Monday afternoon set out to be a time for some good food. That's what Walter Robinson (Hyena, C) told Damien Nathaniel (Hyena, SF), his rookie teammate. The two had been getting along wonderfully since Robinson was traded to Williamsburg. Still, the younger hyena stil wondered why exactly they were going to Richmond. That seemed to be a long way to go for some chow.

Driving into the city, Walter nodded as he found a group of restaurants on the main boulevard in front of a small shopping outlet. The particular restaurant that caught his eye was a large diner called Johnny's.

The restaurant sported a wooden decor with booths lining the outside walls. A bar table lined with red-cushioned stools occupied the far wall. Usually, patrons sat there for breakfast or to take a drink or two, but during lunch time, the stools were sparsely occupied.

Robinson showed Damien inside the restaurant and only had to duck slightly: the doorway was very tall. A few of the patrons looked at the door and a couple of them grinned. "Hey, it's D-Buckets and Big Walt!" announced a lemur with a huge grin. The hyenas got a small round of applause as they sat at a booth. Walt acknowledged the applause and Damien grinned himself.

"See, he said 'D-Buckets' first; looks like you're more famous than me already," Walt joked. Damien shared a chuckle. "It is nice to be recognized out here too, I guess," he said.

Walt nodded and grinned. "You ain't getting far without being noticed, bud," he said in a booming Georgia accent. Nathaniel nodded. "I'm finding that out," he said, smiling. "I get that all the time at Manny's when I go there in Williamsburg. So what's good around here?" he asked.

"Welp, the hot fudge sundaes are the best in the country, but that ain't good for lunch only," he chuckled. "There's some great burgers here among other things..." he said. Nathaniel nodded: the hamburgers certainly looked very good in the laminated cardboard advertisements set in the menus.

"Hello, fellas, what can I get ya?" said a voice. Nathaniel immediately looked up; a pretty hyena girl with red hair tied up in a ponytail greeted him. Walter grinned. "Hey, Julie," Walt said, flashing a big smile. The girl giggled and looked back at Damien, who sported his Arkansas cap. "You must be Damien. I remember your game-winner against Spokane," she said brightly. She seemed to have a Georgia accent as well. It was very attractive.

The rookie nodded and grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, that was great..." he said, his cheeks flushing a little.

"You're rememberin' Vera kissin' ya, aren'tcha?" she asked, grinning. Damien uttered a weird combination of a snicker and snort, his cheeks getting redder.

"Yeah, how can I forget it? I saw the ball go in and I raise my paws. Next thing I know, she's kissing me and we're hopping around in a little mob," he said, grinning. "Still my favorite moment so far," he said. "Lotta other people's too," she said. "But, I'm ramblin'... so what would you boys like?" she asked.

Walt nodded. "Give us a couple of classic Cheeseburgers and a couple of chocolate shakes," he said. The redhead nodded. "Comin' right up, boys, don't go away," she cooed, turning around. She appeared to swing her hips as she left to go back to the kitchen. Walt saw that the whole way. Damien noticed that as well. "Heh, she's a piece of work, isn't she?" he grinned.

"Dang straight she's a piece of work," Walt chuckled. He didn't elaborate on that, but that didn't appear to make Damien wonder about anything. The younger hyena took a sip of the complimentary glass of water on the table. "So you like any college sports or what?" Nathaniel asked, smirking a little. Walt returned the smirk.

"I betcha want to say that I like UGA, is that it?" he asked.

Nathaniel chuckled. "Maybe..." The University of Georgia and the University of Arkansas were long-time Southeastern Conference rivals. Robinson clasped his paws.

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, DB, but I like Tech," the older hyena said, then rubbing his black hair. Nathaniel looked a little surprised. "Huh... and I thought only the Gwosdzes went to Georgia Tech," he joked.

Robinson nodded. "Mr. Gwosdz and I went through a round of 'Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech', that was pretty funny; he's actually a pretty good singer," he said.

Damien laughed. "Kind of odd that he seems to like the Atlanta Braves so much, being a basketball general manager," he said. Walter shrugged.

"I don't blame him for likin' the Braves one bit. Fans are of all stripes," he said. "You like the Arkansas football team, right?"

"Haha, that's true..." Damien admitted.

Ten minutes later, Julie returned with their cheeseburgers. The half-pound burgers were slathered with cheese, topped with lettuce, tomato and pickles and served with an ample helping of French fries. "Eat up, boys," Julie told them.

