The woman chuckled. "Ahh, such a rascal you are! OK, I will gladly teach you, but tonight at the end of your shift and no videos. I'm too old for this internet thing and I'd rather promote my diner through more dignified means."
---

In the age of social media and virtual scrapbooks, it was...unusual to see a real one, thick with good ol' polaroid and b/w pictures, handwritten letters taped to the pages.
Portraits of happiness.
A lynx in the arms of an Andean bear. The lynx, a female, sported two prosthetic hands, a 'thank you for life XXXX<3' written in the lower corner of the picture.
A male malinois with artificial legs, bent almost in two in the crushing love-hug of a lion. The lion looked really happy, the poor dog looked like he needed a new backbone. A letter signed 'Bolt' spoke thanks for allowing them to rediscover life as was meant to be (whatever it meant!).
A GSD with a weird-looking visor, now together with a couple of...well, very nice-looking cat girls posing seductively around him. A Great Dane on a wheelchair that had become the mascot of a village in Indonesia...
And so on and on. Furs that had overcome their physical losses, had battled and won over their inner demons. One letter after the other filled with romance found, often with quite the...picant details. As if to prove that what was found again was more than just the feeling...

Only a couple paces into the trip and the duo already did not know where to go, Meeko thought about it though, he could have passed it on his way into town. It was not in between the diner place and home, everything after that was mostly blank. "I know where it is not at." He tried to humor. "It can not be that hard to find though."

"Of course, ma'am," Zachary said, wondering how much he could fit into the late afternoon. Dancing and moving. It was going to be busy. But fun, he hoped, as he got to cleaning the tables with a spray and a rag.

"Did you happen to take jobs like this one, before? You really are a natural at this."

"Oh, no, ma'am," Zachary replied, "but I watched the school cleaners do it all too often." He chuckled. "Guess I picked up some good habits."

"I guess so. And...have you ever considered becoming a pet, yourself?"

Zachary leaned on his brush as he thought back on things. "Ah," he said wistfully, "I used to. Back when I was but a cub with mom, in a hole in the ground, I used to think about the pets in those warm homes, all cosy and safe, and I'd have given my left rear paw to have been one. But now? I'm too used to being independent to have others do thing for me now? Plus I'm no Cub now; I'm a grown Todd who plans to romance fine ladies on our own terms. Owners - or 'parents' - might complicate things. But never say never," he added, "I might get an invite from a trustworthy Human I like."

She nodded. "That's good. You know, it's funny: there are so many humans I know who would just suit you fine, but it's the laws that get in the way. Perhaps your kind of human is someone who...doesn't need to bend to the law, after all."

Zachary snickered at that. "Oh, that'd just end with me in trouble with the law, ma'am!" He began cleaning again. "I've managed to avoid that - mostly - so far. Only animal control have been after me. And some Pandas, of course."

Scotty blushes a little at the contents of the letters and decides to pay more attention to the photos. He can't resist a joke, however.
"So am I to understand that you have a mate for me in here somewhere?" he writes on his pad.

"What's this about a mate?" Francis asks, stepping into the truck. She's dressed casually in jeans, sneakers and a flannelette with the sleeves rolled up. Her damp hair is in a loose ponytail and her ring glitters on its chain around her neck.
"Morning, all. Sorry I'm late."

--------------------
"True." Chris agrees, walking again. "Oh, look, dere's Will. Per'aps 'ell know. Mornin', Will!"

"I won't ask about the pandas...or, perhaps, it's just what you need! Imagine, they got a village, a whole community legally recognized. Why not move there?"
---

Noah beamed at the new arrival. He gave Scotty a hefty pat on his back before saying, "We were talking about all the hearts he's gonna break after I give him his new legs, ma'm. Charmed." He held out his hand.

"Oh, they already approached me," Zachary remarked pleasantly. "The beauteous Aryle, who I mentioned before, approached me last night and offered the invite. I shall be heading over there later to take them up on their kind offer. Before they come to get me." He chuckled. "Both the Beauty and the Beast made the same offer. Who am I to turn down such a summons?"

"That's so nice! And you could also teach them something. After all, who better than a local to teach them some new skills?"

"This is true," Zachary admitted, "although half my skills could end up getting me darted. How about yourself, ma'am? Any humans or animals in your family?"

