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Slice of Lex: A second Slice of Victoria

Jenny Harlow

Victoria's alarm went off with it's soft beeps, the fox woke and set it to snooze for thirty minutes. Staying in the wolf's apartment, she had basically shaved thirty minutes off of her trip. Basically, all she needed to do was take a quick shower and dash out the door, grabbing breakfast on campus. She didn't return to sleep, but instead just lay in the bed, the sun not yet risen on the gray cloudy day. The AC hummed quietly, and Lex had not been disturbed by the quiet alarm and was still sleeping soundly. Victoria pressed back into her sighing contentedly. She smiled, Lexi was talking softly in her sleep, she was muttering half intelligible sentences about several different video games, Victoria's name was mentioned several times. The fox giggled softly, rolling over and gently wrapping her arms around the wolf, Lex giggled in her sleep. The fox kissed her gently between her closed eyes, careful not to wake her up. That giggle was one of the reasons she loved her wolf. She closed her eyes again, letting herself drift back into a brief nap. When her alarm went off this time, she didn't have a choice but to get up. She slid slowly out of the bed, making sure not to wake her partner. She stood freshly showered, brushing her teeth in the mirror. There was a gentle, quiet knock from Christine's door. "Come in." Victoria said, as best she could with toothpaste coating her mouth.

James came in quietly, shutting the door behind him so that it didn't hit against the frame. "Morning," He said, he looked somewhere between still asleep and walking corpse. Victoria knew the feeling. He was dressed in his taco boxers but hadn't bothered to put on a shirt.

She spat out her toothpaste, and rinsed her mouth out, as James stood patiently waiting for the sink. She moved aside, leaning on the counter as she combed her hair out. "Sleep well?"

"For the most part, Christine and I actually slept together on her bed... It was nice, but it wasn't exceptionally comfortable." He said quietly. "Don't tell her I said that okay?"

"Don't worry I get where you're coming from, before Lex bought her foldout we had the same situation every now and again." She shrugged slightly.

The squirrel nodded, now brushing his own teeth. He rinsed and spat before turning to look at Victoria. "What time do you have to leave?"

"I've got a few minutes, what's up?

"If you can wait while I take a quick shower and pull my clothes on, why don't we grab breakfast somewhere? I've actually got a while before my first class starts." He gave a small smile, he started to raise a hand to his hair, but he caught himself and lowered it.

"I'd like that, the student commons on my cafeteria has a good donut shop."

"Cool..." He said, looking into the mirror for a second.

"What's up?" Victoria asked, putting her comb down.

"I'm just, I'm excited about hanging out with a friend, but I'm still just a little nervous, I've usually never been alone just you and me. There's always been at least Lexi with you."

"Ah, are you scared I'll bite?"

"No, it's just, sometimes... " James moved his hands around in front of him, looking for the proper phrasing. "Sometimes, I don't know how to people?" He said, now giving into his habit.

"It's alright, it's just breakfast, we don't even really have to talk if you don't want to." Victoria said, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. James smiled, putting his hand on hers for a moment.

Victoria got dressed, she put on one of her more loose-fitting outfits. Her black Hamlet t-shirt with Ophelia drifting in the water on it, and a pair of gray shorts. She put on a pair of fur-colored leggings under her shorts which really highlighted her leg's shape, and would make it easier to get into costume later. She heard the shower stop, and knew James wouldn't be much longer. She picked up her little silver watch from the nightstand and checked the time, it was about seven twenty, James had plenty of time to dress before they had to leave. Victoria slid the timepiece onto her wrist, shaking her wrist softly as she settled it into her fur. She sat on the edge of the foldout, rubbing her girlfriend's back softly. "I'm leaving for class babe." She said softly.

The wolf rolled over, her eyes opening as she stretched. "Okay, what time are you getting in tonight?"

"Around ten, I think I'd like to stay here one more night, if that's okay."

"No, I'm afraid you'll have to just go find a bridge to sleep under." Lexi said smiling slightly.

"Fine, I guess I'll just go to my nice house, with my family who feeds me." Victoria stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend.

