HPU: Sunset Plateau

[xhunterko]

Mitch squirted a large helping of the shampoo on one hand.

"I do hope you forgive my clumsiness," Mitch said, "I am quite unversed in the finesse of black ferret and feminine body washing. So." He then set the bottle back in the net, lathered some in his hands, and quickly started on her back. Doing her torso first. Although it was done in a slight hurry.
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"There there, hang on," Michael said. He set down his weapon and reached into his smaller medicine bag. Pulling out ankle strips and some herbs. He wrapped it around Chris's ankle, but not too tightly, and secured it, stuffing some herbs inside. He then handed her a couple herb leaves.

"Should take care of the pain," Michael said.

[valerio]

Mitch squirted a large helping of the shampoo on one hand.
"I do hope you forgive my clumsiness," Mitch said, "I am quite unversed in the finesse of black ferret and feminine body washing. So." He then set the bottle back in the net, lathered some in his hands, and quickly started on her back. Doing her torso first. Although it was done in a slight hurry.

A shiver ran down Rikki's body, at the same time a happy sigh escaping her lips.
It was so...good, she could cry with joy. Val had described her such moments when Bel washed him, and...This was as she had expected it and more. "You...I knew you had a soft touch, but...This is so wonderful..."

[Hlaoroo]

"Italy had an empire of her own? I always thought she was part of the Ottoman Empire in the time of the wars." Frances queries, confused.
Scotty holds up his pad, the words "What's 'Cameraty?" written thereon, the cat having taken a stab at the spelling of the foreign word.
"So did Cinzia support the regime? Or was she just forced to work for them, kinda like conscription in a domestic sense? Sorry if I'm asking too many questions."
"She's not sorry. She's an author. It's her job to be nosy." says Scotty's pad as the cat wears a cheeky grin.

--------------------
"Oh, I'm a dab 'and at conjuring and card tricks." Derek says in an off-hand manner. Pouring some water into his glass, he makes as though to splash the pair with his full glass but instead of water, the two animals are showered with confetti.
"Chris was always da bet'er performer dough. She knows 'ow ta captivate and work 'er audience. I never quite worked dat bit out. You should see 'er on stage wiv all 'er props an' equipment dough! It'll blow yer mind!"

--------------------
Chris sniffs at the leaves. "Erm... Do I eat 'em or just chew 'em or what? Erm, fanks, by da way. Erm... Would yer mind if'n I leaned on ya, jest until we get ta somewhere I can rest me paw?"

[valerio]

"Italy had an empire of her own? I always thought she was part of the Ottoman Empire in the time of the wars." Frances queries, confused.
Scotty holds up his pad, the words "What's 'Cameraty?" written thereon, the cat having taken a stab at the spelling of the foreign word.
"So did Cinzia support the regime? Or was she just forced to work for them, kinda like conscription in a domestic sense? Sorry if I'm asking too many questions."
"She's not sorry. She's an author. It's her job to be nosy." says Scotty's pad as the cat wears a cheeky grin.

Elio shook his head at her question. "Actually, The Turks came to brush our lands in the South-eastern regions of our country, but never managed to settle. In fact, their attempt to attack from the Mediterranean Sea was stopped at Lepanto and they were chased away. Since then, they mainly focused their expansion in Eastern Europe and toward north. Best they could do was to take Nizza and the Corsica. As for our Empire? Well, we started with the taking of Assab, in Eritrea, in 1882, but when we could call ourselves an Empire, we owned Libya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Dodecanneso and Albania. But what we didn't know back then, and what we refused to learn for many decades after the war, was that our wars of conquest consisted in things that would've made the nazis proud...not to mention what we did to the local populations thereafter." Elio sighed. "But who cared, then? We had our Empire, we were strong, we could challenge the big shots..." then he turned his attention to Scotty. "Oh, sorry: 'Camerati' is the plural for the word 'Comrade', yes, like the Russian word. But it had nothing to do with the Communist word, no. Ours was more militaristic, a homage to the Fascism's military origins." Then he smiled at the last two questions.
"In a way, we all supported the regime. Father discovered how wrong he was before Cinzia, that's all.
"You see, before 1938, when the Fascist Racial Laws were issued, we had Jews in our staff, and several of my father's financial supporters and customers were Jews as well. In one year, it all had to come to an end. We were forced to cut down our staff, we lost old friends and never heard from them again...But, right then, what was worse, father lost a lot of money to help him with the baths. Sure, the Regime confiscated his friends' money, but without any business to support it, it was destined to run out. And we never had enough new customers to make up for it...In other words, we were running fro bankruptcy. Father decided then to sell everything to his old competitors, on the condition that we could keep working there and earn an honest living. It was very hard on him, believe me, girl, but at least he made sure we didn't go poor, which was his real nightmare.
"The good side of the deal was that I was sent back home to do my share of the job. And, as I said, it was then that I met the new staff. In particular, a certain cute new member..." He threw a love-filled glance at his wife.

