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OH MY GAWD! I was so frustrated with uploading this. But, as you can see I did not give up. (rawr) Firefox was giving me some 'copy paste not allowed script bullhookey' but I think I've got it figured out. Here goes nothin!

Thanks for waiting!

-Lilly

Daisy and Boss: 16 - Nice To Meet You

Sarah opted to just ride with them when they got out to the parking lot, and they all departed together headed for the apartment with a quick stop off at the grocery store. Boss had mostly shook off the sullenness he was carrying, not being able to spend more time alone with Daisy, and he was finding that Sarah was completely the opposite of what he had expected her to be. The Badger was witty and outgoing, and incredibly intelligent. She was completely ecstatic over Daisy being her roommate, and the warm companionship the two females shared made Boss smile inwardly as he listened to them converse about classes and the dorm situation. It was fun to listen to, even though it made him feel kind of old. And on top of that, he had gone straight from high school into law enforcement, he hadn't really ever experienced college. He didn't imagine that the police academy really counted.

"So, Did Mrs. Allen really get you on the list for all the classes you need for the semester? You're registering pretty late it's already December fifteenth... It's Tuesday, right? Yeah... the Fifteenth. Classes end the twenty second, and then start back up January ninth.... You're cutting it pretty close." Sarah leaned on the center consol with her elbows, fingers ticking off days as she grilled Daisy on her meeting. Daisy nodded over her shoulder at the Badger who was leaning forward in-between the two front seats.

"Yeah, she said that too. But she thinks that there will be space for me. I guess most new students, which... I'm not really new, I've just been taking all my classes online... But I guess most furs start in the spring. So classes aren't as crowded." Daisy pulled some folded paperwork from her pocket and showed it to Sarah who happily pored over it, murmuring.

"Cool. We have some classes in the same buildings... And the same days..." Sarah poked Daisy excitedly. Boss risked a glance away from the road to look at what Sarah was reading, but quickly gave up.

"What are you going to school for, Sarah?" He asked the Badger. Sarah didn't look up from Daisy's class schedule but she flicked her ears.

"I'm getting my Bachelors in Science, majoring in Civil Engineering." Sarah glanced up and saw Boss' blank look. She huffed a short laugh. "Don't worry, you're not the only one that hears that and has no idea what I'm talking about. I basically want to get a job designing bridges and high-rise buildings and stuff." She smiled. Daisy nodded as if it made perfect sense, prompting Boss to ask a little more.

"So what made you decide that?" He asked.

"Well, my brothers' work for an excavating company, my Dad owns this Jasper mining operation on the coast... Grandpa was a gold miner... everyone in my family digs down. I want to build up!" Sarah explained with a hint of exasperation. Daisy chuckled. It had always amused her that Sarah found tedious what every other Badger did with joy.

"It all started when she got a shovel and a head lamp for her eighth birthday from her Dad." Daisy added in a falsely sympathetic tone. Sarah glared in equally fabricated annoyance, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, she liked it when Daisy felt up to a bit of good natured griping.

"It was horrible! Don't mock my trauma!" The Badger adopted a gruff rumbling growl. "Don't you want to diggy diggy nice holes like your brothers Sarah? Ugh. He still doesn't get it... to this day he still thinks I'm getting an engineers degree so I can help him out with his digging." She giggled, failing at her impression of her father.

"One of these days your Mom will explain it to him." Daisy grinned.

"Well I don't know about that, she wants me to tell him... we're at some sort of stalemate about it. Maybe I'll just show up at the house with a picture of the next Trump Tower that I designed and he'll be so impressed he won't care that I don't want to dig holes." Sarah snuffled and Boss saw a familiar look pass over her face. One that he completely understood. Fear of rejection.

"It's hard to please your parents all the time. You just have to stop worrying about what they think so much and do what you want to do with your life." Boss said in a matter of fact tone as he pulled into the parking lot to the side of his apartments. Sarah looked at him curiously, and Daisy perked up.

"Sounds like you have some experience?" Sarah asked. Boss shrugged.

"My parents wanted me to do something completely different than become a cop. But this is what I wanted to do... so I did." His Mother's furious face flashed in his mind for a second and he quickly shook it off. Flicking his ears as they all climbed out of the car and headed inside, Boss carried two bottles of wine, one red and one white in a thick paper bag he cradled in the crook of an elbow. The sun was starting to come out from in between the clouds. And even though it was crisply cold outside, it felt brighter than it had for weeks. It was a short respite from the rain, and for once the air was clear and clean smelling without the heavy wet odor of the winter season.

