Instead of feeling happy, Kevin felt somewhat worried.

The plan itself sounded nice; he used to want to go somewhere for the summer holiday anyway, but he had a job now, and he wasn't sure about leaving it for two weeks. He wished he had paid leave, but since he was a part-timer, he of course didn't have that. Besides, by his rough calculations, going to Westeravne would be rather expensive for him. It would cost as much as or even more than going home and spending the summer holiday there.

“You're usually happy when I ask you to go out." The panther asked him, putting a pair of loose pants on. “What's wrong?"

Kevin rolled on the bed to lie on his front. He propped his elbows to lean against them, then scratched his ear. “Well… uh… how 'bout my job? I mean, I'm gonna be needed even more there during the holiday." His tail waved gently in the air.

“What's your job, anyway?"

“Uh…" His ears went down. Should he tell Octo that? Probably he should since if he did not, Octo wouldn't understand. “Part-time waiter in a bar." Technically he was a naked part-time waiter in a bar but the panther didn't need to know that part.

“Oh…" Octo ruffled his own head fur. “Shit. I hadn't thought of that. Just… um… I'll take care of everything."

His ears perked up at the panther incredulously. “Huh?"

“Yeah, don't worry, I'll take care of that." The panther said carefreely as if it were not a big deal.

Wait, it really was not a big deal to him. Kevin just watched as Octo put a t-shirt on, feeling dumbfounded, offended, glad, but most importantly he felt happy…ish…somewhat. While he was offended that the panther had just thrown his pride out of the window, he was also glad because… well… it was two weeks' worth of pay.

He slumped on the bed and closed his eyes. Who was he kidding? He was a rich lad's boyfriend, so it was bound to happen, despite how much he felt conflicted about that.

Weird; people would usually be happy to have someone rich as their boyfriends. That meant their financial needs wouldn't be much of a problem, hell, they could even leech off their rich boyfriend. Yet, as tempting as that might sound, he still had his pride as an adult wolf. He had to make his own life. If he worked for the panther, that wouldn't be a problem, but…

“Eh, I mean, excuse me, I wasn't trying to sound pretentious." Octo continued, making Kevin turn to look at him. “Apologies, no, I mean, sorry—"

The wolf looked up at him incredulously, then let out a small chuckle. “Drop the casual act. You're bad at it." His tail waved lazily.

Octo looked at him in surprise.

“Just act like the rich dude you are." Kevin said with a smile, sitting up on the edge of the bed. He cringed a bit when his arse hurt—a reminder of what they did a few hours earlier—but he fought the pain and hugged a pillow on his lap instead. “I like you. Hell, I like it when you sound like you can kick the mayor out of his office just by talking."

Scratching his nape, the panther looked away sheepishly. “Uh… thank you, I guess."

“Anyway, that's a nice offer, but you don't have to do it, you know." He laughed good-naturedly. As tempting as that offer sounded, his pride couldn't take it. “I'll do just fine."

“You sure? Based on hearsays I heard that… uh…"

Kevin tilted his head.

“Uh… part-timers live paycheck to paycheck."

The wolf laughed and wagged his tail. Octo's attempt not to sound too spoilt was cute. He sensed the panther's questioning gaze on him, so he looked back up and gave him a hazy grin. “That's not entirely wrong, I guess." He shrugged. “But don't worry, I'll do just fine, babe." His grin turned lewd. “'Sides, I can always fuck you when I feel like it."

“Horny bastard." Octo crossed his arms and gently shook his head. “You sure it's okay, though?"

“Yeah, don't worry. You know what, if you wanna do it, okay fine." No matter how much he hated it, missing two weeks' pay hurt his wallet quite a lot. He might need more clients to make up for it, but he wasn't sure the money could overweigh the guilt.

“So, you'll go?"

“Why not? Summer holiday in Westeravne sounds nice. How much do I gotta pay?"

“I'll handle that."

“Dude."

“I'll handle that, don't worry." The panther sat down next to him and pulled him into his arm, affectionately stroking his shoulder. Kevin just let him do that. “Just think of it as me asking you out on a date… well, it really is. But I also plan to invite the others. Is that okay with you?"

“Who else are you gonna invite, though?"

“Tom, Max, Andy, and Vilkas maybe." Octo shrugged.

