Differntials: Part 15 - Playful Shenanigans
#17 of Differentials
Hello everyone, this part is nice and fluffy and non-depressing so don't complain that I don't listen to your complaints. Hope you enjoy :3 -
-
Liz stood there, gently rubbing the fox's shoulder as she wondered what had made the fox act in such a manner. She had never seen him be aggressive before, and didn't have any definite idea of what could have caused it.
It could just have been that the stress of the last few days had built up and just escaped right now. However, Liz had a bigger suspicion that it was something to do with the fox's trip into town. Maybe he was upset at how much discrimination there was between Humans and Reklan in town, or maybe the Reklan that showed them around had tried to convince them that all Humans were monsters. There were so many possibilities and Liz was getting nowhere with them, so she decided just to ask the fox outright.
"Why did you do that?", Liz asked in as kind a voice as possible.
The fox's body tensed up. It was a while before he answered, and when he did, it was only a whisper.
"I saw a burning", the fox stuttered, trying his hardest not to remember anything more but failing miserably as more images cascaded into his mind.
Liz's heart went out to the poor fox. She herself had never seen one, as she made sure that all her trips into town would miss the execution times. However, a few times when they were off schedule she had to walk around town while hearing the cries of pain coming from the platform, trying her hardest not to picture what might be happening there.
"Oh, you poor things!", Liz exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around the two foxes, startling them both. "You must know that we're never going to let something like that happen to you, alright? Now I won't ask you anything more about what happened. I understand that these experiences are the ones that are best left at the back of your head where you don't remember them."
The foxes nodded dumbly as Liz released the impromptu hug.
"We were hoping that you would get back later than you did so that we would have an excuse to give the rest of the day off, but you can't really do that when you have half of the day left to spend", Dan explained. "That pile of plants you made in the garden needs to be put in the back of the car so that we can take them to the dump. After that we could probably have you to help clean the house."
So the four of them stood up and went outside to carry out the job.
-
It was a simple procedure and had only taken ten minutes at the most, half of which was probably spent trying to compact the brambles enough so that the boot of the car would actually close on them. They were just about to go inside when they saw a lorry pull up on the road in front of the house.
It was a dark blue lorry with a picture of a bed printed on the side with the words 'Heavenly Bedz' printed underneath, with 'z's trailing up in a wavy line while gradually getting smaller, starting from the letter 'z' in 'Bedz'.
Both of the foxes were excited as Dan turned around and approached the men coming out of the lorry. The fox could see Dan talk with one of them for a bit and then Dan signed a piece of paper the man produced from a folder. As soon as Dan did that the man along with two other men opened up the back of the lorry and brought out a large bed.
Voss was excited. This was his bed! The fox thanked luck for giving him such kind owners. They could have easily made the two foxes sleep on the floor, or on the cheapest bed that they could find, but the men took out a thick mattress and parts for the frame which would easily have enough space for both of them with an extra metre to spare. Once the delivery men had put bed in the foxes' room and left, Dan spoke to the foxes.
"I'll set up the bed while Liz can show you what to do to clean the house", he explained.
The foxes nodded okay as Dan disappeared into the room while Liz took charge. She opened a cupboard full of cleaning equipment and explained what to do with each thing, and she soon had the foxes working at maximum efficiency. They cleared out the rubbish laying about, they vacuumed the floor, and had wiped down surfaces in record times, amazing Liz at their speed and ability. However, by then the vixen was getting a bit bored, so she tried to make it more interesting.
-
The two were in the middle of dusting the furniture in the guest room when the fox saw a feather duster reach out from behind his line of sight and brush against his nose, making him sneeze. He turned around and saw the vixen with a grin on her face.
"You look funny when you sneeze", the vixen commented. "Your nose scrunches up like this", she said as she pulled a face at the fox.
The fox couldn't help but smile himself. The vixen looked rather funny when she pulled that face, showing him her impression of what he supposedly looked like when he sneezed. Maybe he should see how she looked when she sneezed as well.
"Give me that!", the fox yipped playfully as he tried to grab the feather duster from the vixen's hands, but the vixen swished it out of the way of his grasping hands.
The vixen was now holding the feather duster like a person would hold a sword when fencing, waving it in patterns before she struck again, tickling the tip of his nose and making him sneeze a second time.
"That's unfair", the fox exclaimed as he dodged another of the vixen's attacks. "All I have is this", he said as he held out a floppy yellow dusting cloth.
"I know, isn't it fun!", the vixen said as she prepared to make another lunge.
The fox decided to take the initiative. He had to disarm her in some way, and he knew how. As the vixen extended the feather duster forward, instead of having it tickle his nose, the fox took it in his mouth. It wasn't the most pleasant of tastes, a mix between the taste of dust and and the taste of the various cleaning agents the duster was stored with, but the fox now had it in his grasp.
The fox pulled his head back, removing the cleaning implement from the vixen's hands before pouncing on her. He attacked the vixen's face with his dusting cloth, rubbing it in before swiping it along her nose, causing her to sneeze in the same way that she had caused the fox to sneeze before.
"You're right, we do look funny when we sneeze", the fox conceded before they both burst into laughter at their situation.
Here they were, at the age of sixteen, messing around with feather dusters like little kits in a playroom. The fox got up from the vixen, feeling better about himself. No matter how inappropriate the timing was of the vixen's 'play times', they always seemed to bring a smile to his face.
They turned the rest of the dusting that day into a competition to see who made the other sneeze the most, the game becoming extremely competitive when either Liz or Dan were with them. They would try to make the other sneeze without letting Liz or Dan see that it was them doing it, giggling like children when one of them made a remark about their noses being very sensitive to dust. If either of the Humans noticed what the two foxes were doing, which they probably did, they didn't take it upon themselves to ruin the foxes' fun.
-
By the time the whole house was clean it was nearly five o'clock in the afternoon. All four residents of the house sat down together on the sofas and faced each other.
"That was a great job you did there", Liz remarked. "Even if you did sneeze a lot."
Both foxes inwardly giggled at the statement, smiles on their faces as Liz continued talking.
"Dan has managed to get your new bed set up, so I think he deserves a thank you, for both setting up the bed and buying it in the first place."
Voss and Fionn simultaneously gave an enthusiastic 'Thank you, Dan'. They were more than happy to thank both Liz and Dan for everything they had done for them. They had given them their own room, bed and money; had let them have free time and had also been emotionally kind and understanding as well.
"Here's ten credits each for your work this afternoon, make sure to put them in your money pots so you don't lose them. They're in your room, along with some sheets for your bed. I'm going to be making dinner now, and you can go to you room and do whatever you want until I call you.
The foxes made their way upstairs to their room. It still looked rather empty, but now there was a bed in it, and that was all that was really needed for it to function as a bedroom. The fox noticed the two glass pots in one of the corners on top of a pile of bedding. The fox reached into his pocket to pull out what was now thirty credits, all belonging to him, and slotted them into the top of his pot, seeing the vixen wander over and do the same.
They then placed down the pots and arranged the bedding, putting each layer of material onto the bed until there was no longer a pile on the floor. The bed looked very comfortable, and the fox wished he could just fall asleep on it right now, and then realised that he could do that. Liz had said that they could do anything, as long as they came down when she called.
The fox lay down on the bed, closed his eyes and waited for the voice of Liz to call him down to dinner.