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Natasha Simple was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling overhead, her thoughts going every which way. Things had changed like crazy since her livestream event, and, in some ways, not necessarily for the better. Jay was snoring, asleep in bed beside her, and she couldn't help but feel like she should maybe get out of bed and do her thinking elsewhere. His snoring had always broken her concentration. Then again, maybe she was just looking for reasons to pull even further away from those she loved. God knows things between her and her daughter hadn't exactly been great either, even with the livestream fixing a lot of the damage that had been done. And Violet, like her mother, was also laying in bed staring at the ceiling overhead, but her mind was in a completely different sort of place. Natasha was overthinking her career and her public perception. Violet, for the first time in her life...was thinking about love.

Violet had never been struck with this issue before.

For the longest time, friendship alone, completely platonic, wasn't even something Violet really thought about or craved or was remotely interested by. This didn't mean she wasn't lonely at times, but it certainly meant that she was, ultimately, perfectly fine either being by herself or with her mother. And then, Violet met Courtney, and a lot of her walls came crumbling down in regards to how she related to others, especially her peers, or at least the ones willing to give her a chance. Courtney accepted Violet wholesale, no question, no judgement. But the other thing that Violet liked about their connection was their similarities in regards to the way they were treated by the public. She didn't like how they were treated by the public, especially for Courtney's sake, but she appreciated that, for the first time ever, someone else could understand how alone and rejected she felt. Violet had a somewhat severe developmental delay, while Courtney happened to be transgender.

Together, they both knew what it was like to be ostracized by society, and they found solace in one another as a result.

After a little bit, Violet's door opened and her mother was standing there. Violet sat up a bit and looked at her mom, and her mom smiled at her.

"You interested in breakfast? I was thinking you and me could go get breakfast alone, like old times," Nat said, and Violet smiled back and nodded. Soon enough Nat and Violet were dressed and out the door for a mother/daughter breakfast date. They picked their old favorite spot, a little diner cuddled between an antique bookshop and a pet store, and sat in their old booth, but Violet was barely there, cognitively speaking. Her mind was always elsewhere these days it seemed. Nat was mulling over the menu while Violet tapped her fork against her spoon absentmindedly.

"I don't like that everyone stares at me," Violet finally said, "ever since that livestream, all the other kids, and all these moms out with their daughters, they all stare at me."

"In hindsight perhaps I shouldn't have focused on you," Nat replied, lowering the menu a bit, "but I just...I wanted you to know how I felt. That was my primary goal. It was for you, not for them. I am sorry it's had unintended side effects though. No teenager should ever go viral."

Violet nodded, accepting her mothers apology, before her thoughts turned back to Courtney. Her mother was nothing if not understanding, open minded, accepting...and yet that fear, that crippling, ever present fear that always came with loving someone overtook her and kept her mouth shut. She wanted to ask her mom how she'd feel about it all, but instead, when she opened her lips, all that came out was

"Can I get extra bacon?"

                                                                                                        ***

Corrine held herself up over Ashley on the bed, kissing down her neck, kissing her collarbones, burying her face between her breasts before coming back up. Their eyes locked and Ashley smiled up at her, reaching up and digging her fingers into the bushy head of hair Corrine had. Corrine shut her eyes and tried to breath normally, rather than like an animal in heat.

"It's been 4 months," Corrine said, "I know you're not...you're not supposed to celebrate the small anniversaries, that that's, like...I don't know...something teenagers do cause they have no concept of the passage of time, but...it's been 4 months and I got you something."

Ashley grinned, biting her lip, as Corrine climbed off of her and quickly walked to the little table across the room, opening a drawer and retrieving a small velvet box. She returned, sitting on the side of the bed in the studio office, and handed it to Ashley, who happily took it. Ashley opened it and blushed, as she pulled out the necklace with a little jade centerpiece stone.

"This is absolutely beautiful," she whispered.

"I know jewelry is a total cliche," Corrine said, "if you don't like it, I can-"

"I like it," Ashley said.

"I'm just saying, if you don't-"

"Corrine," Ashley said, sitting upright now, scooting beside her to the edge of the bed, kissing her cheek, whispering, "I like it. I love it, in fact. You should put it on me."

Corrine nodded, scooted back behind Ashley and sat cross legged on the bed. She took the necklace between her fingers and started putting it around Ashley's neck. Once it was on, Ashley turned back around to face her, and Corrine lifted her eyes from the stone to Ashley's face. Ashley was smiling so wide, and immediately pushed Corrine onto her back and kissed her some more, making Corrine laugh.

"It's wonderful, just like you," Ashley said, "I don't deserve you."

"Please, I'm the one who doesn't deserve someone, especially someone like you," Corrine replied, "I'm an absolute wreck and yet here you are, loving me as if I were the most perfect woman on earth."

"Well you know what they say, one mans trash is another mans treasure," Ashley whispered, biting Corrine's ear.

"Did you just call me trash?" Corrine asked, the both of them laughing.

                                                                                                         ***

"Are you serious?" Nat asked, completely unable to believe what she was hearing.

"I am," Jay said.

After breakfast, Nat and Violet had come back home and Violet had retreated back to her room, while Natasha sat in the kitchen with Jay leaning against the counter sipping his coffee.

"They called while you were out," he continued, "some kind of publishing situation. That woman who wrote that article about you being a role model? She pulled all the strings to make it happen, she just wants you to meet with this ghostwriter, that's all. You don't even have to accept it, but you should at least meet with them for the sake of niceness."

Natasha leaned back in her chair and folded her arms, shaking her head in somewhat disbelief.

"Who would wanna write a book about me?" she asked, "you write a book about the pope, or about, like, JFK, not a public access weirdo who's only further complicated her image and perception. I'm just not the kind of person who gets books written about them."

"Well I guess now you are, welcome to the big leagues," Jay said, smirking as he took another sip.

Natasha had always been afraid that, as she got more popular, something like this would happen. Yet another small chunk of her already seemingly nonexistent privacy chipped away even further by someone else in the arts. She just couldn't even fathom it. Frankly, she always felt there should be an unspoken bond amongst those in the arts that none of them should ever attempt to promote the other in ways that were unnecessary, and Natasha couldn't think of a more unnecessary means of promotion than that of the biography.

"At least they don't want you to write it yourself," Jay said, gathering his toast and spreading butter on it.

"God, right, I can't imagine a more narcissistic endeavor. To have such an ego that you think your life story is interesting enough to grab the attention of millions," Nat said, "I suppose I'll call them. You're right. It's the polite thing to do. I just...I don't know if I wanna invite even more fame into this home. Violet is already struggling from being treated different, and-"

"Natty, she was being treated different before your livestream went viral," Jay interrupted, taking a bite of his toast, "now at least she's being treated different for a better reason."

This wasn't a point of view that Natasha had considered, but Jay actually had a point. For as long as Violet had been alive, she'd been tormented, bullied, looked down upon, all for things she had no control over. And now, suddenly, she was being seen as, like her mother, a role model of sorts. A young girl who stood up for the right to be respected by her parents, and as someone of the intellectually disabled women who proved that they were, in fact, capable of rational thought and didn't just sit around drooling all day like the media loved to portray them as doing. So sure, this brought Natasha some comfort, but Violet wasn't getting much in the way of comfort out of it.

There was only one thing right now that could comfort her.

                                                                                                        ***

Courtney was sitting at her desk doing homework when her bedroom opened and Violet walked in. Courtney turned in her chair and smiled upon seeing her best friend. Violet tossed her backpack down to the floor and sat on Courtney's bed, but didn't say anything. After a minute or two of silence, Courtney snapped her fingers, and Violets head snapped to attention, looking directly at her.

"Hey," she said, "are you okay?"

"...when I was walking over here," Violet replied, "this woman who was out in her yard gardening got up to talk to me and told me that because of me and my mom, her daughter finally feels like she's understood by others her age. I guess...I guess her daughter is even more mentally disabled than I am, and...and all the kids at her school now get it and are nicer to her."

"Well that's a good outcome," Courtney said, tossing her braided blonde hair back behind her, "even if, you know, this woman didn't understand the concept of boundaries with a stranger."

"I hate this," Violet said, "I didn't think I could hate things more but I hate this. I don't wanna be noticed. I don't wanna an example. I, uh...I just...I wanna, um, ya know, exist."

"I feel that," Courtney said solemnly, and Violet knew she was being honest; Courtney sighed and added, "well listen, I won't tell you it could be worse, because for you this is as bad as it gets, but I will say that at least you're famous for a good thing instead of a bad one. That has to count for something."

Violet flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling. Courtney rose from her desk chair and did the same right beside her. Neither girl spoke, and instead just took comfort in knowing the other understood them. Violet wanted to talk about what was actually bothering her, but...much like with her mother, she just didn't want to run the risk. She rolled her head over to look at Courtney, whose eyes were now shut as she gently breathed, and she wanted to hit herself. How could she possibly be her mothers daughter if she couldn't be even remotely as open, honest and truthful about herself as her mother seemingly had no problem being?

Violet cozied on up to Courtney, resting her head on her shoulder, as Courtney smiled and reached up, petting her hair. If there was one consolation, it was that teenage girls often were physical with their friends, cuddling and the like, so even if this could never be what Violet wanted it to, she at least had this right now, and that was a nice compromise. Violet shut her eyes too and wondered. Wondered what it would be like if she enjoyed the fame, if she was brave like her mom, but in the end, she knew she wouldn't even be herself then. The person she was was because of the things she believed and how she felt about them. And that was the only real silver lining here, was that at least Violet had started to feel confident in who she was. She longer felt shame, and instead that had been replaced with gentle acceptance that had slowly grown over time.

"Maybe one day you'll enjoy that people like you," Courtney said, shrugging, "you never know."

"I don't need other people," Violet remarked, "as long as you like me."

Courtney laughed, nodding, continuing to pet her friend.

"Well you have nothing to worry about there!" she exclaimed brightly.

It started to rain outside, and to the sound of the water hitting the windows, the girls took a nap, and it was the most comfortable Violet had felt in weeks.

                                                                                                              ***

Ashley was getting dressed while Corrine sat under a sheet and watched. Ashley pulled her jeans up over her hips, tugged her v-neck over her head and then pulled on her little jacket before turning and looking at Corrine. Corrine glanced away almost immediately, as if shy or embarrassed about getting caught watching her. Ashley walked back to the bed and sat back down, reaching out, touching Corrine's face.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"...it's been 4 months," Corrine reiterated, "...is this something real, or are you just not going to leave what you have?"

"I am," Ashley said, "I'm going to, I'm figuring out in my head how to word the whole thing cause it's...well, it's a lot, as you know. But I figure if my sister can be honest about herself, her relationship with others, then I sure as hell can too. It's just scary, Corrine, but you are worth it. Just please don't think of my lack of decision making thusfar as a sign of something personal against you. I've just...I've been through a lot in the last few years, and it's made life a lot more difficult to navigate at times."

"I understand," Corrine said, "I guess I just struggle to believe that I'm ever worth anything cause nobody ever made me feel like I was worth anything and now I have to have constant reassurance in order to just feel remotely worthwhile, and like people aren't lying to me or taking advantage of me and oh my god I need to stop talking before you hate me."

Ashley laughed and leaned in, kissing her again.

"I could never hate you," she whispered, "my sister? Yeah, still got some stuff to work through there, but her colleagues? I'll tell ya one thing, she hires great help."

Corrine giggled as Ashley climbed fully back onto the bed, continuing to kiss her.

"Ya know what," Ashley said, "I can be a little late getting home."

Meanwhile Natasha was sitting in her home office thinking about the ghostwriter. Thinking about picking up the phone and taking the appointment. But what story did she have to tell that she hadn't already shared? How much more in depth could she really go? How much more could she bare to expose of herself to the general public always eager for the next best thing? Most importantly...was she someone to be admired, or was she simply a morality tale? A cautionary story about what happens to women when they think for themselves, when they want more than they've gotten, and when they finally do reach for their goals? How it can all go so horribly wrong. She'd already sort of screwed up, bringing even more fame to herself and her daughter than she'd ever intended, was this really the right path to go down?

"goddammit," she whispered, picking up her landline.
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"I feel stagnant, like I'm just doing the same thing over and over again," Allie said, looking at a large prop in the corner of the shop as she was on the phone with Zoe, adding, "I just want us to stay fresh, you know? We can do the same show for a while, but after that we have to switch it up, otherwise audiences get bored. I think that's part of Strange's appeal, is he's always doing something different."


Allie walked past a wall full of capes and sighed.


"No, I know," she continued, "we have more important things to worry about right now, I just...I wanna keep doing this but I want it to be the best it can be, you know what I mean? I want us to be great. I want us to be 'beens', not 'has beens'....yeah that did sound cooler in my head, you're not wrong," Allie said, laughing, "Alright, I'm gonna go. I'll be back at the casino in a bit."


With that, Allie hung up her cell and slid it back into her pocket before turning and walking to the counter, tapping her nails on the glasstop to get the attention of the man behind the shop. He was old, balding, a little hunched over, but dressed well in a collared shirt with suspenders and a well groomed mustache. He turned away from stocking the shelf behind the counter and faced Allie.


"Yes, can I help you?" he asked.


"Maybe, um, I've never been here before, so...I'm a little lost, I think," Allie said, "I'm looking for cuffs that are easily escapable."


"We have those," the man said, "the question is, are you good enough to get out of them?"


"Well, considering I'm a successful practicing magician, I would tend to say yes," Allie replied, "that's my face on the billboard out there."


The man looked out the window and grunted.


"First of all, you can't say practicing. You're not a doctor. Secondly, that's a nice billboard, but anyone can get one of those. Hell, I could pay for one that says you eat babies and nobody would stop me because it all comes down to who has the money to advertise it," the man said, making Allie raise her eyebrows, smirking in surprise; he continued, "so I posit the question once again to you, are you good enough to get out of escapable cuffs?"


"They're literally designed to be escapable."


"And yet so many can't do it, fascinating how that works isn't it?"


Allie smiled, and then her smile turned to a face of shock as she realized who was standing behind the counter.


"Oh...my god," she whispered, "you're Mr. Magic."


And the old man grinned.


                                                                           ***


One hand stuck a draining tube into the womans arms, the other hand turned a radio dial on, blasting Billy Joel's "You May Be Right", as Rachel St. Sebastian stepped back from the table and watched the blood begin to drain out of her body. Rachel reached into her coat pocket, retrieved her cigarette pack, smacked the bottom with her palm, and then slid one out. She lit it and then put it between her lips, inhaling, shaking her head at the sight before her.


This was an out and out tragedy, something that didn't have to happen. Something that could've so easily been avoided. Rachel turned away from the table, turning her eyes elsewhere to anything in the room. She simply couldn't stand to see her like this, even though she knew this would be the likely outcome. Rachel took another long drag, and then coughed, exhaling. She thought back to when she and Claire used to hide bodies in the walls, and how simple all of that seemed now in retrospect. If only she'd known where it would lead.


But that was the thing, right? She DID know where it would lead. She hadn't been blind, well, perhaps willingly so. She had just ignored it because being in love makes you do stupid things.


But she'd known all along full well what the end result would be. Where it would all lead. After all, there were only two places for a cult leader to end up; incarcerated or dead, and she'd already been incarcerated. Rachel sighed and felt her eyes well up with tears again. She finally turned back to facing the table and approaching it again, looking down at the woman laying atop it, her body growing paler by the second from the lack of blood as it drained down the table and into the bucket below.


She'd give anything to do it all differently.


                                                                           ***


Molly was sitting at her drafting table in her home, chewing on her lip, when the door to the room opened and she looked up to see Benny entering. She smiled at him as he walked in and shut the door behind him. On days when Olivia worked really long shifts, Benny and Molly often wound up back at Molly's, and Molly, being a morning person, was always up before him, so she made coffee, which he now had a mug of in his hand as he walked in and plopped himself down on the nearby couch, lifting the mug to his lips and sipping carefully.


