Archive of Our Own

It was a nice, sunny afternoon, just after school for the young toons had ended. Smokey is minding its own business, frolicking around Toontown Central, prancing around practically without a care in the world, headed towards the gag shop. It hears noise coming from the schoolhouse, and its ears perk up and twitch back, trying to pinpoint where it came from. It looks behind itself towards the general location of the building it heard the noise from and, seeing nothing amiss and nobody there… it goes right back to doing whatever it feels like doing at the moment.

After a good while, Smokey emerges from the gag shop once more, holding a whole cream pie in its paws, taking a seat at the edge of one of the fishing spots at the pond. Its tail curls around itself happily as it begins to munch away at the cream-filled pie with a wide grin on its face, happy to have something perfectly silly and sugary to eat today. It always loves to have a nice little sweet snack after having a whole day of fun.

When it finishes the pie, it tucks the empty pie tin into its pocket, fitting it into its spacious hammerspace to fully throw away later. It stretches nice and languidly, standing right out in the open space of the playground, soaking up as much sun and warmth as it can take in while it can. It seems to really be enjoying today.

Up in the sky, an unusual Toon is soaring over the streets of Toontown Central. He has large mighty wings like a dragon with feathers lining the top of them. Their size casts a shadow on the ground below that zipped by quickly from the speed at which their owner flew. This Toon is Carter Calabar, the adopted son of the Mat Sisters! He and his Moms had returned to Toontown Island on personal business. Which gave him the perfect chance to drop in on an old friend and show him his new wings! Carter had already flown down and snatched his old friend Professor Pete from the Toontown Central Playground. A fly by that no one seemed to witness. Now he is flying back over the playground after dropping Pete off at his Estate.

Carter examined the Playground below him. His wings occasionally flapping to maintain his altitude. He searched for another Toon he caught a glimpse of when he plucked up Pete. It didn't take long for him to spot this Toon. After all, Smokey like him had a very unique appearance from most Toons. Calico cat Toons were not a common sight, making it an easier target to spot. Once Carter spotted the feline he got a devious idea.

Back when Carter and his Moms were working for Cogs. Inc, Smokey made it a habit to break into the Cog Facilities he worked at and annoy the Cockatrice. Little things sure, and it was never really malicious, but it still got in the way of Carter's work. Eventually Carter started to warm up to these small intrusions and even found them a bit humorous. He even began thinking of Smokey as a... friendly acquaintance. One that he never got to prank back. Until now. Now Carter has wings. Wings that Smokey knows nothing about. This is Carter's perfect chance!

Carter tilted down and began to dive towards Smokey! His cheek feathers feeling the wind rush past his face. The comb in his head flapped backwards from the speed. Carter wore a playful grin. He narrowed his eyes, reached out his hands, and snatched Smokey up!

Smokey, absolutely none the wiser, seems to be just happily standing around, enjoying the day… That is, of course, until it is whisked away into the sky by its old friendly acquaintance, Carter! Startled, it lets out a loud yelp, its fur puffing up huge and its eyes widening, its paws reaching back to try and tightly grip onto who may be grabbing onto it.

The cool breeze blows quickly through its fur, the wind ruffling up its calico-colored hair and fuzz, making it look plenty disheveled and disoriented. Its tail flicks rapidly behind itself as its heart races with the adrenaline of how suddenly it was taken to the skies. Its ears pin back, blocking out the rapid whistling of the wind from its sensitive ears.

Once it’s gotten a tight hold of who picked it up and has mentally grappled with its own sudden bout of shock and fear, it works up the ability to look up at who had just snagged it off the ground out of seemingly nowhere. Seeing that it’s Carter, it gasps excitedly, a huge grin appearing on its face as it squeals out an energetic and extremely excited,

“O. M. G!!! HIIIII!!!!!!”

Carter grasps Smokey firmly as he ascends with it in hand. Hearing it yelp and seeing it's fur puff out brought a satisfied smile to Carter's beak. His prank clearly got Smokey good! He didn't know how hard or easy it would be to get the drop on the cat seeing as he had never tried. So having his first attempt be a success was quite pleasing. But perhaps he was a bit too successful.

"H-hey! Easy!" Carter said, his expression becoming a bit more awkward upon Smokey reaching up to grab onto him.

He wasn't really expecting it and trys to move out of the way. But the cat's arms are too fast and it ultimately got a tight hold on him too. Carter is a bit annoyed at first, but he quickly changes back to happiness. He knows that suddenly being picked up off the ground is cause for shock. He is normally on the receiving end of that shock when his Moms pick him up. And after today, he understands why they seem to enjoy it so much. (At least Fia does) His expression becomes even more happy upon hearing Smokey recognize him and greet him with a loud hi. He wasn't sure if it would remember him at all. He only really started tolerating and even interacting with the cat near the end of his contract at Cogs. Inc. He worried that he was nothing more than another Suit to annoy and would be forgotten after returning to Suitopia. Clearly, he did not need to worry at all.

He looks down at the cat and returns with his own greeting.

"Hello Smokey! Didn't expect me to fly by so suddenly?"

Carter attempts to make a joke. Still smiling though inside he is unsure if it was funny or not.

He continues to fly up until hitting a height he's happy with. He opens his wings wide and begins to glide with his stolen friend in hand. His tail straightens out behind him acting as a sort of rudder for the flight. The two of them soar smoothly through the clouds of Toontown's sky.

Smokey lets go of Carter, no longer feeling the need to grab onto him as tightly anymore now that it both recognizes him and vice versa, and knows that he isn’t going to bring it any harm. Plus, it seems pretty stoked to see him again after a while of not being able to.

“No, not at all! You kind of just up and left and if I’m being honest, I thought you wouldn’t come back!”

