Wildside Haven: Dry Waters

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Hello, hello, hello! Welcome again to new story day! Today's offering is a sequel to Wildside Haven, picking up about a year later. I had fun writing and world building back in the City of the Changed, and I hope you enjoy reading it! Let's get right to it!

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Chapter 1: Hydro Quarter

Evan hummed to himself as he exited the restaurant, then paused to carefully pack the bag and his phone into the waterproof backpack he’d unslung from his back, packing it in securely to be sure it didn’t shift around too much before zipping up the zipper, folding back the waterproof seal, and putting the backpack back on.
He glanced up and down the street before stepping down into the wading lane and sloshing his way toward the center. Once he got to the drop-off in the middle, he grinned and dropped in, turning in the direction he needed to go and pulling down his goggles.
With the push of a button on the side of the goggles, a map marking his path appeared, and he took off swimming. The map shrank down to a corner of his vision, staying visible but not blocking his vision as he darted down the road, diving under and kicking his paws at high speed to give himself a little boost. His skinny otter body knifed through the water exceptionally smoothly as he took a fork in the road, then swam up a pipe, diving into the strong current without a thought.
The pipe’s current immediately swept him up, and he laughed, bubbles issuing from his mouth as he slowly turned, rotating his body in the current as if he were floating in space. He could see the whole city from the glass pipeline, zooming past him as if he were on a plane. He saw his exit coming up, and rotated his body, kicking off the pipe and darting out of the current just as easily as he had entered, swimming back down and exiting into a new road.
This new road’s swimming lane was shallower; Evan had to dodge this way and that to avoid other commuters. He glanced at the map and saw that his turn was coming up, so he swam the few inches up to the surface and climbed onto the wading lane. He turned down a side road and started walking, checking his map now and then until it told him which house he needed. He paused at the end of the driveway to retrieve the still-dry fast food bag from the backpack before walking up to the door, setting down the bag, snapping a picture with his phone, and then knocking on the door. “Boar Dash!”
He grinned, then turned and walked back down the driveway, submitting the picture as proof that the food had been delivered. “Oh, what? Only a five minute tip? Cheapskates.” He rolled his eyes and tossed his phone back into the backpack, zipping it up and sealing it before wading back into the road.
The map disappeared from his goggles display, and he wandered back down the road, looking around at where he had ended up. “This is a pretty nice neighborhood. I wonder how much it costs to live here.”
His goggles beeped at him, and the face of a river otter popped up in the corner of his screen. He grinned and answered the call with a press of the button on the side. “Hey, Noah. Just got done working?”
The reply came through a speaker in his goggles, a little muffled since it was really meant to work underwater. “Yeah. I just got out and wondered if you wanted to hang. We could do the Deep Dive. Supposed to be their grand reopening.”
Evan grinned. “Yeah, I could go for a swim. I was doing delivery runs, so I’ve already got my trunks on.”
“Go anywhere interesting?” The voice on the line sounded amused.
Evan grinned, glancing around again. “Yeah, I’m in this really posh-looking neighborhood out toward Mojave Flats. Big houses, with lawns and landscaping and everything. Kinda reminds me of the rich side of town suburbs from the outside.”
“Oh, yeah, that place is nice. I’ve been out there a couple times. It’s mostly rich snobs who used to be somebody back on the outside. Politicians and CEOs and stuff. They don’t get special treatment here, but they did help fund the city’s founding, so they got the nicer houses, back before we decided to start building for the residents instead of the human way.”
Evan reached the main road and started walking along the wading lane, weaving around other animals busily walking to and fro on the road. “I don’t know if it’s NICER. It’s sure striking, especially in comparison to the rest of the town. Kinda looks out of place.”
He paused on the edge of the swimming lane to listen to the response. “Yeah, it doesn’t really fit in at all, does it? Hey, you want me to bring snacks? It’s gonna take you a while to get here, so I have time to stop.”
“Yeah, get me some of that fish jerky I like from the corner store, and maybe a fizz. I’m getting in the swim lane now. I’ll let you know before I get in the tunnel.” He dropped down into the swimming lane with a splash, grinning as he slipped underwater. The sound through the speaker came through much clearer now that it was underwater.
“Okay, fish jerky and a cherry fizz it is. I don’t know how you can eat those things together. They’re great individually, but together? Yech!”
Evan gave a bubbly laugh and surfaced to answer, backstroking down the street. “What? I like it. Sure, they taste a little weird together, but that’s what makes it so nice!”
Noah laughed. “Okay, you weirdo. I’m at the shop, I’m gonna put you on mute.”
Evan flipped over to check his location. “Oh, that’s good timing. I’m actually headed into the tunnel now. Talk to you in a minute!”
Evan dove under and swam into the intake pipe, listening to the sounds of Noah visiting the corner store. He could hear the wrinkle of the jerky packages, background banter of other patrons, and the hissing of the soda fountain dispensing sodas, even as the rushing sound of the speed tunnel started rushing past his ears.
He swam along the current, going up, down, and sideways to go around other commuters as he kicked his paws again for the extra boost, swimming faster instead of letting the current do the work for him this time. As his exit came along, he flipped in the water to face his paws toward the top of the tunnel, then kicked off to come into the exit at an angle so the sudden deceleration wouldn’t knock him for a loop like it had the first few times he’d used these tunnels.
“Okay, I’m out of the shop. Are you out of the tunnel?” Noah waited a few moments. “I’ll take that as a no, so instead I’m just gonna talk at you until you’re out. Work was great today- Oh, look, I can see you!”
Evan paused in the down tunnel, spinning around and squinting through the glass at the ground. He could see Noah, in all his fully-naked glory, standing in the wading lane, waving at him a couple blocks away. He grinned and waved back, then turned and resumed swimming down, popping out of the tunnel into the swim lane of the main road before immediately making for the wading lane. He was back in the part of town he lived in, and was familiar with all the shortcuts; it only took him two minutes to walk up to Noah halfway between where he’d seen him and where they were heading. “I’m gonna hang up now, because I can see you.”
Noah turned around and grinned, raising his hand and waving excitedly at Evan before looking down at his hand and hanging up the phone that he was holding. His picture disappeared from Evan’s display, and he raised his goggles back to his forehead before putting out his hand to grab Noah’s wrist in their standard greeting, clasping their hands on each other’s wrists together in a line.
Noah grinned and passed Evan his snacks, sipping on his own grape fizz as he slipped his phone into the waterproof pouch around his neck. “Oh, I forgot to say. Happy birthday.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Was wondering when we were going to come back to Evan and see how he was acclimating and it looks like he is doing as well as can be expected. He definitely is taking to being an otter gracefully and probably enjoys it a lot more than being a stuffy human. XD

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 2: Dive Deep

Evan entered the Deep Dive and looked around in awe at the reworked lobby. “Wow, they really took advantage of being shut down. Look at this place!”
Two shops had been added to the lobby, a little snack bar on one side, and a gift shop on the other, with an elevator from the gift shop at the bottom of the pool opening up onto it. Instead of having a reception desk front and center, there was now an information desk, with a map of the pool’s underwater attractions prominently displayed on a backlit board to one side. The entryways to the changing rooms had a keypad next to it where visitors could scan their payment card or locker key to enter.
Noah nodded in awe. “Wow, they went all out. I wonder what new stuff they added to the pool.” He started walking toward the map, but Evan grabbed his arm and tugged him back.
“Wait, don’t look at the map. I’d rather find the new stuff by exploring.” He grinned and started to turn toward the locker rooms, but was stopped by a dog in a “Deep Dive” hat grinning at them.
“Hi, welcome to the Deep Dive! I take it you were here before the unfortunate incident?” The dog was some kind of terrier mix, and aside from the hat, he was wearing a little vest with a nametag that read “Trotter” on it.
The “incident” in question was the reason the Deep Dive had had to close for renovations- one of the underwater sculptures had cracked and broken off, sending chunks and lots of concrete tumbling down to the bottom of the pool. Fortunately, nobody had been injured, but the pool had needed to be drained, the sculptures reinforced, and the broken sculpture replaced before the pool could reopen. They had been closed for six months, with a sign stating that they were taking the opportunity to address some other safety concerns and expand the swim area before they reopened.
Evan nodded. “Oh, yeah, actually, I was there that day. Er, after it collapsed, but before it got closed down.”
Trotter smiled. “Great. I just need to give you a quick briefing on the new safety features- it’s just policy, you understand. There are now four times as many oxygen stations in the pool- they’re built into the walls, with the light rings to indicate their locations as before, but there’s also now trails of lights leading horizontally all around the pool’s edge and vertically in the locations where the stations are, to help lead swimmers to them should they be in a hurry. The lights will turn red- or rather, red lights will turn on- one hour before the pool closes, to indicate to swimmers that it’s time to wrap up their swims, so nobody gets locked in overnight. In addition, the admission price is now on a per-day basis, so you can visit in the morning, and not have to pay again in the afternoon if you decide to come back.” He gestured to the changing rooms. “Enjoy your swim.” He hurried off to greet the next group.
Evan paused at the door to let Noah scan his card first, then followed him in. “Wanna share a locker? You can put your stuff in with mine, and we can come back for it later.”
Noah grinned. “Sure. But I got the snacks, so you’re getting the locker.”
Evan grinned and swiped his card to eject the key from a locker, then slipped off his backpack and set it on the bench. He slipped off his shirt and tossed it into the bag. “It’ll probably be easier to just put everything in here and then put the backpack in the locker, rather than putting the backpack in and trying to stuff everything in around it.”
Noah took the pouch off his neck and tossed it into Evan’s backpack. “I agree.”
Evan checked his swimsuit pockets to be sure he didn’t have anything else on him, then stuffed his backpack into the locker and closed it, clipping the key to the inside of his swimsuit pocket. “We’d better hit the showers before we get in the pool. Keep the road water separate from the pool water and all.”
Noah grinned and nodded, leading the way. Evan had long since gotten used to Noah’s nudist tendencies, so he barely even noticed his lack of clothes as they rinsed off in the locker room showers, then headed to the pool.
Above the water, the pool looked not much different than it had before it closed. There was a shallow area for non-aquatics to swim, with a roped-off line that now included a net underwater between the shallow area and the part of the pool that gave the building its name: The Deep Dive. It was an extremely deep area, five hundred feet or more, where aquatic species could dive and explore underwater statues, buildings, and more.
Evan stood at the edge of the dive and peered down into the depths, staring down until the water just faded to deep blue far below. He grinned at Noah. “Heh. This is it, this is where we met, one and a half years ago. Remember?”
Noah giggled. “Yeah. We played tag down there.” He sat on the edge of the pool and slid in, disappearing underwater for a few moments before his head popped back up a few feet away in the pool. “Well? What are you waiting for? Let’s go explore!”
Evan grinned and slid in after him, darting down a ways and doing a warmup loop in the water before coming back up to fill his lungs. “Here we go! Race ya down!”
“Yeah? I’ll win!” Noah smirked and dove alongside Evan. Despite the declaration of a race, they actually took their time going down, exploring every corner of each level of the pool before continuing deeper. The two otters tumbled one over the other, playing in the water, until Evan spotted something floating nearby. He tilted his head curiously and paddled closer before gesturing to Noah to come and have a look.
What Evan had discovered was a statue made of colored glass and half-filled with some kind of liquid. The glass lent color to the sculpture, and the liquid made sure it stayed buoyant at roughly the same level. It was a mermaid, posed dynamically like she was swimming toward the surface; a small metal charm of a fish dangled from her tail to keep her upright, and another from her arm to keep her balanced.
Noah swam around the statue, clearly impressed, then gestured around it with his hands to point out something that Evan had also noticed- the statue was free-floating, not attached to anything at all. He swam around it, up and over it, and below it to get a better look, causing the sculpture to slowly rotate in place. He excitedly gestured over to a nearby light ring, indicating he wanted to go for air. Noah nodded and followed him.
The light ring wasn’t what Evan had expected. Instead of a plastic pod half-filled with air, it was the entrance to a concrete pod built into the wall of the pool. He swam in and up, taking a breath of cool, freshly-circulated air inside. Once Noah joined him, he grinned. “That is SO cool!”
Noah shook the water out of his fur and looked down at the water. “How do they do that? How’d they get it to float down there?”
Evan grinned. “It’s a barometer! It’ll go up and down based on the air pressure outside, but it’s a sculpture! Which means if it cracks or gets damaged, they can just pull it out and toss in a new one! And I bet it’s made of tempered glass, so it won’t crack as easily as just bumping into the sides of the pool.”
Noah grinned. “Think there’s gonna be other cool stuff like that down there?”
“Oh, definitely.” Evan grinned and dove out of the air pod, excited to explore the new Deep Dive.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I am thinking that the new stuff Evan will find will be truly amazing and make him want to live in the establishment because of how cool it is. The new Deep Dive might end up being Evan's go-to for blowing off steam.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

A little surprised you didn't spot the cameo from another story in this chapter.

