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Nobody's Good at Everything

Dim winter sunlight refracted through large windowpanes soaked in condensation, spilling weak beams of light across a small part of the town's 'FunPlex' indoor play centre, while the aging heaters below softly creaked and groaned in protest as they did their best to fight off the chill of a late-December afternoon that was sneaking through the windows and walls. Some of the attendants routinely rubbed down the windows with sponges, while others were attending to the food and drink orders of various parties of cubs, parents and caregivers. A familiar aroma of freshly-cooking french fries, pizzas and burgers as well as soft drinks lingered in the air just outside the play apparatus. The occasional squeal of cubs playing echoed around the building with the constant hubbub of chatter lending its' own atmosphere of a busy weekend.

A twelve-year old orange and white fox cub named Friendly, wearing blue sweatpants with red and grey stripes and a red and black shirt was inside the playground with his friend, Timothy - a seven-year old brown and white raccoon. They had just came down the long, twin half-moon slides and they rose to their feet on the soft, thick plush mat at the bottom and bickered over who had won.

"Did you get your training wheels stuck in the mud again, slowpoke?" teased Friendly.

"No! I totally won that race! You-you..." stammered Timothy, struggling to come up with a comeback.

Friendly chuckled and put his arm around Timothy's waist. "I'm just kidding, you did really well there. I still won though."

"By what, an inch! That's too close to call!" rebutted Timothy, "We should have a re... a rematch... Uh-oh..."

"What's wrong, Timothy?"

"I... um... I gotta go potty!" squeaked the raccoon, holding the seat of his shorts with both of his paws.

"It's okay Timothy, you go. I'll stay here and wait."

Timothy looked a little reluctant, he turned and looked over at the restroom sign all the way at the other end of the dining tables and then back over his shoulder at Friendly. The fox glanced at the obvious peekage of his friend's red Pull-Ups, the bumper of the familiar racecar character showing over the waistband of Timothy's low-riding orange shorts.

"Go on Timothy, you don't want Lightning McQueen stuck in the mud..." said Friendly with a chuckle. "I'll be waiting right here."

With that Timothy quickly hurried as fast as he could to the restrooms, his pace resembling a waddle as he tried his hardest not to have an accident in his training pants.

As Friendly waited for Timothy to come back, he leaned against the netting and looked around to see if he recognised any other cubs who were in the playground. He looked around for a moment, but he didn't recognise anyone.

"S'cuse me!" called out a squeaky little voice from a young skunk boy with curly red hair, wearing a square pair of purple glasses, a blue shirt, green shorts and yellow socks hurrying along - though he stopped not far from Friendly and looked sadly up at the much bigger fox, a strong smell coming from the seat of his little green shorts. He slowly waddled towards the exit, with a noticeable sob.

"Poor little guy." commented Friendly, thinking he'd try and catch up and try to cheer him up. His thought was interrupted though by a cry from an older cub in the other direction.

"I can't get through there, Berry!" came a frustrated cry from a chubby lion cub, with long blonde bangs, a pink tail-tuft with a pink mane and headfur. He was wearing a purple shirt and a thick, plastic-backed white diaper with blue tapes.

"I could give you a push, Ari..." suggested his friend, a lean deep-red and pink fox cub with lime-green headfur. He was wearing a black shirt with a similarly thick plastic diaper.

Friendly watched curiously to see what was going on. The lion cub was trying in vain to get through the twin rollers, but try as he might he just kept rolling backwards and couldn't pull himself through to the other side. His friend Berry tried pushing him - but he didn't appear to be strong enough to get his friend through the rollers.

Friendly couldn't resist a chuckle and he sauntered over, to offer some assistance.

"Hey there guys, would you like some help?"

The lion cub seemed a little flustered and embarrassed, he shook his head at the bigger fox reluctantly.

"I think we can manage. Come on Ariel, heave-ho!" Berry answered.

Friendly stepped back, as he suspected they were a little wary of him. He looked to see if Timothy was coming back, yet.

A minute later, Ariel still hadn't managed to get through the rollers and he sighed.

"I don't think I'll fit through there. I'm gonna go over the top one!"

Friendly turned his head, curiously, watching as Ariel looked for a moment at the top roller, perhaps trying to figure out the best way to clamber over it. A few seconds later he made his move, holding onto the netting next to it and climbing with his right foot, and raising his left foot onto the bottom roller.

