Family Tails

A Story of a Mixed Family in the Genetic Age

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Names of actual businesses, their products, etc, are the property of their respective owners.

Story and characters © 2013 Ronald J. Lebeck

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Chapter 18

"Aaaahhh...it's great to be back home again!" Ron said as he, Lupina, and Rosie stepped inside their house after returning from their trip to Texas.

"Yeah, as soon we get rested up, I know what I wanna do!" Rosie said with a big, mischievous grin.

"Aside from tearing into another box of raisins, just what that might be, luv?" Ron asked, slipping his arms around Rosie from behind and rubbing his nose behind her ear.

Rosie wiggled her hips a little and stuck her tongue out playfully, tilting her head to one side, prompting Ron to kiss the side of her neck a few times.

"The same thing I want to do, baby...," Lupina replied seductively before Rosie could say anything, wrapping her arms around Ron from behind, lightly and slowly licking the side of his neck.

"Heh, I guess the surf's going to be up tonight," Ron smirked, referring to the full-wave mattress of the king-size waterbed in the master bedroom.

Rosie turned around to face Ron, "Ya think?" she asked, licking her lips.

"Do I have time to bring some wood in and get the fireplaces going?" he asked with a grin.

"Sure, baby, we can put our things away and get comfy while you're doing that," Lupina suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Ron said with a big grin.

While Ron was bringing in enough wood for both fireplaces and for the wood cook stove, Lupina and Rosie took their suitcases back to the master bedroom and began unpacking them.

"Hey, Lu...I've been thinkin' about somethin'," Rosie said nonchalantly.

"What about?" Lupina asked as she carried the dirty clothes to the hamper.

"About how much is he gonna be different," Rosie replied.

Lupina was quiet for several seconds while the two of them picked out the things from the suitcases to put back into their places in the bathroom.

"Are you worried about what happened at The Center?" Lupina asked after they entered the bathroom and began putting things away.

Rosie replied, "Yeah. I mean, how do we know he won't go bonkers again, or...,"

"...Or if you can still have kits by him?" Lupina interjected.

"Yeah," she said quietly, putting her toothbrush back in its usual place.

"Rosie, I think it's pretty safe to say that Ron isn't one to give up on something, especially not after promising to help, and he did promise you...," Lupina said.

"I know...maybe I'm just worrying over nothin'," Rosie said with a little sigh.

"Ha! I think the only one who needs to be worrying is Ron!" Lupina said with a smirk.

Rosie looked quizzically at Lupina and asked, "Whatcha mean by that?"

Lupina laughed a little and replied, "Oh, I was just thinking of when you, Holly, and the other female skunks all started coming into season the first time...I don't think the staffers took into account how wild you get, and I don't think they'll ever forget getting sprayed[1], either."

Rosie got a rather sheepish look on her face as she remembered her first time she came into heat.

The human staffers at The Center quickly learned to separate the female skunk G.E.L.F.s from the males, due to the males fighting each other, and due to the females spraying anyone they weren't interested in.

"Yeah, I suppose we did get kinda crazy," Rosie said with a bit of embarrassment.

"I hope you don't end up spraying Ron when you finally decide that you've had enough," Lupina gently admonished her. "We may never get the smell out of the house."

Rosie looked up wide-eyed and dropped her ears and tail, holding her hands up to cover her mouth.

"Ooo...geez, Lu...now I'm gonna be worrying about that!" Rosie exclaimed.

"Worrying about what?" Ron asked as he entered the bedroom with an armload of wood for the fireplace.

"Eeep!" Rosie squeaked in surprise, not having heard him coming towards the bedroom.

The door to the bedroom was in Lupina's line of sight past Rosie, so she saw Ron coming and wasn't surprised like Rosie was.

"Oh, we were just having a little girl-talk," Lupina said, grinning.

"Ah, okay. Plotting mischief and mayhem, or just discussing stuff?" Ron asked, giving each a quick kiss in passing on the way over to the little fireplace with the wood.

"Just yakkin' about stuff," Rosie replied.

"Yeah, nothing that a bowl of raisins and some of your mead wouldn't fix," Lupina said with a smirk.

"Ooo, now that sounds dangerous!" Ron chuckled.

While he set about getting a fire going, Lupina, who was sitting in the chair between the fireplace and the bed, took her shoes off and massaged her feet a little, before standing and peeling out of her clothes. Rosie closed up the last suitcase, put it back into the walk-in closet, and was in the process of pulling her shirt off when Ron happened to look.

