The alarm went off early, as it always did in the Animalia apartment that Simon and Mary Alice Truman shared. The sound was blaring, and Simon was quick to turn it off, but he did get up and could look into the opening eyes of his young wife. Malice may not be a Wolf Animalian, but the rulings agreed that since Dogs and Wolves could at least produce viable offspring as closely related species, if not as subspecies, there were no concerns. And since the Siberian Husky looked a lot like a Wolf in some ways, Simon saw that as another thing to be happy with, and that was before many of the parts of Malice's personality came into play. It was that personality that really made him love her.
"Good morning, beautiful," Simon said to her, "it's great to be able to wake up and have you beside me every morning."
"Yeah... but then, you couldn't help when you were born and Animalia couldn't help when it got started," Malice smiled, thinking back on when she and Simon met.
Simon was going into his Senior year at Lyre High School when Animalia started while Malice would be joining Sarah and her friends as Freshmen. Being double dosed effectively made her an adult physically, but physical age and education levels weren't the same thing. At the same time, Malice's bond to Sarah as sisters was also very strong and she didn't want to just abandon her sister to chase after Simon. That of course meant that when Simon graduated and was accepted into Nevada's police academy as a double dosed Animalian, that the two of them were apart for a good portion of the year for the next few years. Either Simon was at the academy and when that was done, Malice was in college at UNLV. Now, all those things were synchronized as Malice had graduated and they were man and wife.
The apartment wasn't much. It had a unified living room, kitchen, and dining room, which wasn't terribly big. It had two rooms that could function as bedrooms, though Simon used one as a small office and library. There was then a small bathroom with a toilet, sink, tub/shower in it between those two rooms. It was cozy and was affordable for Simon on a patrol officer's salary. Seeing Malice smile made it all worthwhile, even if it was small.
"It's also a shame that you have to head out," Malice then finished as Simon got up and moved to a small wall closet where his clean uniforms were hanging.
"Today isn't one of the days I have off," Simon answered, "Animalia may not see much in the way of crime outside of some occasional traffic violations and a drunk driver or two, but it makes sense to still be ready for anything."
"And hopefully as few wild drivers turning themselves in," Malice joked to him as she got up.
She set about making sure that the window blinds were down. Animalians might not be as embarrassed by nudity as some Humans would be, but that didn't mean that they were all looking to present themselves for all to see. Malice enjoyed her nights with Simon, but that was all private between man and wife. She then set about getting dressed. It was largely all light clothing, mostly because of the heat, and she then made her way out toward the area where she could hear Simon in the kitchen area of the apartment. She could also smell both ham and eggs being cooked, and that made her tail wag as she did so.
"So... do you have anything planned for today?" Simon asked as Malice came into the kitchen and dining area of the apartment.
"For the moment, there's still some babysitting for Belle and Bash," Malice answered, "mom and dad have work and I'm a cheaper babysitter than most others they could hire while working... and the same would go for daycare as well. Dad may also have some of the possible job openings in the area that could work out well... Something for conversation and social organization... things like that."
That had been part what she'd been looking for. Malice wasn't entirely big on journalism, but a part of her had really enjoyed the media side of things that had gone into Animalia Ambassadoria. To a certain degree it was the advertising part of how Animalia Ambassadoria worked, and Malice had put her college studies into majoring in subjects that would relate to it. There were a lot of classes on society, sociology, and psychology that went into them as well. Malice did well in these classes. The one thing that didn't line up there, was that Lyre/Animalia ultimately didn't have many positions that would require that.
Lyre had been a pretty small town before Animalia, and as with most small towns, the specialization in jobs wasn't as necessary with the biggest employer being Horizon. From what Malice had learned, Horizon was only in Lyre because they felt the area was "quiet" enough that they could do a lot of their genetic research away from prying eyes and without having to explain everything in complete detail. This, of course, lead to the founding of Animalia when a truck carrying the Animalia Virus to a disposal site away from their main facility ended up wrecking and dumping the Animalia Virus into a stream that went onto the Brown's farm and then into the water lines that fed Lyre. It led to Animalia essentially doubling Lyre's population overnight and generating additional needs when one considered that the new community were either uplifted animals as Malice was or converted Humans, as Simon was. It raised the need for things like Animalia Ambassadoria and the specialized media presentations that went along with it.
And being part of Animalia Ambassadoria had been fun for Malice. She, Sarah, and their friends got to travel around much of the world and show how fun things could be for Animalians and how they weren't all that different from Human society, all things considered. Malice wasn't much of a journalist and could privately agree that some of the changes that Miles had made since joining Animalia Ambassadoria four years ago had helped the show on the "news" side of things, but that didn't change Malice's opinion on the fun that had been there as part of the program. Now as Animalia had grown a bit since its start and even had more people move to it, even if it wasn't huge, there had been the hope that some of that kind of advertising and related positions would open up, but really hadn't happened.
