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Happily, I've managed to sit down to give a final edit to part 3. The crappy weather this weekend can be thanked in part for that :) Shall attempt to do the same for part 4 next week.

Thoughts/comments welcomed and appreciated!

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Part 3 - White Lies

Thursday afternoons were often fast-paced in Nathan's office, with most of his colleagues and their clients hoping to get as much of their work finished as possible before Friday's relative lull. This day proved to be no exception; the constant sound of ringing phones, office machinery, and general chatter filling the open-plan workspace to create an rumbling chorus of busyness. The husky meandered his way through the maze of desks toward his own, situated on the second row of five and in the fourth and final column. This positioned him at the opposite end of the office from the door, right next to the room's large panel windows. He took a quick glance over at his boss's vacant work-area, three stations back from his own in the corner of the low-walled cubicle formation. "If you're after Richard, he's still tied up in a meeting downstairs." One of Nathan's colleagues, a dour-looking rabbit piped up from her desk across the aisle to his. "Oh... thanks Carol," he responded tentatively. "Any idea when he'll be back up?" "Wouldn't know," she snapped shrilly, slapping one of her mottled grey paws down upon a substantial pile of paperwork, "but he dumped all this on me before he went." "Right, well I guess I'll catch up with him later then." "Wouldn't count on it." "Fuck sake, I hate this place sometimes," Nathan moaned near-silently to himself, turning away from the visibly stressed, elder rabbit and over to his own station. "The cheeriness is such a bonus." He flopped himself down in his chair with a heavy sigh, studying the display of the work phone sat in the back left corner of his workstation. "Twelve-fifty-nine. A minute to spare."

Despite any hopes Nathan might have held, the near-mountain of work resting atop his in-tray hadn't managed to evaporate during the hour he'd spent at lunch. He clicked the power button of his workstation monitor on, finding that the sales report he'd been working on since Monday hadn't seen fit to complete itself either. Typical. With a puff of his cheeks, he planted his elbow on the desk, drooping his head down to the palm of his paw. 'Good gods, will I ever have a day where I'm not completely swamped?' Nathan gazed out of the window to his right, tuning out the sounds of the busy office around him. Even though he'd worked for this company and at this particular desk for a little over two years, the view offered from the twenty-fourth floor of his building never failed to amaze. Neighbouring skyscrapers, the hundreds of buildings that made up the financial district, as well as the distant houses and highways on the outskirts of a city that housed almost fifteen million people were all visible beneath the bright blue springtime sky.

A heavy haze slowly consumed the husky as his eyes remained locked upon the world outside his window. His position high above the city, along with his mind's focus on his proposed trip, combined to remind him just how much larger the Velikans were in comparison. While nowhere near the size of the city's tallest skyscrapers, Nathan imagined that Alexei's, or any other Velikan's presence here would still cause a considerable stir. He glared down to the maze of streets below, picturing the huge, grey wolf literally filling them, looming high above the traffic and pedestrians. Should he decide to take a tour of the city, Alexei's heavy, ground-trembling steps would no doubt rock the sprawling metropolis to its core, leaving chaos in their wake regardless of how careful he tried to be. These unsettling images circling Nathan's head succeeded in bringing back vivid memories of one particular school field trip he'd been on roughly ten years previous; a trip he'd likely be able to recall in detail for the rest of his life.

"Look at the size of it!" "Imagine if dat came marchin' inta town!" Gasped utterances reverberated around the two-dozen strong group of teenaged school-children amassed in the central exhibition hall of Linvendia's main history museum. "If that came to town, I think I'd leave soon after." Nathan muttered with a grimace, his neck craned up as far as it could go, taking in the spine-chilling sight before him. A huge, supposedly lifelike model of a male Velikan wolf loomed high above the husky and the rest of his class. The creature wore minimal clothing, enhancing the imposing, muscular form visible even beneath its thick layer of grey fur. Across the long muzzle glaring down at the students stretched a mean, angry expression, as if he were disgusted by the little Polcians skittering about his footpaws. Most would be forgiven for thinking this a representation of a monster as opposed to a person. Even with the four-storey building's steep, domed roof sitting above, the static lupine's head still appeared to be close enough to touch the hall's high ceiling.