It giggles up at him, smiling from ear to ear. Its fur flattens back down again, its ears staying back a bit to keep the wind out, its fear turning into sheer excitement as it looks out on the clouds they’re gliding over. It’s never flown this high before, never even thought about trying to in the past, so to be this far up with an old acquaintance is quite fun!

After a moment, Smokey pauses to think, assuming that Carter has got to be back for some good reason or other. It looks back up at him, suddenly extremely curious, tilting its head at him. Its tail flicks behind it lightly as it asks him,

“Hey, what brings you back here again anyhow? You’ve got me just SO curious now!”

When Smokey lets go of him Carter breaths a short sigh of relief. He doesn't want to show it and does his best to hide it, but it was really awkward to stay flying steady while it was holding onto him. Pete did a similar thing when Carter picked him up. Grabbing at Carter's arms to stay secure. Perhaps it was a feline trait to grab whatever is close by when their footing becomes unsure.

Carter's beak pulls back into a mildly embarrassed smile when Smokey brings up how suddenly he left. He looks off to the side away from the cat.

"I suppose I did. Sorry about that. I realized too late that I had no idea how to contact you. Not like the Cogs have the personal addresses of all the Toons on the Island. They don't, I tried looking. And being completely honest, I didn't think I'd come back either!"

Carter looks back at Smokey and sees it enjoying the flight. He's happy that its moved on from fear to excitement. Getting to share the joy of flight with it was something special. Carter himself still hadn't gotten used to it. The feeling of gliding through the air, the wind in his feathers, the rush beneath his wings. It all still feels so surreal. So freeing. He looks forward and closes his eyes. Letting the wind flow past his face. A serene smile spreads across his beak. He is happy to share this gift with someone who cares about him. Maybe he misjudged the relationship he has with Smokey. Perhaps it's less "friendly acquaintance" and simply just, friend.

He opens his eyes and looks back down at Smokey upon hearing its question. The tilt of its head made it look more feline than ever to Carter. He thinks for a moment about how to best explain his return to Toontown. It was a long story with a surprising amount of twists. He decides to share the most important details first.

"Well that's a complicated answer. In short, me and my Moms returned to investigate Cogs. Inc. They... may or may not have sent a malicious Suit to get rid of my Moms. Permanently. We are fine now though. They are communicating with their brothers now to learn whatever they can."

Carter thinks he did an ok job explaining the situation. There is far more to share, but he didn't want to overwhelm Smokey so quickly. He would share more to satisfy the cat's curiosity should it have more questions after.

Smokey’s eyebrows shoot up and its eyes widen in unfiltered surprise and shock, grin dropping to a small grimace hearing that his mothers were targeted in an attack. It nods as he speaks, listening intently to what he has to say. Its tail tip gives a little flick behind it as it replies,

“Holy moly! That’s pretty bonkers, man. Hey, at least they’re alright though, that’s good to hear. Hope they get that figured out, that’s gotta be pretty terrifying.”

It muses lightly, tapping its chin with one clawed finger and playing with the glove and bracelets on one of its arms with the other, deep in thought and needing something else to do with its hands that isn’t clinging for dear life onto its friend. After a moment, it goes back to the previous topic, shrugging as it says,

“Also, if you want my contact info or whatever it is you’d want just to keep in touch with me, I’d be more than happy to give it to you. I think we’re friendly enough with each other for that… At least, I really hope so. Then I can pester you again and again even while you’re away!”

It giggles playfully and mischievously once again, grinning back up at Carter once more as a much more lighthearted topic takes the forefront again. It hopes that Carter will take it up on the offer of sharing contact information. It has really enjoyed annoying the suit-affiliated toon whenever it could, finding some of its entertainment in being a nuisance to him as he works, and it finds itself considering him a friend more than any other label because of how often it’s visited him in the past. Much more than any other regular cog would have gotten from it anyhow. Plus, what with his own unique looks and abilities like itself, it finds a sense of kinship in him, being a special type of toon unlike any others it knows.

Carter half expected Smokey to have a reaction like this to the news of his Mom's being targeted. He nods in agreement with its sentiment.

"Yes, I suppose it is 'pretty bonkers' as you put it. I also hope that as well. Uncles Ba, Ha, and Mut have been investigating Cogs. Inc internally for a while now. And Ruben is getting help from his I.T.Bot coworkers to try and track down the Suit. All in hopes of this never happening again."

Carter stays silent as he listens to what Smokey has to say about contacting it. Inside he's a little surprised with the direction Smokey is going with this. When he mentioned contacting it to let it know he was leaving, he meant as a formal letter. But the way Smokey talks about it now makes him think it's something more. Like a phone number. That may seem normal to most, but to Carter, that's a level of trust he was not expecting to get. He takes in the news with a neutral yet happy look on his face.

He goes to answer Smokey, but pauses when it mentions hoping that they're friendly enough with each other to communicate like this. Carter is taken aback by Smokey implying that it wants to be friends with him. Sure he knows the cat liked messing with him when he worked at Cogs. Inc, and that it recognized him when he snatched it up. He was even starting to realize that he also thought of it as a friend on this very flight. And on top of all of that he, like Smokey, felt a sort of kinship with the cat. Carter has always been the odd one out when it came to Toons. None were quite like him and he was made painfully aware of this at an early age. To be in the company of another Toon who stood out from the rest, was oddly comforting. Like feeling as if you're not so alone anymore. Still, the idea of them being actual friends rather than on friendly terms is quite shocking to him. This whole flight started as an idea to get back at someone he was familiar with in a lighthearted way. He didn't expect it to turn into this.

"Well, I think, umm.."

Carter stutters over his words. His eyes dart around the sky as he avoids looking at Smokey directly. Making friends is still something he's not the best at. Especially Toon friends. He takes a minute to clear his head. Then he literally shakes his head causing his cheek feathers to ruffle and his comb to sway side to side. Then he looks at Smokey and speaks with certainty.