[Amazee Dayzee]

If you are talking about Trotter, I can't remember where he came from so that might be why. My mind only tends to focus on the fanfiction I am reading and pushes everything else to the wayside. LOL

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Trotter's from "My Dog Dad," and he was Butterfly's crush that moved away. It was insinuated at the end of the story that the Deep Dive was his person's idea.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I think I remember him a little bit but not much. Anything to do with Butterfly kind of makes me irritated because she acts immature and throws tantrums and is jealous of her own brother-in-law and needs to mature a little bit and try to make herself more pleasant.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

You're thinking of Summer. Butterfly is the klepto who lives next to August.

[Amazee Dayzee]

That might be why I didn't recognize Trotter at all when trying to think back to the stories. I was focusing on the wrong dog the whole time as Trotter never was involved with Summer.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Well, that, and his story was told in first person, so you never saw him from the outside.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Yeah that also wouldn't help in me knowing exactly who he was as it wasn't from a third person respective. Part of me wants to go back and read that story again but I have way too many things I have to do at the moment.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

There's always a quick link in my signature if you need it. I keep my list updated.

[Amazee Dayzee]

I will be sure to look into that when I get some free time where I am not doing anything. As for now I have to put it on the back burner like I said.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 3: Homeward Bound

Evan laughed as he followed Noah into the locker room, digging the key out of his pocket. “That was so cool! I’m glad they decided to take the extra time shut down now!”
Noah grinned and swatted his back. “Oh, yeah. It was worth it.”
Evan unlocked the locker and pulled out his backpack, opening it up and passing Noah his waterproof pouch. As he started dressing, he made idle chat with him. “So, any plans for the rest of the day?”
Noah grinned and slugged Evan in the arm with a snicker. “Well, OBVIOUSLY you’re coming over for dinner. Mom’s been asking when you’d be by again.”
Evan laughed and rubbed his arm. “Hey, easy. I need that! I can come over, sure. Saves me having to stop at the store today, anyway.”
“Excellent.” Noah planted a kiss on Evan’s cheek, then smirked and started toward the locker room exit. “Hurry up. I’ll wait for you outside.”
Evan chuckled and shook his head. It was no secret that Noah had a crush on Evan, but Evan wasn’t interested. He didn’t mind the affection, and he knew that Noah kept holding the torch in case he changed his mind. He finished pulling on his shirt and goggles, then zipped up and sealed his bag, pulling it on and walking in the direction Noah had walked off.
He found Noah leaning on one of the stanchions outside the new snack bar, skimming the menu. “Anything good?”
Noah shook his head idly. “Not really. Standard snack bar fare. Drinks, pizza, pretzels. Great for a quick bite if you’re already here, but nothing to go across town for.”
Evan gave the menu a quick skim. “They got slushies, that’s nice. Ready to go?”
Noah nodded and gestured toward the door. Outside, Evan waded into the road and grinned. “Wanna walk, or take the express?”
Noah chuckled. “I don’t know how you can take the pipelines. They make me sick.”
Evan grinned. “Walking, it is.” He turned and started sloshing down the road. “I wish there was a swim lane on the side roads like there is on the main roads. Then, we could swim to your house.”
Noah laughed. “It’s not even that far of a walk. It’s like fifteen minutes.”
“Yeah, but I like swimming.” Evan snickered. He paused, turning to look up at the storefront they were passing. It was an accessory shop now, selling bracelets, clip-on earrings, tail wraps, and the like, but it hadn’t been when Evan had first moved to Wildside haven.
Noah kept walking for a moment before realizing that Evan had stopped, then turned around and walked back to him, looking up at the shop.
“I can’t believe it’s been a year already.” Evan nodded at the storefront.
Noah’s ears went back, and he grew serious. “Do you still miss him?”
“Sometimes.” Evan nodded, then turned and resumed walking. “I visited his grave last week and left him a flower.”
Noah took one last look at the shop before turning and following Evan. “You didn’t tell me that someone rented out the space his shop used to be.”
Evan shrugged. “It’s whatever, you know? He wasn’t using it anymore. Can’t expect the place to sit empty forever, especially not in a new town like this. We’ve still got our memories of the place, but the spirit was gone long before they remodeled it.”
Noah patted Evan’s back. “Yeah. Place just wasn’t the same without him, was it?”
Evan shrugged. “We’ve moved on. I’ve moved on. Some good stuff happened, some bad. It’s not the place that was important, it was the people in it.”
They sloshed along in silence for a few minutes, and then Noah nudged Evan playfully. “Hey. I bet you can’t guess what Britt’s been up to lately.”
Evan rolled his eyes. “You know I have her number. We text all the time.”
“Yeah, but I bet she doesn’t tell you EVERYTHING. Go on, guess.” He grinned.
“She’s switched jobs and works at the arcade now. She told me.” Evan rolled his eyes, turning to walk down the street that Noah lived on.
“Oh, that’s old news. She graduated! Her degree came in the mail the other day. We took it and got it laminated and waterproofed right away. She’s looking for a job that uses her degree now.” Noah grinned.
Evan’s face lit up, and his ears perked. “Oh, really? That’s great! Last I heard, she was still six credits away!”
“Oh, yeah, she took like five credits over the summer and tested out of that last class. It’s been a lot easier since they upgraded the citywide wifi.” Noah smirked and started digging in his pouch for his ID card as they stepped out of the water to approach his house.
“Well, I’ll have to congratulate her when I see her.” Evan watched Noah swipe his ID to open the door, then followed him inside.
“Yeah, she’ll probably be home soon. Just a sec.” He turned his head toward the kitchen and raised his voice to call down the hall. “Mom! I’m home! I brought Evan with me!”
A delighted squeal came from the direction of the kitchen, and a female river otter rushed around the corner, her hands covered in goop, and rushed over to Evan. “Evan, sweetie! I’ve missed you!” She moved to grab Evan’s hands, then glanced at her own hands, remembering that she was messy, and opted to offer Evan a hands-free hug instead.
Evan hugged her, careful not to get anything from her apron onto his shirt. “Hi, Mrs. Hampton. It’s nice to see you, too. Sorry it’s been a little bit, I’ve been busy.”
“Ohhh, I told you to call me Fae, dear.” She giggled and leaned forward to kiss his forehead. “Happy birthday, by the way. I’ll have dinner ready in a little over an hour.”
Evan grinned. “Ooh, perfect. I’ve missed your cooking.”
She giggled again and headed back down the hall toward the kitchen. Noah grinned and nudged Evan playfully. “See, you’re already basically part of the family.”
Evan smirked and nudged him back. “Oh, well. Guess I couldn’t date you even if I wanted to, then.”
“Now hold on-”
“Oh, hi Evan. Noah.” A female voice sounded from the door. Evan turned and grinned at the river otter that was standing there now, Noah’s twin sister Britt.
“Oh, hi, Britt. I heard you graduated. Congratulations.” He reached out his hand to shake hers, and she grinned, grabbing him by the wrist while he grabbed her wrist and gave it a single shake up and down. The odd handshake was necessitated by the webbing between their fingers, making holding hands the normal way difficult and complicated.
“Hey, thanks. I’m gonna go get changed.” She turned and started down the hall, adjusting her shirt.
Evan tilted his head after her, eyeing the way her shirt caught on her tail, framing her rump. His ears perked with mild interest. As soon as she was gone, Noah laughed and nudged him. “What was that? Are you eyeing up my sister?”
He gave a shy smile. “Well, it doesn’t hurt to LOOK. She’s pretty cute, you gotta admit.”
Noah snickered and put his arm over Evan’s shoulder, starting to lead him down the hall toward his room. “Ah, it’s too late for that. She’s not interested in you anymore, you know that.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

For some reason I am getting the feeling that by the end of the story that Britt will be interested in Evan again but I don't know why I feel that way. I am thinking there must be some reason that they are both river otters now making them much more compatible than other possible couples who are completely different species.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 4: Hanging out

Noah flopped down in a beanbag chair, snatching up a game controller and turning on the game console hooked up to his TV. Evan took a seat in the second beanbag, and Noah offered him a controller.
Evan shook his head and put a hand up, and Noah shrugged, leaning back and turning on some violent shooter game. “So, it’s been a while since you’ve been over.”
Evan shrugged and picked up a paper crane to fidget with it. There were all kinds of small items scattered about Noah’s otherwise clean room. He guessed that not having any clothes made it easy to keep it nice. “Yeah, I’ve just been busy. With my job being kaput, I had to find some other way to make money. Boar Dash is nice, but it doesn’t pay a lot.”
Noah glanced sideways at him before turning his attention back to the screen. “I thought you had enough to go for years after you inherited the money from the shop. You don’t have very many expenses.”
“Yeah, if I wanted to just live off of savings.” He shrugged. “But it’s boring not having anything to do all day. Maybe once in a while, but after a week or two of not having anywhere to be, you start to go a little nuts.”
Noah glanced at him again, then shrugged. “I thought that was why you signed up for Boar Dash. So you could explore the city a little more.”
Evan flopped back and stared at the ceiling. “Well, yeah, kinda. It’s fun going to new places, but I really only get orders inside the Hydro Quarter. I’ve pretty much seen all of it. I mean, sure, once in a while I’ll head out to the very edge of Mojave Flats or Amazon Acres, but for the most part, it’s just the Hydro Quarter. No sense exploring places I’ve already been.”
“True. You COULD just explore on your own. Go see what there is to see. Rent a buggy, explore the Mojave Flats. Or I hear they have treehouses out in Amazon Acres. Not REAL trees, but eventually, maybe.” Noah’s character got blown up by his own thrown grenade, and he chuckled, flopping back with the controller held in one hand.
Evan reached over to nudge him. “So, what have YOU been up to? Still working at the coffee shop?”
Noah sat up and shrugged. “I like working at the coffee shop. Even with the Karens.”
“Ooof. I’m not cut out for dealing with Karens. I usually just escalate them right away and let whatever happens, happen. Don’t miss that about the bookshop. Couldn’t just pass ‘em on, I had to deal with ‘em myself.” He looked around the room, looking for another subject to talk about. “So, I heard Chet ran off and secretly got married to an otter with a HUGE-” Noah punched Evan’s arm, and he chuckled. “-tail.” He finished playfully.
Noah snickered. “Yeah, he ran off and they’re living at Lake Wildside. Apparently, they’ve got a proper den out there somewhere. No official address, though, because it’s a den and not official housing. Makes it hard to send him mail. He visits every couple weeks.”
“And how’s your mom taking it?” Evan sat up and glanced at the door.
Noah shrugged, sitting up to resume his game. “Well… She was a little upset at first that she wasn’t invited to the wedding, but it being just the three of us most of the time allows her more time to… experiment, I guess you could say. She’s been trying things out in the kitchen, trying to invent new recipes. Not all of them have been… successful.”
Evan snickered. “Well, that’s a risk any time you experiment.”
Noah stuck his tongue out. “Yeah, well YOU didn’t have to eat it anyway. It was oily and gross.”
He grinned. “So, how’s life in your twenties? Twenty-one, aren’t you at this point?”
Noah shrugged. “It’s not like it really feels any different than before. I still live with my sister and my mother. The only difference is that now, I can get restricted beverages if I want.”
After a few moments, Evan stood up. “I’m gonna go see if Britt wants to hang out.”
Noah glanced his way, then turned off his game. “I’ll come with you.”
Evan lingered at the doorway until Noah got his system turned off, then turned and exited out into the hallway. “Anything else interesting going on around here?”
Noah shrugged. “Not much, really. Mom’s been on a crafting kick as well as a kitchen experimentation kick, so there’s been a lot of crafting supplies laying around.”
Evan nodded at a pile of glittery fabric in the corner. “I had wondered. Usually, she keeps the common areas of the house pretty clean.”
“Yeah.” He paused in the hallway and banged on a door with the side of his fist. “Yo, Britt, we’re coming in!” He didn’t wait for a response before opening the door and receiving a pillow to his face for his troubles.
Evan snickered and grabbed the pillow, tossing it back to Britt. “Hey, Britt. Sorry for barging in.”
The female river otter grinned and lounged back on her bed. “Oh, well if it’s YOU, then it’s fine.”
Evan chuckled and stepped into her room, glancing around. “You’ve got the place decorated real nice.”
“Yeah, but I dunno. I’m twenty-one, I was thinking about getting my own place. Maybe I’ll get placed in the apartment next to yours, and we can hang out more.” She glanced around the room momentarily. “Kinda jealous that you have your own apartment, while I’m still living with my mom.”
Evan flinched; the reason he wasn’t living with his mother was still kind of a sore subject.
A moment later, Britt gasped and put her ears back. “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot.”
“It’s fine.” He sat on the bed next to her, glancing over at Noah, who was still hanging out in the doorway. “At least I’ve got your mom to kind of help fill the gap. She’s always happy to see me, anyway.”
Britt gave a little giggle. “Yeah. She’s always happy to see everybody. She’s just that kind of person. But when she gets mad…” She raised an eyebrow, then grinned over at him. “Watch out.”
“I bet.” Evan chuckled, leaning back and staring at the ceiling for a moment. “The nicest ones always have the biggest tempers.”
After a moment, Evan nudged Britt. “So… what are you planning on doing with your degree? Economics, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. I thought I’d try to get a job in the city level government, regulating the transfer rates between regular currency and our currency. I mean, it’s probably difficult, given that our currency is literally time spent working, but…” She shrugged. “Sounds like fun.”
Evan grimaced. “Ew, math.”
She laughed and nudged him, then her ears perked. “Oh, here comes mom.”
Fae appeared in the doorway, nudging Noah aside. “Hey, kids. Supper’s ready."

