FSE

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Ocean Depths Chapter 20

By Roofles

"I'll take it," Lucas passed his card across to the ringtail cashier who rang him up. With him not having to worry about his rent he had more than half his paycheck left to spare. And he thought he'd go shopping with it. It had been some time and spring was around the corner, he needed a new wardrobe. Tan shorts, blue pants, a few brandless shirts and a pair of rainbow toe socks. A new coat and a pair of shoes to boot; he was living the dream.

Carlson stood next to him looking around the store with a rather irritated look. He had found a pair of shorts he would die for but they didn't have them in his size or with the tail hole. He had tried them on anyways much to Lucas's objection. It took Lucas coming into the dressing room to help remove them; the large otter had them half way on before they got stuck. They were too bagging for his short legs making them more like pants than anything else. Lucas couldn't stop himself from laughing at the frazzled, embarrassed otter that had his back to him looking under his arm at him. It was a ridiculous scene Lucas wishes he could've caught it on film. They had torn one of the side straps and had quickly stashed it away before checking out.

The mall was bustling with life as it always was. The three story, double building mall was a constant retreat for any of the citizens in the city. One of the few places where interspecies mingling wouldn't cause a stir. Most the shoppers were more interesting in spending than paying regard to anyone else. Several stores actually sold fur and hume clothing and equipment, right next to each other. Something that one wouldn't have seen ten years ago. Several other states still had it that way. The combination of stores and shops made it an ideal place for the two to have a day without too much concern. Though Carlson was bugged by their guests that had invited themselves along.

"Why are they here?" The large otter muttered more to himself than to Lucas as the calico cat waved over at him, Becky standing next to him on her tip toes.

"I needed a woman's touch," Lucas offered with a shrug.

Becky had several of her own shopping bags with her; Anders hadn't bought anything in particular just an orange Julius that he was greedily slurping down. The two had waited outside during the problematic locker incident that Carlson made Lucas promise never to tell another living soul about.

"You may be a flamer but you're still no woman," Becky laughed playfully punching Carlson in the rib at the comment. "The cat on the other hand." She mumbled looking over at Anders who was busy checking out a pair of shoes in a nearby window casing.

"You have scary good hearing," Carlson rubbed his side sure it was going to bruise in the morning.

"What'cha guys get anyways?" The stoat asked peeking into his bags.

Lucas simple handed them over to the nosy stoat. She rifled through them quickly before looking into her own bags before going back as if to see if she wanted to either get one of those herself or steal his.

"He didn't like the ones I picked out," Carlson huffed.

"You wanted me to get a shirt that said 'he likes my cock' with a rooster on it."

Anders shook his head walking back over to the group.

"Hey! I picked out more than a few 'hilarious' and truthful shirts." Carlson protested as they continued down the hall, holding Lucas's hand.

"I bought the damn boxers with the fish, I can compromise so why can't you?" Lucas teased.

"Cause you didn't by the thong I picked out," Carlson reasoned.

"I already told you why..." Lucas lowered his voice as a blush took his face.

Becky nosed her way in as Anders wondered off to another stores window. "And why was that, do tell." She smiled wickedly as Carlson turned to look at her.

"Oh we compromised," Carlson grinned back at her, Lucas nudged his side.

"Carl, zip it."

"'If the time ever comes, I'll just go in the nude,' Lucas's own words." Carlson laughed as Lucas elbowed his side making him wince hitting the same spot Becky had. Lucas tried to let go of his paw but he tightened his grip laughing as he apologized over and over about it. "I couldn't help it, it was so adorable the way you said it."

Lucas kept it up until Carlson made amends, buying him lunch and at Anders request orange Julius for everyone. The poor otter looked at his empty wallet as the others ate. Lucas was chatting with Becky about sales in one of the local stores they had been in, passing his fries and the rest of his burger over.

