"W-What do you mean you don't have any?!" the fox said, clearly wanting to swear.
The orange tabby behind the counter gave his shoulders a little shrug, "Sorry, but we here at Toh's Beans don't really like to chase the seasonal trends. But I can offer you a nice, spicy sweet potato latte if you're here for that sort of--"
But the fox raised her hand in protest, her entire day ruined with a single sentence. She couldn't even find it in herself to want to chew Toh out over it. There would be plenty of time for that later, anyway.
Her ears fell flat against her head as the visions she had for the day slipped away into the mana flow. The big, steaming cup of hot coffee. Walking down Main on their way to the nature trail, the discussions she and Advrik were sure to have all over the first pumpkin spice coffees of the year. That simply wasn't going to happen now.
"Well, thanks anyway, Toh," Advrik said, noting the undeniable disappointment that had befallen his friend. It wasn't the sort of thing you consoled somebeast over, but he found himself wanting to put an arm around her anyway, even though he wouldn't dare.
"Hey, cheer up, Brigid. Look," He held his phone out, showing a Google Maps screen with the nearest Starbucks thirty minutes away. "We'll just hop in my car and take a ride out to Starbucks; I don't drive the darn thing nearly enough these days, so it could use the trip."
Once outside, the fox's ears perked back up their usual self as a string of expletives, all directed at Toh's business decisions, spilled out of the vixen's maw and into the cool morning air. "How in the FUCK do you not carry pumpkin spice, Advrik? Explain to me what kind of sense that makes. I mean, come ON, 'spiced sweet potato'?! The fuck, man."
Advrik wanted to laugh but bit his tongue. "It was an odd business choice, and I'm sure it probably tastes good--" The pink irises of Brigid's eyes slid sideways, catching the wolf in a glaring sideways glance as he attempted to finish his statement but chose to swallow the rest instead. "Anyway, you wanna make the trip to Starbucks? There's a river with a trail running along it close by if you'd just rather do that?"
He'd taken a few steps away from his new companion, her with her index and thumb rubbing her chin as she contemplated the proposition. It'd only been a few seconds, but standing there looking at this bold new character in his life, he felt and wished it could have lasted a lifetime. The clothes she wore were so radically different from the blacks and pinks she wore through the summer that, had she not shown up in it today, he probably wouldn't have recognized her otherwise.
"So, this like an official date now, then?" She finally spoke as she wrapped her arms behind her, intertwining her hands together behind her back as she stepped closer. "If so, I approve. I've certainly had worst firsts. Lead the way, sir Advrik."
Several minutes and some discarded junk food wrappers later (no thanks to Desmond), the duo were on their way out of town, following the same route the wolf had used to make his way into town all those months ago.
Outside, the world flew by, forests of evergreens dotted with the occasional birch and dogwood. None of them had begun their transition into autumn colors, but it'd only be a matter of time.
"This is so weird,"
Advrik's right ear shifted towards the fox in his passenger seat, not willing to take his eyes off the road even for her.
"This little car, I mean. Eligh has this fucking massive SUV. It's so big it feels like you could drive this dinky little thing right up into it." She declared, running her hand along the weathered, old, sun-bleached dashboard. "That's not a knock against you or anything, just an observation."
The car slowed as they pulled up to a stop sign; a three-way intersection lay before them. A bright yellow sign down the highway denoting the side road. It was here that Advrik finally took his eyes off the road to glance at his passenger, his eyes finding themselves aimed at her chest and how the seat belt strap had wedged its way between her breasts, creating an absolutely delightful image. Combined with the intoxicating aroma of her perfume, which she'd said was a mixture of lavender and chamomile, the wolf found himself in a near state of arousal; A feeling that he knew would make his actions more reckless if he didn't check himself.
"Thank you, by the way." She finally broke the silence, "For actually making an effort."
"Hm, that sounds like the bar's pretty low for me if driving to an out-of-town coffee shop is 'an effort'." He revved the car back into motion as the string of oncoming vehicles finally gave way, pulling the car out onto the opposite side of the road. "Which I guess could somewhat be seen as a good thing."
"Maybe yes, maybe no," she laughed, sounding just a little bit raspy. "I won't bore you with the details, but just to let you know that the last first date I went on, I was taken to Olive Garden and then stuck with the bill. That was almost eight years ago now."
