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Chapter 2

April 4, 2009 (8:50 p.m.)

Trademark

Cindy's about to fall asleep, and it's not even late. I lean into her as she gently rests her precious face on my shoulder. God, I wish that we could just lay here. Lay in each others' arms, feeling the warmth of her forehead against my lips. But... not tonight...

"Caffeine break!" I announce. I feel Cindy stir against my arm. Soon, baby. Soon I will hold you all night long. I slowly stand up and help her to her feet. I don't let go of her hand as I lead her into the kitchen. We might as well break open a new twelve pack. Tonight is just getting started.

Before I can open the door to the refrigerator, my phone chirps the 'text message' sound. I quickly whip my phone out and slide it open. It's Snowy.

"the new guy is cool. can we keep em? :p"

I smile as I show the screen to Cindy. She embraces me as we share a grin and grab a few Mountain Dew Voltages.

I think we're through with the DVD for tonight. It was funny, but I think we may be boring the otter. That, and Cindy is already falling asleep.

I know...

"So, what do you think of the Code Green Club?" I ask Seacrest as I slide in next to Cindy.

He looks over at me from the TV screen, his slightly-curly brown-blond hair bouncing a little. "So far..."

So far what? If the next words out of your mouth aren't 'I love it!' then you're...

"I like it!" he finishes, after a pause.

That'll do, I guess.

"Just not sure I'm sold on the name though," Seacrest adds as the others in the room giggle and laugh around him.

I'll agree with ya on that one, otter. It's a dumb name...

"How did you come up with a name like that for a furry group anyway?" Seacrest asks.

I try to hold in a smile. All of them ask about the name. The dumb, dumb name.

I lean in, as if I were beginning a scary story around a campfire, examining the faces of all the furries. All of them but Seacrest had heard this story at least once before, but they all had eager grins plastered on their faces.

"Well... It's kind of a long story..."

February 2, 2007 (5:21 p.m.)

Trademark

"Hey Marky, get your tail over here!" Laughtrack called over to me. I shuffled away from my host's stand, dressed in my black jeans and black button-up long-sleeved shirt, white towel draped across my right arm. Laughtrack had just served two guests their food at Don's Barbecue, where we both worked, and was now standing just out of their peripheral vision. He pointed and smiled to the couple. They didn't seem too out of place here. I give Laughtrack an annoyed look as I start back toward my work station.

"Wait," he grabs me by my non-towelled arm. "I bet you all of my hyena spots that they're furries. The girl at least. Look at her bracelet."

I fake an exasperated sigh as I spin back around to reassess the couple. They sat across from each other in our two-seat-booth section. The girl was leaning in, over their Cheesy Bacon Fries appetizer, seemingly addicted to the words coming out of his mouth. They were both a little heavier than average, kind of like Laughtrack actually. Unlike Laughtrack, this guy had short hair with some kind of girly product in it to spike up the front, and was clean shaven. Laughtrack usually had various degrees of stubble peppered across his face, and he keeps his hair long past his ears, though sometimes he brushes it behind his ears.

The guy grabbed a few cheddar and ranch drenched french fries and took care of them in two quick bites. I wonder what the occasion is? He's dressed a little nicer than the usual Don's Barbecue guest. His blazer over t-shirt look seemed to contrast the rest of the patrons in their flannel and jeans. His date was all decked out too. A frilly teal sweater thing and dangly earrings. The works. Her curly chin-length hair bounced as she laughed at one of his jokes and reached out to grab his hand, next to her wine glass. Her sleeve creeped up her arm, just an inch.

"You see?" Laughtrack asked, grinning from ear to ear. "The charm. It's that purple skunk from Tiny Toons."

Fifi La Fume, I almost nearly spurted out, before realizing how much Laughtrack would have made fun of me for knowing the character's name.

"Yeah! Yeah..." I reply. "Doesn't mean she's a furry though. I bet you my closing duties that neither one of them are furries."

"You're on, bull." Laughtrack chuckles to himself in typical hyena fashion. "If one of them is a furry, you do my closing duties tonight. But if they're both furries, then you do my duties for a whole week!"

"Let's do this!" I accept his wager. "Hope you like shining knives and folding napkins."

Laughtrack sticks his hand into his apron pocket and fishes around for a second, pretending to find something. He quickly snaps his hand back out, flicking me "the bird" with his middle finger before trotting back off to the couple at the booth.

"Your steak and your lobster are nearly ready." Laughtrack looks at each of his guests and gives him his biggest smile and nearly-fake-sounding bubbly voice. "Did you enjoy your cheese fries?"

"Oh yes. They were great!" the girl responds. She barely looked up at Laughtrack. Her eyes were almost always affixed to the man across from her, and every time their eyes met, the corners of her lips curled upward and her expression seemed to light up.

"That's great to hear, y'all! We're sure glad you picked Don's to celebrate this special occasion... Oh, this is a special occasion right? I just assumed, with the wine and all..." Laughtrack pretended to trail off.

The man, still grasping his date's palm, reached up with his other arm and lightly grazed the top of her hand. "Very special," he stated, emphasis on the 'very'. "Our first date, eight years ago today, started at this very booth. It was right before a school dance." The couple's eyes met again for a second, before they each look back down to the table and smile widely.

"Precious!" Laughtrack flamboyantly exclaimed. "Well now, I will be right back with some more wine and your food." He took a few steps and put on an interested expression. "Oh, and dear, I noticed that charm around your wrist... Are you a big fan of that cartoon?"

She looked down at her bracelet, then at Laughtrack, and finally back up to her date. "Actually, on one of our first nights out after high school, he won this for me in one of those machines at the mall. He knew how much I love purple. I wasn't too thrilled about the skunk, though, honestly. But it reminds me of how sweet he is, and it's grown on me."