Star stared at the spot the panda once stood, pondering the scenario he had found himself in, "Well, that was a thing. At least it's something to do." He looked toward the pie in his grasp, the missing slice more precisely, "And apparently there's an income pie tax. Harsh. But if that's all I guess I should look for those pets from yesterday. Not like I have any concrete plans. " Feeling everything had been concluded Star began to walk away from the pizza place, briefly wondering if he could find his way to the house from the previous day, or if the pets would even be there.

"Hardly, I just hadn't had breakfast yet!" The pie said, before a scampering away from the rooftop could be heard.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mitch chuckled.

"Oh now, who's to say he's gonna break ANY hearts? This softy?" Mitch said, then his phone buzzed. He took it out, looked glum, nodded, texted back. He then bowed to the group.

"Well Noah, I best let you get to your work, I trust a flood won't come and draw you away before we get back from the tropics, heh," Mitch said, then he turned to Rikki, Val, and Bel. Putting his hands behind his back and straightening up.

"Eh hem. As per royal order 468, our presence is required back at the village for clothing fitting, brunch, welcome rehearsal, and finally welcoming the newcomers," Mitch said, "Sorry guys, duty calls. We gotta go."

He then bowed to Frances.

"I am most certain your son will find a new life after this, I wish you all the best. I apologize we cannot stay and visit more," Mitch said to her. Then he turned to Scotty.

Good luck!Mitch signed to him. Which was the one thing he made special care to learn for Scotty. He then took Rikki's paw and headed out, waving to Bel and Val to follow.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trello nodded.

"Mink, ferret, rat terrier, all snake killers, all the same to them," Trello said, then she noticed the neighbors standing about, "Say let's go see what's up!" She nodded in their direction and walked over, expecting the mink to follow.

"O-okay." Will nodded as he followed, and waved back at the approaching pets. "G-good morning Chris, Meeko. How has your-"

The entirety of the red pandas words sank in, and the mink did a double take that could have caused whiplash, and his eyes widened in alarm as he looked back at her. "W-wait, WHAT?!" His voice actually squeaked as it rose beyond what he was used to. "A snake killer?! W-what are you talking about? I-I-I would never hurt someone, let alone k-kill them! W-Why would anyone think that of me?" He was honestly shocked, and beyond confused. He abhorred violence; how could anyone think he would willingly cause it?

Dog and wolf both saluted the human in military-style. The man returned the gesture.
Then Valiant put his paws on Scotty's shoulders. "I'm leaving you with the best of the best. You can trust him all the way. Except jet packs. If he proposes you a jet pack, just say no, hm? See you later!" and off he ran, with Noah saying "That was just once! And I improved the prototype after that!"
"Well, our first official duties," Belisarius said. "What's this...'fitting' thing?"
---

"Well, my latest husband died of a heartstroke some year ago. Never remarried. And that left me with this big house, a garden, a den of mice, some rabbits, and a hawk."

"Sounds nice," Zachary said, swinging his broom lightly. "Last thing you'd need is a Fox, eh? I move in," he added cheekily, a twinkle in his eye, "and there's suddenly less Mice and Rabbits. Well, Mice anyway. Rabbits tend to know Kick Boxing or fast running."

The woman chuckled. "More likely, one fox less: Seviglia, that's the hawk, thinks every mouse of the house is her hatchling. She is *quite* protective of them. And yes, the rabbits are good in self-defense. I sent them to training courses at the K9U."

Scotty grins as his chair rolls forward a couple of inches under the force of the pat. He waves goodbye to Mitch, Val and Bel and hello to his owner.
"What did Mitch say?" he writes to Jason, "I don't know sign language." The cat looks apologetic.

"Ah, I see. Call me Frances. Ma'am is my grandmo-" Frances pauses to smother a yawn. "Grandmother. Sorry, I haven't had my coffee this morning. I need to go to the store at some stage to buy some. We only moved in yesterday so I can't offer you anything other than water, sorry. But I can make it any temperature you like." she grins, shaking Jason's hand warmly.

--------------------
Chris stops by the mink and panda and tilts her head in confusion.
"What's goin' on? Please calm down, Will. I don't fink she meant to upset you."

Meeko nodded at the idea to go say hello to Will, though the red panda made him a little more uncomfortable and on guard. He almost would have laughed at the generalization that came with Trello's greeting if it was not for Will's poor reaction to it. Which kind of showed that one should not do that kind of thing, yet Meeko stood there unknowingly being a little hypocritical judging all the red panda's based off the actions of a few. Though he was wise enough to keep his mouth shut to keep from saying the wrong thing that would make things worse than they were or should be.

Mitch giggled. The poor wolf!