"Woo-hoo!" he said just as Rosie had her shirt over her face.

Lupina reached over and gave Ron a little swat on the arm. She said with a laugh, "Down boy!"

As soon as Rosie's head popped out of the neck hole of her shirt, she looked wide-eyed back and forth between Ron and Lupina.

"Wha-a-a-a-t?" she asked.

"Just admiring the view," Ron said with a sly grin, which caused Rosie's expression to change to a confused look.

Lupina, being playfully sarcastic, said, "Oh, he's just being a typical human!"

Before Rosie could say anything, Ron said, "Typical, eh? I'll show you typical!"

Ron quickly spun around while standing, and in the process, grabbed Lupina around her thighs with his right arm, and picked her up over his shoulder.

"AAAH-umph!, WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" she exclaimed loudly.

Rosie started to grin, not realizing what was next. Ron started towards the bed, but he quickly scooped Rosie up with his other arm in the same fashion as he did with Lupina, striding across the room with the both of them over his shoulders.

"I...GOT...MINE!!!" he bellowed out with a triumphant barbaric voice[2].

"R-R-R-O-O-O-O-O-N-N-N!!!" Rosie hollered in complete surprise as he carried them both over to the bed.

Setting his mates down on their feet, he held Lupina and Rosie firmly and closely, kissing each in turn quite passionately.

"Time to hit the four-post inn[3], me lovelies!" Ron said grinning.

"What's gotten into you?" Lupina demanded.

"Yeah, what's with the barbarian thing?" Rosie added.

Ron rubbed his nose through Lupina's fur, sniffing deeply, and then did the same to Rosie, to the bewilderment of both. When he looked up, Ron's expression was similar to someone who had just taken a deep sniff of his or her favorite food.

"I...I don't know what it is...but, your scents just...drive...me...wild," he said lustily. "It's almost like...I don't know..."

Rosie's natural curiosity kicked in, prompting her to do the same to Ron. She put her arms around his neck and pulled his head down so that she could sniff deeply in the same manner. Rosie's long sensory hairs tickled a little as they brushed against the bare skin of his neck. When Ron felt Rosie's tongue softly licking his neck, he felt a thrill ripple through his body.

"M-m-m...yeah...," she said with a soft, almost purr-like sound. "Whatever they did to you...it sure makes me wanna...oh, my! Lu! Check it out!"

"What are you babbling about?" Lupina asked, as something seemed to be making her start to feel a bit aroused.

"Give him a sniff already, will ya?" Rosie goaded her.

Lupina twitched her ears a little and then began sniffing her mate. It didn't take long before she started wagging her tail enthusiastically.

"Geez, you're right!" Lupina agreed excitedly.

She shot a quick glance at Rosie and they both nodded their heads.

"That's it! These have got to come off!" Lupina demanded with a wild grin, and began unbuttoning Ron's shirt. Rosie got a big toothy smile on her face and together, she and Lupina got their mate ready for bed.

After pulling the heavy sheepskin rug down towards the foot of the bed, folding it in the process, the three got into bed with Lupina being first, followed by Ron, and then Rosie. As much as they all felt an unusual desire to just "dive right in", they managed to hold back and take things slowly, especially since this would be Rosie's first time.

"So, how are we going to work this?" Ron asked quietly, holding both of his mates, and looking from one to the other.

Rosie ran her hand lightly over his chest and said quietly, "Well...since we didn't get to take care of ya back...at the other place, maybe we can...take care of ya now."

Ron detected the bit of worry that crept into Rosie's voice, so he gently stroked Rosie's cheek with the back of his fingers.

"I know, Rozer, I had to make sure then that you two were safe," he said quietly.

"That-that's not gonna...happen again, will it?" Rosie asked.

Ron smiled and replied, "Nah, for some reason what happened back at The Center has to do with...a long time ago."

"Did you know it was going to happen back then?" Lupina asked.

"No, they didn't tell us...but I think they knew," Ron replied.

"I bet that was pretty scary, not knowin' what was goin' on!" Rosie said.

"Yeah, it wasn't fun," he agreed.

"Hey, what was that bit about the military having guys with guns and stuff that were gonna use them if things didn't go right?" Rosie asked. "They weren't gonna actually shoot everyone, were they? I mean, isn't that like against the law or something?"

"Yes, they would have," Ron replied.

Lupina and Rosie both looked at each other in horror.

