Dawn had barely broken over the quiet country town of Sunnyfields when Vi woke up. They let out a yawn and turned their eyes to Cuddles who was sleeping on their arm. With a smile they slipped a hand under his head in order to gently free themselves. With that done they slipped out of bed without waking up Cuddles.
Now free to get on with the morning they headed to the bathroom to freshen up before heading downstairs. They went to the kitchen for a long drink of juice and used some bits from the cupboards to mix together some porridge. Breakfast in hand they went to the living room and left the bowl on the coffee table to let it cool down.
After opening a window to get some fresh air moving, Vi went to the center of the room. They stretched their arms out wide and rolled their neck from right to left before twisting their body around into a flexible yoga pose. They held it for a few seconds and then changed to something that used the opposite motions. After holding that for a few seconds they changed to a third pose that was completely different. This repeated over and over until they had gone through 30 different positions. Now limber, awake and feeling warm they took a break on the sofa while eating their food.
While the food was tasty and the break was nice, Vi found themselves quickly growing restless. Hopping up from the sofa they paced around the living room while looking over the little trinkets and photos. None too interesting as they had already seen them all already. Looking around the room they spotted a door under the stairs. Curious, they opened it up to a garage.
“Interesting.”
Vi muttered as they switched the lights on.
The garage was only big enough for one car and some shelves and storage but what a car it was. A well polished, clean as the day it was made, convertible sports car from some decades ago. Vi ran a hand along the polished hood and checked the tires in passing. Pulling open the door they found the inside to be pristine as well. With the keys on the dashboard.
Vi took a second to open up the garage door before returning to the car. Sitting in the thick leather seats, they adjusted it slightly for their size and grabbed the keys. Turning the car on, it ran smoothly with an engine that purred quietly. Looking across the dashboard, they hit a button and watched as the roof cover winded down and folded up into the trunk.
“So you do hold some secrets, little bunny.”
Vi muttered as they turned the car off.
Vi tapped their fingers along the wheel. They wanted to give this car a good test drive but it did belong to cuddles and leaving suddenly would be perhaps too much, too soon. There was a need to go shopping as well though, something a car could prove useful in.
Having made up their mind, Vi stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut. They closed the garage door too and returned to the living room. From their stuff left on the side they got dressed in a clean set of their normal attire. After that they returned to the kitchen to make something lovely for Cuddles. The first choice that came to mind was to use more carrots but surely even Cuddles would tire of them after last night, not to mention how unhealthy it is to only eat so much of one thing.
Vi decided to go with a classic and make an omelet. One that used many eggs, butter, chopped herbs and vegetables and had enough spices and seasoning to wake even the hardest of sleepers. They got straight to work and put great care into making something delicious but half way through making such a meal, they heard Cuddles coming down stairs.
“Someone’s up early, I do hope I did not wake you?”
Vi said as they clinked their mixing bowl and spoon together loudly.
“Oh, no problem. I wanted to wake up earlier today.”
Cuddles said. Wearing a fluffy dressing gown for a bit of warmth.
“Well in that case, you are welcome. And just in time for breakfast.”
Vi poured the mixture into the hot frying pan and paid careful attention as it sizzled. Cuddles meanwhile let out a yawn and went to the other side of the kitchen. They filled the kettle with fresh water and put it on.
“Want some tea?”
Cuddles asked.
“That would be lovely.”
Vi replied.
After giving the omelet a flip and toasting the other side, Vi grated a little cheese on top with a pinch of fresh herbs. They moved it over to a plate and brought it to Cuddles who was finishing the tea, his gaze turned out to the window and the garden beyond it.
“Lovely weather ain’t it.”
“Heh. It saves me tending to the garden.”
“True and since we have a lot of free time today, wanna come shopping with me?”
Vi asked as they took their tea.
“That does sound nice.”
“And I was thinking… We could skip the local markets and go up to Highstone, with that lovely little car you got tucked away it would be a nice way to spend the day.”
“Oh, I’m not too sure. Ain’t that a long way to go?”
Cuddles said shyly.
“A couple hours down the highway but it's still early, and we’ve got all day.”
“I don’t have a lot of money though, and cities are supposed to be expensive right?”
Cuddles said as he kept his gaze to the window.
“It’s my treat, a bit of payback after making me feel so welcome.”
“Well…”
Cuddles trailed off as Vi hugged him from behind.
“Are you scared of cities?”
“No… I’ve never gone to one.”
“There, there little bunny, I’ll take care of everything so you can just relax.”
Vi said before giving Cuddles a kiss on the cheek.
“Thanks, Vi… Alright, I will go.”
“Fantastic but first… I am gonna run a bath for us. You smell… Sweet.”
Vi said with a whisper that made Cuddles shiver.
