The Chicago Fluffmart was having a lull in customers. The shelves were stocked, the fluffies fed, the furnace cleaned out. Vick was out with a cold that happened to align with a band’s concert that he liked. DeAndre had stepped out for an important phone call. A phone call that sounded a lot like a car starting up and leaving.
“Hi!” Lucky was snapped out of attention by someone that barely stood over his counter.
“Hew-” Lucky noticed the kid.
Probably no older than eight. The kid had messy brown hair, a missing tooth and a cast on his left arm. Well wishes from friend and family were written on the cast. Sitting between both of the kid’s arms was a fluffy that matched the expression of glee.
“Hi! I’m Tommy. This is Marshmellow! My mom says that I can keep him! Say Hi Marshmallow!” The kid said holding up a pastel yellow pegasus with a bandage on the left wing.
“Hi Mawshmewwow!” The pegasus said.
Lucky distinctly remembered DeAndre telling him to get a human whenever he encountered the elderly or children. He also remembered the threat of getting his dick cut off if he did anything to get them sued. Fear gripped his heart but he would make a sale or die trying.
“Marshy. His name isn’t marshmellow. That’s you.” Tommy chuckled and rubbed the fluffies head with his good hand.
“Oh dat wight. Hewwo Mega-fwuffy.” Marshmallow smiled. “Am Mawshmewwo but dat am hawd so caww fwuffy. Yewwow wanga Mawshy!”
“Okay. Am Wucky.” Said the unlucky XXL.
“Marshy is my first ever fluffy. Dad says that I have to take care of him.” Tommy said hopefully.
Lucky could do this, all he had to do was quickly get this kid a few treats for the fluffy. That’s simple. He barely noticed that the kid was already on the move, he quickly scanned the store to find that his only customer was the child. He slid off his little step stool and began to follow the child around as he looked at the different fluffies that were in the discount wall.
“Oooh dat one am suu wed!” Marshy said.
“That one has a sparkly mane.” Tommy said pointing to a brown furred fluffy with a sparkly green mane. “He’s like the green ranger!”
“Nu uh! Him bwown!” Marshy said pointing to another fluffy with bright green fur but one eyes. “Dat one wook wike Eyedow! Da coow munstah!”
“He is so cool!” Tommy said.
The fluffy currently being talked about looked at the pair and smiled widely at them. “N-new daddeh?”
Tommy shook his head, “Sorry pretty fluffy. My dad says I can only have one fluffy.”
“Aww otay…”
Tommy reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag of skittles, his gaze shifted down to Lucky as if he was asking for permission. There was a small silence as Lucky stared back, the longer they held eyes the more the child and his fluffy looked like they were going to start crying and begging.
“Wucky am not awwowed to feed da fwuffies. Dat am not fwuffy food but Wucky am gonna wook ova dewe.”
Lucky dramatically turned his head long enough for Tommy to quickly open the kennel door and give the fluffy a few pieces of candy. The fluffy immediately took the treat, Marshy cheered for his owner.
“Da Mega-fwuffy am suuuu nice.”
“Uh huh!”
Tommy blinked as then scratched at his cast, “Food. We gotta get food!”
“Nummies fo’ tummy?!”
Marshmallow flapped his good wing and winced as he shook the broken wing. “Owie! Hehehe.” He flapped his wings again.
“Staaaap! You gonna hurt your wing again.”
“Okay Wed Wanga Tommy!”
Tommy turned to Lucky, “Okay Mega-fluffy, can we get food now?”
Lucky nodded and lead the pair to the middle aisle, rows and rows of food greeted them. Lucky immediately slapped a large blue bag with a pink stripe. The bag had a picture of a big pink cartoon fluffy with a pink bow.
“Dis am bestest fo’ huwt fwuffy. Hab weawwy gud stuff fo’ feew betta’s. Hab gene stuff and can fix Mawshy wingies much fasta!” Lucky pulled out a smaller bag with the same logo.
“Dat nummie taste gud?”
“Nu. Taste wike mud. Wucky taste aww da tweats and nummies in da shop.”
“Eeeewwww nu wan mud nummies.”
Tommy stuck out his tongue in disgust and Marshy matched his expression. Tommy leaned down over Lucky and pointed to a bag that had a bunch of sparkly designs. “That says lighting nummies, is that one good?”
Lucky looked at the bag, “Dat one am vewy gud taste wike sweet nummies. Good fo’ fwuffy but not dat gud fo’ gettin’ betta.”
“But its good?”
“Vewy.”
Tommy picked up the smaller bag and tucked it under his arm. “Food got!”
“Tommy am bestest nummie findah!”
“Hehehehe.”
Lucky couldn’t help but find them a little adorable. He started to opened his mouth but the kid was already moving toward the toy section. “Ooh! I want this one and this one and this one and this one.”
Five blocks, two balls, one squeaky toy, and a big plush power ranger brand helmet. Tommy ran out of arm space and began to stack the toys on the desk. Lucky could barely keep up with the toy frenzy as they darted back and forth.
“Toys and food. That’s it?” Tommy scratched his head.
“Sowwy stick, nummie bow’, sowwy boxie, annnnd-”
“Mawshy am gud fwuffy! Nu wan sowwie boxie!”