Ron closed his eyes a moment and let out a long, slow breath.

"The military plays by different rules--they don't mess around when it comes to stuff like that. Anyway, the thing is, you two don't have anything to worry about now, at least not as far that business is concerned," he said.

"Yeah, well, it's our job to worry about you, big guy!" Rosie said with a grin.

Slipping his arm out from around Lupina, Ron rolled a bit towards Rosie and said, "The only thing you have to worry about, my dear, is how much of an appetite 'the big, bad wolf' has for skunk!"

With that, Ron grinned wickedly and quickly buried his face into Rosie's chest fur making comical exaggerated eating sounds while nibbling with his lips, and then began working his way down her abdomen. Rosie was totally surprised and had no idea what Ron was doing. Lupina, on the other hand, started laughing quietly because she did know what he was going to do.

"WHOA, what the...???" Rosie exclaimed with wide-eyed wonder.

"Ha! I think you'd better hold on, dear, because he's about to drive you wild!" Lupina snickered.

Just as Rosie gave Lupina a questioning look, her eyes rolled up and she cried, "OH...MY...RAISINSSSS!!!"

A while later, when she finally calmed down enough, Rosie looked over at Ron with a certain amount of wonder in her eyes.

"Geez! That...that was...ooo!" she couldn't find any other words to describe the feeling.

"I told you...," Lupina snickered from the other side of the bed.

"Yeah...I guess you did," Rosie said sheepishly.

They spent some time just talking, getting silly, kissing, touching, and hugging.

Eventually, Rosie told Ron, "Hey, if you roll your tail over, I'll see if I can work those kinks out."

"I don't think you'll ever get all of the kinks out of him," Lupina said with a chuckle.

"Are you saying that I'm kinky?" Ron asked with a grin.

"Hey, that's better than being hinky!" Rosie smirked.

Lupina laughed a little and said, "Yeah, at least he's not that!"

Ron playfully stuck his tongue out at Lupina and she "wolf kissed" him across his face for it.

"Come on, baby, roll over so Rosie can work on you," she chided her mate.

Once he got situated, Rosie began massaging Ron's muscles, taking care not to poke him with her claws.

"How's that, big guy? Feel good?" Rosie asked while she worked her fingers on tight muscles.

"Mmmpf...yeah...feels...so...good...Rozer," Ron replied, enjoying immensely Rosie's relaxing touch. It had been years since he had a good massage. When she was finished, Rosie laid down beside Ron after he rolled over onto his back.

"Thank you, luv, that...was wonderful," he said with a contented grin.

Rosie smiled and nuzzled him under his chin for a bit, and then she kissed him. At first, it was just a few short tender kisses, but eventually the kisses became deeper and more passionate. When they stopped to catch their breath, Rosie ran her fingers through Ron's hair and looked thoughtfully into his eyes. She thought it was still a bit strange seeing Ron with amber colored eyes that reflected the light, but that didn't change how she felt about the man she and her best friend were mates to. Mates. Rosie thought on that, and the fact that they really hadn't had the time yet to actually mate.

"Um...Ron?" she asked, getting his attention.

"Yeah, Rosie?"

"I was thinkin'...us being mates and all, we...well, you know...," she said quietly.

"Yeah, we kind of got wrapped up with something else for a while," Ron agreed.

Rosie grinned shyly and asked, "So...ya think we oughtta do something about that?"

"If you're ready to, sure," he replied, kissing her tenderly.

Rosie's grin grew larger and she nodded her head.

In a way that most humans might not understand, Lupina was actually happy for her long time friend, Rosie. Even though they are now both mates to the same male, Lupina oddly enough didn't feel any competition between her and Rosie for Ron's love and affections. Neither Lupina nor Rosie ever thought of each other as anything other than being the best of friends, and never felt any kind of unusual desires towards one another. Lupina thought back on when she and Ron had first met on the sidewalk in downtown Fairbanks. Up until that time, even though she had known it could be possible, Lupina hadn't thought much about being with a human male. She had been more concerned with simply trying to figure out how to survive as an artificially created being suddenly thrust into a world full of humans. Recalling Ron's words, and when she had met and was accepted by Atka's pack, Lupina now felt that she was a part of the world. Looking forward to February when she would come into heat, and thus able to conceive, Lupina absent-mindedly rubbed her abdomen, wondering what her future cubs would be like. Glancing over at Rosie, Lupina wonder what her own kits would be like, too. This log house out in the wilds of Alaska is going to get rather lively with two or more little ones underfoot by summer. Putting the little ones through school is likely going to be a challenge, Lupina thought. The G.E.L.F.s had watched videos of human children in school to see how they interacted, and listened to interviews about school life. She remembered how in some ways they were similar, and in others so very different. All that is still three months away, though--there is plenty of time yet to prepare. Lupina smiled to herself and nuzzled her mate.

