FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

_ Special Delivery _

Morozovo. Fuckin' Morozovo. Of all the places to get transferred over to. They couldn't have moved me any further north without pushing me out of Zelengorod entirely. I'd been driving flatout for almost an hour already, and still had plenty of highway left ahead.

I thumped a palm against the steering wheel, matching the bass of my stereo. How in the world was I gonna stick with this? It'd be three months at least before I could even think about moving again. In no way would I miss my crappy shoebox apartment down in Repka, but a lost deposit would be a whole different story. No question, I had_to get different work closer to home, or at least closer to it than _fucking Morozovo_._

My exit came another twenty minutes later. I'd been racing around the rain-soaked AV1 for so long that I came close to missing it. A jab of the brakes, a jerk of the wheel, and a horn or two later, I was circling down to the carpet of lights that would be my new workspace. I'd never been to Morozovo before, let alone driven here. Finding my way around at night, trying to make deliveries, would be a whole load of fun... Thank the stars for GPS.

According to my phone, the branch of Pizza Prince I'd been banished to sat a few minutes from the highway; finally something to be thankful for that evening.

From what I'd been told, this was supposed to be a real, bonafide mixed-size district. Could have fooled me. All the buildings I got a good glimpse of looked normal, save for a few scaled down storefronts. Y'know, the standard stuff. The roads were normal, and the pavements, too. Maybe it was the darkness, maybe it was the fact I was trying to peer through the rain and through the traffic, but nothing here looked all that different to Repka. From all the stories I'd been told, I had myself prepared for and expecting way more. In fact, I reckon downtown looked more accommodating than here when it came to all those daft walkways, tunnels and--

A horn blared from behind, kicking me into gear, and by extension, my car, too. Green light ahead. Just a couple more streets to go.

I stopped at a row of stores set on the corner of a busy junction. Pizza Prince's bright red logo flooded the damp concrete forecourt I'd mounted. Engine off, keys in paw, the door of my old hatchback creaked as I climbed out into the cold, drizzly night.

The store sat squeezed between a dank, trashy gambling shop, and an off-licence advertising 2-for-1 on all spirits, as well as stating 'Absolutely NO drinking permitted on the premises'. Clearly, I'd found my way to an area of pure class.

"Hey!" My ears swivelled back towards the pizza shop. "Hey, guy! No parking."

"What?"

"No parking," the pudgy hare repeated, waddling out into the elements in his pinstripe shirt and tie. "You, you cannot park here."

I looked to the two cars I'd pulled up next to. "What about them?"

"Customer parking, not allowed." Fuck my life, this guy was hard to understand. Thick, fast and choppy. Not sure if it was just him, or his accent... Azkadian, maybe? "What?"

"Here is for drivers only."

"I_am_ a driver."

"You're driver?"

"Yes!" I danced around a puddle to close the gap between us. "I'm Kolya."

He shifted back into the red glowing from above, visibly thinking that over. "Kolya Sirko? From Repka store?"

"That's right." Was he expecting another? "I'm starting here tonight."

"You're squirrel?"

What the...? I almost fell over myself. "Apparently, yeah."

"I was expecting raccoon."

"Sorry to disappoint you." My ears caught the guy falling out of the off-licence a moment before my eyes did. "Is that a problem?"

"No, no, no problem." The hare turned. "If you can walk, carry, and can drive, then we have no problem."

He wobbled back through the staff entrance without another word. Meanwhile, the old wolf by the off-licence took great pride in slurping on the contents of his paper bag, slumping down to the ground and howling out the starts of a song... I figured I should make my way inside, too.

"I am Zakir. Manager here." The hare stopped between the counter and the kitchen area. Guys and girls worked away on both sides in their red Pizza Prince uniforms. A horde of customers stood waiting out front. The drone they generated between them was damn near deafening. "You have form?"

His darting words caught me on the hop. "What?"

"Transfer form."

"Oh." I remembered the sheet my manager, or former manager, gave me last week.

"Come, come! I need form to know for sure you are Kolya.

"Yeah, I got it." I fished it from my pocket and handed it to Zakir. His crooked buck teeth were joined by the rest as he smiled. "Good, good." He crammed it into his shirt pocket. "Happy to have you. We are so busy, I think the introduction will be short."

"Works for me--"

His arms started to move as rapid as his speech. "Here is kitchen, here is counter. And here are the team."

"I got tha--"

"Will nobody answer this fuck phone?" No answer from anyone. I hadn't even noticed it. "I get. Fine. Okay."

Zakir raced as fast as a guy his size could, leaving me to wait square in the middle of the busyness. The speed of movement everywhere was an assault on the senses. The three working the tills were fully occupied, trying to hear and call through the bustle. Over in the kitchen, a team of pizza makers worked flat out, clattering around between the worktops and the ovens. The Repka store had nothing on this place in the busy stakes. Nor did it have what I caught a glimpse of over by Zakir and the phone.

A near perfect replica of the kitchen, and the front area, sat raised and scaled down between their larger counterparts over by the far wall. Nobody here seemed to notice me wander over to get myself a better look.

It was a store within a store. Smaller kitchen staff worked with smaller equipment, crafting smaller pizzas to be given to the smaller cashiers, to then be handed over to the smaller customers waiting in their smaller waiting area adjoined to the other. So much small...

"Squirrel!"

A deep, thumping voice damn near put me back on my ass. I glanced around... but I couldn't find--

"Down here..." I dipped my muzzle to see a heavy set bull staring up from the small, waist-high kitchen. "What are you doing?"

His bassy voice carved its way straight through me. Yeah, he might have been the height of a beer bottle, but he sounded fully ready to kick my ass, never mind just put me on it.

"Zakir," he bellowed. "Who is this guy?"

The hare held up a finger, far too deep in his phone conversation to do much more. I decided it best to answer for him. "I'm Kolya."

"The new driver?" I nodded. "Huh... I was expecting a raccoon."

"So I heard."

He snorted through a half smile. "Welcome, then. I'm Yurik, co-manager."

I raised a paw intent on giving some kind of wave, but my mind had already turned to trying to figure out how a 'co-manager' worked exactly. No matter. Zakir's paw on my shoulder quite literally pulled me back.

"I see you have met Yurik," he said with cheer. "Don't worry. He's only angry most of the time."

"I heard that."

I struggled to know what to say. I'd been here two minutes and already it felt like I'd fallen into some kind of fever dream.

"Zakir," the bull rumbled. "Are you gonna get me a driver for this delivery, or not?"

"Yes, yes," the hare answered, batting out a paw. "I have deliveries, too."

"When?"

"Soon."

"We're overrun here, man."

"Of course. It's King's Cup final. People in Velika, you cannot watch hockey without your pizza."

"Thanks for the update, but that don't help me any." Arms folded, blurs of activity all around him, Yurik looked to me. "What about the new guy? Or are you planning on having him just stand around here looking pretty all night?"

Zakir followed his lead, grin growing. His paw slapped my shoulder again. "I think we will need to cut introduction short."

I wanted to ask 'what introduction?'. He'd dragged me across the kitchen before I even got the chance...

"This first delivery, we need to combine," Zakir explained, staring at the tablet in his paw. "Double stop."

"No problem." I followed him to the edge of the main kitchen. "I've done those back in Repka."

"Not like this, I think." His smirk, I didn't like. "Two customers in same neighbourhood. One large, one small."

He grabbed a delivery bag from under a countertop, practically tossing it at me. "You talking... pizza sizes?"

"No!" He slapped me twice on the cheek. "One large customer, one small customer."

Okay.That was a surprise. But not as much as the second delivery bag he handed me. The first I'd strapped over my shoulder. This one... fit comfortably in the palm of my paw.

"Hey, how...?" No use. Zakir had already hurled himself headfirst into the action. The kitchen was running full pelt. I hadn't seen a manager get involved in pizzamaking since, well, ever. Seemed that's how things rolled here. I couldn't fault it.