“Nah, they're fine. Wonder if we could have an orgy there."

The panther pulled his ear. “Bad wolf."

“Ow ow ow fuck fuck fuck!"

“Does this brain of yours only have sex in it?" He let his ear go.

Kevin groaned, rubbing his abused ear. That really hurt. “Fuck, babe!"

“Now get up. I'll cook dinner."

The red wolf smiled as Octo gave his head a pet before standing up and walking away. At least he would not have to worry about his pay. He could just enjoy their time there. Not bothering to put anything on, Kevin stood up and walked followed the panther.

However, before he went to the living room, he looked out the window, looking for his pride after Octo threw it away.

Lucas put his glass back down, sighing in contentment as the almond milk went down his throat. It was still early in the night, so he didn't really want to drink some alcohol. The clock above showed that it was still a bit before 19. Besides, he just wanted to visit the bar and meet Vilkas and the others. Funnily enough, now he came to the bar more to meet the waiters instead of getting some alcohol and… well… do… stuff…

The coyote just shook the feeling away and leant forward on the counter. On his left, Tom sighed. It was nice that now the grey wolf was more comfortable being here. “I'm not sure. I mean, I had a plan to go to Max's hometown during the summer holiday. But Octo was rather… um… insistent, so… yeah."

Oh, right, Octo invited them to go to Westeravne for the summer holiday. Lucas had no problems with it; while he actually wanted to go to visit his family at first, he would honestly prefer to stay away from Hampstertown for as long as he could. The fact that Octo would pay for this was… a bit excessive in his opinion but if that were what he wanted, then he wouldn't complain.

Kevin shrugged. “That's just Octo."

“I'm sure you can tell, Kev." Vilkas said.

They laughed at that, even Tom couldn't resist a chuckle. The snarkiness was strong on that one.

“Dude, come on? You jealous or something?" Kevin leered.

Vilkas just looked at him, not amused, then looked away with his ears down. Kevin reached out and flicked his ear, earning a slight growl. That was too cute to pass.

Kevin asked him again. “So, you comin' or not, Vil?"

“Yeah, yeah, I'll come." The husky said as his ears went even lower. He then looked away and grumbled under his breath. “Just because he told me to."

Kevin apparently caught that and decided to call him out again. “What was that, Vil?"

“Just because Octo fucking told me to." He said again, looking up at them. It was hard to take him seriously when his tail was wagging, Lucas thought.

And it looked like they thought the same too. They laughed again and Kevin walked to the husky and pulled him into his hold. “Attaboy! Be nice to your daddies!"

“Fuck off!"

“Hey, Lucas, you wanna join some orgy when we get there?"

The coyote spurted his milk back into the glass. Kevin burst out laughing and although Vilkas looked offended by that, he too chuckled along. Lucas reached out for the tissue and wiped his muzzle.

“Kevin, behave." Tom said a bit sternly.

Kevin didn't seem to be bothered by that, though. “You wanna join too, Tom?"

He took a glance at the two topless canines beside him. They were really hot, but whereas Vilkas was a nice guy with a hot body, Kevin was an arsehole with a really hot body. Like, really hot. The coyote took his composure again and looked at that red wolf. “Did you know that you're a walking sin, Kevin?"

Somehow, next to him, Tom choked on his drink, then quickly cleared his throat.

The red wolf grinned at him and flexed his arms. “I mean who can resist this?"

“Vilkas, how did you manage knowing him for so long?"

“I dunno. Eh right, ignoring him is the best course of action."

“Aw, you really gonna just ignore me?"

“So, Vilkas, you're coming along?"

“Yeah, seems nice to spend summer holiday on the beach, though it's South Iceland we're talking about so I'm not expecting Mediterranean summer."

“Oh, come on!"

Tom just watched them, entertained.

Someone came to their group. Lucas looked up, Mr Jack—uh, Mike sat down on the stool next to Tom. The jackal smiled and put the empty glasses down on the counter. “What's with the loudness? You're not flexing again, aren't you, Kev?"

“Mike, help me! Kevin keeps flexing his stupidity!" The husky said.

“Hey!"

“Jeremy! I'm taking five!" Mike said to the bear who acknowledged that, then turned back to them. “So, what's up, mates?"

