Stuck with you for 24 hours or the rest of my life.

Chapter 15

"They're like a fox and a raccoon and a bear and dog and a cat... Every adorable animal, in one animal!" Beca proclaimed pressing her face up against the (very dirty) glass, like a 3 year old hyped up on sugar. Chloe just laughed at her childish girlfriend, and subtly took a couple photos of Beca freaking out over the tiny bear like creature with her cell phone.

All the little red panda was doing was sleeping on a tree limb in the shade, but Beca was probably just as entranced as she would be if the red panda had just performed a magic trick.

"How badly do I have to sell out to be rich enough to buy a red panda?" she thought out loud.

"I don't know, but Idgie sure is cute!" said Chloe, reading the information placard next to the exhibit.

"Idgie?" Beca asked? "Like that chick from the book Fried Green Tomatoes? The one everyone thinks is totally gay for Ruth?"

"Well, I don't know how similar you can compare an animal to non-existent fictional characters, but yes, the same name."

"Huh. Regardless, it's a weird name. But she's cute so whatever," Beca justified.

"It's too bad we didn't come here on September 17th! That's apparently International Red Panda Day!" said Chloe.

Beca looked sad, but then said, "We can come back more than once you know. And there's always next year. We can make it a tradition."

Chloe smiled at her girlfriend, subconsciously making future plans, and was glad to know that Beca was obviously thinking that there would be absolutely no reason that they wouldn't still be together.

"Yep. We can always come back again, my love," she said squeezing Beca's hand, as she looked around at all the signs near the enclosure.

"Hey Becs, did you know that the Ailurus fulgens is considered endangered?"

"What? Why would anyone or anything try and get rid of this gorgeous specimen?" Beca asked incredulously. "They're literally like, 2 feet long and most of it's their tail! Plus, there's no way they weigh more than 15 pounds. It's just like an infant. Totally harmless and completely adorable. Although those claws look like they could do a number on you if you're not careful..."

The girls continued to read about the Red Panda and shared their favorite facts.

"They inhabit high-altitude mountain forests and bamboo thickets in south central Asia, from the Himalayas to southern China, and prefer forests with elevations of 5,000 to 15,700 feet," read Beca off of a wooden post next to a picture of a map with some stars indicating their location in the world.

"Get this Beca," Chloe said amusedly, as she read off another fact on a metal placard. "Red Pandas are cavity nesters, preferring to use rock dens and hollow trees to sleep in. Because they are nocturnal, they often spend the day drooped over a branch high in the trees, and are more active at dawn and dusk," she continued. "They're just like you!" she joked.

"Did you know that Red Pandas aren't actually related to the Giant Pandas at all?" Beca demanded. "My whole life is a lie."

The girls spent a few more minutes at the red panda exhibit, before Chloe finally convinced Beca to move on.

"We've still got like, half the zoo to see, and we've already been here for 2 hours!" Chloe gently reminded Beca, giving her a not as gentle shove towards the exit.

On the way back to the main path, they walked through the muntjack exhibit, which they had seen briefly before the red pandas had distracted Beca off the pre-determined path. The girls made a large loop through the Panda Veranda, to see the Giant Pandas but Beca wasn't as enthralled with the distant relative of her current obsession. They made it past the tiger and clouded leopard displays, before Beca's stomach finally let its displeasure known. It was almost noon and the girls had been walking for miles. Chloe, anticipating this, took a granola bar and a bottle of water out of her purse and handed it to the DJ.