Chaos wobbled forward with a quiet whimper, trembling as he meekly tried to combat the horrific looming threat of gravity. In his paws was a mountainous stack of papers that swayed with his movements and tried to crush his spine with every step he took. They were professor Wile’s essays and book reports he issued before the end of the school- and it was Chaos’ job to carry them from the printer in the teacher’s office on the first floor- to Wile's personal office on the 7th floor.

With a near super natural amount of skill, the young puppy carefully and nimbly crafted a wobbling trail of footsteps through the school without spilling a single sheet. To his credit, school was already out for the summer, leaving Chaos to wander the halls quietly with only a few lingering staff members to get in his way, and an odd girl who offered him a rather bizarre and moving present. He reached the office with a few staggering steps of whimpering pain; the stack of papers now intent on crushing what was left of his legs, and he stumbled in without more than an irritated glance from the elder coyote himself.

“It’s been almost five minutes since I asked you to bring me those…where have you been?” Wile asked quietly, looking over the desk at his young protege. Chaos panted meekly and clung to the desk to keep himself from toppling to the floor, whimpering in pain and trying to catch his breath long enough to respond to the irritated coyote.

“S, s, sorry sir. It, was….was a pretty….heavy stack. “Chaos whined. Wile rolled his eyes, and stood up with a quiet glance across the swaying pillar of papers.

“So I see. Well since you’re so late, feel free to stick around and sort these by alphabetical order, and then rearrange my filing cabinets. I’m going to lunch. “The coyote barked and waved a dismissive paw towards the younger canine.

“C, can I come to lunch too, sir? Please?” The little coyote begged with a wide set of tearful puppy eyes. Wile laughed and reached down, fuzzling Chaos’ head.

“Don’t be silly! If you did that, who would organize my filing cabinet? See you in a few hours.” Wile explained, and left the hungry puppy standing in the middle of his office, slamming the door shut in his wake.

Chaos watched Professor Wile stroll from the office with a flicker of his tail, and the young canine gave a depressed sigh. Working for his mentor and hero wasn’t anything like he’d expected it to be. He had envisioned daring adventures in the desert, chasing road runners and setting traps and coming up with cunning strategies. Instead?

Filing cabinets and term papers.

Chaos groaned quietly and sat down in the large leather swirly chair behind Wile’s desk and leaned forward with his head resting in both paws. Wile hadn’t even wished him a happy birthday. Sadly, the canine left his eyes drift shut where he sat. Carrying all those papers had really tired him out, and just resting for a moment would be so nice…

“BONJOUR!” Shrieked a voice next to the dozing puppy, which toppled Chaos over onto his side, leaving him stunned. This was followed by the familiar chime of a warm giggle, and the young puppy felt himself grinning in spite of himself.

“Allo mon petite coyote…’ow are you today?” asked the same warm voice, and a gentle paw wrapped around Chaos’ wrist, pulling him upright and into sitting position. Claire Lamouf smiled her dazzling, heart melting smile, and sat down across from the boy in the lush, sweet scented field Chaos found himself in. The puppy glanced left, and then right, and then back towards the glistening pink skin of the shaved skunk sitting in front of him. It was sunny- delightfully sunny and warm with a tingling scent of summer drifting in the sky mixed with the warm scent of strawberry shampoo. A dream…he was dreaming. It had to be.

“What iz wrong? You zeem…not so very ‘appy to see me...” Claire said quietly. Chaos forced a gentle smile, but slowly shook his head in response.

“This is nice. But you’re not real.” He said sadly. Claire tsked and shook her head, reaching out to tap the boy quietly on his nose.

“Oui! But neither are you. You are dreaming, and zis iz all in your ‘ead…But I fail to see why zat should stop us from enjoying ourselves?” She smiled brightly. Chaos laughed and Claire hopped to her feet immediately after, snatching the canine by the hand and racing off into the field of flowers.

“Ack! Where are we going?!” He called, trying to keep up with her. She giggled her sweet, adorable giggle and glanced back over her shoulder at him, running at full speed.

“I do not know! We shall find out when we get zare!” She called. The two raced through the field until they came to a small hilltop, lush green grass like carpet and a wonderful breeze caressed them like a blanket of summer. A picnic had been spread out for them, with sandwiches, fresh fruits and berries, and a bottle of Claire’s favorite wine. She grinned and sat down, immediately collecting a napkin and wrapped it around her neck.

“What’s all this?” Chaos grinned. Claire shrugged.

“I do not know. It iz your dream, Oui? And you know what zet say about ze dreams…it iz ze wish your heart makes, non? I guess I am your wish.” Claire grinned quietly and leaned over the spread of food to plant a warm kiss on the shiny black nose. Chaos blushed warmly and Claire developed a devious grin, reaching into the open picnic basket to produce a buzzing razor.

“…I’m pretty sure I didn’t wish for that.” Chaos whimpered. Claire glanced at the razor in her palms, and then back to the trembling coyote and shrugged.

“No. Zis one is all me. “ She snickered, and pounced the puppy, who yelped and squealed as his fur was shaved free of his skin, leaving him with a bright gray mo-hawk that ran the length of his body- much like her own.

“You are tres magnifique!! …But I have ze appointment with ze real Chaos zoon…you should come too! It iz at ze ice cream parlor! Three o’clock.” The skunk grinned, much to Chaos’s confusion.

“Wha, wait, what do you-“ He stammered, but Claire shook her head and tapped him on the nose.

“No time for ze silly questions! You must wake up, or you will mizz your appointment, oui!” She grinned and pulled him into a sharp sudden, full lipped kiss that ended in a bright, dazzling light…

“GAAAAH!” Chaos squealed, sitting up at the desk where he’d rested his head. Two hours had passed since he’d sat down and he groaned, rubbing his head quietly. He’d glanced at the clock thoughtfully, climbing to his feet. It was 2:30. If he hurried he could…He sighed and sat back down quietly. It had only been a dream, of course. The real Claire wasn’t waiting for him at the ice cream parlor, and he had a ton of work to do. Sadly, he grasped the first sheet from the huge stack on the desk and froze. His arm was completely shaved bare like the rest of his body, except for a long winding mohawk that went to the tip of his tail and started at his head. He grinned quietly.

“How on Earth does she DO that?” He wondered. It only took him a few moments before he decided to ask her himself, and left the office- headed for the ice cream parlor.

(Drawn by  Claire_Lamouf For my birthday, the greatest she-skunk shave crazed lunatic for a friend a coyote could ever hope to have. <3 <3 <3 )