"Delivery 35?"

My ears perked. I glanced up from my musing to the red fox staring my way from behind the kitchen's centre counter.

"Delivery 35."

I peered over one shoulder. Then the other. Then back to the fox.

He pointed downwards. "I think this is you, man."

I followed him to the receipt Zakir had left on the delivery bag. The number '35' called out from the header. "Ah, yeah! That's me."

The guy gathered up a four-box tall stack of pizzas, racing around the counter to drop them on the end table marked 'delivery collection'. As quick as he'd come, the fox had gone, leaving me to stuff the pile into my bag.

"Squirrel!" Here came Yurik, bellowing with that tail-twitching voice sized way too big for him. "Delivery 36. Pick up incoming."

I moved back to the smaller kitchen across the shop, sidestepping one of the cashiers darting away from the front counter, calling out for Zakir. The rush showed no signs of slowing either here, or in the Polcian-sized section.

"Wait here," Yurik ordered. "One minute."

I simply nodded. No chance was I about to argue, even with the pizzas in my possession no doubt cooling fast.

Just like Zakir, Yurik had no problem getting involved in the dirty work. I watched him take a place at their small centre counter, giving a pizza the once over before reaching for a cutter from the skunk boxing up beside him.

Things were no less manic down in their section. Workers in their own red uniforms jumped and raced around, doing what they could to stay on top of the demands of their own customers.

"Hey!" Yurik thundered. I must have missed something. There he went, pushing with broad shoulders to the front counter to deal with a customer sounding heavily pissed about something. Holy hell, I hoped this really was all in the name of the cup final...

I grabbed my phone from my back pocket. Why not be productive while I stood in the middle of a free for all, I figured. I tapped in the two addresses listed on the receipts, trying to gauge Morozovo's layout even a little bit. The marker jumped from here at Pizza Prince, skipping over to an area called 'Ruzino Towers'. Seemed liked the... 'small' customer was closest by a few streets. It made sense to hit them up first... No doubt this would be a debut delivery to remember.

The skunk wasn't yet done with her boxing. The pink streaks bordering the one of natural white bobbed around with her working. I noticed her lip rings glinting under the lights, moving along with her swaying muzzle. Suddenly, I thought of my parents. I hadn't had the nerve to go through with my ear tip piercing while back home in Suransk...

Ugh. I snapped back to the here and now. Around her, the team of smaller makers carried on doing their thing, just like those behind me. It was pretty weird to be watching this. A whole kitchen in action, raised up in its own section alongside an equally manic main area. Everyone else here, on both sides, acted like it was nothing... The only thing the skunk and the young tiger beside her did find strange... apparently, was me. I guess I'd started staring or something.

"Delivery 36?"

I nodded; ready for action this time round.

She reached upwards, focused down at the boxes gathered on the table. "Carry bag."

This was almost surgical. They cared a whole lot more about dough, sauce and cheese than at any other shop I'd worked at.

"Please?"

"Right." I shoved my phone away, plucking the smaller bag from atop the main one. I dangled it from two fingers to offer it down to her. "Here."

The skunk glanced up, silent, snatching it from my hold and dumping it onto the countertop. She threw the pouch open, bundled the six pizzas in her pile inside, and lifted the strap for me. "There."

"...Thanks." Never mind surgical. This was military-like right here. Should I salute? Give a 'Sir, yes sir'? I opted just to reach down, nurse the case out from their kitchen, and set it back in place upon my larger bag.

She still stood watching me. As did the tiger beside her, and the deer that'd joined them at the centre counter. "What's up?"

"Nothing," I replied. Damn it. I must have been staring again. "Nope. Not a thing."

"Great..." She gestured to the bag at my side. "Are you planning on delivering those, or is 'nothing' gonna keep you standing there all night?"

Smartmouth. I heard her suck air through her teeth as I turned. Zakir's voice soon overtook that.

"Kolya!"

I tried to find him through the crowd, almost colliding head on with a husky rushing his order to the front counter.

"Over here." No sooner did I find him over by the rear door did I get a bundle of red wrapped around my face. "Change in car."

I found a rare quiet spot beside the staff entrance to assess things. The collar and embroidered logo gave it away. "How did you know my size?"

"Didn't."

"Okay... And if it doesn't fit?"

"Wear anyway."

I tried not to glare. "Got it."

Over my shoulder it went. Yet something else to carry out to the car while I balanced my pizza case, trying to keep the smaller one from sliding and falling. My old manager back in Repka told me I'd be moving on to someplace different. They damn sure weren't kidding about_different_... and I hadn't even got out on the road yet.

I don't know if it was the one-size-too-small shirt Zakir tossed my way, or the backstreets I found myself rolling through, but every part of me felt tight and uncomfortable.

Seven in the evening appeared more like three in the morning around here. Yellowing street lights did little to cut through the eerie darkness. The dead calm urged me to turn the stereo down a few notches. House after cramped house coasted by, with bars across more windows than not. Trees waved in the breeze, while old, worn tenements served as a constant background.

A red light forced me to a stop at a small crossroads right outside a 24-hour convenience store, firmly closed with its shutters rusted and caked in graffiti. Across the junction on the corner opposite, an eight-strong gang of kids loitered with heads and muzzles hidden by their hoods and jackets, practically celebrating in the torchlight coming from the police car crawling slowly past.

My red light turned to green. Off went my stereo. On went the lock of my car door. I hoped to all the gods this stop would be my first and last.

I'm sure the welcome sign for Ruzino Towers gave more comfort than any city planner could've imagined. The rows of townhouses and monotone apartment buildings weren't exactly high class, but at least I didn't feel the need to check every shadow for potential trouble. Screw the GPS; I was taking the long way round on my way back to the store.

I swerved through the narrow streets, closing in slowly on my first destination. Things might've been better and brighter here, but I could still find plenty of run down stores and offices that looked to have been closed for a good while. Signs of the fuck up they called a recession really were all over...

Never mind social commentary. I had plenty else to get caught up in during my search for Building 15... like an entire housing complex between Buildings 8 and 9, scaled down to fit on its very own lot. Those sure weren't a thing down in Repka, and definitely not back east in Suransk. Looked like this was where that 'real, bonafide mixed-size district' I'd been told about really began.

So caught up gawking at all these areas set aside for small folk, I almost sped straight past Building 15, and almost ploughed straight into the back of a minivan in my rushed, tyre-squealing attempt at parking.

I jumped out of my car with the smaller pizza case literally in hand, fleeing the scene in good time, just in case that minivan's owner was around to see, or hear, my arrival.

The verge was slick underfoot. With care, I hopped over onto the pavement... needing to take even more care against stepping too far and stamping down on a tiny moving walkway opposite, guardrails and all.

This place wasn't done throwing me off balance yet. Building 15, like the fourteen than came before it, was four, full-sized storeys tall... with the exception of the section dedicated solely to twenty or so floors of little apartments with little windows on the building's far right hand side.

"Try not looking too much like you're from outta town!"

The stranger's voice alerted me back down to the walkway. I watched in silence, stunned, at the mouse casually rolling past along the street. Probably best that I got a move on.

I found the entrance to the lot a short walk in the opposite direction to where that mouse was headed. A gap in the wall gave access to the front path, as well as another section of rolling walkway running parallel. No expense had been spared here... Exactly how much of the tax they grabbed from my paycheck went on all this?

Both paths led up to the building's front entrance. A standard affair of locked double doors with a panel of call buttons for each apartment, all which were headed as being for 'Section A'...

'Building 15. Section B. Apartment 510.' The address was clear as day on my delivery receipt... but where were the buttons for Section B?

I stepped back, tracing the path taken by the smaller walkway after diverging from this main one. It cut a route through the grass, leading up to a smaller doorway in an adjacent wall, complete with its own raised front step and, if squinting eyes told me right, a call panel of its very own.