Once Cuddles finished his breakfast he went up to the bathroom to find Vi had sorted out a hot bath for them. It was a pleasant way to wake up and helped put some of his anxieties to rest about going to such a bigger town for the first time. After which, Vi went downstairs to get dressed and figure out the route while Cuddles went up to the bedrooms to also put something on.
When Cuddles returned to the living room, Vi was surprised by his style. While he had the same longer t-shirt and shorts, he was also wearing a pair of adorable, pink and white, thigh high socks. He did not look shy about them either but did notice Vi staring as he walked to the front door to get his little boots.
“It’s colder today.”
Cuddles said simply.
“They look nice.”
Vi smirked.
With his boots acquired, phone double checked, wallet triple checked and a polite note written incase of visitors wondering where he could have gotten off to, Cuddles was finally ready to leave. They got into the car. Vi adjusted the driver's seat and mirrors and then started the engine. Popping open the glove compartment, Vi took a small remote and used it to open up the garage door. Just as the door had opened enough, Vi revved the car up and went flying backwards. The car spun around and parked up next to the fence that went around Cuddles’ cottage.
“Might want to buckle up.”
Vi spoke as they used the remote to close the door.
Cuddles had just a moment to click the seatbelt into place before Vi put the car into first gear and went flying down the rough roads of the small country town. They skidded around corners, spun over cobblestones and bounced across a small stone bridge as Cuddles clung to his seat.
They left the small town in no time at all and made a quick pace through the back lanes and dirt roads of the countryside before finally turning out onto a proper road again. A few more high speed turns and they were on a main road, heading for the highway just a bit further up.
“You can open your eyes now.”
Vi said as they glanced at Cuddles clutching his seat like a terrified cat.
“H-huh? Oh. Do you have a license?”
Vi let out a laugh. Leaning back with one arm on the driver’s side door, they glanced to Cuddles.
“Don’t worry, I used to race when I was a little younger. Just got a bit excited having such a well maintained car in my hands again.”
“You were a racer?”
Cuddles asked, his curiosity helping to offset the excitement.
“Yeah, it was nothing major. Just some loops around the track after school.”
“That’s kind of cool. I’m not a very good driver.”
Cuddles said as they rubbed their long ears cutely.
“Being in the driver’s seat can be intense but I could show you a few tricks on how to ride sometime. If you don’t prefer to be in the backseat, that is.”
Vi smirked.
“I am in the passenger seat though…”
Cuddles was cut off as Vi turned a corner sharply, causing him to be swung from side to side. They entered onto the highway and Vi floored it, picking up an impressive amount of speed in only a few seconds.
“With how well this thing is running, you must know a lot about mechanical stuff?”
“Car stuff at least. My Dad used to work on cars and engines all the time and I grew up watching him work. Eventually he started to teach me stuff too. It’s kind of fun keeping a car like this all shiny and happy.”
“Where are your parents now?”
Cuddles quickly became shy and sank into his seat.
“I would prefer not to think about them.”
Vi reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. Cuddles placed his hand on Vi’s and after a moment shook it off. Clearing his throat he reached over and turned the radio on.
“Let’s see what stations we get out here.”
“We’re not in another country you know!”
Vi spoke loudly before giving Cuddles a shove. He giggled in reply.
“What about local stations? Our town has one for emergencies and late night stories.”
“Of course you do. Feel free to try.”
Cuddles slowly went through all the stations he could find, lingering on each one for a moment to work out what kind of station it was, before going to the next. In the end he had worked out that a lot of stations around here were the same as the ones he could get at home but there was one that was different. It did not have any music and instead just had someone talking about odd topics, such as technology, and space. Its reception was weak at first but growing stronger the closer they got to the city ahead.
“Bit complicated for morning hours, go back to that music station?”
“Yeah, I liked that one around… here.”
With some music to help pass the time, Cuddles hit the lever next to his seat and reclined back to relax. As they traveled down the seemingly endless highway the wind blew through their fur, refreshing, cool but not cold enough to be unpleasant. There was just enough sun too.
Vi had to keep their eyes on the road but no matter how much they tried, they found themselves glancing over to Cuddles and those striped socks. They were cute and they held his legs so nicely. Vi was tempted to just pull the car over and get a closer look but they had a lot of road to travel and if they started stopping for every little thing they would never get anywhere. They let out a sigh and tried to focus on the road ahead.
“Oh look!”
Cuddles suddenly called out.
“It’s one of those big ehm… things.”
Vi followed where Cuddles’ was pointing.
“A pylon?”
Vi asked.
“Mhm, we don’t have any at home. Giant metal fishbone tower things that move all the power of lighting across a thousand miles of countryside, without disturbing a single thing underneath.”
Cuddles continued to stare at the giant pylon sitting in the midst of the field. His eyes full of awe and wonder at something Vi had seen a thousand times over. As Cuddles got his phone out to take a picture, Vi turned their attention to the road.