[SuperStar]

"Oh, I'm a dab 'and at conjuring and card tricks." Derek says in an off-hand manner. Pouring some water into his glass, he makes as though to splash the pair with his full glass but instead of water, the two animals are showered with confetti.
"Chris was always da bet'er performer dough. She knows 'ow ta captivate and work 'er audience. I never quite worked dat bit out. You should see 'er on stage wiv all 'er props an' equipment dough! It'll blow yer mind!"

Blay winced, but instead of finding himself wet again, some confetti found it's way to his face. He opened his eyes and saw what happened. "Wow, nice job." Blay said after processing it. "I imagine she may do a better job at grabbing attention because she's a dog, or just that she's an animal. I think all humans know that a cute animal tends to lure attention more than some man. Eh, no offense Mr. Martin."

[hypernovatic]

Moon was trying to listen to the conversation going on, but noticed her tail and tried to pounce on it.

[xhunterko]

"Says you," Mitch said with a grin, "You're the wonderful one." He then finished her legs and tail. Then grabbed a brush for the feet, underarms, and the rest of her.
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"Take two and call me in the morning, heh," Michael said, carefully watching as Meeko was lifted back on the stretcher.

"It's like an aspirin," Michael said, handing her his water bottle, "If you can move we should head along."

[valerio]

"Says you," Mitch said with a grin, "You're the wonderful one." He then finished her legs and tail. Then grabbed a brush for the feet, underarms, and the rest of her.

Rikki offered him her foot first. "Val never made me giggle. Let's see if you can do better than him." She wiggled her toes. "Are you sure you didn't...serve any other ladies before me? You really know too well how to make feel one good." She winked at the red panda

[xhunterko]

Mitch gently brushed her foot paw briefly with a sigh.

"Time, love," he said, then he squirted one more dollop on a paw and placed it on her head fur, "Don't forget to close your eyes." He waited a moment for her to do so, then started.

[Pecan]

Will flinched at the 'water' as well, if you could call nearly falling over and covering his head with his arms simply flinching. When instead of getting wet, some bits of paper fell on him, he chanced a look. At seeing the confetti, the mink flushed red. "I-I-I'm sorry for that," he mumbled, righting himself up again. "It w-w-was just... instinct."

[Hlaoroo]

"Heh, sorry. P'r'aps I shoulda warned ya. Like I said, Chris is better at readin' 'er audience. Heh, no offence taken, Blay. Yer right that animal performances do 'ave a certain... Charm dat human performances lack... So what do youse guys like doin' fer fun?"

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Scotty nods in understanding and then listens as Elio continues talking.
"That was very brave of your father." Frances says solemnly. "But who was this new staff member?" she queries, feigning ignorance.

--------------------
"All right. Fanks." Chris swallows the leaf and washes it down with the bottle, pulling a face. "Gah. Bitter. Fanks dough." The spaniel tests her paw again.
"Yeah, I can walk. Just not very fast." setting her jaw, Chris hobbles after the pandas.

[xhunterko]

"Not a problem," Michael said, then they walked forward a little bit more, then they were only a few feet away from the doors. The troop walked aside out of the road a bit, setting down the captive.

"Now, he should be coming around," Michael said, "If not we can wait or, oh, oh excuse us miss." Suddenly all the pandas bowed, standing in a line. The reason why became clear. Cause, behind them, as if it hadn't made a noise or moved rather fast, though being drawn by a bear, was plausible, was a rickshaw with the royal couple, and their entourage and guard. For a total of 6 red panda. The rickshaw was ground to a halt.