"OH you're gonna be in for a treat! Well, to show that we've come around from not being wandering about the woods anymore and actually trying to have a civilization, we need to put a best foot forward. So we want to present security, safety, and prosperity for the newcomers," Mitch said, "So we need to make a good show and we need to, well, dress well."

"We don't wear clothing all the time, since, we're an animal nation, but we ought to on special occasions like this," Mitch said, "We don't know what clothing sizes you guys are, so we need to figure that out and you guys need some time to figure out how you want to look. I hope you guys are ready to live by a schedule, heh, and at least, TRY to be complacent in it. Speaking of trying to be impressive." They were in the Leone's backyard when he stopped the group, and made a hand signal in the air. The yard was suddenly filled with pandas! One column of 5 Left Guards, marched towards the group and lined up on their right. All cloaked, hooded, armed, and armored. They stood silently, waiting for the progression. Then ANOTHER column of 5 Right Guards, marched to and lined up on their opposite side. Both elite guard units were armed similarly, with the exception of the rights having uzis and the left having rifles. NOT to mention the traditional crossbow.

As if that wasn't enough, two more columns of panda regulars came out of the woods. These were armed with just crossbows and carried packs and wore pith like helmets. These lined up next to the elites on either side. Last but not least, Anthweather and two of her assistants came from behind the house and positioned themselves at the rear. The whole group bowed to the four of them. Mitch turned to Rikki blushing.

"Not that we need it, but we do need to show a show of force," he said, "Considering the present climate and circumstances and all and. Um. Impressed? Eh heh."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trello gently collected Meeko's flailing arms and gently held them steady in her paws.

"Oh heavens sweetie, no, dearest, no," She said to him in a soothing tone, "But that makes NO difference to your prey. If the two of you, a snake and a mink, were out in the wild hunting, the snake would make every effort to either avoid, or kill you. It doesn't matter if you as an individual would not, if the prey thinks you're a threat, you're on their hit list. I guess yesterdays snakes decided to take things a little too far. It wasn't your fault, just what you happen to be, dear heart."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The pizza diner suddenly gets a phone call.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Way out on the highway. A bus driver announces that they will be making their stop in two hours. The bus was part of a caravan of four. 375 new souls were heading towards the little panda village. The village was ready, but that was still a lot. The buses mostly had pandas in them. But there were others. Rescued pets. Orphaned animals. Hitchhiking furs that decided to start a new life. And abandoned zoo animals of all species. Heading towards a little place they hoped to call home.

"Is there pizza there?"
"Is it warm?"
"Dad, you gonna join the army?"
"When's the next potty break?"
"For the last time, we're gonna eat in two hours, be civilized and check your instinct!"
"Has anyone seen my mom?"
"Can we turn on some music?"
"They don't hate cards there do they?"
"WHAT DID I TELL YOU?! Spit her out RIGHT NOW!"
"Sorry I'm hungry!"
"Check your doggy bags on the side of your chairs please people. There are snacks."
"Wait, you mean food's so plentiful you can leave it lying in bags on the floor?"
"Erm, kinda?"
"Oh my dog!"


And on the conversation went between the animals.

And to the woman, grinning, "No worries about that, hold it a sec," he lifted his head and shouted, "JIMBO! Coffe for the lady now!"
A moment later, the head of a young asian man, black short hair, thin eyebrows, peeked out from the stairs. "Coming down, sensei!"
Jason nodded to his guest. Aki Jimbo, wunderkid at his tech courses at University of Tokyo. Started working under Dr. Volken in CyberIntel Warfare division before deciding that he liked more the idea of recovering lives rather than wasting them...Ahh, now that is THE lifesaver." a thermos dropped down and into his hand. he grabbed it without even looking, as if he had done it many times already. he then passed it to Frances. "Here. Down this and you won't have to sleep for the whole day. You'll need it after all, so much excitement awaits you guys."
---

Both dog and wolf nodded.
"Impressive, indeed. And well-disciplined, too..." Valiant also put a mental note to self: ask how the heck did they get customized automatic fire weapons fit for their size. Red Pandas could be recognized as a nation upon themselves, but those kind of weapons were another league. The police dog in him wanted to know more, at least to reassure himself, but he would NOT spoil the moment with an interrogation, especially not on these days, and NOT in front of everyone. Mitch was a Prince, his rank was not to be questioned!
Belisarius wagged his tail, "You are so well-equipped! My pack would love to be part of your guard, I am sure! Oh, and we like to wear some decorative jewelry and body paint. Right, luv?"
Valiant shook himself focused on the matter at hand. "Wut? Oh yes! I mean, I never saw myself in a suit, but if you have a better idea on our looks for the ceremonial, we will comply. As long amy wuff keeps looking hot. I don't want to see him covered head to toe in a robe."
---

The diner's owner sighed. "Job's calling. And when you're done, wash your paws and come get some grub." She went and picked up the phone. "Hello? how may I help you?"