This was starting to piss me off. How was I supposed to buzz the customer? Get on hands and knees and crawl over? Choose one of the dozens of tiny windows in Section B and shout 'Who ordered these damn pizzas!?'

I stomped off towards the guardrail separating this normal section from the smaller one... answering my own question in the process. I found another panel of buttons, mounted to the wall on the opposite side of the main entrance... Headed 'Section B'... With a grunt, a growl, and a 'fuck you' suppressed all the way down into my gut, I hit the button for 510.

Time went by. I got no answer to my first buzz. Not my second, either. A third and a fourth received an equal amount of silence. I leaned back for a view of those smaller double doors. No signs of life in what little I could see of the lobby inside. That 'fuck you' was starting to rise again.

Another grunt. Another growl. I pushed away from the wall, scanning all those little windows, illuminated or not. My eyes caught a movement. Followed by another. A third, curtains shifting to reveal a silhouette, won my full attention.

Four floors up, at shoulder height, I had some bat kid watching me from a small balcony window. His toothy, mocking grin pushed me to capacity.

"Fuck you." I charged back to the call buttons, hammering down on 510 and letting it groan for a good ten seconds. _Still_nothing.

A faint tapping sound helped cool any further eruption at this shitshow of a first delivery. A small squeal followed. Then a voice calling, "Hey, pizza squirrel!"

I clubbed the panel with a fist, willing to give precisely no time to any more crap. The kid either didn't notice, or didn't care.

"I'll have the pizza if nobody's home."

The bat was out on the balcony now, leaning against the open door frame on his shoulder-high balcony.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"Is your mama gonna pay for it?"

"I'm sixteen."

"Question still stands."

"Actually, I was gonna get _your_mama to pay once I finished riding her."

That got a snort out of me. Damn it. The little shit. I threw back a smirk; half amused, half-annoyed. No time to formulate a comeback. My ears perked with realisation at him standing here, out in the open. "What apartment number are you in?"

His ears rose along with mine. "You gonna give me that pizza?"

"If you want pizza, you gotta call up my store."

"Aww man." His hand reached for the door. "You suck."

"Hey, wait!" Desperation found its way into my voice. "Come on. Help me out? It's my first night I feel like I'm standing around toy town like some giant idiot."

It was the kid's turn to snort. He stepped forward from the door frame. "I'm in 402."

"What about them?" I pointed to the darkened window on my right and his left. "Your neighbour."

"403."

"So where's 510 at?"

"Around the corner. One floor up."

I looked forward. One floor up would be a shade higher than my muzzle. My appreciation for that must have shown itself.

"What you gonna do? Bust their wall in?"

"Don't think my pay will cover that." I looked down the yard to the corner he'd pointed me towards. This guardrail aside, there was nothing to stop me investigating. "Thanks for the help."

"Hey, hey." I peered back to him once I'd slipped under the rail, waiting on a warning, or more advice... "So you gonna gimme that pizza if no-one's home?"

"Gonna pay for it?"

"No. Obviously."

I hacked out a laugh. He was a droll little shit, I had to give him that. "Here..." I nudged at the small pile of smaller leaflets I'd been given with these pizzas, carefully plucking one up between my fingertips. "For when you call up my store."

He reached out to take it with both hands, giving it the once over. "25% off?"

"Yeah."

"25% off ain't free."

"A-plus, kid. Well worked out." I gave him a wink, pacing off across the wet grass. "Stay in school."

I counted up the windows as I passed them, trying to guess where one apartment stopped and where the next began. At the same time, I kept one eye down at my feet, making double sure not to step on or bump against anything I shouldn't. The lights from the path behind and the street off to my right helped reveal the darkened lawn as empty, but even so, the last thing I needed to do one my first shift here was flatten someone's patio furniture... or punt a resident clear across the garden. Now that would be a surefire way to lose a tip.

508's lights were off... 509's, too. A dull thumping grew stronger, turning to some quick-tempoed, poppy music as I approached what I figured to be 510. Chatter flowed, too, pouring freely from the wide open balcony door level with my face. This had to be the place. A party helped explain away why my buzzing went unheard. It also helped explain an order for six large pizza. Whatever the case, I wanted done with this delivery and done with this building.

I reached up carefully, arching an arm over the fifth storey balcony rail. A triple claw tap to the window next to the open door did the trick. The music got quieter. The chatter stopped.

A few drops of drizzle peppered my scalp and muzzle. I had to wait and wait for someone to take the time to come see me. I wasn't exactly calm before, but each extra second irked me more and more.

Eventually, some lynx pushed past the bead curtains, strolling out in a shiny silver suit and upmarket sunglasses, looking as shitty as the weather. So much for getting done.

"Is this 510?" I asked him.

"It is." His face didn't improve. "Who are you?"

I froze. I had to in order to cut off the sarcastic reply bursting to get out. Apparently a Pizza Prince uniform and matching carry case wasn't enough of a clue for him. "Pizza Prince. I've got your delivery." You know, I actually expected that to change this guy's tune. Or at the very least put some kind of smile on his face. Stupid me.

"Okay." He looked up and down me... or as much of me as he could. "I don't really appreciate having someone lurking around and banging on my window like that."

_I_didn't really appreciate being made to wait around in the wind and drizzle like an idiot, but I managed to let it go. "I rang your door..." Correction: I managed to let it go, mostly. "...Five or six times, I think."

"I didn't hear you."

Clearly. I moved to slide the pizzas from the case. "If you'd like to--"

"I was expecting someone our size."

"Excuse me?"

"I was expecting someone our size."

The sheer front on this guy... It damn well hit me upside the head and left me not knowing how best to answer. Where the hell did he get off acting like some big shot to the guy delivering his order? I took the growing crowd of equally 'trendy' people watching us from inside the apartment as the answer to that. Forget it. Work mode kicked in. I pulled the delivery receipt from my pocket. "Mr. Chernov?"

"Yes. Obviously."

The groan I'd masked had my throat itching. "I've got your delivery. Six large pizzas--"

"Set them down there." He jabbed a finger at a glass table in the corner. "Since you're here."

I obliged, reaching my free paw, and my wrist scanner, towards him. "That comes to forty-five Krona sixty."

He paced to the balcony rail to meet me, still with a muzzle full of thunder. This guy had to be the first person ever to be pissed over getting a pizza delivery. He placed his phone to my reader, the first beep confirming a connection. I let the silence hang while his friends, party guests, watched from their vantage at the balcony door and window.

"Where are you from where traipsing around someone's lawn is acceptable?"

No, I hadn't imagined that. This guy really was that much of a dick to ask. "Suransk. Velika... Where are you from?" No answer to that.

A second beep confirmed payment confirmation. Thank the stars. I pulled away to double check. Forty-five Krona sixty. No tip. No shock.

I looked up to find the lynx already slinking inside with the pizzas in his possession, laughing and talking with his flashy posse. "Enjoy your pizza..." My fist clenched all on its own. "Don't go choking."

Back across the garden I marched, drizzle hitting me more and more like rain. I thought back to the kid in 402 and his talk off smashing walls in. Maybe I should have left the pizzas with him after all.

So many of these little windows were glowing from the lights inside... though I noticed a fair few of them were blocked by their owners, watching me walk on by. Were they planning to start moaning at me about their yard, too? Fucking immigrants...

I actually enjoyed the second leg of my trip; a far easier delivery to a regular-sized customer in a regular-sized house. No scaled down sections. No creeping fear of getting carjacked on the way there. Sadly, the uneventfulness made it all the more easy to focus on that first leg on my drive back to the store.