When Rob walked into his house and flipped on the lights, he thought out loud to himself, "Nice to be home again."

As he walked through the house, carrying his duffle bag to the only bedroom in the house, he took the time to look around. Everything was the same, he thought, but then it struck him how empty it seemed. It wasn't that the house was bare, just that it suddenly seemed too large for just him. Rob had been living in the house for a number of years, but he had always been the only one living there. Back when Ron first bought the property and built his home there, they both had lived in his house until Rob's own home was completed. There had never been anyone else living with him in that house since he moved into it.

After the long, dragged out, bitter divorce from his first wife of nearly twenty years, Rob never had the heart to get involved with anyone else. Janna and her lawyer would have cleaned him out of every penny he had if they could have gotten away with it, but Ron and the rest of their friends all pitched in and hired the best law firm they could, doing much of the private detective work themselves. By the time all was said and done, the judgment ended up being a 60/40 split in Rob's favor. The original plan was to force her into an equitable 50/50 split, however when the secret multiple bank accounts were discovered, along with records proving that she was planning on doing everything she could to sabotage his life and the lives of those around him, the added ten percent was sought "on principle."

When Rob had this house built, he figured that he would never be with anyone again, which is why it only has one bedroom. His experiences with his ex-wife, as well as those of prior relationships before he had been married, had left a strong bitter mark in him, to the point where he would rather bluntly refuse even a hint of interest by another woman. Rob had resigned himself to being alone for the rest of his life, just has his friend Ron had done prior to his meeting Lupina. Everything changed when he met Helga, though, and Rob couldn't explain why he felt so attracted to her, and on some level that concerned him. "Maybe I'm just over thinking things again," he thought to himself. Rob remembered Ron's words one time when the subject had come up about his ex: "If you don't quit picking at old wounds, they'll never heal."

Rob thought back to the time he spent at The Center with his friends, and in particular, the time he spent in Helga's company. From the ride to The Center until the time he left, Helga had been right there beside him. Rob thought about the incident with Sumter. Helga had had such a powerful calming effect him that he just couldn't find any way to explain it. While he was unpacking his duffle bag in the bedroom, Rob caught Helga's scent on the shirt he had worn while at The Center. Instead of tossing the shirt into the hamper, he set it aside on the bed, and continued unpacking. Rob's thoughts returned to the incident in the cafeteria where the G.E.L.F.s ate, and how Helga, without hesitation, wrapped her arm around his and said, "He's with me." After he put the last of the things from his duffle bag away and got ready for bed, Rob turned off the room's lights and got into bed. He remembered the shirt was still lying on the bed, so he picked it up and laid it beside him as he pulled the covers up. Lying on his left side, Rob held the shirt close to his face so that he could smell Helga's scent on it. The memories of her came back. When they had walked together hand-in-hand with their fingers laced together and how that seemed so natural. He remembered how she had purred and "kneaded" him with her hands when they were on the couch, how she had put a pillow under his head and covered him with a blanket from the other bed when he dozed off on the couch. And then there was the kiss. It wasn't just a polite and simple peck on the cheek; it conveyed desire and a promise of more to come.

Just as Rob was drifting off to sleep, Helga's last words replayed in his mind--"I will see you again." He grinned and nuzzled the shirt with her scent on it, and mumbled, "Count on it."

The Center was abuzz with talk among the G.E.L.F.s about the three humans who had recently been there, and of the events that followed. Willie, the Gen-1 G.E.L.F. who was among those with the most experience of being among humans from "the outside", was thoughtful about it all. Having been brutally beaten by humans the first day on his own away from The Center, he knew first hand the harsh reality the G.E.L.F.s were going to be up against. However, despite what had happened, he also knew the level of compassion that humans are capable of as well. Although he was initially surprised by the invitation to perform before a human audience at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, that students from all walks in life were responsible for the university to extend the invitation, and having his transportation and lodging donated by humans, he not only accepted it, but also looked forward to the concert. Willie thought about Kylie's words of thanks to the human mate of his friend Lupina, for treating the G.E.L.F.s as real people. She had said what many of the G.E.L.F.s, including himself, had thought. "Any human willing to go through what he did to be with our kind, should give us hope for a future in this world," Willie had told the gathered G.E.L.F.s when the SUV left the compound, taking Ron, Lupina, Rosie, and Rob back to their hotel. Since their departure, several of the G.E.L.F.s began to talk about going to Alaska with the thought that it might be the best place where they could get a good start. After all, it was the least populated state in the country, considering its size, and the Pan-Arctic people are among those in the world who have openly accepted the G.E.L.F.s.