"Oh dear, are you all right dear?" The female asked Chris, leaning in her direction with nothing but concern in her voice.

[valerio]

Scotty nods in understanding and then listens as Elio continues talking.
"That was very brave of your father." Frances says solemnly. "But who was this new staff member?" she queries, feigning ignorance.

"Oh, he's playing it nice, *now* Cinzia chimed in, bringing new expresso cups, one for her husband and one for Frances. But he wasn't so nice first time he spoke to me. And don't you give me that look: you still can't pretend you got a faulty memory."
---

Mitch gently brushed her foot paw briefly with a sigh.
"Time, love," he said, then he squirted one more dollop on a paw and placed it on her head fur, "Don't forget to close your eyes." He waited a moment for her to do so, then started.

"Wish I had learned to be more...social. You will forgive me if I slip in my manners, sometimes, will you?"

[Pecan]

Will gave himself a few more moments to let his heartbeat settle before answering. "I l-like to write," he finally answered. "F-fiction, mostly."

[SuperStar]

"Heh, sorry. P'r'aps I shoulda warned ya. Like I said, Chris is better at readin' 'er audience. Heh, no offence taken, Blay. Yer right that animal performances do 'ave a certain... Charm dat human performances lack... So what do youse guys like doin' fer fun?"

"Well... I'm very much an indoors person. So most of what I do is with electronics. You know, computers, video games, those sort of things."Blay said with a little embarrassment, after hearing what Will had to say.

[hypernovatic]

Moon found a little ball of fuzz on the carpet and picked it up. She sniffed it, walked over to Scotty and tapped on the arm of the wheelchair. "I got tis fur yu." Moon said, smiling as she raised the fuzz ball up for Scotty to see.

[Civilization]

Meeko continued to feel in between the two very uncomfortable points, though one was getting stronger than the other. Must be reality. He realized with that thought that he was conscious, and that he couldn't remember if he had dreamed or not, or if he was even asleep. His everything tingled so strongly it also hurt still, and his snout also felt more sore than the other parts of what made his body.

He tried to move, everything tingled stronger, but no success in movement from what he was aware of. He managed to open his eyes though with some work, exposing him to the colorful world that was definitely the woods and sky. Must have slept on a rock too. Then it hit him of everything before blanking out, Oh that better not have been a dream, it couldn't have been. What could it have been, it repeated a few times. Though he was too uncomfortable to focus for long on it, had to wake up his body first. "Hrm-erm." He quietly murmured to himself as he tried unsuccessfully to get up, feeling nauseated didn't help with that.

[Hlaoroo]

"Thanks, Mama." Frances sips the coffee and then picks up her notepad again.
"So Papa Elio was a bit cheeky at first, was he?" she queries with a smile.

Scotty, meanwhile smiles at Moon and gives her a thumbs up by way of thanks as he accepts the fuzz. Setting the gift aside, he leans slightly out and picks up the kitten, settling her in his lap, and affectionately ruffles her ears before relaxing and turning his attention back to the story.

--------------------
Chris takes in the rickshaw, the reaction of the pandas and the size of the bear and immediately realises the gravity of the situation. This must be someone pretty powerful, if not the queen herself. Unsure of the proper rank or title, the spaniel after a brief hesitation decides on using a general yet respectful form of address. She bows and holds the position, emulating the pandas.
"Aye, Ma'am. I'll be fine. It's just a twisted ankle. Fanks fer askin'." Suddenly the spaniel's attention is drawn to the litter and the ferret thereupon.
"Meeko! Are you okay? Just lie dere fer a while. You was 'it wiv' somefink pretty powerful. Er, sorry, Ma'am." the spaniel bows again.
"I didn't mean ta be rude and ditch ya or nuffink."

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"Oh cool, Blay. Chris does most o' me compu'er stuff. I can do what I need fer work an' dat's about it. What sort o' fiction do yer write, Will? I do love a good read an' I admire dose what can write. I was never crea'ive enough fer dat. Chris writes a lot o' our dialogue fer da shows too."