"Did you sleep good?" Molly asked.


"I did, you have such a nice bed, I'm jealous," Benny replied, "I might just have to tell Olivia we're living here from now on."


"She'd never go for it, she loves the studio too much," Molly said, "...these plans don't make any sense."


Benny stood up and walked over to the desk, standing behind Molly, a hand on her shoulder as he rested his chin on her head and looked down at the blueprints on the table in front of them.


"What doesn't make sense about them?" he asked.


"The measurements are far too large," Molly said, "if all he's keeping is cash, maybe chips, why're the dimensions this wide? It's almost like he's trying to keep something of large proportions in here. I mean, I know the casino makes a lot of money, gotta have somewhere to keep it, but still. It just doesn't make sense."


Benny reached down and shuffled the papers, screwing up his face at it and tapping at something.


"What is this?" he asked.


"What is what?"


"This thing here," he said, tapping again, "it looks like a large garage door."


Molly looked at it and furrowed her brow.


"I...I didn't even notice that," she mumbled, "yeah what is that?"


Benny shrugged and walked back to the couch as Molly threw her drafting pencil down on the desk and groaned, turning to face him in her desk chair.


"I hate this," she said, "I hate all of this. I'm not even supposed to be involved in any of this. I was just asked to build the new casino. Allie had to barge in and make me an accomplice without my knowledge, and now I'm entrenched in it. Now we have FBI agents breathing down our backs about access to the vault, and for what? We don't even know what it is he's keeping in it! Apparently something very big, but what?! I'm so sick of all this."


"C'mere," Benny said, curling his finger at her. Molly folded her arms, pouted, and, using her heel, dragged herself across the room in her chair, making Benny laugh; once she was close enough, he leaned forward and put a hand on her thigh, smiling at her as he said, "you do realize you're the hero of this story, right?"


"What do you mean?" Molly asked, confused, adjusting her glasses.


"Because when it breaks, and everything is out in the open, and all the guilty parties are behind bars, the public perception is gonna be that YOU were the integral key into achieving this. They literally - the agents, Allie, everyone - couldn't be doing this without you. You are literally the hero of this story. So sure, being the hero sucks, and answering a call to adventure you didn't even want sucks, but it might pay off for you in the end."


"Or, and hear me out, it won't. I'll likely be barred from ever working on anything again, because I'll no longer be trustworthy," Molly said.


"Well, then you can build whatever you want. Do you remember what you told me in my bedroom that first night? The night you guys all holed up there together? You told me you wanted to build a house. Something simple and beautiful, cozy and far away from everyone and everything. You could finally do that. Once this is all over, you could finally do that, and we can go with you, and we can have a nice little home and a nice little life away from all this shit, this shitty fucking city, and it'll all be possible because of you, Molly."


Molly wanted to cry. Benny actually remembered something she had said, nobody ever remembered what she'd said. She scooted the chair closer and collapsed inwards onto him on the couch, making him laugh as he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed.


"Trust me," Benny whispered, "it's all gonna work out."


"I love you," Molly said, muffled into him, making him laugh some more as he ran a hand up into her curly bushel of hair.


"I love you too," he replied.


                                                                               ***


"So, how'd you wind up here?" Allie asked, leaning against the counter as Mr. Magic, or Rufus, as he had asked her to call him, continued stocking the backshelf; Allie added, "like, it makes sense, having you own a magic shop, and I don't know why I never came in, I guess I'm just loyal to the one I've always used, and there's so many of the goddamned things in the city, given the ratio of magicians there are, but still."


"Well," Mr. Magic said, finishing stocking a line and turning to face her again, "once I quit performing, I figured, well, what better way to supplement my income by being adjacent to my former career, so I figured I'd open the shop. Oddly enough, most of my customers are kids. Kids doing talent shows, kids doing magic for the fun of it, not actual live magicians. I kinda like it that way, though. Nice to be the local elderly magic shop man to children."


"That is wholesome," Allie said, "I had your kit when I was a little girl. The tape and the whole thing. I must've watched that thing a thousand times over."


"You probably wore your VCR out," Mr. Magic said as he opened another box, making Allie laugh.


"I mean, it was worth it. You're literally why I do what I do," Allie said.


Mr. Magic stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her, a small smile on his lips.


"Well, thank you, that...that kind of statement almost makes it all worth it," he said, "what did you need escapable cuffs for anyway? That's such an old fashioned beginner trick."


"Well, if you must know," Allie said, "...I'm looking to break into my casinos vault, and they're part of the misdirect."


Mr. Magic touched his moustache thoughtfully, nodding.


"Gotta admit," he said, "that's a new one."


                                                                             ***


Molly was laying on the couch, her head in Benny's lap as he sat upright, his neck back, his eyes shut, one hand still lost in her hair. Molly was looking at the ceiling overhead and the little hanging decorations she'd strung up there when she first moved in. She then craned her neck and looked up at Benny, smiling. After her assault in the windmill at the golf course, she never thought she deserved to be treated with any kind of respect, and so this relationship was such a nice little wake up call.


"Am I a bad person for hoping she gets caught?" Molly asked.


"Who, Allie? I don't think so, considering what she's gotten us all involved in," Benny said, "but frankly, what'll likely happen, is she'll cut a deal and take a reduced sentence willingly for having helped the agents."


"That doesn't feel fair," Molly mumbled, "she's done so much damage."


Molly was angry. She didn't want to be, but she was. She was so very angry at what Allie had done to her, to everyone, and especially to Zoe. Nobody deserved to be dealing with the shit they were, and it was all her fault. One rash decision that led a chain reaction. Then again...if Tony was funding a dangerous politicians career using his casinos money, that wasn't any better. Molly grimaced.


"This city is fucking reprehensible," she said, "it turns you into a bad person. It makes you do awful things for the sake of success."


"No argument here," Benny said.


"And the worst part is, anyone is susceptible, regardless of intention. You can just be pulled into it like an undercurrent grabbing seashells from the beach."


"That was a beautiful analogy," Benny remarked, making her giggle.


"I just wish..." Molly started to say, but stopped, causing Benny to open one eye and look down at her.


"You wish what?" he asked.


"I was gonna say I wish just one person would treat me right, but...now I have two who do, so I stopped," Molly said, "...hey Benny?"


"Yeah?"


"You wanna build a house?" she asked, and he smiled.


"Yeah," he said, nodding, grinning.


                                                                              ***


"We can stand here and talk about glass boxes and escapable cuffs all day," Mr. Magic said, "what it really comes down to, Miss Meers, is not how good you are at the misdirect, but how good the misdirect IS. There's a distinct difference. Now, for example, you can be the best at it, bar none, no rivals even close to your skill level. But if the misdirect isn't interesting enough to grab the attention of those around you, your skill level at it doesn't matter."


Mr. Magic and Allie were now sitting in the little asian soup place a few stores down for lunch. Allie lifted her spoon full of noodles to her mouth and slurped, as Mr. Magic added some soy sauce to his broth.


"Because," he continued, "and this is key...people are simple creatures. They'll look at anything. But there's a difference between grabbing their attention and keeping their attention. So you wanna get into this vault? You're gonna need a lot better than escapable cuffs and a glass box."


"Why are you even entertaining the idea of helping me?" Allie asked, and Mr. Magic smiled slyly as he leaned back in his booth.


"You want to hear a story, Allie?" he asked, as she nodded in response; he continued, "this is the story of a man named Rufus Heck, who became Mr. Magic, and how a politician used him as a scapegoat. That politician? The very same man your boss is in cahoots with."


"What were you doing involved with him?" Allie asked, confused.


"...let's just say that's part of the story," Mr. Magic replied, "so, once upon a time..."

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"Do you have a last name?" Chelsea asked, and Juno shook her head. Chelsea groaned and ran her hands over her face. In the months since Juno's hiring, Chelsea hadn't managed to learn a single thing about her, and it had begun to wear on her patience. Juno was polite, a good worker, fun to be with, but the mysteriousness bothered Chelsea in a way she hadn't expected and didn't like. Juno chewed her gum, her jaw clicking as she did.


"I have a first name," she said in response, "and really shouldn't that be enough?"


They continued down the aisle, as Juno stocked the lower shelves and Chelsea stocked the higher shelves. They figured, by arranging things this way and splitting the load, they would finish the restocking faster. Juno handed Chelsea another box of what appeared to be some sort of pasta and cheese microwavable bowl, but written in a language she couldn't read and images of maggots on the box, and Chelsea, after grimacing, slid it onto the top shelf with the others.


"Why can't you tell me anything about yourself?" Chelsea asked.


"Why should I have to?" Juno replied, "after all, it's not like you're my mom."


The bell over the front door rang, indicating someone had entered, but neither girl paid much attention to it.


"Were you cursed by a witch and now you can't divulge personal information or she'll hurt your family?" Chelsea asked, grinning, as Juno looked over her shoulder at her, deadpan.


"Yeah. That's it. You got me. Cursed by a witch," Juno said, making Chelsea laugh.


"Excuse me," a voice said from the end of the aisle. Both girls turned to face what, appeared to be anyway, a floating black void of nothingness; the void continued, "I'm looking for a specific kind of nose spray you used to carry."


"Don't you need a nose?" Juno asked, as Chelsea shot her a glare.


"Follow me, I'll get it for you," Chelsea said, walking towards the counter, the void floating along behind her; Chelsea continued, "please forgive my trainee, she hasn't been here that long and she completely lacks people skills or any kind of socialization it appears. We've had to start stocking these kinds of things behind the counter because too many folks were coming in and stealing it, I guess it can be used to create some kind of street drug."


"Oh, that's a shame," the void said, sniffling, somehow, as they added, "I can't imagine the kinds of folks who would use medicine for nefarious purposes."


Chelsea rang up the spray, handed it to the void who, again, somehow, managed to carry it and exited the shop. Chelsea leaned on the counter, happy with herself being able to help someone who clearly was in need of some kind. Juno came around the end of the aisle, tossing the empty boxes into a corner together.


"Hey, we have a recycling bin for a reason," Chelsea said.


"Yeah. Outside. In the back. In the dark," Juno said.


"You guys never stop arguing," Monica said, floating near the end of the aisle, right behind Juno, Chelsea smiling at seeing her; she continued, "A dead girl can't even rest in peace around here because all I ever hear is bicker bicker bicker. You're like an old married couple...and...now realizing the age gap, that was an incredibly creepy thing to say and I regret it immensely."


"Regret what?" a voice asked, and all three girls turned their heads to see Polaris entering the store, looking at his perfectly manicured hands. Monica squealed a little and hid back behind a shelf. Chelsea chuckled and shook her head.


"Nothing," she said.


"Regrets are an important part of life," Polaris said as he approached the counter, "Without regret, how do you learn from your mistakes?"


"Uh, other people tell you they're mistakes?" Juno said, shrugging, "pretty easy actually."


Another ring of the bell and Chelsea rolled her eyes, huffing, as she excused herself and headed to the back of the store, Monica floating closely behind her. Monica glanced back over her shoulder and watched as Polaris and Juno interacted, and if she were alive and could shiver, she would've done so.


"I take it you're not exactly a fan of the guy," Chelsea said.


"He's evil incarnate," Monica replied, "if I were still alive, I'd be terrified he'd kill me at some point. I don't trust him as far as I, well not I since I don't have much upper body strength, but, someone can throw him. He's just got this...aura about him that's so untrustworthy."


As Chelsea stood in front of the freezer section, and Monica floated down, sitting atop it, they could hear this new customer talking to both Juno and Polaris. Chelsea figured it'd be good for Juno to get some upfront social work for a change. She couldn't hide in the stocking area forever. Chelsea opened the freezer, pulled out a popsicle of some kind that she'd become a fan of, and ripped open the wrapper, sucking on it.


"I mean, to be fair to Polaris, aren't there a lot of terrifying creatures here? Surely he can't be the only evil one," Chelsea said.


"Oh, definitely, this place is a death pit," Monica said, "but still, it isn't the same. He has powers nobody else has, and nobody even really knows where he came from. I think that's why most are scared of him. The lack of information surrounding his origins, and his incredible abilities."


The patron who had entered left, the ball ringing over the door - Chelsea never even seeing them - as Juno and Polaris came back to the front, laughing together. Admittedly, their camaraderie made Chelsea a mite nervous, but she tried her best to ignore it. Juno hopped up onto the counter and uncapped a drink, sipping from it, as Polaris lit up a cigar to smoke from...well...Chelsea wasn't sure where, because he had no facial features with which to utilize, so.


"Have you finished unboxing the rest of the products from the backroom?" Chelsea asked, and Juno rolled her eyes; Chelsea scowled, adding, "you know, it's actually kind of important to do the job you've been hired for."


"I didn't get 'hired'," Juno said, making air quotes with her fingers, confusing Chelsea further.


"Oh, give her a break," Polaris replied, "she's new to the scene, she's still settling in! Chelsea, tell me...has Luna been in lately?"


Chelsea slowly shook her head. Luna had, in fact, been around, but had specifically requested, if asked for by Polaris, to not be given up. She just didn't want anything to do with him, if she could avoid it and Chelsea was more than happy to oblige by that request, even lacking clarification. Polaris puffed smoke into the air and shook his head.


"What's it take to track that woman down," he mumbled. Just then the bell over the door rang again and a large, vertical fleshy creature slithered in, an opening slit down the middle, filled with jagged teeth, gleaming under the light of the store as it approached the counter.


"Excuse me," it asked, "would you happen to carry a tooth filler of any kind?"


"I'd be happy to help you, follow me," Chelsea said, gladly leading the creature away and towards the hygiene aisle. Monica watched as Chelsea left, then looked at Juno and Polaris and smiled awkwardly.


"Welp," she said, "time for me to get back to being dead. It was fun."


Chelsea and the tooth creature, meanwhile, continued their small trek to the aisle.


"Are you in need of something to fill in holes?" Chelsea asked, and the creature nodded, or, as best as it could anyway.


"Yes yes, I am growing in new teeth, but some are breaking before falling out," they replied, "I'm in pain, and want to alleviate it best as I can until they fall out properly."


"Well, we have a really good one here called Ectopaste, it's made from the ectoplasm of ghosts, so it's very sticky," Chelsea said, kneeling down as they reached the proper spot and gathering two boxes, holding them up in front of the creature, adding, "see, this stuff'll really keep your teeth from falling apart, guaranteed. It's the only one we even stock because it's literally the only one worth using."


"You have no idea how hard it is to be a monster who just wants to look their best," the creature said, two fleshy tendrils reaching out from both sides and taking the boxes, looking at them for itself.


"Well, thankfully, I like to help monsters when I can," Chelsea said, smiling brightly, as her thoughts turned to her sister.


                                                                           ***


"How's work been?" Xorlack asked.


Xorlack, Chelsea and her sister, Maddy, were sitting in the spruced up janitors closet. Ever since this version of her sister had come into her life 3 months ago, Chelsea had been doing her best to keep this space maintained and make it fun and cute for her. Thankfully, it was a defunct closet that nobody bothered to use, so between its space and its privacy - Chelsea was, in fact, the only one with a key to it even - it made the perfect spot for keeping her sister for the time being.


"It's been frustrating," Chelsea said as she set down a grilled cheese in front of Maddy, who immediately dug into it violently; Chelsea continued, "This new girl still won't tell me anything about herself, and Polaris and her are gettin' buddy buddy and that makes me uncomfortable. Honestly, if not for Monica I'm not sure how good I'd feel working there right now."


"To be fair, Polaris is friendly with, like, everyone," Xorlack said, and Chelsea nodded, crossing her arms.