"Of course, ma'am," Zachary replied,getting back to work. He took a small piece of crust he'd found on a table and tossed it, surreptitiously, down to a Mouse he'd seen in the corner. When the rodent grabbed the bread, he propelled it out, carefully, with the broom and brushed on.

"W-wait, so are you saying wild m-minks hunt snakes? Like, t-to eat? Naturally?" The mink felt weird hearing this. A part of him felt sick at the thought of killing anything, even for food; he tended to avoid meat entirely when choosing his own food, though he never really mentioned it, and he ate it when it was served by others. Killing for for it himself was to much.

A smaller part of him, however, was... awed at this. He had been born as prey, raised as prey, and would have died as prey if not for a lucky escape. To hear that to at least one species, he was a predator... it was almost incomprehensible.

Finally, he felt guilt, and it was this feeling that managed to make it's way into his next words. "I-is the snake okay, then?" he questioned. "I'd like to a-apologize to it, if possible."

"Hello miss, this is Village Of Grandestaffe Catering calling, may I speak to the owner or management please?" The voice on the other end stated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mitch sighed, then gave the signal to move forward, and the troops followed his lead as he walked ahead.

"I guess it will take a while to change that perception of us, sigh," then he turned to the wolf-dog, "All legal of course bro. A little trade agreement with a certain island nation with which we will become intimately familiar with tomorrow. Merriweather was the among the first nations to recognize our official status. And trust me, once you see him in these classic robes, you might change your mind, heh."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"They are in Animal Patrol waiting relocation. And it wouldn't matter if you did or not," Trello said, "Even though YOU, as a person did nothing wrong to it, it will still hate you no matter what you say or do."

"Speaking of doing, I DO happen to know where the pet store is! It's on my route, come on follow me!" She said, walking along the sidewalk.

"Oh. I couldn't drink your coffee. You probably need it more than me. Why don't I knock on Mama Leone's door? I'm sure she'll lend us some. I take it from your smile that it's good news about Scotty?"
The cat watches from his chair, eager to hear the verdict.

--------------------
"Oh, you 'eard dat? OKay, fanks... Er, sorry. Which panda was you? I met so many yesterday I've ravver lost track... Did you wanna come to da pet store, Will? We're gonna get Meeko a collar an' tag. An' da panda's right. Don' worry about da snakes. Dey're fine. It ain't your fault 'cause dey attacked you an' anyway, dey're resilient."

"You are talking with her. Would you like to place an order?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh. I see. Sorry, it's just that I hadn't imagined Mr. Spencers -the President, not *that* Spencer- trading in weapons. But after all, who else would have them customized for your size?"
---

"Ahh, her famous homebrewed espresso, of course! That's unfair competition, you know. And as for the news, I guess it would be considered criminal to hold them any longer, so...behold..." He produced a small white remote, pushed a button...*Beep*
A panel in the far end of the wall opened and a whirr of wheels announced one...quite peculiar wheelchair, a concentrate of electronics, shiny white, beeping with a funny claxon sound.

"Scotty, Frances, Meet...Eddy. The first convertible wheelchair exoskeleton. With vocal commands incorpoprated. Eddy, transform!" And with a whirr of circuits and mechanisms, the chair's front end assumed the aspect of an exoskeleton ready to walk.
Jason turned to his client. "Detachable exoskeleton, battery life of 6 hours walking, multimedia, wifi. So, kitty boy, ready to train for your new life?"

"Well it WAS also partially run through Korea and Japan as well," Mitch said, "They had a thing for miniaturization so their help was welcome. Not all of it is miniaturized though. Eventually we'll make the stuff ourselves, but it doesn't hurt to have early trade partners." They passed a digging crew making holes in the ground, who moved and bowed to the group as they passed. Mitch looked at Rikki.

"Sadly, electricity is one of the last few things that will get in," he said, "At least, not for another month." There was also a couple human contractors who nodded towards the group then went back to their papers. He looked ahead, then back to her.