Kevin dragged a stool to sit next to Vilkas. “We're planning to go to the beach later this summer holiday."

“Nice. Can I come along?"

“Kevin's boyfriend is in charge. We can't say anything." Vilkas said, finishing his drink. Lucas chuckled at the way Vilkas stressed the word 'boyfriend'.

“Aw, too bad."

“Don't worry, Mike. I'll ask him to make another room." Kevin winked. “Don't worry. We'll work out the details later."

“You sure, Kev? I don't want to be a bother."

“Nah, dude, it's fine!"

“Hey, how 'bout me?" Ivri suddenly popped next to Kevin and put the glasses on the counter.

“Fuck no! Get the fuck off."

“Jeez no need to be that rude. Jeremy, two glasses of beer for table 32 and four whiskies for table 12!"

“On it!"

“Where to? Imma prepare my stuff."

Kevin pushed the hyena away. “Fuck off, yeen!"

Ivri just rolled his eyes and went back to the tables to serve customers when Jeremy gave his orders.

Lucas leant closer to Vilkas and whispered. “What was that?"

“You can say they have some kind of rivalry." The husky said.

He nodded, then sat back up again and finished his milk. Looking to the other side, he watched as Tom was sheepishly apologising to Mike for something. Fortunately, the jackal didn't seem to mind. He was looking at the grey wolf and smiled. “Is gód, is gód. E, wilt jé an ymfyling?"

Tom nodded with a small smile. “Bið."

Giving a delighted smile to the wolf, Mike stood up and went behind the counter. Jeremy nudged him a bit, but he just laughed. The jackal took a bottle of almond milk and poured it into Tom's glass. “Biðem we, jé kent Jeremy. Hí 's lit eeh…" he made some gesture with his paws. “Så, in telkning, góðe weðer havem we hydæj, nat?"

“Jah, is gód nøj, eð kent jé Bergsøwen. I nøt þe erlij somer warmþ hwen farlij rejente hålfwæj te hám." The grey wolf shrugged. “Í reken þa somer 's nat nøjelij somer fer nu, e?"

Mike laughed softly. “Þat 's ål wár, swán. Näjer onfortunat, í sæj. Jeþøh, mín nam 's Mike. Hwen jé þårvt áþing kont jé nar mi rópen."

“Þanks, þanks. Em Tom, en þú kan mi þúwen. Bið, is nat míne erste mál eð pleh í infål te bars nat."

“Nan sårgen, wé sind hér góðe lyðer! Belív awæj fråm Kevin, í sæj, hí kan in mále øverstimulaten."

They laughed softly.

Lucas smiled as he watched them. He was sure they would get along just fine. He knew that Mike was a good guy and he would go easy with Tom. For now, he turned back to Kevin and Vilkas who were debating whether they would go there by car, by bus, or by train.

“But it's better! Have you ever gone through the Ysenhalten borderlands? We can stop almost everywhere and you can get those Instaram photos you want!"

“C'mon, Kev! Seriously? It's gonna take us two or three hours of driving! Bloody hell someone wants to drive that long. And we got—one, two, three—eight people on this trip! Even if we get an 8-seat car, don't you see our size? You alone heigh 191, now imagine 8 of us. Bus is better!"

“Psh, there's gonna be plenty of space! Tom is like 176, Mike is 185, Andy is 187, they're gonna be just fine!"

“You're just imagining their heights!"

The coyote sipped his milk as he watched them. Really, shouldn't they discuss the details with Octo? The panther was the one who invited them, after all. They didn't even know how long they would be there or where they were going to be staying while in Westeravne.

Eh, maybe later. He shifted to a more comfortable position on the stool and set down to watch.

“Whoa, you're planning for summer holiday?! Can I come too?!"

Octo put his jacket on after paying for their meals and rolled his eyes. Maybe telling them wasn't really the best course of action—wait, no, maybe telling Mingi wasn't really the best course of action. “We're already full."

“Aw, Octo!"

Silva, his badger workmate, elbowed the otter. “Mingi, you have plans already."

“I'd trash them if I could go with Octo!"

The panther chuckled a little and walked outside. That was still Mingi, alright, trying his hardest to flirt with him. Although, nowadays he just took it as playful banter rather than actual flirting attempts. The way the otter flustered every time he loomed over him was amusing, though.