[Amazee Dayzee]

I wonder how her mother will take it when Evan eventually gets together with Britt in the future? I know that is where this is going as I can see it from a mile away but still think it could be interesting.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 5: Visitor Center

Evan rubbed his belly with a grimace as he walked home, keeping to the side roads with no swimming lane. He always ate too much when he went over to the Hampton household, mostly because Fae insisted on continually adding more to his plate until she was certain he’d eaten enough, which usually came only once Evan was begging her not to give him more.
As he walked, a new structure came into view, one that he knew hadn’t been there the last time he’d come that way. His ears perked curiously, and he diverted his journey to get closer.
He drew closer and closer to the new structure, stopping only when he noticed that he was right next to the gate he’d passed through when he’d first arrived here in Wildside Haven, nearly two years ago. The structure seemed to have replaced a portion of the wall around the city, standing more than twice as tall as any of the structures around.
He stepped out of the road and approached it, admiring the plaster pillars and domed roof that seemed to be purely aesthetic, rather than a structural choice. The building felt oddly huge, but in a familiar way that Evan couldn’t quite put his webbed fingers on.
Out of curiosity, he tried the door and found it unlocked, then frowned, glancing around before going inside. The inside was lit with overhead lights and seemed clinical in a way. There were still signs of ongoing construction, but a capybara was sitting behind the desk and smiled at him to greet him.
“Hello! Welcome to the visitor center! How can I help you?” She clasped her hands eagerly and set them on the desk.
Evan paused in looking around to smile back at her. “Oh, I was just… curious, I guess. Visitor center?”
She nodded eagerly and turned to one side, rifling through a folder until she came out with a pamphlet and passed it to him. “The city wasn’t built with humans in mind. It’s too small for them to visit. So we built… or, I guess, are still building… this building so humans can visit their Changed loved ones.”
Evan glanced at the pamphlet, then looked up at the ceiling. It didn’t seem any taller than the ceilings in any other building in town, built for creatures slightly taller than he was. “How’s that gonna work?”
Her eyes lit up. “You wanna SEE?” She leaned across the desk, grinning.
Evan stepped back nervously. “Uh… yeah?”
She pointed to a door, then disappeared from her little window. A moment later, she appeared at the door, opening it from the other side. “Come on through. I’ll show you.”
Evan hesitated, then walked over and slipped through the door. The capybara took his wrist and started leading him down a hallway that seemed to follow a curve around the building’s exterior. “They set my start date, but then the construction crew’s running behind, so we’re not technically OPEN, but they also couldn’t just not pay me, so I just sit there all day in case someone gets curious. Look at THIS.” She stopped and opened another door to the inside of the curve, pointing inside.
The room inside was clearly still under construction; scaffolding still went up the walls. A pavilion was inside, with a fountain and a garden that didn’t actually have any plants in it yet, the planters sitting empty. The most striking thing about the room was that it was built to human scale, easily twice as tall as Evan was used to anymore. The ceiling was far overhead, and the pavilion seemed to stretch on and on, being more open space than one was likely to find almost anywhere in the city.
“Oh, wow. Kinda makes me feel small. I haven’t felt like this since I got here.” He craned his neck back to look at the ornate ceiling decorated in paintings of animals like the Sistine Chapel.
“Isn’t it great? This room is meant for two or three family groups to get together. There are picnic tables ready for assembly, flowers to go in the planters, they’ve even brought in a tree! Not a tiny sapling, either, it’s a full-on ten year old tree! In another five years or so, it’ll even be big enough to climb on, for the climbing residents.” The capybara bounced excitedly, her ears flicking eagerly.
“And human family members will be able to come and visit? Is it, like… a call-ahead thing? Or by reservation?” He looked back down at her, feeling a weight settle in his gut. It was either Mrs. Hampton’s salmon cakes finally settling, or memories of what he’d left behind in the outside world resurfacing. Or both. He supposed it might be both.
Her ears flicked again, and she rolled her eyes back, as if trying to remember her training. “You CAN make reservations, but you can also just kind of… turn up and ask to see a resident. We pull their file, if we have it, and try to figure out where they are, and send a messenger to fetch them. There’s one of these visitor centers planned at each of the main gates into the city, so it shouldn’t ever take more than half an hour to get someone to the applicable visitor center.”
Evan nodded and looked around again. “Looks like they’re not TOO far off from being ready to go. Gotta fill the fountain, plant the plants, finish the painting, maybe cap off some minor details. I don’t know what all was planned, so…” He trailed off and shrugged.
The Capybara grinned and took his hands, squeezing them and bouncing in delight. “They said they’ll be ready to open officially in a week! I’ll finally have someone to talk to!”
Evan gave her a little smile. “How long have you been sitting there all alone?”
She shrugged. “Not long. A few weeks. But only five days a week. It gave me time to read the training manuals.” She beamed at him.
“Yeah…” he looked around one more time. “How do I get back out of here?”
“Oh, follow me!” She bounded over to the door they came in through and held it open for him, leading him back down the hallway toward the lobby. “I’m not sure why they built it with this hallway here. For the office space, maybe? There are some nice offices.” She opened the door into the lobby and let him out, quickly reappearing at her desk.
“Good-bye! Will I be seeing you once we’re open?” She beamed.
Evan felt a tug at his gut at the question. “Er… yeah, maybe. I have some family on the outside.”
He waved goodbye and let himself back out onto the street, pausing to get his bearings before walking the path he’d walked only once before, the day he arrived in Wildside Haven, to walk to his apartment building. He walked the stairs from balcony to balcony around the pool, then paused at his door to fumble in his backpack for his ID card to swipe himself in.
He entered his apartment and closed the door, grabbing his goggles and phone out of his bag and dropping them on their chargers before tossing the bag aside, where it knocked over a stack of books. He didn’t even bother to turn the lights on as he went to his room and climbed into the tank of heated, circulated water that comprised his bed, floating on his back in the water for a few moments as he stared at the ceiling.
He considered the likelihood that he would ever be called down to the visitor center because someone was there to see him, and grimaced at how low the odds were. He had family on the outside, of course: a dad he hadn’t seen since he was a child, a younger brother, and a mother who had never once bothered to return or answer his calls after he’d moved here.

[Amazee Dayzee]

It might be very unlikely but maybe his younger brother might want to get in touch with him because he misses Evan and wants to see how he is doing. I wouldn't hold my breath on either of his parents making an appearane or ever communicating with him again.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 6: Days Off