Nathan had heard plenty of stories about these macros from his grandparents before, as well as others old enough to have lived through and survived the horrors of the Great War. He'd been told plenty about the emergency underground bunkers located in towns and cities, where thousands of terrified people squeezed themselves into spaces designed for a tenth of that number whenever a Velikan advance or bombardment seemed imminent. His grandfather, barely out of his teens when the nations of Polcia called upon him and the other conscripts to fight, had also regaled Nathan and his siblings with tales from the frontline. He remembered the stories of rampaging enemy soldiers, literally tearing towns and cities to pieces, barely succumbing to the advanced weaponry of Polcia's military forces. As horrifying as they were, these stories had always seemed to be just that; stories, tall-tales told to cubs by their elders in order to scare them into finishing their vegetables at dinnertime. Despite everything he'd been told about them, the thirteen-year-old husky had never seen a macro in the fur before, or at least, a realistic representation of one. From that moment onwards, these stories would always seem that much more real to him.

"Okay class, your attention please," Mr. Sterling, Nathan's History tutor bellowed, quickly grabbing the attention of the class. "As you know, we're here at the National History Museum today to learn more about the Great War and our nation's role in it." The portly badger moved closer to the towering figure beside him, positioning himself between it and his gathered pupils. "You'll have learned in your Biology studies that Velika is inhabited by plant and animal life not too dissimilar to ours. The main difference of course being that several thousand years ago, for reasons still not yet fully understood by science, life there underwent a mutation that caused it to grow to extraordinary sizes." Nathan meanwhile couldn't keep his eyes off of the giant grey wolf, the words of his tutor becoming muffled and almost unintelligible as he found his focus repeatedly pulled back up to the vicious, snarling maw above. "Here in front of you is an example of that mutation." The teacher shifted on his feet, standing only a little taller than the model's ankle as he motioned an arm towards it. "Your average Velikan stands approximately sixty feet tall, or if you prefer, about as tall as your standard six-storey building. Our... friend here gives us a pretty good indication as to just how overwhelmingly huge that is."

"How in the name of the gods did we manage to beat them?" "Forget 'bout dat! Wha'if dey come back again?" The gathering of students started conversing among themselves once more, their youthful voices tinged with a fresh tone of anxiety. "We'll be finding all that out shortly," the spectacled badger announced. "Now, if you'd like to make your way into the war exhibit please?" Nathan didn't follow his classmates, focus still locked on the muscular grey tower of fur extending upwards. He imagined this vast wolf suddenly sparking to life, lumbering forward, stomping its way through the museum with heavy, thundering footfalls. His curled tail lowered, alluding to the rising fear within him. "Mr. Frost." He started to picture the gigantic lupine closer to home, effortlessly smashing his town into ruined heaps of smouldering rubble as people piled out onto the streets, running for their lives in blind panic. "Nathan Frost, please come and join us." The terrified screams of his neighbours, his family as the beast drove its feet through the tiny houses of the street he lived on sent Nathan's blood running cold. Their wailing only intensified as they were snatched up by the Velikan's massive handpaws, their desperate attempts at escape proving utterly futile against the monster's immense strength. 'Holy shit.' He felt sick, his inner-voice offering up a prayer to the gods. 'I hope I never meet one of these things as long as I live!'

"Nathan?" A rolled-up newspaper thwacked down upon Nathan's desktop, juddering him back into the present. "I'm still hoping to get that report of yours by the end of the week." He peered up to the brown fox standing beside his desk, looking back down at him with a sly smirk. "You sure you've got time to be daydreaming?" "Sorry, Boss." The vulpine's bushy tail swished behind him as he moved off to his workspace at the rear end of the aisle. "What a headfuck," Nathan groaned to himself, rubbing at his forehead. "Need to get these silly thoughts outta my mind. Alex isn't like that, there's just no way he can be." Suddenly, he bolted upright in his seat, realising that the moment he'd been waiting for all morning had arrived. 'All this worrying'll be for nothing if I can't square the time off.'

"Richard?" In a flash, the canine jumped to his feet and marched purposefully over towards his boss's desk. The middle-aged fox had sat himself down by the time Nathan arrived at his cubicle, his greying muzzle buried in the broadsheet newspaper settled among the assortment of reports, invoices and company-headed letters littering his desktop. "Yes?" "Richard, I..." The husky coughed, clearing his throat, using the time earned by it to better formulate the words in his head, "I need to have a word with you. I--" "If it's quick," the vulpine rumbled, pulling a foil-wrapped sandwich out of a plastic bag beneath his desk. "I've got another meeting soon and I'd like some lunch before that." He gave a swift, subtle roll of his eyes, making sure his boss couldn't see. "Well, I was hoping to book some time off next month." Richard gazed up from the desk again. "Next month? I don't know. How long? Nathan swallowed hard. "Three... three weeks." "Three weeks!? We're real--" "I know it's a little short notice for such a long stint, but--" "As I was saying," the brown fox remarked sternly, cutting the canine off while holding up a black-furred finger to him, "We're really busy at the moment and I'm not sure if I can spare anyone for that length of time." 'When are we not really busy!?' Nathan kept that thought to himself, knowing that it wouldn't be smart to start an argument. Instead, he stood there quietly, wondering what he could possibly say that'd convince his boss to accept the request.

