They were in her flat, back from the Transformation & Registration Center. Stripey asked for snacks for their "official birthday" as toons, and Rosie went with Camille for a bath: she still was shaken by the rape attempt, and so some stink still had been exuded. Stripey now was also a perm toon, so he can't no more think himself as a female human, but as a male skunk.
"Well, and now, Stripey?" Said Hunny. "You two were perms now. What you want to do?"
"We made a full assets convertion: our house, cars and other 'big goods' so to speak were sold and the money turned on 'toon dollars'. We gave a small apartment for Rosie's brother and a cottage in the mountains for my parents. The small things will be bring here."
"Ok, but you'ra toons now." said Geoff "You can't bin gut-for-nuthink toons. Vot bout job?"
"We still didn't know, Geoff. I, by myself, couldn't stay as obstetrician, but the Toon Medical Association will analyze my curriculum and see if I would be a physician. About Rosie... She looks like a lady so much now, maybe she wants to be a homeowner. We have money enough for living well for some months, even a year or two."
"And about home? You can't live forever on this flat." said Don.
"We know. And, by and by, we had enough of the Stink Detector." said Stripey "We understand the policy, but sometimes this is over-intrusive. We need our own home."
"Anything in mind?" said Flappy.
"Green Meadows looks okay."
"Green Meadows?" said Tom "Looks a little backwater."
"Rosie and me though much on this: we want a good place to live without pressure. We don't want to make the same mistakes we made as human. We had there some days before. It looks cozy and tranquil. And... Well... I couldn't have kids as female human, and Rosie said she want to give us little skunks, as much as she can, as she knows I love kids, ever loved kids. And I want to be a daddy. And Green Meadows looks a good place to grow kids."
"And had you seen houses?" said Camille, going out the bathroom. She looked to Stripey, who looked worried, as he heard sobs coming from bathroom "Don't worry: Rosie is okay now. Give her some time to recover. As you was a woman before, I think you understand."
"Yes. So..." said Stripey "We had seen a cozy, cellar-like hole, very big and bright and with air freshening and so on. We asked the home agent and he said the hole is skunk safe and Green Meadows is skunk friendly. As I said, I want to raise kids, and better is in a place with no skunk prejudice. So Green Meadows looks a good place. And not that far from here."
"Are you talking about Green Meadows?" Said Rosie, going out, a bathrobe over her, no stink at all: in fact, a good smell from the bath salts. "I liked there: I like be zany as any cartoon... But I think I need somewhere more tranquil."
"Sounds good." said Flappy. "Could we go next time?"
So, next Saturday, Stripey, Rosie and his friends gone to Green Meadows by train. For some reason, Rosie wanted to dress clothes, although normally she walked naked as other toons: she put a sundress and hat, her tail knot fancied with a neat ribbon bow.
"Welcome to Green Meadows again, Mr. Stripey. I received your call. Glad to know you're now toons officially." said a toon pig dressed on a Maroon power suit. "You came with friends also."
"Thanks. These are Geoff, Tom, Hunny, Flappy, and the humans are Don and Camille DeMarco."
"Hello, everyone. I'm Patrick Pig, home agent." said Patrick, giving business cards for everyone. "You had your bank account opened?"
"Yes. We want to see again that hole you showed before."
"You're lucky. That hole's still available. The owner also lowered the price. Please, come with me. I had rented a van." said the home agent.
They came out the station and, after some time, they came out the city on the van. Not so much time after, they came to a hill, where, in the peak there was what looked like a Hobbit hole, one bigger. It was a big property, maybe twenty by twenty meters on the hill and more twenty till the property ended on a river.
"Looks wonderful." said Camille, prim and proper with her Dorothy costume.
"Well, the heir don't want to live in Green Meadows, so he wants to sell this." said the Pig as he opened the door.
The hole was a Hobbit hole, but with bigger roof.
"Three levels, six bedrooms, two of them suites. The kitchen has a wood stove and oven for those who like some traditional food. Hearths in all rooms with a common chimney. A special air freshening system make the air flows, even in the lower levels. A garage for two cars. Telephone, gas, energy, cable, everything ready for connection. The inner rooms can be used as wine cellars, dispensers and attics, and they receive some natural light. The living room are on the top level. Make your time."
