FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A MACHINES LOVE

CH. 6

Looking down at my bank slip from the ATM I cursed under my breath and wrinkled my nose at what it said. Instead of showing that I still had quite a bit of funds to my name from the lawsuit, it was showing a vastly different figure. It was one of those times that you had someone who had gotten your information and was using your own card against you. Though as I stood there at the local truck stop and began to calm myself down slightly I allowed my mind to try and make sense of it all and realized one important fact of a lawsuit against someone else. If the one you're suing doesn't have any money in the first place and was robbing you to just get by, then how are you to expect to get anything from them?

Lifting my head to look out over the parking lot at the local truck stop, my shoulders slumped as I found my lonely truck out there sitting in the back of the lot. A part of me wanted to take out my frustration on the other occupant of my rig, while the other was beating it back and saying that she really didn't have that much to do with our current financial situation. 'I'm just going to have to make up some kind of budget to get by for the next several months,' I thought to myself as I took in a steadying breath and headed out to the truck.

When I opened the truck up to get inside, I found that Lugia wasn't sitting in the passenger seat any more. Not feeling too concerned over not seeing her at first I took up my seat and looked over my shoulder to find that she was sitting on the edge of the upper bunk with what looked like some kind of manual for something. "By the look on your face, I can see that something isn't going right." Lugia said when she looked over the brim of her manual to look down at me; to which I nodded slightly to.

"The money from the lawsuit doesn't seem to have come in yet." I said in a bit of a defeated tone as I held aloft the bank statement for her to see. "And now that I'm thinking a bit about it, I believe that it's all just a wasted effort." A laugh escaped my lips as I thought even more about it all. "I think the only one getting paid for all of this is my lawyer."

Lugia hopped down from the top bunk; landing with nearly no shift in the truck, took up her seat in the passenger side seat, and turned to face me. "Surely you'll get something out of this, even if it is only a small amount," she said in a bit of an upbeat kind of tone.

"When I really think about it, I doubt it. I mean...think about it. The whole time that we were there did you ever get the impression that any of the towns folk were...in the money." I stopped there, let out a long sigh, and leaned back in my chair. "I mean, he was a mechanic for crying out loud and those guys usually jack up their prices for repairs, so that the customer is charged through the roof."

"That may be true but doesn't your company put a cap on how much a mechanic can charge for a repair job. Surely after all this time that the company has been in business they should know how much it takes to repair something." Lugia retorted as kicked her little legs while sitting in the passenger seat.

It was times like these that left me wondering just how old she truly was. I mean, at times she displayed a knowledge that was beyond her young appearance, then she'd did things like kick her dainty feet while sitting in a chair that reminded me of a young girl. "That's pretty much my point. I mean, he probably was going to charge the company a lot of money for the repairs to my truck and hopefully get a nice paycheck, but when the company came back and told him that the repairs should only charge this much, he thought that that the only way to get his price met was to rob me." A slight shiver ran through me as I recalled the time when I came back to my room and saw the mechanic there with Lugia still in her clock form dangling from his grip.

"If you know that, then why go through with the lawsuit after all?"

To that I really didn't have an answer. I mean, the guy had to pay for what he did after all, but trying to sue the guy may not have been the right solution to the problem. "You're probably right, but at the time it seemed like a good idea." How many people have used those words to justify their actions, only to have it turn against them in the end? With that I hung my head for a moment as I took in a few deep breaths and thought about what to do now. "Anyways, the important thing that I...we need to keep in mind is spending. In other words, it's time to go on a budget." To which Lugia nodded to and I started up the engine and pulled out from the truck stop.

I had been on a budget a few times before, though that is to say when I was first starting out in the trucking field, but now that I've been doing this for a while things should be a bit different. For starters, when I started with the company that I'm currently working for they started me out at a base pay of only .26 cents per mile (Which in turn is based on mileage traversed/driven and not hours worked) and had to pay for my tuition costs for the schooling and such, but now that I'd been working for them for so long and had paid off all my tuition costs the time spent on a budget shouldn't last all that long. With doing a bit more math and such I was able to figure that if I kept my costs down and such, that I'd be able to be 'back in the money' within a few months. Though if Lugia could help out with keeping up her cooking and the like, I wouldn't have to worry about paying all those high prices for fast food...and...I'd be getting back in shape pretty soon as well. All in all it was a fairly good plan and all, but the plan is only as good as it's executed. Not to mention the possibility of fate throwing me a few curve balls every once in a while.

One such curve ball came two days later when Lugia was helping me to 'Fuel' up my rig at one of the designated/assigned fuel locations. For you see, like the routing that the company gives company drivers, they also assign which/where you are to get fuel and how much fuel per trip/load. Though as to the curve ball that 'Fate' had thrown me, was when one of the large fuel nozzles slipped out from its holder and hosed the both of us in diesel fuel. Needless to say that neither one of us found the whole thing funny and were even a bit perturbed at now smelling like diesel. With a bit of a defeated sigh I just shook my head and resided to myself that I'd have to take a shower that day, but as I looked down at Lugia as she was pealing her dress away from her body, I knew that she'd need one as well.

At first I really didn't find this a problem, but as I looked a bit closer at the situation I couldn't help as my eyes grew a bit bigger. 'What would these people think when I go into there and ask them about a shower for the two of us?' I mean, it was one thing to take a shower with someone you love or an infant, but Lugia wasn't either one of those things and anyone who even hinted at being a pedophile was instantly brought to the attention of the local security guard or authorities. It was about that same time that Lugia caught me looking down at her and her little face scrunched up at me. "If you're even thinking about making some snide remark about how my clothes are sticking to me, then you'd best stop before that thought leaves your mouth."