"I know, I know that, he's just a charming fella," Chelsea said, making Xorlack smirk; she continued, "but this new girl feels like she's upended the natural order of the store, and what's with all the secrets? Why won't anyone just tell me what's going on? Luna and Polaris won't tell me why they have this weird relationship, Juno won't tell me a damn thing about herself, and I feel like I'm constantly being left in the dark."


"They're not really your concerns. Whatever happened between Luna and Polaris is their business, not yours."


"Yeah, but if she's expecting me to stay away from him, restrict access to the store from him, I'd sure like to know why," Chelsea said.


Maddy finished her sandwich, then went back to finishing her coloring before tearing the page from the book on the perforated line and getting up, walking to Xorlack and handing it to her. Xorlack happily took it and looked, as Chelsea came to look over her shoulder. The drawing was of a beautiful unicorn in an echanted forest that Maddy had colored in so perfectly. The girls smiled at one another, then looked back at Maddy, who had since gone back to coloring.


"She doesn't feel like she belongs here," Xorlack said, "she feels like...like a good thing that exists in a bad place."


"Would you call The Elsewhere a bad place, exactly?" Chelsea asked, "because, personally, it feels more like a home, far more preferable than where I'm from, to me anyway."


"It has its pros and cons but ultimately yes I would," Xorlack replied, "take it from someone who's actually from here, yeah, it isn't great. But I suppose if someone as pure as your sister can exist within it, then it also can't be that bad."


The girls looked back at Maddy, happily humming as she laid on her stomach, coloring, her legs kicking up in the air behind her, and they both smiled. It was true. For all the weirdness, darkness, evil that surrounded them, all the frustrating things like Polaris's suspicious behavior and Juno's dodging of answers, there was a goodness here, in Maddy, and that alone was worth it.


                                                                           ***


Juno was counting money for the day, despite the shop not really closing ever, when Chelsea and Xorlack rejoined her. She didn't even look up or acknowledge them in any way as they re-entered the room, so Chelsea kissed Xorlack on the cheek and said goodbye to her for the night, before stopping at the counter, grabbing a candy bar she'd become fond of, and tore open the wrapper, biting into it.


"You gonna pay for that?" Juno asked, still not looking up.


"I'm an employee, this is a perk," Chelsea said, "Luna always said to just take whatever I want, so."


"Mmm," Juno remarked, nodding a little in response.


"Juno, listen," Chelsea continued, "um...I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I've been pushy or, like, annoying about getting information out of you. You're under no obligation whatsoever to tell me anything about yourself. I just figured, ya know, since we're working together, it might be useful to know one another better. But ultimately what you clue me in on is entirely up to you and I'll completely understand if you just simply never feel comfortable enough being open."


Juno finally put the money down on the counter and sighed, looking up at Chelsea.


"It isn't you," Juno said, "you seem nice. The few months we've worked together, you've been really patient and understanding with me, while I've been kind of a monster."


"Par for the course attitude for a place like The Elsewhere," Chelsea interjected, the both of them chuckling. Juno continued.


"But it isn't personal, just know that," Juno said, "I just...I don't really trust anyone."


"That's understandable, trust is hard," Chelsea replied.


"So maybe one day we can be friends, but for the time being...can we just...would it be okay if we were coworkers?" Juno asked, and Chelsea nodded, smiling warmly.


"It'd be more than okay," she said.


"Awww, that was so heartwarming," Polaris said from behind Chelsea, making her jump and put a hand to her chest.


"Christ! Don't you EVER leave?!" she shouted, making him laugh.


"I'm here on business today, ma'am," Polaris said, "I'll leave when my business is concluded, as soon as Luna is willing to provide me with ample time for said business. Until then, I think I'll stay, read a few magazines, have a few snacks, and just take in the quiet ambiance of the shop, if you don't mind."


Chelsea smiled weakly, shaking her head. She didn't mind. She really didn't. That was the thing, she couldn't see whatever it was that Luna had an issue with in regards to Polaris. Sure, he was weird and kind of spooky and sometimes, actually quite often, offputting, but he didn't come across as a bad guy by any means. Plus, his burgeoning friendship with Juno put Chelsea somewhat at ease because she felt like he wouldn't do anything to her, which meant he likely wouldn't do anything to Chelsea either. So the three of them stayed in the main foyer of the shop, enjoying snacks and drinks, doing magazine quizzes, and simply participating in the thing the Elsewhere called living.


Something Chelsea herself was finally becoming adjusted to.

Published on
It was a slow day.

No tours had been scheduled, there was barely any work to be done, and most everyone was able to kind of do whatever it was they wanted. This meant, for Robin, being led by Sophie towards The Lagoon, where the turtles lived. Robin had been sitting in the break room with Fletcher and Kacie initially as he read through a magazine with a feature spread on Seahorses. Robin was sitting in a chair, drinking coffee, as he read aloud.

"Seahorses are the only species in which the male gets pregnant and gives birth, when a female transfers eggs to a male's enclosed brood pouch," Fletcher said, "you know, I can't say I envy those that have to carry children. Birth sounds like a painful, horrifying process."

"You're a painful, horrifying process," Robin said, making Kacie chuckle.

"Yeah, but in me it's endearing," Fletcher replied.

The door opened and Sophie walked in, leaned against the wall and sighed heavily. Clearly she'd been working hard, gathering garbage and doing cleaning. Taking advantage of the fact that the zoo was, more or less, empty today so she could really manage to get things clean and tidy again. Sophie locked eyes with Robin and Robin smiled at her, making Sophie blush.

"What are you reading about?" Sophie asked, glancing at Fletcher.

"Seahorse pregnancy," Kacie said, answering for him.

"Why can't you ever read something normal? Like a good ol' fashioned kids mystery book?" Sophie asked.

"Yeah, don't you wanna read The Hardy Boys and the Case of the Seahorse Embryo?" Robin asked, everyone laughing.

"Look, you guys don't have to be in here," Fletcher said, "I'm just trying to educate as well as entertain, alright?"

Sophie walked past the table and stopped by Robin, leaning down and whispering.

"Do you want to come see something with me?" she asked, and Robin smiled, nodded, and got up. Together the two women exited the room, leaving Fletcher and Kacie to their ingestion of animal reproduction material. They headed down the hall and out the main hall, then into the main foyer until they reached the outside, the circle of the zoo, and Robin looked around, removing her little visor cap and tossing her hair. Sophie reached down and grabbed Robin by the hand, leading her, which made Robin blush.

"So where are we going?" Robin asked.

"We're going to see a turtle," Sophie said.

                                                                                                           ***

"There's no question," the doctor told Sophie's parents, "We've run a gamut of tests, both psychological and educational, and all indicators point to our suspicions. Your daughter clearly has a myriad of developmental delays. She's just not where she should be when compared to her peers."

The thing that Sophie hated, looking back on these memories, was how everyone spoke about her in front of her, but never to her. She felt like furniture, or a sick pet that didn't have a say in her autonomy. So instead she sat quietly, patiently, simply listening to adults discuss her apparent mental disabilities.

"This isn't a bad thing, for the record," the doctor continued, "many children with developmental delays and disabilities go on to be successful and manage to have completely fulfilling lives, if they get the help they need to do so. Really, all it means is that she won't be the same as her peers. Her interests might lag behind that of her peers, for instance. She might prefer to do childlike things well into her teens, or act like a teenager somewhat into adulthood. She might struggle to learn things. But there are things you can do to help her."

Sophie looked from the doctor to her parents, both of whom seemed absolutely distraught, as if their daughter had just died in front of them. Her mother had one hand clamped over her mouth, squinting, as if near tears, while her father was rubbing his forehead. Sophie didn't understand what the big deal was, she didn't really care one way or the other, but apparently it was a big deal to those around her. And then, when she was a teenager, her mother would say something to her that would change her entire perspective on the situation.

                                                                                                            ***

"It's Gordon's birthday," Sophie said, carrying a small bowl of leaves and greens to the turtle habitat, Robin by her side; Sophie continued, "he's not the oldest turtle here, but he's my favorite. So every year I bring it upon myself to get him a nice little meal so he knows that he's appreciated."

"That's really cute, Sophie," Robin said, quickly leaning in and smooching her on the cheek, making Sophie blush.

"Well, not enough people give attention to the turtles, cause they're not generally the most exciting animals," Sophie said, "but I love turtles. I think they're a great example of not taking life too seriously and not to go too fast, to just sort of take things as they come. Be relaxed. Nothing wrong with being slow."

"I think that's a good way to see it, sure!" Robin said, "So you've just taken it upon yourself to do this?"

"Well, kind of," Sophie said, "but they also remind me of myself."

Robin raised an eyebrow, confused at this. They finally approached the Lagoon and Sophie whistled, and much to Robin's surprise, a very large turtle carried himself up a little hill and to the gate, where Sophie knelt and slid the bowl full of food through and to him. Gordon started chomping away as Sophie sat cross legged on the ground in front of the habitat, watching, as Robin seated herself beside Sophie, watching as well.

"Okay, I need to ask," Robin said, "how do turtles remind you of yourself? Such an interesting animal to find solace in."

"Because they're slow and I'm slow," Sophie said, "like that little girl on that tour, but not as bad as she seemed to be. Course she was also really young. When I was a little girl, I had trouble learning anything, retaining information, or having the same interests as the other kids around me. I didn't start talking until I was 5, I couldn't read until I was 10, and even then, as I got older, I still liked little kids cartoons while other girls my age were getting into age appropriate dramas and talking about boys they found cute."

Robin stayed quiet, listening intently, very surprised to hear this.

"But...while my parents seemed really upset about it, I never really was," Sophie continued, "I just...saw myself as me. There wasn't anything wrong with me. I was just not like them. I mean, there were times when I felt a little bad about being so different, but that was mostly when my parents made me feel bad about it, or some of the other girls would make fun of me. So I like turtles, cause they're slow too, but they're also the most amazing animals. They live forever, and they don't live their life according to anyone elses expectations of them except their own, and that's so admirable. So I'm slow. So what. I'm also able to understand things others can't. Things about people. Because I can take more time to think about it instead of acting immediately on emotion. I think the trade off is fair."

Robin wanted to cry. She had always had a sneaking suspicion that Sophie wasn't exactly neurotypical, but she'd never expected an admission like this. Sophie had always come across as 'different' in some sense of the word, but she'd never come across as what she was describing, so Robin was very surprised.

"For what it's worth," Robin said, dabbing at her eyes with her sweater sleeve, trying not to openly cry, "I think you're very capable and intelligent."

"That's cause you haven't seen me at my worst, but you will, and then you'll feel different. They always do," Sophie said quietly, looking at Gordon eating, and Robin's heart broke a little bit more.

"Why...why would you think anything would ever change how I feel about you?" Robin asked, and Sophie shrugged.

"Cause that's what my mom told me," Sophie said.

                                                                                                         ***

"Are you really that surprised nobody has asked you to go to the dance?" Sophie's mother asked.

They were both in the kitchen - this was a few months before Sophie would ultimately be pulled from school and be homeschooled for the remainder of her academic career - with her mother baking while Sophie herself sat at the kitchen table reading an easy chapter book, despite being in 7th grade now.

"I mean, really," her mother continued as she stirred the mix in the bowl on the counter, "you can't blame them. And it isn't because there's something wrong with you, it's because of their perception of you, and what being seen with someone with your perceived status would say about them to your peers. They'd scared of being judged, so they won't ask you."

Sophie shook her head, wanting to respond, but scared that anything she might say would upset her mother.

"Listen," her mother added, finally walking away from the counter and sitting down at the table next to Sophie, a hand on her back, rubbing gently, "it isn't indicative of your worth, it's indicative of the way they interact with the world, okay? So don't let it let you feel bad about yourself. But...at the same time, you have to know that things like relationships are always going to be hard for you, and it might be impossible to find someone patient and understanding enough to be willing to love you in the way you need and deserve, but again, not indicative of you, but moreso indicative of how selfish and callous people can be."

"So nobody will ever love me?" Sophie asked, finally looking up from her book at her mother.

"I didn't say never, I just said it might be harder for you than it is for most," her mother replied, "but that doesn't mean it's impossible."

Sophie nodded, listening but not wanting to believe what her mother was telling her, because, well, who would? Who would want to believe that, thanks to something they had no control over, they were suddenly less worthy of love and understanding from another person? That was heartbreaking to even attempt to accept. In the end, however, her mothers words rang true. Anytime Sophie did try to reach out to someone in a romantic manner - which, admittedly wasn't often but still - she was rejected time and time and time again, almost always based on the grounds of her intelligence, her weirdness, her inability to be like a normal partner. So Sophie withdrew into herself, and she internalized her mothers words to the nth degree, believing that, okay, she really was incapable of being loved and accepted and understood. No woman would ever treat her with the understanding and compassion and kindness that she so desperately craved.

And then she met Robin Glass.

                                                                                                          ***

"Well," Robin said, "first of all, I'm grateful you feel safe enough with me to tell me these things, because that means a lot, and secondly, your mother was clearly wrong. Sure, most people probably are that shallow, but I'm not most people, and there are other women out there who are like me who would also see your value, and your worth, and love you too."

"I don't want other women," Sophie said, sniffling, still not looking at Robin, "...I want you."

"Well you have me," Robin replied, smiling, reaching out and squeezing Sophie's hand, causing Sophie to suddenly lean in against her and bury her face into the chest of Robin's uniform. Robin could tell this was a hard thing for Sophie to talk about, and she clearly needed comfort, so she reached up and ran a hand through her hair, petting her comfortingly like she knew she liked.

"I have you now," Sophie cried gently, "but what about when you get tired of dealing with me?"

"That's not gonna happe, Sophie," Robin said, half laughing, "god, I don't know if it's this belief your mother instilled into you or what but...you are SO worthy of love, and I'm going to give that and more to you. I promise that I'm not going to just up and stop feeling for you just because of who and how you are. If anything, who and how you are is exactly why I fell for you in the first place. You're so..."

Sophie raised her face up a bit and looked at Robin, who shook her head and smiled down at her, her hand on her cheek.

"You're so everything," Robin continued, "I'm...god I'm so in love with you."

Sophie blushed and Robin leaned down and kissed her, making Sophie start to cry as she kissed her back. In that moment, anything that Sophie's mother or any doctor or her peers could have ever told her melted away and she finally felt safe and heard and seen. Robin had taken all of Sophie's fears, crumpled them up and thrown them directly into the garbage. All that mattered was that she adored Sophie with all her heart, and never questioned her or doubted her or misinterpreted her.

"Think of it this way," Robin said, resting her forehead on Sophie's, "...if you can love a turtle because it's slow, because everyone else doesn't see its worth, then I can love you for the same reason. You're both so much more than you see yourselves as, or as others see you as."

Sophie smiled, her eyes squinting, biting her lip.

"Please don't stop kissing me," she whispered.

"Can do," Robin replied, giggling, leaning in and continuing to do so.

It was a slow day.

But it was a good day.

                                                                                                           ***

Robin entered Sophie's house, her parents not being home, and Sophie led her upstairs to her attic bedroom. Once inside, Sophie turned on her soft fairylights and then, taking Robin by the hand, led her to the bed. Together they lad down and Robin started spooning her. There was nothing sexual about it, it was all about comfort. Sophie pulled a plush turtle she'd bought at the gift shop at the zoo to her chest and squeezed it tight as Robin buried her face in Sophie's hair and breathed her scent in.

The thing was, neither of these women ever expected this sort of thing. Sophie never figured she'd find someone to love her this way, and Robin never thought she'd fall in love with another woman. Robin squeezed her arms tightly around Sophie's waist and kissed Sophie between the shoulder blades. Sophie smiled and shut her eyes.

"Thank you," Sophie whispered.

"For what?"

"For everything."

Robin chuckled and nodded, pressing her cheek against Sophie's skin.

"Of course," Robin said, "I'll always do it."

