Chapter Text
The CLADE building is slightly quieter than most days. The emergency heat generators kick into action. The doors slide open, hissing as Sam checks the digital clock mounted on the wall. An orange hue fills the screen. He catches a glimpse of his reflection on the window. Ears flattened, fur ruffled, eye bags visible. His legs ache and jitter, his arms drooped as it pulls against gravity. He walks around the hallway, spotting a sofa in the distance.
Finally, rest. Sam thought.
The sun is starting to set as Sam looks out the window. Snow lightly drizzles outside. He lounges on the comfy sofa near the recreational room. Unslinging his backpack, he snuggles up with the blanket and takes out a book that details descriptions of the different types of big cats. He fixates on the chapter related to snow leopards. He rereads every little word on the pages, thumbing through the book slowly.
Pictures of various snow leopards flow across the pages, with each figure he takes in blurring together into a fuzzy image.
Tick…tock…tick…tock…
“Mom? Dad?” Sam shakily whispers, slamming the book shut.
He hugs his legs close to his chest. He tries stretching his arms. Then his legs. His paws tense up with his tail curling up against his body. Sunlight shines through the glossy windows beside him. The lone snow leopard laid on his side. The fluffed up pillow gives way, deflating slightly.
“Gotta take a nap…” Sam says. He falls asleep in an instant.
The slanting rays hit his forehead, the sunlight mixing and spreading with the fluorescent light shining across his face. A buzzing sensation runs through Sam’s arms and legs. His limbs jerk and twitch, before his elbow hits his chest.
WHAM!!!
“Ahh! Who is it?” Sam jolts up, “Show yourself!”
He looks around, his paws trembling. There was nobody in the hallway. Sam’s breath quickens as his eyes dart from place to place. His vision blurs as dizziness starts to set in.
A silhouette appears in the corner of his eye. It flies above Sam’s head in a hurried manner. “G’day, citizen!”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A flying squirrel appears from the shadows, landing on its two feet. Wally Bungler slightly waves sheepishly at Sam. “Oh! Sam? You alright?” He blushes when he says Sam’s name.
“Wally, oh thank god.” Sam says, his dizziness slowly dissipating when locking eyes on Wally.
Wally can’t contain the grin on his face as he walks up to him, but trips on his shoelace. Sam catches him immediately, his firm paws embracing on Wally’s waist.
“Careful, my love. Don’t wanna get hurt.” Sam smugly smiles.
Wally looks at Sam’s eyes. He bites the corner of his lip for a moment before opening his mouth. “Heh, thank you, Agent Snow. Now, uh…are you—”
The clock strikes seven o’clock. A bell-esque chime rings throughout the building.
“Oh! Good, good—Dinner service is open. Yeah.” Sam says as he releases his grip, accidentally causing Wally to spin.
Wally spun for a few seconds before stopping himself.
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Moments later…
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The cafeteria is hustling and bustling with patrons from all over CLADE. The glow of the evening sun continuously shines brightly through the glossy glass windows. Sam grabs some deer meat chops coated with a savory thick sauce at the buffet line. A mountain of deer chops fill his plate. At the corner of his eye, he sneaks a glance at Wally’s plate.
“Nuts and berries again?” Sam says, side eyeing the plated mixed berries.
“And mushrooms!” Wally giggles, “You should try some.”
“Eh, maybe later.”
Sam and Wally sit near the window of the cafeteria. It’s a nice booth table area where it can fit up to four people at a time. The soft lavender lights up the table as the music on the radio up in the ceiling switches to indie-sounding pop music. Sam begins to eat his food, his ears twitching to the beat of the music. Snow increasingly clouds up the windows against the already settled sun, smoothing out into a slightly frigid dusky night. Wally puts on another thick coat on top of his usual vest. He sets the radio on the table. Sam does the same as well, opting for a heated jacket he uses whenever he goes out into cases where it takes place at night.
“Ahh, the sound of the bass guitar in the background is music to my ears. Never knew CLADE had taste for once.” he said.