It was true that someone might make a snide/silly remark about her being on the receiving end a wet towel or how she resembled that of a downed rat at that moment, but for me, I was thinking a bit beyond snide remarks right then and there. "Now that you mention it...," I said before giving her a sly smirk, but just shook my head at that. "Actually I was thinking about hitting up the showers here at the truck stop." This got Lugia to raise an eyebrow at me in confusion and I nodded to her. "That's right, truck stops are not just for truckers to get something to eat, but they are also used for us to get cleaned up and possibly do some laundry." This seemed to surprise her and I guess I really couldn't blame her after all, as not many people actually think about us truckers and the things that we have to deal with from day to day.

Not much was said between us after that, but once I'd parked the truck and saw that Lugia was about to get out, I furrowed my brow and she stopped on the step. "What's wrong? I thought you said that we were going to take a shower?"

"I did...," I admitted, but still held the furrow in my brow, "but I'm worried about what everyone will think when I ask them for an extra towel for you." I didn't know if Lugia was getting or catching on the same mental train/thought I was having but she stepped back into the truck and gave me a confused look.

"Is there something wrong with us taking a shower together?" She asked as she tugged at her small dress once more, trying to keep it from sticking to her body for the fifth time.

"A little problem..., yes. I heard that not long ago a guy was caught harassing/hurting a young girl." I paused for a moment to try and remember/recall the story I'd heard the last time I'd stopped off at this same truck stop. "It turned out that he'd kidnapped the young girl from her family and had been doing things to her that I dare not mention."

Lugia lowered her head a bit, as if mulling over my words, and a few moments later she raised up her head and looked at me. "I really don't understand what the problem is about me being a little girl and taking a shower with you, but if you think there will be a problem..." She left it at that as she walked into the back, pulled the Velcro curtains closed that separated the front of the truck from the sleeper, and then began to hum to herself. I really didn't understand what she was doing back there, but somewhere in the back of my mind I had a sight feeling that this was going to be either something very interesting or very embarrassing.

(A short time later)

"Well, of course the two of us are together." Lugia said as she clung a little tighter to my arm and gave the cashier a bit of a wink as well as slight giggle.

'Aw man; I should've known something like this was going to happen.' I thought to myself and fought down the urge to face-palm myself. For Lugia had come up with the solution that if there were was a problem with us taking a shower together while she was in her small form, then there shouldn't be one if she were in her more...grown up one. Now, I had this girl who looked like she'd be at home at a high school or college hanging off my arm and looking very pleased to be doing just that. "That's right, the two of us, we just need a shower." I said in a bit of a defeated tone, as if even asking this was a major embarrassment.

"Oh, come on love; don't look at it like that." She then leaned in a little near my shoulder and felt her blow slightly into my ear. "If you're going to be like that, I won't wash your back." She said the last bit a bit louder and I could see the cashier's eyebrow lift slightly in interest.

"Look, can we just get an extra towel please." I said quickly as I just wanted to get out of there and out of this embarrassing situation; though Lugia wasn't going to have that as she quickly hugs me from behind and giggles at the cashier.

A short time later found the two of us in one of the shower rooms. I was taking out my change of clothes and other essentials while Lugia was looking about the place in amazement. "I never thought that truckers would have facilities like these at those truck stops." She says as she fiddles around with the shower knobs.

"Most people really don't give us truckers much thought at all." I place my shampoo and soap on the counter and the rest by the sink. "I mean, who really thinks on how their vegetables move from farms across the US to their nearest grocery store, much less everything else they buy from everywhere else." I sit down on the lip of the sink and regard Lugia. "I mean, truckers spend the majority of their time out there on the road and since we can't just go home each night to take a shower, we depend on places like these truck stops to make sure we don't smell like we've been out on the road for three or four days at a time." (Author: I mean; have you ever smelt someone who's neglected a shower for a week?)

Lugia nodded to that and looked over at me. "What about yourself? Do you ever wish t that you could go home every night and relax in your own bed and shower each night?"

I simply laugh at that and shake my head. "That would be nice, if I had a home to actually go home too." This got Lugia to cock her head to the side and sit down on the stool provided in the shower room for those that chose to use such things while doing whatever.

"I don't think I follow. You do have a home don't you?" She asks to which I simply shake my head. "Surely you don't think the truck is your home." To this I just shrug my shoulders.

"The short version of it is that the place that I used to call home really isn't a place that one would call home. If you wanted to get technical about it, the place I used to live in was more like that of a house than a home." This got Lugia to turn slightly more towards me, slightly more interested in my explanation to what I was talking about. "The best way I can describe it is simply, a house is a place where you go to sleep and such, but a home is where you can fully relax and rewind from the day's activities." This only got her to cock her head the other way that made me smile a bit at how cute it made her look. "Another way to put it would be that I lived in an apartment before I came out here to be a trucker and said apartment was not the type of place one would evenly think of as a home."

"I take it you really didn't like this apartment?" To which I nodded.

"Not really. I mean, the place that I lived in was fine an all, but my neighbors were less than accommodating." I laughed a bit as a memory of my stay in my last apartment filled my head. "The neighbors who lived to my right loved to play heavy metal music almost all hours of the day, and my other neighbors were always smoking something weird that left me feeling hungry most of the time."

With that I slapped my thighs and stood upright. "Well, that's enough talking about the bad old days. Do you want to take a shower first or will I?" This got Lugia to smile as she too stood up and smirked at me.

"Who says that we need to take turns?"

'Ho...boy.'