Now that his fears had been assuaged, Jack was back to the energetic and happy kitten from the night before. Getting the cub dressed proved to be a chore as Jack seemed determined to play his role, and much wriggling and giggling was made before Jamie finally got him clothed. "If you're going to make this much of a fuss every morning, I'll just make you wear only a diaper," was Jamie's most common threat. It was diminished, however, by the amused, if exasperated, tone of his voice and the smile on his face.
"Now that you're dressed, finally," he said, emptying out Jack's nearby backpack, "we need to hustle. Go get your Switch and a couple books. The lounge doesn't really have anything in the way of entertainment." He punctuated his statement with a smack to Jack's butt, which was more heard than felt. It was enough to get the giggling boy out the door while the wolf filled the backpack with a couple diapers as well as the oil, powder, and wipes. He also grabbed a pair of shorts as a precaution against a leaking diaper.
Going downstairs, he found Jack sorting through his games with a small stack of books nearby. Shaking his head, the wolf left the backpack on the couch and went into the kitchen to fill the other bottle with apple juice and grabbed the pacifier that was still on the table.
Finally picking Breath of the Wild and Splatoon, Jack dumped both games and books into the backpack before running to the TV and grabbing his Switch off its dock while Jamie put the bottle and pacifier in the bag. Seeing they had everything they needed, Jamie grabbed his vape and keys before calling, "C'mon, let's go!"
Jack scurried out the front door wearing the backpack with Jamie following behind. As Jamie locked the door, he heard someone behind him calling out. "Hey, Jamie! It's been a while!"
Glancing behind him revealed the speaker to be a teenage grey fox on a bike with two red-furred cats on bikes on either side of him, one of which called out to Jack. "Hey, Jacko!"
"Jake," Jamie nodded to the fox. "And you two are Jason and Dakota, right? You've grown. All of you." The three lived several blocks up the road. Jamie had babysat Jake when they were younger, and he'd moved out a couple of months after the twins had moved in with their mom. "Sorry to rush, boys. We're running late."
As the three went by calling farewells, Jamie turned and arched an eyebrow at Jack. The little cheetah had tried to hide behind the taller wolf throughout the encounter, and when Jamie unlocked his car, Jack had bolted inside. Jamie understood why, of course, but he couldn't help but feel that Jack wasn't helping himself.
Once he'd closed his door and buckled in, the wolf idly commented, "If that's how you're going to try to hide your secret, they'll be onto you faster than the wind."
Jack blushed. "Sorry," he said quietly. "Jase is on the team, and if he knew..."
"Easy, kiddo," Jamie chuckled as he pulled onto the main road into town. "All I'm saying is if you act different, especially in front of people you know, they're going to know something is wrong."
They drove in silence for a while, both thinking. Finally, Jamie spoke up again. "You okay, Jack?"
"Huh?" Jack looked at his brother confused. Then he grinned. "Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. Just had to pee."
Jamie couldn't help it. He burst out laughing.
---
"Wow." Jack's exclamation seemed to fill the empty store as he stepped inside.
"I forgot you haven't been in here before," Jamie commented mildly as he followed the little cheetah. Still, he watched with no small amount of pride as Jack swept his face around the small shop. The walls were a warm cream color and decorated in posters of ejuice brands and some of Jamie's favorite bands. Upon entering, there were a couple plastic chairs where non customers would wait while their friends shopped. In front of the chairs was a sign that read "All minors (Under age 18) must remain here." Beyond the chairs to the right, Jamie had displays of the various mods and devices, as well as the replacement atomizers and chargers on the wall behind them. To the left were shelves filled with bottles, organized by their brand name, flavor name, and nicotine content. A tasting bar was situated in front of the bottles, allowing customers to try different flavors before they bought them.
"The tasting bar used to be free, since the samples have no nicotine," the wolf said as the cub turned full circle, gazing around. He moved over to the register near the back of the store, starting the drawer and turning on his 'Open' sign. "Then the FDA butted in and said we couldn't give away any product for free. I have to charge something for the samples, so I just charge a dollar for unlimited sampling."
"This is so cool!" Jack squealed, almost vibrating with excitement as he continued to look around.
Jamie chuckled before turning a bit serious. "Alright, bud, I need you to come back here. Remember, I can't really have you near this stuff. You'll be back here most of the time." He pointed to a door just beyond the register, which Jack dutifully went to.
The lounge was small, barely large enough to hold the small couch, mini fridge, small table with a coffee maker, and small trash can in there. Another door was to the left. "That's where the bathroom is," Jamie said when Jack glanced at it. "Something tells me you won't be spending that much time in there."
"Nope!" Chirped the cheetah happily. He sat on the couch, looking around as Jamie grabbed the bottle from the backpack and put it in the fridge. "Are you sure I can't go outside? I want to see what you do here."
Jamie hesitated, then started when his phone dinged. That tone let him know that his sensor, connected to his phone, had detected someone entering the store. "Stay here for now. I'm going to have to set some ground rules for when you're here." He turned and left the lounge, calling out to his customer. "Hello, Mrs. Hayes! The usual?"
Mrs. Hayes was one of his customers who knew exactly what she wanted, and so a few minutes later, Jamie returned to the lounge calling a farewell to her.