"Well damn, I'll be scratching 'Date night at Olive Garden' off of my agenda once I get home," He laughed. She did not.
"That's not funny."
Advrik felt his gut sink at the sound of her tone, "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for."
"You better be," She said with a wink and a smirk, "I'm just fucking with you, man; calm down. You're good, really."
The drive to Starbucks had been a pleasant one. The two chatted casually about their past lives, the events that led to them arriving in Brickhedge, as well as discussions about favorite foods, music, etc. Before they knew it, they were in the drive-thru. Brigid got her Pumpkin Spice Latte and, as an extra treat, a warm slice of their equally overpriced pumpkin bread. Advrik got a pumpkin chai latte, and from there, they headed to the nearby nature trail.
Barely 10am, and the trail's parking lot already had six other cars, most with bike racks on the back or top. They wouldn't be an issue, Advrik thought, considering the biking and hiking trails were separated, or at least he hoped they were.
The temperature here was considerably warmer than it had been back in Brickhedge, but it still felt as if the early reaches of autumn were beginning to trickle in—no doubt coming from the top of the mountain where his--their--home was located.
A harmonious symphony of crickets accompanied the ever-so-slightly dimming flora of the surrounding forest, replacing the harsh buzz of the cicadas that had plagued the state this past summer.
The shimmering green that once covered the trees now had a dull, brownish hue to them. Always an overachiever, the dogwood trees were changing colors already and displayed an array of different browns and reds.
Advrik and Brigid walked the trail side by side, corporate-branded coffee cups in their hands as they admired the scenery, neither one wanting to mention the change in temperature and the fact that they were dressed for cooler weather.
“Hey, let’s get closer to the water!” Advrik suggested, breaking the sweet but increasingly uncomfortable silence. Brigid nodded, taking a generous sip of her coffee.
The trek off the beaten path was relatively easy-going, especially when compared to the one they’d both have to take to reach the secret location back in Brickhedge—a few branches here, a shrub or fallen stick there. The debris in the area was reasonably well managed by the looks of things, which was none too surprising given that it was within the city limits of a town much larger than Brickhedge ever hoped to be.
The water was running deep and fast, probably due to the spillway having been opened, the wolf thought. He couldn’t see it, but the rushing of water from somewhere further up the river told him enough.
“Feels much better here by the water, eh?”
“Oh, thank fuck you said that,” barked the fox, relishing in the fact that she no longer had to pretend to tolerate the heat. “I sure as shit didn’t dress for this kind of weather,” she said as she rolled up her sleeves, then retrieved her coffee from the rocky ground below.
“I kind of really want to go fishing. You wouldn’t mind, would you?” He cocked his head in her direction, his crimson eyes dancing with the sound of his voice, almost weakening her knees. Of course she wouldn’t mind, she liked fishing too.
“Wouldn’t bother me none. But, eh, isn’t your gear back in the car?”
“Well, assuming there’s no Dispel field here…” With a quick flash and a few blue-white magical sparks, a fishing pole appeared in the wolf’s hand, sporting a fancy corked handle and a spin cast reel of some make. He caught her glancing at the reel itself. “Don’t judge; I tried the spinner reels and just didn’t like it.
“I ain’t judging anybeast, you puss.” She spun around, located a cluster of rocks and firmly planted her ass upon them, paying no heed to the sand and grit that was to be plastered to her butt. “Now fish away, I want to know that you’re capable of feeding me should the world collapse!” A joke at the expense of the ominous vibe the advent of Garou Loveless’ bid for presidency had cast over the country.
The wolf pressed the button and swung his arms forward in a two-handed overhead cast, sending the five-inch swimbait soaring through the air. He allowed it to sink for a few seconds before going in for the retrieve, which was done at a steady rate, stopping every few seconds or so.
“Anyone can do that,”
“Oh are we being a critic now? He asked as he retrieved the lure, casting it again in almost the same area. “At least give me a score; I need to know how I’m doing!”
“I’d give you a B for effort, B plus for distance. Your reeling could use some work.”
