Bus Ride

Callie, Dec ’09

May contain some adult language. Sorry, no sex in this one, guys! Tora belongs to her creator, Ethan belongs to me.


A sharp jolt of sensation told the white tiger the bus had come to a stop, and she glanced up from her seat to check her surrounds. She hadn’t heard the squeal of the breaks, and how could she? The headphones that were tucked into her ears could have cancelled a bomb blast, and the music that thumped in her head was loud enough to drown out residual sound anyways. Not her stop yet, she’d given up counting the pauses of the bus when they’d hit double digits, mostly because the track on her MP3 player had been one she’d found of particular interest. Damn you and your addictive properties, techno! Giving a glance around the bus, Tora’s tail gave a mild twitch of irritation, she didn’t recognize the stop, and this didn’t look like the usual crowd her bus route sported.

The doors were about to swing closed when a breathless figure burst through them, a short black canine with a shaggy mess of gray hair stumbling onto the bus. Tora glanced at him for a moment, as did many of the other occupants, and in that moment took his measure. On closer look, he wasn’t a dog, but a fox, betrayed as much by his thin build as by the grey that tipped his hands and feet. The male gave an almost meek smile to the other passengers before he started down the aisle, his motions those of a creature used to ducking and weaving from the paths of others. It being midday, the bus was relatively empty, though seats were few, and there were those who held enough personal space issues to stand, rather than risk physical contact with another individual.

Swinging the duffel bag from his shoulder, the coal furred vulpine gave it an idle kick under the seat next to the white tiger, then flopped down beside her without ceremony. He gave a sniff and ran a set of grey furred fingers back through his shaggy hair, his bright yellow eyes flicking absently over the bus patrons. Tora tugged her knapsack from between them without a word, then tucked it under her seat in turn, the midday sun gleaming off a collection of buttons pinned to the simple canvas bag. The fox’s gaze flicked to the shine, drawn by the sudden flash of motion, and before he realized it, a smirk had touched his slim muzzle. He’d recognized a few music icons from the symbols on those buttons, and as odd as it was, he felt a flicker of solidarity with this unknown feline, he was a fan of many of the same groups.

Tora hadn’t caught the little upturn of the fox’s muzzle, or the glance he’d given her bag, so engrossed was she in the thrum of sound invading her senses. Without her knowledge, the striped tail of the tiger had begun to twitch in time with the techno’s thunderous rhythm, plucking up the deeper cadence beneath the variations. Whether or not she knew it, her clawed fingers had begun to tap against her knees in what seemed an unconscious pattern. Her eyes had drifted closed, her entire being lost to the undulations of melody and phrase, for the moment, nothing existed beyond the scope of her headphones, the rumble of the bus and the murmur of traffic unimportant. So deep had she sunk into her musical realm that the prod of a clawed finger to her side jolted her soundly back to reality.

“Shit!” Whether it was the depth of her surprise or the headphones, her voice issued a few decibels louder than she’d intended, drawing a few odd looks from the other passengers.

In response to her sudden exclamation, the fox twitched back from the startled tiger, his large ears flicking back in a show of surprise. Tora moved to tug her headphones down around her neck and looked over at the short vulpine, her expression clearly showing the male’s poke to have gone without appreciation.

“What the Hell was that for?” she snapped shortly, her face warm with the sudden attention of not simply one, but several of the occupants of the bus.

The voice that answered her did so with the mildest touch of amusement, as though he’d found something funny in having startled her, “Sorry, I was just curious as to what you were listening to. I saw you keeping time with your fingers and your tail moving with the bass, you seemed really into it. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Yeah, well, next time, say something, don’t just jab someone in the ribs.” The indignant edge in her voice brought a slight smile to the fox’s muzzle, and he shrugged, replying easily.

“I did, asked you twice before I tapped you, but you were in the zone.”

Tora gave a slight shift of her weight on the seat and shrugged, “Sorry. It’s from the new Shinbone Alley album, The Concrete Cloverleaf.”

The fox tilted his head with a blink, his nose giving a slight wrinkle, “I thought that wasn’t due out for another two weeks. How did you get a copy?”

Offering an awkward half smile, the tiger shrugged lightly, “Part time job as a music critic, it has some perks.”

He smiled back, a lopsided expression that held a fair bit of appreciation, “Nice. Who for?”

Looking away, the white and black tigress gave an uneasy little shrug, “Tone Deft. It’s kind of an underground music magazine. Last piece I wrote up for them was a review on a stinker of an album by Twin Tailz.”

With a widening of his eyes, the vulpine leaned back in his seat. The expression on his features was one of mild puzzlement, and he spoke slowly, his voice registering a note of surprise, “You’re Felicity?”

Tora flushed a bit under her thick fur and let out a low groan, “When you say it out loud it sounds kind of flaky, doesn’t it?” She gave a light wrinkle of her nose and pulled a face that made the fox smirk. “Tora, actually, Fel- it’s a pen name I use for the magazine.”

The male shook his head with a chuckle and extended a grey paw out toward the monochrome feline, the smile on his muzzle genuine and full of amusement, “Nice to meet you, Tora, I’m Ethan. I’m a big fan of your work, loved the article where you slammed Kittie Kayte for lip synching at her live show. Almost fell out of my chair laughing.”

Giving an uncomfortable fidget in her chair, Tora shrugged and half smiled to the fox, then took his paw in her own and gave it a brisk shake, “Thanks, she deserved it, no amount of voice modulation was going to help her anyway.”

Ethan laughed and gave a nod, a grin on his muzzle as he commented, “Yeah, was good to see one of the big names called out. Maybe some local musicians can get a shot now.”

A smirk from the tiger, and she nodded slowly, her striped paw toying with the headphones around her neck.

“I don’t want to seem like I’m not into talking to you, but I have to ask. How long until the bus gets to the East Rendie neighborhood?”

Ethan blinked a bit and looked a bit surprised, his features pulling into a confused wrinkle, “This is the 8, it goes to North Anderson, you wanted the 12, I think.”

“Ah crap.” Tora pulled a face and let her head fall back, “Not again.”

Ethan didn’t comment, but gave a light shrug and looked up as the bus jolted again, then fished his bag out from under the seat, “Well, this is my stop. Was nice to meet you, Tora, maybe I’ll see you the next time you catch the wrong bus.”

The black and grey male slunk off the bus and started up the street, leaving the white and black tiger to resume her musical venture. She hoped the album she was listening to would be as promising as her usual source led her to believe. Tucking her earphones back on, the striped feline fell back into her own private world of sound and rhythm. Shuffling through her playlist as she listened to the techno beat, she found the next album on the list for review, a new band a friend had recommended. Tilting her head slightly, she blinked at the name, Coiled Tangent, before she resumed her previous selection. So many tracks, so much time on a bumpy bus.