Evan grumbled as he climbed out of his bed, dripping on the floor. “Ugh… I hate it when I forget to take my clothes off before bed.” He stripped off the previous day’s clothes and hung them up to dry on a line he had installed over the special absorbent tiles that made up his bedroom floor. He shook himself to dry out his fur, then walked over to his dresser and pulled out a fresh shirt and fresh swimsuit. After nearly two years living here in Wildside Haven, he had given up on pants and just switched to wearing swimsuits all the time.
He walked out to the kitchen and stuck his head in the fridge, looking for something to eat before settling on a prepacked box lunch consisting of some fruit and vacuum-sealed sashimi, designed to last a long time in the fridge without going bad.
As he sat at the table eating, he considered what he wanted to do that day. Noah had to work today, he knew, and hanging out with Britt alone was… complicated… so he guessed that they were out.
He considered doing a few Boar Dash orders, but then decided he wasn’t in the mood for it. He gnawed on a strip of dried salmon- the vacuum sealing process always made it a little chewy- and considered his options. He had seen pretty much everything there was to see here in the Hydro Quarter, so he considered his other options. There were three adjacent areas to the Hydro Quarter- Mojave Flats, a section of hot, sandy land complete with vegetation that had been transplanted here from the Mojave Desert just a few hundred miles away; Amazon Heights, an area full of transplanted jungle trees combined with artificial trees that served as buildings and infrastructure, complete with sprinklers that would rain water down on the land a few hours a day; and Lake Wildside, an accidentally-created artificial lake that pooled outside one of the city’s water intakes from the Rio Grande. Shifting soil had diverted a small part of the river, which had then pooled to form a lake that went under the city’s walls.
He swallowed his bite and grinned to himself. “Mojave Flats it is.”
He finished eating and quickly packed up everything he would need. He grabbed a lunch box out of the freezer, checking that the ice packs in its walls were completely frozen, and tossed another box lunch into it, zipping it up and packing it away in his backpack. After a moment’s consideration, he decided that bringing some water with him was advisable, and so he filled his water bottle with water and a little ice and packed that away, too. He quickly checked his phone- no messages- and tossed it into its special pocket on the inside of his backpack. He zipped up and sealed his bag, then grabbed his goggles, putting them on and making sure they were connected before he pulled them back up to his forehead.
With that, he set out, down the stairs to the road. He shivered a little as he stepped down into the cold early morning water. “Ooh, chilly.” He muttered to himself, then turned and started sloshing down the road, taking the quickest route to a main road, where he could join a swimming lane.
He stood on the edge of the swim lane, bracing himself, then stepped forward and let himself drop into the cold water, shivering momentarily as it soaked his fur, then aimed himself down the road and started swimming. Once he got going, he got used to the temperature of the water; his movement warmed him up, and he grinned as he entered the circular basin that marked the beginning of the intake for the speed lanes. He swam around the empty pipe for a few seconds before taking a seat on the edge of the swim lane to wait. He had hoped he would make it here before they turned on the speed lane for the day. He loved watching the process.
A few moments later, a red light above the intake pipe flashed, accompanied with an alarm, and Evan grinned, sitting up straighter to watch. His eyes went skyward, to the speed lane, and watched a torrent of water making its way down the pipe toward him. Once the water reached the top of the intake pipe, it spilled over down the tube. For a few moments, the intake pipe turned into a violent outrushing of water, gushing out from above. Within seconds, however, the pipe became full, and the torrent of water in the overhead pipe rushed past. The now-filled intake pipe momentarily stopped flowing, then started flowing in reverse, the current above turning the intake pipe into a gentle siphon pulling water from the general area back up into the current.
The red light continued flashing for a few minutes as the overhead pipe continued to fill the other intakes. Evan knew that it would continue to flash until sensors detected that at least six more intakes had been filled, making it nearly impossible for someone to swim in and catch up before the system had finished filling. Once the light turned off, an automated voice spoke. “It is now safe to enter the intake pipe. Ahora es seguro ingresar al tubo de admisión.”
Evan grinned and filled his lungs, pulling his goggles down over his eyes. He was going to need all the air he could manage if he was going to make it all the way to the end of the line in one breath. That done, he dove into the intake pipe and swam upward, enjoying the gentle upward current until he swam into the slightly larger main pipe and the sideways current took him. He covered his mouth and giggled, the bubbles tickling his nose as he let himself slowly summersault his way down the pipe.
He watched the town pass by underneath and grinned. He could see people going about their business, every species he could think of living together happily.
He felt his eyes drawn to the distant outline of the visitor center, watery and washed out at this distance and through the pipe, and his mood soured. ALMOST every species he could think of living together, anyway.
After a moment, the pipe suddenly angled sharply down until it was more of a slide than a current. He grinned and angled himself paws-first, preparing for splashdown.
The pipe deposited him, without fanfare, underwater in the little artificial river that separated the Hydro Quarter from the other areas, and he floated to the top, his hands behind his head in the classic pose of relaxation. He took a moment to grin at the sky until he floated under a bridge, then he grinned and swam to the ramp out of the river, pausing on the sidewalk to shake the excess water from his fur before trudging uphill to the sidewalk above.
There were no water roads, here on the edge of the Hydro Quarter, but the sidewalk was damp, sprayed often by hidden sprayers along the edges to keep the pavement cool and avoid burnt paws. He knew that courtesy would end outside the Hydro Quarter, and so he hoped it wasn’t too hot out just yet.
He turned and faced across the bridge, grinning at the big sign hanging over it. It was fairly new, painted in bright warm colors, reds and oranges that invoked images of heat and dryness. “You are now leaving the Hydro Quarter. Welcome to Mojave Flats!”
Evan paused under the sign and grinned, turning around to read the other side. This side was painted in cool colors, blues and greens that invoked feelings of cool water and wetness. “You are now leaving Mojave Flats. Welcome to the Hydro Quarter!”
He grinned, hitched up his bag, and started walking the rest of the way across the bridge. It hadn’t been until recently that the locals’ nicknames for the various areas of the town had been adopted as the official names of the town centers, and he thought it was very cool that they had already installed signs to welcome people to and from each area.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Its nice to see them moving around and exploring some other areas rather than simply staying in the same place long-term. I am a big fan of adventurous people but that might be because I am not that adventurous to do that myself.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 7: Mojave Flats

Evan looked around in awe as his paws passed into the sandy road of Mojave flats. He had been there once before, of course, but he had been rushing to make his delivery on time, and so hadn’t actually gotten a chance to take in the sights.
Whereas the Hydro Quarter was clearly designed to remind residents of Venice with its watery roads and stacked buildings standing next to each other, Mojave flats seemed designed more to remind people of cowboys and the wild west. Buildings were made of stucco on wood, or just wood, or even stone bricks under stucco, all mixed together in straight lines. Standing at the end of one of the lines, Evan really felt like he had fallen into a western movie.
Different types of creatures lived in Mojave Flats; Evan had seen foxes and coyotes, desert cats and jackals, camels and more during his previous visit, all creatures he hadn’t seen often back in the Hydro Quarter.
He grinned excitedly, raising his goggles as he walked forward. A hand clasped his shoulder, and he looked up at a coyote that was grinning down at him. “You’re gonna wanna put those back on, actually. We’re expecting a sandstorm any second now. Trust me, you don’t wanna end up with sand in your eyes.” He gestured over at the nearest building. “Why don’t you come pop over to the Mojave Flats Visitor Saloon, wait out the wind?”
Evan glanced over at the building, then back up at the coyote and nodded, pulling his goggles back down. He started to walk toward the building, but a whistling and whipping sound distracted him. He frowned and glanced down the row of buildings, squeaking when he noticed a wall of dust coming directly at him. He picked up the pace and jogged toward the building, trying very hard not to stumble over his paws, with the coyote right behind him.
Just as he landed on the porch, the windstorm hit them, and he put his ears back. The sand stung as it blew into his fur, whipping around him and knocking his tail to and fro as he stumbled forward toward the door, pulling it open and stumbling inside a small vestibule.
The coyote stumbled in after him and shook himself, then started brushing his fur out and grumbling. “Ah, it got up my nose.” He complained a little, then grinned up at Evan. “So, what brings an otter out to Mojave Flats?”
Evan shrugged, looking down and starting to brush sand out of his fur. The density of his fur didn’t make it easy; he was built for water, not desert sand. “I felt like exploring. Does that happen often?” He nodded toward the door.
The coyote sighed and nodded. “When they built the two sections next to each other, they forgot to consider how the running water right next to hot sand would affect the local climate. It’s very localized, only a few rows down from the border, but it happens just about every day.”
Evan nodded, giving his backpack a gentle shake to loosen the last of the sand. He looked down and noticed that the floor was made of a narrow grate, so that sand could fall straight through and back to the outside. “Sounds about right. Uneven heating and all that.”
The coyote stuck out his hand with a grin. “I’m Jonas, by the way. Jonas Quincy.”
“Evan. Evan Hill.” He took Jonas’s hand and gave it a shake. “Thanks for not letting me get caught out there.”
“Any time.” He grinned, then opened the door into the building proper. “Come on in. We’re open, but there’s not usually very many coming through this way, this early.”
Evan frowned and walked inside, then gaped around. He was in an honest-to-goodness old west Saloon, complete with the player piano and tables made of barrels. “Whoa…”
Jonas grinned. “Welcome to the Mojave Flats Visitor Saloon, my little corner of this desert paradise. I’m, officially speaking, the greeter, here to say hello to new residents and tourists such as yourself, but I find it easier to do that if everybody comes here first. Can I get you a drink? The first one’s on the house. Nothing with alcohol, of course. It’s a dry bar. We DO have sassafras, if you wanted to try something period.”
“That sounds great.” Evan nodded and followed Jonas toward the bar. At a gesture from Jonas, Evan climbed up onto a barstool while Jonas went around behind the bar and got a glass, filling it from a tap with a dark brown liquid. He passed it to Evan with a grin.
Evan took a sip, and frowned. “It tastes like root beer. Just… without the fizz.”
Jonas snickered. “There’s a reason for that. Root beer was originally made of sassafras root, same as this drink. Add brown sugar and carbonate it, you’ve got the original recipe for root beer.”
Evan took another sip. “It’s good. What is there to do or see around here?”
Jonas grinned at him and gestured for him to follow. He brought his drink with him as they went upstairs to where rooms for sleeping would be in a normal saloon. Instead, there was just one large open room behind the facade of a wall with multiple doors, to maintain the illusion. In the center of the room was a table with a large map. Evan could recognize where they were by the large blue area next to it and the flag that said “you are here” sticking out of the map.
Jonas gestured at the map. “The front ten rows or so are all businesses, followed by housing further back, so they can build the buildings taller without ruining the line of sight.” He pointed toward some bigger plots in a corner of the map. “Over there is our expensive housing, where we house the people who brought a lot of money when they came here. You have a similar section in Hydro Quarter. But as for things to see…”
He pointed at a little green area away from buildings. “There’s the Wildside Oasis. It’s an artificial oasis. You have to walk through the Flats for a little bit to get to it, because they wanted to make it feel like a real desert out here. You stick to the path and bring some water though, you’ll be just fine. There’s also the No Way Corral.”
Evan groaned at the pun, and Jonas laughed. “I know, but they insisted. It’s a little fake ranch modeled after an old west town. You can take a horseback ride, lasso a cow, shoot BB guns, it’s very fun. You just have to remember, the horses are citizens, too. Be nice to ‘em. That’s just their jobs. There’s not a whole lot they can do for work.”
Evan nodded, glancing down at his webbed fingers and being glad that at least he still HAD fingers. “I can imagine that would be an issue, I suppose. I hadn’t considered that.”
Jonas nodded. “Let’s see here… I don’t think there’s much other touristy stuff to do out this way just yet. You can visit the oasis or the corral, do some shopping in the shops around here, although most folk won’t be open for another hour yet. You got here pretty early.”
Evan shrugged. “I’ve always been a morning person. I like getting up early and being out and about before everybody else. It’s so quiet and peaceful.”
Jonas laughed out loud. “Yeah, I bet. People can be noisy sometimes, I’ll give you that. You got a water bottle in that bag?” He eyed Evan’s backpack.
“Water bottle, box lunch, cell phone.” He confirmed, nodding and patting the shoulder strap.
“You got a bandana in there? There’s not likely to be any major wind storms out there, but it’ll really help if you can cover your face. It does get pretty breezy out.”
He hesitated, then shook his head. “No, I don’t.”
Jonas smiled, tapping his finger on the table, then turning and opening what Evan had assumed was a decorative chest, pulling out a square piece of cloth. “Here, on the house. Tie it around your neck, and if it starts getting windy, you can pull it up to cover your mouth and nose. Combined with those goggles of yours, it should help keep you safe out there.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

For some reason I really want to see a picture of Evan with his goggles on his head and the bandanna covering his nose and mouth while he is out exploring. I don't exactly know why but I think that it would be really adorable.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 8: Desert Oasis

