This is a story for  Trainsmaster. This was accidental, as I just spent about 25 minutes on this story and he really really liked it. I spent more time on it and this is the end result. I hope you like it Torque! Just a little love story between a raccoon (Torque) and skunk (Xander). :)

---

*beep* *beep* *beep*

"Stupid metal detector, I haven't found anything today!" I said to myself as I moved back and forth along the sandy beaches, looking around trying to find anything of interest, more importantly, anything shiny.

*beep* *beep* *beep*

I had been out for about thirty minutes wearing a pair of greenish floral swim trunks, trying to enjoy my vacation time. I already took a swim in the frigid water and decided my time would be better spent trying to find some hidden treasure in the sand. I found some random knick knacks, but nothing that said I needed to keep it.

I had decided that, for my vacation, I would get away from my job, my family, everything for the week. I had thought about many places to visit, but decided that enjoying the sun and landscape of the beach would be the most calming for me. It had been a slightly uneventful couple of days, but it was calming and the scenery was nice.

*beep* *beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep*

My ears perked up as I heard the metal detector pick up something. I got down on my knees and started to dig under the sand. I saw something golden looking as I pulled on it and uncovered a watch. I was overjoyed having found something, especially of some worth. I brushed away the sand on it and it looked very nice, a golden watch with an analog face. I pressed a random button on the side and it lit up! I started jumping in excitement, but it faded as the it died out.

I kept on pressing the button repeated to see if it was a fluke, however it didn't work. I took a look at the hands of the clock and noticed that they weren't moving and assumed that it needed a new battery, which wasn't farfetched, not knowing how long it had been out in the sand already.

"Hmm.... something to take care of later"

I decided that since I found my treasure of the day, it would be nice to just unwind in the sun. I went back to where I had set up my towel and other small beach items and decided to lay down. I sat down going through my beach bag, looking for my sunglasses, when I got a poke on the shoulder.

"Hey! I saw that watch you just dug up. I was curious if I could buy it from you?" The stranger asked.

I turned around curious about who it was and noticed a slender grey skunk standing above me. He was wearing a purple pair of trunks and had a nice fluffy tail on him, not that I wasn't really thinking of such a thing, but he did have a cute face on him. He gave a smile, looking at me as I grabbed my watch.

"Um.... no! I plan on getting a new battery and enjoying the flash feature it has. Especially when it gets dark. I want to see it glow." I replied.
The skunk replied, "You mind if I at least take a look at it? I promise I'll give you a good price on it!"

I was hesitant about doing it, especially since it was my new treasure, but I let him have it as he started to assess it. He glanced it over, looking around the entirety of it, noticing sand flecks still covering it as he pressed the button a couple times.

"Hehe, see ya!" He said as he darted off with my watch! I started to scramble up, however my feet got tangled into my towel and landed face first into the sand. I got up again as I saw how far away he was, knowing I would be unable to catch him. I let out a frown as I just sat down in defeat at the loss of my new watch. It was so shiny....

I laid down on the towel, put on my sunglasses, and closed my eyes as I tried to relax and let the sun soak in. I tried to not think about my recent loss as I tried to lose myself to the beach environment. The light bussel of other furs enjoying the beach, feeling the cool breeze hit my fur, hearing the waves splash up against the shore. It seemed to slowly work, but I still couldn't get over the loss of my watch.

All of the sudden, I felt something drop on my stomach. I took off my sunglasses and looked up and saw my watch! It seemed polished up with all the sand cleaned off, with the hands working! I fiddled with it and pressed the button to make it glow and it let out the same green aura it had originally made. I looked up to see the same skunk smiling and bending down.

"I couldn't let you have a non-working watch, now could I?" He said, moving his hand to ruffle the top of my head.

I let out a smile, enjoying the feel of his hand scruffing up my hair, and nodded, "Yes, um... thank you very much!"

"I'm sorry for being so brash, I was trying to make an interesting first impression. I'm not used to seeing a cute raccoon on the beach and I saw how giddy you were when you found the watch. I thought you'd really like it if it was working!"

I blushed as I heard him call me cute, not knowing how to really respond, as I wasn't actually thinking about meeting anyone during my visit here. "Hehe, yeah, I really appreciate the effort you went through to get this taken care of. I'm sure I'll enjoy this a lot."