I mulled over what that puny, jumped up, gaudily-dressed lynx said to me. The plastic of my steering wheel bore the brunt of it, having to resist my paws squeezing ever tighter. Some people still questioned how in the world the VPU won the election last year. How could people want to turn everything completely on its head, when everything was so utterly perfect in their own privileged, gated off little worlds. How could it be any surprise with scrawny pricks like him around...

My sigh formed a layer of disgust on the windscreen. I recalled that 'immigrants' quip from outside Building 15 at Ruzino Towers. At least I'd internalised it, this time. I'd come half way across the country to Zelengorod, but still I had Dad polluting me, ready and willing to call anyone smaller a nasty, dirty 'immigrant.'

Okay, in no way could I ever be called a fan of Polcian-sized folk, especially those flooding into Velika from there in recent times. Seemed like they'd done nothing but help raise and stoke tensions for as long as I could remember, helping to justify every rich political dickhead's quest to crash the whole damn country for their own benefit. Still... I didn't hate them. It wasn't that bat kid back at Ruzino Towers that'd left Velika torn in two.

Never mind all the protests running up to the election. Never mind the larger, even more hostile ones in the aftermath. Now, we had sizeists like my Dad crying over how the government hadn't gone far enough in 'balancing' things, while the likes of my grandparents did what they could to call out the mess all these 'balances' had created for normal folk of all sizes. As for me, I didn't much do politics, but I was still waiting for all the 'Quality jobs for the youth of Velika' that President Petrov had droned on and on about during his campaign. Juggling pizzas sure wasn't my idea of 'quality', and it damn sure wouldn't help pay off my student loans.

The next layer on my windscreen was one of annoyance. I turned on the stereo. Let the bass rattle all that shit right outta my brain. No sense in letting the state of the world piss me off. Customers could do a good enough job of that all by themselves.

My suspension creaked to mount the kerb. I pulled onto the concourse, retaking my space outside of the store. While away, that sketchy wolf outside the off-licence next door had turned into a whole dishevelled pack, hunkered down beneath the awning, knocking back at speed the contents of their brown paper bags.

On the other side of our store, the gambling shop was doing business paw over fist. It looked lively from outside. Sounded even livelier. Way more so than the rickety accountancy office next to it. I'd missed that first time round. Both larger and smaller entrances were boarded up. The tiny metal staircase rising up from the underground walkway to the latter sat well worn and rusted. Faded leaflets and and peeling posters advertising shows and concerts held six months prior filled more window space than not. The rain hadn't stopped. I headed inside to report for my next job.

"Kolya!" Zakir's voice added to the buzz of the kitchen. Things hadn't slowed down any. "How did it go?"

"Fine." I freed myself from the strap of my delivery bag, dumping it on the side along with the smaller version. "This shirt's on the snug side. I'm a large, just so you know."

"Okay, okay. We can get you a new shirt. Order in." He padded from the prep area towards me. "Deliveries, did you make them okay?"

"Mostly."

"Only mostly?"

"Second delivery, that was fine. The first... well, the guy that called in that order told me he was expecting a guy his size."

"Oh." He stroked his chin in thought.

"Yeah. Didn't make sense to me, either."

"He was small?"

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"Ruzino Towers."

"Oh, no, no, no." His paws waved with each 'no'. "We send smaller colleague with the driver only if delivery is being made to a complex."

"What... you mean a scaled down complex?"

"Yes, yes, right." He paused for a chuckle. "Can't send the driver into there. We don't want the repair bills."

"Makes sense--"

"Hey, squirrel." Both me and Zakir turned towards the smaller kitchen area. "Looks like you might get to experience that first hand."

I followed Yurik's voice, stopping once I could see him holding a delivery slip. "Got an order in progress that needs to go out for delivery. To a complex." The bull grinned up at me. "You're the only driver free."

Did he sense my dread over this? Gods damn. I waited half-expecting some kind of prompt or explanation from Zakir... but he'd already disappeared over to firefight at a free till at the front counter.

"Come on. Go grab a carry bag," Yurik gruffed. "We're not far from done here."

I managed to wait until I'd turned and walked halfway across the room before rolling my eyes. Didn't they have any? It was for their_pizzas. I'd never had a manager... co-manager... _any kind of superior that I could have picked up in one paw before. This'd take some getting used to, for sure.

Tiny carry bag retrieved, I made it back to the scaled down kitchen in time to see Yurik deep in conversation with one of his kitchen staff... the pink-streaked, lip ring wearing skunk from earlier. The one who'd handed off my delivery to my new best friend, Captain Charisma of Ruzino Towers.

"...I'll take over on prep while you're out," Yurik suggested, pointing up at me. "Look after him. It's his first time."

That put a taste in my mouth that knocked me back. Look after? First time? I had too much to question to work up anything more than a muddled grunt.

"Ready to move?" The skunk called up to me, closing the box of one pizza and settling it atop another. Gods, they really did work fast here. "Squirrel?"

"Yeah... Ready."

She stood there waiting, paw on hip, like that wasn't a good enough answer. "Before these get cold?"

"What?"

"I'm gonna need that case. Please."

My ears warmed with the flush of my cheeks. Careful as I could, I reached down to hand her the delivery case.

"Thanks." She took it from me and threw the strap over her shoulder in one swift motion. In went the two pizzas. We were good to go...

Something told me to offer a paw further, adding, "So, uh... Do you need a lift?"

She smiled, showing off a spiked leather bracelet as she batted her pink fringe away from her face. "I wasn't planning on walking there."

"No, I mean--"

"I know what you meant." Over towards their little side entrance she swaggered, her big, pink-tinged tail following. "Meet you out front."

"Go, go, go." Zakir nudged me with each of them, tipping his head back over to our main door. "Time to drive. Quickly now!"

"Where are you parked?" came the call the moment I stepped back out into the cold. My newfound partner stood in wait outside the store's smaller entrance, eyeing a small staircase down from their walkway to the ground proper.

"Over here." I pointed to my car; the central of three. "The gold 550." I could read her mind. And her grimace. "Yeah, it's on the old side, but it gets the job done."

"I was thinking more on whether it has a passenger lift."

"Oh... no."

"Scaled seatbelt."

"...Don't think so?"

"I'll go ask Yurik for the adapter." Her tail swished against the guardrail with how hard she turned to head back inside. "Guess I will need a 'lift' after all."

"Unlucky, pal!" Some goat felt compelled to snicker right at me, bouncing by with his equally amused friends, all with pizzas in hand. I was getting crap from all angles, and from all sizes... How was I supposed to know about passenger lifts, scaled seatbelts and whatever else they had going on here in Zelengorod!?

A loud groan, a smash of a bottle and the starts of an argument sounded from the winos along the forecourt... I decided to wait for my partner just a little bit closer to that smaller entrance.

"Wanna turn that stereo down?" she asked from way down low, barely filling my passenger seat, even with the carry case set beside her. "The bass is rattling right through me."

We'd only made it to the first junction on our way from the store, and already I'd done wrong again. This 'partnership', it wasn't for me. At least when having to deal with Captain Charisma I got to be alone.

"Please?"

"Alright," I threw back, braking for the red light ahead. The urge to suggest_she_ do it came and went. "Don't want an accident on my first night."

Fully stopped, car in neutral, I jabbed my stereo silent. The patter of rain on the roof got louder.

"I didn't say you had to turn it off."

"I know." My paws clamped to the wheel. Watching the wipers go back and forth got old fast. "So do you have a name?"

"I do."

A scoff slipped out. I saw her arms fold from the corner of my eye. "Wanna share?"

"Mika..." This red light was taking forever. I guess Mika felt the same. "Do_you_ have one?"

"Kolya." The rain rattled louder. The whirr of the wipers joined in. This was painful. "Good talk. Good talk."

"Sorry. I didn't take you as being the talking type."

"Oh no?" At last, a green light. I threw the gear stick into first and let the clutch nurse us into motion. "What type _did_you take me as?"

