Chapter Thirty-One: two days away.

"only two days left! and it's the day before kevin's eighteenth!"

-emperorwolf

benson walked cautiously through the mall in the gentikan district of virada, avoiding the smaller patrons scattered around the area.
"why's this mall have unified days, anyway?"
lily sat on his shoulder, holding a pawfull of shopping bags "it's a public relations thing."
she pointed at a clothing store "drop me off there."
he carefully crouched and put her down, succeeding in getting an angry gentikan tourist to yell at him as he accidentally nudged him with his tail.
"baragara beliche!"
benson looked at lily
"he said: stupid monster."
"tell him to shut up, please"
dispite being a buki once, benson had spent most of his educated life in Virada, so he'd never learned gentikan or firish.
lily glared at the angry shopper, and started talking back in her mother tongue
"he's NOT a monster, moron! now get out of here before i call the synch department!"
the shopper ran off.
benson rose to his full height "meet me at the sundae bar in an hour."
"moria- ahem sorry, sure."

benson waded away through the ankle high crowd carefully.
"i'm sorry, please move, sorry, i need to get through, can you just...? sorry miss." he apologised as he moved, trying not to step on anyone.
lily sighed "poor ben. hope those people understand viradan..."
she turned to the store and walked in.
the lady at the desk greeted her wth a southern accent, natural to a gentikan "boti gentikia?"
"moria, gentikia."
"ah, good... my Viradan isn't very good, it's far easier to speak gentikan, don't you think?"
lily shook her head "no, i'm fine with either. do you have the dress i ordered?"
the woman typed at her computer "name?"
"elilabetha heartrow"
"identitification?"
lily handed over a small plastic card, and the woman scanned it and gave it back.
"yes, we've got it, that'll be $40, please."
she paid and recieved a box, she put it in one of the bags she held.
"tiralla!" lily thanked her and walked out.
she looked around, and saw a familiar otter leaning against a wall adjacent from the storefront.
she headed over "Zigra, syrus!"
he looked up "koban! milerachet, lily." answering in fluent gentikan.
"where's carl?"
"oh, he's down at the coffee shop, he doesn't like the buki rush hour, says it's stressful avoiding everyone".
she shrugged "according to ben, most giants feel the same way. what're you doing, anyway?"
he smiled "tryin' to think of what to get kevin for tomorrow. you?"
"shopping, like any girl does on the weekend"
syrus' phone buzzed, and he checked the message.
"carl's done with the coffee, and wants to know where he can get something to eat".
lily took out her own phone, and tapped away a message.
"tell him to meet at the tofu bar, they serve giants *and* non-giants there now..."
he sent a reply "okay, but who're you texting?"
"ben, telling him to meet us at the tofu bar. i'm hungry."
"fair enough."
they headed off down the mall to the food court.

they waited atop a table for a few minutes before the giant fox and leopard showed up, both avoiding the crowds below them.
they sat down at the table "gah... i hate the rush hour..." the fox moaned
"i know what you mean, nobody wants to get out of the way, they just expect you to wait with your paws in the air until rush hour ends, it's aggrevating!" the leopard growled, tugging his cap down over his eyes.
lily looked up at carl "hey, syrus says that you know gentikan, is that true?"
he sighed "yeah, a little bit. you don't room with somebody for ten years without learning their language."
"interesting." lily commented in gentikan
benson groaned and ordered a few ganmodoki, he couldn't talk with his friends now, he couldn't speak gentikan.

carl laughed
"boroto, nima nima keltappa!" he said in shaky gentikan
syrus and lily burst into laughter
"pfff, nima keltappa! nima keltappa!" lily laughed as she conversed with them.
syrus sighed "bokka... bokka... rimei, zulat niret grentik?"
"nortik, embala?" carl seemed to ask the otter
"nogal, tika bilrei: hetta vot reliagran tipa!"
benson groaned internally, he hated being unable to understand the conversation.