"Me and Carl have plans though. So we'll catch up with you in an hour or so." Lucas excused himself the otter in tow; the glutton munched the rest of the fries and burger as he quickly as he could before catching up to him.

"I thought we weren't going to do this." Carlson asked as he grabbed his hand and nudged his side with a hip good-naturedly.

"I know but you want to and I thought sense you were already going to I might as well tag along and see what all the hub bubs about." Lucas shrugged casually.

The otter watched him out of the side of his eye as they headed into the store, a smile at the edge of his muzzle.

The female hyena greeted them as the two came into the shop. "I'll be with you in just a second," she called over. She had a Mohawk dyed a dark shade of green like the rest of her, her black spots the only sign of original fur. Her lips, nose and one side of her muzzle were pierced. Her ears were chained together with hoops that connected to the collar and cuffs. The dingo she was working on was getting his neck collared, a sort of ringed metal that clipped onto the neck fur. A fashion statement popular among most canines Lucas had read once in a magazine.

"What do you think about green fur? What about a lip ring?" Carlson asked as he looked amongst the different dyes and piercings, Lucas behind him.

"Whatever you like...then we'll talk about it." Lucas laughed as the otter picked up a pair of tail rings. "Your tail's heavy enough without you adding more weight to it."

Carlson rolled his eyes putting the brass rings back; he did like the one right at the very base of the tail though. He pulled out several others from studs to bolts, bars and hoops before settling with a pair of fish ones. Lucas teased him as they looked through the rest just to make sure that was the best pair to get.

"Figures," Lucas came back over to look. Metal fished lined with a silver finish. Simplistic but that was one quality Lucas always liked about Carlson. "I've already paid," Lucas quickly continued before Carlson could cut in. "It's the least I could do for you buying me lunch, heh."

"Eight dollars verse thirty. Hm, what's the bigger number?" Carlson nosed. Lucas nosed back before smiling.

"Let me treat you to at least this once. I know you've wanted to do it for a while now. The fur dye is another story though," Lucas teased giving him a quick kiss.

Carlson kissed back. "Thanks, love."

"Next!" The girl called over as the dingo left, after giving a sly wink to Lucas.

Lucas had never seen such a big baby in his life. He held the otter's paw as he sat in the seat, fidgeting with his eyes clamped shut, gritting his teeth. More than once he squeaked pulling away saying it hurt. Both Lucas and the hyena said in unison that she hadn't even touched him yet. It had been an ordeal making sure the otter wasn't squirming about, more than once he tried to slide off the seat and make a ran for it. Lucas had to grab his tail at one point and lift it above his way making the otter knees go weak.

"A trick I learned," Lucas said the otter took his seat. Two seconds later she was done.

Lucas was sweating and panting after the whole thing. He took his seat glaring at the embarrassed looking otter. "I hate needles. I didn't know they did this with needles." Carlson explained taking a seat next to him.

"What did you think they did it with? A magic fairy pixie wand and with just a tap it'd be done." Lucas grumbled.

"Well....kind of yeah," Carlson smiled trying to get out of trouble with his cute charm.

Lucas groaned pushed the otters muzzle out of his face as he got up. "You're still in trouble," the otter just looked up at him with big puppy dog eyes. Lucas rolled his eyes as he walked over to the counter.

"How much is the full fur dye?"

The hyena looked past him and over at the otter who was trying not to touch the earrings but obviously, desperately wanting to. She looked back to Lucas. "About a hundred," she looked him up and down. "Now for you I'd do it for free," she smiled leaning across the counter.

"Thanks, I'll make sure to tell him." Lucas mumbled back to her as he stepped back before heading out the door. The otter jumped up, quickly following him out.

"Well? How much did she say?" The otter nosed his neck, grabbing his hand in paw.

"It'll be about a Franklin." The otter whistled. He scratched his burley chest with a webbed blunt nailed paw as he looked around.

"Fur dye is so overrated." He mumbled watching a skunk go by; the skunks head to tail stripes were dyed red. A whine escaped his lips as he turned back.