“You know this song?” Wally tilts his head. He attaches the radio back on his coat snugly.
“Yeah. My dad used to play it for me when I was a little cub. I wish he was here to visit me.” Sam somberly nods.
“Ah, I get it,” Wally nods as he processes what Sam said. “My parents barely visit me. My mom is always radioing me about her blue socks. Or was it striped pajamas?”
“Your mom never stopped wearing fuzzy clothes?”
”No! No, she has not! I keep convincing her…but she wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Did she approve of you being a ‘nature ranger’?”
There was a pause. Wally’s gulps. “I don’t think so, um. But I’m trying to get my CLADE badge so I can convince her I’m still worthy of…something.” He picks up a piece of mushroom on his plate, but knocks over Sam’s bowl. “Sorry!”
Sam chuckles. “It’s alright. Say, isn’t our anniversary tonight?”
Wally pauses. He blinks for a few seconds.
“You know, the anniversary of our relationship?” Sam says, pointing his fork at Wally.
“…Oh! Oh, yeah. It’s been three years since we dated, heh…” Wally nervously smiles.
Sam scoots closer to Wally, wrapping his arm around the flying squirrel. Wally follows suit, snuggling up with him. Sam feeds him a piece of strawberry with his fork.
“It’s nice that we can spend time together.” Sam said.
Wally swallows. “I know, hehe.”
“I don’t know what we should do for our anniversary…” Sam wraps his warm fluffy tail around Wally’s waist. “Any ideas?”
“Me? Ideas? I told you we should go to the new karaoke bar on the top floor!”
“It’s restricted for higher-ups.”
“So? We can just sneak in.”
Sam rolls his eyes. “No I will not. I do not tolerate this whatsoever! You’re not even affiliated with CLADE, you wanker.” He shakes his head at the thought of trespassing on company grounds.
“Here we go again. Just trust me for once, do I always have to get permission from you?” Wally groans.
In the distance, Kit catches a glance of the lone couple. She doesn’t look away as he picks up a plate and cutlery from the plate holder. A rumble stalks up behind her. Kit snaps her head back. The cafeteria doors fly wide open as the Stinkwells bump into Kit on impact, causing her to fall to the floor. The cutlery clinks and clanks on the ground while the plate drops prone to the fuzzy blue carpet near the cash register.
Kit picks up the plate and cutlery and puts it inside the dirty dishes compartment. Her eyebrows furrowed. “Hans! Harold! Watch where you’re going!”
“Oop! Sorry, Kit.” Harold says, as a mechanical confetti popper drops on Kit’s head.
Hans picks up the contraption and pockets it in his backpack. He takes Kit’s paw to help her stand up.
“Apologies for my brother. He can be quite a handful.” Hans said. He then stares at Harold dead in his eyes. “This is the last time I trust you carrying top secret CLADE equipment, good god I hope you get reprimanded…”
“If it is soooo top secret, then why are both of you bringing it here?” Kit said.
“Cubby needed new equipment!” Harold giddily said. He shows Kit the box of supplies, consisting of spatulas, tongs, grill grates, etc.
As Kit and the Stinkwells help Cubby out with storing the new kitchen supplies, Sam’s ears perk up at the sound of the Stinkwell’s bickering about the tech they’re carrying around. He catches a glimpse of Kit, but looks away.
“What are they doing…” Sam scoffs.
Wally peeks over Sam’s shoulder. “Oh, Cubby got new equipment.” He recognizes Kit and the Stinkwells upon further squinting. “Hey, Sam. Wanna let ‘em join our table? It fits up to four!”
Sam doesn’t respond, ignoring Wally’s request by giving him the side eye.
“Sam, come on. Don’t be such a grouch.” Wally said.
“…Fine. Whatever you want,” Sam shrugs. “Just don’t ruin it.”
Wally’s smile turns into a wide grin. “Yes! Oh, uh—” He stands on his chair while tapping his feet in a hurried manner, pointing his megaphone directly at Kit and the Stinkwells. “Hey, you three! Wanna come join us?”