"What did they want you to be, Boss?" Daisy skipped up to his side and took hold of the edge of his coat sleeve, holding it as they walked. Sarah seemed mildly surprised by the gesture, but she took it all in stride as they climbed the stairs up to the third floor. Boss glanced down to see Daisy watching him, waiting for his answer and he paused on the landing, thinking.

"My Mother especially wanted me to go back to Spain. To..." Boss frowned as he remembered his Mother's angry words about abandoning family and heritage. About forgetting the history he came from. "Guerrero de la guerra santa." He muttered to himself. Daisy's eyes were questioning.

"Hm?" The doe at his side toned, dragging a little harder on his sleeve as the big dog seemed to grow pensive. He saw her concern and blinked, shaking it off, before he could say it was nothing, Sarah piped up behind them.

"You were supposed to fight in some kind of Holy War?" The Badger asked, nonplussed. Boss looked over his shoulder in surprise.

"You speak Spanish?" He asked, his paw froze in his pocket and instinctively curled into a fist that neither girls saw. That was something he hadn't expected. Sarah nodded slowly, staring at him.

"Yeah... I took two years of it in High school and a course in college last year for fun." She barked in hesitant laughter. "But I never thought I'd hear anyone say something like that!" She seemed ready ask a question, but Boss cut her off before she could form anything, her mouth open.

"No es tan malo como suena! ...really... it's not what you think." He amended, gentler than he had started. "My folks and me haven't spoken in a few years. They sort of... disowned me." He chuckled, but it was superficial. The sound had slipped from a tightly clenched jaw. Sarah backpedaled sheepishly.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to say you were some kind of... uh... terrorist or anything." Sarah blurted and then immediately clapped a paw to her face. "Yeah, just forget I said anything." She waved. Daisy shushed her friend, focusing in on the part of the conversation she had understood.

"Well that's stupid, I can't imagine you doing anything bad enough to get disowned over." Daisy frowned. Boss tried the doorknob of his apartment and wasn't surprised to find it locked. Danielle had a paranoid streak. He didn't bother knocking, just separated the right key from the bundle. The music was too loud for her to hear the door, he could feel it thumping thru the pads of his feet. He raised his eyebrows at Daisy and smiled ruefully.

"Thanks... Maybe one of these days I'll tell you all about it." He said as the door swung inward.

Dani had shoved the couch at least three feet into the dining area and was scrolling thru a game menu on her Xbox Kinect, standing in the center of the open area she had made and karate chopping her way through a select screen in Fruit Ninja. Techno music pulsed out of the stereo. When she noticed them come in she went and turned it down a few clicks. Enough so that Boss would stop covering his ears.

"Hey guys! Dinners in the oven, should be done in about thirty to forty minutes." She grinned. She had changed from her jeans and sweatshirt into running shorts and a tank top, both a cherry red. She had also unbraided her mane and it now hung in a loose side ponytail bound with a black hairband that made it look like the silky perfect locks were simply holding that shape out of good behavior.

"Who wants to play Fruit Ninja for a little while?" She ducked her chin and brought up her fists in a boxing stance, directed at Boss, who laughed and headed past her for the kitchen, wine in paw.

"Sure!" Sarah hung up her hoodie and tossed her backpack on the floor. She extended a cheerful paw to the mare who shook it with a broad smile.

"You must be Daisy's friend..." Dani let the tail of the sentence hang, realizing she hadn't asked Boss a name. Sarah filled in the blank without hesitation.

"Sarah Brockley, and you must be Danielle Hardy!" Sarah pointed to the screen and walked around the easy chair to stand in the open space with the mare. "Have you unlocked all the cool backgrounds yet?"

Daisy put her coat in the hall closet and went to join Boss in the kitchen where he was opening the red wine. The rich smell of the casserole surrounded them as he worked the cork out with a soft pop. He grabbed two wine glasses out of the cabinet over her head, which was eye level for him. He noticed her slight inhalation when he reached over her head and something clenched in his gut when she held her ground, allowing him to reach over her, putting them only inches apart. The air vibrated, but he only held it a second before backing off with the glasses, not wanting to frighten her. She turned her head and looked out into the living room, watching Sarah and Dani destroy fruit on the screen with wild slashes and chops to music that was still a little loud. Her gaze wandered around to the leather couches and the wall hangings, the few houseplants that Boss managed to keep alive, taking everything in with a keen curiosity. Boss smiled at her and leaned back with the heels of his hands against the counter.

"Should I take you on the grand tour?" He asked. Daisy turned and again he admired how the skirt she wore swished around her slender ankles. Her tail just peeked out below the white tunic she wore and he though he saw it give a little flick. The doe clasped her hands behind her back and smiled.