a grey feline waiter came over, and looked at them "rilmek nin?"
"zordal 'regular' lilati" lily said to him.
carl and syrus answered simultaniously "enin, zordal 'soy' lilati"

the waiter wrote it down and looked at benson "enin kon?"
benson groaned out loud "i can't understand you."
the waiter gave a snooty look and put his nose in the air "rinn kib'el mirn baragara viradan? zilim la pokka litic!"
benson groaned again, and looked at his friends "a little help, please?"
syrus sighed "he said: so, you're a stupid viradan? i no serve you now."
"wh-?"
the waiter turned away "villta norre lenda gruck jek'za nin'na!" and walked off.
benson pounded his head to the table.
"he... said: i'll bring the real patron's orders" lily translated awkwardly
benson groaned again "i... hate... this... mall!"
carl figeted awkwardly "c-come on, benson... it's not-"
"and worse than being denied service because of my language, is that my friends cut me out because i can't speak gentikan! next time you're going to bring me here, lil, if you're just to ignore me, DON'T BOTHER asking." he said agressively, and stood up and walked away, almost stepping on a few people as he stormed out of the mall.
"fucking 'unified day' BULLSHIT!!" he yelled as he exited.

lily's head bowed "he's right... we were kind of rude excluding him like that..."
the waiter returned, looking smug "good to see that the trash was cleaned from the bar. here's your orders."
carl grabbed the waiter's wrist "you shouldn't have said any of that to our friend."
"tch. you're wrong, sir. we can't have barbaric *fools* in here."
"oh, so if i'd answered in viradan, i'd be a 'fool' as well, would i?"
"no no no! you speak the only language used by the un-barbaric! although your mastery of it is not perfect, you cannot be a fool!"
syrus and lily stood up and boarded carl's paws
carl stood up "i've lost my appetite. i won't eat at such a *disgusting excuse* for a resteraunt."
he walked out, leaving the waiter confused.

lily tried calling benson, but the call kept being hung up before answering.
"oh ben...." she said sadly
syrus lay back in the huge paws "any idea where he could've gone?"
lily slouched over, covering her face with her paws "no..."
as carl passed a red building, they head a noise from iside
Bam, Bam, Thwack, Bam, Bam! Bam!!
they looked at the building, an insignia depicting a boxing glove was on the sign.
carl looked down into his paws "do you think...?"
they shrugged, and he walked in.

inside, numerous giants were training in boxing; either sparring with each other, or beating on the training dummies.

far in the back, a fox pounded savagely on a punching bag, mixing boxing fighting style with a breakdancing-like kicking style.
he was shirtless, but wore track-pants and had bandage-gloves on, his teeth were bared as he struck angrilly at the bag.
each time he hit the bag, they thought for sure it was about to break apart from the brutal treatment.

nervously, carl walked over to the fox, but a border collie in a singlet and boxing shorts stepped in front of him halfway there
"woah, guy... trust me, you'll be better off keeping your distance from him."
syrus looked up at the giant border collie "do you know him?"
"sure, i'm his sparring partner. he comes here to blow off some steam every once in a while."
he shuddered "and trust me, it's no fun being on the recieving end when he does!"
behind him, the fox thrust his fist into the punching bag, almost breaking it free from it's chains.
carl made a nervous noise
the border collie put his paw on carl's shoulder "i'm leonidas bell, and you are?"
carl couldn't speak.
"well? what're your names?"

WHAM!!!
the incredibly loud blast resonated through the room, making the leopard and his passengers jump.
"Carlito Blenin, Syrus Revino, and Elilabetha Heartrow." answered an angry voice from behind leonidas.

carl looked past the canine to see benson glaring at them, a pile of sawdust and a busted punching bag lay on the ground beside him.

"h-hi..." carl said feebly

benson looked away in anger, and walked over to a bear standing nearby
"i'll pay for a new one."
the bored bear sighed "see that you do..."
benson looked over to leonidas "feel like going a round? i need to hit something"
leonidas slapped carl on the shoulder, and sighed "watch, kid... this is how you calm him down."

benson and leonidas stepped into the ring, standing in their corners and putting on the padded gloves.
leonidas looked over to carl, who sat next to the bell table "could you ring it please, kid?"
carl hesitantly picked up the little hammer and rang the bell.