"I'm just joking, of course you can stay, might want to let security know about the truck though, don't want to find yourself with a ticket."

"Don't worry, I will." She bent over as her girlfriend leaned up to kiss her. "I love you, try and make the best of today, okay?"

"Okay, love you too, have a nice rehearsal." The wolf said, rolling over again. Lex's classes for the day didn't start until eleven, and she had plenty of time to sleep in.

Victoria grabbed her backpack, swinging it up onto her shoulder as she slipped out the door. The squirrel arrived not long after, he was dressed in a full button up shirt, which was unbuttoned, a pair of nice slacks with a belt around them, and a pair of black dress shoes, he had a ragged black backpack on his shoulder. "I have a presentation in class today on my research paper." He said, noticing Victoria's raised eyebrow.

The vixen nodded, and the two walked down the stairs. "So I won't be getting off until after Lex is out of class today, we could just take your car since she can pick me up."

James nodded, "Sure, it's kind of small, but I think it will be alright."

They got out to the parking lot, and walked over to the resident space for Christine's apartment. Victoria had to fight the urge to laugh, the car was indeed very small. It was a little smart car, with two seats and a hatch that could maybe fit their bags. He opened the rear hatch and placed their bags inside. Victoria got inside as well. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, and the fox was not overly tall anyway. James got in beside her, smiling nervously as he started the car. "Hey, I need to grab something out of my truck, mind stopping by there on the way out?"

He nodded, and the car backed out. Victoria hopped out, grabbing her black purse from her truck. She set it on the floor, and pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Okay so how do I get there?" James said, driving towards the security gate, Victoria had her phone to her ear as she pointed.

"Go straight over the bridge, keep going straight all the way down to Brown Street, then turn right, it will be the third lot on the left." The squirrel nodded as he drove forward. A few seconds later, Victoria switched her conversation to the person on the phone. "Helllo. Arlington Wells security?" She paused for a second. "Yes I'd like to get an extension for my parking." She listened again, "A black, o six, GMC Sierra four door. License plate SWT, three, three, four, seven. I am a guest of Alexi Jean Asher, apartment four-D" She hung up the phone after a brief pleasantry.

"What was that all about?" James asked, crouching down a little to see the stoplight above him.

"I had to get an extension for my truck for tonight, otherwise it could get ticketed or towed."

"Ah." He drove quietly as the light changed. "Do you mind if I turn on the stereo?"

"Dude, it's your car and you're giving me a free ride, go ahead." The squirrel turned the radio on quietly, Victoria was momentarily surprised to hear Seether playing, but she began to sing along with the track. "You like Seether?" The squirrel asked smiling at her.

"Yeah, I do, I know pretty much all the words to Rise Above This." James started to sing along with her. By this point it had started raining softly, but neither of them particularly cared. Finally, after several more tracks from "Beauty in Negative Spaces" they reached Victoria's campus. As Victoria got out of the car she asked James a question that had been bugging her for a little while. "You know, West is about an hour away from here, you sure you have time to eat?"

"Yeah, my first class isn't as early today, it doesn't even start until nine forty five." He said grabbing her backpack from the hatch. "That gives me a few minutes to eat, enough that I don't have to sweat too much."

Victoria figured he knew what he was doing, "Either way, we should at least get out of the rain, I don't want you to ruin your shirt." She said, and the two sprinted up the stairs to the commons, laughing the whole way. The commons was full of morning class students of every kind, the zombies, the slowly perking up and clinging to a cup of coffee zombies, and the people that should be beaten with a sack of coffee beans who seem to enjoy being up this early. The smell of fresh donuts and pastries, coffee and hot beverages permeated through the air causing the pair's stomach to grumble slightly. "That's the one we want," Victoria said, indicating a large counter with a large donut above it.

