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Gideon had been around Kremy long enough to know when he was up to something, and as they walked through the halls of the Soggy Court, he knew without a doubt that he was up to something.
He was being oddly quiet, and his mouth was slightly open in a way Gideon had never seen him hold it before. He looked shifty, too, eyes darting around. He was even flinching whenever he saw a member of the soggy court, an amateur mistake that Gideon would have thought he wouldn't make. Plus, if Gideon squatted down slightly and squinted, he could almost make out the dark shape of something in Kremy's mouth.
He waited until they were out of earshot of any fancy-ass bullywugs to pull Kremy away from the group and down what looked to be an abandoned corridor. He looked down at him, hands on his hips.
"Whatcha up to, Kremy?" He asked, voice accusatorial.
"Nun-hn." Kremy tried to say, but he clearly could not actually speak through whatever he was keeping in his mouth. He wasn't meeting Gideon's eyes, eyes darting around the space as though expecting someone to jump out and seize them at any moment.
"Spit it out." Gideon commanded him. Kremy rolled his eyes and made an affronted noise. "If ya don't I'm just gonna force ya jaw open an' you'll hate that."
A completely empty threat, and Kremy knew that. Still Kremy put his hands up to his mouth, opened his jaw a little wider, and revealed...Snoodle. Apparently completely unpeturbed by the fact that Kremy had put him in his mouth, Snoodle waddled quite happily out of Kremy's maw and into his hands. Kremy rubbed his finger gently down Snoodle's back, cooing at him softly as he closed his eyes and made a happy grumbling noise.
"Kremy! Wha- you can't eat Snoodle! Ain't that like cannibalism or somethin'?" Gideon was astounded. Maybe Kremy had that fey curse that made him super hungry again? But that would ahve just made him straight-up eat Snoodle, not save him in his mouth for later...
"I wasn't eatin' him, I was keepin' him safe! It's a gator thing." Kremy argued, scowling at him. "An' no, it ain't cannibalism. That's like me sayin' you eatin' a toasted marshmallow is cannibalism."
Gideon did not think those two things were comparable, but he was also aware that Kremy was trying to deflect and steer the conversation towards something that wasn't about him stealing and maybe trying to eat the king's beloved pet.
"Kremy." Gideon folded his arms. Snoodle peered up at him as Kremy continued to give him gentle scratches down his spine, golden-green eyes wide as he chirped at him. Gideon steeled himself. He would not be distracted, no matter absolutely adorable Snoodle (and Kremy, if he was being honest) was being right now.
"Gideon." Kremy countered, looking up at him just to glare at him. Snoodle made another grumbling noise and yawned. Kremy bundled him closer to his chest and let him rest his snout over his shoulder as he settled in for what looked like a very comfy nap.
"Ya can't be stealin' the king's pet!" Gideon told him, well aware of how hypocritical it was for him to tell him so. The pair of them had stolen any number of things from any number of powerful and important people. This just felt different, somehow. Maybe because the king had very, very little going for him beyond a dapper baby alligator and some questionable scented pornography.
"Keep ya fuckin' voice down, he's sleepin'!" Kremy snapped at him. "An' the hell I can't! He needs me Gid, the people here don't get him."
"The hell is that supposed to mean?" When they had found Snoodle, he was dressed better than the majority of their party, Kremy not included. He had been asleep on a velvet pillow, and they'd watched someone hand-feed him snacks. From where Gideon was standing, it looked like a pretty charmed life.
"Well, they're frogs, ain't they? They don't know what's best for a li'l gator like him. An' don't suggest we just take him to some gators, either. He won't fit in there. He's little, runt of his litter, I bet. They'll just push him around, steal his food. Won't even give him the chance to get any bigger, poor thing." Kremy sighed, long and sadly.
Gideon opened his mouth to suggest that maybe they could feed Snoodle up a little before sending him off to live with a family of nice alligators, but Kremy was already speaking again.
"Not that he even needs to! No, he's perfect just the way he is. But they won't see that, they'll just judge him for not wantin' to roughhouse…" Kremy grumbled. "He's gotten too used to the creature comforts here, too, likes the finer things in life. They won't understand that. They'll just be cruel to him for likin' wearin' fancy clothes, or eatin' fine things…"
Kremy had a faraway look in his eyes as he spoke, looking through Gideon rather than at him. Gideon had the sense that this was about much, much more than Snoodle.
He sighed, looking at Kremy and the tiny creature hanging over his shoulder. It probably wasn't the best idea to bring a tiny, dependent creature on their adventures, especially considering the amount of trouble the large, dependent creature they currently had with them got them into. But…
Kremy wanted to keep Snoodle, and Gideon had a really hard time not letting Kremy have and do whatever he wanted. In fact, he wasn't sure he'd ever stood in the way of Kremy and something he wanted. He looked at the way he was gently cradling Snoodle against him. He'd never seen him be this caring towards another creature, except for maybe towards himself.
"Alright, let's keep 'im." He said, reaching out one finger to rub Snoodle's head. He made a soft, sleepy peep that melted Gideon's heart completely. If he hadn't already agreed to let Snoodle stay, that would have been the thing to it.
"Really?" Kremy beamed at him, eyes all happy and shiny in they way they only usually were when he'd won something valuable. "Ya mean it?"
"'Course I mean it. Gonna have to be careful, though. Like ya said, he's only tiny. Gonna need someone big an' strong to look after him." Gideon stroked down one of Snoodle's limbs, marvelling at his teeny-tiny little feet and claws. He couldn't imagine him getting much bigger, although based on all the other alligators he'd seen, he knew he would.
"If we come across an itty bitty baby pig on our travels, I'll let you keep it." Kremy told him. "He can help look after Snoodle."
"Sure." Gideon grinned at him. "Sounds good."
He was pretty sure they wouldn't find a pig out here in the Feywild, but it was a cute picture – teeny tiny Snoodle and a big ol' pig to take care of him, to cuddle up with him at night and keep him warm. Gideon liked that idea.
"C'mon, let's go tell the others about the new recruit." Gideon said, nodding towards where they'd left the others. Kremy made a soft, satisfied noise, and Gideon would have known without looking at him that he was currently wearing a smug grin on his face.
"Alright, lemme just…" He picked Snoodle up off his shoulder, shushing him as he grumbled, and tucked him inside his jacket away from prying eyes. "There. Now he's safe and outta sight."
Gideon did not point out that there was a rather conspicuous lump in Kremy's jacket now, assuming he already knew and would come up with some lie to cover it. He slung an arm around Kremy's shoulders and steered him back towards where the other members of the Krew were hopefully just talking and hadn't been overtaken by any strange curses in the time they'd been away.
They might think it was too risky to bring Snoodle along, but Gideon was prepared to argue until they conceded. It was what Kremy wanted, after all.