"Yes. I do think we're friendly enough for that. I can put your phone number in mine so we can stay in touch when I leave next time. We're friends after all! Right?"

Carter smiles brightly at first, and then smiles in a more uncertain way when he questions if he and Smokey are really friends. Eyes half squinted to match his unsure smile. Even his wings seem to form the shape of a shrug as he does so. Before quickly returning to gliding position and flapping a bit to bring the pair back up to height.

Smokey waits for his response with bated breath, anticipating whether he’ll say yes to the offer or not. And when he agrees, and even confirms that they’re friends, it can’t help but let out the loudest, most energetic and excited squeal it has ever managed to let out in its history of overjoyed noisemaking.

“EEEEEEEE!!!!! YAY YAY YAY!!!!!”

It reaches for its pocket, pulling out its hot pink bedazzled flip phone, preparing to take Carter’s contact so it can message him at will. But, then, it pauses. In its excitement of seeing Carter again, it completely missed one very important key detail that started this entire thing. One crucial aspect of this whole ordeal that it had managed to overlook up until this very moment.

They’re way up in the sky. Higher than Smokey’s ever gone with its own wings before. And to really push matters further, Carter’s the one hanging onto it and keeping it with him above the clouds. It blinks for a moment, before a cartoonish lightbulb appears and lights up near its own head and a gasp escapes itself.

It takes a moment to really look at Carter. I mean really, really look at him. And there, on his back, is a set of draconic wings in five different colors with feathers along the top. Wings that, until just now, Smokey had totally missed. It grins immensely excitedly as it yells out, finding itself unable to lower its tone in its sheer awe and unbridled enthusiasm,

“WAIT!!!!! WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!! YOU HAVE WINGS?! O. M. G. I TOTALLY MISSED THAT!!! WHEN DID YOU GET THOSE?!”

Carter is also relieved to know that Smokey is happy to be his friend. Even if the realization comes with some mild ringing in his ears from the loudest squeal he's ever heard. He sees Smokey pull out its flashy flip phone and starts telling it his number.

But before he can get the whole number out he notices Smokey pause. It is staring up at him. This confuses Carter causing his words to trail off. His confusion is quickly remedied though, as Smokey once again puts on a big grin and notices Carter's wings! Carter is surprised by this. He figured that it was too shocked to ask or somehow knew about them already. It was a little bit strange to him that Smokey didn't immediately find them surprising. Now he realizes that it likely just hadn't noticed them yet. Carter smiles brightly with his whole face and laughs out loud. His tail flicks up happily and his wings flap faster in time with his laughter.

"Finally noticed them! I was wondering when you would!"

He calms down a little bit. Still laughing lightly to himself at the humor of Smokey's delayed realization. When it asks him when he got them, he recalls the day they grew from his back.

"Well, I got them shortly after returning to Suitopia. It was, on the day I almost lost my Moms to that Suit. They were in danger and I couldn't reach them. So I jumped to save them, and at that moment, they sprouted from my back!"

Carter looks over at his wings. The colors, being the same as his Moms' heads, reminds him of them. His smile turns to a soft warmer one as he continues.

"Apparently I was always supposed to have wings. But, well, let's say my childhood home wasn't the best place for them to grow in. Once my Moms adopted me and I came back to Toontown where I met nice Toons like you, they started to come back. And needing to stand up to that Suit, needing to save my Moms, that's what finally made them grow."

Carter stays quiet for a moment. The memories of his Moms and the nice Toons he's met bring a profound sense of joy to him. A single tear of happiness forms in his eye. He refocuses himself and suddenly remember something.

"Oh! Also I can do this!"

Carter pulls his head back and thrusts it out in front of where he's flying. A jet of bright fire shoots out above his flight path. It lights up the sky brilliantly and makes the air around the pair warm. When it subsides he looks back down at Smokey with a proud expression on his face.

"So, what do you think?”

Smokey chuckles lightly, blushing with slight embarrassment as Carter mentions how he was wondering when it would notice. It shrugs lightly as it says,

“Yeah, not the sharpest spoon in the knife drawer over here. Not exactly known for my 10/10 awareness of all the things happening around me all the time.”

It laughs, clearly joking about itself lightheartedly. When Carter tells the tale of when he got his wings and how, Smokey listens intently, tilting its head at some parts while nodding along to others. When he finishes talking, it lets out another squeal, quieter than the last but no doubt just as excited.

“WOWEE!!! That’s SO COOL!!!!!! So you were like, always meant to have wings from the start… Man, that is totally awesome, those things are majestic!! Loads bigger than mine, too. I’m totally jealous!”

It giggles, but then tilts its head in curiosity as he says he has one more ability that he learned how to do. And when he spews a burst of flames from his beak, Smokey’s eyes widen in shock and amazement, jaw dropping at the sight. Real, genuine fire, and from a toon no less! It’s only seen certain cogs with that ability, never before has it seen a toon able to do such a thing. This causes it to clap its hands excitedly, rattling the charms on its flip phone noisily as it shows just how excited it is over the new revelation.

“THAT IS SO, SO AMAZING DUDE!!! That’s like, actual genuine fire! Imagine how many hot cocoas you could make in the winter with that power… Or how many marshmallows you could roast! No campfire needed!! You could have endless smores!!!”

It seems entertained by the endless thoughts streaming through its head, thinking of all the cartoonish uses for his fire breathing abilities. It laughs energetically, looking up at Carter again with a wide, excited, shimmery-eyed grin.

“You just get cooler and cooler the more I talk to you. You’re like, the epitome of epic. Man, am I glad you snatched me up to fly with you today. This is AWESOME!!!!!”

Carter is barely able to handle all of the compliments and praise Smokey is giving him. He's not used to having someone so brightly talk about him other than his Moms. Carter is particularly happy to hear Smokey call his wings majestic. He thought they would make him look even more unusual or even monstrous when compared to the other Toons. He prepared himself to deal with these comments by not caring, but he wasn't prepared to hear his wings spoken about in a positive way.