Sophie pushed back into Robin, and Robin held her as close as possible. The door was locked, so her parents weren't able to get in if they wanted to check on her when they got home. She was entitled to her privacy if nothing else, and she knew her folks would never force their way into her room and invade her personal space, so. As they lay there, Sophie thought back to that conversation with her mother, about how difficult she would be to love, and in the end, she couldn't help but laugh internally at the concept. Difficult to love? Nah. If anything, she was the easiest thing to love in the world, and all the love that she had given to others was finally being given back to her threefold.

Maybe tomorrow she'd take Gordon a fish.
Published on

Allie was driving, but her thoughts weren't exactly focused on the act of driving. Instead, her mind was elsewhere. Not anywhere in particular, really, opting instead to jumping around in time, remembering one moment or another. Events she'd wished played out differently. Things she'd wished she'd done instead of what she did do. The radio crackled as it turned to yet another new station, and Allie finally looked over in annoyance. Megan had been changing the station knob for the last fifteen minutes, switching between over a dozen different options.


"Is this what you do at home? Because if so, I can't blame Jeff for cheating on you."


"Low blow," Megan said, continuing her channel surfing, "why did you ask me to come with you anyway?"


"Cause seeing family isn't any fun if it's done by yourself," Allie said, "you think I wanna be the only one being judged?"


"Remember in our Junior year of highschool we got caught coming home at like, 2am on a weeknight, and our parents were convinced we were doing something bad and then when we told them we had been performing magic at a club downtown, they looked so disappointed. Almost like they'd had preferred if we'd been partying."


"To be fair," Allie said, "we were doing magic. That is kinda embarrassing."


Megan laughed and continued turning the radio knob until Allie finally slapped her hand away.


"Alright knock it off!" she shouted, making Megan laugh harder.


Truth was, Allie didn't even care to go home and see her parents. She just wanted someone to come with her so she didn't have to be mired in her own nostalgia, and Megan, being who she'd started her career with and being her only decent family, was the person she figured was the safest to accomplish this trip with.


"I'm sorry for what I said about Jeff," Allie said, and Megan winced, then smiled weakly.


"Thanks," she said, "he's moving out, but he's not even opting for a divorce or anything just yet. I think he's just hoping that some time apart will let us process our feelings about the whole thing."


"That or he wanted a place to be able to cheat on you without being caught," Allie said.


"Yeah, probably more likely it's that," Megan said, "why are relationships so hard? Are things like this with Nick?"


"Nah," Allie said, "cause Nick knows I'd kill him if he made it difficult."


Allie and Megan laughed, and it felt good. It felt good to laugh, for the both of them. This little trip home might be just what each woman needed to move on a little bit more. The irony of the conversation, however, was that relationships weren't hard if you had the right person. Sure, they still require work, but in the end, they were worthwhile and easygoing if you did it right, and nobody knew that better right now than Molly Hatchet.


                                                                             ***


Molly yawned and opened her eyes, her sight a bit blurry. She realized she was laying her head on Olivia's chest in bed as Olivia stroked her hair with one hand, her free hand reading a magazine, while Benny laid behind Molly, spooning her, his chin resting on her shoulder. Molly shut her eyes and smiled, then yawned again before speaking.


"What are you reading about?" she asked.


"I am reading about great vacation spots," Olivia said, "just on the off chance we ever get to take a vacation again."


"You have anywhere in particular in mind?" Molly asked.


"Not really, no," Olivia said, "anywhere you've ever wanted to go?"


"When I was a teenager, my parents took me to a lot of national parks. I always liked that," Molly said, "I don't really like the act of camping, per say, and always opt to stay in the cabins or lodges or whatever they have on the grounds for snobs like me, but I do like going. Plus, if I stay in the lodges, I get to check out the architecture, which is always a plus."


"You can check out the architecture in my pants," Benny muttered, half asleep, behind them, making them both laugh.


"Anyway, that's my idea of a good time," Molly said, "for someone who spends their entire life dedicated to the interior of buildings, it's nice to sometimes go outside and get away from all that. Return to the nature, that kind of thing."


"I think that's a fantastic idea," Olivia said, leaning down and kissing Molly on the top of the head, making her blush. Molly had never once considered she'd be a part of something like this, but she was surprised at how easy it all actually was. Molly pulled one of her arms out from under the sheets and looked at her watch.


"Shit," she said, "I need to go to the casino, take measurements for the vault."


"Do you want a ride?" Olivia asked, and Molly nodded.


"That would be really nice, thank you," Molly said.


"I can hang around until you're done, and we can go to lunch," Olivia said, "Benny will be out for a while, so it'd be nice to not be alone."


Molly smiled as she climbed out of bed and started to get dressed. She wondered what she'd done in order to be loved by two different people, but whatever the reason was, she was grateful. Molly pulled on her pants and put on her bra before heading into the attached bathroom and looking at herself in the mirror, pulling her hair back and tying it up when Olivia came in to grab her own clothes from the hamper and then, turning, stopped behind Molly and put her hands on Molly's shoulders, leaning in and kissing her on the neck.


"Whenever you're ready," Olivia said, making Molly blush more.


Yes, right now, life was so good, even in spite of all the crimes they were committing.


                                                                             ***


"You're sure it's her?" Agent Siskel asked as she and Agent Tropper walked through the scene.


"I mean, there's a hole through her head, but that hasn't impacted identification," Agent Tropper replied as he lifted the crime scene tape for them to both go underneath; as he watched Agent Siskel get ahead of him, he jogged to catch up and added, "it might be gruesome to see, for the record."


"You're acting like I've never seen someone shot in the head before," Agent Siskel said, "this isn't my first day on the job."


"I'm just giving you ample warning," Agent Tropper said as they finally reached the body. It was spread on the ground, just like the photos had shown it, and both agents stopped and looked down, somewhat in disbelief. Agent Siskel shook her head as the cops milled about around them, continuing to take notes, clearly waiting on the coroner to show up.


"She didn't deserve this," Agent Siskel whispered, chewing on her nails.


"I mean, she kind of did," Agent Tropper said, shrugging, hands in his coat pockets, "Let's not pretend she was innocent. She knew what she was involved in, she was doing bad things just like everyone else. She opted in. To act as though she was a bystander isn't right."


"Still, she didn't deserve this, I don't care what she did," Agent Siskel said, shaking her head, "this is...this is cold."


"Yeah, well, we knew this was a possible outcome, given everything, when we gave Allie the gun," Agent Tropper said.


Just then they heard a car horn honking back at the road and saw a hearse pull up, the window down as Rachel St Sebastian shouted out the window.


"Get the fuck out of my way, you goddamned bureaucratic crackpot!" she yelled, before parking and climbing out. Agent Tropper and Agent Siskel exchanged a look, unsure if they should even allow her to be involved. Rachel St Sebastian walked through the crowd, past other cops, and under the tape between the trees, finally stopping at the agents.


"Miss Sebastian," Agent Tropper said, reaching out to shake her hand, Agent Siskel doing the same. Way they figured it, best they could do at this point was keep her on their good side. She might become an invaluable asset.


"Didn't know you were such an in demand coroner," Agent Siskel said.


"Not so much that as it is I'm the one willing to do work on murders," Rachel said, lighting a cigarette and taking a drag, "they're often too heavy or uncomfortable for most, so I kind of fill that niche. I don't mind the nastiness of the situation."


"Not surprising, given what you were involved in," Agent Siskel said.


"Yeah, well, that's fair," Rachel replied, "...let me see her."


"You sure?" Agent Tropper asked, "could be...jarring, given your association."


"I need to see her," Rachel said quietly.


She knew full well, just like the agents, that when she'd directed Allie to that empty complex this was one of two outcomes. She just didn't know which to expect. So she walked past the agents and inspected the body, and, in some warped way, she felt so responsible yet so relieved, and that only made her feel worse. Rachel put out her cigarette and tucked it behind her ear, then put her hand over her mouth as she knelt down and inspected the damage. A clean, singular shot through the head. That's all it came down to. Rachel rubbed her eyes and wanted to cry, but she knew this was the best possible situation. She stood up and turned around, facing the agents.


"Do you mind if I bag and tag her?" Rachel asked, reaching into her leather jacket and pulling out some rubber gloves, snapping them over her hands.


"Not at all, do your duty," Agent Tropper said.


So that's what she did. She did her duty. After all, she was somewhat responsible for her death.


                                                                             ***


Molly was sitting at the table in the restaurant after her measurement meeting, poking at her food with her fork, staring at her plate absentmindedly. When she'd gotten there, she didn't expect the lawyer Zoe had mentioned to have been there too, but she seemed to be attached to Tony by the hip, and the whole situation was awkward and made her nervous. She wondered if she'd even taken the correct measurements, in all honesty, because she felt so watched, and what's worse, Tony had had her lie about what the measurements were actually for. He clearly didn't want Raindrop to know what he was planning on doing. How did Molly keep getting dragged into other peoples secrets? She heard a light tapping of a fork on a glass and looked up across the table at Olivia.


"Sorry," Molly mumbled, "sorry, I just...I got lost in my head about work."


"You doing alright?" Olivia asked, and Molly rested her head in her palm, shrugging; Olivia lifted her glass to her lips and took a drink before asking, "you seem, what's the word, absolutely miserable?"


Molly smirked and stabbed some of her chicken salad with her fork, chewing and swallowing before talking.


"I just hate this whole thing, all of it," Molly said, "the whole situation. I don't want to be involved in it, but at the same time, these are the only real friends I've ever made, and I'd be so sad and lonely without them. But I almost want to just recede into the darkness, move away, go somewhere nobody can find me."


"Well how about this, after all of it's said and done, you, me and Benny leave Vegas and go somewhere?" Olivia asked, and Molly's eyes lit up.


"Really?"


"I don't have any stake here," Olivia said, "I'm only staying cause Benny does, and frankly, he's willing to make a change at this point. And you're more than welcome to come with us. You're a part of this, after all."


"I never thought I'd be a part of anything like this," Molly said.


"You mean the crimes or the relationship?" Olivia asked, chuckling, making Molly giggle.


"Both, to be honest," Molly said, "but in this instance I was specifically referring to the relationship. In fact...I've never really felt anything for any woman, and I'm...what I feel here doesn't equal what I feel for Benny, I'm pretty straight, but I have to admit you're comforting and feel safe and are very pretty and kind, and that makes things much easier. Still, it's all very new to me, but the openness of it all and the sexuality side."


"For what it's worth," Olivia said, taking another sip of her drink, "we've never managed to find someone who fit our criteria so well, so you really are a special case. Usually it was either someone Benny really liked, someone I really liked, someone neither of us liked who liked us way too much or some other weird variation on the formula. But you seem to care about us both equally, and we both love you very much, and that's the way it should be."


"I've had bad luck with relationships," Molly said, "so it's...it's kind of healing to be loved by two different people at once."


Olivia smiled and reached across the table, patting Molly's outstretched hand.


"Then we're happy to heal you," she said, smiling warmly, making Molly blush.


Between Zoe's relationship with Effie and Molly's relationship with Benny and Olivia, it seemed like everyone, by the end, would end up more or less better off...except for Allie.


                                                                               ***


Allie and Megan had parked at their old elementary school and walked into the grounds. It was after school, so nobody was there, and they had the entire playground to themselves. The girls seated themselves on the swings, and Allie couldn't help but feel like she should go see her parents, but at the same time, why bother? They never came to see her in the hospital when she'd gotten mauled. For all she cared, she had no family. Except Megan, of course. Megan kicked her shoes off, grabbed the chains of the swing, and started pushing herself, Allie smiling as she watched her cousin actually enjoy herself for a change.


"For what it's worth," Allie said, "Jeff is a dick, and you always deserved better."


"He wasn't always," Megan said, "that was what attracted me to him to begin with. He was a good guy. I think most men just become bored of their complacency in marriage, feel stagnant, miss that rush of being in love, which is sad cause you can have that with your spouse every day forever if you just give enough of a shit to put the effort in."


Allie shrugged. Was Nick the same way? He was what she considered a 'nice guy' - albeit not in the creepy sense - but would he, if they married, become the same kind of person as Jeff? The idea scared her. Course, marriage was not something that was ever on Allie's mind.


"Still," Allie said, "I'm sorry it happened."


"Maybe I wasn't a good enough wife or mother, I don't know."


"Don't let him make you doubt yourself," Allie said, "don't give him that kind of power over you. This decision is his failing, not yours."


Megan nodded as Allie looked around the schoolyard and sighed.


"Doesn't seem so long ago, does it?" she asked, and Megan shook her head; Allie continued, "you don't realize how quickly it's passing. It was all over so fast even when it felt like it was taking an eternity. I miss the simplicity of adolescence. I mean, sure, it had its hang ups. Not everything was cut and dry, black and white, it was still messy and emotional, but it isn't like life is now. I don't like how life is now."


"You're not planning on killing yourself, are you?" Megan asked, smirking, making Allie laugh.


"No, but if I were, this would be a great suicide note wouldn't it?" she asked, the both of them laughing now; Allie added, "but you know what I mean, like, I wanna go back somehow. I think that's what this little trip was about. Going back. Even if only briefly. I know I can't go back fully, but at least I can get this small bit of respite from an otherwise regularly convoluted life."


The girls sat and swang, listening to the breeze pass through the trees overhead.


"I miss doing magic with you," Megan said, surprising Allie, who looked at her wide eyed; Megan said, "I really do. It gave me stability, a sense of accomplishment."


"And mother hasn't?" Allie asked, making Megan chuckle.


"No, I feel completely unfullfilled by having raised a child, you got me," Megan said, "worst decision I ever made."


The girls cackled together, and it felt nice to connect like this again, in the way they used to.


"But you know what I mean," Megan said, "if you ever need a third person, or Zoe ever decides to finally come to her senses and leave you, you know where to find me."


"Yeah, home, alone, moping because your husband left and your child doesn't fill the gaping black void in your heart," Allie said, the girls laughing loudly again. They smiled at one another in a way they hadn't since they were young, and then they swang together in silence. It was nice, to be supported by a family member. Allie could recall the very first time she successfully pulled off a trick in front of her mother, eager for her approval, and instead all she got was disinterest. Allie could remember saying, repeatedly, "You're not looking!" and her mother casually claiming she was, despite never raising her eyes to her daughters efforts. And then Allie showed that same trick to Megan, and Megan decided she wanted to do magic too. Between Megan, Zoe and, by proxy of her tiger attack, Nick, Allie's most important relationships had been built on the back of magic.


One could say her luck was in the cards.

Published on
Nelly locked her car and exhaled, blowing her curly black bangs from her face. She turned on her heel, raised her coffee cup to her lips and started walking towards the entrance, when she heard footsteps coming up beside her. Before she knew it, Harvey was walking alongside her, his hands behind his back.

"You often get your coffee outside of work? Our coffee isn't good enough for you?" he asked playfully, making her smirk.

"Actually no, it isn't," Nelly said, "I keep the cheapest coffee stuff here so I can buy the nicer stuff for my apartment. I'm sorry to break it to you, but there's no perks in that area."

"That's a shame, cause if you're not doing nice things for us, now I feel awkward for giving you these," Harvey said, pulling his hands out from his back, holding a large bouquet of multicolored tulips in front of himself. Nelly stopped and approached them, reaching out and gently touching the petals, smiling weakly. Her eyes eventually ran up from the flowers to Harvey, who leaned in and kissed her. She didn't hesitate, and did reciprocate, but she also broke it off quickly.

"Listen," Nelly said, "this is a sweet gesture and...and the other week was...actually the last week in general has been amazing, but we're in an employee/employer relationship, I could get in a lot of trouble for taking advantage of that."

"Oh, you after my job? Cause you're the one in charge here, not sure what advantage you're taking really," Harvey said, "after all, I've always been of the opinion that you need to relax, and I'm glad you've not only taken my advice but decided to take it with me of all people."

