Chapter Text
The first day of summer was a scorcher!
That’s how Howdy described it as he offered an extra bag of ice to Wally. The little rolling cooler was full of ice, cold drinks, and a few apples.
Hot days required shady spots and cold treats. Who would want to stay indoors when the sun shined so brightly?
Barnaby dozed under the shade of a large maple. He’d called himself an ‘underdressed hot dog’ and plopped down with little else to say. But with his fluff and the heat? It made sense to nap the day away.
But for Sally and Julie? Tag! Standard issue tag, nothing as intense as King of Spain or Bowling Ball Tag. Too hot for something so strenuous! It wasn’t long before Wally and Nemo joined in.
“Gotcha!” Nemo called out, patting Wally on the back and doing a hairpin turn to get away.
“Ha. I’m it.” Truth be told, tag was the only game he lost on purpose. The only puppets around that could outrun Wally were Howdy and Eddie.
The pompadoured puppet tagged Sally and dashed away with a loud, “Ha! Ha! Ha!” that wasn’t quite right. He was still learning, after all!
The star all but tackled Julie to the ground to tag her. The pink puppet popped up and immediately slapped Nemo’s nearest arm. “Gotcha!”
The rabbit ran before stumbling a little. He looked horribly off balance in the heat of the day. He bent in the blistering sun, hands on knees and ears flat back. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was rough panting.
Wally paused, hands raised and pupils wide. His smile curled, tightened with the sudden urge to help.
“Oop. Hold…” Nemo lifted a paw, finger raised. “Hold- hold the phone-” he flopped over onto one side before shifting to lay belly up. “Oof.”
Oh… oh no. Wally was there in a flash, skidding to a stop by the fallen rabbit. “Nemo, can you hear me?” He glanced down at Nemo’s spotted legs… oh, sweet mercy. He just fell. Not like how Eddie fell sometimes, just a tumble. Just a normal tumble.
Nemo Tumbles, falling down, kinda like that song with the bridge. It’d be funny if the fall hadn’t scared the stuffing out of Wally!
The rabbit groaned, eyes unseeing as they opened. “What happened?”
Wally kneeled, brows knit. “You fell. Are you hurt?”
“Mm… it’s too hot out.”
“Well, it is a scorcher today.” He’d taken off the cardigan! Rolled up his sleeves! Thank goodness for layers or he’d be toast! But, the bunny. “You overheated?”
“Too fluffy.” A paw rose from where it lay and flapped somewhere around his stomach. “Too darn fluffy.”
“No such thing.” He was perfectly fluffy!
Nemo groaned again, maybe trying to roll over, maybe trying to get up, but he just… wiggled forlornly on the ground and went still. “Lookit my belly and say that to me, sweety.”
Sweety? Had… Nemo gotten so hot he forgot the nickname he’d made for the little darling? Oh, this was bad, if that was the case!
Frank, who’d donned a sunhat and watched from the shade, was the first one over. They frowned, brow rumpled at the sight of the rabbit on the ground. “Well, I did warn you. Stay in the shade.”
“Ugh. Can’t play tag in the shade!”
“You and Barnaby are too fluffy to play hard in this sort of weather. Next time, take a nap with him instead!”
“Naps are good.” But the yellow puppet’s tone was flat as his mouth.
“Fur ball butt! No!” The pink monster puppet hurtled towards them, only stopping when she grabbed Wally off the ground and spun to slow themselves down.
“Hello, Julie.”
Grasping his shoulders and giving him a shake, she asked, “Wally, what happened?”
He looked back at her, smile tight. “Nemo got too hot and fell down.”
“Oh, jeez. Nemo! You funny bunny, what were you thinking?”
He lifted a paw, gaze unfocused. “I… I was thinking!” He pointed at the pair and managed a giddy, “You’re too pretty for me to deal with.” The arm flopped back onto the ground.
Wally blinked. Julie giggled behind one hand and let the yellow puppet go.
Frank pinched the bridge of their nose and grumbled, “For heaven’s sake, Nemo.” Taking a deep breath, the gray puppet said with palms together, “You two? Listen to me carefully. He needs to be cooled down.” They pointed to the cooler under the gigantic tree. “Since Barnaby’s napping, we have to bring the cold to Nemo. We could pick him up, but this will be easier.”
“The tree and I were talking all about that! Even the tree thinks you should have stayed under its shade, Nemo!”
Nemo groaned and blew a rather dry sounding raspberry.
Julie let Wally go and ran off with an upbeat, “I’ll get the ice! Don’t faint, fur ball butt!”
“Language,” said the fur ball butt.
Wally glanced at Frank, pupils wide. “I can pick him up.”
“Yes. I know. So can Eddie.”
“Eddie is running around a lot today. He can’t pick Nemo up right now. I can.”
Frank stared hard. “Do you really want to do that?”
“Do not! I’m heavy.” The rabbit tried to roll over again. “’m so heavy.”
“I can pick you up, but it’s not always safe to do.” It wasn’t the right circumstance, either. He couldn’t say it would even work if he tried.
A pink monster puppet sprinted their way, holding a bag of ice over her head in both hands. She crashed to her knees beside the fallen rabbit and ripped the bag open. Chunks of ice spilled out and onto the spotted puppet.
