A Faun and his Fawn 4: Snuggles
((note: this takes place before AFAHF 2, so Junior is still tiny and mute.))
“Biiiites! Lieutenant Bites! Where are you soldier?” Soldier pulled himself from under the bed with a frown. Where was that blasted Raccoon? He and his squad hadn’t shown up for morning exercises. That was dereliction of duty! he could get demoted for that, and Soldier really didn’t want to demote his most trusted officer.
Striding from his room, the undead man stomped through the base, looking high and low and questioning anyone he could find. Finally, after nearly a full ten minutes of searching, he was growing frantic. Sure, the raccoons were hardy and could handle themselves, (they were full blooded Americans dammit!) But what if they had stumbled into something dangerous? what if Demo had gotten hungry during Last nights full Moon and eaten them? What if Pyro had set them aflame?! Of course, he knew his team would never bring harm to his little squad, but panic does odd things to people.
He kept running around the base, calling for the Lieutenant and finally he ran into Scout. Literally. The faun had come stumbling down the hall, bleary eyed and bone tired from a long day and waking up every few hours the previous night to feed Junior, and Soldier had come tearing by and knocked him off his hooves.
“Sorry about that Scout.” the Dullahan muttered, offering a hand to help him up. “I was trying to find Bites and...hey, you okay?” Now a lot closer, Jane could see the Fauns eyes were rimmed with red and lined with worry. “I’m fine bud.” replied Scout. “I’m just tired. This whole being a dad thing ain’t easy, and Junior got hurt while we were working today.” This got Soldier’s attention immediately. He loved the tiny speckled fawn, with his big brown eyes and the way he tottered after the various Mercs like a baby chick.
“What happened?”
“Poor little guy tripped out of bed and twisted his hoof. Don’t worry, Medic says he’ll be just fine in a couple weeks, but right now he’s in bed and he’s pretty sore. I was just going to get an ice pack for him.” Scout looked back down the hall to his old room. “I would be worried about him getting a chill from it, but with all those fuzzballs of yours clambering all over him I don’t think that’ll be an issue.” “My fuzzballs? Is that where Lt. Bites and the others are? with Junior?” Relief spread through Jane like warm water. So that was where his friends had gotten to, they were helping a fellow team mate. “Mind if I go take a look?” “Go for it man, just don’t wake him up.” scout shrugged, heading off to the infirmary while Soldier tiptoed down the hall to Junior’s room. The door was open just enough to look in through and what the old soldier saw damn near melted his long dead heart:
Junior was laying on the bed, one foreleg stretched out and wrapped in gauze as he lay on his side. Tucked up against his body were several grey, chittering, ring tailed balls of fur, including one very large and familiar specimen that was allowing the little deer to use him like a pillow. The raccoons covered Junior from neck to flanks, no doubt keeping the little one nice and toasty. Just then, an errant paw nudged the swollen and no doubt tender joint of the skinny leg, making Junior bleat softly and raise his head from Lt. Bites’ belly. The good lieutenant puffed up furiously and chattered at the unfortunate subordinate who had moved so carelessly before pulling the Fawns head back down gently and licking the fur around his ears. Within minutes, the baby was asleep again while the raccoons kept him warm
Soldier sniffed and backed away from the door. he’d overlook the raccoon’s neglect of his duties for now. They had a greater mission: Helping their comrade to get back on his feet.