They made, all of them. Just one of them didn't like the hole: Tom the Happy Scarecrow.
"Too much damp for me. I need to say, however, that looks good for skunks."
"Earth works as a natural stink absorber. The home has also stink protection in all rooms, so you can insulate rooms where skunks stink." said Patrick Pig. "I don't believe there's SDP here, but I believe you'll not want anyway."
"This is incredible. How much this cost?" asked Camille
"Hundred and fifty dollars." said Patrick "Plus ten thousand by registration. And ten thousand yearly for taxes."
"Do you have all this money, Stripey?"
"Yep." said Stripey. "Mr. Pig, could you give a discount for us?" said Stripey.
Stripey and Mr. Pig spent some time bartering until Pig said.
"I give you the register taxes and so on free for you. The yearly taxes are by your own. This is all I can do. Deal?"
"Deal!" said Stripey, shaking hands with Mr. Pig.
"Ok. We need to go to the bank for payment and to City Hall for all the red tape. After this, you'll be given the keys and papers and then the property is yours."
Some hours after, the keys of the home was in Stripey's pawn. He had lunch on the Ice Cream parlor and taken the train back to Big City. There, they bought some basic furniture and given the address of their hole for ZipZap so she could send their things there.
"Good choice, Green Meadows. By all I know you, you'll have a great time there. I had born on Green Meadows, for instance. I go by and by there for visiting my family. Well, I'll send all your things there. Good luck!"
Next day, they checked out from the flat, greeting Fox and Tumblerpott:
"Sorry about anything we had misbehaved." Said Rosie.
"No problem at all." said Tumblerpott "Between us, I would love if all skunks was good sports like you."
"You are welcome to come back anytime." said Fox.
"Thanks for everything." said Stripey as he taken the luggage and gone to their van.
The van was big and red. Stripey sat on the driver's seat, Rosie at her side. As everytime since their toonification, Flappy, Hunny, Don and Camille was with them.They would help Stripey and Rosie to clean and setup themselves into the hole.
They taken the road and drove almost all the day till seeing the sign they like most to see:
"WELCOME TO GREEN MEADOWS."
"Are you ready, Rosie?" said Stripey. "No turning back at all from there!"
"As I had anytime." giggled Rosie "Remember: my option was running away from you after you came out from the Transformation Booth as a skunk, and probably lose you forever."
"I don't understand." said Camille "Why couples would break themselves in that situation?"
"I can just imagine." said Stripey. "I could seen how difficult was for Rosie, then a bunny, hug me. I though that he didn't liked me anymore because of the stink. I imagine that, even we turned back as human, that doubt would stays forever, and sooner or later, we could start to be jealous and so on. It was Rosie who given her manhood away by love for me."
"Looks like madness." said Hunny
"Yep." said Rosie. "After that, I thought perhaps over perhaps over perhaps. But in time, my fear was lost Carrie... Stripey... Cause he turned into a skunk. I know the stink would make me do things I would not be forgiven of, even after going back... A bad seed would be planted. I decided to fight against this and save my marriage. And I paid the price."
"Looks like a real love story." said Don "The ToonWorld forum had gone bananas when I telled your history. There was for sure the trolls saying you're gay and just needed a excuse to go out and so on, but that was some guys greeting you by the strength, even one saying he would liked to be your courage, as they had came here, happened her wife turned on a skunk and broken some time after."
"Well, no more about sad times." said Stripey looking the sun gone down. "Maybe we should buy some basic items and leave the rest for tomorrow. It's dawning soon." He said, parking the van in the Grocery Store.
They noted Green Meadows really looked skunk friendly: no stink detectors or ugly looks when they entered the Grocery & Hardware Store. Some people looked to them, but with more curiosity than contempt.
"You're new on Green Meadows, nah? I'm Paul Platypus." said the platypus vendor, offering his hand.