“Round one!” Julie turned back to where she came from and sprinted away.
“Ho now!” Nemo cried out, but it was croakier than a toad and soft as moss. An arm flopped uselessly to the side. “I’m awake.” He cracked an eye and found Wally. “Hi.”
The yellow puppet smiled gently, eyes half-lidded. “Hi.” Wally, getting back on his knees, carefully picked up the pieces of ice that missed Nemo’s torso and stacked them back onto him. For each one he put back, another couple slid off.
“You having fun?” Nemo mumbled.
“No.” But he kept stacking the ice.
Frank, who’d stepped back with folded arms, hummed. “There is nothing fun about overheating.”
“Mkay.”
Julie, running top speed their way, had roped Sally into helping the poor bunny. Together, they hauled a giant umbrella to the prone puppet. Though Julie was hauling it, Sally was holding on and trying to keep up.
“The cavalry has arrived!” the grinning star called out.
Together, the pair lifted the umbrella high into the air and thrust it down. The pointed end buried firmly into the earth just to the left of Nemo’s head.
“Try again, you missed,” he groused.
The pink monster puppet giggled, forcing the umbrella open with all her stretchy might.
Sally reached into her overall pocket and pulled out two cold bottles of soda. “Miss this, freckles!” Glowing even in the sunlit shade, the star puppet tucked a bottle under each of Nemo’s armpits, the caps facing up.
“How will that help?” Wally asked, still stacking ice cubes onto the rabbit’s torso.
“No idea, but he can be a drink holder until he gets better!”
The gray puppet, now ensnared by Julie’s ecstatic grasp, nodded. “That will help cool him down.”
Wally blinked and looked up at the canopy of fabric. Every color of the rainbow filtered down, dark but colorful on the ground and his friend. “That’s good.”
The rabbit’s white and purple body lay in dark colors. “Whee,” the rabbit said flatly.
Hand to her chin, one eye squinting in thought, the star puppet hummed. That hand flung away and snapped its fingers. “Oh! Wally!”
“Yes?”
Sally reached into a different pocket and pulled free a folding fan. “Behold!” She passed it to Wally. “You can fan him instead of stacking ice!”
Small, yellow hands took the fan and opened it carefully. “Thank you, Sally.” He began fanning the fallen friend. “How do you feel, Nemo?”
Nemo hummed, fur ruffling in the breeze. “Icky.”
“Mm. Is this helping?”
“Everything is helping.”
Oh, thank goodness! He fanned harder. “Good. Don’t play tag in this heat, okay?”
“Never again, Mr. Most.”
The fan paused. “Who?”
A white paw pointed. “You. You’re the most.”
He chuckled, stilted but learning. “I am the most.” Wally held up the fan, smile broadening at the red rose pattern of the paper. Pretty… the details of the pattern were simple, just three roses over and over. But, pretty. “Hmm…” Dark eyes slid to Nemo. Folding the fan, still holding it in one small hand, he carefully got to his side. Shaded by the umbrella, the little puppet hummed in the cooling grass.
The recovering rabbit peered at him then. He shifted his feet and asked softly, “What’s up?”
Head propped in one hand, elbow bent, he answered softly, “It looks lonely on the ground.”
Julie, who had switched to swaying Sally in her grasp, cooed at them.
Frank huffed. “He’s not lonely, Wally. You’re two inches away from him.”
“I’m already laying down, Frank.”
Deep breaths, Frankly. “Yes. You are.”
Wally reached out for Nemo’s close arm and gave it a hard pat. “I’m happy you’re okay.”
“Same.” Nemo’s dark eyes opened about halfway, and he said, “Thanks a bunch, everyone.”
The sound of four thumping paws on the ground had the five puppets look over at the sixth one coming close. Barnaby cocked his head at the group. “What happened? Woke up from a doze and everyone moved over here!”
“That was my fault.”
He sat. “How’s that?”
“Got too hot and fell down.” Both spotted arms lifted into the air. “But the cavalry arrived and I’m cool as a cucumber.”
“That a fact?” The big blue beagle chuckled. He picked up a free ice cube and hurled it as far away as possible.
Wally reached out and planted a yellow hand on Nemo’s forehead. “You still feel very warm.”
The rabbit pushed his face into the hand and smirked. “Turn of phrase, sweet boy.”
He kept his hand where it was. “Okay.” But the nickname was back! Hooray!
“Guess you could say Nemo’s turned into a…” he paused, brows raising with his smirk.
Wally’s muted brows lifted along with his hand. Nemo’s ears twitched.
Arms spread wide, the clown dog drawled jovially, “Hot cross bun!”
Wally blinked. Beside him, Nemo lifted a paw and gently patted him with it.
“Yes, Nemo?”
Deep breath in. “If I weren’t half baked, I’d be rolling.”
Barnaby gave Nemo’s torso a friendly BAP! with one big mitt. Ice cubes splattered everywhere. “Ha! Atta boy!” He’d be back on his toes in no time!
Hand to his own cheek, Wally hummed. “I don’t get it.” Puns and wordplay were clever, but not always easy to understand.
Nemo, eventually, explained the jokes. They still weren’t all that funny.
Wally laughed politely anyway.