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Today was…certainly a day. First, you had to wake up bright and early without even a sip of coffee to prepare, then participate in a few “goodness lessons” via Professor Marmalade’s instructions, and finally pull off some kind of heist involving liberating hundreds of Guinea pigs from a lab facility. Honestly, the heist itself wasn’t even that much of a problem, it was the wardrobe that Marmalade presented everyone that bothered you.
The only logical explanation, other than the others looking slightly less threatening, was that the professor wanted to have a laugh in seeing the infamous Bad Guys dressed in adorable fuzzy onesies. That, too, wouldn’t have been such a thorn in your side had he not also forced you into pajamas and made you tag along. The gang was only doing this to make it look like they were trying to clear their name, fooling everyone just long enough for them to steal the Golden Dolphin once and for all. But why did you have to go to, too? You have only accompanied the others on one heist, and it was the very same one where they tried to steal the Golden Dolphin. Your part of the mission wasn’t even that important in comparison, you were only there as a scout of sorts to keep an eye on the governor.
So, of course, the one heist you take part in, everyone gets caught red-handed. Including you.
But the world doesn’t know that it was your first and only crime associated with the Bad Guys, nor does Marmalade or Governor Diane or the chief of police. As far as they were concerned, you were just as guilty of every other crime they committed; at the very least, you were guilty by association. That was enough for Marmalade to justify roping you into this “rehabilitation” situation as well. It didn’t matter anyway, however, because it all somehow ended with Snake stuffing countless rodents down his throats; this led to you and the others getting caught by protestors and reporters in the middle of making him spit them out, painting you all even more in the light of theft and even animal cruelty.
Despite the absurdity of the accident, Wolf practically had to beg Diane to give them another chance to prove themselves. Somehow, he managed to pull it off and bought everyone some more time, but you were starting to wonder just how much you had left.
“You good, chica?” Piranha’s voice snapped you out of your thoughts; you must have been wearing your deep-thinking face again. That, and given you were all winding down in the foyer of Marmalade’s mansion after today’s events, it wouldn’t take long for at least one of them to notice you.
“No, not really. This whole day was a total failure. I mean, come on, our first chance to make the public believe we’re trying to redeem ourselves, and someone just had to think with his stomach instead of his head,” you ranted on, shooting Snake a deadly glare.
Said serpent merely deadpanned back at you, “You done?”
Ignoring him, you stood from your seat, “And that’s not even the worst part. The real tragedy here is that we had to wear these humiliating pajamas in front of everyone!”
You gestured down to your orange kangaroo onesie in frustration, complete with big feet and a long floppy tail; it was impossible to count how many times you tripped trying to walk in the damn thing all day.
“I dunno, I think kangaroo suits you,” Wolf added teasingly, still holding the little kitten he rescued from a tree not twenty minutes ago in his claws; frankly, the fact that Marmalade recorded and posted a video of the rescue was the only saving grace here. Otherwise, you probably would have flipped a table or some other piece of furniture out of frustration; you absolutely despised drawing too much attention to yourself, and the lab incident did just that.
But knowing that losing your temper would get no one anywhere, you relented after realizing how hot and sweaty you had become from the onesie’s never ending heat insulation.
“Whatever…I’m gonna go take a walk.”
With nothing else to say, you walked through through the large patio doors and aimlessly headed out onto the spacious estate to take in the night air.
“What’s up with her?” Webs was first to ask the question on everyone else’s mind.
“Someone should go talk to her,” Shark suggested, watching you disappear into the darkness.
“Yeah, someone should,” Wolf agreed, his words holding an obvious implication.
Shark continued to keep an eye on your silhouette outside until he noticed the awkward silence, turning to find the others staring at him expectantly. He rolled his eyes at their insinuation.
“Oh, come on! Why do I gotta do it?” he asked in irritation.
“Well, you two get pretty chummy with each other,” Wolf replied, wearing a knowing smirk, “Quite often, in fact.”
Shark crossed his arms over his chest, “So? Don’t mean anything.”
“Believe what you want, big guy, but she’s probably not gonna listen to anyone else,” Webs argued.
“Give her a break, she’s had a rough day.”
“We’ve all had a rough day,” Snake protested, “Let her come to whatever conclusion on her own if you want, but you know she’s not like us.”