"I'm Stripey. This is my wife Rosie and my friends Flappy, Hunny, Don and Camile." said Stripey, shaking hands. "Our things had came before. We'll be living now on the hole in the highs just after the town finish."
"So you're the ones who bought the old Goatbarn Hole? Patrick Pig talks everyone in city about you. You look decent people. Don't worry: few people here has skunk prejudice. I see you knotted your tails. I think also had learnt how to control your stink."
"Yep." Said Rosie.
"So, don't worry. People here don't complain on others for being skunks. Just you need to behave yourselves, so to speak. But you look the kind of decent people these suggestion looks unnecessary. Well... What you need?"
"Some sleeping bags, two flashlights, some bread and cheese and canned soup, a toolkit with screwdrivers, hammer and plier. A drilling machine. Some lightbulbs. And a saw."
"Okay. Just a minute. The food you can help yourselves on the shelves. I'll catch the flashlights, the tools and the sleeping bags. Could you came with me, mr. Stripey?"
"Sure. Rosie, you and Camille could buy the food and some refreshment for us? I'll buy the rest."
Half an hour after they entered the Goatbarn Hole by the garage on the 3rd floor (the hole counted their levels upside-down). They discharged the things and had a meal with some warmed canned soup, bread and cheese, and some wine. They splitted themselves into the bedrooms: Rosie and Stripey on main one; Don and Camille on the other suite; Hunny and Flappy sharing the biggest non-suite. The sleeping bags proved unnecessary: all the beds were mounted and some furniture was ready for use. Also the flashlights were unnecessary, as they had electric power already.
The next day was a tiring but fulfilling one. Rosie was the first to wake up and starts to make the breakfast:
"Frankly, Rosie: if you don't telled us your history, I wouldn't believe you ever was a human guy." said Camille, dressed as the classic Strawberry Shortcake, with a bouffant bonnet and red dress.
"Oh, Camille." Looked Rosie, as she was making pancakes. When she came to help, Rosie said: "No way! You're guest."
"Don will help Stripey mounting the furniture with Flappy and Hunny, so I though I could help you with food."
"Well... Okay!"
"I thought we would learn now you had premiered your bed with some skunk love."
Rosie blushed. Camille laughed:
"You're married now. No shame if you have sex."
"We don't had. We had thought on this, but we were too tired for this. Maybe today."
They made pancakes and toast and bacon and eggs and coffee and juice and porridge and made the big table on the dining/living room.
They heard the guys yawning and going to the living room. They sat on artistically sculpted logs used as chairs and wolfed the food. Then they splitted the tasks: Rosie and Camille went shopping in city, and also they should ask for the basic infra like cable TV and telco and internet. The guys would install the furniture and organize the things.
Rosie went into the telco for asking a telephone line and internet, then gone for asking for cable TV with some RW channels, and then again into the Grocery Store and they made a big shopping of food and hygiene and cleaning things. After we put everything on the car, Rosie went into a woodcraft shop and saw what she want:
"What lovely!" said Camille.
"Should I engrave names?" said the craftsman, as he received the plaque.
"Please... Stripey and Rosie." said Rosie.
"You're the new guys from Goatbarn Hole, nah? Paul tell us you came. Name's Benedict Badger, but you can call me Dip. Maybe you should consider using clothes: not that you should be arrested by walking naked. Just that people here are a little uncomfortable with naked toons. It's just a tip." said the craftsman as he engraved their name below the two skunks on the plaque.
"Thanks, mr. Dip." said Rosie taking the plaque.
When she came back, the living room was incredible: the original banks where turned into sofas, rustic but beautiful. The TV was fixed to the wall and so on. Stripey was sweating and tired as all the guys, but now Rosie could see a cozy hole for them.
"So..." asked Stripey.
Rosie's kiss, deeply and lovely, and that would explode in stink her tail wasn't knotted, was enough to answer.
"I think this could be a good way to say." said Camille, putting the plaque on the wall:
There was two skunks, with a little Care Bears-esque lines, looking to each one lovely, the names Stripey and Rosie below them, and below everything the phrase "Hole Sweet Hole."
"Well, this will do for now." said Stripey. "We'll continue after lunch."