"Will do, babe," Walter replied, smiling. Julie returned the smile and left to serve another table. Damien took another mental note at that. Most waitress would slap him if he so much as thought about calling them "babe".

Damien took a big bite of his burger, chewed and swallowed. He shook his head immediately after the bite. "Wow... this is GOOD..."

"I thought ya might like it," Walter said. "Last time we went to Manny's, y'were just all over their cheeseburger. This one's great too, as you've found out," he replied. The burger seemed to be tiny in Walter's hands; it was almost as if he needed two burgers to be full. Still, he seemed to be satisfied with that, combined with the heaping helping of French fries and the thick, sweet chocolate shakes.

After the meal, Julie returned to check up on them. "Would you fellas like any dessert?" she asked. Walter nodded and grinned. "Two hot fudge sundaes," he said. Damien looked over at Walt. "Don't worry, kid, it's on me," he said. "I hope so; I don't have squat for dessert," Damien admitted.

Shortly after, Julie came over with their hot fudge sundaes. The tall glasses were filled to the brim with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. The desserts were topped with an ample helping of whipped cream and a bright red cherry.

"One hot fudge sundae for Damien..." the waitress said, placing it in front of Nathaniel. The kid smiled up at her. "Thanks, it looks great," he said. She nodded. "And a hot fudge sundae and kiss for Walter," she announced. Damien chuckled, thinking that was a bit of a prank for some reason. He looked up as he picked up his dessert spoon and saw that Julie was making good on her words. They shared a kiss for about a second, then Julie went back to fetch their bill.

Damien stared at Walt, who just smiled at the rookie. Nathaniel shook his head and smirked. "All right, spill it," he said. Walter shrugged. "Julie's my girlfriend, of course. Third steady one, really. I met her in Valdosta a year ago."

"So she moved to Richmond?"

"Just recently. I was actually really stoked when I heard I was traded to Williamsburg. I knew I'd be closer to her."

"Wow, that's a great stroke of luck."

"Sure is, bud.... wonderful stroke of luck."

"Yeah... third girlfriend?"

Big Walt nodded. "I had a couple of girlfriends during my years in Santa Cruz. Went with them both for about a year. They were nice, but... a little... California for my taste," he said.

"You mean 'crazy'?" Damien asked. Walter chuckled. "Well, you could say that. I don't want to speak too ill of them, but they did some things that I didn't like too much."

"Uh huh. So how did you meet Julie?"

"Well, it was durin' the off-season the first year in KC. I went home and took a trip to see a friend in Valdosta. He introduced me to Julie and I was hit over the head with a love hammer when I first laid eyes on her."

"Haha, love hammer..."

"I kept up the long-distance relationship with her thanks to Skype and talking with her on the phone for the past few months after she moved to Richmond. Then I was traded to the Minutemen during the break, heh."

Dammien nodded. "Great story," he said.

Julie returned to the table and placed the bill on the table. "Here you go, boys; I hope everything was to yer liking," she said. "Absolutely great," Damien replied. Walt nodded. "Great as usual," he said. Walter paid for the bill and the two hyenas also laid two fresh c-notes on top of that for her tip. Julie noted the high bills when she returned for it and looked at her customers with a little surprise. Now it was Damien's turn to grin. "Consider it for a great time with my newest teammate and his girlfriend," he said.

Julie smiled widely. "Well, I sure appreciate it very much! You planning on coming here again soon, Damien?" she asked. He nodded. "You bet! I might even come here by myself!" he declared. That drew a big, booming laugh from Walter. He was liking the kid more and more.

"Hope to see you soon," Damien said, getting up from the table. He got a little hug from Julie, which didn't seem to bother Walt. "I hope so too; it was nice meeting you," she said. "Yep, nice meeting you too!"

Julie then turned to Walt, who leaned down so she could give him a hug and a kiss.

"Don't wait too long to call me," she teased. Walter chuckled.

"Well, we are busy hyenas, so we'll just have to make do," he teased back. Julie giggled and kissed Walter again. "Have a safe trip home, big boy," she said. Walt nodded. "We will."

With that, the Minutemen players left to return to Williamsburg. Damien was armed with a very interesting experience that he'd tell the rest of the Minutemen and Walter left with yet another reason to believe that Julie was the girl for him.