When Smokey shares its ideas on how to use Carter's flames, the Cockatrice chuckles to himself.

"I suppose those are good uses for breathing fire! I'll have to practice and see if I can get a perfect toast on some marshmallows."

But the kindest thing the cat told him in all of this came at the end. Being called things like "cool", "epic", and "awesome". These are praises Carter hardly ever hears. So much so he hardly knows what to say in return. His tail wraps around one of his legs. A subtle cartoonish blush begins to show on his cheeks. Much like how the cat blushed a few moments ago. Only he was not blushing from embarrassment. Rather, it's more a flustered feeling from being talked about so highly. And from someone who only recently officially became his friend. Eventually, he finds the words to speak.

"Aw, thanks Smokey. That, really means a lot. I'm glad you're enjoying this surprise flight so much! For what it's worth. I think you're really cool and epic too! What with how care free you are and how you always think of something new to mess with. It's really admirable!"

Carter smiles as he thinks of other things to say to Smokey. That's when he realizes he missed something that it said while it was complimenting him. His smile stays, but his eyes take on a bewildered look. He tilts his head to the side and speaks in a confused voice.

"W-wait a minute... When you said my wings are 'bigger than yours’ what did that mean? You're a cat right? Were you thinking of some sort of costume you've worn?”

Smokey beams up at Carter happily. It is absolutely thrilled that he is so appreciative, and even reciprocates the sentiments towards it. Being called admirable by one of the coolest toons you know has got to be one of the highest compliments in Smokey’s mind for sure. It giggles and replies with an overjoyed,

“Awww thank you! I try my best to get creative with the things that I do. Makes me more unique than I already am! Plus it’s fun to try and come up with new things to do to all my friends. Cheers them right up if they’re having a bad day! Very effective, y’know.”

It playfully comments, its tail curling behind it as it speaks. But, when Carter questions its slip of tongue with the comment about his wings being way larger than its own, it pauses for a moment. It totally missed that it let that detail slip! It sheepishly glances away from him, almost like how a dog looks away from someone after it knows it did something bad, and chuckles out a cartoonishly suspicious,

“Ah, hahaaaa…. Yeaahh, totallyy! Totally what I meant, just a costume I wore for halloween last year, ahaha… ummmm.. Yup! Totally not anything else! Just a costume that came to mind!”

A few toony droplets of sweat drip from its face, completely betraying it as if its own tone of voice didn’t already do the trick. It fidgets with a few bracelets on its arm, rotating them around and around as it smiles up at Carter again, almost nervously. The one secret about itself it’s done so good at hiding away, given up by one moment of its comfortable, mindless babbling of excitement.

After hearing its explanation there is no doubt in Carter's mind that Smokey is lying. It didn't do the best job of hiding it; showing more tells than a bad gambler with a worse hand. And even if it did hide them well, Carter had been taught by his Mom Kia how to tell when people are lying. Carter is curious as to what Smokey could possibly be talking about. Does it perhaps have the ability to manifest wings out of thin air? He could just drop Smokey to test if it could. But he didn't want to do that. In Carter's mind, Smokey having wings or not changed nothing about the cat nor his relationship with it. He simply shrugged and made a short dismissive hum.

"Alright. That makes enough sense I suppose."

The two Toons continue flying. They maintain the same height as before. The building below look like toys while the Toons and Cogs look like ants. Carter wonders how he could make this surprise trip even more exciting. Suddenly, he gets an idea. His face lights up and his tail flicks up excitedly. He leans down towards Smokey with a grin on his face.

"Hey! Want to see how fast I can go? Maybe perform some stunts as well? Don't worry, I won't let go at any point."

Carter waits excitedly for Smokey's answer. He has gone on a few leisure flights with his Moms and Uncles and is eager to show Smokey what he can do.

Smokey lets out a sigh of relief, seeing as he’s accepted the fact for now. It might have to explain itself later on, but for the time being, it can just not have to worry about that and enjoy the flight with its friend. It glances down at what they’re flying over, marveling at how they’re so high up that the town looks fake. It’s quite the interesting sight, especially for someone who hasn’t been able to reach this high up on its own before.

When Carter offers to show off his speed and some tricks he can do, it looks excitedly up at him once more and squeals, nodding immensely enthusiastically. It puts its flip phone, which it was still holding this whole time, back into its pocket securely again as it says,

“O. M. G. YES PLEASE!!! THAT WOULD BE SO AWESOME!!”

It seems extremely thrilled by the idea, the thought of getting to do some tricks and stunts high up in the air with one of its friends like a circus performer sounding like the funnest thing yet for the colorful cat toon.

Carter smiles brightly upon hearing Smokey accept his offer. The kind of giddy smile you see on a kid about to show off a new skill. He tells the cat,

"Ok! Time to go for a ride!"

Carter tightens his grip on Smokey. He promised he wouldn't let it go, and he intends to keep that promise. He pumps his wings one more time to gain a bit of height, then brings them into nosedive down! He squints his eyes as the wind rushes past him, pushing his comb and feathers back. It feels just like riding the drop of a roller-coaster!

When the two of them dip into a nosedive, Smokey squeals excitedly, feeling the wind rush through its fur and butterflies in its tummy as they descend. It stretches its arms out in front of it, reaching out like a superhero would as they make their speedy descent. Its fur begins to puff up with the sheer adrenaline coursing through its veins as Carter begins his series of midair tricks and maneuvers.

Just when it seems the ground is getting a little too close Carter opens his wings back up. Angling them to catch the wind and send him and his feline friend skyward once again! The climb is nearly as fast as the drop. Carter notices a cloud on the way up and decides to fly right through it. He and Smokey sail right through the white puffy cloud, leaving Cat and Cockatrice shaped holes on both sides. When Carter comes out the other side he has a bit of cloud stuck to his face making him look like he has a long beard. He glances down at Smokey just before laughing out loud.