They ordered a half dozen, three chocolate glazed, two fruit filled, and a regular glazed, a coffee and a hot chocolate. They sat at a table by the window, watching the rain pour down outside, picking up more and more. James took his cherry filled, plain, and chocolate donuts and his cocoa off the tray. He sipped the beverage gratefully, "not much better than a hot drink on a cold day." He said, biting into one of his donuts. Victoria nodded slightly as she stared outside. "So, what role did you get for your show?" The squirrel asked, not really sure what to say.

"Ophelia, she's kind of the good girl trope, who snaps later on." She pulled her shirt slightly as she adjusted herself in the seat. "She's actually the one on the shirt." She said smiling.

"Oh... That's neat!"

"What about you, you said you're doing a presentation today, what's it about?"

"I had to do a research paper on cannabis's effects on the brain." He said, shrugging slightly. "It was interesting enough, but it took forever to put together."The fox nodded. The two switched to their favorite bands, the vixen and the squirrel finding some common ground they hadn't really talked about before. Even though they had met several times in the past, this was the first really meaningful conversation they had. James checked his watch and frowned. "I've got to go Victoria, it was nice chatting with you, we should hangout more often." He said, as he stood up, taking his plate and cup with him.

"Yeah we should, and you can call me Vic." The fox said, as she too rose from the table, "Just not Vicky, truth be told I hate that nickname." She said, pulling a large frown. She waved to her friend as she walked out the door on the other side. She jogged across the brick walkways as she hurried to the student entrance of the Performing Arts Center, she scanned her I.D. card on the reader. The reader let out a faint buzz, lighting up red. "COME ON!" She shouted at it, she scanned it again, as a cold breeze whipped through, chilling her slightly. She touched it again, again it buzzed. The machine might as well have been flipping her the finger. She tried it a third time, and it rejected it again. She sighed, looking out into the rain. She jogged around the building to the main entrance at the front, the locked doors rattled as she attempted to open them. She sat on the concrete under the awning, shouting frustratedly. She looked up, her Technical Director was standing on the second floor landing pointing and laughing at her. She flipped him off, he waved at her and began to walk down the stairs.

"Aah man, you're soaked!" He said laughing. Theatre fact, when someone has a misfortune there is a standard procedure. Step one, make sure someone's okay, if they reply yes, or the answer is obvious, move to step two, point and laugh.

"Yeah, the stupid backdoor wouldn't let me in." The vixen said as she brushed past the tiger, who was still laughing. "Shut up Ben." She said, shoving him gently.

He straightened up, walking beside her as she moved through the theatre into the green room. "Take your ID to security tomorrow during lunch break, the magnetic... thingy... is probably messed up, they should be able to fix it for you." Ben could be helpful, Ben could also be an asshole, either way Victoria loved her Tech Director.

She came into the green room and scribbled her name down on the sign-in sheet, she waved at the techs who were sitting around the table in the center as she slipped into the dressing room. The scent of hairspray was heavy in the air, as well as various perfumes. Victoria coughed slightly as her sinuses began to react already. She threw her bag into her locker, grabbing the small wrapped hygiene product and her makeup removers from her purse. She set the makeup remover on the table, and took her makeup down from the cabinet above her dressing area. She walked past the other girls as she slipped into the toilet stalls at the back of the room, taking her pad out of her pocket as she closed the door. She emerged a little while later, thankful for the music someone was playing, as it had at least distracted from the annoying crinkle. She washed her hands and carefully washed her face. She sat at the table, flipping on the vanity lights. She looked down at her makeup kit and let out a soft sigh. "Hey Jen, do you have any of the darker orange makeup?" She said, indicating the empty spot to the other vixen.

Jen slid her makeup tray over, having several shades that would all work well with her fur tone. "Take what you need." She said grinning.

She changed quickly into a plain white tank she'd been keeping in her locker, and kicked her shorts off, placing her shirt and shorts into the locker. She pulled her shoes off, keeping only the basics she'd need to be clothed at this very moment. She brushed her hair out, and combed it again. The actors were called to the stage for warm-ups. Their director Allison had them run in circles, reciting one of their monologues, the rest of the class repeating it line after line, they then dropped down like a ragdoll being held by its legs, and stretched deep into their back. Finally as they stood up, Allison checked her watch, it was almost time for rehearsal to start properly. "I think we've got time for one more exercise, how about Grip Top Sock?" The class groaned in unison, all except for Victoria who was looking down at the stage in defeat, she knew what was coming next. "Come on, it's not that bad. Victoria, why don't you come up and lead." Victoria had made the mistake of memorizing the tongue twister at home, now whenever Allison needed someone to do it, it was always Victoria.