“Yeah, they are pretty cool.”
After taking a turn and heading down what felt like an endless amount of road, the scenery began to change. The fields thinned out, buildings became bigger and closer together. Soon enough they entered the suburbs that entrenched the proper city at its heart.
Right away, Cuddles was fascinated. While the suburbs shared many similarities to the countryside, it was all organized and neat with houses in rows and columns and each only having a smaller garden. While there was plentiful amounts of nature, with grass, trees and flowers, it all felt artificial. Like a scale model of a town more than one that felt real.
They headed past some houses and took a few turns which led to an interaction. Vi crossed over and turned into a driveway that had several other cars in front of them. They turned the engine off for a moment and turned themselves towards Cuddles.
“Are you a vegetarian?”
“Hm? Not really but veggies are super tasty.”
“What about cheese?”
“Oh I love cheese!”
“Perfect, I’m gonna get us some drive through.”
“Thank you… What’s drive through?”
“Food that you don’t have to leave your car to get.”
“Huh? Like a restaurant for cars?”
Cuddles asked cutely.
“Not quite, you will see.”
The line of cars moved slowly and soon approached a speaker box built into a large billboard-like sign with loads of menu options for food and drink, most of which Cuddles had never heard of. Vi took a single look over it before leaning out of the window.
“Hey, can I get a double Cajun Halloumi Fries with a Blue Cheese Buffalo burger, extra hot sauce. The Double Deep Blue snack platter with sharing dips spread, Summer Special burger with pickles and two On the Road shakes?”
“... Anything else?”
“That’s all.”
“Alright, head to the window.”
Vi gave a glance to Cuddles and found them confused. Moving forward they parked up behind a car that was waiting at the window in front of them.
“I don’t think I understood any of those words.”
Cuddles said. Vi let out a chuckle.
“That’s why I am here. Trust me, you are gonna love it.”
“I do trust you, but I am still scared of what is about to happen.”
Vi let out another small laugh. When the last car in front had finally moved they rolled up to the window and Vi leaned out. The window slid open and a cute looking sheep girl wearing a blue uniform handed them a large paper bag, followed by another large paper bag, and lastly two drinks that looked like chocolate milkshakes. Vi handed it all to Cuddles before getting their credit card from their wallet and waving it in the general direction of the window. The girl checked something to the side and then gave a polite nod.
“Thanks for coming.”
Vi started up the car and drove out of the small roadway. They crossed over the intersection and headed past a large parking lot that sat between several buildings. Vi parked up in a small road that squeezed between two of them. A surprisingly cozy feeling spot when compared to the large towers of stone and glass overhead.
Cuddles pulled open the thick paper bags and found several cardboard boxes on the inside. He took each and lined them up on the top of the dashboard while Vi took a sip of his drink. Once everything had been laid out, Vi reached out and pulled the lid of one of the boxes. It suddenly unfolded, the walls spreading out like flower petals and in the middle sat hot food on a little bed of paper. Cuddles’ eyes lit up in wonder at such a clever design and he wasted no time in unboxing all the others.
He had no idea what to make of the food itself. There were two burgers, some golden fries that smelled very strange and dozens of little fried pieces of fish, or something. To go with it was a handful of little tubs filled with sauce. Some looked red and spicy, others mellow and creamy.
Vi took one of the fries, dipped it into the red and white sauces alike, and then offered it to Cuddles. They leaned over and took it with his mouth before sitting back. It was a vegetable. This fry was cheese, hot and soft but far from melted, it almost had a tougher, meat like bite to it. The sauces also mixed beautifully with the strong flavor, adding just the right amount of spicy tangy and cool richness. Cuddles began to drool.
“I figured you have not tried any of this before, so I got a bit of everything. These little fried pieces of fish for example are all great on their own but if you add a little garlic from here and a bit of sweetness from here…”
Vi offered the sauce covered fish ball to Cuddles. His eyes rolled from the taste.
“Pretty nice eh? Have fun, there is rarely a way to get this wrong.”
With Cuddles now clued in to what city eating is like, they took their burger and drink and got comfortable. It was a pleasant day out, the shade of the buildings helping to offset the growing sunlight. They could not have asked for a better way to introduce Cuddles to a new place.
“Hey Vi, where did you come from? You seem to know a lot?”
Cuddles asked while playing with his food.
“A very big city, that is a very long distance away from here.”
Vi said as they looked off into the sky.
“Hmm, how come you are traveling so far. Do you have somewhere to be?”
“No, I don’t.”
Vi said as they brought their gaze down to Cuddles.
“Sometimes you can not find where you are supposed to be, until you get lost.”
“Hmm I am not sure I understand.”
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just keep enjoying the day.”
“Yeah!”
Cuddles replied cheerfully.