[xhunterko]

Nora smiled at the spaniel with the concern for her companion.

"None to worry," she said, hopping down to the floor. Benjamin jerked up to stop her.

"Dear!" He said concerned.

"A little hop won't hurt anything love," she said, then she looked over Meeko.

"What exactly happened to him dear? Maybe our shaman could help?" Nora asked.
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"Oh, trust me, I don't think you'll have a problem," Mitch said to Rikki, finishing her head fur, rinsing her face off best he could.

"There, there's beautiful done," Mitch said, then he plopped some soap in his hands and worked on his head fur.

"I like to start up top first," Mitch said.

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"Help yourself, just don't go inta houses uninvited, it's ain't nice," a red panda, slightly older, in a bath towel, said to Albert, from behind him.

[hypernovatic]

Scotty, meanwhile smiles at Moon and gives her a thumbs up by way of thanks as he accepts the fuzz. Setting the gift aside, he leans slightly out and picks up the kitten, settling her in his lap, and affectionately ruffles her ears before relaxing and turning his attention back to the story.

Moon giggles as she is picked up, swishing her tail happily. She purrs deeply and twitches her ears, nuzzling Scotty's cheek as she wraps her tail around her paws.

[valerio]

"Thanks, Mama." Frances sips the coffee and then picks up her notepad again.
"So Papa Elio was a bit cheeky at first, was he?" she queries with a smile.
Scotty, meanwhile smiles at Moon and gives her a thumbs up by way of thanks as he accepts the fuzz. Setting the gift aside, he leans slightly out and picks up the kitten, settling her in his lap, and affectionately ruffles her ears before relaxing and turning his attention back to the story.

Elio scoffed. "Well, we had just lost our business to the regime, and she was part of the staff put in place of our own people by the gerarchi...*and* her family was very devoted to the regime..." and then he was interrupted by his wife.
Oh, please! As if *that* had come up right away! You were too busy helping your parents to even take notice of me, and when you did you could barely keep yourself serious between wooing and preaching." Cinzia winked at Frances. "Truth is, poor Elio was like any young, full-blooded Italian boy, too grown up in the body for his own good."
"Strega," the old man muttered.
---

"Oh, trust me, I don't think you'll have a problem," Mitch said to Rikki, finishing her head fur, rinsing her face off best he could.
"There, there's beautiful done," Mitch said, then he plopped some soap in his hands and worked on his head fur.
"I like to start up top first," Mitch said.

Rikki just sat in front of him, slightly bent forward, an elbow resting on her leg and her chin on her palm. "Wanna some help there, or may I treat myself with best eye candy ever?" she asked with a delighted sigh and a dreamy expression. Gender parity the heck!, right now she wanted to swoon and go all pretty princess and the stuff...

[Pecan]

"M-mostly Low Fantasy," Will answered, "Though I've d-done a little High Fantasy." He cringed slightly as he thought on a particular piece he had written once. "I-i, er... t-tried Sci-fi once. That didn't go v-very well."

[Hlaoroo]

"Hehe. So what were you like back in the day, Mama? Were you the typical Italian girl, whatever that might be?"

Scotty smiles as he's nuzzled, lifting his chin slightly to keep Moon away from his mouth, and offers her his pad and pen so she can do some drawing while the grown-ups talk.

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"'E was shot wiv tranquilliser darts by panda guards. 'E's a stray, see, an' I was about ta adopt 'im, but apparently youse guys 'ave some agreement wiv animal control ta remove strays and make 'em choose what dey wanna do out 'ere in da woods." Chris pauses and scratches the back of her head slightly awkwardly.
"Erm... Yeah, so I guess we're goin' wherever da guards are takin' 'im an' we'll see what 'appens dere when 'e's awake proper like."

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"What's 'igh' 'an low fantasy when dey're at 'ome, den? I didn't know dere was different kinds o' fantasy."

[Civilization]

Meeko slowly recognized Chris's voice, which provided some relief for him and his thought process on the situation. He murmured, "Hm-mmm." Again, not fully aware of the situation around him. He was left just waiting for this feeling to wear off.