“Hey now, come on. I know it looks frantic, but spin casters don’t have the best gear ratio, so they’re kind of slow—!!!” The tip of the rod bent over violently, creating an upside-down capital J. “Hoh crap, did you see that?!” Advrik shouted, jerking the rod back and setting the hook on whatever was on the other end of the line. Brigid jumped to her paws and rushed over to him.
“Dude, I fucking saw it! It was green with black spots!
“A bass!” The wolf said, gritting his teeth as he pulled and reeled against the fish on the other end. “At least I hope that’s what it is. But the way it’s fighting doesn’t feel very—“
“Monster!” Brigid shouted.
"I know, right?! This has gotta be a new PB for me!”
“The fuck you talking about peanut butter at a time like this?!” she growled, “There’s a goddamn monster coming up the river, look!”
Advrik had been so utterly preoccupied with the fish dangling from the other end of his line that he failed to notice the very real, very soggy threat that was creeping toward them.
“You aware now?”
“Yes,” he replied, meekly.
“Great, now you just focus on reeling that fish in. I’m going to deal with our little monster problem, ‘kay?” Said the fox, setting her coffee cup down and stepping forward to meet the encroaching horror.
“You can fight?” he asked, voice laden with a combination of concern and strain.
Without another word, a pair of glimmering, silver-black daggers appeared in the fox’s hands. Each an exact duplicate of the other; Their blades were silver and thin, hardly wider than the handle to which they had been affixed.
The monster was hardly more than three yards away now, its water-laden flesh stinking of rotting fish beneath the beaming late summer sun. The skin was a greyish blue and hung limply from the creature’s body. It looked at Brigid with a sort of surprise, like it couldn’t believe that another creature dared to stand up to it.
It blinked the pitch-black eyes that were set deep into its skull and elicited a deep, watery gurgle noise from its yellow-beaked mouth. One could not be blamed for thinking of the creature as anything but starving based on the distended belly that hung above its limp, putrid genitalia.
A gust of wind swept upriver, blowing towards the fox and wolf, carrying with it a waft of the worst-smelling odor Brigid had ever smelled. She gagged instantly, feeling the burn of the coffee-infused bile singing the back of her throat as her stomach turned over.
“Oh shit, oh jeez, that’s rancid,” she wanted desperately to cover her nose but needed both hands with her daggers at the ready. There would be time to wretch later.
The watery devil lunged forward, its footfalls sounding like water balloons bursting against the pavement as it reached webbed hands out towards the fox.
Through her burning, watery eyes, Brigid dodged swiftly to the side of the creature and left it momentarily stunned, clearly having not expected her to do so.
“It’s a Druncher!” Advrik chimed in; voice still strained as he fought the massive fish. “They hunt using the odor from their, well, junk, to stun their prey before attacking.” His eyes watering, but keeping his paws firmly planted on the rocky riverbank.
“Should I cut it, or…?” Brigid lunged forward, dashing in front of the rotten-smelling monster in order to draw its attention away from Advrik.
“Burn it!”
Without saying another word, Brigid conjured up a Fire spell and tossed at the beast. Magical flames collided with the soggy, water-heavy skin as it exploded in an amazing display that faded away far too quickly.
The monster dropped to its knees, its skin burnt so badly that every small movement caused it intense pain as it stretched and split.
“Oh, oh shit, I was expecting it to just explode like the slimes I’ve killed before.”
Her face was a wash with what Advrik could only assume to be concern. So there was a side so soft hidden inside the fox that it even extended to monsters. Despite all of the happenings at the given moment, knowing that she—
BOOM!
A second fireball struck the downed monster; this time, it exploded as the magic ball of fire hit the weakened creature, ripping straight through it and impacting the ground from which it had fallen. The flames mushroomed upwards, sending rocks and sand flying in every direction as they utterly destroyed the smelly monster’s body, burning away any trace of the beast.
The drag on the reel began to screech as the fish took one last dash for the deeper waters but found the strength of the twelve-pound line and the wolf pulling it to just too much for it.
Brigid, coffee back in hand, cheered the wolf on as he gave the rod and reel one last powerful pull, successfully yanking the fish from the aquatic home and onto land.
It’d been their first official date together, one which had made for a day that neither would ever likely forget. The selfie of the wolf and the fox posing together with the huge largemouth bass, smoking crater in the background, would fuel many a tale back in town.
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