Nelly chuckled and touched the flowers again, biting her lip.

"You're...amazing," Nelly said, "really, and I've wanted this for so long, you have no idea-"

"By the way you're acted I have some idea," Harvey interrupted.

"-but...I really could get into a lot of legal trouble. Nobody is supposed to fraternize with eachother, especially not upper management," Nelly said.

"So you....don't want the flowers?" Harvey asked, making her laugh again.

"They're beautiful," Nelly replied.

"You're beautiful," Harvey remarked, surprising her as he kissed her again, whispering as he held her face gently in his free hand, "and...you have to take these, because they're making my allergies act up, so."

Nelly laughed and graciously accepted them, the both of them continuing into the zoo. Meanwhile, in the small water feature with the stone aquatic creature decorations further into the zoo, Robin, Fletcher and Kacie were sitting on the rim of the fountain, each having their respective 'breakfast'. Kacie was eating a premade bowl of eggs, sausage and cheese while Fletcher drank coffee and Robin had her usual breakfast burrito. Fletcher was reading a local newspaper as they sat together.

"There's this great place a little past downtown, I'm telling you, you have to go there, they have the absolute best hashbrowns. Believe me, I take breakfast extremely seriously, and the way they cook bacon so it's just the hint of crispiness, spectacular. I'm a breakfast expert," Robin said.

"Says the woman eating a gas station breakfast burrito," Fletcher said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Listen, quality doesn't take precedent when you have responsibilities and, for what it's worth, I'll have you know these are surprisingly high quality," Robin replied, taking a large bite and chewing, making Fletcher chuckle. Suddenly Sophie plopped herself down beside Robin and rested her head on her shoulder. Robin blushed and, using her other hand, reached up and stroked her hair.

"This is one my favorite spots, which is funny, cause I'm not big on water," Sophie said.

"Then why do you like it?" Fletcher asked.

"I think I like the sound of water," Sophie said, "it's very comforting, especially when it's gentle like a fountain. Soothing. I have this white noise machine at home that I use when I start to get overwhelmed, and it plays all these different sounds, and one of my favorites is a fountain, so I think that's why I like it. It's also just pretty and very shaded over here."

Robin nodded in acknowledgement.

"All valid reasons," she said, before adding, "I have a tour to give today, you wanna join me?"

"You like having an assistant?" Sophie asked, and Robin kissed the side of her head.

"I do when they're as cute as you," Robin remarked, making Fletcher roll his eyes.

"Oh god you're so precious I think I might actually hurl, and I didn't even eat breakfast," Fletcher said.

                                                                                                        ***

"Listen," Nelly said as she and Harvey entered her office, Harvey shutting the door behind him as he entered following her, "there's rules that I've clearly broken here, and now I'm trying to do the right thing and set it right, meaning that this, what we've currently been engaging in, cannot continue."

Nelly tossed her coffee cup in the trashcan by her desk before turning to face Harvey as she leaned back against it.

"Because," she continued, "...well, because it can't. Simple as that."

"Wow, the ol' because I said so, thanks mom," Harvey replied, making her grimace.

"In light of what we've been participating in, please don't call me mom," she asked.

Harvey started pacing, chewing on his nails, while Nelly gathered a small container to fill with water and set on her desk with which to place the flowers into until she could take them home with her later. She watched him pace, nervous about what he might say. She'd wanted him for so long, and now here she was, pushing him away, and for what? Because the rules of management say you don't fraternize with your employees? He was such a great guy, and she was willing to throw that away for longevity at the company? Stupid. Even she knew it was stupid.

"So did it mean anything? Cause it meant a lot to me," Harvey finally said, turning to face her across the desk.

"...it meant everything," Nelly whispered back, "you have honestly no idea how long I'd wanted that, but...but we could both get into so much trouble if anyone found out. It's different when it's two employees doing it, but I'm literally your boss, and while that might be a fantasy for you, it's still a dangerous situation. We could both get fired or worse."

Harvey seated himself in the chair across from her and sighed, scratching the back of his head, adjusting his small round spectacles.

"Nell, you're so...you put too much stock into pleasing those around you, those who, for the record, wouldn't pleas you for a split second if the tables were turned. You want to do right but the company, but not by yourself. That hurts my heart. Because all I see when I look at you is a scared woman who is lonely, who just wants what we all want, to be loved, and yet you won't allow yourself to be for fear that 'the company' might find out. Nelly...I need you to think about why you feel the need to put your own needs behind the needs of a corporation. I know that it has to do with your job, wanting to keep your job, and I respect that aspect because god knows we all need fucking income, but at the same time, Nell, I..."

Harvey hesitated, bit his lip then continued.

"...I can't tell you how many countless times I've walked by your office and heard you crying. Do you just think you don't deserve to be loved? Did someone instill this belief in you that you're not worthy of it? Where did it come from? Cause it sure as fuck ain't true. Why won't you allow yourself some comfort?"

"I did, and now look at what it's led to," Nelly said, causing Harvey's eyes to soften.

"...oh. Well, I'm...I'm sorry. I didn't...I don't want to cause you trouble," Harvey said, standing up and heading for the door; as his hand gripped the knob, he stopped and looked at his shoes before adding, "...I didn't realize I led to problems. I don't want to cause any more."

And with that, Harvey exited the office, leaving Nelly standing alone behind her desk, chewing her lip, trying not to cry.

                                                                                                            ***

The tour had ended, and Sophie was surprisingly good with young kids, Robin had noticed. The tour hadn't dispersed, however, most were still lingering. It was a school group from a local middle school, so they were either hanging out around various animal exhibits or talking to the teachers and chaperones. Sophie had gone to get two bottles of water and had rejoined Robin at the tables near the Tigers Den, a small area that was outfitted for young kids to play in, with large plasticine tiger models to climb on and engage with. Robin thanked Sophie for the water, uncapped it and took a very long drink, wiping her mouth on her arm.

"You're really good at your job," Sophie said, making Robin blush.

"Well thank you," Robin replied, "I try to be. I try to be informative as well as entertaining. I know from growing up that the best way to learn about something is to not be condescended to, so I try to follow that same middle ground."

"You'd have made a good teacher," Sophie said, "before I got privately tutored, none of my teachers were ever patient or understanding enough with me."

Robin would've responded, in fact she had a response locked and loaded, ready to go, but her eye had been caught by a young girl from the tour - she looked to be about 12 - sitting on the concrete by the side of a water fountain shaped like a tiger head. Robin stood up and started to walk towards her, Sophie quickly following on her heel. As they got closer, Robin could see the girl was hiding her face in her arms, on top of her knees, her legs having been pulled up to her chest. Robin knelt down beside her, but didn't reach out to make contact.

"Hey," Robin said gently, "are you okay? Do you need some help?"

"They're gonna go extinct," the girl cried into herself, "and nobody cares."

Robin and Sophie exchanged a look, and both sat down cross legged in front of the girl.

"The tigers, you mean?" Robin asked, "There's lots of different tigers, they won't all go away. I mean, it's bad that people don't care more, yeah, that they'd rather focus on industrialization than preservation, but that's what places like Wild Kingdom is for, to help save and maybe even maintain the species population."

"They all go away," she continued to cry; after a minute she looked up at them, wiped her eyes on her palms and sniffled; just from her face, Robin and Sophie could tell this girl wasn't like her peers, and clearly had a developmental disorder of some kind. She continued, "they went away at home too."

"Tigers...went away at home?" Sophie asked, and the girl nodded.

"I had a tiger," she said, "I had him for so long, and now he's gone too. We moved and I don't know where he went."

Robin and Sophie exchanged a look and both stood up. They walked a little ways away from the fountain and lowered their voices.

"She's lost a comfort item," Sophie said quietly, "I know cause I've had this happen to me. Do we sell any tiger plushes in the gift shop?"

"We sell a ton of stuff in the gift shop, couldn't hurt to investigate. You want to go check while I stay here with her?"

"We'll take her together," Sophie said, making Robin nervous, her eyes widening.

"Are you suggesting we just...walk off with a child that isn't ours?" she asked, laughing nervously.

"We're employees, we have every right to kidnap children," said Sophie, making Robin crack up and nod. Together they walked back to the young girl, told her to go with them, and began to lead her away from the fountain and her class and towards the gift shop. Robin didn't know why, but she had a feeling Sophie understood this girl better than she ever would, and this only raised more questions for her. For as much as she loved her, Robin didn't really know much about her, and she was starting to wonder if she should.

                                                                                                         ***

Fletcher was sitting in the break room when Harvey entered and walked right to the fridge. Fletcher looked up, but only barely, just to see Harvey open the fridge and pull out a glass soda bottle, untop it then down the whole thing in one go, causing Fletcher to raise an eyebrow.

"You okay?" Fletcher asked.

"Is anyone?" Harvey replied.

"How philosophical of you," Fletcher retorted.

"I don't get it," Harvey said, walking to the table and seating himself, "I just...why do people act like they want things, then immediately take it back? I'm so tired of being misled by everyone I ever come into contact with. I try to do the right thing, you know, I try to be a good person, be helpful, supportive, understanding, and yet it just continually backfires in my face."

"That's why I don't do those things," Fletcher said, "and yet here you are, same as me. People are fickle, man. I think it's hard to really build trust with someone. It's hard enough to let your guard down, but it's even harder to do so in the hopes of reciprocation. That girl, Kacie? She's way cool, but I'm always ready for the other shoe to drop. Relationships are weird, whether they're platonic or romantic. Don't think too deeply into it."

"Just makes me feel worthless," Harvey mumbled, and Fletchers eyes softened, as though this hurt his heart to hear. He reached out and put a hand on Harvey's shoulder, causing Harvey to look over at him.

"That's cause you are," Fletcher said, the both of them laughing.

Harvey liked Fletcher for this very reason. He didn't take a single thing seriously, and that helped keep himself in check. He figured Fletcher was right. If Nelly really wanted what she claimed she wanted, she'd make that move when she was ready and comfortable. Sure, it hurt to be relegated back to just 'employee' status instead of 'potential love interest', but Harvey did understand her reasoning, and he did feel as though pressuring it was the wrong thing to do. Nelly was already constantly under stress to be perfect. The last thing he wanted to do to her was add onto that. So he drank his soda and he talked to Fletcher and he tried not to take life so seriously.

One day at a time, he figured.

                                                                                                        ***

"When I was your age, probably younger," Sophie said as they walked through the gift shop, heading to the stuffie rack, "I had a favorite plush too. It was a very fuzzy blue elephant. I named him Roger. Roger went everywhere with me. Even to school, which...well...didn't go over so well. But having Roger around made me feel safe. Is that what it was like with your tiger? Did he have a name?"

"I called him Stalker," the girl said, nodding, "cause Tigers stalk things, that's how they hunt. And yeah, I took him everywhere, but I also liked having him at home. When mom and dad would start fighting, I'd get under the covers with Stalker and hug him and read until they stopped."

"What do you like to read?" Robin asked.

"They're just picture books, cause I can't read well," the girl replied, "I like looking at the pictures."

They finally stopped at the plush rack and the girl hesitated, seeming nervous. Sophie put a hand on her shoulder and knelt down beside her, smiling warmly.

"Here's the deal, you're gonna go pick out a new tiger, and you're not even gonna have to pay for him, I'm going to do that for you," Sophie said, surprising Robin with this act of generosity; she continued, "and you can take this one home, he'll be all yours, and it'll still be sad to have lost Stalker, but at least you won't be without a tiger. Does that sound good?"

The girl nodded excitedly, and Sophie patted her on the back, pushing her to the racks. The girl ran eagerly over to them as Sophie stood back up beside Robin and smoothed out her uniform. Robin shook her head in disbelief.

"Wow, this is a selfless thing you're doing," Robin said, "do you get a good discount? Cause if not, I can chip in too."

"I was like her," Sophie said quietly, "...parents always arguing, always having trouble in school, making friends out of inanimate objects. She clearly has a developmental disorder. I know what that's like. That's partially why I was pulled out of school and tutored. Having those comfort items helps a lot, because when you feel so alone, it's nice to have something that feels like it's there just for the sake of you. Especially nice when your family won't stop fighting all the time."

Robin reached over and gently held Sophie's hand, squeezing gently.

"What were they fighting about?" she asked.

Sophie waited a minute, chewing her cheek before answering.

"Me," she whispered, "they were fighting about me."

                                                                                                           ***

Harvey was walking back to his car after work, pulling his keys from his coat pocket. Everyone else had left about an hour ago, but he'd stayed behind to do some paperwork for everybody, filling out necessary employee worksheets that were required once a month in regards to their qualifications. Harvey didn't mind doing this though, and it wasn't like any of them were taking advantage of him by letting him do so. First off, he liked it because he'd rather do that than go home and feel awful, and secondly, it let his mind be anywhere other than where it currently had been. He needed the break, mentally. As he jammed his car key into the door and opened it, he heard the sound of heels coming up slowly behind him, and he turned to see Nelly.

"Yeah?" he asked, "I left all those papers in the necessary spot, if that's what you're here to talk about."

"I have to apologize to you," Nelly said, her voice wavering, like she was on the verge of tears, "...ever since taking over this job, the animals have been my biggest priority. It was always my dream to run a zoo, you don't...you don't understand. Like, ever since I was really little, since the first time I'd ever been taken to one, it was my dream. So to actually be offered that opportunity, pffft, unreal. That's why I'm so scared of losing it, Harvey."

"I understand, and I...for what it's worth, Nell, I don't...I'm not mad at you. I'm slightly disappointed at the situation, but I'm not mad, and I totally get it," Harvey said.

"No, you don't," Nelly said, getting closer, "because...because all I do is work. That's it. That's the one thing I do. I come here, I work, I go home, I work. I work and I work and I work for the safety and the sanctity of these animals, to prove that I'm capable of this job because, guess what, it isn't permanent. This is an interim position. Nobody knows that. I could be replaced in a heartbeat if I screw up."

Harvey leaned against his car and folded his arms, clearly his throat, nodding.

"Yeah, okay, you're right, I didn't know that, that's...that's stressful," he said.

"So I go into every single day with the knowledge that if I'm not fucking exceptional, I could be out. To live with that stress, my god, it changes you, man," Nelly said, "...but there's so much more that I want. When I don't go home and work, I just go home and cry. I go home, and I make food and I eat and I will lay on my couch and watch my TV on mute and just sob uncontrollably because...because I'm so fucking alone. I'm so alone, Harvey. I need to be the best for my job because I can't be the best for a person. That's been proven repeatedly, and I...I don't want you to prove it to me too."

"Fucking hell, Nell, I never could," Harvey said, stepping forward off the car, putting his hands on her shoulders, "Nelly, I never could do that to you. Nelly, I don't think you understand how I see you. I know you're overworked, stressed out, scared, but I also see a completely capable woman who is doing her goddamned best, and...and she deserves to feel safe and heard and loved."

Nelly looked up from her shoes at Harvey and blushed. Harvey reached up with one hand and pushed her hair back behind one of her ears, then rubbing her cheek with his palm.

"I've always been attracted to you just because you're the kind of woman I find admirable, someone who doesn't take any shit and doesn't let any shit stop her, that and you're extremely beautiful and funny and..." Harvey said, "...and the other week, I was so happy when that happened cause I'd wanted it for a long time."

"I'd wanted it too," Nelly said.

"Then let yourself have it," Harvey whispered, "and if anyone gives you shit about what we're doing, I'll go to bat for you, even if it means the loss of my job at the sake of preserving yours."

"...you would do that for me?" Nelly asked, shocked.

"I would," Harvey said, "because, honestly, I like animals but this is just a job to me. But it's your lifes passion. That's worth protecting."

The two of them stood there in the parking lot in silence, before Nelly reached up and put her hand on Harvey's on her face.

"You should come to my apartment," she whispered.