"You sure you can handle both?" Simon wondered.
He knew that Malice loved her family, and that a part of her was sorely missing Sarah and Travis, as Travis did get the firefighting job in Reno. The two of them had already moved out and had an apartment in the other Nevada city. There were also the other related changes that Malice was going through with the rest of the friend group that she had joined. Abby, Samson, Sophie, and Roland were still in Animalia, but there was the knowledge that Abby and Samson were largely waiting until living arrangements in Montana could be met and that could range from either an apartment or rental home or seeing to the construction of a whole new home next to her uncle in Montana. Sophie and Roland were still at home, and shifting between Sophie's parents, Remington and Vera, and Roland's, Tyler and Persephone, but that would only be until next May or June, when Roland got his teaching certificate and the two of them moved to Dino City full time. Though, Sophie was interning with one of the small law firms in Lyre through the summer to get some added experience and set things up for when she started law school in the fall, and with August coming, Malice knew that all of that wouldn't be too far away.
But the rest of the group had either already moved out or were getting ready to. Sarah and Travis moving out to Reno. JC and Pauline had moved out to Gondwana Land in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was to be set up as an international settlement near the one of the jungle regions. From what Malice had heard from Sophie, they would be working with an international organization working to preserve the wild population of the African Gray Parrot throughout the region, which would include getting audio and video footage where possible and coordinating Horizon's efforts to bring medicines into the region. They'd retain US citizenship and have legal status in the country. It was possible that both could gain dual citizenship as part of some of the related legal processes, but that would take time. They would also have to provide some measure coordination with local officials to make sure that refugees coming into the region weren't terrorists using Animalia as a cover to infiltrate the country and that their actions also did not do undue damage to the ecosystem. Malice could tell that Sophie was worried and putting on a brave face, and with Travis and Sarah heading out... Malice could understand and sympathize.
"I'll have to," Malice answered, "as I do intend for you to fill my womb with your puppies in the future. And that will come with its own sets of challenges, so best to practice now. And Belle and Bash are pretty well behaved. So... it isn't like it's a bad idea."
Simon looked over to the modest wall clock that was normally illuminated by sunlight coming in through the window that was on the east wall was near the electric set into the northeast corner of the kitchen. However, at present it was still fairly early in the morning in order for Simon to get ready to go in for his shift, and one that could go through most of the day. As such, the sun wasn't up yet, and it was also probable that even Thomas and Julia Wesley were even up yet. They had their jobs, but they didn't start as early as Simon did, and in this, Malice actually didn't HAVE to get up with her husband, but she loved Simon and wanted to spend as much time as she could with him. Malice also stated that once it was time for them to expand their branch of the Truman/Wesley family, it'd be good training.
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Arriving at the Wesley home as an outsider felt a bit weird to Malice, particularly as for nearly all of Animalia's history, the middle-class home in Lyre had been her home. It was where she lived both as a mundane Siberian Husky puppy and as an Animalian, and a member of the family. She was still a member of the family. Thomas and Julia both gave her a friendly hug when they answered the door and then soon had Belle and Bash hugging at her legs. Her younger siblings were getting older, and it wouldn't be too terribly long before they started school. A lot of that would depend on whether or not they were sent to "pre-school," waited until kindergarten, or if Thomas and Julia felt that Belle and Bash were ready for it.
"We can't thank you enough for this," Julia said to Malice as she came in.
"Hey... I'm here and I'm available," Malice answered with a shrug, "and besides... Belle and Bash are still cute."
"Nuh-uh," Bash answered, "strong!"
"I like being cute," Belle wagged her tail.
"You two will always be cute to your father and I... and to your big sisters," Julia said to them.
"Moooooooooom!" Bash whined, clearly embarrassed by being described as cute.
This earned a bit of a chuckle from Julia, who then turned to Malice.
"Your father has already gone out, and I'll need to head out myself," Julia spoke, "these two have had breakfast, so you should be good till noon or one... Make sure they do get some exercise. If it's a walk outside, some game in the park, or something else... maybe do that in the morning, as they think it'll be pretty hot today. If it's inside at the Claw Coliseum... that could work better in the afternoon."
"And not let them veg out in front of the television, got it," Malice answered, "might have to let them do that in the heat of the day..."
Julia only shook her head, getting guess that Malice was joking.
"In the meantime, was there anything in classified section the area?" Malice asked.
"Actually, your father noted it this morning," Julia answered, "he circled it and left the paper on the kitchen table. That'd be something you can check. It might actually be something fairly close to things you've done before..."
"I'll check it out, thanks, mom," Malice gave a smile, knowing that this was all part of her own proverbial job search.
