Work Text:
"Attention Nyamco employees, this is your chief executive officer Goro."
Lazily lifting up his head off his desk, the mouse's gaze went to the overhead speaker behind him. His eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. Something felt odd about the sudden and random announcement. The cat had already given one when the work day started, so another was surely out of nowhere. It's as if he had been planning something sinister and just decided to set his plan in motion.
"We have someone joining your ranks as an employee, so may I please ask everyone to report to the courtyard to welcome them into our lovely family?"
Mappy groaned and stood up from his chair. "Do we REALLY have to? I bet it's just some other annoying p-"
"I know you're sitting there complaining, Mappy! You're lucky you still have your job, you know. Either way, just drag yourself over there NOW!"
Stepping out of his office, with arms angrily folded, the former police officer was met with his co-worker Dig Dug waiting by the door, wielding his drill in hand. A small hole was drilled in the solid floor near the employees. Placing his tool on his back and brushing off dust on his gloves, the blue-skinned worker waved at Mappy. "Hey, Maps. Did you hear Goro's a-" "Yeah, yeah, I heard it, dude. And frankly, I don't really care. If Goro wasn't forcing everyone to go, I would've stayed right in my office. But, eh, let's just go to the courtyard like he said, or he'll get annoying to me about it."
As the duo walked through the building's halls, other employees piled out of their offices to head to the same destination. After a brief moment of awkward silence, Dig Dug spoke up, playing around with the wire to his drill. "So who do you think it is? The new employee?" Popping up from behind the two, another co-worker Skykid exclaimed, "Oh gee, whoever it is, I'm sure they're real nice!" "You think everyone's nice, Skykid. Either way, it's probably no one important or someone in kudos with Goro. I don't trust anyone he hires, especially since I know he's planning something." The driller slightly tilted his head at his friend's comments. "Mappy, maybe we should wait to see them to judge. Hey, who knows if they're cool like us? Not EVERYONE Goro allows to work here is a complete lunatic. And look, we're here now! We can find out for ourselves, 'ey?"
Balloons scattered the hall leading to the courtyard and confetti was sprinkled all around. Chattering and music could be heard from the inside of the room, as well as the smell of food. The bird poked at a balloon that was launched into the air and then smiled at the others. "Gee, they went all out for this new fella! They must be real special.. Wow, do I smell nachos?!" On the wall above the double doors was a banner that read "Welcome, Mapico!" "Huh, their name is quite similar to yours, Maps. Now I'm gonna have to make seperate nicknames for you two if we do get along and become friends." The drill-wielder chuckled, as Mappy's eyes widened slightly. Oh no. It couldn't be. Not them. Not /her/.
Opening the doors, the security guard's optics darted around in search of Goro. He spotted the other near the center, standing at a podium. Racing over, his expression filled with anger. "GORO, you sly cat! You need to explain why you hired my e-" "Now, now, Mappy. Wait for your turn to yell obnoxiously at me. I need to start the welcome ceremony." Tapping the mic to get every employees' attention, the CEO spoke up. "Thank you for coming, everyone! Sure, your jobs were on the line if you didn't come either way, but I hope you're enjoying the food. Make sure to leave some for our newbie. And me. Oh, speaking of the newbie... Here they are! Everyone meet my new secretary Mapico!" Stepping out from the crowd was a mouse dressed in a soft colored casual work outfit, yellow earrings and black dress shoes, with a clipboard in hand. "It's nice to meet everyone! If any of you ever need anything or just need to talk, I'm here. Make sure to file any paperwork to my office or call my office number if you need to schedule an appointment to talk to Goro."