"Where's your room?" Daisy blurted, and then stopped, realizing how that sounded with embarrassment. Flustered she tried to backtrack even as Boss chuckled with his low rumbly voice and fixed her with a hooded gaze that made her knees feel funny.

"Don't tempt me, Daisy." He sighed. Her embarrassment was adorable, but it also spoke volumes about her comfort level. Even if Daisy had wanted to see his room in that way, it wouldn't have been right. His protectiveness over her swelled and tamped down his libido. He didn't want to be the cause of the wrinkle in her brow, or the way she chewed her lip and cast her eyes to the floor. He reached out and put a light paw on her shoulder briefly. "Don't worry, I know what you meant."

Gold eyes flooded with relief and she looked up at him curiously as if she were trying to figure out something that confused her. She started several times to say something, her ears growing a darker shade of pink on the inside until she just gave up and rubbed a hand over her eyes. Gesturing to the two glasses on the counter and the bottle that Boss had left to breath she sighed.

"Is one of those glasses for me?" Boss nodded and went to pour for her.

"I wasn't sure if you drank at all." He said, glancing over his shoulder at her as he filled both glasses halfway. "This good?" He asked. Daisy nodded and accepted the glass when he handed it to her, taking a sip.

"Not a lot. But every once in a while I do. And my brother Oak likes to play at brewing beer and making wine. Me and my Dad are always his tasters. Nothing he makes is ever this good though." Daisy turned to look when Dani suddenly whinnied loudly and pumped a fist in the air while Sarah grinned breathlessly.

"YEAH! New high score baby!" The mare cheered and gave the winded badger a high five.

"Did you see that, Daisy?" Sarah asked. Daisy shook her head.

"No, sorry I wasn't watching!" Daisy said just as Dani turned and pointed at Sarah enthusiastically.

"I like this girl... Can we keep h- Oh! Shit it's starting again!" Dani's ears flicked flat as her gesture made the game start another round. The two turned and resumed giving the game their full attention. Daisy laughed as the pair flailed in a somewhat organized frenzy, batting the air to chop the CG fruit on the screen, giggling as they ran into each other occasionally. Boss and Daisy watched for a few minutes in amusement, getting sucked into the game.

"Get that one! Banana! The Banana!!" Daisy squeaked, pointing and giggling at the comical image Sarah made.

"I see it! I see it! Just don't... wanna... hit... AW! Goddamnit! Stupid bombs." Dani snorted and Sarah barked a short sound of panic as she wind milled her heavy paws as fast as she could under a bonus round onslaught, hopping up and down. As the timer ended Sarah walked over to the couch and slumped down with a 'oomph'.

"Someone else's turn!" The badger panted. Daisy snorted and looked up at Boss.

"Tour?" She asked hopefully, not keen on playing the game. Sarah turned to look at them over the back of the couch.

"Oh, c'mon! My arms are tired, let's see what you can do!" She flopped her arms over the back of the couch for emphasis. Dani plunked down next to her and shrugged.

"Eh, dinners probably almost done anyway." The mare flicked her ears tiredly, the tall delicately pointed tulips of black wobbling in wide circles when she shook her head.

"I'm going to show Daisy around a little before we eat." Boss stood straight from the counter and led the way through the living room, past the tired gamers. Sarah and Dani exchanged a look as the tall white dog and the slender goat made their way down the hall and disappeared into a room together. Sarah looked to Dani for confirmation.

"Boss' room?" She asked. Dani nodded and rolled her eyes.

"He's sure as hell not taking her to my room." She chuckled.

"I'm glad she met him! She spends too much time alone, and I know she's not happy. This will help." Sarah nodded finally, turning around and sitting back down on the couch. The Badger's ears perked up when the techno music switched to Adele and Dani plucked a remote from the ottoman to turn it down a bit more.

"You know, it's funny... I was thinking the same thing for Boss." She chuckled, and went to check on the casserole. "Want something to drink?"

"Sure!" Sarah half rolled her way to her feet and followed the mare into the kitchen.

In Boss' room, Daisy was looking at his books. He had a lovely set of dark wood bookshelves to either side of the large California King bed and they were packed with books from floor to ceiling. A lot of them were suspense novels and crime dramas, which kind of surprised her.

"I guess I wasn't expecting you to read this kind of stuff." Daisy looked over her shoulder at Boss who was picking up a shirt that had been tossed on the floor. There was a large window overlooking the courtyard behind the apartment building, and the big dog was noticing that the sun had gone away again.