On the climb back up, Smokey hangs onto Carter’s arms tightly, keeping itself firmly in place as they ascend once more. When they burst through the cloud, Smokey gains a new pair of thick, whispy eyebrows over its eyes. It looks up at Carter and can’t help but laugh at him, finding his brand new white-bearded look absolutely hilarious. It lets go of his arms again, covering its mouth as it giggles with amusement.

"Time for something more advanced!"

Carter remarks with a cheeky grin! He again starts to fly downwards, but this time his angle is less steep. He tilts his wings to catch the wind and cause them to spin! The remaining cloud quickly falls away as the two Toons spin around and around!

When Carter moves the two of them into a spin, Smokey excitedly squeals out,

“WHEEEEEEEE!!!”

The cloud eyebrows on its face dissipate away as they spin along with the cloud on Carter’s face. It doesn’t seem to notice, though, as it giggles and grins, bright and wide. It is absolutely having the time of its life on this flight, especially since it’s with a friend! Friends always make everything better.

Once satisfied with his spinning Carter stabilizes himself and returns to flying straight. He waits a moment for any lingering dizziness to go away.

"Ok! Time for my favorite one!"

Carter announces excitedly. He begins to rapidly climb. Flapping his wings hard and shooting straight into the sky. He begins to slow down and lean backwards. Slowly he falls back and begins to fly down! He keeps his wings open sending him and Smokey into a loop. His whole body bends to follow the curve of the flight. Rather uncharacteristically, Carter closes his eyes and shout out a loud,

"WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!"

It seems that flying is one of the times Carter truly lets loose and allows himself to have a little fun! Made all the better by having a friend along for the ride!

When Carter does a huge loop in the air, it holds its paws out in front of itself again, taking on the superhero pose once more. It squeezes its eyes shut, to really feel the maneuver that much more, giggling and squealing the entire way through with sheer excitement. To Smokey, this move is the funnest one yet! Just like being on an intense fair ride!

Once at the top of the loop, Carter spreads his wings out, causing him and Smokey to stop in place. For a moment, he feels as if he is weightless. It's a feeling he knows well by now. And one he has never gotten tired of. That feeling as if you are floating on thin air. With the ground far below you and the horizon stretching on before you. A gentle breeze blowing by and the sun gently shining down on him. He feels its warmth of the feathers and leather of his wings. The light catches the small nooks of his navy feathers and shines brilliantly on the many colors of his wings. This moment felt like it could last a lifetime. In this brief time, he is able to utter a short thought. His voice filled with wonder and awe as he does.

When the two of them stop midair and hover for a moment, it opens its eyes back up again. It gazes at the vast horizon stretching in front of them both, eyes glittering with shock at the beauty of it all and just how high up they are now. The gentle breeze ruffles through its shiny calico-spotted fur and its streaked hair, the beams of sun warming it up and making it, along with Carter, look absolutely majestic. It begins to purr, feeling the cool breeze and the warmth of the sun on itself, absolutely grinning from ear to ear with satisfaction. This all was totally worth it.

"This, never gets old..."

Pleased with his performance, Carter tilts down and begins flying forward again. He looks down at the Cat still firmly in his grasp.

"So, how was that?”

After a moment and a deep breath, Smokey looks up at Carter again with wide, bright eyes and says,

“That. was. SOOOOO AWESOMEEE!!!!”

It excitedly claps its hands together and giggles, feet kicking with the left over adrenaline still coursing through it, tail flicking behind itself lightly. After a moment, it calms back down again, taking a nice deep breath of fresh air. It’s still purring, a low and content rumble in its chest. It is absolutely loving every single moment of all of this.

Carter wears a proud smile from ear to ear. He's so happy that Smokey enjoyed his fancy flying and had fun with him! He can feel the gentle purr coming from its body on his hands. Another sign telling him it is having fun.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it!"

Carter glides on for a moment. Then he remembers why he is even out flying in the first place. It causes him to gasp a little and look slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, I was only supposed to go and talk with Pete for a bit. My Moms are probably worried about where I am. I completely forgot about that because, well I guess I was having too much fun."

Carter laughs sheepishly. Fun was not a word he used in his normal day to day vocabulary. He wonders what his Moms would think once he gets home and tells them. Though in all likelihood they would be happy to hear he was having fun with a friend. Still, he is very happy that he was able to have a fun time with Smokey, even if it was unplanned.

"Do you want me to drop you off somewhere? I, can't exactly land in the middle of a Neighborhood. Toons here might be a bit scared of me... Maybe your Estate?"

Carter waits for Smokey's answer. He has the whole Island for possible landing places. He just needs it to say the word on where to touch down.

Smokey nods lightly, understanding his worry over his mothers worrying where exactly he is. At Carter asking where Smokey would like to be dropped off, it thinks for a moment, debating on whether it should request somewhere near a playground, or near its cave home. It decides, and politely asks,

“Yea, think you could drop me off at my place? It’s, uh… Well, in the forest, the cave at the edge of the clearing with like, moss and vines growing on the outside of it. You’ll probably spot it easily, but I can point it out when I see it if need be.”

It shrugs, grinning up at him as if telling him it’s technically homeless and lives in a cave is the most normal thing about a toon ever. Its tail lightly flicks behind itself as it fidgets with one of its bracelets again, rotating it around and around its wrist mindlessly.

Carter nods, but he quickly gets a confused look on his face when Smokey says it's home is a cave. He thinks to himself this must be some sort of shorthand or nickname for its actual home. He agrees and flies to the nearest forest in Toontown. Much to his shock he is quickly able to spot a cave entrance matching Smokey's description perfectly, plant growth and all. Surely this must be some sort of coincidence. Carter had never heard of any Toon living in such conditions. He decides to humor the Cat and go to this cave as if it was Smokey's actual home.