Evan paused at a sign that recommended face coverings, then looked down. The road seemed to come to a stop directly ahead of him, but if he looked closely, he could see that there was a path marked out by cacti. His eyes scanned the cacti, placed every fifteen feet or so, as the line trailed up and over a distant dune.
He pulled his bandana up over his muzzle, then pulled his goggles down to cover his eyes, then took a deep breath and started forward, stepping out into the sand. A gust of wind ruffled his clothes, and he pulled his ears back to keep it from whistling in them.
“Okay, Evan, settle down. It’s just a hike. Stick to the path and you’ll be fine. That’s what Jonas said.” He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous. He was reasonably sure that the vastness of the sand stretched out before him was an exaggeration, not nearly as big as it looked, and that he would be able to see the oasis from the top of the dune ahead.
His tail dragged in the sand a little as he walked, his paws sinking down to the ankle with every step. He was sure his fur would be absolutely full of sand once he got back home.
He trudged along, walking from cactus to cactus, starting to pant a little as the sun seemed to grow hotter by the minute. Frequently, a gust of wind would kick sand up into his face; he often saw miniature whirlwinds blowing dust in circles nearby, crossing his path, or even blowing right across him.
He looked up and frowned. The dune didn’t look any closer than it had been five cactuses ago. He paused to take off his backpack, pull the water bottle out, and take a long, heavy swig from it, groaning appreciatively at the moisture. As he put it back, he looked around and grimaced. He was used to having water within a few seconds’ walk of him at pretty much any time, and found that he didn’t really like not having that cooling option, especially in this heat.
Finally, after what felt like hours, Evan crested the dune and stared downhill at the oasis, right on the bottom. As he’d thought, the dune went all the way around the oasis, to simulate the feeling of distance and protect it somewhat from the wind. It was still a long way downhill to get to the oasis, and Evan was tempted to try and slide down the sand on his belly, but instead he took a deep breath and walked down the hill, one sandy pawstep at a time.
As he grew closer, he could see desert creatures milling about, setting up stands to sell beverages, trinkets, and other kitschy wares. As he drew close, one of them turned and walked toward where he would be entering the oasis from.
As he got closer, he could see that she was a fox, but she was tiny, only a little taller than him, and with huge ears that seemed almost as big as the rest of her was. Her fur was a sandy tan color, and she wore what looked like a breathable garment made of a whitish-tan cloth. She stood by the last cactus in the line and waited for him to arrive patiently. As soon as he was within earshot, she grinned and took her face covering off.
“Hi, welcome to the Wildside Oasis! A real desert oasis, right here in the middle of town!” She put out her hand for his, apparently eager to lead him to where the ground was a little more solid. Evan put out his hand for her to take it, and she squeezed the webbing between his thumb and forefinger a little, paused to look at his hand, then at him with a little confusion.
Evan took his goggles and bandana off his face, and she seemed to relax. “Wow, we don’t get very many otters here. They tend to stick to the Hydro Quarter. Er… if you don’t mind me saying so.”
Evan looked down at the sand beneath his paws in surprise when he stopped sinking in. From what it felt like, there was pavement in the oasis, buried under an inch or two of sand. “Er… yeah, I decided to go exploring today. Jonas, back at the tavern, said that this was a pretty fun place to try out.”
The fox lady giggled. “Yeah, Jonas likes to send people our way if they ask. Most people stick to their preferred climate zones. I’m surprised to see an Aquatic this far out into the Desert zone.” She walked as she talked, leading him toward the oasis, a grassy area surrounding a small pond. The palm trees around it, he noticed, were fake, just for decoration, although there were real coconuts for sale at a booth nearby.
He paused at the edge of the oasis and stared at the sandy bottom. “Er… sorry, do you mind if I…?” He pointed at the water.
She blinked at him for a moment in surprise, then giggled. “Go ahead. We keep it clean. I’m afraid it’s not decorated below the surface, though. Never really expected anybody to see it.”
Evan smiled and waded into the water, groaning happily as the water soaked into his fur and knocked loose some of the built-up sand. After a moment, he dove, hearing the fox gasp just as he went under. He stayed under for just a moment, confirming what she had said: it wasn’t decorated below the surface aside from a painted concrete to give the oasis its deep blue color, and then stood back up again, sighing happily as his fur was once again moist. “Thanks. I needed that.” He waded back out of the water and put his hand out for her again. “I’m Evan.”
She shook his hand, looking uncertainly at him. “Sam O’Neill. I’m the hospitality representative at this lovely little slice of paradise.” After a moment, she shook her head and spoke up. “Is your backpack going to be okay? You took it in with you.”
“Hmm?” Evan glanced back at his backpack, then grinned. “Oh! Oh, it’ll be fine. It’s waterproof.” He glanced around and noticed that there were three or four paths out of the oasis, each marked with a different kind of plant forming the invisible pathway.
Sam grinned. “Oh, that’s a relief. Anyway, enjoy the oasis! We have the Bazaar, where you can do your shopping, get souvenirs and refreshments, there’s a picnic area where you can enjoy your treats, a spa where you can get a massage and a mineral bath, and a few other amenities that, as an otter, you probably wouldn’t enjoy that much.”
Evan grinned. “Thank you! I hope to enjoy it for most of the day. Although…” He glanced back at the path he had followed. “I’m not really looking forward to walking that again when it’s even hotter.”
She chuckled and patted his arm. “I’ll see if I can get someone to give you a ride on a sand buggy when you’re ready to leave. Let’s not have our guests getting overheated and passing out.”
He grinned. “I appreciate that. Thank you so much.”
She grinned and glanced around. “Oop, more people coming. Gotta go. Enjoy your visit!” She rushed off toward another group hiking down the saguaro path.
Evan grinned and looked around. He visited the Bazaar and purchased a refrigerator magnet with a photo of the oasis on it and a fruity drink served inside of a coconut shell, wandering around and looking at all the other wares. When he got hungry, he headed toward the picnic area, opening his bag and taking out his boxed lunch. It was still cold despite the heat, and he patted his lunch box thankfully.
People came and went along the various paths pretty steadily, and Evan enjoyed seeing the various other species for a while. He even stopped at the spa for a quick massage before finding Sam again just as the sun was starting to get low. He had enjoyed today, and wondered if he would be able to explore more areas soon.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Nice to see Evan venturing out of his comfort zone and finding a new place that he enjoyed even if it is out of his climate zone! I am sure that the animals who live in that climate are very intrigued that an otter made it to the Oasis and hopefully this opens the floodgates for OTHER creatures not native to the area showing up to check it out.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 9: Fusion Cuisine

“You are now leaving Mojave Flats. Welcome to the Hydro Quarter!” The sign declared gleefully as Evan trudged across the bridge, hiking his bag up a little higher. He paused just under the sign to brush his hands over his clothes and knock loose any further sand that was still stuck to him, then proceeded back across. His bandana dropped off his muzzle at a tilt of his head, and he looked around. It was starting to get dark, so he started trudging straight across town in the wading lane, keeping his eyes down at the water.
Occasionally, he’d spot a fish swimming in the road, and he’d eye it up, estimating its size before letting it pass. Some were smaller than the legal limit; others were bigger than he’d be able to eat on his own. As he walked, he mumbled to himself. “Let’s see… cod? Trout?”
His goggles vibrated gently against his head, and the picture of Noah appeared in his field of view. He grinned and tapped the answer button. “Hey. What’s up?”
Noah’s voice sounded through the speakers, tinny and quiet. “Nothing much. Just got off work, thought I’d call and chat while I head home.”
“Sounds like fun. I’m on my way home, too.” He paused, sitting on the sidewalk and taking off his backpack to remove a cloth net sack from it, then resealed it. “How was work?”
Noah laughed. “It was great. We had a guy bring his coffee back and insist it was wrong three times. He ended up taking the original coffee we gave him and said it was perfect.”
Evan rolled his eyes with a chuckle. “I would have been pulling my fur out.” He slid back into the wading lane, holding the sack in one hand as he eyed a perfectly-sized rainbow trout.
“Yeah, it was pretty frustrating at the time, but it’s funny in hindsight. What did you do today?”
Evan didn’t answer for a moment as he slowly slipped the net in behind the fish, drawing it tight suddenly just as the fish noticed it was being caught and tried to bolt. He grinned and lifted his prize up to verify the size against one of the tiles along the edge of the wading lane, then tied the bag to his waistband so it dangled in the water. “I went out to Mojave flats to explore. They’ve got this fake desert oasis set up where you can get drinks in coconut shells and massages. It was pretty great.”
“That sounds like fun. Wish I could have been there.” Noah’s voice sounded a little upset.
“Hey, don’t be upset.” Evan paused in walking to frown at the empty air in front of him. “I saved the more fun-sounding activity for when you can come with me. They’ve got this ranch, it’s set up like an old west town. They’ve got BB guns and horseback rides!”
There was a pause. “Okay, that does make me feel better. Did I just hear you catch some supper?”
Evan grinned. “Yeah. Got myself a nice rainbow trout. It’s gonna go great with something I got over in Mojave Flats.”
There was a pause, and then Noah laughed. “You gonna make me ask, or are you gonna tell me?”
He smirked. “Well… apparently, the Mojave Flats gate is near a port of import from Mexico to the United States, so they have an in to get coconuts! One guy imports them direct and sells them to the vendors cheap!”
Evan could almost hear Noah gasping. “You’ve got a COCONUT?! Those are IMPOSSIBLE to find here!”
“Not over in Mojave Flats, apparently. Don’t worry, I got an extra one. I’ll bring it over tomorrow.” He snickered and turned to walk up to his apartment building.
“Oh, you are a LIFESAVER. I hope Mom can figure out something to do with it.”
“I bet she can. I’m about home now.” He ignored the trout flapping wildly and slapping his shins as he took off his bag and dug out his ID to swipe open his door.
“Yeah, me too. Talk again later?”
“Yeah. Bye.” He waited for Noah to say bye, then tapped the button to hang up as he entered his apartment.
The first thing he did was heft the trout up and dropped it in the sink, putting in the stopper and starting to run some water over it. Once the water was deep enough for the trout to swim, he took it out of the bag and hung up the bag to dry over the sink, then turned aside and started unpacking his backpack. He set the two coconuts on the counter, put his magnet on the fridge between the pictures from the Deep Dive from when he’d met Noah and when he’d gone with Britt shortly after, and unpacked a few other odds and ends he’d collected. He set his water bottle on the table and put his lunch box back in the freezer to refreeze.
“Okay, now, let’s see…” He pulled one of the coconuts toward him and examined it momentarily before getting a meat tenderizer out of one of his drawers. He carefully used the tenderizer and a little metal tubelike appliance he’d picked up at the same stall as the coconuts to poke out the three holes at one end of the coconut, pouring the water into a glass before setting it aside and smashing the coconut open with his meat tenderizer. The meat exposed, he pulled a bowl over and started scraping the meat out with a fork, nodding in satisfaction as it came out in little shreds. Once he decided he had enough, he spread them on a baking sheet and toasted them in the oven.
While his coconut was toasting, he made quick work of gutting and cleaning the trout, filleting it quickly and laying it out on his cutting board. He set up a dredge station; eggs, flour mixed with his toasted coconut, and then the baking sheet, ready to be reused. He triple battered the fish, then set it in the freezer for the batter to settle while he cleaned up. Once he had his cooking area cleared, he put the fish directly into the oven and started some rice cooking, using the coconut water as most of the liquid in the rice and mixing in a few more of the coconut shreds.
While everything was cooking, he put away the rest of the coconut and grinned eagerly at the oven. “This is gonna be so GOOD!” He squealed excitedly, his whiskers twitching happily.
When his rice was finished and he deemed the fish to be cooked, he happily plated it up- a scoop of rice and one of the halves of the fish, with a little bit of fresh vegetables on the side that he’d purchased earlier in the week here in town, all topped with a generous sprinkle of salt.
He eagerly devoured the sweet-battered treat and went back for seconds, finishing the meal in minutes and sitting there at the table, patting his full belly before he started on the dishes. He wondered what he would do with the rest of the coconut- snack on it, for sure, but maybe also use it in some other recipes? He wasn’t entirely sure. Maybe he’d find something to go with it during his next day’s adventure.
Once the dishes were done, he went to his bedroom and stripped his clothes down. He took the previous day’s clothes off the clothesline- now dry enough for the hamper, and tossed the whole lot in to be washed later. He climbed into bed and fell right asleep.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Hopefully he doesn't get too sick of coconuts since it sounds like he will be able to get them quite readily now. I know how easy it can be to continue having a recipe you like over and over and then never want to have it again.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 10: Treehouse

