Animalistic

If I'm Dancing

Max took a deep breath, huffing a little. “Well, that’s not surprising for her.”

“Hold up.”

The Jackalope turned around, facing Zandar, who now has his paws raised in front of him in a defensive stance.

“Who are they again? And why they gon’ die?”

Max is speechless, scratching behind his ear and trying to figure out something to say. Aaron beats him to it, though, resting a firm paw on the panther’s shoulder. “I’m sure absolutely nobody is getting hurt. She really likes to bluff, right Max?”

Volio, lost in the commotion, gazes confusedly at Max as well, as she was the only person who didn’t immediately understand Cas’s super clever nicknaming technique. At least, that’s what Max assumes.

He feels himself sweat underneath his hoodie, knowing full well that the Kangaroo would do anything to prove a point. Why she would go as far to target someone as innocent as Shimmer, he doesn’t know, but Max can’t say that he’s surprised. Electing not to show his discomfort or indecision to the group of peers staring at him, he plays the tough route instead.

“Well,” the jackalope starts, clearing his throat. “I guess we’re staying for a while.” He looks at the time; 5:32 p.m. “She wants to meet us at Goodwill, we’ll go.”
Interestingly enough though, the random message from who was assumed to be Cas didn’t include anything about Nathan, which didn’t puzzle Max all too much. It was only just then that he had remembered she was at the show too.

The jackalope surreptitiously scrolled through the contacts on his phone, watching the other three pile into the glossy vehicle.  Eventually landing upon Nathan’s phone number, he taps it with a single finger, secretly wishing for a response. Any information he could get on what happened would be useful, and ironically it was Nathan he was calling. While Max appreciated the dog’s company every now and then, she had a tendency to come off as annoying, like she was trying too hard to be funny. Kind of like Amy Schumer.

To his disappointment, the phone in his paw only rang and rang, eventually going to voicemail. Discreetly, Max shoves the device back into his pocket, not wishing for his comrades to suspect he was worried.

He climbs into the back of his fiancé’s van, considering that Zandar had already claimed the front seat. The purple rabbit turned around to face Max, asking a question that she didn’t need an answer to. “Where to?”

“Animal Forces.”