"We'll scrounge some money up and see what we can do." They joined up with the other two, Anders handing a bag over to Lucas. Lucas was sure that he had a different orange Julius in his paws.

Lucas opened the bag and looked inside. A red blush took his face as he looked back, clearing his throat trying to catch his breath. He didn't know there was a shop like that in the mall. He wasn't surprised that the casual cat had the bag though.

"They had a sale," Anders explained simple.

Becky was inspecting the otter ears before turning to Lucas. "That's nothing. You should see this," she lifted her shirt making Lucas blush again keeping his eyes anywhere else. "The two cost about fifty," she lowered her shirt turning back to Carlson. "And the one down below another-,"

"We get the picture." Lucas cut her off trying to regain his composure.

Anders snickered as they continued on.

The track through the mall ended rather abruptly as Anders spied something he liked, following the kangaroo out of the building. Becky got a phone call a few minutes later and she soon disappeared as well leaving the two to their own accord. Lucas had gotten what he had come for and Carlson seemed pleased with what he got, he kept looking into mirrors and windows to see his own reflection.

They window shopped for some time just walking around the mall more enjoying each other company than the mall itself. They loitered about for a bit before Carlson excused himself to use the restroom. Bounding back with a pair of icecream cones a few minutes later.

"I thought you were out of green? And I hope you didn't get those from the restroom." Lucas asked taking the mint from him with thanks. He should've figured when the otter was asking him about the kinds of ice cream he liked a few minutes previously.

"Well I had a few dollars tucked away. If you did a thorough pat down you would've found them." He snidely replied taking a rather large lick of his ice cream cone. "And no, you snide bastard, I didn't get them from the otter's room."

"Hey! You got your own cone." Lucas pulled his cone back as the otter went to take another lick.

"Oh, now you want it," the otter snickered licking at his cone again.

Carlson offered his cone to him, cookie dough flavored. Lucas looked at it, blushing a bit, timidly sticking out his tongue to lick the dribble of 'cream' from the edge. The otter smiled warmly at him as they took a seat in one of the vacant tables. They shared their individual frozen delights sharing back and forth, eventually to the point where they just switched ice creams. Carlson sucked on the end of the cone watching him out of the corner of his eye as the melting ice cream got over his hands and chin.

"You could've gotten napkins," Lucas laughed quickly cleaning up one of the leaking sides.

"I forgot how messy you can get," Carlson teased. He kissed his forehead before heading to a nearby pretzel shop and getting a few napkins. His grumbling stomach wanted a bit more and he ended up buying a pretzel for them to share. He was always thankful for having such a fast metabolism.

The otter looked back over to their table, having bought a normal pretzel with a small cup of cheese. He spied Lucas talking with a nearby fur. The ferret was chatting him up a storm, Lucas laughed at a comment he made as the otter came back over.

"Ha, oh hey Carl. This is Mikey." Lucas gestured to the ferret. The black footed ferret looked the otter up and down, scrunching up his brow a bit before smiling up at him.

"Hi...I got the napkins, and a pretzel too." Carlson took the seat next to him, scooting a bit closer.

"Pleased to meet you, Carl was it?" The ferret offered a black 'socked' paw. The ferret was white all over except for his paws, the tip of his muzzle, ear and tail.

"Carlson, actually." The otter corrected.

"Mikey here and I were talking about some business. He used to work at a nearby flower shop before it shut down." Lucas wiped off his face and hands with one of the napkins as he explained. "He saw me over here and thought he'd say hi.

"Yes, business I'm sure." Carlson relaxed a bit trying not to let the turmoil build. He ripped off a junk of pretzel and dipped it offering it to Lucas. His ears fell back as Lucas took it with a hand a tossed it into his mouth turning back to the ferret.

"Well it looks like you guys are busy," The ferret stood before rummaging in his pants pocket for a card. "Give me a call sometime and we'll chat." Lucas took the card shacking his paw again before the ferret went on his way.