“I don’t wanna hurt my fluffy! The red ranger would NEVER hurt the yellow ranger!” Tommy protectively began to pet his fluffy.
Lucky nodded, “But gud fwuffy need to hab discipwine and bowndwies.”
“Nope. Nu uh. No want.”
“Nope. Nu uh. No wan’.”
Tommy and Marshmallow both puffed out their cheeks, Lucky had never seen a human do something so… so fluffy. It was like watching a God playing the mud and he struggled to come up with anything to direct his customer to the right path. All of his knowledge of fluffmart policies, of his time in the lab, of his time with DeAndre and Vick gave him absolutely nothing.
“Uh um…”
“Am dat a secwet wab?” Marshmallow pointed to the large black curtain on the side of the room.
Tommy started to walk toward the XXL section. “A lab? Oooh that is so cool!”
Lucky moved faster than he ever thought possible his body blocking the path between the child and his attempt at innocence suicide. Lucky stood their painting and grasping as he stood glaring at the both of them. Images of himself and ALL of his kind being put in the furnace flashed in his skull.
“Dat am bad woom. Nuttin but sowwie boxies and bad stuff. Nu go dewe EBAH!” Lucky trembled with genuine fear.
“W-weawwy?” Marshy trembled.
“Uh huh. Wucky wiww get in big twoubwe if widdwe human go in dewe!”
Tommy stared at the curtain and noticed the small sign saying ‘No Children allowed.’
“Awww. Okay.” Tommy turned around and darted to the back where the fluffy beds were held.
Lucky felt years of his life returning now that the hyperactive child was now focused on bedding. He watched as Tommy would pull out a bed, place Marshy in it and ask him if he liked it. The fluffy nodded to each and every bed. The overly dramatic little fluffy would pretend to sleep on each bed before waking up humming the Power Ranger’s theme song.
“Mega-fwuffy. Am dis da bestest bed?”
Lucky moved to the back of the bed line up and pulled out the single most luxury bed he could find. “Dis am the Sandfwuffy 900. Put Mawshy in dis.”
The bed was bright red with a few buttons on the side. The moment Marshy laid in it, the bed vibrated gently. A little squeak and a surprise fart ended in a moan of pure bliss. Marshy eyes rolled into the back of his head. Tommy giggle and teased his fluffy’s mane while scratching his head.
While the pair were distracted, Lucky noticed the backdoor opening slowly. A gore slicked Willow peaked her head out. She opened her mouth to say something but Lucky’s hoof connect with her muzzle with just enough force to send her back inside. He heard a soft moan of pain and surprise as he shut the door.
“What’s dat?” Marshy asked.
Lucky tried to keep the nervousness off his face, “Nuttin. Wike the bed?”
Marshy smiled widely, “Wuv it!”
Tommy picked up the bed and placed it on the counter. “Dat am eweything!”
Lucky shuddered at the sound, a human impersonating a fluffy should be a crime in his mind. He quickly scanned and bagged all of the various supplies. Lucky eyes skim over the little tablet and he gives a wide smile.
“Da totaw am five-hundwed and tu dowwah.”
Tommy reached into his cargo shorts and pulled out a sizable piggy bank. He began to count out the coins, the wadded up bills, and even a few paperclips. He counted it out and looked down.
“I have twenty-two dollars and fifteen cents.” Tommy looked crushed.
“Dat am ‘nuff shinnies?” Marshy asked.
“No” Tommy said.
Lucky looked at the pair and could see the budding water works. If he allowed a child to be seen crying from the window, he could see the complete horror show. He ran every discount, checked every sale, and only managed to drop the price down to five hundred. Kent did not care for discounts and Lucky wanted to scream.
“Dat am enough. Dun cwy, you am the one-hundwed customah!”
Lucky lied through his teeth and began to bag all of the supplies. He finished and let the kid leave with enough supplies to be considered a robbery. He wasn’t sure what he was think-
“Dank yew, Mega-fwuffy!”
“Thank you!”
Lucky watched as the pair left the shop. He heard a crackle from the little intercom. His heart stopped as Kent’s voice came through the speaker.
“So I’m gonna assume that you lost your mind for a bit. Lucky, because I’m pretty sure, I don’t see a wad of cash going into my register. I’m gonna assume DeAndre also lost his mind. While I would go down there and stick you in the furnace myself…”
Lucky closed his eyes.
“… I’m gonna doc DeAndre’s pay for the stolen goods.”
“Am Wucky going to the burnie box?”
“…”
“Am dat a no?”
“No. At the very least I didn’t get sued, HOWEVER!”
Lucky flinched at the intercom.
“If you ever in your lab-grown fucking mind give away that much stuff, I’ll break your fucking neck and feed you to the fluffies. Do I make myself clear!”
“Y-yus.”
“Close the door. Lock it. Wait for DeAndre to get back and tell him to call me.”
“Otay.”
Lucky heard the click of the intercom. Kent was done with him but the only thing he could see outside the door was the excitable child and fluffy talking to a big burly man. The man looked like a larger version of Tommy with a scruffy beard. The kid continued to point and pose with his fluffy as the man laughed. Lucky couldn’t keep his smile down even as he turned the open sign off and locked the door.
He did a good thing…. He hoped.
Art by @FluffyChimera