Shark wouldn’t admit it out loud, but they were right. Despite your closeness with him, your lack of history with the rest of the gang made you a liability; they were always paranoid that you would rat them out to the authorities if they didn’t keep a close enough eye on you. Shark could never imagine you doing something like that, not after how much time and effort you’ve already put into getting to know them. You seemed to haven taken more of a shine to Shark than the others, and it only made sense; he was the first one you met in the group, so it almost felt like you were his responsibility. Because of this, the others apparently expected him to take on the task of talking you down from a morality tree.
Shark couldn’t blame them all that much, especially not with their freedom and belongings on the line.
“Fine,” Shark begrudgingly agreed, somewhat hastily heading outside to look for you.
“Bet’cha twenty bucks they’re gonna bone by the end of the night,” Snake said once Shark was out of earshot, smiling mischievously.
“Make it forty and you’re on,” Wolf quickly challenged.
After glancing around the yard without finding a trace of you, Shark briefly closed his eyes and lifted his nose into the air. With one long inhale, he breathed in a few scents until he caught yours in particular; you were wearing that cherry perfume he liked so much, and it was mixed with mild perspiration. He followed your scent down a stone pathway onto a private beach, finally spotting you standing just at the edge of the tide staring out at the waters. One brow furrowed as he pulled the hood of his onesie down, walking up to join you at the shoreline.
“The guys think somethin’s wrong,” he eventually stated, looking at you when you didn’t respond, “Is somethin’ the matter?”
“You mean, other than the fact that I shouldn’t even be here,” you began matter-of-factly, “That I got roped into all this because I insisted on helping you guys out for once.”
You paused to look at him, a mix of anger and sadness in your eyes.
“Why did you let me go with you?”
“I dunno,” he answered softly, not really thinking before speaking.
“That’s not an answer.”
“Neither is this.”
He gestured out to the horizon, blatantly saying that the ocean wasn’t going to fix your problems.
You pulled down your own hood, “What’s gonna happen to us?”
“In the long run?” He paused to think. “I’d like to think we’ll all live long and happy lives, maybe retire in Hawaii.”
“I meant if we fail this…what if we get caught and thrown in prison, and the rest of our lives are ruined?”
Glancing up at him again, you swore you felt tears start to well up. But you kept them down.
“Are you guys gonna abandon me?”
Shark looked back down at you, square into the fear in your eyes. Now he understood. After spending as much time as you had with the gang, who wouldn’t be scared of losing everything you have with a group of friends like that? Maybe the others didn’t see you as family quite yet, but you saw them as your family. They didn’t understand why you were brought into their little inner circle in the first place, why Shark refused to let you leave them after having met you. He fully empathized and sympathized with your paranoia of ending up alone.
“No,” he firmly yet gently replied, putting a reassuring hand on your shoulder, “I won’t let that happen.”
Subconsciously, you placed your own hand atop his, appreciating the touch, “You promise?”
“Cross my heart.”
Shark used his other hand to trace an x over his chest before lifting it up to your head, giving you a soft noogie. But after the heartfelt exchange, silence befell the air again. Shark didn’t remove his hand from your shoulder, nor did you release your own grasp; the both of you just stood there for a few moments, looking back out at the soft blue horizon and listening to the soft waves. Moments like this were rare, and you cherished them deeply; this made you wonder if Shark ever did the same.
“C’mon, Kangaroo Jack. It’s late,” the said large fish eventually spoke, giving you a couple soft pats before turning to make the trek back to Marmalade’s mansion.
“Real funny. And where’s the Carpenter?” you retorted with a grin, following him close behind.Shark smirked back mischievously, giving you a formidable jab of his elbow to the chest. After a few more blows, one harsher after the other, it eventually led to you two sprinting after each other while also trying to simultaneously throw light punches and kicks and still avoiding one another.
In your fun endeavor, however, you both failed to notice a tiny red light blinking up in one of the palm trees that decorated the estate. A shiny lens followed you, another secretly-placed camera picking up your movements to track you all the way back to the mansion. On the other side of the lenses sat a certain conniving rodent and his butler, both watching with equally scheming faces.
Marmalade chuckled confidently, “The night may not be over yet, but I’m betting Snake will be out forty dollars.”