"Look, Berry!" crowed Ariel delightedly, as he pulled himself up onto the top roller with both of his feet on the bottom roller. "I guess I don't need help, now!"

Friendly smiled as he thought Ariel might finally be able to complete his challenge, but then came the spectacular sight of the poor lion cub laying on top of the roller, with his feet spinning the bottom roller round and round.

"Woah!" cried Ariel as he frantically tried to get himself over the top roller, but he was stuck - his feet still spinning the bottom roller. "I-need-your-help-I-need-your-help!!!"

Friendly tried his best to conceal a burst of laughter, an obvious chuckle escaping from his muzzle - but he regained himself by clearing his throat and made his way over to them again.

"Hey buddy, it's okay. Stop kicking your feet..."

Ariel looked a little nervous, but as he looked into the older fox's turquoise eyes and heard the soft, reassuring tone in his voice, he relaxed and stopped struggling.

"There. Don't worry little buddy, I can help."

Ariel blushed a little and grunted as he tried again to clamber over the roller, with Friendly pushing him by the seat of his thick, white diaper. Soon, Ariel was on the other side of the rollers. Berry on the other hand clambered through them with ease, pulling himself through the middle and rolling up beside Ariel. Friendly followed suit, though he took a few seconds longer than Berry.

"How...how'd you do that?!" cried Ariel. I went through all that and you two just went through it like a knife through butter!"

"I don't know." shrugged Berry. "I just pulled myself by using my upper body to roll through it."

Ariel seemed indignant as he stewed over why he'd struggled so much, but Friendly gave him a reassuring smile. "It's okay, buddy. We all struggle with different things. What matters is that we always help each other, especially when someone really needs it."

Ariel thought for a moment and nodded his head in agreement. "You're right, Friendly!"

"You're kinda big... much bigger than us." noted Berry, "How old are you?"

"I just turned twelve." replied Friendly. "I'm not looking forward to being too old for this place... How about you guys?"

"I'm eight!" squeaked Berry, "...and Ari here is nine - but you wouldn't think so" He said with a soft chuckle as he gently teased his best buddy. Ariel blushed a little as his diaper crinkled softly.

"Would you like to hang out with us?" asked Berry.

"Sure!" Friendly answered, "My friend should be back soon, he had to go potty about five minutes ago."

Ariel and Berry had looked at each other a little anxiously at the mention of Friendly's other friend, but they relaxed a little at the word 'potty' and their looks of concern changed to curiosity.

"Is he, um - is he kinda little?" asked Berry.

"He's a little younger than you two. He just turned seven. I think you'll get along really well." replied the older fox.

Some moments later, a squeaky voice could be heard out calling for Friendly.

"Ah, here he comes now. Over here, Timothy!" called out Friendly, waving to his friend.

Ariel and Berry looked at the newcomer together. Timothy was almost as chubby as Ariel, wearing a blue shirt and orange flame shorts with red racecar Pull-Ups peeking out of the top.

"Cool outfit!" they commented together, then looked at each other and chuckled. Timothy looked a little confused, but smiled back at Ariel and Berry.

"Timothy, meet Ariel and Berry." said Friendly, beckoning his raccoon buddy over to his new friends.

"Hi..." squeaked Timothy, shyly tugging at the waistband of his shorts and trying to conceal the fabric of his plastic racecar training pants, the aforementioned undergarment crinkling softly in protest.

Ariel and Berry looked at Timothy nonchalently, both of them had noticed the raccoon's training pants but didn't say a word, lest they make Timothy even more nervous.

"Shall we go play?" suggested Berry, "We can climb up there and explore!"

"Okay!" agreed Friendly, giving Timothy a gentle nudge and resting his hand on his little buddy's shoulder.

Around the corner were a set of multicoloured plush stairs, which squeaked and crackled softly as some older cubs made their way up to the upper level with ease.

"Here we go!" proclaimed Berry as he and Ariel began to make their way up the stairs.

The chubby lion was having a little trouble though, his breathing became more laboured as he struggled up the steep, plush staircase, holding onto the netting at the side to try and pull himself up - his feet continuously slipping on the slippery vinyl material of the stairs.

"Berry! Wait for me!" cried Ariel as he looked up to see his fox friend had already reached the top.

Timothy too was having trouble with the plush stairs. His feetpaws slipped even more than Ariel's and had only managed to reach the fourth stair up from the bottom - his loose shorts having once-again revealed the entirety of the back of his training pants.

