Devon was making his way towards the Elf housing to ask who’d be willing to help him get an early start on the fences while the Holstaur girls that already ate were getting the equipment for digging the holes for the fence stakes. He was passively eating one of the burritos he managed to snag before he left as he walked there. While he would’ve liked to stay and eat near the house, he wanted to get an early start on the fencing. That, and he’d rather not keep getting jostled around the house as he was trying to eat. As he was approaching the Elf housing, the sound of receiving a message came from his wrist.
Devon tapped his watch as the message was displayed on a holographic screen. It read, “Morning Dev, seeing as how I didn’t spot ya in the house before I left, my guess is that you already left to recruit help for the fences if you hadn’t already. Thanks again for that btw. When you’re done asking for volunteers could you send some of the Elves over my way? I already got Hannah and some of the other Holstaur girls coming over with me to the Centaur stables housing. Thanks, James”. It was strange how sometimes he called or messaged at the most coincidental times. Devon replied with a simple greeting and yes to sending over some Elves.
He turns the knob on the door and is instantly hit with the smell of Elven spices, herbs, and drinks. It’s not hard to spot a group of Elves sitting at one of the tables finishing up breakfast. Both a male and female Elf spot Devon as he takes off his shoes, beckoning him to come over. “Hey, Devon, long time no see”, said Cameron the male Elf sitting next to the female Elf that also beckoned him. “Yes it's been at least a week since you last came in, you need some help with work?”, said Alavara. “Yup picked up a job from James. I need some people to help me redo some of the fencing and James needs some people to help with the reconstruction of the Centaur stables. Does anyone want to volunteer to help out?” Cameron stood up, his 6 foot 5 frame walking over to the kitchen, putting his and his sister’s dishes in the sink. “Sure I can go with ya. Hey, sis want to come with us, or are you gonna help out James?”. Alavara stretches in her chair and sighs before giving an answer. “Nah, I think I'll head over and help James, besides I’ve been wanting to talk to Lisa and James for a bit.”, she replied. Devon and Cameron both shook their heads in understanding. “That’s alright Vara, just take about a group of twenty with you and we should be good”, said Devon. The Elven girl shook her head in response and walked off to one of the other rooms to gather people to help out in the construction job. Cameron turned to his friend and said, “While Alavara looks for people to help with James, I’ll gather some of the people and meet you over by the fences. By the way, where are we starting anyways?”. It hadn’t occurred to Devon that where the starting location was, nor did James provide it. “Actually thinking about it, James didn't give me a starting location. Some of the Holstaur that he asked to help might know but I’ll give him a quick call and ask him.” the Elven male nodded, as the pair went their separate ways. Devon stepped outside and called up his friend. With a few button presses on his watch, a video call rang up with a picture of his face as he waited for James to answer. Luckily, he didn’t have long to wait as his friends' faces animated on the holographic screen that gets projected above the watch. The sound of hammers and saws can be heard fading away in the background as the speaker steps away. “Oh hey, Devon been meaning to call you. Is this about where to start replacing the fence?”, James says. “Yeah, I’m at the Elves' housing right now and I do kinda need to know where to start.”, Devon says. A pair of Elves walk out of the house as James starts to answer. “Yeah, my bad on that part. I completely blanked on telling you where to start. It starts as the original cow pens Maria set up and it should end at the beginning of the vine fruit fields. Ya shouldn’t need to go further than that, considering that any fencing past that is entirely new.” Devon looked off in the direction of the old fencing, it’s not that far, but it is a long way to go to the fruit fields. "Alright, I’ll head right over. I’ve got Cameron helping me and his sister is gonna head over with a group to you guys.” James breathes a sigh of relief as more people start walking out of the house behind Devon. “Awesome, send them over as soon as you can. I gotta head back so talk to you later Dev”, with that James ended the call. About 5 minutes later, two groups of twenty Elves were gathered outside of the main house as Devon was explaining today's jobs.”And the stopping point for the fence group is going to be the beginning of the fruit fields. Does anyone have a question?” Several hands went up after he asked that. He pointed to one of the hands in the back. “Yeah um not really related to the jobs but you wouldn’t happen to know who this Lola person is would you? I keep getting messages from her saying she’s challenged me to a fight?” said the voice in the back, along with other people saying they got the same thing. That wasn’t a question he expected to answer this morning. “Oh, she’s a tiny person that lives in the main farmhouse. My guess is that you nearly stepped on or insulted her when you visited and she wants to get revenge for that". Both crowds went *oh* from his explanation. He sighed and said, “Look, when you get the chance try apologizing to her and hope she’s in a forgiving mood. For now, let's get to work”. Devon led his group of Elves to Maria’s original pens. In the distance, he could see some of the Holstaurs already finish dropping off the last of the timber for the fencing. One taller than most of them there waved for him to come her way. He told the Elf group to talk with the other people there and divide into groups