"The new and confused type." I took a momentary glance down at her. Enough to see her smirking. "When did you move here?"

I shifted through the gears, getting up to speed. The car came along with me, too. "I moved to Repka six months back."

"Repka?" Her shock drew my attention to her. "What are you doing working way up here, then?"

"Ask head office," I grunted, remembering the road ahead. "_They_moved me."

"So... you are from Zelengorod? You sure don't sound it."

"No." I flashed Mika another look. Was she trying to have me plough into the car ahead? "I'm from Suransk."

"Why'd you move here?"

My paw slammed the steering wheel. I missed my stereo. You knew where you stood with a bassline carving its way into your skull. "Reasons."

"Like?"

Stars above. What did she want from me!? The lack of decent work? Scenes back home that made the off-licence next to the shop look positively rosy in comparison? "I wanted a change."

"Makes sense. Wanted off of the farm, right?"

She had my back so far up it was pushing at the roof of my car. "Suransk's a city, you know."

"I know--"

"We've got electricity, indoor plumbing and everything these days."

"I was joking," she cried. "Jeez. Calm down, will you?"

I thought we were done. I thought I'd get some peace on the rest of the drive out to our destination. Fat chance. She piped up again as I turned off of the main streets and delved into the dark sideroads.

"Not many Velikans our size there, I guess."

"Not really."

I could almost hear her thought process ticking over. My fur stood on end as she asked, "Have you ever seen one of us before moving here?"

"Yes."

She huffed, puffed and made a few more sounds harder to describe. It still didn't stop her prying. "Are you always this cheerful?"

"No. Sometimes I'm moody."

I heard her choke out something resembling a laugh. Time to try and put this all to bed and get some damn peace. "Look, I'm trying to find my way around here."

"Okay."

"This is literally the first time I've been north of downtown since I moved here."

"Got it."

"And my fucking GPS can't find... whatever street we've just pulled onto."

Silence came. Darkened houses crept on past us. Mika glanced up to ask, "Are you done?" "What?"

She pulled out her phone and waggled it up at me. "Because if you are, I'll help out."

Her bright pink fringe bounced with the cock of her head. I quickly answered, "Thanks."

"But only if you try to engage me like I'm an actual person."

That got another, "What?"

"I might be smaller, but I'm still people."

"I never said you weren't!" The more I got worked up, the closer I felt myself coming to doing something stupid behind the wheel. A huff helped release some tension. "Sorry... This is just so strange for me." I sensed her laser-like glare piercing up at me. "Not in a bad way."

"In_what_ way, then?"

"It's like you say... There's not so many smaller folk back home." Time to move this on and take the focus off me. "When did you move to Zelengorod?"

"I didn't. I'm from here."

"Oh... Your parents, too?"

"Yes. And my grandparents. We're not Polcian."

"Never claimed that you were."

"No, but you were thinking it."

"I wasn't."

"Really?"

So much for getting out of the spotlight. Probably for the best that I kept quiet and concentrated on guiding us through these cramped backstreets in one piece.

No stereo. No talking. All I had was the sound of my engine chugging along to listen to. What a first shift this was turning into...

"Take a left at the next junction," Mika advised with barely more than a whisper.

I silently acknowledged, hitting the indicator, pressing the brake and turning the wheel to find another shady street to explore. My suspension found every crack and bump in the tarmac. My eyes traced every dark corner between the parked cars and tight-knit houses. At least I hadn't felt the need to lock my doors again. Yet.

"I wouldn't worry too much about me if I were you." My words came out more like a grumble. "Hopefully I won't be here long." I took her silence as keen interest. Any difference in the reality didn't bother me much. "I want to get back closer to Repka... and getting a proper job in the process would be nice."

"Proper job?"

"Yeah. Something that actually pays worth my while. One where I can actually start using my degree instead of lugging stuff around like an idiot."

"Wow." Her short laugh came with one hell of a huff. "Thanks, uni boy."

"What?"

"We're not all idiots."

"Are you trying to take offence at everything I say?"

"Depends."

"On?"

"Whatever else you plan on saying." Gods, she had so much rage for something so damn small. "Next you'll be talking about how the VPU have some good policies."

"Hey, no--!"

"Too close to home?"

My paw struck the side of the wheel. That got me the break to shut her up and tell her, "You wouldn't have a clue about 'home'.

I'd taken her down a notch or two. Her voice was a lot quieter when she told me to, "take the next right."

"You should go talk to morons like my Dad..." I spun the wheel, getting a screech from my tyres and another from Mika to match.

"Slow down--"

"It's people like him that voted for the shitshow they've created out east. Try getting work there that's more than digging holes or pulling weeds. Why d'you think I moved out here to begin with?" I tossed her a glare. "Sure wasn't to get closer to all you stuck up westerners."

Her muzzle dipped. No snipping comeback this time. Good. I regretted wanting to talk. Silence for the rest of the ride, save for her directions, would suit me right down to the ground.

Whoever ordered these pizzas apparently lived out on the edge of the world. Somehow I'd only been driving for fifteen minutes. I suppose the company I had helped make that feel more like fifteen years...

The rain had stopped at last. Everything outside grew two shades brighter, even under cover of darkness. Doubly so once we crossed a busy junction into more spacious surroundings.

Trees and greenery lined the streets, sending stray droplets onto my windscreen as they swayed in the breeze. The houses around us were that much bigger than those we'd passed, as were the fence-lined gardens containing them. It oozed calm. No sirens or street gangs. It'd be wrong to call this place 'rich', but... it was compared to some of the other places around here.

I slowed for another red light, coming to a stop as a bus trundled across our path. Lights shone from two rows of windows; one normal, one smaller and far lower. People sat within their own worlds behind both, soon rolling off into the night.

It left behind a view of the street further ahead. More trees. More houses. More wide open spaces. Empty... except for a whole bunch of smaller buildings. They were tricky to see properly beyond the fences and treeline hiding them, but they looked like houses. These were far nicer and far more extensive than any scaled down complex I'd seen so far.

"It's just up ahead," Mika muttered. "The complex is number 245."

"Thanks." I dipped my head to get a view of the house next to us. Number 201. Not much further to go.

The light turned green. I pulled away, thinking ahead to getting back to the store and bringing this partnership to a prompt but overdue end. I'd pray for normal-sized deliveries for the rest of the night--

"Sorry."

Meek and muffled, Mika's apology still struck hard. Like a truck had jumped the lights and smashed right into the driver side door.

"I'm just defensive."

"About... what?"

"The way you were acting back at the store and all... Standoffish. Staring."

"Was I--?"

"I kinda took you for a sizeist."

I took the chance to take a quick glance down into my passenger seat. Her head was hanging. Paws rolling and rubbing over each other. She looked even smaller.

"We've had a couple of drivers like that in the last few months. They didn't last long, thankfully. Zakir and Yurik don't put up with that stuff."

"Hey, no. Listen..." Whether she intended it to or not, I had a stabbing sensation in my gut. "I'm sorry, too. I'm not like that." I had to reach to scratch the itching on my head, my neck, and my chest. "At least, I don't think so."

"You don't think so? Either you are or you aren't."

"It's not that simple."

"Maybe if you're simple."

I smiled through the offense. Looking for the street numbers. We were passing the complex at number 213 as I explained, "like I said; I've never really known anyone your size."

"Okay. Question."

"Go for it."

"Do you consider me a person?"

"Yes. Obviously."

"Equal to you?"

"Yeah... I guess."

"You_guess_?"

The bite in her words had me grimacing. "I've never really thought about it."

"What's there to think ab--?"

"All I know is, growing up, I heard nothing but how all these Polcian companies and immigrants were coming over to drive us out of work. Payback for the war and all. Hear that enough as a kid, and you start to believe it."

"It's garbage," she sneered.

"Yeah, I know now."

"Who in their right mind would believe that?"

