Chapter Five: surrounded by idiots.

"the title, just like IRL."

"hey!"

"no, not you, you're... you're sane."

"gee, thanks..."

(laughs) "get over it, LB, 90% of our year level are morons!" >:3

"oh joy, i'm a ten percent(!)"

-emperorwolf and Lightningblazer.

now fully dressed, carl and radin sat at the dining table, greatfully digging in to the breakfast of baked banana with plum dressing on it, and a bowl of milk.

"this is surprisingly good" carl mused
radin nodded "mm-hm! i think 'little-dad' might be better at making food than my birth-mother was..."
syrus, who sat next to carl's bowl with one of his own in his paws, raised an eyebrow with a smirk
"did you just call me 'little-dad', radin?"
the snow leopard cub gave a smart-alecky smirk "i did, but you are though."
syrus scoffed jokingly "there goes my dignity."
carl chuckled "now, sy, you can't lose something you never had~"
"shut up, you big bullies!" syrus shouted, but without hostility, and he was smiling "i don't need to be ganged up on by the both of you!"
carl laughed mockingly, and rubbed the little otter's head with his index finger "too bad, 'cause it's fun."
syrus groaned, but kept smiling "jerk." then he turned his attention to radin "hey, he's only allowed to do this to me 'cause i let him, you shouldn't be a jerk to non-giants, okay?"
radin raised a paw defensively "s'okay, i know you guys are just playing, i'll be nice."
syrus nodded "good."

carl belched loudly, making the otter glare at him "carl... manners, remember? set an example?"
the leopard chuckled "right, right, excuse me." then he pointed to the bowl "can i get some more?"
syrus once again rolled his eyes "if i make you another, radin'll be late to school."
carl sighed and looked out the window, noticing the weather; heavy rain.
"it's raining. where's the umbrella?"
"still broken."
radin held back a snerk poorly "how do you break an umbrella?"
syrus grinned at him "easily, apparently," he gestured to carl "Mr forgets-his-glasses here thought it was a baseball bat, what's more, he hit a tree with it when he missed the ball."
radin threw his paws to his feline muzzle to supress his laughter.
carl groaned "yeah, yeah, whatever. how're we gettin' him there, then?"
syrus stood "easy," he took a tiny keyring from his pocket "i'll drive."

---

as the rain pelted down outside, the trio got inside the blue Golf V6 car, the felines settling comfortably into the soft seats as syrus sat on the dashboard, where a miniature version of the driver's controls was perched, equipped with its own little rollcage, even.
they did up their seatbelts and syrus turned the key in the ignition.
"still don't see why i'm not allowed to drive." carl complained "or why i have to sit in the passenger's seat"
"simple," syrus replied "one: it's custom set for me, not you, and two: if i was your size, you wouldn't be in the driver's seat while someone else is driving, so this is just common courtesy."
they pulled out of the driveway, and headed off in the direction of the school.
"can you at least put the radio on?" carl asked distractedly.
"will do," syrus replied as he switched it on "you seem distant, what's up?"
carl sighed "listen."
""rainfall continues to buffet eastern Virada this morning, and with all this rain, human and buki residents are advised to seal up their homes and move to higher ground for the time being,"" the radio weather reporter spoke ""as well as this, Giki residents are encouraged to assist any smaller residents they find if things get dangerous. it is strongly advised that citizens in the Giki Kero district stay indoors as the torrential rain is currently falling heaviest in this location. back to you, freddie.""

syrus groaned in discomfort "ergh... i hope the dam holds... that breaks, and every non-giant'll be washed away like they're nothing..." he said with much anxiety in his voice.
carl offered a sympathetic smile "don't worry sy, i know for a fact that the majority of the city's Giants'll gladly offer their homes to refugees if things get bad. and you'll stay high and dry, i'll make sure of that."
radin raised his arms "me too! if he's not there, i'll help you!"
a tear formed in syrus' eye "you guys are the best."
he pulled up on the curb "okay, we're here. we'll pick you up later, 'kay?"
radin nodded "later, dads!"

the young snow leopard hopped out of the car and hurried inside the school with the rest of the students.

carl sighed as syrus drove off again "hey, sy?"
"yeah?"
"do you ever..." he hesitated "wish we could've had a child of our own?"
syrus was confused, but kept his eyes on the road "buh? what're you on about? we do, it's Radin, remember?"
"no, i meant..." he paused a moment before continuing "of our own..."
syrus caught his meaning "oh... by blood..."
carl nodded "yeah."
"well..." syrus thought about it "sometimes, but radin's as good as any genetic offspring, that's what i honestly think."

""in the news today, senator Buckler proposed a vote to end the intersize marriage ban in virada, the international senate will hold the polls in a month's time, and when we asked the senator why he suggested lifting the ban, he had this to say...""

the otter and leopard quickly shut up and listened as Ian's recorded voice crackled through.

""well, i'll be honest with you, i just don't understand the need for the ban, i mean, we're okay with transgender, interspecies, same-sex, and traditional relationships, so why should intersize ones be any different? it just seems childish to criticize another's lifestyle.""
(pray he's got the voters on his side...) syrus thought.
an older-sounding newscaster grumbled ""tch, next thing you know, they'll want Bio-constructs to be legalised, today's generation is so far off track they're falling into the ocean!""
carl growled "thick-headed prick."

syrus switched the radio off "i'm thirsty, wanna grab a coffee?" he asked quickly.
carl knew syrus was trying to distract himself from the newscaster's close-minded opinions, so he nodded "sure, why not?"

