernourished. Her ribs were just below the surface of her skin; her fur was\ncoarse and unkempt. Just the sight of the girl in this condition brought tears\nto Lilly's eyes. Slowly the mouse opened her eyes, wincing at the light.\n\"Welcome back to the world of the living.\" Lilliana said with a toothy smile on\nher face. Frightened and confused, the mouse started splashing around trying to\nfigure out where she was and what was happening. Leaning back from the tub\nLilly said, \"Hey there, calm down a sec. I am just cleaning you up after a\nlittle partying at club douchebag; I am not going to hurt you.\" Huddled in the corner of the tub, the mouse's\neyes darted back and forth looking for an avenue of escape, \"Look, my name is\nLilly, and I just brought you here to clean you up and let you sleep off\nwhatever it is that you were on.\" Covering herself with her paw, \"Where are my clothes?\" She\nasked followed by a high pitched squeak. \"They are right here.\" Lilly lifted the vomit soaked outfit\noff the floor, \"But to tell you the truth, I don't think you want to wear these\nright now anyway.\" Setting the clothes\nback down \"Would it make you feel better if I let you finish up and just wait\nfor you in the room?\" Standing to leave, Lilly looks over her shoulder and\nsays, \"If you need anything, just ask. And if you missed it, my name is Lilly.\" --- (June 8 01:00) Looking over her shoulder from the game of Heavenly Sword as\nshe heard the door open, Lilliana saw the little kangaroo mouse peeking out\ninto the room. Lilly sat on the bed wearing only her birthday suit. The dark\ntiger stripes covered her neck back and legs, fading to the lighter colored fur\non her shoulders and arms. Her tail flicked back and forth with the dark puff\nof fur making a loud thump sound each time it hit the mattress. \"Want something\nto eat?\" she asked tilting her head to the pizza boxes sitting on the kitchen\ncounter. \"Not sure what you eat, so I got supreme. You can pick off what you\ndon't like.\" The mouse, wrapped in a towel, padded over to the boxes and opened\none pulling out a slice. \"If you're going to eat my food, could at least get a name?\" Blinking at the odd phrasing of the request, the little\nmouse quietly said, \"Cecily\" \"Well, Sisy, you any good at aiming these cannons? I fucking\nsuck at it. The only part of this damned game I actually hate.\" Hesitantly Cecily moved to the king sized bed occupied by\nthe liger more than twice her size. \"I never really played video games.\" She\nsaid softly. \"No better time to see if you're any good at it. Come on, I\ndon't bite... much.\" Lilly said with a slight jerk of the head, \"Besides unless\nyou managed to wash and dry your clothes in there, we're not going anywhere for\na little while.\" Handing the girl the controller as she got close enough to\nreach. \"Take this, I gotta piss.\" Walking into the bathroom, she saw the girl's\nclothes hanging on the curtain rod to dry, she thought, [i]Resourceful little sprout, looks like she has had to do this\nbefore.* as she flopped down on the\ntoilet.[/i] Sitting back on the bed next to Cecily, \"Where do you live,\nSisy? I will give you a ride home when your clothes are dry.\" Sheepishly, Cecily looked at the floor and in an almost\nwhisper, \"Medford, Oregon.\" Wide eyed, \"What the fuck are you...\" stopping herself she\nchanges her approach. Tossing her the phone, \"Here, call your parents and tell\nthem you're coming home, but it will take you about four weeks to get there. If\nthey have any questions give me the phone and I will explain my plan.\" Still looking at the floor, game controller now sitting in\nher lap, \"I don't have any parents.\" Guilt shot through Lilly as those words\nwere spoken. \"I am fifteen and no one wants to take on anyone my age. So I left\nto come out here to live with my boyfriend. But he didn't want me either.\"\nLilly could see the tears rolling down her cheek. Heartbroken, Lilly sat by the sobbing girl, \"Look, we can\nfigure something out. Until then, how about you join me for the adventure of a\nlifetime?\" Looking up at the older Liger, \"What do you mean?\" Looking down into Cecily's eyes, \"I am headed to Vancouver,\nby way of everything I can think of between here and the west coast. I don't\nknow if I can get you into Canada or on the cruise, but I can at least take you\nas far as Oregon. And all you have to do is keep me awake on the road.\" Donning a weak smile, Cecily said, \"That sounds fun.\" Placing an arm around Cecily and giving a little squeeze,\n\"You see how far you can get on this game; I am going to get some sleep. We\nleave in six hours, whether you're here or not. Just don't steal my PS3, I\ncan't get another gen 1.\" With that Lilly flopped back on the bed to try and\nget some shut eye.  "}