"You're going to call him?" Carlson asked already having chowed down half of the pretzel.

Lucas tucked the card into his pocket before taking his seat. "Sure, I don't see the harm in it. I've bumped into him a few times before and we've traded ideas. Heh, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have... I've been a lot more...open with furs ever sense we've been together."

"Maybe you still shouldn't," Carlson mumbled before continuing more clearly. "It's getting late. There's a place I need to drop by before we go, though."

"I thought you only wanted to get your ears pierced. Don't tell me you have more money stashed away." Lucas looked at the otter with an amused smiled.

"Frisk me and find out." The otter replied bumping noses.

"I just might take you up on that," Lucas smiled giving him a kiss before getting up.

The bell sounded above as they shut the door, cutting off the sound from the bustling mall. The well-furnished room was out of place in the bustling mall. This whole place was out of the norm for the mall. The robin behind the desk looked up just enough to see that someone had come in before going back to the computer next to her.

"Mr. Carlson is waiting for you, Mr. Carlson." She said as she continued her work.

"Mr. Carlson? Your dad?" Lucas asked turning to look at the otter.

"My brother actually," Carlson let go of his hand he had been holding and was about to head into the back when the lady at the desk stopped them.

"Mr. Carlson can go back, you." She pointed a wing at Lucas, "will have to wait in the lobby."

Lucas nodded to Carlson saying he'll be here when he was done as he took a seat and a magazine from the side table in hand, flipping through it as Carlson headed down the hall. The otter knocked on the far door seeing an otter behind the desk roughly the same size with darker brown fur than himself. The dull brown eyes belong to his father's side where he inherited his mother's sparkling blues.

The otter got up tossing his arms to the side with a large smile on his muzzle. "Owen it's so good to see you again! It's been too long."

"Tye, this is business not pleasure." Carlson took a seat across the table as the other otter collected himself and took his seat still with a large smile on his mug. Carlson had used his brother nickname from childhood making the otter glad to see his brother still acknowledged their past history.

"Yes, of course. So tell me then. What can Carlson temp agency do for you?" The other otter asked folding his paws on the table and looking across at him.

"It's about my son... I want full custody."

"What's with the sudden change, bro." Tye leaned back in his chest kicking a leg up on the desk much to Carlson's chagrin.

"Things are...stable in my life and I like having him. He's my son after all. I don't want Jesse just swooping in and picking him out of the water like a sardine."

"I always thought she was like a black widow, kills the husband and eats the young." The other otter laughed a bit as he rocked in his seat. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the gentleman sitting in the lobby would it?"

Carlson scratched his chest revealing his poker face. "It's not like that. Things are just going really well with work and my place is big enough. He's closer to school and doesn't have to travel so much. It has nothing to do with Luke," he tried to explain but folded easily as a smile crossed the Tye's face.

"Glad to see he has a name. Well how about this." Tye leaned across the desk smiling at him with bared teeth. "You bring over your boy toy,"

"Tye!" Carlson growled defensively.

"-And we'll talk this over a bit more just to make sure you know what you're doing. And then I'll use my mojo magic and get you your kid."

"You always were a scumbag."

"It's the only way you'll tell me anything about yourself, Owen." The otter whiskered drooped a bit. "I miss my brother, I know you and dad don't see eye to eye...but you can still keep in touch with your old pal. I mean we're brothers!"

Carlson got up. "I'll be there to talk about my son. Nothing more, Tye."

"Make sure to bring Lucas, Justin has told me all about him." Tye grinned as Carlson ears dropped and he slouched a bit as his voice let out a whine. "So I'll expect to see the two of you at my place, this weekend. Don't worry it's all on me you don't even have to bring a house warming gift... Even if we have moved in three years ago and you haven't dropped by once..." Tye shrugged innocently. "You don't owe us anything."

"I hate you." Carlson grumbled.

"I love you too, bro."