Taking their own bicycle, Octo only watched as Mingi and Silva continued to talk about the otter's plans. No, the reason he rejected Mingi wasn't that he didn't want him to come, but because this wasn't just a regular holiday, not to mention he already invited six other people—well, seven with Kevin's workmate. The main goal was to keep Tom and Kevin away from Barrowisle during the summer holiday.

Mingi then poked him, making him slow down to talk with him. “I want some gifts!" Thankfully they were the only ones on the bicycle lane this late at night.

“Mingi, what the hell?"

Octo just shrugged dismissively. “Yeah, yeah, I'll get you some sand and rocks."

“Hey!"

“Good, Oct!"

His flat complex came into view. “I'm going left here." He said, pointing towards the street to his complex.

“Oh, right. Goodnight, Octo. Thanks for the meal!" Silva said, smiling.

Mingi pouted at him playfully. “Yeah, night."

The panther nodded and waved his hand as he took a right turn. When he arrived, he went straight to the parking space and parked his bicycle. After locking it, he took the stairs and walked to his flat.

Inside his flat, he took his jacket and shoes off and went directly towards the bedroom. He looked at himself in the mirror and let out a heavy sigh. Really, he was amazed at himself at how he could act normal while inside he was really worried. He had been texting Kevin and Tom every day, making sure they were okay and safe. Fortunately, that wasn't really suspicious because he often texted them anyway.

It was a bit past half to 20. As the panther took his clothes off, he wondered if they had any progress in tracking Red Wolf. He hadn't had time to visit the headquarter. He still thought that this Red Wolf might not deserve this large of an operation, but he was still curious.

Perhaps it was for the better. No time to waste, he thought. He quickly washed his face and dried it. He had a holiday to plan.

He put a t-shirt and a pair of loose pants on before sitting down on the bed, turning his laptop on. Let's see, I need transport and accommodation. He opened the browser and looked for a big enough villa to rent. Hopefully he wasn't too late and there was still a villa he could rent.

Oh, right, he remembered that one villa where he and his family spent some holidays a few years ago. Did his family still own it? He took his phone and called Nicholas. The tiger would know about it.

“Good evening. Zoccarato household. May I help you?"

“Nico, it's me, Octo. Sorry for calling this late, I want to ask a question."

“Oh, mi dispiace, signore. C'è qualcosa che posso aiutare?"

“Sì, I mean, yes." He chuckled a little. He was so used to talking with his family in Italian. “Do you know about that villa in Westeravne where we spent our summer holiday some years ago?"

“Ah, yes, sir. That one."

“Is that villa still ours?"

“I'm afraid no, sir. Your father has sold it because we have never gone there for almost five years since you went to Barrowisle."

Oh, too bad. “Do you know if it's still available for rent or something?"

“I don't think so, sir. Last time I heard from the new owner, the villa is to be repurposed as a hotel. It may have been heavily reconstructed."

“Ah, okay. Thank you, Nico. Again, sorry for calling on such short notice."

“Nonsense, sir. Always a pleasure to help!" The tiger chirped happily in that familiar way of his.

Despite himself, Octo smiled. “Good evening, Nico."

“Good evening, sir."

He put his phone down and sighed, then continued looking for a villa for rent.

After about twenty minutes of searching, he found one that seemed quite good. It was not far from the beach and large enough for all eight of them. It was also not very expensive.

…wait, how much should a villa cost to be considered expensive?

The panther facepalmed. Whether he liked it or not, he was still pretty much spoilt. He didn't really like it when his friends called him out as a rich kid.

Then again, with this whole affair of paying for his friends' holiday, he was sure he came out as spoilt anyway.

The panther looked again at the villa in the tab, then compared it to other options. It did seem quite cheap compared to them. This one was a private villa, all for them. They would need to cook for themselves but he didn't mind, and he was sure they wouldn't mind.

Oh, it had an option for personal chefs and waiters.

But, eh, maybe not. He was very confident in his cooking skills anyway, and if he got tired, they had Tom and Max to cook.

His finger hovered over the Reserve Now button. The price was 7.735 euros for two weeks, including two electric motorcycles for rent and all that usual stuff. It only had 3 bedrooms, though, so they had to manage.

