Work Text:
Vector sighed when he watched the old clock’s long hand tick right onto the hour. Another day without a case. They were really pushing it this month. Espio was running around left and right picking up odd jobs--Vector caught him sneaking back once, later in the night, having just put rings on the desk--and no matter how he tried to approach him about it Espio would wave him off. Insist it was no trouble, that it had to be done anyways. Yeesh. He had a way of being so unbothered by this sort of thing that it somehow made him feel worse.
It wasn’t like Vector had set any real office hours; a case could pop up anytime, and if he limited their availability to a nine to five timeframe, who was to say they’d get any cases at all? Having peace was nice and all, but it meant that they were down and out for work. And they’d be in for a world of struggle if they had to make a choice between rent and food. (The choice was food. It would always be food, there was no way in hell he was letting Espio and Charmy go hungry, angry landlord be damned.) But part of him hoped it did not have to come down to that this month.
He caught Espio looking at him from the couch. Vector waved him off and sent him a grin. By the way Espio stared at him a while longer, he wasn’t too convinced. But before either of them could begin to address the elephant in the room, a distinct buzzing echoed down the stairs. But it was quiet. Awfully quiet. Vector narrowed his eyes, getting up from the chair on his desk. The phone would be loud enough for him to hear if--when--it rang.
“Charm?” Vector called up before he glanced around the corner, stopping short when he saw the bee’s nose in a book, his antennae poking out of a hat Vector knew belonged to him. The way it rested over his antennae made it tilt awkwardly backwards, threatening to fall off of his head, likely only staying on because of how Charmy’s head tilted forward. Vector could see tufts of his fuzzy hair poking out at the edges. Even further, he was draped in a gray jacket that was far too big for him, going down all the way to his shoes. He recognized it as Espio’s, though it had been a gift from Amy for some fancy event she had him attend. The way Charmy’s eyes were narrowed had Vector convinced his tongue was poking out from behind the pages of the… thesaurus? Since when did they have a thesaurus? He looked again. Yup, a thesaurus was in the kid’s hands. He caught a glimpse of a tag on the cover--one that belonged to the local library. It made a little more sense; Espio, out of all of them, frequented the place the most. But to check out a thesaurus of all things? Espio was eloquent enough (minus making up poetry on the spot, but that was another deal,) so he had no leads on that front. He was immediately thrown out of his internal tangent when Charmy spoke in a low, gravely voice, as if he were imitating Vector’s own grumbling.
“The office was small; couldn’t even fit the bossman three times over. There was an old and raggedy couch in the middle of the room meant for clients, but business doesn’t often come knocking. Beside it, a wooden table that wobbled on one leg, stained by coffee mugs and cups of tea alike. There was an old piece of gum stuck under it when the boss brought it in. There are boxes thrown around the place like we’d just moved in, but really they were full of case files there was no room for. The desk at the back was the most stylish thing inside, black and… uh…” Vector watched Charmy frantically flip between pages, his eyes squinting again when he found what he wanted, “sleek, if you didn’t look at the dents from when the boss got too excited, or the scuffs from when he put his feet up on it when he thought nobody was looking. The thing was instantly dated by the phone that sat atop it, the one where you stick your finger on a dial and rotate it around to input a number. Makes calling people a chore, and those have brought me nothin’ but trouble.”
Vector’s jaw hung open. Of all things he’d expect Charmy to be doing, it wasn’t this. He thought he was being slick about when he went on noir-like monologues--minus the one time--but clearly he was sloppy about it if Charmy had picked up on it. But the rotary phone, dated? A chore? Sure, most folk in the area had gone to smartphones and such, but it was perfect for their work! Except when they weren’t there for a call. Not that he’d know about it. … Okay, maybe there were some flaws with the lack of ability to use voicemail, but otherwise it worked just fine!
“Perhaps that’s why the bossman takes so long on the phone with this dame, Miss Rabbit; he would talk to her for seventeen minutes for each number input. Though more often than not it’s her calling up the office; sometimes to chat, sometimes as a client… oh, shoot,” Vector watched as Charmy flipped through the pages, and started to feel his face burn, “as a patron for our services. Mysteries were attracted to her… or maybe she collected ‘em. Miss Rabbit and her daughter had a penchant for picking up strays--”
“Charmy.” Vector took on a warning tone as their youngest buzzed down the stairs, but he kept going. He heard Espio make a noise behind him, and then a slight cough.
