"Well... I think I've had my fill of needles for a while," Juliet commented as she came out of the modest medical center on Ao Guang Island.
Much like Heiya Island, Ao Guang was part of Japan and the Ryukyu Islands. However, unlike the other Ryukyus, Ao Guang, like Heiya, had had no permanent Human settlement. Thus, as the Animalian colonies were set up, that gave the Animalians room to establish their own colonies, and that further set up a sort of "pan-Asian" makeup for many of these colonies. There were also some fairly obvious commentaries that was known to much of the world that Japan also wanted these colonies to succeed and show some measure of healing from Japan's past actions and thus included allowing for a more Chinese name for the island, despite the fact that it was a Japanese island. Though, Juliet and Raoul were not looking to get into those issues. They were looking for an exotic place to enjoy their honeymoon before their return to the chateau for Christmas.
Their stay with the Countess Irena wasn't much more than an overnight stay for Raoul's conversion and then vaccinating them both as part of the rules for international travel. From there, they'd then gone through a lengthy flight that ultimately went in stages. Because Ao Guang, like Heiya, was on the smaller side for an island, they didn't have the space for a large airfield for many of the larger airliners. Thus, they flew to Japan and then settled for a smaller connecting flight from Tokyo to Ao Guang. They then found that while Heiya Prefecture was most built up on Heiya Island, there had been progress made at the other islands that would be part of the colony and Ao Guang was one of them. In addition to some of the tourist spots, they also had a modest clinic that had Horizon connections and could allow for both basic medical care and some conversions that would relieve some of the workload stresses on the staff on Heiya Island.
That was all good but being met by the medical and Horizon staff with the report that they were hoping that Juliet could help them by providing some milk that could be used for other conversions. It would mean allowing the Animalia Virus in her system to be reactivated and then spending some time with a breast pump and a series of bottles, but it wasn't felt to be something that would take too long. It gave Juliet some sense that while the Red Fox was often a common choice among people that became Animalians based on smaller animals, if they were looking for specific color phases, of which the Red Fox had many, and silver was just one of them, there weren't too many options. So, Juliet did accept it so that if there were those that wanted to become Silver Fox Animalians and didn't want to get shots as Kasumi had done, the option was there.
"I'm sure," Raoul answered, "but you have also provided help for those that may need or want it and have their own fear of needles."
"True," Juliet smiled and then gave a long yawn before feeling Raoul's tail brush against hers as they walked out from the clinic together and came out into the open and warmer air that surrounded Ao Guang. It wasn't as warm as Mieni Atoll, but it was certainly warmer than many places in the northern hemisphere in December. "Though... after a long flight and then this business call... I'm afraid I'm fairly tired."
"I'm right there with you right now," Raoul nodded and took Juliet's hand, "though... in the coming days, I'm sure there will be plenty of enjoyable things to do here. Sights to see... We may even get to go swimming, as the waters are a bit warmer here."
He looked out at some of the hilly areas that surrounded the outer edges of the island and the "wilder" like areas that hadn't been built up. It wasn't quite the rainforest or jungle type environment that had been seen in movies or documentaries on wildlife in exotic places, but it was still rather green, and his vulpine muzzle was able to pick up an astounding number of scents that smelled interesting. Though, with that last part, he wasn't sure if that was the scents of the more exotic parts of Ao Guang Island or some of the other scents that were part of the Animalian colony. He knew there were differences, and he loved Juliet's scent, but he was also too new at being an Animalian to know where all the differences were.
"I'm sure there are plenty of enjoyable things," Juliet managed a small smile and remembered their wedding night, "and in the privacy of our room, we may enjoy those things. But we will NOT be going someplace where some other woman will see how dashing you are, and some other man may be tempted to chase me."
"Decorum," Raoul said simply.
"And remembering my responsibilities as a teacher," Juliet answered, "and that much of my school competes against the French government to look after children. I cannot be a "wild animal" and retain people's trust."
Raoul nodded. He agreed with that in many ways and that was something that he often had to deal with in terms of public service. People may tolerate some people engaged in more promiscuous things, but people working with children or for the government could often face negative consequences for those things. But there were plenty of things at Ao Guang that were set up to be family friendly and in public; Raoul was fine with that. After all, there were reasons that things in the bedroom were considered “private,” and he had no intention of treating Juliet in a way that would make things “public.” He believed firmly in France’s republic and liberal democracy, but his wife still deserved to be treated like a queen.
They came along and made their way out. There were a few people that were out and about, many were Human, and a fair number were rather overweight. It showed some of the buildup to the Winter Weight Watcher party that was coming. Some of it was from Americans losing weight after Thanksgiving and enjoying some extra time before Christmas. Some of it was others who had let themselves go for other reasons. For Juliet, she hoped these people would be happy and wouldn't repeat the mistakes that had gotten them into the conditions they'd been in that then required the conversion. The thing that Juliet paid the most attention to, even in her tired state after a long international flight, that had also included landing stops for the plane to refuel as well, was some of the natural sights around the latest medical and Horizon facility.
The near tropical forest and plants that grew in the areas where the apartments, hotels or other relates structures hadn't been built were attractive. And even in the low light, she could note some of that beauty. And some hiking would make for fine adventures. The sound of waves crashing on the beaches also reached her ears. With the warmer temperatures, it let her think to enjoying some swimming drift through her mind. And she had a nice red one-piece swimsuit to wear... but for the moment, she was still tired. She was looking forward to getting some sleep and getting adapted to the time zone for the moment. Her mind then wandered between sleep and some of the things, besides the obvious things a couple on honeymoon would do, as they walked along the sidewalk and then the path that led to the hotel, they were to stay in.
The hotel was a bit more secluded and was actually smaller than the larger ones on the island. Like many of the structures that had been built in Heiya Prefecture, it carried a far more oriental theme to its architecture than what Juliet was experienced with. However, to a degree, she found many parts of this to be enchanting. It went beyond what was common in France and from the previous visit that she had scheduled to Heiya Island in the past, she found that many of those that took residence here held many of the same values, even if the way they were expressed was different. It was something to be respected and admired. She also noted that some of the plants, while they looked like many of the other native plants to the island, they also looked like they'd been arranged in a way that almost looked as though the trees and other plants were purposely moved and planted to almost create a hedge around the structure. Juliet also noted that the area was quieter than the other parts of the island.
"Things are calm, here," Raoul said with awe in his voice.
"Yes," Juliet managed and rested her head on his shoulder, "and would make things good for our privacy... and where we aren't interfering with those that have come to the island for the "weight watchers" event that they have coming."
Raoul only smiled and held Juliet to him as the two Silver Fox Animalians opened the sliding doors and walked in...