Friendly stood behind him, reaching out to push his little buddy up the stairs and join their new friends.

By now, Ariel had reached the top too. They looked down to see Timothy on the sixth step, taking a short break as he too was breathing heavily at the amount of effort he had to put into climbing the plush staircase. Friendly had reached up again and pulled Timothy's shorts up over his training pants, but Timothy began trying to climb the stairs again before he could reach around Timothy's waist to tighten the laces. Soon, they had reached the top too.

"What took you guys so long?" Berry giggled as he was leaning against one of the posts at the top of the stairs.

"It was hard going for poor Timothy, his feet always keep slipping on those stairs. He's not the only one who has trouble with them."

Ariel blushed slightly but nodded in agreement. "Yeah, even I was having to work real hard to keep going."

Berry shrugged and he continued on, with Ariel, Friendly and Timothy following close behind.

--

A short while later, the friends came across a set of high monkey-bars. They provided a means of crossing a gap between two ledges, though there was netting underneath that provided another means of crossing to the other side.

"That's cheating!" Ariel giggled as he saw other cubs and Timothy just using the netting to cross, without even trying the monkey bars. Berry has been inching over to the netting himself, but came back when Ariel called out the other cubs and looked anxiously up at the monkey bars.

"It's easy!" called Ariel, expertly swinging across the gap using his arms and hands. Then turning and coming back. "Easy peasy!"

Berry gulped and reached out, but try as he might he just couldn't reach the first monkey bar. Ariel noticed this and he felt a little regret by showing off in front of him.

"Berry, do you need help?" he asked.

"Y...yeah. I think I do." Berry quivered. "Can you lift me to the first monkey bar? I'm sure I can do the rest of the crossing once I'm up there."

Ariel obliged his friend's request and lifted him up to the first monkey bar, with a grunt as he struggled momentarily to hold his friend up straight. Berry reached out and grabbed onto the monkey bars with both hands, and Ariel let go of him.

"Go on Berry!" cheered Ariel, hoping to encourage his friend along.

Berry started by swinging himself forward as Ariel had done, and grabbed onto the next monkey bar, then the next, and one more, but then...

"Ahhhhh!" cried out Berry as he lost his grip on one of the monkey bars, just over half-way across the gap, and fell onto the netting underneath.

"Berry!" cried Ariel, launching himself onto the monkey bars and swinging across again. Upon reaching the other side he leaned down into the shallow pit and reached for his friend's hand, helping him up onto the opposite ledge.

"Are you okay, Berry?" inquired Ariel, anxiously.

"Yeah, I'm not very good at it." sighed Berry.

"You tried though, and you almost made it! I'm sure it won't be long before you'll be as good as Ariel at those monkey bars."

"I guess so. Thanks, Friendly." replied Berry, smiling a little as he felt a bit better.

"Let's go down the slides, now!" suggested Timothy, pointing to the twin red and yellow half-moon slides.

"Race ya!" Ariel and Berry challenged each other simultaneously, both sitting at the top with a noticeable crinkle from their thick, white plastic diapers.

"Ready... Set... Go!" called out Friendly, with Ariel and Berry launching themselves down towards the bottom.

Ariel was somewhat heavier than Berry and he had better armstrength than his fox buddy, so he was in the lead as they raced towards the soft, thick plush mat at the bottom of the slides.

"Go Ariel! Go Berry!" cheered Friendly from the top of the slides, as he kneeled down behind Timothy and reached to try and tighten the laces on his shorts, but Timothy had already pushed off and was sliding down towards the bottom too.

"Timothy, wait!" called out Friendly, but it was too late.

Ariel had unfortunately lost his lead as Berry took on a new tactic, sliding down on his back. He reached the bottom a few seconds after Berry, both rising to their feet and descending into an argument.

"What took you so long?" giggled Berry teasingly, did you get stuck in the mud?"

"You cheated! You're not supposed to slide like that!" pouted Ariel.

"There were no rules that said I couldn't," grinned Berry.

Ariel was so preoccupied with stewing over losing the race, that he hadn't noticed he needed his diaper changed. A similarly-built adult lion with matching long blonde bangs and golden-brown headfur had noticed this though and unexpectedly scooped up Ariel.

"Come on kiddo, let's get you all fixed up. Then you can play with your friends again."

"Daaaad!" groaned Ariel, as he was carried away to the restrooms.