"Alright, Jackie," he began, and the little cheetah sat straighter on the couch. "I don't have a problem with you being out on the floor, but the FDA does, and I know that at least one agent shops here. So when you're out there, you need to stay at the chairs near the door. If you want to leave the lounge, knock on the door. I'll come get you if I'm not helping someone. If you want to return to the lounge, wait until I'm not with a customer to let me know. When I need to use the restroom, you will come back to the lounge with me. I can't leave you on the floor by yourself. And unless you want my customers to know about the baby things, they stay here, ok?"
"Ok, Jamie," Jack replied happily.
"Remember, you and I are the only ones who can go into the lounge, so you can use all of the baby things in here to your heart's content. You can even just wear your diaper in here for all I care. Just get dressed again when you want to come outside. Sound fair?"
"Yup!" Jack exclaimed. "Can we go now?"
Jamie snorted in amusement as he opened the fridge and grabbed a couple sodas. "Grab a book and your Switch, and we can go."
Jack wasted no time in grabbing his things, and they left the lounge, going out to the chairs. Jack sat with a barely audible squish and turned on his Switch as Jamie stood across from him. "So what are you going to do now?"
"There's not much I can do now," Jamie answered as he handed over a soda to the cub. "Unless I get a shipment in, it's just waiting for customers. And since my next shipment won't be here until Monday, it's just waiting. Today's Thursday, so it'll probably be slow today." He went back to the counter to retrieve his tablet and vape before returning, sitting opposite from his brother. Taking a hit, he smiled at the pouting cheetah. "I told you there wasn't much to do here."
"I thought you made your own flavors or something," Jack sulked. "I wanted to see how you did that."
"I considered it," Jamie replied as he opened his tablet. "I don't really have the room here, but it was an idea. Then the FDA reared their heads. The manufacturing license is a couple thousand dollars, and then every flavor I wanted to sell commercially would cost another thousand each to submitfor approval. And if the flavor is denied, that's a grand down the drain. And I don't make that kind of money. I'm just a small shop, so I buy flavors from different brands."
"That sucks," Jack muttered, turning to his game.
"Watch your mouth, baby boy," chuckled Jamie. He spied a car pulling up and frowned slightly. "Speak of the devil."
Getting to his feet, Jamie went back behind the counter as a short, brown-furred boar in a white button down shirt and slacks came into the shop. "Hello, Agent Morris," Jamie greeted. "What can I do for you?"
"Jamie," grunted the boar as he took in the shop. His eyes fell on Jack, and he turned to Jamie with a raised eyebrow. "Taking in strays? Where are his parents?"
"Jack is my little brother," Jamie explained patiently. He'd expected this from the moment he saw Morris pull up. Nor could he blame him; Morris was only doing his job. "Our parents are out of town and I'm looking after him while they're gone. I had to bring him here since he's too young to be home alone all day. I've already told him that he has to either stay in the chairs here or in the lounge in the back, and that I have to escort him back and forth. Will that work for you?"
Morris nodded, and the slight tension in the air vanished. "That'll work just fine." He turned back to Jack. "Sorry, kid. It's my job to ask these kinds of questions. I like your brother just fine, but I still have a job to do."
Jack nodded, a little intimidated by the boar. "It's okay," he squeaked.
Both adults chuckled before Jamie turned back to Morris. "So, what can I do for you?"
In response, Morris held up his vape. The tank had a spiderweb of cracks all around it. Jamie hung his head and laughed slightly. "Agent Morris, you are lucky I like you. After all of the tanks and mods you've broken, I might have had to kill you for this one."
"At least I give you job security," quipped the boar as both moved over to the displays.
"True enough," Jamie chuckled. "I still want to cry when you break one of my babies. Did you just want to replace the glass or did you want a whole new tank?"
"A new tank, I think," Morris answered, looking over the various tanks Jamie had on display. "I've had to refill this one at least twice as much as my last one."
"Well, if you want to stick with the Smok brand, there's the Cloud Beast and the Cloud Beast King," Jamie described, pulling out two boxes from the displays. "Both are bigger than your Big Baby Beast, and the King is the biggest tank I have in the shop. You'll have to charge your batteries a bit more often, since these require more power, but you won't have to fill-"
A loud sound like a foghorn ripped through the air, and both adults turned to look at Jack. The little cheetah was blushing so hard his entire face was a strange red/yellow mixture, and he wouldn't meet any of their eyes. "Sorry," he muttered.
Both adults looked at each other and chuckled again, with Morris's adding, "Kids." They continued conversing, with Morris asking questions and Jamie dutifully answering, looking up answers when he didn't know them off the top of his head. Finally, Morris was satisfied and chose the Cloud Beast as an acceptable compromise, and he was soon out the door.
"Take care, Agent Morris," Jamie called after him as he returned to his brother. Instead of sitting, he regarded Jack with a raised eyebrow. He had an idea of what was behind the flatulance, but he wanted it confirmed.
"Sorry, Jamie," the little cheetah said, still blushing, but at least looking Jamie in the eyes. "I didn't think it would be that loud."
"That's alright, Jackie," the wolf answered easily. He still stood, regarding his little brother.
Finally, Jack cracked and got to his feet, wincing slightly. "I need a change, big brother. This feels really weird."
Jamie smirked and threw an arm around Jack's shoulder, leading him back to the lounge. "That's what I thought."