The vixen walked up in front of the class, rubbing under the nosepiece of her glasses. She stood up straight, arms at her sides, and inhaled deeply. "Give me the gift of a grip top sock, a dip drape shipshape tip top sock, not your spiv-slick slapstick slip slop stock, but a plastic elastic grip top sock, none of your fantastic slack swap slop, from a flash cash, slapdash haberdash shop, not a knick-knack knit-locked knock-kneed knickerbocker sock, with a mock-shot blob mottled trick tick tocker clock, not a rucked up puckered up flop top sock, nor a super sheer seer sucker pukka's sack sock, nor a spot speckled frog freckled cheapskate's sock, of a hodge podge moss blotched, botched scotch block." She clapped her hands and stopped her right foot, the class who had been stumbling behind her repeated the action, "nothing drip drop, slip slop, or flip flop, tip me to a tip top grip top sock." The vixen was winded, having not paused for a breath the entire time. Allison applauded, and the rest of the class followed/ Victoria however, wanted to fade quietly out of existence, as she was blushing heavily.

Allison gave her usual 'go team' speech, and the crew huddled together, grunting quietly and gradually getting louder and faster, when they broke they were all charged. Victoria was headed back to the dressing room as Allison made one last announcement, "Oh yeah, since the understudy is stepping in for the Gravedigger, we're going to start with that scene and the burial, we'll run it a couple times to make sure he has it, everyone in that scene should be ready in," she checked her watch, "fifteen minutes guys."

"Thank you fifteen," the actors said in unison. Victoria was now more nervous than before, normally she didn't have to worry about that scene until the play was almost over. Now it was the first thing they were doing today. During the burial of Ophelia, Victoria was laid out on a wooden table, built in the shop and confirmed sturdy enough to do the job, and lowered by ropes in the corner down into the orchestra pit beneath. Victoria was slightly claustrophobic and the narrow trap was enough to make her pulse rush a little. Still she calmly pulled on the blue silken shirt, and the white dress, having Jen help her tie it at the back. She pulled on a pair of white slippers and checked herself over in the mirror again. Lex would say she looked stunning, Victoria however sighed, feeling a lot like a giant china doll. Still, she sat in the green room, careful not to crease her dress, sipping water carefully from her bottle. The stage manager counted down every five minutes, on her final count, the cast and crew shifted into their respective places, as the scene-shift cue for the gravedigger scene had already started. Finally the young ocelot playing Hamlet sighed as the music faded, he turned to Victoria and the two exchanged thumbs-ups, Victoria was surrounded by the burial crew, and the priest. As the ocelot and the shy young rat understudy finished their scene, Jenn put her hand on Victoria's shoulder. "Are you ready for this?" She said.

"As I can be," Victoria put her hand on the other vixen's before she was covered from head to toe in a thin white sheet. She inhaled deeply as she was lifted off the ground, she flinched and moaned slightly at each jostle of the platform, partly being wired from more than one cup of coffee drank after warm ups. As the carriers were coming around the corner to come on stage, one of them caught the edge of a stairwell, he, the platform, and Victoria went to the ground, Victoria rolling off down the staircase, screaming a strong profanity. She landed roughly on the angle of the stairs, which caught her just under the ribs and knocked her breath out. The entire scene was still for a moment, no one moved. Finally Allison rushed onto stage, running to Victoria on the stairs.

"Are you okay?" She said, Victoria was wheezing slightly drawing in several slow deep breaths, nothing majorly injured.

"I'm... Alright... Just got the wind knocked out of me." Allison hugged her gently, before helping her sit up.