benson and leonidas lunged into the center of the arena, immediately trading blows, benson lashed out, delivering a volley of body blows to the border collie, of which, ony one was blocked.
leonidas staggered back, then began punching back, but the agile fox ducked and weaved quicker than it seemed possible, dodging every single strike.
benson thrust out his arms, crashing his fists into leonidas' chest, winding him.
the fox leapt into the air, and swung a spinkick into leonidas' side, but the collie's arms quickly shot down and blocked it. then benson loosed a rain of punches down upon him, making leonidas grunt in pain as each hit landed upon his upper body.
benson touched back down, then, crouching, he spun back into the air, his fist crashing into the bottom of leonidas' jaw in a brutal uppercut.
red fluid flew through the air as leonidas was lauched up, and came crashing painfully back down.
benson breathed deeply, then exhaled as he removed his gloves "first blood, you're out."
leonidas groaned in pain.
benson walked over and put out his paw "c'mon."
the battered border collie grabbed the fox's paw, and was helped to get up.
"you okay, leon?"
leonidas removed his gloves and wiped his mouth, his bottom lip bloodied "mmh... just a little... bit sore..."
the fox sighed "i can imagine." he tossed a towel to the border collie, and put his left paw on his right shoulder as he stretched his neck "nothing broken this time?"

the border collie wiped his face with the towel, panting "no.... not this time, ben."
the fox moaned as his shoulder clicked "you're improving. last time you were out from the kick, but you blocked it this time, that was pretty impressive, leon."

the collie stretched "really? thanks." he stepped out of the ring "i'll keep training, then maybe i'll be able to stop that wicked upper of yours." he picked up a duffel bag and walked out "later, ben!"

benson stepped out of the ring, and carl backed up.
lily sighed "Benson Apollo Palmer, The Silent Knockout... haven't seen you fight like that since gradeschool, benny."
benson chuckled "yeah, we won every interschool mixed combat thanks to me, didn't we?" he asked nostalgically
"nobody could stop my trump card, could they?"
"nope." lily answered "whiplash + power rain + spiral uppercut = knocked out."
he sighed "hey, sorry about earlier... that was uncalled for."
syrus composed himself "n-no, we shouldn't have been so rude..."

the conversation was cut short as the door swung open, and a hoodlum stormed in, holding a shotgun
"nobody move!"
suddenly benson was bolting toward the punk, he reached him quickly, taking him by surprise, and landed a clean blow to his gut, making the punk double over.
the bear ran over and jumped on top of the punk, pinning him.
benson picked up the shotgun, and poured the shells out
"life lesson number one: never hold up a fighting gym."
the punk groaned.
the bear laughed smugly "true enough, now, somebody call the cops on this punk."

999 sat in the rafters, leaning back against the wood.
(wow. note to self, don't piss off that fox...) he thought to himself, and took out his phone, it was an older model, not touchscreen, no camera, no internet connection, just a powerful LED torch and the radio.
he pushed the buttons and called the police
"hello, there's been an attempted robbery at..."
he relayed the details, and the fox by the door heard him, he looked around until he located him.
"nine-ninety-nine?" the fox asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

finished with the call, 999 hung up, and waved to the fox on the ground
"yep. i'm up here." he replied boredly "you fight well, by the way."
carl rolled his eyes and sighed "why do you appear all over the place? what, forget how to use a door?"

999 sat up, his legs dangling over the edge of the rafter.
"no, but tell me honestly, if you could do nearly anything just by snapping your fingers, wouldn't you make use of that ability?"
carl just dismissed it "whatever."
999 chuckled "such odd creatures... i wanted to ask something..."
benson tilted his head and shrugged "fire away."
"may i attend, tomorrow?"
before any answer could be given, the police burst in to arrest the would-be robber.
999 snapped his fingers and vanished.

he reappeared in a meadow, one which spread as far as the eye could see.
a giant shiba sat next to him, wearing a traditional asian robe.
"brelldurk?" he asked
"no, i didn't succeed, sir."
"ongra johi"
"i know, i know, i'm trying." 999 insisted "but it's difficult, i'm more of a magic-user, i'm not cut out to be a samurai, or a shinobi."
"treta grellegra"
"please don't lecture me... i'm not in the mood to be." he groaned.
"treta...grellegra."
999 growled, and conjoured a simple wooden training katana "fine... if i have to."
"tenga cherul, yeht Glilou'ta-zion eberuzion..."
"yes, sir.... you know, between zedin and you, i'm getting no time to myself these days."
"ari teba. verzeus nenbatta."
"i know." he said dryly, annoyed.

he walked a few metres forward, and began training with the katana.