"Most of my family. Most of my neighbours. Most of the people who had a platform back in Suransk..." We passed number 221; a nice big house with a bright blue Vector in the driveway. "I really don't want to retread over all this too much, okay? I'm sorry, I've got nothing against you Polcians."

"I'm not Polcian," she growled. "I'm Velikan."

I grumbled, waving that off. "You know what I mean."

"Do I?"

"People your size."

"I'm.Vel-i-kan. Or 'Polcian-Velikan' if you really do feel the need to highlight the difference."

"Noted--"

"My grandparents were here. During the war."

"Got it."

"My great-grandparents, too. And long before it as well."

"I said I got it--"

"I don't think anyone in our family even _knows_where in Polcia we came from, it was so long ago."

"Okay, okay! I get it!" I shook my head, gripping the wheel tighter. Thinking over what I'd been told in her tirade, I had to laugh.

"What's funny?"

"My grandparents on my Ma's side immigrated here from Rodaria after the war. Sounds like you're more Velikan than me, and my family."

She snorted, then smiled, too. "Let's just say we're all Velikan and leave it there. Labels piss me off."

"That definitely works for me."

I reckon I could have been forgiven for forgetting why I'd driven as far I had. There weren't all that many more lights and buildings left between our destination and the dark hills in the distance. Zelengorod was so big, it wasn't hard to forget it only went on so far.

We pulled up outside number 245; another big, or rather, _small_complex. Past the fence, past the trees, I caught a glimpse of the lights shining out from all the little houses. I figured this'd be as far as I went.

"Help me out of the car, and I'll do the rest," Mika said, unclipping her seatbelt.

"Got it." I did the same with mine, reaching for the door handle when I spotted something... or someone.

"What's up?"

I narrowed my eyes, leaning towards the passenger window for a better view of the pavement. "Someone's waiting there."

"Waiting where?"

"Outside the complex entrance..." I couldn't make out much in the bad light, all except their head and shoulders bobbing and shifting, much like mine. "Don't you see them?"

"How?" She gestured to the passenger car door.

"Right." I held up my paws. "Sorry." Back to the stranger I looked. They were shuffling across the walkway, closer to the full-sized pavement between us. "It's someone small."

"Might be the customer." Mika cleared her throat. "You know, if you help me out, I can go ask them." She glared at me with a smirk that told me I was being, I suppose she'd say, simple. I opened my door. "Thank you, Squirrel."

"Oh, you are from Pizza Prince," called the lady otter, ears splayed flat to her head. She watched me cross the verge, and the pavement, to carry both Mika and I over to the walkway. "I'm such a fool..."

Mika grabbed the tip of my finger, peering down from my cupped paws. "Mrs. Dubova?"

"Yes, that's me... I can't believe I've done this."

"What's wrong?" I bent over to let her onto the static edge of the walkway. Only fair I allowed them both to give their necks a rest. "What have you done?"

Mika sounded an awful lot calmer than I was. All I could think about was how we weren't about to be paid for whatever reason, and how I_wasn't about to get a tip. _Again.

"It's so stupid of me..." Mrs. Dubova stood there rubbing at one of her flat ears, peering back to the complex. "I've managed to lock myself out."

"How?" I felt obligated to ask. They both glared upwards, helping me to feel somewhat closer to their height... "I mean, how did it happen?"

"I thought I heard you coming a little earlier. Came out to get a better look to check and... I remembered leaving my keys on the hallway table." She groaned in shrill despair. "Silly, silly me."

"Anyone else home?"

"My husband, but he's not answering the phone..."

I shared a look of sympathy with Mika. She might have only been a customer to us, but seeing this poor otter standing out here in the cold, trembling paws holding those small pizza boxes, was tugging at my heart more than I figured it ought to. I took a half step forward to the very edge of the walkway, feeling compelled to squat down. That allowed them both to come up almost to my knees.

"Is there anyone else who can help?" Mika asked.

"No... my son is away at university. Just Adrik. The useless lump." Mrs. Dubova managed a half-laugh to herself. "My husband. He was upstairs, taking a nap before his big game starts on TV." She quickly turned to Mika, and the pizzas in her possession. "Look, here, let me pay for those."

I watched them arrange the payment with their scaled down card and reader. The question of a tip had moved way away from the front of my mind. This was... shit, really. I wanted to think of some way to help, but how? We were just here to make a delivery. Customer rescue wasn't part of the training... "Maybe try calling him again? See if he hears it this time?"

I've tried five times already, sweetheart." The snap of her annoyance was hard to miss. "When Adrik's sleeping, he might as well be dead to the world."

"What about..." Mika rubbed at her pink-tipped ears, biting down on one of her lip rings. "Throwing a stone at the bedroom window?"

"It might come to that..."

"Or you could ask a neighbour for help," I suggested, trying to find humour in the situation, for everyone's sake. "You can offer some of that pizza as payment."

"I'd prefer not to have to." She sighed. "So embarrassing. I can't think--" Her muzzle darted up towards me, eyes wide open. All that despair faded in an instant. "The balcony door."

I shared another glance with Mika.

"It should be unlocked," Mrs. Dubova explained, ears perked and upright, tail sweeping around behind her. "Maybe you can help me."

"I-I'm not sure." Another look to my partner. Her twisting mouth didn't help persuade me. "Is that kinda thing okay?" I stood up to peer over the fence and through the treeline. Those houses looked tinier than they did from inside the car. "This is my first shift here, and last thing I need is to be doing something I shouldn't."

"It's fine! Don't go worrying about that." Her tail swung faster. My doubts clearly weren't going to dissuade her. "I live here. You have my permission."

Back to the complex. This wasn't anything like back at Captain Charisma's apartment. I'm sure the residents wouldn't appreciate some squirrel lumbering around, trying not to fall onto, and into their rooftops.

"I'm close to the front, so you won't have to go stepping around anything."

Uncanny. It didn't help clear my mind, though. "Are you sure this is okay?"

"I thought only police, firefighters and such could do stuff like this," Mika added.

"Yeah! Rescue services."

"Sweetheart." Mrs. Dubova stopped us with a hearty chuckle. "You'll be rescuing_me. _Please!"

Time rolled on by, just like the two foxes passing us on the walkway. They gave me quite the look as I stood looming over it, I can tell you. This was stupid, just like the number panel back at Ruzino Towers, just like the attitude I got after making the delivery there, and_just_ like getting moved up to Morozova in the first place. What the hell. I was bored of stupid. And of standing around in the damn cold. "Screw it. Why not?"

Mika had to step back with how hard she glanced up at me. "You've changed your tune."

"We should help out if we can, right?"

"Thank you, thank you!" Mrs. Dubova cried. I smiled. It clearly didn't help encourage Mika.

"What about the rules?"

"The rules are stupid."

"It's fine!" our customer turned rescuee insisted, wasting no time in starting up the front path of the complex. "I've said so."

Mika stood there staring, arms folded. I stared back. She gave in quickly, turning away with a grumble. "Just don't drop her, Kolya, for the gods' sake."

"Don't plan on it."

Mika followed Mrs. Dubova through the small gateway in the metal wire fence, striding along the rolling front path behind her. That left me outside... faced with this stomach-high fence I'd yet to consider. I took a glance up and down the length of it, measuring it up properly. I found no gate, no gaps, and no clear way through.

The pair of them kept on moving further and further away. I had to be quick about this, else I'd be sneaking through the treeline of a scaled down complex without a Polcian... _Polcian-Velikan_around to back me up.

I scoped the scene for any more passersby. Then again. The last thing I needed was a busload of people rolling past as I climbed into this place...

With nothing or noone in sight, I put one paw on the uppermost wire, pulled forward and threw my leg up over the fence. A sting rushed up through me. I sucked in air, biting down and grinding my teeth. I'd missed my foothold, sending the top wire burrowing damn deep into my underside. I struggled to shift my weight, shaking the fence with how hard I wanted to get this over with--

"Oh! No!"