"That sounds like a great idea," he whispered back, leaning in and kissing her.

Nelly was all those things Harvey said he saw her as, but she was also so much more. She was things she never let anyone see her be. Romantic and fun and easygoing. She wanted to share that part of herself with Harvey because she knew he was safe, and after the last relationship she'd had, safety was what she needed most. So he followed her back to her apartment, and they cooked dinner together, and they watched an old black and white movie on TV and they cracked wise throughout the whole thing, and for the first time since she'd gotten her job, Nelly felt something she hadn't felt in years.

Comfortable.

And she sure as shit wasn't about to let that go.
Published on

"This is a rare treat! A once in a lifetime opportunity to win a car of this caliber, and all you have to do is what you already love to do...gamble!" Tony said, standing in front of a beautiful sports car on a rotating round display, adding, "so come on down to Card Shark and you could win big big big! But you gotta hurry, cause this thing is about to speed on outta here at the hands of the first lucky son a gun who manages to snag it!"


With that the camera cut and Tony relaxed. He turned and looked at the car, wiping his face down with a handtowel as someone approached him from behind. It was the guy who cut all his commercial footage together for the various casinos, a man by the name of Ricky. Tall, lanky, a fluff of dark black hair and a constant five o' clock shadow, he looked like what a video editor is expected to look like if central casting had sent him.


"What'd you think?" Tony asked, and Ricky nodded.


"It was ace, man," he replied, "Short, sweet, direct. Exactly enough to capture the fractured attention span of the people gambling."


Tony laughed and patted Ricky on the back as he turned and headed for the bar. He sat down and ordered a drink, before he noticed a woman sitting beside him and smirked.


"Hello Allie," he said. Allie slowly turned her head to face him, looking as though she'd seen a ghost; Tony looked surprised at her appearance, and asked, "you doing okay? You're not drinking, are you?"


"No, not at all," Allie replied, "I just didn't sleep well last night."


The bartender dropped Tony's drink in front of him and he picked it up and left, wishing Allie a better nights sleep. But the thing was, Allie hadn't slept well in weeks now. Not since the incident. Allie eventually got her food and left the bar, heading back up to her suite and settling into her couch with the giant TV on mute. She'd been self isolating lately, wanting to be as uninvolved with anything but work as much as possible. She flipped through the channels until she landed on a nature program about tigers, and her eyes swelled with tears. Domino. She wanted to see Domino so bad. The door opened and Nick entered, tossing his jacket onto the couch before realizing Allie was sitting there with her basket of wings in her lap. He laughed as he sat down next to her and picked one of them out of the basket and bit into it.


"Sorry, didn't know you'd be right there," Nick said, before looking at Allie while chewing and narrowing his eyes in a concerned manner, asking, "...hey, babe, you okay?"


"...I have done terrible things," Allie whispered.


"So you've been involved in a few unsavory things, they were accidents. Jenny doesn't blame you. Tony has given you so many chances. And I'll never judge you. Come here."


Nick pulled the basket of wings from her lap and set them on the ottoman in front of them, then pulled Allie into his chest and held her close, stroking her hair. Allie started to weep, as Nick whispered sweet nothings in her ear. She knew so much of it wasn't her fault directly, but there was so much more Nick didn't know. She'd killed two people now, and she didn't care about whether others would ever forgive her...she cared about whether she could ever forgive herself.


                                                                           ***


"You know what I'll never understand?" Benny asked, "who arbitrarily decided what counts as breakfast food? Like, why are eggs considered a breakfast food, but not, say, lobster?"


"People eat eggs with lobster all the time," Molly replied, "what are you talking about?"


"Yeah but those people are rich and live in their own fantasy world, they don't count," Benny said, making Molly chuckle as she stabbed more scrambled eggs onto the end of her fork, lifting it to her mouth and eating as Benny added, "but you know what I mean, right? Why one thing and not another, and who was the person who made these calls? Were they a self appointed party of were they given the responsibility at, like, the start of more modern civilization to come up with what exactly we eat in the morning."


"I'd wager it's nutrition based," Molly said, tossing her curly bangs from her face, adding, as she chewed, "they probably pooled the nutrition of many foods and decided these were what gave us the most energy or whatever throughout the day."


Benny laughed as he picked up some bacon and bit into it, nodding in agreement. The two of them were sitting in a diner called Angie's right next door to the casino, but wasn't owned by the casino, a place the group went often. It was actually the early evening, but Benny and Molly often had breakfast for dinner, it had become somewhat of a tradition. Molly picked up her coffee cup and took a sip before looking up at Benny and smirking.


"What?" she asked, "why are you staring at me?"


"Well, you're in my immediate view, the hell else am I gonna look at?" Benny asked, making her laugh before adding, "but also, cause you're absolutely beautiful, and it makes me happy to see you happy."


Molly stopped eating, bit her lip and sniffled. She still wasn't used to this. This kind of kindness and love that Benny gave her. She felt so very very lucky. After a few moments, she looked up and smiled back at him as he reached across the table and squeezed her hand. Truthfully, they weren't just here for the food though...they were here because, in about an hour down the street, Jackson Strange would be doing an impromptu performance on the street, and they still needed as much recon work on his magic as possible if they were going to pull off their heist. Molly set her mug down and pushed her glasses up her face, blushing.


"You think Allie will be there?" she asked, and Benny grimaced, shrugging.


"Hard to say, ain't seen her really since that night," he replied.


Allie had been keeping a low profile, it was true, but not as low as Zoe.


                                                                          ***


Zoe was standing in the stage room, looking at the plans for her and Allie's next show - where to place props for easiest and quickest access, those types of details - when she heard the doors open and turned to see Tony and a woman walking into the room. Zoe put her papers down and turned to face them.


"Don't mind us," Tony said, "we're just doing some detailing of the area for insurance purposes."


"Expecting a fire?" Zoe asked.


"With magic? You never know," Tony said, chuckling, making Zoe laugh a little. The woman he was with was well dressed, tight fitting suit jacket, starched collar button down shirt and a pencil skirt, her shoes sensible but fashionable, her hair perfectly cut and clean down to her shoulders with fringe bangs. She stopped and jotted something down on a little notepad in her hand before turning to face Zoe.


"You must be one of the resident performers," she said, reaching her hand out, "I'm Raindrop Mullens."


"Your name is Raindrop?" Zoe asked, trying not to laugh.


"My parents were hippies, blame them, not me," Raindrop replied, "I had contemplated getting it changed for many years but...at this point, I'll just wait until they're dead so as not to disappoint them for their awful life choices that actively impact me every day."


Raindrop turned and continued walking, taking more notes as Tony stopped beside Zoe, arms folded, the two of them watching her.


"She seems fun," Zoe said, making Tony chuckle.


"Yeah, well, lawyers are lawyers," Tony replied, "listen, I saw Allie at the bar earlier, she's not drinking right? She told me she isn't, but I figured I'd ask you since you're like her partner and best friend."


"She's not, believe me, I'd know," Zoe said.


"Good, good. We need that girl to remain sober," Tony remarked, "getting her on the wagon was almost impossible, and I just...I can't bear to watch her do that to herself again. To those around her. I grew up with a father who was a crippling alcoholic, so I know what it can take from you firsthand, you know what I mean?"


Zoe nodded, watching Raindrop inspect and investigate things, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.


"Tony, why do you need a lawyer?" she asked again.


"I told you, insurance purposes," Tony said, "it's umbrella insurance, Zoe. It isn't for one particular thing. Running an entertainment venue, multiple as well, can be a tricky business. It isn't just about violence or theft, there's people getting sick from the food, accidents, things of that nature. I just needed better coverage. Plus, what with the casinos cash earnings, I need to be protected as well. For god sakes, girl, I'm offering a car in the front room! What if someone were to steal it?"


He laughed again, patted her on the back and started following Raindrop once more as they moved on through the venue. Zoe watched, tapping her pen on her clipboard and chewing her lip. She hadn't expected the fact that the car might be a liability as a win. Zoe would hit the internet after this. She needed to do some research.


                                                                                ***


The crowd had gathered, though not as big as Molly and Benny had expected, to see Jackson Strange's public performance. Standing amongst the other people, Molly couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. Crowds made her anxious, and she started to physically shrink into herself, until she felt Benny come up behind her, wrap his arms around her and rest his head on her shoulder. She smiled, blushed and untensed, relaxing.


"This guy is a goddamn enigma," Benny said, "why continue to do street shows if you're already a well known performer in a large venue?"


"Gotta keep driving buzz somehow, I figure," Molly replied, and Benny nodded.


"I guess that makes sense," Benny said, "there is something admirable about an artist who stays true to the origins of their craft long after attaining fame and fortune. Like when a big name director still goes and makes indie films. That's always cool, to know they don't forget where they came from, how they got to where they are now."


"I wouldn't call Jackson Strange an artist, but the metaphor lands regardless," Molly said, making Benny chuckle and kiss her cheek. Just then, Allie sidled up beside Molly, who looked genuinely happy to see her. Allie was wearing a windbreaker, her hair messy around her face - as though it had been days since she'd showered - and her entire demeanor was reminiscent of someone in mourning.


"Good to see you out of the suite," Molly said, "Are you feeling okay?"


"I ate nothing but wings this afternoon," Allie said glumly, "and then Nick came home and I cried all over him. Does it sound like I'm okay?"


"Not really, no, we're just being polite and asking," Benny remarked, making Allie smirk. She appreciated Benny's sense of humor, always capable of taking a situation and making light of it, regardless of how grim it is. Allie turned her focus back to the focal point and sighed.


"So," Allie said, "he isn't here yet?"


"If he were here, we'd be watching a magic show," Benny said, checking his watch, "but at this point I'm starting to doubt his ability to show up on time. What kind of magician is late to his own performance? That's just unprofessional is what that is."


Allie chuckled, then felt a tug on her sleeve. She turned and saw Zoe there, who motioned with Allie to follow her. Allie glanced back at Molly and Benny - the latter of which was nuzzling his face into Molly's neck, making her laugh - and decided she could slip away rather undetected. She joined Zoe a bit away from the crowd and around the corner of a nearby building.


"What's going on?" Allie asked.


"Tony brought a lawyer by the casino," Zoe said.


"Not unsurprising, Zoe, casinos are a hotbed for stuff that lawyers are involved in," Allie replied, shrugging.


"No, but he said that with the new promotion, the car in the front, if someone steals it, he could be at a loss," Zoe said, "so I started to wonder...what happens when someone wins a car in a casino?"


Just then Benny and Molly joined them.


"What are we talking about?" Molly asked.


"Say Benny wins the car," Zoe said.


"I won a car? Sweet," Benny said, making Molly laugh.


"He'll have to pay the income tax. He'll get a 1099 for misc income, not w2-g. So it can't be deducted by gambling loss. Don't know the exact amount, but theoretically it could be the MSRP of the car, meaning if he took the $30K cash, it would be $30K. There is a value for the car and there are taxes on that value. Just like winning on the price is right or some other merchandise focused game show, there's no sales tax as it wasn't sold, it was won. Other fees may also apply as in purchase to make it road legal."


"What kind of car did I win?" Benny asked.


"Zoe, why are you so invested in this?" Allie asked, shrugging, confused.


"Any earnings of $600 or more require the winner to fill out unique tax forms, typically a 1099-MISC. This almost guarantees that the car you win will be subjected to payments to the IRS. Cars won as prizes are subject to taxes calculated on their fair market value," Zoe continued, "do you see what I'm getting at? Tony is being watched by the IRS, right? So what's he do? He puts a car up as a prize in the casino. Something that's deductable by loss, you know, in case someone steals it."


"...go on," Allie mumbled, now curious where she was headed with this.


"Say Benny wins a drawing for a car and was offered 40k cash or the car," Zoe said.


"Dude, this is my lucky day," Benny interjected, making them all laugh.


"Let's just say it's 55k msrp," Zoe continued, "and say he wanted to avoid the car tax situation, so he chose cash. Then they asked about free play and or cash, he can go with half and half, so he ended up with 20k 1099. Then he's liable for federal and state taxes, minus any applicable gambling losses. Let's say 22% fed, and 9% state.....approx 31%, all based on average tax bracket of course...could go up if you make a lot more, but I'm just using this bracket just as an example. That's if he takes the cash option. The car option, however, 1099....taxes paid fully by him, and no using gambling losses to soften. What percentage of the car's value are you looking at tax-wise on 1099? Plus or minus the approximate 31% you'd pay on W2? If the car is 61k....what percentage of that 61k car value would you be liable for?"


"This is a lot of math and it's hurting my head," Benny said.


"Well then stop being so damn successful in the casino," Molly said, hitting him playfully in the arm.


"What if Tony hires someone to win the car, rigs the game so this person can win it," Zoe said, "suddenly the car is taxable to the IRS because, let's face it, the car option is worth far more than the cash option. Suddenly his business gets a write off and he's in the clear, financially. Why else would he hire a lawyer all of a sudden? Why else would he put a car as a prize option when that's never been a thing before that he's done? He's gaining the system by exploitining it from within thanks to his own power over the situation, being capable of manipulating it to his will."


"He's preparing to cover his ass," Allie muttered under her breath, before looking back at Zoe and adding, "goddamn, Zoe, good job. I never would've suspect that as something to be worth investigating."


"The whole thing just struck me as so weird," Zoe said as they started to head back to the crowd around the corner, "you know, like..."


The group stopped and stared from afar, watching as Jackson Strange made his appearance finally before the crowd.


"Like him," Zoe finally finished, "he's also weird."


"There's no argument about that," Benny replied.


Standing there, Allie chewed on her lip and thought about why Strange would be getting residency in the casino. Tony already had enough entertainment, why bring one more onto the scene? But she knew she could use him, either as a scapegoat, or as a means to get into the vault. Whatever the case may be, Strange would prove to be useful to her in the end, she knew. But first she had to figure out how his invisible box trick worked.


                                                                            ***


Agent Siskel was sitting in her desk chair, legs up on the desktop, head craned back as she stared at the ceiling. The door to her office opened and Agent Tropper stepped inside. He shut the door behind him, then jammed his hands into his pants pockets and stopped in front of her desk. After a moment, he looked up and noticed Agent Siskel had thrown a dozen sticky hands up onto the ceiling and he chuckled.


"Seems like you've been putting your time to good use," he said.


"The whole thing's a wash," Agent Siskel remarked, shrugging, "why bother anymore. No matter how close I get, I can't get close enough. I'm like a runner who can't reach the finish line because it keeps fucking moving. Everytime I think I see the end of the race, it gets shifted back another five feet. So why bother trying."


"Well, somebody's optimistic," Agent Tropper said, "listen, you might be bummed now, but I'm about to bring you information that is going to cheer you right up. Are you prepared for that?"


"I don't think there's any level of information that could return the joy to my career," Agent Siskel mumbled.


"That's where you're wrong, my depressed friend," Agent Tropper said, "because pop your peepers on this."


With that, he reached into his coat and pulled out a folded pile of papers from the pocket, tossing them onto her desk. Agent Siskel eyeballed him weirdly, then leaned forward and took the papers into her hands, unfolding them and reading through them, her entire expression and demeanor changing as she did. After a minute, she looked up at him in stunned silence.


"Yeah, thought you'd like that," Agent Tropper said, grinning.


"Where...where did you get this?" Agent Siskel asked.


"From my friend in forensics, from his girlfriend who's a mortician," Agent Tropper said.


"That's..." Agent Siskel said, pointing at the papers, glossy and floppy.


"Yep. That's her body," Agent Tropper replied, "so I think we have a lead."


                                                                         ***


Megan picked up the landline hanging on the wall of her kitchen and raised the receiver to her ear.


"Hello?" she asked, sounding exasperated, "...Allie? Well this is a surprise. What are you calling me for?"