"What do you mean?" Boss tossed the shirt into a laundry basket in the open closet. He came over to stand next to Daisy and gave the numerous titles a scan himself, wondering what 'this kind of stuff' meant.

"Crime stuff..." She pointed to his James Patterson collection. "Don't you see enough of that at work?" She spotted another title that made her smile. "See I like stuff like this better." She touched the binding of 'A wrinkle in Time'. Boss shrugged.

"I'm not sure why..." He mused. "Probably because I was reading that kind of books long before I became a cop."

Daisy looked around spotted something that made her abandon the bookshelf with wide eyes. Peeking out of an open box of things tucked next to a large dresser, threadbare and faded, was a figure. It couldn't really be considered a doll, since it was obviously constructed with a male pup in mind, but it was fabric and very old. Daisy picked it up carefully and turned him over to look at his face. It was a white dog in a long red and gold coat that looked to be in a military fashion from the 1700's. Deep cuffs on the sleeves, flared skirting falling around the knee length breeches, and ornate rows of brass buttons running down both sides of the chest. He had no sword, but wore the belt and scabbard still, in meticulously stitched leather. The little soldier's glass eyes were painted a light brown, and stared up at her with a strange quiet expression.

"Who is this?" Daisy exclaimed, raising and lowering his opposable arms gently. Boss reached over and plucked him from her grasp to look him over, and then handed him back.

"That is a toy that came to America with my Grandfather. I think... It's supposed to be one of the orden de los guerreros santos." Boss nodded. "It's one of the few things I took with me when I left home... It's very old."

"Wow. It's so intricate..." Daisy was gently unbuttoning the coat to reveal the clothing underneath. A white shirt with full sleeves and a dark brown waistcoat with even more of the tiny buttons.

"He used to have a hat, and a sword, but those have been lost since before I was born. I was going through some storage recently and found him, along with this stuff." He motioned to the box. Boss sat down on the edge of the bed and watched with amusement as Daisy simply knelt on the carpet next to the box, noting the figures long curling tail and grey eyespots. The figure resembled Boss and it tickled Daisy to no end, but something he said brought him up short. She tipped her head back to peer at him upside down, her horns resting on the outside of his knee.

"Guerreros... Santos?" She frowned. "That's like what you said earlier, what does it mean?" She asked. Boss was momentarily distracted by the way her slim throat met her jaw, and had to clear his own throat before answering.

"Ah... It basically means Holy warrior, or soldier." He made a face. "My family line founded the order, it was sort of like a religion of protecting the weak. Like knights of the kingdom... " Boss cringed inwardly, realizing how fantastical that sounded. But Daisy just gazed at him, still upside down. She was silent so long Boss became slightly nervous and wiggled his knee a little, jostling her. Daisy blinked.

"I can see that, actually. You as a knight." She smiled and turned around to face him normally. "Is that what your Mother wanted you to do? Go back to Spain and be a knight?" She asked, awe written plainly on her face. Daisy read books about this kind of thing all the time, she never really allowed herself to think some of it might be true. Boss wrinkled his lip, thinking of his mother.

"Yes, and to get married to someone of her choosing... and have three or four litters of little baby knights." He shot her a suffering glance. "Apparently, we are a rare breed, and as the only male of my family's youngest generation I am a value to the order." Daisy giggled and got up to sit next to him on the bed, the soldier figure still in hand.

"Yeah, I can see how that would have caused problems." She spotted a picture frame and set the figure on the bed to pick up the dusty picture. "Oh, My gosh! Is this YOU!?"

Daisy wiped a hand over the dusty glass to reveal a family portrait. It was set in front of an old looking stone wall, green vines snaking up the chinks and crevasses left where the mortar had crumbled and succumbed to nature. Full sun made the smiling subjects narrow their gaze and made their features somewhat hard to read but Daisy spotted the young pre-teen version of Boss immediately, standing in front of a huge grizzled white dog who could be none other than Boss' father. His fur was much shorter and his head not quite so square, his ears stood out to either side of his face in the awkwardness of youth and he was grinning, shading his face with one paw. Next to him in a row were three females, two completely white and hardly older than puppies and one tall thin girl with a very dark mask of grey around her eyes who looked to be in her late teens. The female that stood behind them was breathtaking. Pure white with a coal black nose and eyes that were rimmed in black almost as if painted that way. Her fur was fine rather than fluffy, and lay in a smooth silky fall that accentuated her long throat and fine features. She stood resting her paw and the shoulder of the oldest girl.