"W-What!? I shuddered to a stop, cringing with the wire _still_trying to slice me and my manhood in two. "Wha-ahh... What's wrong?"

"Don't put your foot down," Mrs. Dubova called out.

I froze, almost stumbling and falling back onto the street. "Why?"

"One second..."

A slip of my weight pushed the fence even harder into my trousers. The gasp I threw out shook the tree branches more than the wind in that instant, I'm sure of it. "This is killing me!"

"Man up, Kolya," Mika sang.

"I don't think I'll be able to man _anything_up in min--"

"Okay," Mrs. Dubova confirmed. "Now you can."

"Thank the stars." I nearly hurled myself into the lot with how fast and how hard I moved. Company or not, I reached down to make sure _every_part of me had been left in one piece. "What the hell happened?"

"I forgot about the new security system." She lifted her phone at me as I padded slowly towards the walkway. "The council installed it back in the summer. Along with that fence."

"Right." I rubbed at my neck, resisting another rub, lower down. "Thanks for remembering, I guess." ...Best not to think about what else might have been hurting if she hadn't.

Over the fence, through the rustling trees, I was afforded a far better view of the housing complex than back out on the street. It shone bright across the length of the lot, with lights illuminating each small path running between the lines of waist-high two storey homes. There were six paths in total, each lined with two short rows of houses, running off like the spokes of a wheel from a central hub. That hub itself was comprised of a paved square, with little flowerbeds and a fountain at the centre. I'd never seen one of these complexes up close before. No shock, given I'd only seen my first after moving to Zelengorod.

Every sense heightened. Ears perked, fur stood on end. I took care with every movement I made, watching not only every step, but every shift of my weight. Getting away from the trees brought me further into the light. All those houses, sitting here like some live-action model village, complete with dozens, hundreds of residents hidden away inside. My most heightened sense of all proved to be that which sent me scurrying back to the tree cover.

"What's wrong?" I heard Mika call, rolling further away and ever closer to the square at the end of that main front path.

"Are you--" I caught myself shouting, tempering my voice down a notch before starting again. "Are you sure this is okay?"

"What happened to 'the rules are stupid'?"

Good question. "I might have jumped the gun on that."

"Oh, sweetheart, you're fine," Mrs. Dubova insisted. Almost dismissive with her back to me. "Look. You're almost here..."

I kept my distance, watching the two of them disappear beyond the buildings. It couldn't have been more than a minute, long as it felt hidden away behind a tree, scanning the street any for security patrols or police cars creeping by at the worst possible moment. Nothing came, and I got to see the pair reemerge in the back garden of a house in the middle of the row closest to me.

"See?" Mrs. Dubova was unashamed with her yelling. I'd have been amazed if her neighbours hadn't picked up on us by that point. "Come on. Don't be shy."

"Seriously, Kolya. Come on." Mika's paws were on her hips. "Both Zakir _and_Yurik are going to wonder where we've been off to at this rate."

That clinched it. Forget size, I think I'd have preferred facing an irate security guard to a pissed off Yurik. As for Zakir... I don't know what he'd say, but it'd probably be repeated. Yes, yes.

It only took me a few steps to get to where these back gardens started; each of them bordered by ankle-high fencing. From 'up' here, I could see the other rows of housing beyond the roof, and the other streets on the 'wheel' further away still. It didn't help shake this 'toy town' vibe, hard as I tried to.

"What's funny?"

"Nothing," I replied, fixing my attention to the semi-circular balcony directly above Mrs. Dubova. "I guess this is where you need to be?"

"Correct." She stepped out from the patio beneath it. "Would you mind helping me up?"

It was what I'd almost castrated myself for. No sense stopping there. I shifted into position, taking care of the fence at my feet. As I started to lower, I caught a movement. Curtains shifted in an upstairs window of the right side neighbouring house. The faint outline of someone's muzzle appeared between them. I stopped dead. So did they.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" I asked, still staring at that window.

"Yes," Mrs. Dubova cried, insisting. "Come on."

I sighed, repeating that order in my head before kneeling down to the grass. She barely waited for me to form a shallow cup of my paws on her lawn, placing the pizzas across two of my fingers before climbing aboard herself.

Truth be told, I wasn't sure what to do next. She was so casual in the way to stepped along my left hand's ring and index fingers, using my palm pad as a rest of sorts as she settled to take a seat. "I'm ready."

Cool. I wasn't. The sensation of her whole self in my hands left me gawking down at them. At her. Each shift of her own hands and feet sent a twitch through to my fingertips. Raising my paws away from the lawn... came easy. Little to no resistance against me. That fact slowed my movement further, and compelled me to cup my fingers that little bit steeper.

"First time holding someone my size?" My ears splayed and head cocked. "Don't worry. I'm not that fragile."

I started to laugh, albeit it came more from my nerves than any sense of humour. Either way, it didn't last long.

"What are you doing?" a voice thundered, snarling and deep.

Way more than a twitch rattled through me. Enough that Mrs. Dubova had to grab each of my fingers either side of her.

"It's okay," Mika called, trotting out from under the balcony, pushing up onto tiptoes in an attempt at peering over the fence to the left. "There's no problem."

I followed her focus to the next garden to find some wolf in a blue dressing gown and slippers. Never mind Mika, he was far more interested in glaring up and scowling at me from his back doorstep. "How did you get in here!?"

"Who are you?" Another voice cut through the breeze. Back at the other neighbouring house, up where I'd caught movement earlier, a pissed off possum had his head sticking way outside the now open window. He_had_ been asking that to Mika. Didn't take him long to start gawking my way. The same went for who I assumed was his wife at the window of their own back door. We... I was growing a larger and larger audience, and not in a good way.

"Don't move," yelled the possum from the upstairs. "Don't you move, or I'll call the pol..." His head and shoulders lifted along with his ears. "Pizza Prince?"

He quietened down. Everyone did. I dipped my head right down, twisting to peek at my shirt's logo. For the first time that evening, I was glad to have it squeezing around me.

"It's fine," Mrs. Dubova called out. "Everything's fine. He's here with me."

I lifted my paws that bit higher, hoping to let her take centre stage. It worked.

"What's going on?" The wolf paced across his lawn towards the dividing fence.

"Oh... I only went and managed to lock myself out."

"Alisa?" The lady of the possum house stepped out from their back door, leaning up to see her better. Her shot of laughter did a whole lot to let me loosen. "How did you do that?"

"Waiting for these two to arrive..." Ears all around us perked. More of the audience noticed Mika. She stayed firmly on the patio. "I forgot my keys, and Adrik is deep in sleep upstairs."

"Adrik," yelled the wolf next door. Far less annoyed than before. "Look at the chaos you're causing out here." The audience grew; his wife and two kids joined him in the garden. All eyes on me.

"You should have called round," said the possum at the upstairs window. "Save you waiting out there in the cold."

"Well... I didn't want to cause a fuss."

He snorted. "I think you might have caused one anyway!"

The neighbours carried on talking between themselves. Way more calm, and with way less threat of police action being thrown at me. The wolf kids next door were bouncing and rushing about, flashes coming from their phones as they captured the big squirrel hovering over their neighbour's back garden. Mika waved from the cover of the patio, circling a paw, urging me to get on with things. No argument here. I shifted forward, closing in on the house.

"Oh!" Mrs. Dubova squeaked. "We're off again."

Cheers from the kids rang in my ears. With paws approaching the balcony, I spotted yet more movement, this time through the gap between this house and the wolves'. More neighbours had gathered at the windows and doors of the row across the way. The same went for the houses up and down this row. Easily, I had the whole damn street watching, and no doubt more from beyond. My fur started to itch. I gave a smile, wide as I could manage, praying none of them _did_decide to call the police... or turn that security system back on.