Her boyfriend mouthed 'I love you' across the table at her. She mimicked his lips and whispered it back. I could tell Laughtrack's stomach was probably turning end over end from the corny saccharine-soaked love story.

"Lovely! Well I will be right back, y'all," Laughtrack commented to the couple, as he walked back over to me with his head drooping and face staring at the floor.

I wiped the smile from my face as I pretended to be busy, looking at the seating chart and checking reservations.

"So," I paused. "How did it..."

"You win. Not furries. Just a couple of weirdos," Laughtrack sourly popped off.

"And my closing duties?" I was having way too much fun with this.

"One week. Not a day more," he mumbled, defeated and started limping away to the kitchen to fetch the couple's food.

"Hey! The night's not over yet," I excitedly report to Laughtrack and grab his arm to turn him around. Another couple was walking in. Two guys. One had a long sleeved shirt with a pack of wolves on it, and the other was wearing a Disney cap and carrying a Gameboy. Pokémon edition. "Looks like we've got another Code Green coming in."

Laughtrack spun back to the entrance and chuckled. "No doubt about it this time. Care to make another wager?"

"Um, no thanks," I grin again. "It's pretty obvious this time, but nice try."

Laughtrack headed back into the kitchen and I strutted over to the new guests.

"Table for two? Right this way, guys! I've got just the right server in mind for you. He'll tell you all about today's specials. That is a really cool wolf shirt, by the way. I've got one almost just like it!" I chat up the two as we approach Laughtrack's section. The two guys just look back and forth at each other, confused. "Your server will be right with you," I goofily grin wide, baring my teeth a little bit.

April 4, 2009 (9:08 p.m.)

Trademark

I lean back in my seat, enjoying the expressions of all of my houseguests. I look over at Cindy to see that she's now wide awake and smiling warmly at me. She sips her Mountain Dew Voltage.

"Story gets a little better every time," Pheathers says; twisting himself to the right, then to the left, stretching his back.

I notice that Seacrest is scanning the room, also checking expressions. He's smiling but still looks a little bewildered.

"So..." Seacrest starts, crooking his neck slightly as he asks, "what happened to the wolf shirt couple? Did they join the club?" He peeks around the room again to see if somebody in the room happened to be the 'wolf shirt couple'.

"Sadly, no," I tell him. "They were furries, of course. Laughtrack pulled that info out of them pretty early on. But, they were only passing through. The Pokémon guy has some family out by Fort Belvoir. That close to where you live, right Seacrest? And they were just visiting. We've run into them at a few fur cons since then. They're pretty cool."

"You go to cons?" Seacrest asked, again going back into shy mode.

I snake my arm around Cindy. "It's where we met," I kiss her on the cheek. "Though she wasn't a furry at the time."

"And that's a story for another time," Cindy pipes in and kisses me back.

"So you and... Laughtrack... would just call 'Code Green' when a suspected furry came into the restaurant?" Seacrest inquired.

"Not just the restaurant," I explained. "Anywhere we saw a potential fandom member, we'd announce a Code Green. It's something you can call out in public, and nobody will know what you're talking about. It was Laughtrack's idea."

Seacrest's eyebrows raised, then lowered. "Who is this Laughtrack guy? Is he still in the club?"

"No..." I reply, looking around the room, then back to the otter. "He and I started the CGC, but he left around the time he and Snowy started dating. And when they broke up, he moved away. It's kind of a sore subject, actually."

Seacrest blinked a few times. "I'm sorry... I didn't know..."

"It's fine," I smile back at Seacrest. "There's a least one in every group. We're better off without him."

Cindy wraps her arm around mine and pulls me in close, grabbing my hand. I'm already pale, I snicker, but my hand looks paper white next to her dark brown fingers.

From across the room, I hear Ecko's phone ring "Ruby" by the Kaiser Chiefs.

"Hang on guys, I gotta get this," he checks the screen for the caller's name and hurries the phone to his ear. "No dad, we're not drinking. Ha ha. Yeah, okay. Okay, I'll tell them to salt the glass first. No, straight tequila. Yeah, I'm so drunk, dad. Okay. I'll see you in a minute. Just let me get my car keys, then I'll swerve home. Yeah, ha ha ha. Love you, too."

"Ecko loves his family!" Pheathers playfully sings loudly.

"You gotta go?" Cindy asks Ecko.

"Yeah. My uncle's going to be tightening my braces tomorrow, and I forgot," Ecko looked over at Seacrest. "He's an orthodontist."

"I figured. That or you just had a really weird family," Seacrest chuckled back.

Ecko smiled warmly at Seacrest.

It's so weird to see him smile that big. He's usually shy about his braces. "Well, Ecko, we're glad you came. Same time, next week, right?" I ask, standing up and extending my arms for a hug.

"Of course," the gecko pats my shoulder and gives me a tight hug.

"Actually, I need to be going as well," Stripes stands up, stretching.

"Yeah," Seacrest raises to his feet, "I had better hit the road, too."

Cindy stands up, putting her Mountain Dew on the coffeetable. "Well then, I hope you're all ready for your hugs."

The group laughs, as each one walks around giving out hugs. I don't remember where this ritual started, but I like it.

One by one, my guests finish their hugs and walk out the door. I wish them all a safe trip and welcome them back next weekend as they pull out of my yard and go off to their homes.

Cindy yanks me back inside, "Alone, at last," she whispers as she pulls me close, kissing my neck.

"Come on. Let's hurry back to the couch before our seats get cold..." I take her by the hand and lead her back to where we were sitting.

I know you can't stay all night, Cindy. Soon... Soon you and I will keep each other warm all night.

She closes her eyes, and I follow suit. We listen to each other breathe while we tell each other about our dreams for the future. All of her dreams have me in them. And I am happy about that.