Chapter Text
The morning arrived, birds chirped outside like normal. Anthony sits up on his bed, eyes still half closed. He groans. He wants to fall back and sleep again.
The fox reluctantly gets up and stretches, yawning. He walks to his wardrobe and pulls out a red vest and a striped, collared shirt, the same tone as the vest. He pulls the shirt and the vest over his head, ruffling up his fur a bit in the process. He does his makeup and finds decent pants. He’s planning to go see his friend, Xic, in Summer Forest. He flips over his bag and leaves. He hopes Xic will understand what he’s feeling, because he, himself, sure doesn’t.
He arrives in Colossus, straight up RUNNING to Xic’s home rock. He bangs on the ground with his fist and regrets it immediately. His paw hurt. No response. “Xic? Are you in there?” Anthony calls out and waits. “It’s me, Anthony.” The neon green snake crawls out of a small hole, raising a brow. “Anthony?” He nods. “I uh… Would you mind listening to me… rant a bit?” “As long as it doesn’t take too much of my time”, Xic replies.
Anthony crawls under the rock behind Xic. As he finally pushes himself through to the small hole under, his fur is all covered in mud. “Dude, you’re like, shit brown right now”, Xic giggles. Anthony frowns a bit, brushing off the dirt from his fur. “That sucks”, he says, unamused. Xic stops laughing. “Killjoy…” he mutters. “I guess my house isn’t made for people with fur”, he jokes. “So what’s your deal?”
Anthony sits, his posture slumped. “I’m unsure about some feelings-” “Don’t you dare start getting emotional”, Xic cuts off. Anthony looks up at Xic offendedly. “I’m not sure if I hate Ripto”, he says with a sigh. Xic takes a moment to understand what he means. “You mean you think you don’t hate the guy who’s destroying Avalar and killing multiple people like they don’t mean more than ants?” Anthony stares at him. “I… I guess when you put it like that…”
“So the question is, what do you think are your options now?” Xic asks, leaning against the dirt wall with his mechanical arms. “I guess… I could either ignore my feelings, or-” Xic silences him by raising a finger against his mouth. “NO. You are not ignoring your feelings. Bottling up is never a good idea”, he says, tapping Anthony on his lip. He straightens up. “I think you should either talk to him about it OR try to get a job from him”, Xic offers.
“Why would I get a job from him?” “Because, my dear fox, you could spend more time with him that way, and subtly too”, Xic explains, patting him on the shoulder. Anthony leans slightly away. “Like, being his butler or something?” Anthony asks. “Yes! Or guard dog, you name it”, Xic laughs, backing away. “Sounds like a sweet idea, no?” Anthony pauses, thinking about the choices laid on the table for a moment. “I… I guess working for him isn’t such a bad idea…” he admits.
Anthony crawls out and shakes off the dirt once outside. Xic pushes his head and arms through, leaning on his hands. “I think you and Ripto would be kind of cute. You’re like, total opposites of each other”, he says. “True…” Anthony adjusts his bag. “Do I not get anything for helping you?” Xic groans, dropping his head onto the ground. “You live under a rock and barely talk to me. Do you really want something?” “Dragon egg.” “What?” Anthony stares at him. “You want a dragon egg?” Xic nods. Anthony stays silent for a long time before backing away in discomfort. “Oh come on, you know I eat them!” Xic calls out as Anthony pads away quickly.
Anthony arrives at Ripto’s castle. He straightens his posture. He can’t breathe. His heart is pounding. What’s happening to him?
He knocks on the door once. Twice. Thrice… before Ripto opens. Ripto looks up at him in confusion. “You again?” Anthony nods nervously. He opens his mouth to speak but nothing comes out. Now he’s just embarrassed. “Speak up, I can’t hear ya”, Ripto grunts, looking at him in disapproval. Anthony blushes. “Uhm-” He still can’t say it. “I… Would like to ask….” “Yes? Spit it out”, Ripto commands. Anthony’s sweating. He never acts like this, so why now? He stutters, badly. “I-I would- I would like t-to ask… If I could, perhaps… work for you?” Ripto cringes at his stuttering, but crosses his arms. “And what do YOU get from it, exactly?” he asks.
Anthony pauses, noticing the slight cringe. “Company? See, sir, I’m a very… lonely person”, he admits, trying his best to sound convincing. Ripto thinks for a moment. “And why me, exactly? I don’t get many people asking to work for me just to be in my company, you know”, he says. Anthony sweats. “Well… Uh… No one really seems like they want me to work for them either?” he says, giving Ripto a strained, nervous smile. “And you’re not secretly plotting against me or anything?” Ripto asks, amused. “No-?” Anthony stutters, still smiling anxiously. Ripto steps aside. “So what job, exactly, do you want to work?” he asks. “Butler? Guardian? Spy?” “Definitely not a spy”, Anthony says immediately, as he steps inside, taking off his coat. “I’m sort of a no sides kind of guy, you get me?” Ripto raises a brow but ignores. “Well?” Anthony thinks of his options. “I think I’ll go with the job of a butler”, he admits.
Ripto leads Anthony to the kitchen, which was probably the messiest kitchen Anthony had seen. “Your first task is to clean this kitchen. If you do well, I’ll decide on whether you stay or not”, Ripto commands and leaves Anthony alone. Anthony looks around the kitchen, wondering how he’s gonna clean all of this, especially when he’s never been here and doesn’t know where everything goes. Anthony sighs, plopping in his earbuds. He puts on some jazz and hopes he’ll hear Ripto through the music if he calls.
He starts by washing the dishes. He hates getting his paws wet, but the sooner it’s done, the better. Next, he puts the dishes away into the cabinets, trying his best to figure out which dish goes to what stack. Then he cleans up the counters, swiping and organizing. Once he’s done, but Ripto’s nowhere to be seen, he sits on the counter, leaning on the cabinets. He kind of liked that. He swings his paws in rhythm as he listens to his jazz, tail lounging between his legs.