[hypernovatic]

Moon takes the pen and pad and giggles as she starts to draw a flower. "Tank yew."

[Pecan]

Will gave a small smile as he delved into one of the few topics he knew a lot about. "W-well, the simplest way to explain it is that Low Fantasy is our world, b-but with aspects altered slightly, while High Fantasy is a-another world entirely." As he delved more into the topic, he became less nervous; this was something he was comfortable with to a great extent, and it showed in his speech's clarity. "M-more specifically, while Low Fantasy takes a magical or supernatural event and pits it against our w-world in an irrational way, High Fantasy will take that same event and instead make a rational world around it." By this point the mink was feeling almost energetic. "Lord of the Rings is a great example of High Fantasy, while Tuck Everlasting is a good Low Fantasy novel."

Upon ending his small tirade, he realized just how much he had said. Looking sheepish, and with a hint of an embarrassed blush on his face, he backpedaled quickly."U-um, I'm s-sorry. I didn't m-mean to go on s-such a spiel."

[RandomGeekNamedBrent]

As Jess and Albert rounded the corner it became apparent that while most everyone was busy, most everyone was friendly and wave hello. There was a lot of cleaning going on as well. Mostly on the lower sections of the the buildings. Tree houses had spiral staircases going up them. There was a smell like a busy campsite. But mostly there was a feel of a tight community.

Jess looked around at the friendly village. "I love seeing everyone so friendly," she said, noticing the friendly waves and waving back.

"Help yourself, just don't go inta houses uninvited, it's ain't nice," a red panda, slightly older, in a bath towel, said to Albert, from behind him.

\
"Oh, we wouldn't dream of it," Jess told the red panda.

[HoundInATree]

Albert looked down at the panda. 'Would dream of it. one should knock first and wait for an answer.' He looked further down at his muddy legs and tail. 'Out of interest, is there somewhere we could take a bath?'

[xhunterko]

"Just remember some places aren't attractions," the panda said, then looked at Albert's legs as well, "Herm, well, there's the bathhouse public pool, though showers are reserved for natives or those who pay. And of course, pick a lake, no, don't pick a lake. Chemical spill. If the bath ladies like you you might get a massage as well. Still, there's not much to see. Just houses, laundry lines, the clean up crew, if you want to help, and the rice fields, if your looking for some agrarian work, heh."
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Nora glared at the guards.

"In the middle of an adoption?" She said tensely. They looked sheepish.

"We saw feral about to enter door?" Michael stated. Benjamin face palmed.

"My office," he said. Nora looked to Chris.

"Wait a moment, though, dear. Yes, we do have a deal, however, we are supposed to use some tact," she said, "Still, do you want to go through the whole thing and be given an offer of citizenship for him, of which, there are benefits (say for example, you want to marry later, you can, and end up being a free citizen yourself). Or do you think he'd want to simply be let alone here with someone looking after him?"

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"Eye candy?" Mitch said, shaking his head to clear the soap off, pausing at a shake, letting it finish slowly, letting water drip off his nose, and slowly opening his eyes.

"Eye candy, you say?" He said again, working on his torso. But whenever he went to shake water off, he'd do the finishing move in slow motion.

[RashallVetkay]

Rash set the last box down in the closet this one contained books like the last four had. He had just moved here with his handler Jim from Texas, a move that both of them were happy was now over.

"At least I get to rest" Rash mumbled under his breath as he plopped down into his bed. He had been left at home due in no short part to Jim's work calling him in for a night shift. Rash still felt bad that the two of them wouldn't be at home for the first night. Their house was located directly north of the park with the forest to their East*. The time was about a quarter till five so Jim wouldn't be home for another seven hours.

Rash had gone about setting up the Wifi as well as his desktop and console and TV along with three book shelves, which had taken him the better part of the day. Now, now he was extremely exhausted and it took little time convincing himself that the best course of action was sleep especially since he had locked all the doors and then tripled checked them to make sure he hadn't just thought he had locked them.

With everything else waiting till Jim got home Rash turned his box fan onto a medium setting and proceeded to drift off to sleep.