Kylie had been the center of attention for a little while among the younger female G.E.L.F.s, after the visitors had left, particularly among the small number of female bats. The reason being due to the attention she had received by the human male who had come to The Center with his G.E.L.F. mates, in both the cafeteria and also when they were about to leave. When she had returned to her room to rest until after sunset, Kylie lay on her back on her bed and worked the light blanket over her. Before falling asleep, she touched her cheek where she had been kissed, chirping quietly to herself, and smiling at the thought.

For the rest of the day, Helga busied herself with her college assignments. It was slow going because her thoughts kept drifting off onto entirely different things. When she finally finished her homework for the night, Helga had a little snack of tuna with shredded cheese and sour cream added that she had in the little refrigerator in her room. Setting the container aside to return to the cafeteria in the morning, Helga pulled off the short tank top and jogging shorts she had been wearing, brushed her fur, and went to bed. She snuggled into her pillow and held the extra pillow she had against her. Her thoughts roamed freely now, thinking of the events of the past two days, and especially of the human male who had suddenly come into her life.

"If I had not been in the exercise room when the other human, Ron, and his mates came in, I might not have met Rob. Why can I not stop thinking of him now that I have?" Helga thought to herself. Her fingers began to work the pillow in a kneading fashion and she began to purr at the thought of curling up with him the same way that she had seen both Lupina and Rosie curled up with their mate before leaving their room last night. "I want that, too."

During the night Rob dreamt of Helga--he was sitting at the kitchen table with a child on his lap while she was busy with making something. It wasn't an ordinary child he was holding, however. At least, it wasn't a human child. This one had triangular-shaped ears that were way too far up on the head, the eyes were oddly shaped with slit pupils and a color that no human child eyes would have. Somehow, it seemed perfectly normal for this particular child to be covered with fur and have a tail that twitched from side to side. When the child yawned, the mouth seemed to open wider than a human child's would, and the teeth...needle sharp fangs of a carnivore. As strange as it seemed in some ways, it all felt right, and he was happy. Rob sensed that there were others in the dream, too. Looking towards the living room, he saw a slightly older feline child playing with other children who were also furry. Some looked like wolves, and some looked like skunks. When Helga turned from the kitchen counter to bring a tray of something to the table, he saw a familiar roundness to her abdomen and the contented look on her face. Just as he reached up to touch her, something began making a series of three very quick beeps that kept getting louder.

Rob sat up in his bed with a start. The room was still dark, and there was that incessant beeping sound. Looking towards the source of the irritating sound, Rob saw the time flashing on his alarm clock.

"G-r-r-r! You just had to spoil a good dream!" Rob said in frustration as he shut off the alarm. He sat there on the edge of the bed for a few minutes, thinking about the dream he just had. Rob looked over at his pillow and saw the shirt still there, so he picked it up and held it to his face. Taking a slow, deep breath, he smelled Helga's scent and sighed. Putting the back shirt down where he had found it, Rob got up and began his daily routine. It was Monday, so he, Ron, and Lu would be going in to work. After breakfast, Rob got on his computer and checked his e-mail. His heart almost skipped a beat when he saw an e-mail from [email protected] When he opened it, it said,

Rob,

I hope you have not forgotten me already. ;) I am at the university today so I will be able to check my messages while I am here. You are still asleep, I think, as I type this. I hope you and your friends have returned home safely. I think of you and wish we were closer.

Must go to my next class now. I hope to hear from you soon.

Yours,

Helga

=^.^=

Rob smiled at the short message. He thought for a bit and then composed his reply.

Helga,

Thank you for thinking of me. Yes, we returned to our homes safely. My shirt still had your scent on it, so I slept with it next to me. I dreamt of you during the night, and find that I also wish we were closer. I enjoyed our time together, short as it was, and no, I cannot forget you, not after how we parted...that was...wow! :D

I have to leave for work soon. I look forward to hearing from you again.