"You know what one thing scares me? I don't know if it's scare, but it stresses me a bit," He asked her.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Oh good, yes, yes I do. We are going to need to feed at least 175 animals in a couple hours. I apologize this is on such a short notice. We will pay extra for the shortness of time though. You are able to complete such a job yes?" The voice replied.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trello paused and turned.

"Well yes dear, it's not like there's walls around people when they talk in an open space," she said, smiling, "The name's Trello. But ya know Will, Animal Patrol is right in front of the shopping centers. So if you do want to try to talk to it, we might try to look into it."

"What would that be, my Prince?" Rikki asked him back.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The woman's eyes widened as she blanched. Remotely, she felt happy that her interlocutor couldn't see her while she made mental calculations... Then she nodded. "You got it. 2 hours and a half, tops, to make them, then a van will come to deliver. Where to?"

"I have honestly no idea where we are going to live," Mitch said, "I mean, we've talked about it briefly, but, I honestly have no idea."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Oh, no delivery, we'll be sending the patrons there," the panda stated.

"The others are eating at the local mall food court and some wanted pizza, since they've never had it before, so, oh I'm sorry, but no," the panda said, catching her excitement, "Oh, provided you can host at least a portion of that number, of course. There are some willing to wait and take their turns. The others have moved in front of the line."

"You mean...you and I? I thought we'd live at your village." Rikki felt out of her league, this was...unexpected, and she didn't even know what to suggest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The woman chuckled. "Mister, I got spare tables, spare chairs, a ballroom that gets rarely used, and I used to serve whole movie troupes. So bring them on. All of them. You won't get a better pizza than here, and I'll make sure to have my place booked for y'all. Just spread the word and lead the horde, we're starting cooking them *now*"

Guessing as to what he was about to be told, Zachary started bringing some of the spare chairs out from the back and began dusting them off. "There may be trouble ahead," he began, singing in a low voice and almost getting the right notes.

"Excellent, Zach," she said to the fox, while waiting for her interlocutor to speak. "And an extra couple of hands at the service will do as well, after you're done with those!"

Meeko looked at Chris, guess they would be following Trello to get to the pet store. Which finding out that would be going by the animal control place all he could think to expect was another overuse of force to put him down. He looked at Will to see if he would be joining them with his own goal to possibly see the snake that caused quite a bit of trouble yesterday.

Zachary clapped his handpaws together. "Excellent," he said with a modicum of enthusiasm, "I'm not bad on reading and writing but any chance to practice is welcome." He headed off to get more chairs.

Mitch took a quick look at her, oh dear. He gently kissed her on the muzzle.

"That's the problem," Mitch said, "The YOU and I. I thought we might live in the palace for a little bit. But once we get lines down and the generator running we could set up anywhere. We've got a lot more space around us then JUST the village. Heck we could even move in to town even with our legal status. We could build a house in the nation somewhere or in the capitol. And even though I'M thinking all these plans I haven't paused and thought and oh, I should talk to the person I'm going to be living where SHE would want to live. So, for that I'm sorry. Where did you imagine we'd be living?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Then we'll fill it all," the interlocutor exclaimed, "Thank you miss. Our dietary expert will be at the backdoor with our orders, and your checks, in 15 minutes. That should give you enough time to sit down for a small break or such. Thank you again. Good bye." And with that, the call was over.

"Fine. We'll be waiting." She hung up

"I see. I will give you a pre-printed block of of orders, so that you must only flag what the clients will ask and in what number. Will that help? Oh, and we have a 15 minutes extra."
---

"Call me corny, but...with you? Mitch, for how much important this ceremony is going to be for both of us, it's more important to me that I took a vow already: To honor our bonding. Between the two of us, you are the royal blood, you will be called to take the most important decisions, and you will be needing a supportive spouse.
"So, don't fret on my account. I will live at your side, wherever you want to. But there *is* one thing, though..." She smiled amiably while leaning her head on his shoulder

"Well, I know dat. I just... Didn't fink I was dat loud... Sorry. Anyway, fanks, Trello. I'm Chris an' dis is Meeko. So... Did ya wanna come wiv us or do you 'ave your own fings ta do today?"

--------------------
Scotty nods eagerly.
"But will it be that noisy every time?" he writes jokingly.
"I take it you've got some way for him to control it that doesn't involve voice commands?" Frances asks. "And is there some way to make it safe so not just anyone can use the commands? I'd hate for someone to say the wrong thing as Scotty walks down the street and have him collapse. That thing looks heavy..."