The gang made their way across town to the drive-in theater in their car. The city felt almost frozen in time, with a blend of retro British and American culture, Felix spots a pub along the way. He could’ve sworn that it was a coffee shop earlier. He then begins to see two European Badgers walking down the street near the theater, one with more red features than the other.
“There’s my goddamn nephew and his boyfriend again.” He remarked. “Jacky boy, let's stop the car over here, I needa talk to my Nephew over here.”
“You wanna talk to those Nancy boys over there?!” Jack says as his boyfriend pulls over to the curb “Be quick, don’t want him to make us late for da flick.”
Benjamin and his boyfriend walked down the street on their way back home from the pub. Asher felt like he was becoming more stressed out by the minute, as the changes around town continued. They saw the changes that had been occurring across town, the neighborhood had become all too unfamiliar to Asher’s liking, dare he say, improper, and he had struggled to stop it.
“Asher, tell me if something’s wrong” Benjamin whispered to him, his whiskers drooping in worry.
“Uncle,” Asher says as he points to the muscle car making its way toward the pub, pulling over to the two badgers. Benjamin then sees who’s there, an American Badger taking the wheel, someone familiar to the two of them...
Felix! He might know what's happening to his boyfriend. Benjamin thought to himself.
He’d see three more anthros in the car with Felix, riding shotgun was a Bulldog, the two in the back being a rooster and an opossum. The door opens as the American Badger steps out of the car onto the sidewalk to his nephew and his boyfriend.
“F-Felix… W-Whats happening?” Asher says, with an exhausted, tired look on his face...
“All that time at that bar you made, huh?” Felix replies with a smirk. “That’s a lot of work you put up out here, kid.” Speaking in tongues only the two badgers could understand.
“The Pub… That’s where I had all that trouble…” Asher whispered,
“Just relax bud…” Felix assured the younger badger. “Me and the boys are heading out to watch a flick at the drive-in, you two are free to come with if ya want.”
Asher looked up at Benjamin, and then towards the car, “It’s nice of you all to invite us, but we have to decline.” Benjamin sighed, his whiskers and ears twitching to show the stress the badger was in. “Asher and I have to get back to the estate so he can get some rest, he’s gone through a lot today, also we have to see If Lyon and James are holding up well.”
“I see you have some friends of your own,” Felix answers “You two could use their company,” he replies with a smile.
“It was splendid to see you again Felix!” Benjamin wishes the older badger and his friends farewell “Time to get Asher feeling right as rain!”
Felix waves as he steps back into the red car with the other three greasers, and Jack then pulls the car away from the curb as Benjamin and Asher continue to make their way home.
Benjamin looks over to his boyfriend, seeing that he has a frown across his muzzle. He looked very upset after the chance encounter with his uncle. He asked him why he was so upset, shouldn’t it be welcoming that he saw a family member of his out and about? He also felt that he made a good point about getting rest and the company of Lyon and James.
“T-that was such an improper way of talking to someone!” Asher said in a flurry of frustration, his ears and whiskers twitching. “Those are certainly NOT proper gentlemen!” he says with a hmmph, stomping his foot. Benjamin felt paralyzed by his beloved badger's frustration, he’d never see Asher get as flustered as this, in spite of the feisty nature of badgers like themselves.
“Asher, my love! Please have some composure!” Benjamin responds to his enraged boyfriend, “It wouldn’t be proper to be upset like this while we are out and about!”
Benjamin takes a deep breath and places a calming paw on Asher's shoulder. "I understand that you're upset, dear, but making a kerfuffle out of this will only make your conundrum worse. Let's take a moment to breathe and compose ourselves before we continue back home."
Asher takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Benjamin continues, "I know your uncle and those blokes of his may not be the most proper of gentlemen, but they mean well. They were just trying to be cordial and invited us to join them. And besides, we don't have to worry about them since we won't be seeing them again for the rest of the night."
“I’m terribly sorry, Benjamin.” Asher nods slowly, still looking a bit upset. “I should know better than to become so flustered like that in front of my sweetheart, that wasn’t so proper of me.” He nuzzles him for comfort.
