And so, the IAC came and went. It had been fun and many Animalians greatly enjoyed the attention. Issues with garbage and recycling were major issues, but these things tended to be issues at any large gathering. For Anne Cumbertin, though, the issue was more the fun of competition, being healthy, and being able to be close to her daughter. She had loved Janice as dearly as any mother could, and it had often hurt emotionally to be so far from her. But now, things had greatly changed.
"Oh how they have changed," Anne mused to herself as she looked at the gold medal that was placed on the mantle in Janice and Walter's home.
Janice had become a Striped Skunk Animalian during the initial outbreak, a result of Walter spraying her while he was confused, surprised, and startled by his uplifting after drinking out of a small "kiddie pool" that had been left unattended. It had been a shock and surprise, but Walter not only apologized but won Janice's heart besides. All this had happened while Anne was still in France and overcoming her own challenges in life, only to have an unknown benefactor provide her with the money and means to immigrate to the US but also become part of Animalia. It was a surprise, but it reunited Anne with Janice, and she was glad to see her daughter again. Which then lead to Anne becoming a Striped Skunk Animalian as well and meeting Oscar.
"Oh how they've changed," Anne mused again and looked down her black furred arm.
Becoming an Animalian had worked out well and Anne greatly enjoyed being close to Janice and Walter. She also found herself enjoying hanging out with Oscar. He frequently jogged with her and talked about this and that, and she found out he loved her accent. Oscar was also respectful, which Anne greatly appreciated. He was certainly better than the lout that tried to "win" her attention after her team's victory in the relays in the IAC. As Anne looked at the medal from that event, she STILL couldn't keep herself from chuckling at the memory.
The event stuck clearly in Anne's mind. She'd had a great runner's high and in boundless excitement and energy she'd actually found herself jogging through Lyre and Animalia, still in the uniform her team had wore for the IAC and with her medal hanging from her neck. As she approached Janice and Walter's home, some lout who had come from outside Animalia and Lyre came across her. Anne could clearly smell the booze on him, which she didn't like. His lewd pick up lines were liked even less. At one point he did try to get close, which made Anne lift her tail and bristle her fur, essentially making the standard threat display that skunks did before spraying what they saw as a threat, though this drunken lout was more of an annoyance than a real threat.
"He still deserved it," Anne thought to herself as she remembered leading him into the house and to kitchen.
The man had been so drunk that he seemed to seriously think that Anne was going to let him have his way with her. But there was NO way Anne was going to allow that. The only man that would see her nude and get further than a medical examination was Oscar, as Anne found herself loving Oscar more and more. The drunken lout, with his bad pick up lines, his assumption that Anne was a prostitute, and the attempts to tug on her tail and grab at her butt were not appreciated. Anne considered spraying him, but she didn't want to make a mess of her daughter's home or risk turning the drunk into an Animalian. So, she lead him to the kitchen for what was described to the drunk as "role-playing."
And in a way, it WAS role-playing, but more a reenactment of the various Home Alone movies, from what Janice had described to her. The drunk was so fixated on Anne's Animalian curves that he failed to notice her taking a large heavy frying pan from a cabinet. He might have noticed it in the end, but by that point, it was being swung at his head and knocked him out cold. From there, Anne called the police who arrived at about the same time that Janice, Walter, and Oscar managed to catch up.
"I'd still think he deserved it," Anne commented, remembering one of the Lyre Officers being an uplifted German Shepard saying that she should have avoided a direct conflict and called the police, as if the man had been violent by nature, or hadn't been drunk, the altercation could have been worse. He also commented that technically, the deception she pulled violated Animalia's Edicts. Thankfully the officer did seem to understand when Janice explained the backstory to the officer who carted the unconscious drunk off. The drunk was never seen by Anne again.
That aside, Anne still felt the IAC had been a success for her. She won, which was great. She made friends with Leslie, Sonia, and Giselle, which was also great, and best of all she'd won a potential mate in Oscar who held her softly when he learned of what had happened.
"And Oscar could well be worth all of it," Anne smiled to herself as she looked to the medal as it glistened in the light provided.