"Can you believe this?" Richard scoffed, batting a paw at the paper. "What's become of the world?" "Sorry?" "This." The fox jabbed a finger down at the bold headline 'Linvendians Relocating To Velika In Record Numbers.' "Twenty years ago, Nathan, you'd have been called a fool if you said we'd have anything to do with them again. Now, we're going there to visit, to live, just like before the war, as if nothing happened. My parents, my..." He drifted off, staring down mournfully at the golden band wrapped around his right ring finger while twisting it slowly with his other paw. "They'd be sick to their stomachs if they were around to see this. To think that we battled for... this." "Yeah, it's all a bit... mad." Nathan shuffled about uneasily. He'd seldom, if ever, heard the old fox speak about his family, or his experiences of the war as a young cub. 'What the hell do I tell him I'm planning now!?' "Anyway." Richard composed himself, adjusting his navy blue suit and tie before lifting his gaze back up to the husky. "I really don't think it'll be possible to let you have that amount of time off. Unless it's for a really good reason at least." "I... I'm hoping to. Well, I was gonna--"

Without warning, the phone on the desk sprang to life, buzzing to indicate an incoming call from reception. "One second, Nathan," Richard muttered before answering, activating the loudspeaker. "Hello?" "Mr. van Leeuwen, your one-thirty appointment is here." "They're early," the fox moaned. "Okay, I'll be down in moment." He hung up with a growl, whispering something inaudible to himself before glaring back up to Nathan. "So, what were you planning to take this time off for?" He had to think fast. He couldn't possibly admit the truth now and expect it to be met with approval, not after hearing how his boss's family would be devastated by the state of the world. He considered that last part for a moment. "My family..." "Sorry?" "My... It's my dad's birthday next month," Nathan declared, doing his best to sound genuine as he proceeded to lie through his teeth. "I was... hoping to head back home to Alvestoft, spend some time with him and my family. I haven't seen them since winter festival." "Family is important, but three weeks?--" "It's his fiftieth, a big celebration!" He felt a little flush as the lie began to snowball, struggling to maintain eye contact. Still, he refused to relent. "There'll be lots of family... extended relatives visiting at various times. I wanna be around for as long as possible to celebrate with them, with him."

Richard groaned, pawing through the mountain of paperwork atop his workspace, leaving Nathan scratching at an ear, wondering if his boss had heard a single word he'd said. Reluctant to badger any further, he simply stood there waiting for some form of response. "Right, Nathan... I... okay," the fox murmured hurriedly, pulling together a batch of important-looking documents, "I really shouldn't, but I'll let you have the time off." The dog's eyes widened with delight. He could have hugged the greying vulpine there and then upon hearing that. "Oh, thank you so m--" "Usually, you'd have been out of luck... but family's family." "T-thanks." Nathan glanced away briefly, a momentary twinge of guilt flaring up in the pit of his stomach. "I do need you to get everything finished beforehand though. No leaving any nasty surprises for the rest of the team to clear up, we clear?" "Clear." "And I still need your report by tomorrow." "It'll be done, no problem." "Good." Richard gathered up his paperwork and stood up to leave. "Fill out a vacation form and leave it on my desk to sign after my meeting." "Sure thing. Thanks again." With that, the fox silently slinked off, leaving Nathan to saunter back to his workstation with a newfound spring in his step. 'Oh wow, this is really happening!' For the rest of the day, the husky wore a broad smile that not even his heavy workload could wipe away.