"Ah, yeah." Boss reached over and touched each figure with a claw, naming them. "That's my Father, Savion... My Mother, Adalia... My two little sisters, Maria and Paloma... and my older sister Madelena." Boss squinted at himself. "This was our family trip to Spain to visit my Mothers family. I was fourteen I think? Four years before I left home and changed my name." Daisy watched Boss' face, trying to wrap her brain around simply leaving your family behind. She couldn't.

"Why? I mean... How could that have been the only way?" She asked, setting the picture aside. Boss looked out the window, thinking.

"Well, My Mother is very old fashioned. She didn't hesitate when her parents sent her to the United States to marry someone she had never met, so she couldn't understand why I wouldn't agree to her plan. We fought so much about it, when I turned eighteen and was legally able to, I left. Maybe I wouldn't have done the same thing now, I don't know." Boss picked up the picture and the figure and put them back in the box, dusting off his paws on the front of his shirt. "It's ancient history now."

Daisy kicked her ankles against the bed frame, her hooves skimming the carpet as she thought. Her eyes were crafty when she fixed him with her next question.

"What was your name before you changed it?" She smiled when he went to evade her, shaking his head.

"No-oo... more ancient history. I don't think so." He smiled. "Dani's been trying to pry that out of me for years."

"What if I promise not to tell anyone?" Daisy hopped up and blinked up at him innocently as she could manage. It put ideas in Boss' head. The tall canine made a 'hmm' noise and he tilted his head, considering.

"I might be convinced to tell you.... For a trade." His rational brain growled at him that he was treading on thin ice, but he ignored the warning.

"A trade?" Daisy was cautious. "What.... What kind of trade?" The doe lost track of her extremities when Boss stepped nearer and leaned in close.

"I'll tell you my old name for a kiss." Boss murmured. Daisy's heart stalled and then galloped into high gear.

"A kiss?" She gulped. Boss nodded. He stood up straight again, holding his fingers up in a pinch motion.

"It can be a little one."

A loud knock on the door almost caused Daisy to leap out of her pelt, the ridge of black hair along the back of her neck standing straight up in a little mohawk as she muffled a scream at the last second. Boss turned to the door with a frown just as Dani's voice came through the wood.

"Hey you two!! Dinner!" Boss turned back, a muttered curse cut short when he saw Daisy, eyes wide, pupils mere slits, fighting to regain normal respiration. He instantly felt terrible.

"I'm sorry, Daisy." He sighed. "I should't have asked out of the blue like that... I just.... Since I met you there's been this feeling..." He started awkwardly. Daisy shook her head and laughed nervously.

"No, no! Don't apologize!" She waved at him, slowly getting herself composed. She glared around him at the door.

"Still, I made you uncomfortable..."

"I've always been a bit spooky... you know, and I- It was just the door, startled me." She realized what Boss had been saying and she tugged on one ear shyly. "I know what you mean... though. About the feeling." She stopped there. She didn't know how she would put in words the way she felt. Boss didn't scare her, but he made her anxious in such a strange way. She almost liked it, and it confused her to no end. But she didn't want him to feel badly.

Boss scrubbed at the top of his head with both paws, not sure what to say. She made him feel like an awkward teen all the time. All past experiences tossed out the window to the wind. He opened his mouth, and then shut it again, several times. He was surprised to hear her giggle, a small breathless sound, and when he looked up, she had drawn closer.

"What's so funny?" He groused good naturedly, simply glad she didn't look terrified anymore.

"Us. This." She shrugged. "You look like I feel." She smiled. Boss huffed a laugh and reached out to touch one of her ears, marveling all over again at the buttery texture.

"So, what are we going to do?" He asked quietly.

Daisy exhaled through her nose and pursed her lips, and then made a rash decision. Bolstering her courage, she met his gaze fully. Reaching up slowly she touched his face, fingers sliding along his cheekbone under his eye, across to his jaw. He held still. The room went still. All things outside the two of them ceased to exist. Daisy rose up on the very tip of her hooves and stretched up, her other hand going to Boss' chest for balance. Heart beating madly she closed her eyes and pressed her lips lightly to his cheek. His head followed her down when her spine threatened to pop and her ankles protested the tippy toe stance. Boss' arms went around her and pressed her close, supporting her. His nose tipped and found her ear.

"Leon Ballesteros Altamirano..." He whispered. She opened her eyes in surprise and snuggled her head into the fur at his collar, marveling at the way she fit against him.

"Hi, Leon..." She grinned into his nape. "My name's Daisy... and... I really like you a lot." She breathed. Boss chuckled and she could feel the sound of it rumble through her frame in a wave.

"Hi Daisy... I like you too."