Carter dives down, pulls up as he approaches the ground, and gently lands on the forest floor. The wind from his wings kicks up leaves and sends small twigs flying. He brings his wings in and carefully places Smokey down on the floor. He looks around cautiously to make sure no hiking Toons are around. Once he's sure they're alone he dusts off his suit and looks at the cave.

"So, this is your 'home' then?"

He asks in a half sarcastic voice. Still not convinced that Smokey really lives here.

When set down on the forest floor, Smokey gives a small, quick dusting off to itself, patting down flyaway tufts of fur and hair and making itself look neat and composed again. Its tail lightly sways behind it as it looks up at Carter, tilting its head at his half-sarcastic voice as if he told a joke it didn’t entirely get. It answers with a sincere and playful,

“Yeah, man, this is my home. Like, for reals.”

Smokey looks over to the entrance of the cave, covered with patches of moss and tangles of vines that act like curtains. Home sweet home. It glances back over at Carter again, taking a slow step or two towards its home as it says,

“I mean, if you really don’t believe me on this one then feel free to come on in and take a quick look around. I don’t mind one bit if you do, honest. I’ve got plenty of snacks and drinks to go around tenfold if you want it as well.”

It giggles, stopping in its tracks to let Carter make that decision for himself, a little grin on its face as it crosses its arms.

"...Oh no its not joking, this is where it lives..."

Carter thinks to himself. Still managing to hide his shock and maintain a neutral face. He is genuinely shocked that a Toon would have to live out in the middle of the woods. Then again, maybe this is how Smokey wants to live. Still, he feels a bit concerned for it's wellbeing. He thinks for a bit if he can take the time to look inside.

After a bit of internal debate, he decides to take a peek. He is sure that his Moms will understand wanting to make sure a friend is well taken care of. It's what they would do. Carter clears his throat before speaking.

"Well I suppose a quick look can't hurt. I'll just keep my head down."

Carter leans down and pulls his wings in as close to his body as he can. He doesn't want to accidentally knock into something after all. After he gets a look and sees how Smokey is doing abode wise, he'll head back. He just has to know first.

Smokey leads the way into its cave home, tail swishing as it walks along. Once inside, it grins proudly and turns around to face Carter, spreading its arms out wide invitingly, gesturing towards its belongings.

“Welcome to my place! You should feel pretty lucky, I don’t usually have many guests over. You’re like, what, the 3rd or so person to visit?”

Its cave is very spacious and cozy, especially for something so un-houselike. Across the floor sits a few shaggy rugs in varying colors and patterns, from rainbow to black and white to solid pink. It has a rack with clothing hanging off of it sitting in one of the far corners, one half of it holding its collection of baggy pants, another half holding miscellaneous accessories and a visibly far smaller amount of shirts. There’s also an overflowing basket filled with miscellaneous unsorted clothing items, and a stack of clothing hangers beside it, as well as a small container labeled “HYGIENE” sat next to it.

On the walls, there are shelves and surfaces held to the walls with what seems like hopes, dreams, and shoddily drilled in screws, clearly the doing of someone inexperienced in handywork. On those shelves sits plenty of memorabilia from its travels as well as ambiance lighting like lava lamps and such plugged into a hefty power bank with at least three extension cords coming out of it.

On the wall to the right sits plenty of photos of itself and its friends and family, pinned and taped up like a huge makeshift collage, with some hastily fixed damage and rips repaired with clear tape. Scattered along all the walls near the shelves are plenty of miscellaneous posters such as music artists, TV shows and movies, video games, and pieces of artwork or graphic designs it finds visually appealing.

In a small slot in the wall out to the left of them sits a nest-like bed made of blankets, pillows, and stuffed plushies, littered with tufts of stray fur shed in its sleep. Next to the bed slot is two different compartments in the rocky wall, one filled with ice and a copious amount of energy drinks and the other filled with various candies and sugary treats, both meant to keep its laff and its energy high.

Carter looks around and is pleasantly surprised by the inside of Smokey's home. He looks over at Smokey and nods upon hearing its greeting to him.

"Thank you. It must be a rare privilege to see this place."

He was concerned that it was living in a cave with nothing much. But clearly it has turned this place into a cozy home. If anything, he's more surprised that it has collected so much stuff in its home! A far cry from the desolate rock hole he was worried about. Though the basket of laundry with the suspiciously named sign does cause a bit of concern.

Looking around more Carter picks up on just how home made this home really is. He wonders how Smokey was able to drill screws into the solid stone walls of this place. And if anyone was their to help it set all this up. Likely not given he's possibly the 3rd person other than Smokey to see this place. But Carter couldn't make a guess on that yet. He already assumed this wasn't Smokey's actual home and got proven wrong. He doesn't know much about Smokey's personal life to say if this solitude is self imposed or otherwise. Or if it even is solitude at all.

Finally, Carter notices the wall with pictures Smokey has. He can tell these must be important people to Smokey. Some he recognizes, but only vaguely. He didn't get much Toon news when he was working for Cogs. Inc. Carter feels an odd sense of peace upon seeing this. He had worried that Smokey living in such a remote place would cause it to be isolated from other Toons. But clearly that was not an issue. Secretly, Carter hopes to have a picture of him and Smokey up there one day. To give Smokey a good reason to call him a friend.

Carter has a moment of quiet realization. He cared quite a bit about Smokey. It was something he didn't feel often for people. Anyone he did care about was family to him. Before this, he could count the number of friends he has on one hand. But now with Smokey, well, he can still count on one hand. But that didn't matter. He cared about this cat. About another Toon. Something he couldn't imagine doing in the past. He thinks that this sense was rubbed off on him from his Moms.