---

as Radin walked down the hallway, he saw a group of Giki kindergardener meerkats tossing around a vulpine Buki who was begging them to stop, but they weren't listening.
nearby, a flourescent-furred kindergardener fox was trying to retrieve the smaller student, distressing each time they threw him in the air
"please! you'll drop him! stop it!!"
"beat it, freak!" one of them snapped.
radin growled, and walked over "hey!"
they stopped and spun around, catching the tiny student and holding him tightly.
a tiny strangled yelp rang out.
Radin glared intimidatingly "stop being so stupid, or i'll tell the headmaster!"
they shyed away from him, as he not only stood a head taller than them, he was two years older.
he annoyedly held out his paw "now, hand 'im over, or you're in major trouble."
nervously, the tiny student was passed to radin, and they ran off.
he looked down at the nauseous student in his palm "you okay?"

the little vulpine looked ready to vomit "y-yeah... thanks..."
the distressed larger fox inched closer, unsure of whether radin was a threat or not.
Radin noticed "this your friend?"
"actually, he's my brother..."
radin smiled and carefully passed his passenger to the fox
"what's your names?"

"i'm Ciril." the larger one answered
"Virlan," the smaller one added "thanks for saving me."
"no problem... why'd they call you freaks? you look fine to me..."

"we're foxcats." they said in unison.

"oh, well, i think that's cool." radin said kindly.

---

during P.E. class mix: K, P, 1.

"okay, Gikis to one side, Bukis and humans to the other!" yelled the Bull that was the phys-ed teacher, and the human on his shoulder held a megaphone.
"anyone crossing the centreline gets immediate detention, and i mean Anyone, that clear?"
"Crystal." the classes replied
"okay," the bull bellowed "it's the Beep test today!"
everyone groaned.
"but, isn't the beep test for highschoolers?" someone asked
"no arguing," the human instructor demanded "get to it."

after the ever-painful beep test, which involved running across the court and trying to make it there before the obnoxious beep noise sounded, the instructors enabled a digital console, and holographic balls appeared on the court's centreline.
the Giki students grinned.
the humans and Bukis became nervous.

"Holo-Dodgeball, Big V Small." the human instructor informed them.
among the Giki side were a snow leopard, a foxcat with glasses, a female black cat, and a wolfdog, who had mixed feelings about the activity; sure, it was fun, but it felt wrong attacking the non-giants.
on the 'small' side, their feelings were shared, but in reverse, by another foxcat, and a male black cat, who hated being bombarded, but relished the opportunity to return fire.

the whistle was blown, and both classes made a mad dash...

after a few minutes, only those who'd not fully felt positive or negative to the activity were left standing.
they were, of course, Radin, Ciril, Felicia, and Bailerich on the Giki side, and Virlan and Malcom on the other side.

"looks like G.team's gonna win again." the bull boasted.

"no way!" malcom called out "we aren't giving up!"

"you should," bailerich taunted "we never lose."
"nothing personal bro," ciril added with a grin "but he's right"

virlan shook his head "not this time... for once, you big guys will fall!"

they all rushed forward, taking a holographic ball and began tossing them.
virlan held the huge projection up as a shield, malcom doing the same, and then launched their own...
WHAM!
Virlan's collided with Felicia's stomach.
WHAM!
Malcom's struck Ciril, and bounced off in Bailerich's direction, hitting his tail, which counted.

only Radin stood across from them now.
"wow... you've got some skills..."

"thanks," malcom replied "you too, but you're goin' down!"
"not likely... but you can always try!" radin taunted with an encouraging tone as he held two Holo-Dodgeballs.
they threw more Holo-balls...

WHAM
WHAM
WHAM

they hit each other.

the bull was speechless.
the human snickered "TIE!"

later, in the lunchroom.

malcom and virlan were chatting as they ate on the table, when suddenly a shadow was cast over them.
they looked up to find a familiar fluro orange furred face smiling down at them.
"mind if we join you?" ciril asked, motioning to felicia behind him.
"sure bro, go ahead." came Virlan's reply
"whatever, don't mind." Malcom added

they smiled and sat down on the seat to join the Bukis on the tabletop.
they were swiftly joined by two more asking to sit with them; Bailerich and Radin.

in no time they were all engaged in conversation about themselves.
"Virlan and me are Twins, mum's small, dad's big."
"also, dad's a fox and mum's a cat." virlan added.
felicia giggled "foxcats! so cool!"
malcom started next "i'm felicia's older brother, and since our dad's a bi-sizer too, we came out in different sizes, plus, i got dad's powers, while felicia... well, she can change between cat and dog."
bailerich was impressed "amazing! ... well, i'm actually a bio-born, one of my dads is a hermaphrodite, but he couldn't have me normally, so i grew in a lab."
radin nodded, intrigued "that's pretty interesting... well, i lost my birth parents a while ago, and i was adopted by my new parents who're... (ahem) ... who're gay--"
"that's not a big deal, so're mine!" bailerich interjected "sorry, go on."
"-- okay... but yeah, i miss my birth parents, but Mr Syrus and Mr Carl are great, too!"
bailerich froze "wait, 'Syrus' and 'Carl' as in 'Revino' and 'Blenin'?"
he nodded.
"my dads are friends of theirs!"
"really?! who?"
"does the name 'Ghast' mean anything to you?"

it didn't take long for them to discover that their parents all knew each other.

"this is cool!" ciril laughed "it's like fate!"
"yeah, i think you're right!" bailerich laughed
"i have an idea!" radin beamed "how do you guys get home?"
"Parent pickup" they all replied.
"perfect! we can all meet up outside the gate after school, i bet that'd surprise our parents!"

---

even with the pelting rain, they all managed to meet up in front of the school.
malcom and virlan reclined in the paws of their respective siblings.
and then, they all spotted their parents waiting for them, so, as a group, they hurried over, getting some very shocked looks as the adults started recognising them, and each other.

a giant adult fox went wide eyed "no way, you guys?!"

(next chapter: Torrent)