The tree kangaroo grinned and grabbed a rope off its hook embedded in the side of the fake tree, passing it to Evan. “So, what you’re gonna do, is you’re gonna put your paw on that little step there, and you’re gonna wind your arm around in this handle here…” He showed Evan how to grab the rope with one hand while stepping onto the rubber bar built into a loop at the bottom of the rope.
Evan hesitantly did as he was told, glancing up at the tree kangaroo nervously. “Er… like this? Am I doing it right?”
He grinned at him looking him over. “Looks perfect. Then you’re gonna hold on TIGHT, as tight as you can. Don’t let go.”
Evan tightened his grip. “Why, Ed? What’s gonna happen?”
Ed grinned back at him, adjusting his khaki shorts and shirt before reaching up just above Evan’s head and grabbing a handle attached to another rope running alongside the big one, loosely attached to it here and there via a double-ring bracket. “Nothing much. Until you pull this.” He put it in Evan’s hand and stepped back, grinning.
Evan frowned, looking at the handle. He started to slowly pull on it. “What happens the-EEEEEEEEEEN?!” He squealed when the resistance at the end of the rope suddenly gave, and he shot up into the sky with the tree kangaroo staying behind on the ground, cackling like a maniac. His laughter faded away into silence in seconds, and Evan squeezed his eyes shut, grabbing his rope with all his might until he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, gently tugging him.
He opened his eyes and looked around. He was still dangling over the ground, but someone was pulling him sideways, and he seemed to be swinging over a platform. He was no longer rising. He looked up and noticed that both ropes were attached to a swinging arm assembly painted to look like wood, which is what was allowing him to be swung sideways to get over the platform. He hesitantly looked down again, then shakily lowered his other paw onto the wooden planks below him.
“There we go, easy does it, that’s it. Now the other one… very good. Now let go of the rope. Let go… you have to open your hand.” The koala helping him chuckled, reaching up and prying Evan’s hand off the rope, untangling him and pulling him separate from the rope.
Once Evan was free, she grabbed the rope and walked around the circular gap, pulling the rope along with him until it was dangling over the drop again. She pulled a lever- Evan saw that it was attached to the second rope he had pulled, and pulling it had simply stopped it from blocking a pulley system from dropping a counterweight back down to the ground. A motor started retrieving the counterweight, lowering the rope Evan had ridden up and clicking as the pulley rolled past the locking points.
“So, got anybody with you, or are you here on your own today?” The koala spoke casually as she walked back over toward Evan.
Evan stammered a few moments, his heart still racing from the unexpected flight. “Er… I’m here on my own today.”
“Excellent. Welcome to the Treetop City of Amazon Acres, where all the canopy-dwellers like to hang out.” The koala gently grabbed Evan’s arm and turned him around to face the city.
Evan gasped, staring in awe. The platform he was on was just one of dozens, all connected to each other via rope bridges. The platforms were sometimes as small as the one he was standing on, and sometimes big enough to surround a building that had been attached to the top of the fake tree it was in. Some of the platforms formed ramps that went up and down the trunks to get to openings inside the fake trees, where he could see gentle lights glowing out. If he looked close, he could see sprinklers hidden amongst the fake foliage that formed the tops of the trees. The whole system, rope bridges between platforms, went as far as Evan could see, out of sight across the whole territory. Here and there, he could see other rope platforms for getting up and down.
The koala grinned. “This is all businesses up here. The homes are on the ground for the most part, except for that section off to the left, that whole tree there is apartments. It’s the one marked with yellow flowers, so you won’t get confused. There’s a couple others. Just remember, flowers are apartments, everything else is businesses. Have fun exploring!”
Evan stammered for a second. “W-wait, how do you know this is my first time?”
The koala grinned at him, raising an eyebrow, and Evan blushed a little. “Oh. Right. Stupid question. Er… thanks for helping me off of there, I guess?”
She giggled and patted his back. “You go have fun, hun. The sprinklers go off every odd-numbered hour for about fifteen minutes.”
Evan nodded. “Okay. Er… thanks.” He started across the nearest rope bridge, holding on tight. Halfway across, he peeked over the edge, decided that was a bad idea, and put his eyes straight ahead.
He started to explore the treetop city, and, slowly, the feeling that he could fall at any moment began to fade. He kept himself far away from the handrails on the edges of the platforms as he explored a shop full of trinkets made from treetop materials, examined a stand full of jungle fruit, and saw a movie in a treetop theater where the audience lay in hammocks and the movie was projected on a screen made of mist.
It was hours of fun exploring and looking around; Evan quickly grew used to scuttling across the bridges as quickly as possible without looking down. If he made a purchase, he dropped it into his backpack. When the sprinklers came on, he laughed skyward and spun around in the imitation rain before flopping down on his back to let the water run over him. A few people stared at him strangely, but he didn’t care, giggling and sitting back up again to avoid crushing his backpack.
A short while later, Evan was leaning on a handrailing, staring at the ground far below, where he could see a second city of forest floor dwellers milling around below him, going about their business. A voice spoke at his elbow. “Well, if it isn’t Evan Hill, otter explorer extraordinaire!"
Evan gave a startled little gasp and looked over to see the tree kangaroo, dressed in his safari gear and grinning at him. He smiled weakly. “Hey there, Ed. All done working for the day?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. Surprised to find you still up here. Most tourists get vertigo and head back down after an hour or two.”
Evan shrugged back at him, returning his gaze back over the edge of the platform. “Yeah, but I was having fun. It is a LITTLE scary. If I were to fall from here, I’d probably turn into a splat of soup when I hit the ground.”
Ed stood on tiptoes to peek over the railing. “Nah. You can’t see ‘em from here, but there are nets down there to stop you from falling. You’d land safe and sound, and someone would help you back onto the ground. We took account of accidents when we built this place.”
Evan smiled a little. “See, that makes me feel a little better. But I have one other question that would make me feel even better if you could answer it for me.”
“Sure, what’s the question?” Ed leaned backward against the handrail to grin up at Evan.
Evan put his ears back and pried his hands off the railing, leaving behind six little scratches in the wood from his claws. “How do I get down?”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Why do I get the feeling that Evan is not gonna like the answer to the question of getting down at all? I assume the contraption he used to get up there only brings him up and getting down might require taking some sort of leap or two. LOL

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Double upload today because the site was down all day yesterday. Hopefully that's all over and done with now.

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Chapter 11: Arcade

Evan knelt to take the bag out of his backpack, gently placing the drink in its spillproof lid next to it before zipping it back up and sealing it. He stood up to take a photo, then rang the doorbell. “Boar Dash!” He called, then turned and started walking back down the hall toward the stairs, glancing at his phone. His account balance was back up to what he had had before the previous day’s adventure to Amazon Acres, and he nodded, satisfied.
He noticed on the town’s app that he had a notification, and he clicked it to open it. It turned out to be just a notification that the visitor center was officially open, so he closed the app and paused at the bottom of the stairs to tuck his phone into his backpack.
He paused in the doorway to stretch, grinning in the sunshine, then pulled his goggles down and walked forward onto the sidewalk, into the wading lane, and stepping casually down into the swim lane, sitting on the bottom for a moment before rotating and starting to swim in whichever direction the water was flowing.
While he was underwater, his goggles vibrated to let him know he was getting a call, and Noah’s picture popped up in his view. He grinned and pressed the button to answer it, taking a moment to surface and starting to backstroke down the road before speaking. “Hey, dude. I just got finished working for the day. What’s up?”
Noah chuckled into the phone. “Same. I was wondering if you wanted to go bother Britt at work for a while.”
Evan laughed, pausing to float upright in the water before turning and starting to swim the other way. “Sounds like fun. The arcade?”
“Yeah. How close are you to there?” There was a quiet splashing on the other end of the call, indicating Noah was getting into the water.
“Oh, not too far. I’m by that apartment building on Main. Why, you want me to get the snacks?” He chuckled, diving slightly and rolling over to swim forward with just his head out of the water.
“Yeah. You’ll be there before me anyway.”
Evan laughed. “Okay, fair enough. Your usual?”
“Yeah, that sounds good. See you in ten?”
“Better make it fifteen. I wanna use the bathroom before I head over.”
Noah laughed. “Fair enough. See you then.”
“Yup. Bye.” Evan tapped the button to hang up, waiting for Noah’s face to disappear from his vision before he dove under and picked up speed, grinning as the bottom of the road zipped by him. He passed under a bridge, then angled himself and jumped all the way over the wading lane to land on the sidewalk, pausing only to shake his fur out and put his goggles up before he entered a corner store he liked to frequent.
He used the restroom, then picked up two grape slushies and two packets of hot cheese taquitos- Noah’s favorite snack to bring into the arcade with him.
Once he had the snacks, however, he couldn’t take the swimming lane. Evan sighed and set forth to walk the remaining two blocks to the arcade, finding Noah waiting for him. He grinned and passed him his slushie and taquitos, happy to finally have a hand free to dig into his own. “Hey, dude.”
Noah grinned and sipped his slushie for a few moments before answering. “Go anywhere interesting today?”
Evan shrugged. “Not really. I don’t wanna explore the whole town in one go. I’d get exhausted after. Besides, any other sections of town, I’ll have to take the ferry across the center to get to.”
Noah grinned and turned to head inside the arcade. “What, you don’t wanna ride the ferry? You got no problem taking the turbo pipes, but can’t deal with the ferry?”
Evan followed him. “It’s too close to other people. I can’t sit still that long anyway. It’s not even really a ferry. It’s more like a bus.”
Noah snickered. “It’s okay to admit you get a little motion sick.”
He rolled his eyes, then waved at Britt over working the prize booth. She rolled her eyes and said something to a coworker, then let herself out of the booth and walked over to them. Evan tried not to notice that she was only wearing her uniform shirt, with no pants on under it.
“Don’t you two have something better to do than come bother me at work?” She put her hands on her hips with an exasperated grunt.
Noah smirked playfully and kissed her cheek. “I just thought you’d wanna see your ex, after he went to all the trouble of bringing you a coconut to show his love for you earlier.”
Evan squeaked, his cheeks and ears burning. “I didn’t bring it just for HER! I just- I mean-!” He stammered.
Britt rolled her eyes. “He’s not my ‘ex.’ We went on three dates and then mutually decided we weren’t for each other.”
“Yeah, surreee.” Noah teased playfully, poking Britt in the chest.
She swiped at him and grunted. “I have to get back to work. Just don’t make a mess I have to clean up, will you?”
Noah grinned. “I will make no such promises. But we will start out nice and easy with a bit of ski-ball.”
She scoffed, swiping at him as she turned and went back to her post.
Evan tried to cool his burning ears by folding them back. “Did you have to bring that up? I’m starting to wish I’d listened to her and kept that a secret from you.”
Noah grinned and started walking toward the ski-ball machines, pausing to buy a cup of tokens from the token machine. While it was dispensing the tokens, he smirked at Evan. “I would have found out anyway. You know I would have.”
Evan slumped, grabbing his own cup and swiping his card for some tokens himself. “Yeah, you’re right. You always know. But you could at least let it drop. We tried it out, it didn’t work, so we let it go.”
“You kidding? The way you get all flustered and the way she gets mad? I’ve still got YEARS in teasing you two for THAT!” He laughed playfully and sipped on his slushy. “Hey, is my tongue purple?” He stuck his tongue out.
Evan snickered and nudged him. “Cut that out. You look like you ate a smurf.”
“I dunno, Brainy Smurf is pretty hot. Maybe you should get some glasses. Well… I guess you kind of do.” He reached up and pulled down Evan’s goggles to cover his eyes. “There. Improved.”
Evan rolled his eyes and pulled his goggles back up to his forehead, turning to walk toward the ski-ball machines. “Yeah, yeah, I know, you’re still into me. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have such a great figure.” He gave his hips a little swish, flaunting his backside playfully.
Noah laughed and followed him. “Careful waving that around. I might just decide I want it.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

Looks like there is some more backstory that we are about to find out about Noah in regards to his and Evan's friendship. I had no idea that Noah had feelings for him and don't think it was stated anywhere though I might have just forgotten about it if it was since I am oblivious to the Nth degree.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

It may have been mentioned once or twice. There may have been an entire subarc about it in the first story. Who knows?