Sincerely,

Rob

When he was sure he had it worded the way he wanted, Rob clicked "Send" and it was on its way. Without a doubt, the chance meeting with Helga awakened something deep within Rob that he had long thought was deeply buried and forgotten. At this point, it was just a "wake up call"...there was still a long ways to go before he could even think getting seriously involved again. Unless, of course, the universe had other ideas...and it seemed to do that a lot lately.

After Ron and Lupina headed off to work for the day, Rosie decided to give the house a good cleaning. After vacuuming the couch and recliners in the great room, she vacuumed the curtains and the rugs in all of the rooms. When that was finished, Rosie cranked up the music and began dusting everything she could reach. Rosie had become quite the homemaker, though she had not forgotten Ron's suggestion that perhaps she could study to become a massage therapist if she wanted. Rosie kind of liked that idea, though for now she was content with keeping house and tending the plants in the hothouse. When Rosie had dusted everything she could, she decided to jump on the laundry and get it going. It took a while to wash and dry their clothes, so while that was going, Rosie took a bit of a break and fixed something to eat. One of her favorite things to have for lunch is a little bit of chicken or tuna, a sizable portion of fresh veggies, and some cottage cheese.

Rosie heard the drier signal that it was finished while she was eating her lunch. The machine has a "keep warm" feature that will occasionally rotate the drum with a little hot air to keep the clothes from wrinkling until they can be removed. After she cleaned up from her lunch, she went down into the basement to get the clothes and brought them up. Rosie hummed along to the music that was playing while she folded the clothes and hung shirts on hangers. It was when she was hanging the shirts in the walk-in closet that she noticed some suit bags. Rosie had never seen Ron wear anything close to a suit, so she became curious to see what style he preferred. She hoped it wasn't going to be some wild plaid polyester suit from a long time ago. The first one she opened had a heavy wool coat that looked black. Curious, she took the coat out and looked at it in the bedroom's white light. The coat turned out to be such a dark blue that it looked nearly black, and there were a double row of metal buttons, and on the left sleeve seven gold diagonal stripes and a gold colored insignia on the upper part. The insignia had three "V" shapes on the bottom, a curved piece across the top with the ends pointing down and connecting to the top "V", a white eagle with upward spread wings perched in the middle of the curved piece, and there were two white stars, one in each upper corner. Between the curved piece and the top "V" was a symbol of some kind, though she wasn't sure what it meant. The coat itself was in immaculate condition, and smelled of cedar. Rosie carefully put the coat back into the bag, zipped it up, and hung it back into its place in the closet.

Rosie lifted the next bag from the rod and brought it out to see what it contained. When she opened up the bag and pulled the hanger out of it, Rosie's jaw dropped. On the hanger was a military uniform, crisply pressed, and the left chest area was loaded with medals. It was obvious even to her that this wasn't something that would be worn every day, only for special occasions. The same gold sleeve stripes and upper arm insignia that was on the coat was also on this uniform.

"Wowser, I wonder what all of these are for?" Rosie said out loud, looking at all of the medals and other insignia.

Very carefully, Rosie put the uniform back into the bag, making double sure that nothing was wrinkled or twisted in any way, just as she had found it. After putting it back in its place on the rod, Rosie brought the third suit bag out and opened it up.

This was a completely different style of uniform, and it was well worn and soft from wear. It is a camouflage style uniform with subdued insignia attached to it by hook-and-loop fasteners. The only thing on the sleeves are small green and black American flags, one on each upper arm along with a small curved strip above with the word "SNIPER". Black metal insignias similar to the ones on the fancy uniform and the coat are pinned to the lapels, a strip with the name "DAUGHERTY" over one chest pocket, and one with "U.S.NAVY" over the other. There is a scary looking patch on one chest pocket of snarling wolf men rising menacingly up out of the sea, the lead one carrying a sword in one hand and holding a head by the hair in the other. The letters "NSWU-SWA" is in the upper background, while around the patch are the words, "OUT OF THE DEPTHS - DEATH COMES HUNTING". Rosie gulped when she read the words around the patch aloud.

"Oh my raisins! What did you use to do, big guy?"

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[1] http://nextdoornature.org/2011/02/05/qa-do-skunks-spray-each-other/

[2] This image comes to mind: http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p209/Roman-Merchant/barbarian-capture.jpg ;)

[3] "The four post inn" - Irish slang for "going to bed."