"I was wondering if you'd like to take a trip home," Allie said.

Published on
"Did you guys know the blue whale penis is between 8 to 9 feet long?" Fletcher asked as they all sat in the break room, "like...that guy's dick is taller than most NBA players."

"Why do you know that?" Harvey asked as he stood by the counter, pouring himself some coffee and sipping it.

"It's in this book about sea creatures," Fletcher said, slightly raising the book up.

"Right, that's why," Robin said, making Sophie chuckle.

"Frankly, I don't think overcompensation is even possible in this instance," Casper said, "I mean, when you've got a schlong that size what can you possibly feel inferior about? Course you can only fuck other whales, but."

"No, he could fuck other animals, it'd just kill them," Fletcher said, making everyone laugh; he added, "like if he fucked a dolphin, it'd probably explode for instance."

"Dolphins are so rapey as it is that they'd probably be into that," Robin remarked. Just then the door to the break room opened and Nelly walked in. She was wearing an ash grey suit, shiny black loafers and a collared button down shirt, her hair pulled back into a messy bun. She stopped and smiled at everyone, and this made everyone immediately tense.

"Good morning all," she said brightly.

"Oh no," Fletcher whispered.

"Oh yes," she said, "do you all want to know what I walked into this morning? I got into my office, played my answering machine messages, and was greeted with a woman who was upset because, yesterday, her daughter saw a pair of animals copulating. She went on to say this was inappropriate behavior for children to be witnessing, and that she had to answer a whole slew of uncomfortable questions once they left the zoo. And now? Well, now I have to try to make sense of a society that doesn't understand animalistic rituals."

"Could just ignore them," Harvey said, leaning against the counter, sipping coffee and shrugging.

"Harvey I swear to god, if you-"

"Excuse me," a voice said, a hand knocking on the door as Kacie entered, "Um...there's a group of protestors outside."

Everyone stared at Kacie in surprise, uncertain exactly of how to react. Nelly furrowed her brow and turned on her heel, heading out, Harvey and everyone else following quickly behind her, except Fletcher who continued being seated at the table, reading. Kacie sidled up beside him and glanced down.

"What are you reading about?" she asked.

"Blue whale dicks," Fletcher said, "god, it must be like a firehose when they climax."

"Those lucky female whales," Kacie said, making Fletcher look up at her, raising an eyebrow, the both of them laughing. Meanwhile, the group reached the outer area of the zoo and saw, from outside the gates, the large group of people with signs, and someone with a bullhorn shouting about inappropriate behavior being shown to their children. Nelly stood there, hands on her hips, chewing her lips. Robin stood by her side, Harvey on her other side, and Robin cleared her throat.

"Should we call the cops?" she asked.

"They're perfectly within their right to protest," Harvey replied, shrugging, "the real issue is how their actions will be perceived by the public, will it convince people coming to the zoo to instead take their business elsewhere."

"You know," Nelly said, "If I'd known, when I got this job, that I was going to have to deal with such ridiculous bullshit every single day, I don't think I'd have accepted it. There's something to be said about refusing to listen to inane ideologies. Let 'em protest. I have other work to be done. Maybe if we just ignore them, they'll go away."

Nelly turned and started to walk away.

"Uh, Nell," Harvey said, "a news van just rolled up."

Nelly stopped, shut her eyes tight and grimaced, gritting her teeth.

"I fucking hate my life," she muttered.

                                                                                                      ***

After Robin gave her tour, the only one scheduled for the day, likely due to the ongoing protests outside, Robin and Sophie found themselves eating lunch at one of the tables at the Hippo Campus. Sophie was eating just a sleeve of saltines with a bottle of water while Robin bit into a Reuben sandwich she'd purchased at one of the zoos many eateries. Neither one was saying a word, opting instead to just sit in silence, and Robin found this kind of intimacy nicer than filling the void with pointless dialogue like she always felt compelled to do with Kyle. After a few minutes, Robin put her sandwich down and picked up her can of soda, taking a long drink and wiping her mouth on her shirt sleeve.

"It's a little ridiculous what people get upset over," Robin said, "like...sex is natural moreso in nature than I think human based society. How do these people think the world gets populated?"

"I don't think they don't know that's how, I think they're ashamed of it," Sophie replied, "and they think the kids should be protected from it. I'm not saying kids should be exposed to stuff that's meant for adults, but the basic idea of life, and conception of said life, yeah...that's kinda weird to shield a child from. Especially children who are, say, 10 or older."

"What's worse is that I guarantee you protesting animals mating isn't the only time they've protested the concept of mating, and have very likely protested humans doing the same. Like those weirdos who stand outside, say, a Planned Parenthood and yell at people who are just simply trying to do what's best for their lives. What gives these people the audacity to think they have any right to comment on things that have absolutely no bearing on them? I bet they have the most unfullfilling sex life."

"I wouldn't know," Sophie said, shrugging, finishing the end of her saltines and adding, "I've never done it."

Robin felt like the wind had been knocked out of her.

"Excuse me?" she whispered, leaning across the table a little, "you...did you say...you've never had sex?"

"No, I haven't," Sophie said, "I've always been somewhat on the asexual spectrum. I mean, if someone liked me enough, I would be favorable to do it with them, but it's just never really happened and I don't really have the drive nor the interest to initiate such a thing."

Robin nodded, understanding her stance, but still shocked. She began to wonder if Sophie had grown up in a sheltered home, because she seemed so innocent, so naive, so completely locked away from things of the world that everyone either knew about or partook in. Robin picked her sandwich up and continued eating, chewing, as Sophie checked her work buzzer and sighed.

"What?" Robin asked.

"Casper said a protestor just climbed over the wall and into the zoo," Sophie said.

"Alright, let's get the cart," Robin replied.

                                                                                                         ***

Harvey opened the door to Nelly's office, but he didn't see her. He glanced around the room before he entered further and heard some groaning. Harvey headed towards the desk and arched over it, his gaze landing on Nelly laying on her back on the floor behind the desk and he smirked.

"Comfy or can I get you something?" Harvey asked.

"Yeah, bring me someone who won't approach me with snark," Nelly said, "and a new job. And a frozen yogurt."

Harvey walked around the desk, spun her desk chair and plopped himself down in it. Nelly leaned up on her elbows and the two looked at one another. Nelly's eyes looked red, like she'd been crying hard, and now Harvey got, admittedly, a bit concerned. Now was not the time for jokes, he decided. Now was the time to listen.

"I hate this," Nelly continued, "this...this isn't fair. This job has turned me into a stress filled bitch and that's not who I am at all. But in order to run a business effectively, you have to be cutthroat, especially when it comes to dealing with the public and their inane bullshit."

"You know what they say help with stress? Sex. Heard that from the Flamingos," Harvey said, "actually, it's kind of the talk of the zoo amongst the animals right now."

Nelly laughed, which made Harvey feel relieved. He couldn't help himself but crack wise, and so he was glad she appreciated it.

"You'd think," Nelly said, "but that isn't really my decision, because it's not like I'm allowed to have a social life outside of this place. This zoo keeps me so busy...I...I just don't have the time to do anything at all and it sucks. I'm either balancing budgets, working out new arrival placements or something else of the sort. It sucks up all my time, and it sucks all the potential out of my life. That being said, I can't imagine working anywhere else."

Nelly sat up fully and looked down at her hands in her lap, Harvey listening intently.

"You know..." she continued, "I am literally living my dream. All I wanted since I was a little girl was to run a zoo, and...and here I am, I'm doing it, and it's amazing, but it's also so much harder than I ever could've anticipated, but not really because of the zoo, but because of the idiocy of society. Everyone takes stuff as such a direct attack on their person or belief system that something as naturalistic as procreation, even if it doesn't lead to the result one might expect, is frowned upon. I just don't know what to do with that. Sometimes I think about quitting, but I could never."

"Sounds like you need a hobby," Harvey said.

"As if I have the time," Nelly said.

Harvey smiled and thought for a moment.

"Come with me, Nell," he said.

                                                                                                          ***

Robin pulled the cart up at the location Casper had given Sophie, and parked. Casper was there with security, who were holding a woman around Robin's age in zip cuffs in a chair. She was just right outside of the Anteater exhibit, and her long hair was covering her face as she looked at the ground, perhaps trying not to be easily identified? Robin and Sophie climbed out of the cart and approached Casper, who looked happy to see them.

"This is insane," Casper said, "this lady came right over the gate, brazenly. If we can't even keep people out of the zoo, then we have no guarantee for the animals safety, and that could lead to them being taken away from us."

Robin past Casper and approached the woman, kneeling in front of her. The woman looked up and Robin audibly gasped. She knew this woman. This was Ashley Plotter. Robin glanced back over her shoulder at the others, then back at Ashley, only to realize, by the look on Ashley's face now, that she recognized Robin right back.

"Ashley?" Robin asked, her voice low, "what are you doing here?"

"Gotta do something with my time," Ashley said, shrugging, "especially after failing everything else."

"Are you not acting anymore?" Robin asked, and Ashley chuckled almost condascendingly.

"Was I ever?" she replied, "were any of us, really? I mean, let's be honest, the chance you actually make it is so slim that it just becomes a waste of time. I gave up months ago, Robin. I was sick of lying to myself."

"So now you're just dedicating yourself to causes like this?"

"Something to do," Ashley remarked, making Robin glare at her.

"You mean you don't even believe in what it is you're defending?" Robin asked, "you mean to tell me that you're just here cause you're fuckin' bored? You're jeopardizing not just my job but our entire fucking facility, Ashley, and for what? A fun way to pass the afternoon? What the hell?"

Ashley looked back down at the ground and Robin noticed tears falling and hitting the cement.

"I can't go home," Ashley said, "I left college to do acting, left behind being a lawyer, everything. My parents were so pissed that they cut me off entirely, and now I'm struggling just to not be homeless. I don't know what to do with myself, or even what it is I am doing with myself on a day to day basis, Robin."

Robin felt a pang of sadness in her heart for Ashley and she reached out, putting a hand on Ashley's shoulder...only for Ashley to glance up, grinning.

"Look at that range, and they still won't hire me to act in anything," Ashley said, causing Robin to make a disgusted face and immediately recoil, pulling her hand back.

"You know what," Robin said, "I'm glad I'm done with acting, if this is the kind of person it makes you into."

With that, Robin stood up and walked angrily back to the cart, passing Casper, whom she didn't even speak to. Sophie quickly jogged up behind Robin, climbing into the cart as well as Robin started it up, backed angrily away and drove off in the opposite direction. Robin, once far enough away, off in the rainforest themed section of the zoo, parked and bit her lip, trying not to cry. Sophie put a hand on Robin's thigh gently.

"Are you okay?" Sophie asked.

"You know what I like about you?" Robin asked, "you're not fucking fake. You say exactly how you are, are very upfront about it all, you don't hide anything. That's such an attractive and admirable quality to have. Everyone else around me always feels as though they're putting on a facade, a mask, being a character of sorts. I'm so sick of all the fake shit and people."

Sophie ran her hand up to Robin's face and gently stroked her cheek with her thumb, causing Robin to turn her head to face her, their eyes meeting. Sophie reached up more and wiped the tears away from her eyes with such a softness that it made Robin's heart skip a beat. Sophie leaned in and kissed Robin, who happily kissed her back. If there was one certainty Robin had, she thought, it was that this at least wasn't fake.

                                                                                                             ***

"You brought me to see tigers?" Nelly asked, and Harvey shrugged.

"Tigers are cool, especially white tigers," he replied, "besides, you like tigers, don't act like you don't. The point is, Nelly, you need to start focusing on yourself or you're gonna burn out. You can't be all work. You need to find ways to relax or you're gonna snap. Sometimes, when I'm feeling at my worst, I'll come out here and look at the tigers cause they make me feel relaxed. You're surrounded by all the beauty of the natural world, albeit in a fake way, so you might as well take advantage of it."

Nelly sighed and let her hair down, running a hand through her dark bushy hair. Harvey smiled at seeing her at least try to calm down.

"I've always had trouble 'living in the moment', as it were," Nelly said, "even when I was growing up, I was always so laser focused on the future, that I had trouble seeing what was going on around me or partaking in any of it. I missed out on a lot because of that."

"There's nothing wrong with being goal oriented, and that isn't really the problem here either. You're a problem solver, that's a good thing, but you need to learn when to let your guard down and just let things be. Those weirdos outside? There's no stopping them. There's certainly no convincing them. So sometimes, Nell, you just gotta shrug it all off and just...do what's best for you. Find ways to calm down. Look at the tigers."

Nelly glanced at Harvey, and his wavy brown hair, his small glasses, his light stubble. She bit her lip and glanced around, then grabbed him by the shirt collar and led him away into a nearby alcove designated solely for reptiles of various nature, of which there were many like it scattered throughout the zoo, before locking the doors and pushing him against the wall, kissing him. Harvey, surprised but not disinterested, grabbed one of her thighs as she lifted her leg up around his waist and bit his lip, pulling on it, whispering.

"Fuck me please," she said.

"Right here? In front of all the scorpions?" he asked, and Nelly giggled.

"They can't tell anyone, so it's okay," Nelly replied as Harvey pulled her closer and kissed her again.

"Well then, my pleasure boss," he said.

Nelly had wanted this for so long, and she finally decided, thanks to the kindness and understanding he'd shown her today, that she didn't care anymore and she was going to do what he suggested, and take what she need. So Harvey pinned her against the glass cases full of scorpions and other various creatures, lifted her legs up until they were wrapped tightly around his waist and fucked her until she was satisfied. Turns out he was right, she thought. She really did need to relax.

                                                                                                           ***

"Do you think you'd ever be interested?" Robin asked.

The cart was parked outside in a deserted area of the zoo, near the Giraffes, while Robin and Sophie sat inside, looking up at the sky, holding hands in the cramped little vehicle.

"Elaborate," Sophie said.

"I mean, in, you know, that kind of intimacy," Robin said, "because, I mean, I don't want to pressure you into anything. I don't. And I don't want you to feel some kind of obligation to keep this relationship going and thinking that providing me with sexual gratification is the only way to do so, because that couldn't be further from the truth. But I am curious."

"...I would sleep with you, yes," Sophie said, surprising Robin as she added, "and it wouldn't be out of obligation or anything of the sort, it would be because you're nice to me and you're pretty and I like being close to you. It doesn't matter one way or the other to me whether we do it, but if it makes you happy-"

"No, I don't want it like that, that isn't-"

"It is, it's exactly the way it should be," Sophie said, "you're not taking advantage of me, because that's the way I like it. You have to understand, I've never really been in a relationship before, but I have done a lot of imagining about it, and I know what I'd like and how I'd like it. I always kind of thought I couldn't romantically love another person, so...so to be proven wrong by meeting you, I guess it's made me rethink other things too, and yes, I would sleep with you. Because I love you."

Robin felt her heart jump in her chest. Robin rolled onto her side in the cart, best she could, and laid her head on Sophie's chest, as Sophie ran her fingers through Robin's hair.

"I love you too," Robin replied softly.

And nothing more had to be said.
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The booths were set up, the trainers were out in force and Birdapalooza had officially begun.

The biggest even of the season at Wild Kingdom had finally arrived, and it was a spectacle to behold for Robin, who'd never really witnessed anything like it before. As she, Fletcher and Sophie walked through the crowd on their break, sharing a large bag of popcorn, Robin couldn't believe her eyes. So many birds, so many people here to see birds, it just felt surreal. Fletcher reached back into the bag and scooped a handful of popcorn into his mouth, chewing absentmindedly.

"Ya know," Robin said, "despite being named after a bird, I never knew there were so many birds."

"It might just be the most robust animal out there in terms of variety," Fletcher said while chewing, "I mean, think about it...how many different types of moose are there? Not many, right. You think of moose, you think of one animal, more or less. But you think of bird? Suddenly a billion spring to your brain. Parrot, Parakeet, Swan, Goose, Hummingbird, Pigeon, Stork, Flamingo, Ostrich, Cockatoo, Crow, Seagull, Peacock, the list is just never ending."

