K-Mart, or more specifically, Super K-Mart, began its life in 1899 as Kresge, then later rebranded as K-Mart in the 1970s, where it became a chain of stores spanning across the country. With its growing success, the company sought to expand the offerings one could find when venturing into a K-Mart location, adding a deli, dine-in areas, video rental stores, and fresh seafood displays. Of course like all good things, it came to an end eventually as the company failed to compete with the evergrowing corporate monstrosity that was Wal-Mart. Filing for multiple bankruptcies and closing all but a small handful of stores, K-Mart had been reduced to a mere memory in the minds of most beasts. A positive one, but a memory none the less.And that was all K-Mart was to Advrik prior to moving to Brickhedge this past spring. The mere idea of a fully functioning Super K-Mart Supercenter in 2024 was wildly ludicrous, but sure enough as he pushed his aging sedan into the city limits, there sitting on the hill with a full parking lot, was just that.
Thinking back, the sight of a K-Mart should have been the first positive sign that he had made the right move in coming here. But here, now, standing in the indoor garden center which had been all done up with Christmas merchandise, Brigid and Desmond to his left and right, he was positive of it.
The weather outside was frightful, with a late autumn cold snap baring down on the town, sending temperatures plummeting down into the mid-thirties during the day and the low teens at night(with wind chill!). Cold enough that Desmond had come dressed in more than his usual overalls and graphic tee, sporting a rather nice faux leather jacket lined with sherpa on the inside. On his head was a hat with big flaps on the sides that hung down, similar to Cousin Eddy’s in Christmas Vacation.
“The hell are you looking at, wolf?”
“Nothing, it’s just—“
But Desmond cut him off. “Just what?”
“I didn’t even know you owned other clothes is all. All we ever see you in are those overalls and—“
“Yeah, yeah. Well, I get cold too, sometimes. Don’t make such a fuss about it.” The mole said, wandering off down the aisle, scoping out the ornaments and miscellaneous decorations as he went.
“Fucking weirdo, that one.” Brigid sidled up beside Advrik, her black and pink scarf hanging limp from her neck. “But he can be all right I guess, what with him having made a friend out of Eligh and all.” She said, smiling and looking at the wolf, flashing her pearly whites with a smirk.
Every time he looked at the fox, his heart felt as if it skipped a beat or two. He’d recently told her of his past—only—relationship and how it abruptly ended, which helped her to understand why Advrik was being so cautious in their, admittedly, still budding relationship.
She turned her back to him, her long, fluffy tail swaying like a streamer behind her. The black tip of her tail almost appeared as if to beckon him to follow her; it swayed back in forth with each step.
Brigid wore a black trench coat today, stretching down to her shins. Beneath that was a shirt that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the shelves of Hot Topic, with two large faded stars on the lower right, and the sleeves, should she remove her coat, were of a black and white vertical pinstripe pattern.
Advrik could appreciate the vixen’s sense of style, or rather her Scene-esque lack of one. Her outfits always appeared to be cobbled together, either from thrift store finds or new purchases.
Overhead, the in-store radio station played Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ as the store’s many patrons browsed the aisles, filling their carts with decorations and groceries alike. “KMRT Radio!” The little jingle between songs played, “All your favorite Christmas hits, all day long. Thank you for shopping at K-Mart.”
“Hey, get your flannel-wearing ass over here, Vrik!” Brigid said loudly from the next aisle, drawing the attention of more than a handful of fellow shoppers. Gripping the plastic-covered handlebar on the shopping cart, ears flat against his head, he quickly turned tail and joined his friends on the opposite side.
Advrik wore a yellow and black flannel coat, and the hood was a solid grey like the coat’s interior. Autumn and winter were his flannel-wearing seasons, so she wasn’t wrong per se, but she didn’t have to point it out like that either.
Beneath the coat was a simple long-sleeved grey shirt over similar Y2K pants that he incorporated into most of his autumn outfits. His beanie, which was also black and had a thick grey stripe running across the entirety of the article.
“What’s up?” He asked, bringing the cart to a halt before her. There she stood, hip slightly cocked, both hands in her coat’s pockets. The image of her ample endowment(for a fox) was instantly apparent beneath her tight-fitting undershirt, stirring the wolf’s more primal nature into motion. She smirked, grabbing the opposite end of the steel basket and pulling it towards her.
“Nothing; just wanted you with me is all. I need to buy some new underwear, and you’re going to help me pick out a pair.” She said as she left the aisle, fingers woven through the smaller holes of the shopping cart’s front bumper.
Advrik wouldn’t object to such an activity. But he also wondered where Desmond had gotten off to, secretly hoping he wouldn’t suddenly reappear between here and the women’s clothing department and prevent this new experience from happening.
“Not to sound like an asshole or anything but this is a genuine question, and I am wondering: Why do you start celebrating Christmas so early, anyway?”
That age-old question, dating all the way back to his years in the orphanage when he’d start decorating his side of the big bedroom with little Christmas knickknacks that he put aside for himself every year, growing his collection year over year. He always hated having to wait until after the parade on Thanksgiving to decorate, feeling that the holiday season was already half over by that point and too little time to do all of the festive activities or watch every Christmas movie or TV special.
“No need to explain any further.” She said abruptly. “I totally understand; I was just curious, is all. You know, speaking of watching the parade every year, I would always—“
“…Sorry?” Advrik asked, “I didn’t catch that.”
The fox stopped, allowing Advrik to join her at her side before moving again. “I’ve never actually told anybeast this before,” her tone was hushed as if any given beast could be a spy sent here by the old life she left behind up north. “But I used to… dance. With the Rockettes. During the parade, that is. I always recorded the parade so I could rewatch the Rockettes specifically; I taught myself to dance watching them, not that it does me much good nowadays; Singing is so much easier.”
“Oh, Brigid,” Advrik started, biting back both tears and a smile. “That’s actually adorable!”
“Shut the fuck up…” She smiled.
“For real, that’s such a cute little story. I’ve heard you sing before, but I had no idea you could dance—“
“Hold it, I’m going to need you to back the fuck up. When did you ever hear me sing?!”
“That one time you were over at my place, I had to run out for some missing ingredients, and you took a shower. I returned a little earlier than expected and heard you belting out a really pretty-sounding song…”
The fox was silent for the next several steps as the women’s underwear and bra racks came into view. Usually, Advrik would quickly walk past this area, averting his eyes and tucking his hands to his sides to avoid accidentally touching anything, lest he be taken for some sort of weird pervert.
“Huh, well, okay, that’s one less secret now, I suppose. Why didn’t you ever mention it sooner?” She said as she weaved her way around the wolf and to the racks holding an assortment of underwear.
“I mean, it’s not as if I was trying too hard to hide the fact that I was singing as loudly as you claim in another person’s house.”
Good question, the wolf thought. She’d not been shy about it, having had no way of knowing when he’d have returned. So she must not have been trying too hard to hide it, obviously. “I don’t know, honestly; maybe I kept it to myself in hopes we’d have some bonding moment down the road where you revealed it there.”
“Did that occurring in the middle of the only fully operational Super K-Mart in the world happen to be a part of that fantasy?” She cocked an eyebrow in that familiar, scrutinizing way of hers. Any other beast would take her as just being needlessly abrasive, but her friends knew her better than that.
“It did not, but now that you’ve mentioned it, it definitely made it better.”
“You’re weird as fuck, wolf.”
No comments:
Post a Comment