"What do you mean you had to lie!?" Tasha asked, clearly puzzled. "You didn't hear him go off on one. There's no way Richard would've let me have the time off to go to..." Nathan stopped himself, casually scanning the crowded, fluorescently-lit platform as the other commuters waiting to board the subway train home. "There's no way he'd have said yes if he knew where I was going." "To Velika you mean?" "Tasha!" he scolded, "keep it down." "Oh for... do you really think anyone else cares? You're not gonna be lynched for doing something thousands of people have done before you." "Well, no... maybe not, but--" "Take a look over there." Tasha gestured through the heaving, rush-hour crowd, towards a large billboard spread across the opposite wall of the underground station. Bold yellow text upon a blue background promoted 'Discount Travel to Velika and Beyond' on the behalf of one of the many, newly-formed transoceanic travel companies that had sprouted up over the past decade or so. "It's nothing you need to keep quiet about these days." "Maybe," Nathan grumbled, unable to help but notice the little red sign located next it the advert. While too far away to be read clearly, he knew that it showed the way to the bomb shelter adjoining the station. "Don't get me wrong, I want to go with every fibre of my being, but with people like Shaun and Richard still freaking out about Velika, I don't feel comfortable about announcing it to the world is all." A mechanical whir echoed through the station just as he finished. The wheel-less electro-magnetised cars of the metallic, silver train came gliding past the pair, before coming to a halt at the platform's edge. Their double-doors proceeded to open automatically, allowing the two colleagues and the rest of the other commuters entry onto the already bustling carriages.

Cramped and pressed up among a sea of sharp suits and and even sharper scents, the two friends had no choice but to put their conversation on hold. It took a good fifteen minutes for the packed carriage to eventually thin as the train toured the subterranean tracks that snaked beneath the huge metropolis above. Four stations later, the pair had a little more room to breathe and enough to again communicate in relative privacy. "This stop is Barker Street. Change here for the Southern line." As soon as the carriage's automated station announcement concluded, Tasha turned to Nathan, standing beside her in the gangway of the car. "So, what did you tell Richard?" The husky took a step back, moving closer to the wall of the carriage to allow a black suit-wearing, briefcase-wielding tiger to push past and exit out onto the platform. "I told him I was going home for my dad's birthday." "For three weeks?" "I said it was a big celebration, loads of family and stuff." "And he bought it!?" Nathan shrugged with a snicker. "Yeah... I was a little shocked too." "Wow... I think I'll try the same next time I want a month. I know he's big on family, but still, sounds like he caved pretty easily." "I think I just timed it right really. He definitely had his mind more on his next meeting than me. I'm not complaining though; the form's filled out, signed, done. He can't go back on it now!" He sighed contently, thinking about the reason why he'd put himself through all this effort. "I'm off to see Alex." "You are, Nate, and I bet you'll have a brilliant time there, too. I can only imagine what it'll be like to roam around the so-called 'Land of the Macros'." "Y-yea, it should be exciting. Fingers crossed, eh?"

"Stand clear of the doors. This train is about to depart." The automated announcer sparked up once again, shortly before the train jolted to life and headed into the darkness of the subway tunnel. "You'll be fine," Tasha responded to Nathan's uncertainty with a firmer voice. "Stop worrying about the rumours and ramblings of a few people still stuck in the past. You wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't what you really wanted." "Yeah, I know. I keep telling myself that the old days are gone, but... I just can't shake the silly thoughts in my mind, y'know?" "I do... With everything they shoved down our throats back in school, it's understandable to be nervous, but just think of your wolf. He's living proof that times have changed, and he's gonna be there waiting for you." Nathan beamed brightly as he thought of that. He allowed the unsettling museum trip memories floating around his head to be replaced by the much happier image of Alexei, greeting him with a look of kindness and open arms at a Velikan arrivals terminal. "Yeah... Just... make sure you cover for me, okay? Don't let Richard know where I really am. If he finds out I'm not actually back home, he'll be even more pissed than usual!" The lioness choked out a laugh before composing herself to reply. "I will, I will. Don't worry." "Thanks Tash." "You're welcome," she answered warmly, "and I hope... I hope things work out between you two as well, that he feels the same way as you... more than friends." "Oh... yeah." Nathan rubbed at his arm, smirking coyly. "I hope so, too."

"This is fantastic news, Nate. I am so very happy!" Alexei's delighted voice roared from the canine's headset as he sat at the computer in his cozy apartment's living room. "So, all is clear now? You are able to come to stay?" Nathan's grin felt as if it stretched a mile wide, certain that he could hear the wolf's excited shuffling and his wagging tail through his earphones. "Pretty much. Work is sorted at least, so I think the last step is filling out the government paperwork, booking the flight to Bolstrovo and the onward ferry." "What paperwork? Velikan? I can help you if so!" The husky's cheerful expression turned to one of tenderness. "Aww, thanks. That's lovely of you, but it's already translated." "Oh, okay." "I also need to fill out all our travel forms before I'm allowed to fly out of Polcia." He grumbled a little, glancing over his shoulder at the pile of official documents sat atop the coffee table. "All the automation we have here these days, and the government still insists on trees and ink." "It will take a long time?" "It shouldn't. They just want to make sure I'm not a spy, or that I'm smuggling secrets over in my baggage, or something equally crazy." "Really?" "Really. I think fear mongering and general paranoia are our national pastimes sometimes." A sudden silence greeted Nathan, prompting him to clarify his statement. "I'm joking, Alex." "Oh... sorry, I--I was not sure." "Come on," he chuckled, holding a paw to his forehead, "we're not that bad, Wolf!" "I know, but you are the one who is saying these things about fear and your strict customs."