so they can start. Devon then went over to the lone Holstaur to see what she wanted. “Heya Dev, nice to see backup has arrived”, said Janet, the 8 and a half foot tall Holstaur standing over him. He peered up at his friend, barely able to see up past her enormous breasts to her face. “Yeah yeah, I know we’re late. James didn’t tell me where to start until I called him at the Elven housing. Anyways, how’ve you been Janet?”, he said in reply. “I’ve been doing alright, been writing that guy that I grew up with back in New Central City”, Janet said, huffing a little frustrated. Devon remembered that she was one of the few Holstaurs on the farm that grew up in an actual city before moving to the farm. Most of the reasons for moving from a city vary, but the two main reasons are usually not large enough living space or to get away from the bigotry of Anti-Hybrid groups. “Oh really, what did he say when he wrote back?”, he politely asked as he gestured towards the others starting their work. She sighed and walked with him as she talked about her friend.”Dameon said that he’s been doing well and that he misses me a lot. He’s been offered a ton of jobs from different hospitals since there are not many people who know how to do medical services for both humans and Hybrid people”, Janet finished saying with a sigh and a slight worried look in her eyes. “Hm, has he gotten any offers for something close to the farm? Maybe you can visit him or visa versa?”, ask Devon as he and Janet picked up their tools and joined the others in their work. “Well, that’s the kicker. He hasn’t told me where he’s wanting to go work either. If only he told me some options then I’d at least be able to help him choose” Janet said as she casually pulled out one of the old wooden posts in front of her. Devon clips off the old barbed wiring and put it into a nearby wheel barrel. “I’m sure there’s a reason for him not telling you the names. Maybe he wants to keep it a surprise for you”, he suggested. “Mmm, I don’t know. He knows I don’t like surprises.” The Holstaur replied. The work continued for a few hours at a steady pace for both groups. Around 10:30 am, Devon decided that it would be a good time for half of his group to have a break. He rang the work bell that the Holstaur brought along with the tools and equipment. Once the bells ringing was heard, half of the Elves and Holstaurs placed their tools on the wagon that holds the old lumber. They then wandered not too far from the work site as they sat down and rested in what shade they could find, some even using shrinking watches or magics to use others as shade or beds. Janet went and sat under one of the few trees that didn’t hit her horns when she walked and rested away her weariness. Devon, in contrast, was still working with the other half of the group silently thinking of some way to help ease his friends’ worries. The first half of the groups’ brake finally ended after 30 minutes and they traded places with the second half. Devon wiped the sweat from his forehead and placed his tools on the old fence wagon. He spotted Janet hanging back looking more worried than she did before the break. “Hey Janet what’s wrong, you seem worse off than you did before your break”, Devon said looking at his friend. “I just got an email from Dameon. He said that just got done with an interview and was immediately accepted into the position he was dreaming for but he won’t tell me exactly what he means by that. Its… frustrating”, she explained. Devon could only respond with, “Look this might not be that bad, just call him after we’re done working and ask him about the details”. “Hm, I hope you’re right about this Dev. I really hope so”, Janet said before starting her work again. Many hours passed before they finally finished their work. With the two groups working together, they finished the job before dinner was starting to be made. Devon thanked the Elves and Holstaurs for their hard work and told them they could go back to their places. Janet walked with Devon back to the main farmhouse so they could shower and get something to eat. As they were walking up the path there were two unfamiliar figures standing on the porch, presumingly wondering how to open such a large door. As the pair got closer Janet gasped and started charging towards the two strangers. One of them wisely jumped to the side to avoid while the other took the full brunt of the charge. Once the dust settles, Janet is seen tightly hugging a guy, burying him between her breasts. She shouts, “Dameon! I’m so happy to see you! What are you doing here?!” Devon could only hear a muffled voice come from Janet’s breasts as he helped the other person up. This one was a woman with a tanned skin tone. Janet spoke before he could ask her for a name, “So you met up with Maria and Max by accident as they were taking a break from getting to Old Central City and you guys got to talking, so she hired you once she knew you know me and that you know how to do medical stuff for Hybrids and normal people? Talk about a stroke of luck, here let’s get inside so you can tell me more about it, huh?”, she said as she stood up and kept him buried between her breasts as she walked in. The other stranger spoke up saying, “Well I didn’t expect to be dodging a tall Cowgirl in the first hour I came here. Anyways, what’s your name stranger?”. Devon turned to her and said while sticking his hand out, “Hi, I’m Devon. I help with offhand jobs around the farm. Who’re you?”. She took his hand and shook it and answered, “Hi my name’s Emilee. Maria met up with me after Dameon did because she set up a meeting for an on-farm vet. From now on I’ll be helping check-up and take care of the farm animals”. He smiled and said “Awesome, want to go inside and get something to eat? Someone should be making dinner by now”. “Hehe, sure thing I’m starving”, she said as Devon opened the door and they both walked in.