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 12: Phone Calls

Evan was brushing his teeth when he heard his phone start to ring. He frowned and spat out his toothpaste, picking up the phone off the bathroom counter. He didn’t recognize the number, but he answered it anyway and put it to his ear. “Hello, you have reached the personal phone of Evan Hill. How may I help you?”
There was silence on the other end of the line for a few moments. Then, a voice- male, and sounding slightly familiar, though Evan couldn’t quite place it, spoke. “I’m sorry, it’s a wrong number. Goodbye.” The line clicked, and the call hung up.
Evan frowned down at his phone, then set it aside and rinsed his mouth, spitting out the rest of his toothpaste before wiping his mouth and looking at himself in the mirror. His phone had never rung before unless someone was trying to contact him. Wrong numbers were almost unheard of anymore.
After a few moment’s consideration, Evan saved the number as ‘mint toothpaste’ in his phone. He wanted to remember who it was if they called again. That done, he tossed his phone into his backpack, grabbed his goggles off their charger, and headed out the door.
A few minutes later, sloshing down the wading lane along a familiar path, he tapped the button on his goggles. “Call Noah.”
Noah’s face popped up in Evan’s field of view, and the word “calling” appeared underneath it next to the image of an old-style telephone. He could hear it ringing. After a few moments, the line clicked, and Noah’s groggy-sounding voice answered. “Evan, it is six o’clock in the morning.”
Evan snickered. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I wake you, sleeping beauty?”
He grumbled into the phone, and Evan could almost picture him sliding head-first out of bed and onto the floor. “No. A little. Yes. Yes, you woke me up. It’s my day OFFF…” He whined a little.
“I know, that’s why I’m calling you. You told me to make sure you were up. Remember? We were going to go check out the No Way Corral out in Mojave Flats? We wanted to beat the sandstorm and get there early so we’d have more time?”
There was a pause, and then Noah’s voice perked. “Oh, yeah! I’d forgotten!”
Evan snickered. “Well, hurry up and get ready to go! I’m already on the road. I’m gonna stop by Kuni’s stand to pick up some lunches for us. Meet up at the bridge?”
“Uhhh, yeah. Just gotta shovel some food in my mouth real quick.” There was a quiet clattering from the other side of the line, and Evan chuckled, sure that Noah was scrambling around the kitchen for something he could grab to go.
“Well, don’t hurt yourself.” He snickered, then frowned when another number popped up in his vision, with no picture saved to the contact. He read it to himself: Mint Toothpaste. After a moment, he remembered what that was. “Oops, got another call. See you in a bit. Bye!” He hung up and quickly answered the other call. “Hello, you’ve reached Evan’s phone again. Did you mess up the number again?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line, then the voice spoke. “I lied.”
Evan frowned. “Pardon?” He slowed to a stop, standing in the road and letting the water trickle past.
“About the wrong number. It wasn’t a wrong number. I just panicked.” The voice on the other end of the line clarified.
Evan frowned at the phone number. It wasn’t a Wildside Haven area code; that meant the call was coming from outside the city. “May I ask who’s calling, please? I don’t seem to have your number saved.”
The voice was quiet for a few moments. Evan thought he heard tapping. “No, you wouldn’t. We switched carriers after… Never mind. I’m on my way to you. Er… to the visitor center. I saw on the news that they opened a visitor center. I’m coming there.”
Evan hesitated, then resumed walking. He could see his destination down the road, so he didn’t hurry that much. “You’re coming to the visitor center… NOW?”
There was a pause on the line. He got the sense that the person was shaking his head, though he wasn’t sure why he was so sure about that. “No, no. Well, yes, but it’s going to be a while. Not for a couple days, at least.”
Evan opened his mouth to answer, but the voice on the other side of the line cut in before he could. “I have to go. I’ll call you when I’m close, okay?”
Before Evan could answer, the line beeped and went silent. He frowned as the blank ID card disappeared from his vision, then sloshed a few more steps to the stall set up half in the water right on the edge of the road. He lifted his goggles out of the way to get an unobstructed view of the red panda smiling at him from the inside. “Good morning, Kuni. Two lunch platters to go, please. Extra salt on one of them.”
The red panda nodded and got to work, stripping down two fish from the tank behind his stall as quick as a flash, examining the flesh carefully for any signs of parasites as he stripped it down into tasty-looking strips in minutes, sprinkling it with salt to help it dry out and portioning out some pickled vegetables from jars under the counter. While he worked, he chatted. “I saw you talking on the phone with those fancy goggles of yours, Evan. You looked a little confused.”
Evan had a seat while he waited and nodded, pulling his backpack off and setting it on the counter to dig through it for his lunch box. “Yeah, I got a call from a number I don’t know. From the outside. The voice sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it. They said they’re coming to the visitor center and they’ll be here in a few days, but they didn’t say who they were.”
Kuni nodded, laying the fish out carefully in two to-go containers before putting it into a machine sitting on the sidewalk. “I’ll flash-freeze it so it stays nice and cold until you’re ready for lunch. Do you think it might be someone you knew from the outside?”
Evan shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve been here… two years? Just under? But I think I’d remember the voice if it was someone I knew.”
Kuni took out the two to-go containers from the machine, now nice and frosty, and scooped in the portions of vegetables. He sprinkled some extra salt on one of them, then took a marker and drew a Japanese character on that container, tapping it on the lid. “This one is your extra salt.” He nestled the container gently in Evan’s lunch box, then settled the other one on top and started ringing him in.
Evan smiled. He always thought that the character for ‘salt’ looked like a guy playing one of those really big horns like a goatherd would in cartoons. “Thank you.” He swiped his card to pay for the feast, then got started packing it into his backpack, grabbing a couple pairs of chopsticks to go with it.
While he was working, Kuni sat on the sidewalk with his paws dangling in the water again, like he always did when he had nothing to do. “Maybe they sound different.”
Evan paused and looked up. “What?”
“Your mystery caller. Maybe they sound different than they did when you knew them. It’s been a while, and sometimes voices change.” He shrugged. “Or maybe I’m wrong. Who knows? You’ll just have to wait and see.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

I am wondering if the voice ended up changing because the person turning Evan also ended up becoming an animal. They decided to reach out because they need help to navigate their new normal.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 13: No Way Corral

Noah panted a little bit and plopped down on the sand. “Cripes, it’s hot out here. How can you stand to wear all those CLOTHES in this?!”
Evan laughed and offered him his water bottle. “I told you to bring some water. Don’t worry, according to the map, we’re almost there.”
Noah gulped greedily from the water bottle, drops of water running down his cheeks until they soaked into his fur, and then nodded, passing it back. “Good. I wanna see this old west replica town you told me about.”
“Me, too. Jonas said it’s pretty fun. I just hope there’s enough to keep us busy most of the day.” Evan pointed in the direction they had been walking. “I think I can see it.”
“Where?” Noah climbed back to his paws and squinted in the direction Evan was pointing.
“There, just on the edge of that dune. It looks like the corner of a building.” Evan pointed at the hill, and at the piece of wooden A-frame that was poking out behind it.
“Huh. So we were like… fifty feet away.” Noah started walking.
Evan chuckled and followed him. “Yeah, pretty much.”
They rounded the hill and stepped directly into an old western movie. The town was built on a plane of packed dirt, and came complete with citizens milling about in period-style clothes. A billboard just before the first building drew their attention. Evan stepped over to it and read. “Welcome to the No Way Corral, Old West period reenactment town. Rules: One: You don’t have to dress in period clothes, but it does help with the immersion. Costumes may be rented at the Boutique for a small hourly fee plus cleaning. Two: The townsfolk are paid actors. Please treat them with respect. Three: Firearms may be rented at the Armory. They are not lethal, but please do not aim them at other people. See Armory employees for a full safety briefing. Four: Horses are employees. Please do not jab, whip, or otherwise harm them. To hire a horse for the desert tour, please speak to an aide at the Stables. Five: Violators of these rules may be held by the Sheriff until a ride home can be procured and/or applicable charges have been filed. Please enjoy your visit!”
Noah grinned, then turned and started walking down the street. “Well, obviously we’re going to the Boutique first.”
Evan laughed and jogged after him. “What are you talking about? I’ve never seen you wear so much as a pair of shorts.”
“Well, yeah, but it’s COSPLAY!” He gestured around. “I mean it would be rude NOT to participate! What if we ruin someone else’s immersion?”
Evan chuckled and followed him up the wooden stairs toward a building that read “Boutique” on its sign. “You just wanna wear a big hat and chaps with tassels.”
“Darn straight.” He grinned and went inside.
Fifteen minutes later, Evan smirked as he leaned on a display case, his phone out and pointed at the entrance to the changing room. The second Noah walked out, Evan clicked the button on his phone, and it made a loud digital shutter noise, instantly memorializing the sight of Noah wearing a western style farm dress. He laughed loudly and turned the phone to show Noah, dancing back to keep out of his reach. “You look beautiful, dude!”
Noah scowled and tried to grab the phone. “You said you wouldn’t take pictures!”
“I lied. I wonder what Britt would say?” He held his finger up over the phone like he was about to send it.
Noah froze, his face going red. “Don’t you DARE.”
“Nah, I won’t. At least, not right NOW. Go put on your chaps and hat and let’s go to the armory for some bb shooters.” Evan dropped his phone back into his bag with a snicker. As Noah pouted and went back into the changing room, Evan turned to examine himself. He had selected a nice button-down shirt topped with a faux leather vest, some slacks held up by a ridiculously large-buckled belt, and a broad-brimmed cowboy hat, though not so broad-brimmed that it was cumbersome.
Noah came back out of the dressing room and held his arms out for Evan’s approval. He had selected an “airier” version of the same outfit, wearing chaps with no pants, a vest, and a bigger hat. Evan snickered and gave him a thumbs-up. They put down a deposit on their costumes, then headed next door to the armory, where they had to sit through a fifteen minute presentation on the proper use and handling of BB guns before they were allowed to rent a pair of BB pistols each, hanging on a decorative belt full of fake bullets like a gunslinger in a western movie.
As they left the armory, Noah grinned and unholstered his pistol, waving it around with the end pointed skyward. “This here’s a robbery, everybody get down!” He spoke slightly louder than normal, pretending to shout without actually raising his voice that much and speaking with a fake drawl.
Evan laughed. “Put that away, you goof. Remember, not until we get to the shooting range?”
Noah snickered and reholstered his gun. “Actually, let’s do the horseback tour first. I’ve always wanted to ride a horse.”
“I did once, a long time ago.” Evan glanced around, then pointed toward the stables. “That way, I think. We’ll do the tour, then break for lunch. I got the specials from Kuni. He flash froze them, but I still wanna get to ‘em before they go bad. After lunch, we’ll do the shooting range, then look for souvenirs before heading home.”
Noah grinned. “Sounds like a plan. Depending on when we get home, maybe we can go swimming in the backyard before Mom gets supper ready.”
Evan smiled. “Sounds like fun to me.” He pushed through the swinging doors into the stables building.
The horses were chattering among themselves, but they fell silent when Evan and Noah walked in. Evan gave them a little wave. “Hi. Is this where we go to ask about that tour?”
There were a few moments of silence, and then one of the horses spoke. “Couple of otters.”
“That’s ADORABLE!” A female horse cooed at them, then turned to a pipe that was sticking out of the ground and called into it. “Janice! Couple of otters here, wanna go for a ride!”
A tinny, slightly muffled voice came out of the pipe a second later. “Okay, I’ll be there in a second. Keep ‘em entertained.”
Evan grinned at the pipe. “Oh, that’s an old butler call system! I saw one of those in that old animated movie about cats!”
“Can’t exactly use buttons anymore.” One of the horses confirmed. “They had to get creative. Janice helps us put on our equipment and makes sure we have what we need.”
“That’d be me.” A voice sounded at the door to the stable. Evan turned to find a mountain lion standing at the door in her period gear, wearing pants that seemed to become a dress when she was standing still and a hat of her own. “Now, let’s see. Either of you boys ever been horseback riding before?”
Noah shrugged and shook his head. “Does the plastic one at the mall count?”
The mountain lion shrugged. “Costs thirty minutes each for the tour. You can leave your extra bits in the cubbies there.” She gestured to some square holes in the wall clearly built for things like bags and phones. After that, she turned to the horses. “Who wants to tour guide these fine young otters?”
Most of the horses volunteered. Evan laughed at the ridiculous display. This was going to be fun.