“--but it was hard to deny that their company didn’t bring about any good. Weird things going on meant more work for us. The boss could hardly complain about hearing her voice on the other end of the phone, and much less so if she had a job on the line. No matter how much he insisted we needed to use the rotary sparingly, anyone could tell when he was talking to a friend. The bossman was desperate for company other than ours.”
“Hey.” Vector eyed him as he flew toward the window, but shifted to glaring at Espio when he caught his barely concealed smirk, hidden behind a rather loud sip of his tea. His eyes followed Charmy, and Vector turned again just as the blinds shifted, Charmy leaning over as if he were glaring out of it. He had to keep his head awkwardly tilted, to keep the hat on top of his head. Brief slivers of light crossed his face, and though Vector swore it was supposed to be sunny today the gray light was from the clouds hanging over the city.
“We were a small gig; there were only three of us in this office. Myself, the boss, and my associate. The boss, his name was Vector the Crocodile. You could say he was large and in charge. The voice of the operation, and a loud one at that. You couldn’t miss him in a crowd. Kids would think he was as tall as a skyscraper. I would agree; since his ego certainly fits the bill.”
Vector rubbed his temples. The kid was really going all-in on this. Had a damn thesaurus and everything. He sent Espio another look as he caught wind of his barely-restrained chuckling.
“Should’a known you were up to something nefarious when I took you to get your library card.” Vector huffed at him as Espio set down his teacup.
“Ah, I’m afraid that makes you an accomplice. Dare I say complicit in what you’re accusing me of.” He replied, simultaneously amused and nonchalant, as if he’d already won. Vector didn’t miss the amused twitch of his tail. “You were extremely on board with me obtaining my library card. It is a victimless crime.”
“Oh, you shaddup.” Vector rolled his eyes, and Espio merely ducked his head under Vector’s attempted shove.
“The boss and my associate like to argue, often. One could say it was their specialty. But my associate--Espio the Chameleon. He was a…” Vector let out a long-suffering sigh as he heard Charmy pause again to flip through several more pages, “taciturn type of guy. He acted like he knew the world’s secrets. He hardly spoke, but his eyes would move just about everywhere. You would be wasting your precious time trying to sneak a cookie past him.”
Just then, Charmy’s eyes met Vector’s. Vector watched as his facade finally cracked; a smile blooming on his face, and he barely had the wherewithal to keep himself from laughing. He made a show of pretending to clear his throat before he narrowed his eyes again, setting his mouth into something that vaguely reminded him of Espio. He lifted himself to the middle of the room.
“The three of us, we were an unlikely trio. But people say we were a perfect balance. Unstoppable. We could make it through anything the world threw at us. People all around will know the Chaotix Detective Agency name so long as we're together.”
Vector reached over and pulled his hat over his head. There was warmth in his chest, and it grew when Charmy burst into a fit of giggling, his sunny joy hardly obscured by his grey clothing.
“Ya done now, you brat?” He asked, noticing Espio watching the both of them closely. The amusement in his eyes had melted away into something rarer.
“Talking like that makes my brain hurt!” He spoke through more giggles. “And the voice is so hard! How do you do it all the time???” Charmy asked, pulling the hat away from his antennae again.
“Years of practice, I’m afraid,” Espio answered for him, and Vector flicked his finger at him, “Perhaps he’ll teach you.”
“Yeah, and have all three’a you going around imitating me?”
“Is it not the best form of flattery?” Espio sipped at his tea again.
“Oh, quiet from the peanut gallery.” He shook his head, smiling to himself. “What do you boys say to dinner?”
“Yes!! I’m so hungry!” Charmy cheered, the thesaurus flying out of his hands. Espio snagged it with ease, placing it on the desk.
“I might be interested if you do the voice while you cook.” He said.
“Don’t push it, Espio.”
Vector trailed to the kitchen with the both of them in tow. They didn’t have a case today. That was fine. Tomorrow was another day.
He patted Charmy’s head, through the hat. He would pull through somehow, for them.