Tank N' Pals

by Wildebeest

The Taste of the City

Chapter 11: The Taste of the City

While his friends were quick to start gulping down their meals, Angel approached his with some apprehension. He was a rather picky eater by nature, and the pungent aroma of the falafel pocket was setting off warning bells in his brain. One cursory sniff was enough to make him recoil. In spite of his instinct to remain cautious, however, his rumbling stomach reminded him that he was in no position to be finicky.

Still, just to be on the safe side, Angel looked up from his meal to see how his friends were reacting to the new dish. Owlowiscious furiously pecked at his meal, trying to mince the falafel into small, manageable chunks. Winona seemed to be enjoying herself, but then again, she was the kind of dog who would happily scarf down whatever you put in front of her. Gummy (as per usual) didn't seem to have any noticeable reaction at all. Opal consumed her meal in her usual manner; with the demeanor of the guest of honor at a fancy dinner party, wordlessly filing morsel after morsel into her mouth and wiping her face clean after every bite. Angel thought he saw a slight smirk forming on Tank's face as he slowly chewed his food, but nothing more. With a good deal of reluctance, he scooped up half a falafel ball into his paw and gave it a bite.

Angel's eyes burst open. As soon as his teeth sunk into the falafel, his tongue was blanketed with a puff of curry and paprika. It felt like a tiny firecracker had gone off in his mouth. Then he felt the warm, tender meat of the falafel tumble down his throat, leaving a trail of moist, creamy hummus in its wake. As he licked traces of hummus off his lips, Angel's tongue picked up the rich yet reserved flavor of the tahini sauce. After a bite of the falafel alone, he was hit with an intoxicating combination of exotic, exquisite taste sensations.

Angel grabbed the falafel pocket with both paws and wolfed it down, overcome with pure, carnal lust. In the midst of his gluttonous frenzy, he failed to notice the looks that his comrades were giving him, which ranged from perplexity to concern to outright disgust.

"Honestly, Angel," said Opal, "you could at least try to show some proper table manners."

Opal failed to get any sort of response from the rude rabbit. With a sigh, she strolled over, took out a handkerchief, grabbed Angel by the ears and started dabbing away at his lips.

"H-hey! What gives?!" Angel protested, trying to squirm out of Opal's grip.

"Hold still. You have sauce and crumbs all over your face, and quite frankly, your eating habits are starting to make me lose my appetite."

"What about Winona?! She's eating sloppily, too!"

"Well, yes, but Winona's a dog. I expect better from you," explained Opal, prompting a dirty look from her canine companion.

After a moment, Opal let go of Angel, tucked the handkerchief back into her fur, and strutted back to her spot. With a resentful grumble, Angel resumed eating, this time making sure to resist the near- overwhelming temptation to shovel the whole thing into his mouth at once.

"Can't say I blame him," said Tank. "I mean, this is... this is something else. I've never tasted anything quite like this before."

"Oh, I concur," said Owlowiscious. "This is quite a remarkable dish."

Opalescence nodded and continued filing bite after bite into her mouth.

"S'alright," said Winona, gulping her last morsel. "Got a bit of a kick to it, but it sure as sugar can't hold a candle to Golden Delicious's apple chutney."

Tank just rolled his eyes.

"Anyways, are y'all ready to go downtown and take out that pet prison?"

Tank sighed. "Winona, I had really hoped you would drop that."

"Drop that?!" she cried. "There's a big ol' bunch o' pets in there that need our help, Tank! We can't just leave 'em!"

"The hell we can't!" Angel scoffed. "Listen, Winona, if this liberation mission is that important to you, then I promise we'll get around to it before we go back home. But I just got my first taste of the city, and I want seconds. NOW."

A moment later, a scrawny stallion in a sea green uniform whizzed by the pets on a bicycle. The smell of fresh melted cheese, tomato sauce, mushrooms and caramelized onions emanated from the stack of boxes poking out of his knapsack. Angel's heart skipped a beat as soon as he got a whiff.

"And there we have it," he said, licking his lips greedily. Gummy (who had long since finished his meal) scooted over, bent down and clamped his jaw down on Angel's tail. Angel smirked, gave Gummy a defiant glare and bounded into the street, dragging the alligator behind him. With Gummy hanging on for the ride, Angel sprinted after the pizzas, letting his sense of smell guide his direction. In just a few moments, the two began to disappear into the distance.

"Get back here, you two!" squawked Owlowiscious. Without a second thought, he propelled himself into the air and took off after them. With a meticulous eye for detail, he tirelessly scanned the streets below him, hoping to get a bead on the reckless rabbit. This shouldn't be too difficult, he thought. After all, how far away could they be? And besides, with my friends covering my flanks, there's no way we could miss-

That's when he realized that none of his friends were following him.

Comments

[Metool Bard]

Hey, Flutters. Guess who isn't Mr. Picky Pants anymore?

Dividing the group like this is an interesting choice. I know what Winona's group is gonna do (she explicitly says it), but I wonder what shenanigans Angel, Gummy, and Owlowicious are gonna get into. Guess we'll have to find out next time (or the time after, if you decide on focusing on Winona's group first).

[TwilightsmyMare]

You live! Woo! And excellent chapter clearly you are a falafel fan. Never tried them myself but you make them sound quite tasty!

[Mayojar77]

Y'know, I just had the distinct idea that the pest would turn into a giant pet-mech. No clue why.

[Alpha Scorpii]

Now we have two stories instead of one. Maybe three, if Owlicious gets lost on his own.

Good! More adventure!

[Green Bird]

*Sees the name of this episode*
*Remembers what happened last episode*
I don't think they need any more food, they just had a falafel.

[Yoshifan30]

Well after that crazy ordeal day went through they have their lunch which it turned out pretty well for them until Angel and gummy left to get the pizza and basically we split up on the other group