The crowd murmured amomg each other in approval, until the mouse spoke loudly. "Goro, what happened to Albatross? I thought he was your secretary. Did he finally quit? Thank God if he did, he was weird." The boss released a hearty laugh and gave his arch-enemy a small pat on the back. "Why yes, he left, but only for a vacation back home to spend time with family. But he was an ASSISTANT, not a SECRETARY." "They're basically the same thing, Goro! And also, YOU!" His hand soon pointed at the newcomer, eyes squinting in slight anger. "You sly cat, did you REALLY hire my ex-partner from the Micro-Police?! .. W-why did you apply here?! You could've found anything else, but you decided HERE?!" Mapico noticed the shocked expressions of the employees and giggled softly. "Well, it's nice to see you too, Mappy. I see you are the same stubborn mouse I once knew and loved." "You... You know each other?! And had a little romance?! Why, I just hired her, cause I thought she would be a better competent mouse than you. But this is even better! I got two former Micro-Police workers who were in love now in my building to figure out and stop any of my schemes! Oh, this will be a perfect game of cat-and-mouse!" The secretary tilted her head at the last sentence, but before she could ask anything, she got jumped by people trying to introduce themselves. Giving a small glare to his enemy, the former police officer stormed off to the punch table, with both Dig Dug and Skykid trailing behind.
"Wait, wait! Hey, hey, Mappy. You should introduce Skykid to her, since you already know her so well. And introduce maybe me too, cause she might not .. remember me from back then." No response. "Uhhhh, Maps?" Waving a hand in front of his friends face, the driller's expression turned confused, soon noticing the mouse's gaze on the other rodent. "Ooohh. Something's up with you and seeing her again, huh? What's the deal?" "Wh- Nothing! It's just.. Wow, she looks like she has been doing a lot well since we both got kicked out. And it's surprising she chose NYAMCO of all places to apply. And for us to both work here now.." "You could say it was destiny of lov-" Quickly covering the other's mouth, Mappy quickly shook his head. "NO, NO! Dig Dug, this isn't like that! Look, we may have had a .. thing. But, it got in the way of work! And plus, I don't like.. that gross stuff anymore." "Awww, wait, Mappy had a little girlfri-" "Skykid, I swear to the stars, I will end yo-"
"Hey, do you mind moving slightly?"
The group's eyes shifted toward the feminine mouse standing in front of them, gesturing to the punch bowl. "Uh, right, right, sorry. Go ahead." The former Micro-Police officer pushed his friends aside for the other to get her drink. Nothing could be heard except the chattering of the other employees, until the male rodent spoke up. "So .. um," the mouse said while fidgeting a red cup, "how have you-" "Yooo, Mapico! I'm Dig Dug! I'm Mappy's best friend! You probably remember me, right? I was around back during those Micro-Police days.. Oh, and this is Skykid, Nyamco's resident nice guy." "Oh, yes, I remember you, Diggy. It was always fun to see what hijinx you and Mappy cooked up. And it's very nice to meet you, Skykid. I always believe every place needs a ray of pure good, and you seem to fill that void." The driller's face lit up at the nickname given to him and the two friends circled around the new employee, asking as many questions as they can. Mappy sighed and walked away to allow the others to annoy her instead of him, unaware that she noticed his depature from the group.
Sitting down on a folded chair far from the crowd, the mouse rolled his eyes at the sight of other employees swarming around the newbie. "Why, Mappy, why the long face? You ARE happy to see her, hm?" Jumping out of his chair, the security officer turned to glare at the CEO standing behind him. "What do you want, Goro? Came here to bother me like always?" "Oh, nothing, nothing .. I just wanted to see how you are feeling. You see, Mappy, I'm just extremely happy due to the newly-discovered coincidence that you and Mapico were silly police partners! Makes this whole solving-what-crimes-I-will-committ thing fun. And who knows if your love for each other will mess everything up and I win this round!" Mappy groaned at the response, tightening his grasp around his drink. "What's with everyone and saying we are in love? WE ARE NOT! We haven't seen each other in a few years! Sure, it is great to be around her again .. B-but IT'S NOTHING! Now, if you excuse me, I have nothing to do here now that I know who your stinking secetary is.. I'm going.. outside! And don't think I'm not going to figure out what exactly you're planning!" Before exiting, he grabbed his enemy's plate of food as supposed revenge and stormed out of the courtyard.