Carter clears his throat, covering his beak as he does so. He turns back to Smokey but looks off to the side. Tail slightly curled around his feet in embarrassment.

"Well, this was an unexpected detour. Your home is quite nice. I apologize for my tone earlier."

He shakes off the embarrassment of assuming Smokey lived in a hole and returns to his normal demeanor.

"Thank you for having me. I must be leaving now. Perhaps in the future you could come to my temporary residence on the Island? I'm sure my Bosses will be more than accommodating for you. Oh! We should probably exchange phone numbers now."

Carter ends by pulling out his phone. It, like Smokey's, is a flip phone. Though his is much more bland with a black and grey color scheme.

Smokey nods, tail swishing lightly as it skips over to stand right in front of him, beaming excitedly.

“Thank you!!! Glad you like my place. I don’t get to invite many people over often, but it's always really nice when I do get to.”

It giggles, and when Carter offers up the chance to have it visit his own place, it squeals excitedly, hopping from foot to foot. Its eyes twinkle with raw excitement as it replies,

“FOR REALSIES?! O. M. G. I would absolutely love to visit your place sometime!!!”

It nods, clapping its hands together, squealing and giggling happily. And then, Carter reminds it of their earlier exchange that never got finished, and it gasps out,

“OH RIGHT!”

Before taking its own blinged-out phone again, flipping it open and preparing to put the rest of his phone number into its phone. It glances at Carter’s phone, noting how he also has a flip phone, but much more sleek and minimalistic than its own. It finds that contrast highly interesting, how two toons with such different personalities and tastes could become such good friends with each other. It focuses back onto getting Carter’s contact, chuckling out a playful,

“I have like, half of your number already, so I think you’d just need to grab me the other half and you can be on your way!”

Carter smiles at Smokey's boundless enthusiasm for the idea of visiting his residence on the Island. Already he's thinking of things they could do together there. And wondering how his Moms would react to Smokey. In his mind the worst case scenario is them not really caring much about it. But most likely they will be very accepting of Smokey as a friend of his. Especially Fia. Smokey's firecracker of a personality would probably mesh well with Fia's loud and proud self.

Carter finishes giving Smokey his phone number. Double checking to make sure he reads each number correctly.

"Alright. That's the whole thing. I'll wait for a message and add you as a contact.”

He keeps his phone out. Seeing how decorated and lively Smokey's phone is gives him an idea. While he waits for Smokey to finish putting in his number, he asks for something.

“I, know we only just officially became friends, but would it be alright if I asked something of you? While I treat this phone as a work device it is technically mine. Tia bought it for me a long time ago. Would you be able to get a, how should I put this… A, sticker for it? Maybe something dragon-like? I would find a way to pay you for it of course. You just seem like the right kind of Toon to ask. It's not easy to get things colorful in Suitopia. And the shopkeeps here still don't fully trust me.”

Smokey sends a brief message to the number it typed in reading, “HI THIS IS SMOKEY!!!!! (≧▽≦)” before flipping its phone shut and tossing it back into its pocket again. When Carter asks for some kind of sticker for his phone, its eyes light up joyfully and it gasps, extremely excited.

“O. M. G… OF COURSE!!! No need to pay me for it, I’ll gladly give you something from my stash for your phone!! For free!!! Here, hang on a sec, let me just find something good really quickly…”

It leaps over towards its clothing rack and pushes it aside to reveal a small compartment in the wall holding various boxes and containers, all labelled with different things like “BRACELETS”, “GLOVES”, “NECKLACES”, and “EXTRAS”. It pulls out a small compartment labelled “STICKERS” from a box, rummaging through it and grabbing up a few different options from the bunch before putting the compartment back, shoving the clothing rack back into place again, and bounding back towards Carter. It stops right in front of him and holds its hands out for him to see all his options, with an assortment of both glittery and regular dragon stickers that are no larger than a thumb nail.

“Here! Pick your poison, these ones should fit on your phone the best out of what I have… I hope so, at least.”

Smokey grins up at him, excited to have him get a little gift from it. It loves giving gifts to all of its friends, so this is a great start for it.

Upon receiving the message from Smokey Carter grins and lets out a short chuckle. The manner in which Smokey texted fit its personality perfectly. He quickly adds the number to his contacts under the name 'Smokey'.

He goes to say he got the message, but quickly changes what he says after hearing Smokey offer to get a sticker right away. He holds his hands up as he says,

"Oh no really! You don't have to do that, right..."

His sentence trials off as he realizes there's no stopping Smokey now. It's far too entrenched in its goal of finding a sticker to listen to him. He watches as the cat pulls an assortment of stickers from a previously unknown compartment in the wall. Now Carter is wondering how many hidden nooks and crannies Smokey has in this place.

He looks down at Smokey, clearly beaming with excitement and positivity while offering him an assortment of stickers. He tries to put on a happy smile, but it's a touch awkward from not being used to this much energy.

"Wow, you were ready huh? I think I'll take… this one!"

Carter picks out a sticker depicting a dragon in mid flight. It has a shiny coat on it that reflects different colors depending on how the light hits it. The changing colors reminds Carter of his Moms and all the different colors they are. He carefully takes off the back and places it in the corner of his phone.

"I think that will do. Thank you Smokey."

Carter thanks his friend. He knows Smokey said it didn't want payment, but Carter still feels like he should give it something in return. He'll figure that out later and drop it off secretly by air. He does know where Smokey lives now and could easily leave a surprise at its doorstep!

Carter places his phone in his pocket and extends an open hand out to Smokey.

"I should really get going now. This has been an unexpected yet pleasant trip. Thank you for having me!”

Smokey nods happily, pocketing the extra dragon stickers it picked out for later use.

“Of course, of course!! It was nice having you over, even for a little bit. You’re always welcome to come back any time you please!”