Alexei followed up his retort with a swift chorus of Velikan, with the husky having no idea as to its meaning. The joking, friendly underlying tone that accompanied the utterance did suggest however that it couldn't have been anything too sinister. "Hey now, don't be trying to mock me with your fancy, exotic words, Alex." The wolf laughed heartily from his end of the connection. "Now you know my feeling, when you are using your fancy words." "I don't use fancy words with you," Nathan responded, chuckling incessantly, "I have to keep it simple for you big, daft Velikans!" "Continue with your 'big, daft Velikans' comments, Nate, and maybe I shall have to get even when you are coming to stay." "Oh really now?" "Yes... I am thinking that maybe a 'big, daft Velikan' will decide that a tiny Polcian is good for capturing." "Y-- what?" The dog's expression changed instantly, his ears folding down as a pang of discomfort rose from within. "Perhaps, I shall think that a little husky is good for putting into a soup." Nathan sat quietly in his seat, lingering on that statement. He knew Alexei to be joking of course, but even so, the subject matter left him feeling a little uneasy after all the worries and anxiety of the day.

"N-Nathan." Alexei's panicked words dragged the husky back from his internal musings. Clearly, he'd been unsettled by the response, or lack thereof, he'd received. "It was joke. Sorry, I did not mean to upset." "Wha--" "It is just silly joke. I did not think it would... I did not think." "Hey, it's okay," Nathan answered measuredly, "I'm just... It's nothing. Don't worry." "I would never do anything like that, I swear!" His heart wrenched at the sound of genuine hurt building in the wolf's sad voice. "Please--" "I know no one who would. We are not monsters." "Calm down. I know, hon..." Nathan stopped himself mid-reply, blushing beneath the white fur of his face over his choice of words and their connotation. 'Hon...' Another brief silence followed, leaving Nathan to wonder whether Alexei had picked up on it too.

"I promise you... You will have a good time when you come to stay." Alexei's tone had normalised by the time he spoke up again, albeit still carrying a hint of desperation. Nathan put this discomfort down to him still feeling the need to be apologetic as opposed to the slip of his own tongue. "I'm sure it'll be a wonderful few weeks we spend together. I can't wait." "I cannot either. I shall be sure to make things ready for your arrival. In a couple of weeks, it can all be done. If I can get my apprentice, Erik, to help, it shall be very easy." "Oh, Alex, you needn't go to any bother." "It is no bother." "What are you gonna do though?" Nathan ran a paw through his short, blond head fur, feeling a little guilty about the amount of work Alexei seemed to be lumbering himself with. "You shall see, Nate," came the guarded response, almost taunting the husky. "You shall approve." "Just don't go to too much effort for me, please?" "It is not too much effort."

Nathan conceded, realising that nothing he could say would convince the wolf not to go through with whatever he had planned. "Well fine, if you insist. Just don't go... ruining your apartment for me." "Okay, no ruining apartment, since this was my plan of course." The sarcasm oozed from Alexei's words, causing the husky to huff back in reply. "Anyway, it is getting late once again. Sadly, I must go to bed." Nathan glared at his clock, thinking that eight-thirty had rolled around far too quickly. "Oh... okay. Wow, time flies." "It does... when you are having fun." A gust-like sigh blew noisily from the headset. "I would stay for longer, but tomorrow my grandfather is to visit early to check I am taking good care of his old shop." "It's no problem. I know it's late there. You get yourself a good rest." "I shall, Nate... Just think, in one month, you will be here. No need for short, evening conversations through computer." "Yes, indeed!" The glee in Nathan's voice gave away his huge, ear-to-ear grin, so much so that Alexei must have been able to sense its existence, even from his home far across the ocean. "It'll be here before we know it, I'm sure. Take care, Alex, and we'll speak again soon." "Thank you. You too... Goodnight... hon."