Resting on the grass near the front of the company building, the former officer released a sigh of relief, before picking up a cookie from the stolen plate and laying back. Munching on the treat and closing his eyes, a soft voice was heard near. "Hello, Mappy." Optics darted open, as the police officer glanced at the figure looming over him. "Oh. Hi. I.. didn't know you were standing there.. ominously. Shouldn't you be .. uh .. shouldn't you be inside talking to everyone?" "Oh, no, no, as much as everyone is kind here, all the attention was scaring me. Even if I just wanted a slice of cake, everyone stared like I was some sort of zoo animal. Is it.. always like that?" "Unfortunately, yes. Well, for me, it's Goro always watching me like a hawk." Sitting besides her former ex-crime-fighting partner, the mouse smiled brightly down at him, causing the other to gain a small red tint of blush on his face. "I.. It's really nice to talk to you again," he started, "but can you ask something? Why did you choose Nyamco out of every possible career? You always would have made a wonderful baker. Can't forget how you always brought homemade sweets to the office for everyone. You could've done that instead of being stuck in this cat-and-mouse game with me and Goro."
Sighing, the secretary picked at a small flower. "Well, I came here because of you." "Wait, huh? Me?" Mappy sat up quickly, giving Mapico a small confused expression. Was she just saying that, or did she really mean that? "I saw the ad for the secretary position in a newspaper while I was having breakfast at a cafe. And there was a gut feeling that told me you were working here at Nyamco, considering this IS Goro we're talking about. So well.. you can figure out the rest. I applied for the job and got accepted very quickly. And now I'm here and we old work partners can be together again. Solving crime again! The same old Mappy and Mapico duo." The female interlocked paws with the other, the now visible blush darkening on his face. "I.. Yeah.. Yeah! With your help, I can find out what Goro is planning very easily. We were always so great at figuring things out and we took care of so many crooks back in the Micro-Police force." "Exactly! See, this is why I loved you, Maps. Can .. I call you that? I don't know if Diggy would like me calling you the same nickname he does for you.."
His heart fluttered with joy. It felt nice to be around someone who understood him, who wasn't strange like the others. Someone he knew and worked well with. A small bit of him was also filled with butterflies, as newfound feelings sparked. Mappy quickly embraced her, smiling brightly. "Of course you can. It's nice to have you back, partner." Surprised at the gesture, Mapico simply giggled. "Yeah, yeah, I understand, silly. Now, we should probably get started on figuring out what Goro now has planned. Get a head start, you know?" The sidekick let herself go, stood up and headed for the front door, before getting interrupted. "Hey, would you maybe like to go to a diner after we search right now? Not like a cheesy romantic date, eugh! Only just so.. we can begin to piece everything together and .. also catch up." "Oh... Yes, that would be nice. Now hurry up, the evidence won't find itself."
Following the new secetary back inside the building, the mouse locked eyes with his friends, who seemed slightly worried. "Oh, there you guys are! I was worried something bad happened to you, Maps. You kinda.. ran off without telling us where you went." "He's okay. It just seemed he needed a minute and I went only to check on him and catch up a little. Right, Mappy?" The female glanced over at the other mouse, who was mid in thought about her. "Oh. Oh! Right, yeah, she's telling the truth. We're planning to go get a head start on decoding Goro's plan.. Actually, now that I think about it... Mapico, since you're the new secetary after Albatross, maybe you can find clues in the old office?" Mapico slighty shrugged and started towards the hall that led to the desired destination, only giving a small wave as she departed.
"Sooooo, what did you two talk about back there that made you all like.. that?" Snapping out of another trance, the security officer glared at the drill-wielder. "Mind your business, Dig Dug. It's things that should only be kept between me and her." "Aww, c'mon, Mappy! Don't be like that! We wanna know." "Skykid, please, I already have so much on my mind. I don't think my co-workers knowing I MIGHT have small feelings for an ex-crime fighting partner is something I want to think about." Starting for his own office, the friends glanced at each other, before Dig Dug spoke up. "Okay, fine, dude. We won't bother you. But don't go do your weird crime solving stuff yet! They're serving cake!" Pausing in his tracks, Mappy turned around. "Is Goro still in the courtyard?" "Uhh, yeah? Why?..." The former police officer chuckled, making his way back to the celebration. "I want to see his reaction when I push his stinking face into the cake. Payback for making me have to deal with this whole mess and now dragging someone else into it." "Aw, heck yeah! That would be funny to see! Let's go!"