[valerio]

"Hehe. So what were you like back in the day, Mama? Were you the typical Italian girl, whatever that might be?"
Scotty smiles as he's nuzzled, lifting his chin slightly to keep Moon away from his mouth, and offers her his pad and pen so she can do some drawing while the grown-ups talk.

Elio stood up so to make room for his wife, and Cinzia took his place.
"Well, yes dear: I was raised to respect the elders, never question my place as a woman, and, given the times, to be a good Fascist. That is why Elio didn't like me at first."
The old man chuckled. "You were a drone, amore mio, a beautiful drone who didn't even care for those who had owned the resort until then."
"I was there to do a job, not to care about politics. Oh, and it was forbidden to talk about it, remember?"
"Tsk, you guys always walked around as if *you* owned the place. Admit it, you liked to get me to do the heavist chores."
Cinzia patted her husband's hand. "Because it was eye candy, and we both know it. You volunteered half the time, just to impress me in your rendering of the Duce plowing in the sun.
---

"Eye candy?" Mitch said, shaking his head to clear the soap off, pausing at a shake, letting it finish slowly, letting water drip off his nose, and slowly opening his eyes.
"Eye candy, you say?" He said again, working on his torso. But whenever he went to shake water off, he'd do the finishing move in slow motion.

By now, Rikki was fairly sure that the water falling over her fur was converting into steam.
And that her muzzle was going to split in two under her smile.
And then it hit her. Just like that, the idea that...it couldn't just end with them.
It could not.
The black ferret stood up and took one paw in hers, while a claw slightly traced his neck. "How strong is your faith, my Prince?" she asked with the purest love in her eyes

[xhunterko]

Mitch looked at her with the same, but added firmness to it.

"In whom or what dear?" He asked.

"In my lover who should understand and respect my considerations? In my goddess, whom I fear and trust and entrust the happiness of our family too? Or in myself, who believes he knows well enough not to give himself grief over a potential mistake?" He said to her.

[valerio]

Mitch looked at her with the same, but added firmness to it.
"In whom or what dear?" He asked.
"In my lover who should understand and respect my considerations? In my goddess, whom I fear and trust and entrust the happiness of our family too? Or in myself, who believes he knows well enough not to give himself grief over a potential mistake?" He said to her.

"All of that and more. Because it is faith, a *lot* of faith I need. Faith, love, belief...Mitch..." she slowly caressed his cheeck. "I want our kits. *Ours*."

[Hlaoroo]

Scotty smiles at the kitten in his lap and alternates between watching her drawing and listening to the story.

Frances ponders for a few moments.
"So... How do I put this delicately? ... You'll forgive me saying but it almost sounds like you were physically attracted to each other before you got to know each other. Is that right? Sorry if that's offensive... So how long did it take for you two to actually talk to each other? Were things a bit rocky at first? And how did your parents react when they found out about your relationship?"

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"Well... 'E did say 'e was lookin' forward to a proper bed, bath an' 'ome again... An' I'm sure neiver of us wanna be any kind o' imposition on yer 'ospitality, ma'am." The spaniel pauses for a moment. "Er... I know it ain't my place ta comment but... Please don' be too 'arsh on da guards. Dey was only doin dere jobs after all. No 'arm done, really... I 'ope." Trailing off, Chris looks down at her friend again.

--------------------
Listening to the mink talk, Derek soon notices something but decides to put his theory to the test before mentioning it.
"Oh, it's fine. It's interestin', actually. So yer favourite is low fantasy den? I always was fascinated by da idea o' magic hidden in a normal world. In fact, dat's one o' da fings I like about doin' magic - I can bring some o' dat ta life and liven up an ovverwise mundane world. Would ye mind sharin' any o' yer stories?

[valerio]

Scotty smiles at the kitten in his lap and alternates between watching her drawing and listening to the story.
Frances ponders for a few moments.
"So... How do I put this delicately? ... You'll forgive me saying but it almost sounds like you were physically attracted to each other before you got to know each other. Is that right? Sorry if that's offensive... So how long did it take for you two to actually talk to each other? Were things a bit rocky at first? And how did your parents react when they found out about your relationship?"