He got up and put his hand out to me, "You know if you want something to eat, I'll buy! I have to eat something from all the running around to get the watch fixed up! Also, I have to make up for the fact I ran away with your watch without giving you the impression that you'd get it back."

It was nice for someone to treat me so well, and he hasn't known me at all yet. I wasn't sure of his motives, but I was gladly up for free food, so I nodded, "Sure thing!" He pulled me up and I started to get all my belongings into my beach bag. I put on my new watch and grabbed my bag as he started to walk off.

"I know a good local place to eat, if you don't mind seafood."

"I wouldn't have come to a beach if I wasn't going to have some at some point!" I stated.

He nodded as we started walking back to the main street, "Heh, I always like making my yearly trip here. It's just nice to clear the mind and escape from regular work stuff. What brought you here?"

I smiled and replied, "The same. I don't really take a vacation for myself, but after a couple years, I decided that it was time to take that special vacation. I saved up a little money and drove here to enjoy the scenery."

He put his hand around me and grinned, "Well, it seems like we're both making the best of our vacations! I've gone scuba diving and waterskiing, and am going to be parasailing tomorrow. What've you done on your special vacation?"

I let out a slight sigh, letting out a shrug as I admitted, "Just enjoy the beach. I... I haven't done a lot personally. I guess I just haven't really seeked out any thrills. I'm just wanting to relax on this vacation."

His face let out a confused look as he gave me a hug and kept on walking, "You need to join me tomorrow. No questions asked! It'll be fun! You need to have something to talk about when you get home."

I hesitantly kept walking, not sure how to respond to his request, "Um... ok? I mean, I don't need to do that. I just want to relax!"

"Don't fret! I'll take of care of it." He smirked as he gave me another shoulder hug as he pointed to one of the nearby restaurants on the block, "Oh look! We're here!"

We came upon a beachy restaurant that had plenty of palm trees surrounding it, and plenty of outdoor seating with no real indoor area. He quickly sat down at one of the tables. I was slightly unnevered when I saw the 'Let The Waitress Seat You' sign, but, all of the sudden, a female fox in a white and black suit came by and smiled at him.

"Hey Xander! Coming by for your regular I assume?" She remarked. I slowly walked up to the table still a bit taken by his confidence and charisma, but finally learning his name that he's failed to mention.

"Well, not my regular, but maybe a couple strawberry margaritas and a shrimp plate to start. I have a friend joining me today" he said as he pointed at me.

"Oh, you have a friend? What's his name?"

With all the energy he's excuded, it was interesting to see him speechless for a moment as he had never asked to find out what my name was. He stared at me as I looked at him angrily and said "You forgot my name already! Geez, what a jerk!" as I started to walk away acting furious, despite the fact I was enjoying his suffering.

"Wait! No! Come back!" he said loudly, feeling embarrassed.

I giggled and came back, sitting down, smiling at the waitress, "Sorry, with the set of circumstances, I couldn't resist making him suffer a bit. My name is Torque."

She looked slightly confused, but smiled and walked away.

I gave Xander a smug look as he glared at me. "I couldn't resist, plus, now we don't have to go through introductions now, 'Xander'" I said.

It was a fun evening to say the least as we had dinner and drinks and started to chat about our vacation time and, then, our lives in general. I felt a special pull towards his personality, this complete stranger who I had never met before, was being interested in me and wanting to get to know about me, and was cute to boot.

As the dark grew, I knew it was time to head back to my hotel to get some rest. He gladly walked me back to my hotel as he stood in front of me, taking out a business card of his with personal number on it and letting out a big grin. "I had a wonderful evening tonight. If you want to go parasailing with me tomorrow, please call me and I'll take care of the arrangements!"

"I'll sleep on it. I'm still not sure, but I'll consider it!" I said.

He moved closely to me and kissed my cheek as I blushed, enjoying the feel of his lips against my fur, but didn't know how to react, as I haven't felt so close to someone I've just met before.

"I'll see you soon I hope!" He said as he smiled and walked away, waving goodbye.

I returned the wave and let out a smile, moving my hand down and took notice to the watch. I pressed the button to see the aura of the watch in the evening, seeing it illuminating in the darkness, smiling and taking in the joy of seeing it glow. I knew I wasn't going to think long about meeting him tomorrow. I just felt nervous about what would become of it.