Benjamin rubs his back soothingly and says, "Let's focus on what's important right now. You've had a rough day, and I want to make sure you're feeling better. We'll get you home, rest, and we’ll check with Lyon and James. They'll make you feel better, I promise." Benjamin says with a smile along his white fur.
And so, the two badgers wrapped their arms around each other, heading home for the night for some proper time at the estate.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Felix was in the red hot rod with his four friends as his pals made jokes about Asher and Benjamin.
“Right as Rain? Now, what’s so right about rain? Must not be a baseball fan!” he overheard Jack and Barry laughing at Rooster’s joke.
Sure he felt that what Asher was doing to the neighborhood was wrong and he saw that it was beginning to take a toll on the younger badger, but it was his nephew who was having a hard time. Felix almost saw Asher as his own son, though he and his brother back over in Britain remained in good touch with each other. Even Asher’s father had been perplexed by his son’s fascination with old-fashioned upper-class British life. He could remember his brother vaguely telling him that Asher wanted to move in with his uncle to strike it rich in the states, but he didn’t realize this is what he meant by that. Felix was impressed by his nephew’s ability to change things, he had made Benjamin into someone he held dear to him and a respectable polite young man, managed to make a widow’s family incredibly wealthy, had even made his own friends, but he had to keep control of himself, and his state really showed that. The car then pulled into the drive-in theater and up to the ticket stand, manned by an older teenager.
Josh Matthews was your textbook insomniac, often up very late at night, hopelessly addicted to energy drinks, and very lousy in the daytime. His grades in school would show that, as he barely graduated high school last spring with few job prospects. He took the job at this drive-in as an excuse to stay late like usual. The drive-in had been losing business for the past few decades but has seen a resurgence recently, and it was even more pronounced tonight, it hadn’t been this packed since the Revengers came out a few years ago, and the even crazier part was that there weren't any blockbusters of note he could think of that were out. He was busy taking cash and doling out tickets to patients until he saw a red muscle car filled with anthro animals. He was then facing a badger dressed as if he was in one of those movies from the 50s or 1960s, and he wasn't the only one in that car dressed like that either, there was a bulldog, a rooster, and an opossum, a rather interesting collection of animals as Josh saw it.
“4 adults for Screen A!” Felix tells the ticket attendant, handing him two 20-dollar bills. Josh takes the cash and hands him the change from the register, not before complimenting their car and outfits.
“That’s a really nice car! The costumes are pretty cool too!” Josh hands back the change compliments as his nose blackens and hardens, unaware that these were actual anthros he was dealing with, and he was becoming one himself!
"And so is yours!" The badger responded. "They picked out good uniforms for you guys"
"Uniforms?" Josh asked, feathers in shades of blue, black, and white sprouting from his face, as his ears seemingly disappeared, with only little ear holes for him to hear. He looks down to see himself wearing red and white, which contrasts with the bluejay's feathers. His shoes and socks had been naturally discarded to show black, scaly talons.
"Yes, this is the place on a summer night ya know?" Felix hit back.
"Thanks, Enjoy the movie, we got a good one to play for you tonight as always." Josh pointed with his new scaly hand lined with wings along his arm, The concept of the theater having uniforms for the employees to wear made more sense to him now. The car pulls away and he then tends to the rest of the cars as his changes continue. His mouth and nose were replaced by a nice, black beak, his previously dirty blond hair replaced with a handsome head of feathers, and a blue and white plumage began to cover his body. The avian was so caught up in his job he couldn’t pay attention to the changes taking place with his body.
As the line cleared and the film approached its start, the now-bluejay walked out of the stand and towards the main building, memories then began to fill the bird’s mind. He always had a fascination for Hollywood movies and wanted to pursue a career in acting. Josh took part in his high school’s drama club, taking a lead role in the school’s musical last year before he graduated. He had plans to go to school to pursue acting while he took the job working at the drive-in as a summer job for the time being. Josh chirped as he walked into the main building which housed the snack bar and the projectors, finding a spot to watch the coming flick with his colleagues…