Much of that was also a result of how knew things were in Lyre/Animalia for so many. The Animalia PD was born with the birth of Animalia and the patrol officers that were either uplifted wolves or dogs were all young and wouldn't need to retire, and given an Animalian's natural strengths and abilities wouldn't need to worry about losing shape. The Rhino Guard, their version of SWAT was even better with that. And as much as Malice had been interested in the wolf officers in the Animalia PD, by the time she got into college, Malice recognized that they wouldn't have spots open for her and that Simon had been lucky they had space to hire him after his senior year at Lyre High and then going through the Nevada Police Academy. It was the same sort of thing that had been why Sarah and Travis had moved to Reno, Animalia and Lyre didn't have the space for another firefighter. Though, as Malice looked to a wall photo of all the Wesley's together, Thomas and Julia standing in the back, Sarah and Malice seated in front of them, and with Belle and Bash in their laps, that didn't fully ease Malice's missing her sister.
Her thoughts were then brought back into the present when she heard the front door open and shut, indicating that Julia had gone out and was likely to be on her way to work. Malice then looked down to Belle and Bash who looked up to her with their tails wagging.
"So... what are you two up for?" Malice asked, "would you want to go out for a walk and get some "cross country" exercise? Or would you prefer to go to the Claw Coliseum and go on their jogging track?"
"The track," Belle said.
"Maybe they'll have something buried under it," Bash added with a nod of his muzzle.
"There isn't anything buried under the Claw Coliseum," Malice laughed remembering one of the highlights that a young Belle and Bash had led to, "anything like that would have been discovered when they made the foundation."
"We can still go?" Bash asked.
"Yeah," Malice nodded, "you can put on your running shorts, and we'll go jogging after lunch."
Both Belle and Bash pumped their fists in triumph, which only got Malice to shake her head. Both of her younger siblings could be brave and confident, and she was sure that both of them had also learned a lot from her and Sarah while they'd been living in the Wesley home. Now that they'd moved out, Belle had the room that Sarah and Malice shared, and Bash had the room that he had shared with his twin up until recently. Malice chuckled at the confidence of her younger siblings and knew they were good kids. From there she moved to the kitchen to check this newspaper section that Thomas had saved for her. Lyre/Animalia only had one paper that covered both small towns, and it had grown as Animalia grew as well and did more to cover news in the two towns in ways that was different from Animalia Ambassadoria and its related media. Though some things from Animalia Magazine often had pieces in the newspaper when they covered news and things related to it. However, that wasn't what Malice was looking for.
She picked up the page and noted that it was the Classified Section, and one section had been circled in red ink. She read through the area circled and found that it was a sort of media management position for the city of Animalia and in the same office that coordinated the Animalia Ambassadoria program. Malice looked through it and noted there was the scheduling aspect of specific sorts of events in the IAC, and particularly the comparisons between Humans and Animalians, which was something that had come up as a means to show why Animalians were not yet involved in professional sports and so on. There was also measuring some of the updates from things that were connected between the various Animalian colony "governments" that often talked and coordinated things with each other, even across different countries. There would also be some of the management of reporting assignments for Animalia Ambassadoria team.
"This could be interesting," Malice smiled a bit, thinking back on her time in Animalia Ambassadoria. Back then, the guy that did the things that this job covered was an older man who managed a lot of the PR and advertising work for Horizon. He must have retired recently.
"Whatcha lookin' at Mal?" Bash asked as he came in with Belle tailing after him.
"A job opening," Malice answered, "based on the paper ad... it'd be a sort of media management position for Animalia Ambassadoria. Scheduling certain things the team would cover, getting interviews or people to come in and participate all sorts of things like that."
"So, you'd be doing the show again?" Belle wondered.
"No," Malice shook her head, "from the way things are set up... Animalia Ambassadoria is set up to be sort of a high school student work program... something that would give them some experience with the world and reporting and would be good for college scholarships and job interviews and the like. And your other big sister and I graduated out of that when we went to college. The Jackrabbit Animalian that took over the lead after us is probably going to have to do the same when he goes to college in the fall. And that's something that a lot of guys... and particularly the Human cast members have had to do. I think Sophie said something about Jeremy's younger sister thinking about trying out for the show."
"Could we be in it, like you and Sarah were?" Bash asked.
"When you get to high school, I suppose so," Malice commented, "though... there will be tryouts for it our group handled as the show expanded and then changed after we finished high school. That sort of thing."
"But you'd have a say... right?" Belle wondered.
"Maybe," Malice chuckled and noted that while she probably wouldn't have time to fill out the application while looking after Belle and Bash, they would go by Animalia's City Hall and pick up the application for the position before going on to the Claw Coliseum, "but the job their advertising is more the media management side... So, we'll have to wait and see. If I can get the job, I'll be sure to put in a good word for you two when you start high school."
Belle and Bash only wagged their tails happily.