In Darkness I Hide: A Zootopia Story

Epilogue - Burning Bright - A New Day

Savannah Central - Snarlbucks – On the Corner of Screech Ave. and Pride St.
Friday – 06:15 PM – Few Clouds / Mostly Sunny

"Absolutely not!" They both cried in unison.

Murana hadn't even taken her first sip of her white chocolate, macadamia nut latte before Billy Silva strolled into the coffee shop, got to one knee and offered a wilted lotus to Steven. Both she and Courtney knew what that meant and they were shocked beyond belief.

For Courtney, this rival in affections had the brazen gall to waltz in here and try to take her man away. For Murana, she had barely gotten over the fact this crazy skunk was to be her daughter-in-law, and now an unusual acquaintance and business partner was vying for a spot in her family.

"Get up. You're embarrassing yourself." Murana snapped. "What are you even doing here?"

"What does it look like? I'm professing my feelings." Billy stated matter-of-factly.

He was attracting a lot of stares by the onlookers in the café. It was uncommon enough to have proposals to court another in public like this, it was even more so when it was a fox and a skunk involved. Steven was completely flabbergasted at the gesture. He knew what it meant, that Billy was interested in dating with intent to marry if it worked out, but the fact his mother, brother and his current girlfriend nearby watching this was making his cheeks flush something fierce.

"And he will be rejecting them right now, won't you, Steven?" Courtney seemed supremely confident at his answer, feeling she provided plenty for him. She was ready for marriage. However, she took Murana's strong advice to allow the relationship to progress naturally, and she was not going to let this upstart fox take him away from her.

"Billy, this is highly unprofessional. You said we would not be meeting in public like this!" Murana hissed, her grip nearly crushing her freshly made latte.

Billy looked up at the looming figure of his potential mother-in-law, "I am not here in any official capacity, Murana. I'm here to express myself to the one I've fallen for."

"Based on what? His scent? Since when did you two have any sort of contact outside of that one time back in The Fox Den?" She was not finding this funny at all.

"Well...we did exchange numbers and we've been texting back and forth." Steven said meekly, his entire posture shrinking as the two females near him glared.

"You've been doing what?!" Courtney was beside herself, shaking violently. "You promised me we'd be together and get married!"

"He actually promised you nothing." Max stepped out from behind Murana, being helpful as always.

"Can it, Max!" She roared. "You will be rejecting his proposal and you will be rejecting it now, Steven!" Courtney was practically frothing at the mouth.

Steven glanced from Billy's heartfelt eyes, to Courtney's burning snarl, to Murana's incredulous look and back to Billy. Steeling himself for the ensuing apocalypse, he puffed out his chest as he addressed her, "Courtney, I'm not sure this is working out. You're kind of crazy and very...um...lusty?" He couldn't find the word. "I've been trying so hard to figure out a way to let you down easy, but I'm just not interested in marrying you."

Murana mumbled under her breath as she took another sip of her latte, "Thank goodness. Another problem down, a new one arises."

Murana was personally not looking forward to having that skunk as her daughter-in-law. Courtney was a bit unhinged at times, and although she was grateful for her rescue a month back with Jack Savage, she couldn't abide by her mannerisms and complete lack of respect for her son's opinions and wants. It was just very hard to get her steady enough to listen that made it difficult to express this.