---

meanwhile, at a shopping centre in bordertown.
oriado held a little brown box in his paws, he walked toward the road, and headed to the path leading back to kevin's home.
along the way, he saw a little young squirrel caught beneath a fallen treebranch, struggling in vain to free himself from its crushing pressure.
oriado put the box in his pocket and walked over and lifted the branch a bit, and the squirrel drew in a lungful of air, and coughed.
"th-thanks... i'd've been a goner in a few more seconds..." he panted breathlessly.
oriado noticed that the squirrel had a bit of a southern accent, something you'd find in someone from Gentiki.
"are you hurt?"
"no... no, i'm okay... can you see... a wheelchair anywhere?"
oriado looked around, and found that the branch had crushed it.
he told him that.
"damn... that means i'm stuck here..."
oriado pulled the heavy branch off of him completely, and looked the little squirrel over
"hmm. so you just can't walk?"
"that's right..."
oriado reached out to pick him up, but hesitated.
"o-oh... go ahead..."
oriado's paw curled around him, and lifted him from the ground
"where were you headed, little guy?"
"i was going to the airport... but that was yesterday... i've long missed my flight."
"where do you live?"
"zenebata on Gentiki."
"heh, your viradan's pretty good for a gentikan."
"think so?"
"yeah, i'd say it's pretty much perfect, apart from the accent."
"okay. sir, thank you..."
oriado resumed walking "should i call for a cab, or something?"
"uhh.... no... it's okay... i have a friend here..."
"oh? where?"
"i... don't know... we've only ever spoken to each other online..."
oriado sat down on a boulder on the side of the path, and pulled out his phone.
the squirrel took out his own phone
"my phone doesn't work properly here, i'll need your adress, sir"
"@998756123" oriado told him
his phone beeped in confirmation of the connection.
the squirrel accessed his contacts and a voicechat opened up.
""oh! uh... gerald, is it you? the connection's wierd, it's listing you as 'geraldori' what's up with that?""
"yes, it's me, Xavier. i had to synch with someone else's phone."
""okay then, how are you? i've been practicing my gentikan like you asked, would you like to hear?""
"i'm... okay... i guess... but now's not the best time Xavier."
""why? where are you?""
"you won't believe me if i tell you."
""please, i highly doubt that. i know all the tourist spots on gentiki from the internet.""
"that's just it, i'm not in gentiki..."
there was a pause for fifteen seconds ""you can't mean... you're in virada?!""
"yes." gerald replied, with a hint of joy in his voice
""this is amazing! where are you?! i just have to meet you!!""
"that's kinda why i'm calling... i need a pick up... i was heading for the airport yesterday, and a tree branch fell on me. i've been stuck until a few minutes ago..."
""what? o-okay. set your phone to tracker, and i'll come get you.""
gerald hit a button, and turned on the app.
the chat ended.
he looked up at the wolf.
"'s okay, i'll wait with you." oriado said reassuringly
"but... don't you have somewhere to be?"
"yes.... but-"
"go. you can't keep people waiting."
"no, but... i'll explain, he'll understand."

a few minutes later, a group of giant joggers went by.
gerald looked down at his legs, and slouched over.
one of the joggers stopped and looked down at him "pft. what a waste of space."
then she continued on.
once she was out of his tiny voice's earshot, gerald scowled "plarvat."
"what's that mean?" the wolf asked
"it means 'bitch'."

a giant otter walked past a few minutes later, he held a map, and a compass "that's not right..." he turned to oriado and gerald "hey, where's the waterfall?"
oriado pointed back the way the otter had come. "straight ahead, and hang a right at the sign"
the otter head off "thanks"