"Good but, we don't use that sort of language in this class." The cat said, winking at the fox, Victoria attempted to laugh and started coughing instead. Allison rubbed her back as she turned back to the stage. "Is Carlos alright?" The young rat, who was still assisting as one of the carriers for a moment, on top of being the gravedigger, gave an embarrassed thumbs up.

The stage became a momentary chaos, Ben and Allison looking over the set, trying to find a way to fix the problem in the future, and asking for the rat's input. The SM and ASMs were checking the glow tape to make sure it was visible in a dark environment. Meanwhile, Victoria lay back down for a second, hand over her stomach as she looked up at the lighting pipe hanging above her. The rest of the day was a lot smoother, although the second time she was being lowered down Victoria had a small panic attack and had to have Allison hold her hand as long as she could on the way down. After a smooth run the fear slowly diminished, to the point that the vixen could carry on. At almost half-past ten, Victoria sat on the stoop of the student commons, her arms folded, and a borrowed jacket from Ben pulled around her as she shivered slightly in the cool damp air. The little white car pulled up, and the fox gratefully dashed for it, eagerly hopping into the warmth. Lexi was smiling at her, Victoria noticed her right hand had a bandage wrapped around it. "So how was your rehearsal?" The wolf asked, putting her arm around the vixen, Victoria snuggled into the warmth for a moment.

"The grave scene is cursed I tell you, between Jerome falling into the pit, Carlos tripping over the set and dropping me on it, it's been a week I tell you." The fox said.

Lex kissed her on the cheek, before dropping the car into gear and pulling back out onto the small road next to the campus. "I stabbed myself with a drill bit today, not even really sure how I did it, was firmly against the screw one minute, cutting into my palm the next. Specially talented, I am." The wolf said with a giggle.

Victoria was so happy to reach Lexi's apartment, normally they took the stairs, but tonight they both got into the small elevator and rode up to the fourth floor. The two girls walked into the apartment, Lexi immediately turning the temperature on the AC up. Victoria pulled her shirt off, throwing it on the floor next to the closet, her pants soon joining it. She looked down at her underwear, and cursed softly before dropping them on the pile as well. She pulled on her green robe wrapping it tightly around her, before shooting Christine a text. "I'll be right back, I've got to go get a cork for the sacrament." She stepped into the bathroom. Lexi opened the fridge and stared into the emptiness within. She looked at the time, thankfully there were plenty of restaurants nearby that were open twenty four hours. She walked over to the bathroom door, "Hey Vic, I'm gonna go get dinner, text me your order and I'll pick it up for you."

The wolf made the trip back down to her car, even though she was exhausted, and probably would have gone to sleep anyway, she wanted to make sure Victoria didn't go to bed without eating first. As she got back out into the cold, her phone beeped. Victoria's text simply read, "TACOS!"

Lex returned about ten minutes later, finding Victoria on the foldout, snoring softly in front of the TV, her robe cast aside, and the sheets pulled up to her stomach, all other lights in the room turned off. She kissed her on the nose before waving a box of tacos underneath it. They ate quietly, neither one much in the mood for conversation, but they were still close to each other, and really that's all that mattered. Finally the food was done with and the box tossed roughly in the direction of the trashcan. The TV was turned off, and the two pressed close together, enjoying the mutual warmth. Overall, it had been business as usual for the two canines, work all day, eat whatever you can get your hands on after, and then return home to die for the evening. Victoria had fallen asleep first, Lexi was awake a little longer quietly playing on her DS. She looked over at the fox before she shut the device off, smiling happily, content that her lovely vixen was taken care of. She pressed her back into her partner's, their tails resting one on top of the other. She sighed as she too closed her eyes. Before she fell asleep though, she heard Victoria mutter something in her sleep. It was two words, but they were clear and easily understood, the words were, "I do." The wolf's eyes opened again, as she turned to the fox, suddenly the mystery of yesterday had pieces falling into place, Lexi had inadvertently guessed the fox's surprise. Had Victoria known, she would have been very angry with herself, however the wolf went to sleep with a large smile on her face.