"We were warm-blooded human beings, young lady," Elio said, grinning. "I was in my prime, Cinzia had been raised to become a fine housewife as it was expected from her. Our relationship wasn't a hurried thing, though: I was supposed to be the decent man, taking one step at a time...even if, of course, we took several steps at once when no one could see us. Of course, after I discovered she was indeed a nice person."
Cinzia shook her head. "You had to act the decent man because they whispered behind your back, calling you 'commie' because your family tried to defend their Jews."
Elio sighed. "Yes, and *your* friends called you the vilest names when you weren't around, because I was courting you. Our waiters and staff did have good ears."
Cinzia chuckled at that. "How could I forget that. Mother was so scandalized when I emtpied a cup of hot tea in the face of Marzia. That was when I decided that I'd be better off marrying you than gravitating in the knitters' circle."
Elio caressed his wife's shoulder. "At least, with the union of our families, mine had again the money to run the resort. Unfortunately, it was war that ended our business."

[hypernovatic]

Moon giggles as quietly as she can so she doesn't interrupt the adult conversation, which isn't very quiet at all. She finishes drawing her flower, which to her was the next Mona Lisa but it looked as good as a young kitten could draw, and showed it to Scotty. "Look at wut eye dru!" she exclaimed, showing Scotty her work of art.
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Matatabi was standing silently next to Chris, daydreaming about space.

[Neon Icy Wings]

Star gave a short sigh of relief, finally comfortable enough to talk, having been a tad afraid of the panda guards and worried they might have been as trigger happy with him as they were with Meeko if he said something wrong, "I on the other paw am happy to see their 'shoot first ask questions later' mentality isn't the norm. Kinda hard to be comfortable when the first thing you see is a bunch of darts in your... acquaintance's back." He turned to Chris, guilt obvious on his face, "And sorry about... doing nothing. Back there. Mixture of wanting to just not draw attention to myself and just having no idea what to do. Sorry." With the, what he classified as awkward, apology done, he turned forward once more. While what he could see was nice and new, the experience that brought him here and just the general feel of the place made him feel out of his element, which he didn't like all that much.

[RandomGeekNamedBrent]

"Just remember some places aren't attractions," the panda said, then looked at Albert's legs as well, "Herm, well, there's the bathhouse public pool, though showers are reserved for natives or those who pay. And of course, pick a lake, no, don't pick a lake. Chemical spill. If the bath ladies like you you might get a massage as well. Still, there's not much to see. Just houses, laundry lines, the clean up crew, if you want to help, and the rice fields, if your looking for some agrarian work, heh."

"Well, I'm always happy to help out if I can, but I can go along with whatever you want to do," Jess told Albert.

[Pecan]

Will's heart nearly stopped cold at those words. "Sh-sh-sh-share m-m-my..." His pulse, and breath, quickened at the thought of showing anyone something he'd poured so much of his heart into. Not even his current family had seen that which he had written. At this point, it was much to personal.

Though, he didn't ask to see it now. Letting his heart rate slow down, he finished his response as best as he could. "M-maybe somed-day."

[xhunterko]

Nora nods.

"Very well then. Still, they are very lucky guards, my husband may be in a forgiving mood," Nora said, Benjamin simply growled from the rickshaw. Nora shook her head at him.

"Still, I wouldn't worry too much dear," Nora said, "A lot of good news is going to come our way and I wouldn't want to spoil it. So, if you are all right and need no further care, I'll let them get on with their job. If that's fine with you."
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Mitch smiled and took Rikki's paw, and kissed it, holding it under his chin.

"I would love the same, and I'll gladly get started on that with you," Mitch said, and here he paused, "After, the ceremony, please love."

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"See," a voice whispered.
"Told ya it wasn't ghosts!" Whispered another.
"She was right!" Another voice whispered.
"Fine okay! I'll pay up!" Whispered a fourth.

"Hey watch it! I'm gonna slip! Slipping! Falling AUGH!!!!" Said all four voices as the four young red panda kits, who had been watching Rash fall asleep, who where standing on top of each other peering into the door with only their heads showing trying to stay quiet, as they all suddenly lost their balance and came crashing down with a loud BANG! After the tumble, they stood on there heels silently with hands over mouths, hoping against hope they hadn't woken their watch!