It would be enough, anyway. It had a private pool that directly looks over the beach, and he liked that.

He put the reservation and put his card details in, then did the final rounds of payment. Just to be safe, he requested that the staff who would manage the villa during his stay say that it was his family villa. After a while, he received an email that his reservation had been made. He read the email again to make sure everything was correct, then closed the tabs.

Accommodation, done, now transport.

His phone went with a call and he picked it up after he saw who was it. “Evening, Tom."

“Hello, Oct! I just want to ask about your plan. When are we leaving?"

“In a week from now, that sounds good? We'll be there for two weeks, D+2 from Midsummer from 28 June till 11 July. Don't worry about accommodation, I'll handle it."

“Oct…"

He smiled. “Don't worry, Tom. I have a question, though, do you think we should go there by train or car or bus?"

“Uh… I'm fine with any. Wait, I'll get Max. Max, here!" The voice then switched to Max. “Yo, 'sup panther?"

“Max, do you think we should go there by train or car or bus?"

“Eh? I mean, I don't mind by train but…" The dog answered sheepishly. “Isn't it expensive? I mean, it's summer holiday. Tickets can get expensive. We can drive or get a bus there and it's gonna take us… two hours maybe? I dunno, never drove till Westeravne."

“Don't worry about that, I'll handle all the financial stuff."

“Octo…"

“Just think of it as my gift for your eight monthversary."

Max laughed embarrassedly over the line. “Well, uh… if you want to put it that way. But for real though, accommodation alone is enough, dude. I don't want you to spend for all of this; we don't mind paying."

“Max, it's really okay. I don't mind all of this." He shrugged. “It's a family villa anyway, so it's not like I'm renting one." That was a lie, but they didn't need to know that.

“Well… thanks, I guess. But really, I think cars should be okay. How many cars do we have, though?"

“Think we need two or more. Andy already got one, just one more."

“Lucas got one. I'll ask him if we can borrow it. Wait, he's coming along, isn't he?"

“Yeah, he is. I'm sure he won't mind that."

“Cool. Eh, create a group chat or something to tell the others."

“I'll do that. Okay then, cars it is. Good evening, Max."

Max laughed softly. “Evening, Oct."

Transport, done. He'd have to ask Lucas if they could borrow his car, but he was sure the coyote wouldn't mind since he was coming along anyway. It was just a 2-hour drive; he drove for longer than that.

Maybe it seemed like he was showing off to his friends, but he wasn't trying to do that. He didn't care how expensive the trip would be, it was a small price to pay for Kevin and Tom's safety. As long as they were not in Barrowisle during the summer holiday, he wouldn't mind.

Now, with that settled, he opened OurTube and settled down to watch some videos.

Notes:

“Biðem we, jé kent Jeremy. Hí 's lit eeh… Så, in telkning, góðe weðer havem we hydæj, nat?" = “(We're) sorry, you know Jeremy. He's a bit eeh… So, anyway, good weather we're having today, eh?"

“Jah, is gód nøj, eð kent jé Bergsøwen. I nøt þe erlij somer warmþ hwen farlij rejente hålfwæj te hám. Í reken þa somer 's nat nøjelij somer fer nu, e?" = “Well, it's good enough, but you know Barrowisle. I was enjoying the early summer warmth when suddenly it rained halfway home. I reckon (that) summer's not summer enough for now, eh?"

“Þat 's ål wár, swán. Näjer onfortunat, í sæj. Jeþøh, mín nam 's Mike. Hwen jé þårvt áþing kont jé nar mi rópen." = “That's all true, mate. Really unfortunate, I say. Anyway, my name's Mike. If you need something, you can just call me."

“Þanks, þanks. Em Tom, en þú kan mi þúwen. Bið, is nat míne erste mál eð pleh í infål te bars nat." = “Thanks, thanks. I'm Tom, and you can just use thou with me (=don't me so formal with me). Sorry, it's not my first time but I'm still not used to bars yet."

“Nan sårgen, wé sind hér góðe lyðer! Belív awæj fråm Kevin, í sæj, hí kan in mále øverstimulaten." = “No worries, we're good guys here! Stay away from Kevin, I advise, he can overstimulate sometimes."

By the way, “Barrowisle" in South Icelandic is “Bergsøwen".