next, a giant young white rabbit walked up, he wore casual clothing and had a black choker on his neck, a blue pawprint tag hung from it like a pet's collar.
he looked at oriado "i'm looking for Gerald Keva?"
gerald stared "Xavier?"
the rabbit looked down, and his eyes widened in surprise at the tiny squirrel in the wolf's paw.
"wait a minute... gerald? you're.... uh... small..."
"and you're... huge..."
oriado raised an eyebrow "haven't you two ever seen each other before?"
the rabbit shook his head "no... we only ever used voice-chat... i didn't even know you were a squirrel, gerald..."
"and i had no idea you were... a giant rabbit... Xavier... i thought you were... y'know... my size..."
"uhh... for some reason i thought you were a giant... but now i realise, giants aren't allowed on gentiki."
"i bet... you also didn't know... i'm handicapped... my legs don't work..."
xavier looked nervously at his large paws, realising the danger they posed to his friend if he didn't watch where he walked.
"i... did not..." he said guiltilly
"also... gerald's just my username..."
"then... what's your given name?"
"jeremiah..."
"okay... is 'jeremy' okay?"
"jerry, jeremy or jeremiah. your pick"
"i'll go with 'jeremy' then. by the way, Xavier's my real name."
the rabbit crouched "in any case, it's great to finally meet you!"
the tiny squirrel fidgeted nervously "s-same here..."
he immediately went to pick his friend up, but oriado stopped him
"you should know there's a certain ettiquete to handling bukis, kid."
xavier pulled his paw back
"rule one: always ask permission before picking them up. rule two: be GENTLE, never be rough with them. rule three: the closer they are to your face, the quieter you have to talk. rule four: do NOT treat them like pets. rule five: give them your respect."
xavier nodded "how many rules are there?"
"thirty" he answered.
"woah...
"rule six is really important; when you smile or eat, don't show your teeth. even if you're a herbivore."
"i see, that makes sense."
"rule seven: treat them as equals. they're just small, they're not bugs, but remember they still need a bit of help sometimes."
xavier looked down at the squirrel "got it."
"rule eight: be lenient. if they do something annoying or somehow hurt you, think before you react, it was likely an accident."
oriado pulled a book from his back pocket "the rest is in here. written by both a Buki and a Giki, just so you know." he said, handing the book to the rabbit.
xavier read out rule nine "9: when communicating, if you are both standing on the same level, crouch, this will make them less afraid."
oriado laughed "by the way, rule ten is: never, under any circumstance, call them a 'micro' or a 'bug', if you do, you have to let them call you a 'macro' or a 'monster'."
jeremiah chuckled "strict."
xavier looked down at his friend.
"let me tell you something, kid" oriado said to him "laying out an open paw is a much less formal way of asking for pickup, but it's still polite. and if you do pick them up without asking, apologise."
xavier tried it, and lay out his cupped paws.
jeremy smiled, and dragged himself into the white paws.
"see? it makes them more comfortable."
xavier brought his paws to his face, and got a better look at his friend
he went to speak, and remembered to do so quietly "your tail's longer than you are!"
"well.. yours isn't that big compared to you." the little squirrel said nervously.
"get up slowly, kid. it can get nauseating for them if you go too quickly"
xavier rose to his full height slowly
jeremiah looked back over to the wolf "how do you know all this stuff?"
oriado chuckled "i have a few friends that're 'smaller' than me"
"where is it okay to put him?" xavier asked no one in particular.
"well, i know they prefer waist-up, usually the chest or abdominal area, the upper body."
"i don't have shirt-pockets..."
"if he trusts you enough, he can ride atop your head, or even on your shoulder"
jeremiah fidgeted "n-not yet..."
"would you be okay to come back to my place, jeremy?" xavier asked.
"o-okay..."
oriado stood and stretched "i gotta go, but feel free to call if you have any questions."
he walked away, leaving the rabbit and squirrel.
"wait!" they called out "who are you?"
"Oriado Remirii."

in a few minutes, oriado reached kevin's home, where the german shepherd stood on the top step, looking annoyed "and where've YOU been?"
"it's a long story..."
oriado recapped the events to kevin
kevin nodded slowly "okay then. and you couldn't call because you were sharing your signal?"
"exactly."
kevin huffed "alright. wouldn't have hurt to have messaged me before then, though."
"okay, point taken..." oriado took the little brown box out of his pocket as he said it.
kevin eyed it suspiciously "what's that?"
oriado tossed it to him "happy birthday."
kevin caught it with his right paw, then gave the wolf a confused look "but... that's tomorrow..."
"is it so bad to get things early?"
kevin looked the package over, scouring it for something unknown
"greppla..."
"what?"
kevin kept analysing the box "it's firish for 'mysterious' ... sorry, i forgot you don't speak it."
kevin opened the box, and pulled out a solid-looking muzzler.
"this is for you...?"
"technically, no; sure i'll, be the one using it, but it'll stop me from.... you know."
kevin smiled awkwardly "okay then.... i guess that makes sense..."
the german shepherd looked at the wolf with loving eyes.
"it's good. but i can't wait until tomorrow!"

next chapter: kevin's 18th birthday!