[Amazee Dayzee]

Have a feeling that none of the horses there who have given the tour have never seen otters before because most animals that are aquatic wouldn't be able to make it out into the town because of the heat. I'm sure many people out there haven't thought that they would see any species of animal who usually stay near water over in that area.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 14: Walking Home

Noah snickered as they walked up the Mojave Flats side of the bridge, punching Evan on the shoulder playfully. “I can’t believe you fell off the horse!”
Evan scoffed, rubbing his shoulder. “The saddle was slippery! I can’t believe YOU missed the target entirely at the shooting range!” He sidestepped to nudge Noah with a smirk.
“The sun was in my eyes!” Noah protested, throwing his hands up in the air.
“The sun was BEHIND us.” Evan chuckled.
“Yeah, but it was reflecting into my eyes. YOU didn’t have any reflections in YOUR eyes.” Noah hip-checked Evan, then looked down and grabbed his hand. “Special move! Distracting hand hold!”
Evan laughed and let Noah keep holding his hand, which flustered the older otter slightly. “Anyway, did you have fun?”
“Oh, I had a BLAST. I’d say we should do it again some time, except getting there was such a pain. Walking? Surely they have some other way to get around in Mojave Flats.” Noah turned to look at the Hydro Quarter side of the sign before stepping down into the wading lane.
“Yeah, they have dune buggies and ATVs, but as far as I know, there’s no way to rent them yet. I got a ride back on one when I visited the Oasis. That was almost twice as long of a walk, and it was across sand, not sand on top of packed dirt.” He turned to walk toward the nearest turbo tube intake pipe. Noah grabbed his shoulder and put his ears back.
“Hold on, where are you going? My house is that way.” He gestured.
Evan nodded in agreement. “And the turbo pipes are THAT way. If we just take the swim lanes, it’s gonna take like an hour to get there. With the turbo pipes, it’ll take like fifteen minutes.”
Noah grimaced. “But…”
Evan grinned and lifted his hand, still holding onto Noah’s. “Aww, you’ll be fine. Look, I’m even already holding your hand.”
Noah groaned. “Ugh… fine, but you gotta keep holding it until we get out of the pipes. I hate those things.”
He grinned at him and resumed walking with Noah in tow. “It’s just a current, you big baby. It’s not even that fast.” He dropped down into the swim lane and waited for Noah to join him before starting to swim. As they went, they switched to floating on their backs so they could still talk to each other.
“So, you gonna tell me what’s bothering you?” Noah spoke casually, eyeing the glass pipeline along the roofline to one side, where some aquatic creature could occasionally be seen zipping past. “Or are you gonna make me sic Britt on you when we get home?”
Evan stared at the sky for a few moments, kicking sideways to swerve around a gondola before answering. “There’s not much to tell. I got a phone call from a number I don’t know from the outside, and whoever it was said they’d be coming by in a few days to visit me in the visitor center.”
Noah frowned at the sky for a few moments. “Any idea who it could be?”
“No.” Evan shook his head. “I mean, the voice sounded familiar… kind of. But I couldn’t tell who it was. Not someone I was close to, I don’t think.”
Noah suddenly pulled to the side and sat on the edge of the wading lane, squeezing Evan’s hand. Evan glanced up to realize they had arrived at the intake pipe, and he nodded his understanding; Noah needed a moment to gather his nerves.
While they sat, Noah frowned at Evan. “So, what’s got you worried? It sounds like it’s someone you somewhat know, at least.”
“Well, that’s the problem. I didn’t know that many people. I told you what my mom was like. She never let me do anything. It was all school and study and approved extracurriculars. Who could I know whose voice I don’t recognize?” Evan kicked his toes in the water, feeling the gentle suction from the intake pipe.
“Well, it’s also been a while. You were, what, seventeen when you left? There’s a good chance most of your classmates hadn’t finished puberty yet. Maybe their voices changed.”
“True…” Evan kicked off the wading lane and floated into the swimming lane, still holding Noah’s hand. “I’ll have to think about that a bit. Come on, enough stalling. Let’s go. It’s only like a five minute ride.”
Noah groaned, but slid off the wading lane anyway, taking a deep breath in synchronization with Evan before diving down. Evan led him into the pipe and up with the gentle sucking current until they abruptly entered the main pipe and the strong current that went with it. He could feel Noah’s grip on his hand tighten, and he grinned, rotating in place to grin at him, upside-down.
Noah looked thoroughly disoriented, kicking and flicking his tail to try to orient himself the right way up, but continuously overcorrecting. Evan giggled, letting the bubbles tickle his nose as he watched, keeping an eye out on the town below through the pipe. After a few minutes, he reached out with his spare hand and grabbed Noah’s shoulder, flipping them both upside-down and motioning that they were going to kick the ceiling. He held up three fingers, then counted them down. When he dropped the last finger, Noah and Evan kicked the top of the pipe to push themselves out of the current and into the uptake pipe at their destination.
Evan squeezed Noah’s hand and swam down out of the uptake pipe, surfacing right outside and stroking his way to the wading lane to let Noah settle his stomach.
Noah grimaced, holding his belly and pulling his ears back. “Ugh… I hate those things.”
Evan chuckled. “If you’re going to throw up, aim it toward the wading lane so the vents can take it to the water treatment plant. If you do it in the swim lane, it’ll get sucked up into the pipes.”
Noah opened one eye to look at Evan, a twinkle in his expression. “Speaking from experience?”
“Maybe.” He put on his most innocent expression, then laughed and swatted Noah on the back. “Feel up to walking? It’s about a six minute walk to your house from here.”
Noah nodded and wobbled to his paws in the wading lane. “It’s really that fast?”
“It’s really that fast. Faster, if you swim with the current.” He confirmed.
“Wow. No wonder you like them.” Noah turned to look back at the pipes.
“You get used to the disorientation, I promise. It’s even fun!” Evan laughed.
“Maybe I’ll give them another try some time. I didn’t know about the ‘kicking the ceiling to get out of the current’ thing before. I got stuck last time, trying to swim out.” He grinned and started to walk forward again, toward his house.
“Yeah, they reinforced the pipes where you have to kick. If you push off from the steel part, you’ll go right into the intake pipes. Well… usually. It does take practice to get the timing right, I admit.”
“How many times did you faceplant?” Noah raised his eyebrow.
Evan shrugged. “Ten or so. Oh, and Noah?”
Noah grinned at Evan. “Yeah?”
“You can let go of my hand now.”
“Never.”

[Amazee Dayzee]

When Noah asks Evan how many times he face planted does he mean how many times he screwed up trying to get the timing of going into the pipes right or is he saying he actually FACE PLANTED against the pipes? I assume it is the former but just asking because if it was the latter I am pretty sure Evan's face would be broken in several places.

[GingaDensetsuAleu]

Chapter 15: Cross-Town Commute

Evan zipped through the wading lane, swimming through the shallow water as quickly as he could, dodging legs and weaving around groups. He took a sharp turn, following the map on his goggles, and barrel-rolled over into the swim lane, diving low to avoid other traffic as he did tiny kicks to keep himself moving as fast as possible. As he approached the intake pipe, he surfaced only momentarily to expel his used air and suck in a lungful of fresh air before diving again directly into the intake pipe, turning to crouch on the bend before kicking off, sending himself shooting up and into the current.
He rotated in place and started swimming along the current. His legs were starting to burn from doing his tiny kicks, but he didn’t dare stop. Three exits shot by in the space of a minute, and he flipped, his toes clipping off the edge of the steel plate as he launched himself down the fourth exit at high speed, nearly slamming into a beaver that was making her way up. He managed to spin himself out of the way and suck in his gut to squeeze past, then shot out the bottom of the intake and into the swim lane again, immediately diving down to get under the traffic once more.
His map indicated an upcoming turn, and he rotated in place, letting his momentum carry him in line as he angled himself up into the wading lane again, then shot forward in the new direction, weaving around pedestrians. His destination was fast approaching on the left, and he surfaced as fast as he could, shooting out of the water and landing on his paws in a jog, shaking the water out of his fur. He skidded to a stop in front of the door and slipped off his backpack, opening it up and taking the delivery bag out. He set the food and sealed drink on the provided table, snapped a photo, then knocked on the door. “Boar Dash!” He called out, then turned and walked back down the sidewalk toward the road, taking a moment to mark the order as delivered in his phone.
“Nice. Time from pickup to delivery, three minutes, twelve seconds. That’s gotta be a record.” He clocked out of the app and dropped his phone back into his bag, zipping and sealing it before dropping into the wading lane and sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, soaking his legs. “Oof… my legs are BURNING, though.”
He sat there for a moment, cloudgazing while he waited for the burning in his muscles to fade to the cool water running past his legs. It was a nice day out; sunny and relatively clear, but not so much that the sun was constantly reflecting off the water into everybody’s eyes.
Once he was ready to go, he dropped down into the road and started walking back toward the intake pipe, giving a satisfied grunt. It felt good, having worked a solid day’s work and gotten his account back up to where it had started again. He always made sure to get his account back up to where it started after spending a lot.
When he got back to the main road, he casually walked off the wading lane and into the swim lane. He liked doing that; he liked to imagine someone watching thinking he had accidentally walked off the ledge into the deeper water.
He let himself float downward for a while, watching the light above fade slightly and the silhouettes of other commuters pass at various speeds before his back landed on the concrete. He lay there for a moment, enjoying the sensation of water passing over him, then rolled over and started swimming. He surfaced momentarily for some fresh air before diving back into the turbo pipeline, swimming up. Just as he was hitting the current, his goggles chimed at him, and an image of an African water rat popped up in his field of vision with the name “Kian White” under it.
Evan frowned, staring at the caller ID. He’d met Kian a few times; the water rat was the Hydro Quarter gate attendant and greeter, meaning his job was to meet newcomers at the gate and show them to their housing. He wondered what Kian would need from him now, after he’d been here two years.
After a moment’s hesitation, Evan pressed the button to answer the call, then reached across to press the button on the other side, telling his goggles to play his prerecorded message over the call as he drifted aimlessly in the current, looking for his exit as he heard his own voice start to play over his speakers.
“Hey, you’ve reached Evan Hill! If you’re hearing this, it means I’m underwater and can’t talk to you right now, but I can hear you! Go ahead and let me know who you are and why you’re calling, and I’ll be with you just as soon as I can come up for air!” His voice sounded chipper and overly polite- his customer service voice.
After a moment, Kian’s voice sounded over the line. “Hey, uh, Evan. This is Kian White with the city, I’m not sure if you remember me. Normally, in this situation, we would send someone to get you, but since you don’t really have a set work address, we don’t really have a way to track you down, so I’m calling instead.”
Evan kicked off the top of the pipe and started heading down a random intake pipe. He wasn’t quite sure where he was, but he needed to answer the call. Kian continued rambling while he was swimming. “I’m just calling to let you know that you have a visitor in the visitor center. That’s the, uh, big domed building built into the wall next to the gate where you first entered the city, if you didn’t know. Um…” Kian sounded like he was struggling to fill the silence, so Evan hurried to surface and sat on the edge of the wading lane.
“Hi, Kian. Sorry, I was in the turbo pipe. Yeah, I know where the visitor center is. Just a second, let me figure out where I am.” He stood up in the wading lane and looked around, sucking air through his teeth. “Oof, I’m way out on the west side. The fastest way back there is gonna be to go back into the turbo pipe and ride it all the way down to the canal, then swim down the canal to Wall Street and walk from there. It’ll take me about ten minutes. Is that okay?”
There was some quiet chatter on the other end of the line, then Kian’s voice returned. “That’ll be just fine. We’ll be waiting for you, so just try not to keep us waiting, okay?”
Evan nodded. “That sounds good. I’m gonna hang up now, so I can focus on swimming. Okay?”
“Okay.” Kian sounded relieved that the phone call was over, and Evan hung up. He immediately slid back into the swim lane and back up the intake pipe, letting himself free-float some more as he watched the town fly past. He wondered who was waiting for him at the visitor center.
Before too long, the pipe suddenly tilted downward and deposited him into the canal. He started swimming as quickly as he could, headed down the most direct route to get to the visitor center. On his way, he wondered, for the hundredth time, who could possibly be visiting him.