Celeste 2

"There you are!" Jeremy was picking up Celeste for a date, well, a 'let's hang out after hours' thing. And there she was, cute as ever. As she started to climb into the pick up, she recoiled away, waving at her face.

"Cheese! What's with the fox funk?" She made a sour face, then paused. She then made a wary little sniff in the direction of the truck cab. Her face fell to dismay.

"What's wrong?" Jeremy knew Bailey and his Fox girlfriend Riina had used the truck over the weekend and he had noticed a residual pong from the pair, but didn't think much of it. If anything, he was happy for his younger Brother in his whirlwind romance.

But whatever it was, Celeste clearly wasn't happy, almost to tears, "Let's just go to the lookout."

The lookout was their choice spot in the rolling hills overlooking Bunnyburrow, not as dramatic as some more formal 'lookouts', but an intimate little clearing with a view of the Hopps farm and the town beyond.

Celeste jumped in the pick-up bed and huddled behind the cab, clearly disinclined to get in with him or explain, leaving Jeremy to drive alone. This was bad. She had been so reliably up beat in the time he'd known her. Maybe a little solemn when they talked about deep or personal subjects, but never so wretchedly upset. He kept glancing in his mirrors to see how she was doing, just a forlorn stare out into nowhere.

He cranked down all the windows, opened all the vents, and turned the blower fan to max. All he could smell as a vague foxy musk and a touch of Bunny. Best not to pay much attention to that, as it likely included a Sister or two. And in the glove box... no. Then under the seat. Yes. A can of scent-away. A brand new and unused can, thank goodness. He ran through nearly half of it, spraying down all the interior, though with some due care, as he was also going down the county main route. After giving the seat an extra dousing, including under his butt and a bit all over himself, just to be sure, he stuffed what was left back under the seat. Too late for this leg of the trip, but ought to make the return more tolerable.

They arrived in short order, Celeste jumping out of the back even before the truck had halted, walking some distance away, conspicuously up-wind. Jeremy approached her, arms outstretched, offering a hug or asking for an explanation. She turned to him, gave him a sad little smile and rushed into his arms. She was nearly a head taller than the Hare, so was able to give him a little nuzzle between his ears while gripping him in a desperate embrace.

"You know your Brother is Mated to the Fox?"

Jeremy immediately caught the capital 'M' in that, as well as her continuing reference to Riina, the platinum Vixen, as only 'the Fox'.

"Are you sure about being Mated? They're both still just kids." Jeremy had already done an over-view section on pair bonding among the species in Med School and realized that this was a significant thing. Especially for the mate-for-life aspect in Foxes.

"I've got a good nose, and that particular scent is too distinctive to miss." She sighed and shifted her grip. After a pause, "Do you regret we don't have a more intense...?"

"Not really. After all the stress of school, having the summer off to relax, then finding pleasant company to relax with... " Jeremy considered a moment, "Do you want more?"

"My life has been all about diminished expectations. So I've been grateful for whatever I can get." She immediately regretted saying that with the pained look in her friend's eyes. "It's just everything is about over-the-top romance or crazy-wild lust. And here we are kind of just idling along." She wrung her hands. "I like idling along. Really. This summer has been wonderful with you. But...?"

Jeremy chuckled. "Sounds like Judy. Early on with Nick, she was all twisted up about how she could never be more/better/different like a Vixen could for him. They'd been friends and partners for, I guess a couple years, before they became more than just friends, and didn't get Mated for, I dunno, another year or so after that."

"I guess my real point is that I'm really happy with how things have been going so far. Not really worried about anything, especially some arbitrary timetable, but the quality of your time with me now."

"I guess I am too." She didn't really want to think about the future. Beyond the practical unknowns, they had already talked about how iffy a truly long-term relationship might be. He would be back in school and unable to give her any quality time, and she had her job, such as it was. She liked it and was good at it. Would she be doing it for the rest of her life?

The rest of her life was so big and so far away still. The two years at Pablo's was the longest she'd ever been at one place doing one thing, and the idea of permanence was still largely foreign to her. But at the same time, living solely in the moment felt a bit precarious. What might happen next? She had always had a plan B or at least an exist strategy and the confidence to make a new beginning.

But that had been all about taking care of herself. Now she found herself entwined with another who's welfare was important to her. Another unfamiliar situation. For the moment, all she had was the confidence that she would do her best for him and for the time being.

Jeremy was relieved to see his little Coyote finally relax, and knew how to get her to relax even more. He gave her a little scritch, a code for 'how about some serious grooming?'