Smokey giggles happily, beaming at Carter with sheer, unadulterated joy. When he extends an open hand out to it, it takes a pause to look at him and tilt its head, wondering why he’s being so formal towards it, especially after just calling it his friend. It suddenly gets a mischievous idea and, without hesitation, it leaps at him and envelops him in a slightly-too-tight hug.

“I’m really glad you like me enough to want to be my friend. Thank you!”

Smokey says with a sweet smile, happy that it both made a friend and got to hang out with him in its house! It doesn’t get to do that very often, especially since plenty of other cogs and even toons can label it as being ‘too much’, ‘high energy’, or ‘extremely chatty’, therefore avoiding it. It’s very happy to have made friends with someone who isn’t deterred by its boundless energy and bubbliness. And plus, he even invited it to his own place! That must really mean something special, to invite someone outside of your own family into your home. At least, it definitely does to Smokey.

Carter waits for Smokey to take his hand. But it doesn't. He tilts his own head along with Smokey, being confused as to why it's standing still. In his mind this is simply how you say goodbye to someone. He wonders if he's doing something wrong. He still hasn't interacted with that many Toons. At least not this closely. So maybe he is missing something. But his wondering is quickly put to rest the moment Smokey leaps at him and wraps him in a firm hug! Carter's eyes widen as he releases a confused grunt. His tail and comb both shoot up in surprise while the feathers on his wings become visibly ruffled. His arms stay out to the side in an awkward position. At this moment, Carter has absolutely no idea what to do. A rare feeling for the Cockatrice.

It is only after hearing Smokey that it's happy to have Carter as a friend that he begins to loosen up a bit. He realizes just how caring Smokey is to its friends. How close a bond it can form in just a few hours. Well, a few hours and many days of pranking. Finally, after standing around awkwardly with a cat clinging to him, does Carter reciprocate with a hug of his own. He places his arms around Smokey and wraps his wings around both of them. The dragon fire in his chest radiates a gentle warmth. It is a strange sensation for Carter. Usually he is on the receiving end of a hug like this from his Moms. To be the one giving the hug is quite the change for him. He understands why they like doing it with him more now. To hold someone close who you hold dear, that is a moment worth treasuring.

Carter smiles and finally speaks.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like me too!”

“Of course! You’re like, the awesomest dude I know.”

Smokey replies gently. It then feels the warmth of the dragon fire in Carter’s chest and lets out a purr, absolutely enjoying the contact and the extra added heat. The cat makes a mental note that it should definitely go to Carter for hugs during the winter time if it feels particularly cold. After a good minute or two of hugging, it finally releases its cockatrice friend and steps back, brushing down some stray tufts of flyaway fur that are sticking up. It looks at Carter and lets out an amused giggle, seeing how he’s now covered in cat hair.

“Might wanna take a lint roller to your outfit there, bud. You, eh… got a little something all over ya.”

It sheepishly grins at him, tail flicking behind itself playfully. He’s probably gonna be finding fur in that particular set of clothes for days to come now thanks to Smokey. And it finds that quite funny.

When Smokey steps away Carter goes back to his more composed self. He quickly pats the feathers on his wings back into place and pushes his comb back. When Smokey mentions cleaning his suit Carter makes a confused face. But he quickly realizes what it means and looks down at himself. He is absolutely covered in cat hair. Made extremely visible given the lighter color coat Smokey has when compared to Carter's black suit. He sighs while smiling.

"Ah, yes you're definitely right. Hopefully my Moms aren't too confused."

Carter tries to pat away some of the denser patches of hair. Suddenly he realizes his slip up when talking about his Moms. He stops mid pat and looks back up at Smokey.

"I-I mean my Bosses. I'll be sure to explain it to them."

Despite it being extremely common knowledge that the Interim CEO is the adoptive mothers of Carter, he still tries to refer to them as his Bosses whenever he's on the clock or out and about with others. He only really calls them Mom when he's with them in private or around people he's comfortable with. And it seemed the latter was true this time.

Once Carter is satisfied with the miniscule amount of hair removed he adjusts his suit and straightens his tie.

"Thanks again for having me. Until next time."

With that, Carter begins to head out of Smokey's home.

Smokey chuckles lightly at Carter’s slip-up, nodding along as he speaks. It doesn’t mention the slip, knowing that would be a whole new lengthy topic of conversation that would keep him for far longer than initially intended. It remembers he said something about needing to get back to his moms anyways, and it would hate to keep him while someone else is expecting him. Smokey follows Carter back to the entrance of the cave again, grinning bright and wide as he thanks it for having him over.

“Of course, no problem at all! I’m glad you took the time to come to visit me. I really appreciate it!”

As they both enter the clearing outside of the cave, Smokey waits to watch him fly away again, wanting to see its new friend off safely. Its tail swishes behind it as it chimes out a sweet,

“Bye-bye! Hope to see you again soon for a proper hangout!”

It waves goodbye at him, energetic and happy.

Carter takes a few steps away from Smokey. The forest is bright and the sky above is clear. Still perfect weather for flying. He takes one more look back at the cat. He sees it waving enthusiastically at him. Carter does his best to try and wave back in a fitting way. He smiles wide and slowly waves his hand.

"You too Smokey! Goodbye!"

With that, Carter looks up to the sky. He bends his legs and unfurls his wings. He raises them up slowly, straightening out his tail to be directly behind him. Then, with one quick motion he jumps up off of the ground and thrusts his wings down! The speed and strength behind his flap sends him soaring into the sky while kicking up a flurry of leaves. He ascends through the trees until he passes above them.

Carter takes a look back down. He can just make out the calico colored shape of Smokey. He smiles once again. Immensely happy to have spent this time with it. He rolls around in the air for a bit then lets out a huge blast of fire! Then, he flies off back to his residence. Excited to tell his Moms about everything that happened. Especially about the new friend he has just made.