"Hey, squirrel." I glanced down to the wolf in his robe. "How about fixing my roof while you're up there?"

A response was a smile to match his. The kids were still barking away in the garden, their mother urging them to keep the noise down. Not sure how they could disturb the neighbours any more than I already had.

"Don't go screwing up the cable," called the possum guy from the other house, grinning. "The hockey starts soon, and if you pull up or stomp on any wires out there, you'll have _me_to answer to!"

That got a laugh, more from humour than any lingering nerves. "You can have a pizza on me if I do."

At last, I could deliver Mrs. Dubova to her balcony. She climbed out and hopped off my fingers, picking up and taking the two pizza boxes with her.

Paws free, I settled them either side of the back garden path, ready to push off and retreat back to the car. I thought we were done here. She did, too.

"No..." She pulled at the balcony door handle. Then again, harder. "It's locked."

My heart sank. What next? No way was I going to start pushing doors in...

"Adrik?" Her knocking echoed out into night. "Adrik!"

I crept a shade closer, until my nose was just about touching the balcony rail. Inside, in the dark, I could just about make Mr. Dubov out, stirring with the banging, but still fast asleep on their bed. He had to be the only one in the whole complex at this point. "You weren't wrong. Dead to the world..."

"I don't believe this," Mrs. Dubova complained, her despair barely hidden away. She moaned and whimpered, pacing back and forth along the balcony. "Darn it, Adrik."

Whether it be from seeing her suffer, or the urge to get this done before I'd overstayed my tenuous welcome, something clicked. I set a fingerpad on Mrs. Dubova's shoulder, asking her to, "Step back, please. Just a little."

She watched me lift and reach a paw out towards these wooden double doors, making a point of my finger. "Oh, sweetheart, be careful... They're not as sturdy as you might think."

This really was a night of firsts. I caught the neighbours, still out here watching, but way more silent now. Mika below, she had her paw slapped desperately to her forehead. She must have channeled me visions of the whole wall caving in, then of Zakir screaming the same words twice over at me, then of Yurik kicking my ass... somehow.

In spite of all of that, I weighed up my paw, pulled it back a measure, and pushed forward to 'knock' on my first ever Polcian-sized door...

The whole thing shook and rattled on both sets of hinges. My ears and tail flicked to the slam. Mrs. Dubova's even more so. The wall survived in one piece. The windows and the doors, too.

Inside, Mr. Dubov shot upright in the commotion, yelling, looking around in all directions with frantically waving paws. Spotting me outside, eyes wide, he fell off the bed completely.

"Don't panic," I called.

"Who are you!?" came his muffled cry. "What the f--"

"It's... uh, pizza delivery."

"Pizza?"

I pointed to Mrs. Dubova. "You're wife's here."

"Calm down, Adrik." She stepped forward to the door. "I locked myself out waiting for the delivery."

He gawked at her. Then me. Still half asleep? Maybe. Having a giant squirrel staring at you through the window kinda did sound like the stuff of nightmares. "Delivery?"

"Open. The door. Adrik. It's locked."

Finally he put the pieces together. The grey-muzzled otter picked himself up from the carpet, staggering across to the balcony doors. A click sounded, then another, followed by both doors swinging open. He rubbed his eyes, yawned, and without missing a beat, complained, "How did you lock yourself out?"

"How did you fall asleep!?"

"By having to work fifty hours this week."

"Oh, here we go..."

They carried on at each other, trading shots, forgetting all about me for a second. Kinda felt like home. Just smaller.

"What time is it?" Mr. Dubov grumbled, glancing around and back into their bedroom. He groaned again. "If I've missed the face-off, I'm not going to be happy."

I watched his tail swing and slap the door frame as he turned, slinking off towards the light creeping through an open door. He glanced back, raising a paw to me. "Thanks, son."

"No problem," I called. He'd slipped out before I could lift my own paw in return. My car was calling. A getaway was fast becoming overdue.

"Yes, thank you so much for your help!" Absolutely beaming, Mrs. Dubova beckoned me closer with both paws. "I'm not sure what I'd have done without you here."

I moved my muzzle closer. "It's no prob--" Suddenly, I had her clamped around my muzzletip, squeezing tight with a hug. I took a second attempt to muffle out, "You're welcome."

"Can I have your reader, please?"

"Reader? I thought you'd paid Mika already?"

"Please?" she repeated, stepping back with that same smile. No reason to argue.

I shifted my wrist to the edge of the balcony, over the rail, letting her raise her phone towards my scanner. One beep confirmed the connection. Another confirmed the transaction. "Wait... Thirty Krona?"

"For you."

"Wow... Really?" That was more than the two pizzas cost. But again, I had no reason to argue. This definitely made up for the dick at Ruzino Towers, in more ways than one. "Thank you so much."

She hugged me again. I returned a finger around the back of her shoulders. "It's always nice to meet boys like you in times like these."

At the time, I didn't quite know what she meant by that. "I just hope the pizzas aren't too cold."

"Don't worry, sweetheart." She reached to pick them up from the wooden table she'd set them on. "Adrik will be getting the colder of the two."

I chuckled, backing away as she did the same into her bedroom. "Sounds fair."

We each shared out best wishes for the evening. The balcony doors slowly closed, leaving me alone out here above the garden. And Mika.

"We done?" she called, craning her neck up from the back path.

"Yeah." I peered around to the neighbours. The wolves and the possums had all returned inside. "All good."

"Then let's get out of here, before someone _does_call the police."

"Don't have to tell me twice." We shared a smile. I offered down a paw. "Want a lift? It'll make for a faster getaway."

She snorted, starting down the path towards it. "Don't have to tell_me_ twice, either."

We made it back to my car in one, unfettered, pain-free piece. No security system to give us trouble, no police patrols catching me hopping the fence, no time to waste in starting the car and making tracks.

"What took you so long after you got that door open?" Mika fastened her belt adapter as I turned the ignition.

"She wanted to give me a tip," I explained over the rumble of my engine coming to life. "A pretty big one, actually."

"Nice." She settled back. "You'll be making that big money you're missing downtown in no time, uni boy."

I scoffed, pulling on my own seatbelt. "We'll have to try rescuing more customers more often."

"Not sure about all that. The standard 'knock on door, give pizza, take payment' technique is good by me."

"Fair." I looked down at her as I clipped my belt into the buckle, sat there with paws clasped together in the middle of my passenger seat.

"What are we waiting for?"

"Do you want half of it?"

"Hey." She raised her palms to me. "It's all you."

"No, come on," I insisted. "Give me your reader."

"You're sure?"

"Yes." I tapped at my own reader, setting it to send her half the amount. "It was your delivery, after all."

"I guess..."

Command entered, I reached down to offer out my wrist. She reached up to respond in kind, until two beeps confirmed the transaction. My shoulders rocked as I pulled back away.

"What's funny?"

"Just thinking. It's like you said earlier. We _are_equal."

She smirked up at me. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"Fifteen Krona?"

"Yeah."

"You got thirty Krona? As a tip?"

"Yeah!"

"Holy gods, you're definitely driving on my next delivery."

"If you can swing it with the management, sure thing."

"I'll be doing that!" She stretched out on her seat. Way more relaxed than the drive over. "Listen. I wanna say... I had you totally wrong." I glanced down at her, ears perking. "I grew up here, in Morozovo, and I know it's real rough around the edges, but you just saw it yourself, people appreciate good people 'round here. These days, even more so."

Suddenly, Mrs. Dubova's 'times like these' comment made a whole lot more sense. A warmth worthy of a grin started to fill me. "Thanks for that. Really."

Her pink-streaked tail swayed. "I reckon you'll well here. As long as you do wanna be here."

"I hope you're right..." I glanced out of the passenger window, back to the complex. My grin persisted as I put the car into first, and would last long into our drive back to the store. "...and I think I will."