She responded back with a little code of her own 'and a little more'.

---

"Dad. Relationships are hard."

Stu, still trying to sort out how wildly out of control Bailey's romance with Riina had gone, could only laugh at the notion of how slight Jeremy's situation had gone in contrast. "Sorry Son, but these hits just keep on coming." Collecting himself a bit more, "Yes, relationships can get complicated. Trouble in paradise?"

Jeremy had to chuckle too, "Not all that much. Celeste was just worried about how things were going. Especially compared to Bailey."

"I know. I know a lot of Bunnies start pairing off at that age, but that level of commitment is a bit of a shock." The elder Rabbit shook his head. "But her Father explained that it wasn't all that unusual for foxes, especially in their home country. But, on the other hand, you have Nick and Judy. Though, to be honest, I suspect they were Mated long before they realized it. Certainly your Mother saw it back early on when Judy got hurt in the line of duty. And they still only saw themselves as police partners."

"But you and Celeste. Sort of the opposite, I take it?"

"Yeah. But at the same time, we're both cool about just being friends."

"Just friends?" Stu didn't need to remind his Son about that time in the shed, and a nose-full a time or two since then.

The younger Hare blushed. "That's the thing. Yeah, we do stuff together, but it isn't lovey-dovey or rutting lust. Its just two friends enjoying..."

The old Rabbit smiled. "Did you know your Aunt Roberta and Uncle Billy-Two-Tone were just friend friends for like eight years before becoming - uhm - intimate. Then were like that for another four years before getting married? And I don't think they've ever used the word 'mated' to describe their relationship."

Jeremy had to stop and consider that for a moment. Of all the more senior members of the Hopps clan, those two could be regarded as among the most 'mated'. Though not for much in obvious displays of affection as much as how matched, how synchronized they were in their lives together. The notion of friends becoming life partners had not occurred to him. Not that he and Celeste were anywhere near that level. He considered some wider aspects of all this.

"We're such a weird family. And not just for all this pred stuff." Jeremy not quite chuckled, "How we've become so, I dunno, empathetic."

"And that's a - ah - good thing?"

"Gosh yes, Dad. Half the mammals I meet are selfish, oblivious jerks who don't know and don't care about anything but themselves. And here we are, all sweating bullets about the well-being of friends and family and even near-strangers."

Stu lost a bit of his joviality with that. "Not everyone in the family, and not always." He still deeply regretted how unthinkingly bigoted he had been even a few years ago. And while some of the oldsters were to be somewhat forgiven for being very much products of less enlightened times, just last year there had been an ugly scene with Judy and several of her sisters that had gone so far as to estrange Young Jackie from the Hopps clan.

"But I'm glad enough of you are as caring as your Mother and I hoped you'd be." Stu considered the tragedy that more other folks were not so inclined. He was still nursing some damage from his nasty fight with Alvin and his friends over his offsprings' life choices. It wasn't so much that they had not adapted to the changing times as much as they so lacked any sympathy, any tolerance for anything that didn't comply to their narrow views. And worse, their children were no better, and he despaired for the future with such uncompassionate folk in it.

---

So she was a grown up Coyote. Paul had though her just someone's Cub, though stupidly didn't notice she'd been there for two years. And she was a cute little thing too. But now she was going out with someone else. A Rabbit, he'd been told. How weird was that? Didn't think she was a prey-chaser. Well, he didn't realize she was an adult either. He had to blame the Diesel and solvents; the hottest she-wolf in season could be missed in the fumy miasma of the shop.

Thinking of which, Saturday night was coming up with a full paycheck and no one to spend it. The Tri-burrows had plenty of work for a mechanic, that's why he came all the way out here, but a shortage of wolves, certainly single she-wolves. Coyotes were a reasonable alternative; his Brother was mated to one and some lovely crosses with her. But, other than Celeste, he didn't know of any Coyotes at all in the area.

With a pack of handsome Wolves working here, why would she go out with a Rabbit? Maybe that they collectively missed the point? And for so long? Even though her friend was a rabbit, he had to respect her choice. Not that he could challenge him for access. If he had been another Wolf, maybe. But not outside Wolf country. Different rules. On the other hand, she didn't have to agree even he did.

Maybe he'd go with the rest of the pack into the city for some times. It seemed a little sorted, he was raised rather conservatively and mate-for-the-night type activity was frowned upon. But, it was a thing that could be done.

But the more he thought about things, the more he noticed her, which made him think more about things.