Friendly came down the slide behind Timothy and rose to his feet.

"Where did Ariel go?" inquired the older fox to Berry, having noticed the lion cub being carried out of the playground moments before.

"He had to go get changed, I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"I... well I don't mean to pry, but do you guys always wear diapers?" asked Friendly

"Yeah. We like wearing them. Our parents don't mind, "Berry answered, with just a hint of defensiveness.

"It's cool. I don't wear them myself but I have nothing against others who do." Friendly answered with an understanding smile.

As they waited for Ariel to come back, the cubs headed into the ball pool to play together.

--

About ten minutes later, Ariel returned. He was sporting a pair of blue Kion Lion Guard training pants instead of the thick, white plastic diaper he'd been wearing before.

"I see your Dad got you more of your trainers." chuckled Berry.

"Yeah? So? Jealous that you're still stuck wearing a diaper?" retorted Ariel.

Berry huffed in response, but got back to the matter at hand.

"I was just telling Friendly and Timothy how we can throw these little plastic balls."

"You mean I can throw them." retorted Ariel. "You can't throw them as well as me!"

"Prove it!" challenged Berry, sticking his tongue out cheekily at his friend.

Ariel promptly picked up one of the balls and lunged it at Berry. Berry dodged the ball by inches and picked one up, throwing it back with all his might - though it was significantly slower than Ariel's had been.

"Is that the best you can do?" Ariel grabbed another ball, but then-

"No throwing the balls at each other!" called out one of the attendants, sternly.

"Sorry!" the cubs called out and retreated out of the playground.

"Are you guys getting hungry?" asked Friendly, as they stood just outside the entrance to the jungle gym. Promptly Berry, Ariel and Timothy nodded back. "Okay, let's go get some food then."

Chatting more to Ariel and Berry, Friendly was intrigued to hear that their new friends were visitors from a far away place.

"So you guys don't live in Wedgewood?" asked Friendly.

"We live in Woodville, Florida" answered Ariel.

"We travel a lot. It's our first time here." answered Berry. "My Dad's a pro-wrestler. Wyldfyre."

"Yeah!" chimed in Ariel, "He's so cool."

"I've heard about Florida, but I've never actually been there." sighed Friendly.

"Me neither." said Timothy, "I've wanted to go forever though!"

As they all exited the playground and fetched their shoes, they sat down next to each other on the hard plastic benches and put their shoes on. Timothy's shoes didn't have any laces, and Ariel couldn't help commenting on it.

"Hey look! I need some shoes like those."

Friendly and Berry put their shoes on side-by-side and then stood up, walking over to Ariel and Timothy who were sitting on the opposite bench as they put their shoes on. Ariel paced over to Berry, while Timothy made his way over to Friendly.

Ariel gently tugged Berry's shirt and spoke as quietly as he dared.

"Berry, can you tie my shoes for me, please?"

Just as Ariel was being attended to by his younger fox friend, Timothy's shorts slipped down to his ankles, completely revealing his red racecar training pants to their new friends.

"Not again!" cried Timothy, blushing as he saw Berry and Ariel looking at his training pants.

"Hehe, need some help with your shorts, Timothy?" asked Friendly, as he knelt down behind his little raccoon buddy.

"It's okay, we won't laugh. We know other cubs can be hesitant to have their - um - training pants on show." Berry said, as he finished tying the laces on Ariel's shoes.

"Y-yeah!" Ariel nodded, "Besides, they do look kinda cool. Not as cool as mine though" he grinned cheekily at Timothy and showed off the front of his blue training pants.

Timothy seemed a bit more at ease with these words, but he looked much more relieved as Friendly tugged his shorts up over his Pull-Ups and started tying the laces, the fox standing behind him and reaching around Timothy's waist.

"Um, Friendly?" asked Ariel. "Can you only tie laces one way?"

Friendly turned to Ariel and nodded. "Yeah, I can only tie them if I'm the right way around - I struggle with it if I'm 'back-to-front'. That's why I'm standing behind Timothy.

"See Ariel? Even big kids can struggle with things." stated Berry.

"I guess so... I'm sorry I was in such a mood earlier. I'm glad we became friends." replied Ariel.

It was at that moment that both Ariel's and Timothy's tummies gurgled, making Friendly and Berry chuckle softly together.

"Let's go get some pizza!"

"Yeah! Pizza!"

"Okay!"

"Cool!"

-- The End --