The group stopped to watch a young woman who was performing, albeit somewhat nervously, with a small dove. It was perched gracefully on her arm, atop the glove, as she gave a little presentation about it.

"This is Princess," she said brightly, but anxiously, her eyes darting around the group that had begun to crowd her, "um, Princess is a Dove, as you can see. The Dove is closely related to the Pigeon, and are very monogamous, often opting to nest with one partner only throughout life."

"Dove, see, there's another one I forgot," Fletcher said, taking a sip of his soda.

"Now if you'll watch closely, Princess and I have something very special together, because I will let her fly to the nearest tree, but she will return to me within seconds," the young woman said, as she lifted her arm up into the air and Princess did, indeed, take flight to the nearest tree, landing on a single skinny branch. The group applauded lightly, politely, and made the young woman blush. This must've been her first show, because nobody acted like this usually. Just then, a commotion break out in the trees, as an enormous Hawk grabbed Princess with its talons and began tearing her into pieces, at the delight of the children and the terror of everyone else, especially her trainer.

"Hawk," Sophie said, putting popcorn in her mouth.

"Yeah Hawk, that's another one!" Fletcher said giddily, popping Sophie gently on the arm with his fist.

                                                                                                            ***

"This is a goddamned disaster," Nelly said as she paced back and forth in her office, Harvey sitting behind her desk, drinking some tea; Nelly tossed some papers on her desk and grabbed her hair, groaning, "this is...I don't even know how to deal with this."

"It's survival of the fittest, Nell, it's just nature. People come to see animals right? They come to see animals behave like animals, and sometimes, a lot of time, actually, animals kill one another. It's just part of nature. Spin it like that and you're golden."

"...oh, just spin it like that, huh? Okay, let me play you some of the messages I've received," Nelly said, walking to her desk and tapping on her phones answering machine. Harvey suddenly felt nervous as the first one came on, a woman with a soft spoken but firm voice.

"Hello, my name is Mrs. Gardener, and I don't like to complain about things that are good for the community, good for children, because we don't have much of that these days, but what happened at your zoo during Birdapalooza was an outright disgrace. Whoever placed those trainers near eachother should've known the Hawk ate smaller birds. Until something is done that can guarantee my children won't be traumatized at the horrors of the zoo, I don't think we'll be coming back, and we'll be relinquishing our seasonal passes. I hope you understand."

"Traumatized at the horrors? Did these people never read Zoobooks or watch Nature on PBS?" Harvey asked, sounding indignant.

"Oh, there's more," Nelly said, as the next message came on.

"This is Mr. Parker, and I've been a longtime supporter of your zoo. It puts on fantastic events, it is a very safe and family friendly environment, and it has never once been - unlike other zoos - subject to investigation for claims of animal abuse. I always thought you ran a fantastic facility...until the other day. What happened at Birdapalooza, an event my children and I go nuts waiting for every year by the way, was completely unacceptable. I know that these things happen, I'm not an irrational person getting upset at nature taking its course and everyone has an accident now and then, but until I can be certain this sort of thing won't happen again, I don't think we'll be returning. Thank you for your time."

"Okay, well, he didn't sound as upset as the previous caller, so that's good," Harvey said as another message came on.

"You people are an absolute fucking disgrace and I am going to report you not only to the better business bureau but also any and all animal rights groups I can so hopefully you get investigated! That was a sick display of incompetence and cluelessness, led by a woman who should never be allowed to handle animals as she clearly didn't know what the fuck she was doing! Fuck you and your zoo!"

Nelly reached forward, stopped the machine and then folded her arms, watching Harvey.

"No witty comeback for that one?" she asked.

"No, no that one was pretty bad," Harvey replied, "but so what, it isn't like these people are funding us or are our financial backers. Sure, the loss of their passes might hurt a tad, but they aren't the ones we really have to worry about. So long as what happened doesn't spook any investors, everything will be just fine."

A moment passed as the two looked at one another, and then Nelly reached back to the answering machine.

"Oh. Oh no," Harvey mumbled.

                                                                                                         ***

The trainer who'd been working with the dove, Kacie, was feeling worse than anyone involved. This had been her first show, and she'd been training for two years to get to this level. It was something she'd always dreamt of doing, ever since she herself had been a little girl and coming to this zoo. Now she didn't know what to make of her dreams, because it felt like the hawk had ripped those to shreds as well. Sitting on a bench outside the dove habitat as she ate lunch, each passerby seemed to give her the dirtiest look, making her feel even more self-conscious than she already did. She bit into her sandwich and chewed, trying to hide best she could when she felt the bench shift a little and looked to her side to see a man sitting down.

"You don't mind, do you?" Fletcher asked, and Kacie shook her head slowly as he lit up a cigarette; he took a long drag then said, "don't worry about the glares, I get 'em and I've never done anything like what happened to you, so."

"...you were there?" she asked meekly.

"Oh yeah," Fletcher said, "yep, front row center. It was like being in the Roman Colosseum, honestly, that brutal. But also you know it wasn't your fault, right? That these things just happen?"

"Not with better trainers they do," Kacie whispered, taking another bite of her sandwich as Fletcher took another puff and then crossed his legs.

"You'd think that, but have you ever heard of Stacy Keebler?" he asked, and she shook her head; Fletcher continued, "well, Stacy was about ten years or so older than you, and she was our reptile guide. Specifically focused on lizards, large lizards. She also used to do their feedings. She'd been doing this for like 7 years by this point, so one would assume she's a consummate professional, can do no wrong, and she was overly careful. So one day, she's taking these kids on a guided tour through the reptile house, and she opens this cage and takes out this ball python. Just a little guy, right? Nothing to be scared of at all. She's handling him, showing him off, and he just takes off and slithers down her and onto the ground and into the crowd."

"Oh no, did he hurt anyone?" Kacie asked, chewing.

"No, HE didn't," Fletcher said, "but the kids start screaming, most excitedly, and start chasing it. This ball python slithers right over a nearby wall that leads into a little oasis kind of habitat, and Stacy, doing what she thought was best, climbs over it to get him. What she didn't expect was the Komodo Dragon in the habitat saw this little guy as a snack. So Stacy grabs him, she actually manages to catch him, and he's clenched in her fist, but not, like, in a dangerous way, right, and then this fuckin' giant lizard decides to latch over her fist and onto her arm. By the time the whole ordeal was over, she'd lost her hand, and by the following week, she'd retired. You might notice the Komodo habitat is now not only enclosed but also halfway across the Zoo from the reptile area."

"Oh my god," Kacie said, snickering, which made Fletcher smirk.

"Jeez, taking pleasure in her pain?" he asked, "you're a sick little weirdo."

"It's just, that's WAY worse than what happened to me," Kacie said, and Fletcher nodded.

"That's exactly my point. Someone far more experienced and she went through something so much more horrible. All you did was witness a bird get killed, and frankly, it wasn't even your fault. So don't be sad or sorry or feel judged. These things happen. Stacy was behaving like an idiot, you were just unlucky."

Kacie set her sandwich down and put her hands in her lap, smiling, nodding.

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem," Fletcher said, "that's what I'm here for, to judge others and make people feel better."

Nobody, not a single person, had come up to Kacie and told her anything that had made her change her view on what had happened, but Fletcher had presented her with something she couldn't ignore, and she appreciated that. It was the first time since the incident that she'd managed to smile again, and she couldn't help but be grateful.

"Do you want some of my lunch?" she asked quietly.

"...yeah, I could eat," Fletcher said.

                                                                                                        ***

"It was a one time incident," Nelly said as her office door opened and Robin stepped inside; Nelly motioned for her to sit down, then continued with her phone call, scribbling something down on a pad of paper with a pen, "no, you don't...I know, but...dammit Jeff, just listen to me for two goddamn minutes please!"

Robin seated herself as Nelly groaned, sounding exhausted, setting her pen down and running her hand over her face.

"Yeah, I got it, yeah well, thanks for being such a big help," Nelly said sarcastically and hung up the phone before looking at Robin.

"You wanted to see me?" Robin asked.

"I did," Nelly said, "don't worry, you're not in any trouble. I need you and someone else, whoever you want, to go and get something for me. First I need you to drop off a check to somebody, and then I need you to go and gather up all the remaining doves in the zoo in multiple crates. I don't care how long it takes, just do it please. I have an idea that I think will restore some faith in the public for us."

"Am I getting paid extra for this?" Robin asked.

"Yes," Nelly said, grinning, "and don't feel bad about asking that, it is extra work, so I will pay you extra."

"I can pick anyone?" Robin asked, already knowing who she had in mind.

A few minutes later, Nelly, Casper and Sophie were in the cart, riding over to the bird sanctuary, Casper in the drivers seat and Sophie in Robin's lap, seeing as there were only two seats in the cart. As Casper pulled up, he noticed the crates had already been placed there for them, and saw the trainer, Kacie, and Fletcher also already there, which surprised him.

"Why's he here?" Casper asked as he parked and climbed out, shouting, "Fletcher, why are you here?"

"Cause she asked me to be," Fletcher said, motioning to Kacie, who started pulling the keyring from the back of her shorts. Together, the five of them headed into the bird dome and preparing to collect the doves. Kacie handed everyone a thick pair of gloves to handle them so they didn't get bit or scratched, and gave them detailed instructions on just how to manage this. As Robin pulled out a dove and looked at it, Sophie grabbing one as well, they looked at one another and smiled.

"There was a pair of mourning doves that built a nest every year on my parents back porch," Robin said, "and I remember seeing them every single year, and it was like...the sweetest tradition. They always came back, same two doves, built a new nest in the same spot, had more children. The perfect little bird family."

"Sounds like a kids storybook," Sophie said, the both of them giggling.

"I could hear their coos if I left my window open, cause my bedroom was right over the backyard, so I used to keep my bedroom window open and listen to them while I did my homework cause it was so soothing. I used to wonder what it would be like to be a bird that mated for life. To find one other bird to share my life with, and love forever," Robin said, "my parents fought, so I knew human marriages didn't exactly work out great, but...maybe bird love was different. after all, these birds always seemed so happy and were still together."

Robin looked at the dove in her hands as Sophie crated her dove and blushed, getting closer and whispering.

"I'm not a bird," Sophie said, "but maybe we could find out what it's like together."

Robin giggled and, holding the bird gently but firmly between them, leaned in and kissed her. After the kiss broke, Robin went to crate her dove and they continued going on, gathering and crating others. A little ways down the line, Casper, Fletcher and Kacie were doing the same. Casper pulled a dove out and shook his head.

"Did Nelly tell you at all what her intentions are?" Casper asked, and Fletcher shrugged.

"Dude, I didn't talk to her, Robin did. Like I said, only reason I'm here is cause Kacie has the keys and asked me to be," Fletcher said, gathering a dove in each hand and crating them as Casper shook his head in disbelief, looking towards Kacie.

"Why would you want Fletcher anywhere?" Casper asked, half joking.

"...he feels safe," Kacie said, shrugging, surprising Casper.

Kacie gathered some birds and crated them, then started moving some of the crates to the nearby truck as Fletcher returned for more birds. As he did, Casper was still trying to grasp what he'd just been told.

"She thinks you're safe?" Casper asked.

"You know," Fletcher said, "everyone just automatically assumes I'm an asshole because I act like an asshole, but haven't you ever heard of the concept of a persona? A persona isn't a personality, Casper. I act different with different people. Maybe you just don't see that because you're not a cute girl."

"But...but I wanna be a cute girl," Casper said, the both of them laughing. But Fletcher had a point, all joking aside, because Casper never had seen him interact with anyone outside their little group, and so maybe in private, with the right people, he was a different person. A person that girls found safe. Casper just found it hard to believe, but hey, people were always surprising him.

As Fletcher headed back to the truck, Casper grasped another dove and turned to follow when he saw Robin pushing Sophie up against the now empty wall of the bird dome, kissing Sophie, and he smiled. Yep, he thought. People were always surprising him. Once the task was finished, Fletcher and Kacie got in the truck and Kacie started it up. As she prepared to drive back to the front of the zoo, she reached over and put her hand on Fletcher's thigh, squeezing, catching him off guard.

"Thank you for coming," she said softly, and he blushed, nodding.

"Y-yeah, yeah, it was no problem, my pleasure," he stammered.

"Maybe sometime we could do something together outside of the zoo, if, you know, you'd like that," she said, and Fletcher nodded, smiling.

"I really would," he said.

                                                                                                            ***

"Thank you all for coming," Nelly said into the microphone on the podium, the crowd in front of her clapping politely, shifting uncomfortably; she cleared her throat and continued, "um, as you might be aware, last week at Birdapalooza, the biggest event of the season for Wild Kingdom, we had a very unfortunate incident occur in which a dove was killed by a hawk in front of families, to the horror and, for some warped reason, delight, of some children. Today we aim to rectify that. I have gathered every remaining dove in the zoo, and we will be releasing them into the wild, as a show of solidarity to the species."

A louder round of applause came through, this time sounding genuine. Nelly smiled weakly. This seemed to be working, which is exactly what she needed right now. She glanced to her crew and then back at the crowd, continuing as she walked across the stage and towards the large cage that housed almost every dove they had.

"I'm hoping that, by giving these animals back their freedom, I can somehow make up for the tragedy of the loss of one of their own. This is the only way I can kind of make up for it all, and I just hope that it suffices," Nelly said, unlocking the cage door and allowing them all to fly out over the crowd and into the sky above to loud applause and some whistling. Watching this sight, Sophie slipped her hand into Robin's and squeezed gently, as Kacie cried a little, watching all her doves fly away as Fletcher leaned in and hugged her close to comfort her. Harvey came up on the stage with Nelly and put his hands in his pants pockets, looking up at the sky with her.

"There they go," he said, "you did the right thing."

"I hope so," Nelly replied.

And then, without warning, a dozen of the doves flew directly into a set of live power lines being worked on, immediately being fried and falling to the ground. The crowd looked on in stunned silence, some children started screaming and crying and Nelly stared ahead in shock, her eyes wide. Harvey looked towards her as she dug her hands into her hair.

"What the fuck is wrong with these birds!?" she screamed.
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"You what?" Fletcher asked.

"I need you to catch a snake," Nelly repeated herself.

"I'm...I'm a zookeeper, not a hunter," Fletcher said, "you do know what you hired me for, right? Hunting dangerous game was certainly NOT on my resume."

They were standing in the break room, the others sitting at the table, as Nelly and Fletcher had this conversation. Nelly sighed, rubbed her forehead, and poured herself a new cup of coffee from the pot on the counter. She sipped a bit before turning and leaning against the cabinets, looking at everyone.

"It's a bad look when a dangerous animal is loose in a zoo. For fucks sake, you guys, our one and only goal is to keep them in habitats. It makes us look incompetent if we can't even do the one thing expected of us from the public. I need you guys to catch him, real fast."

"Which snake is it?" Harvey asked, biting into his granola bar.

"It's..." Nelly said, pausing, lowering her head and whispering, "it's The Violator."

"Excuse me?!" Fletcher shouted, "you want us to catch something named The Violator? Look, there's 3 things I know never to approach in life, and those are underage girls, houses that have too many lawn ornaments, and giant fucking snakes."

"Maybe it isn't that dangerous," Casper said, shrugging.

"It's name is The Violator, Casper, that's the name of a pro wrestler," Fletcher said, "or, like, a Russian assassin."

"It won't be difficult. We have tranquilizer darts for this sort of situation," Nelly said, "actually, the harder part will be moving him once you've captured him, since he's 200 pounds and 20 feet long."

A hush fell over the room.

"...pardon?" Casper asked.

"He's a Python. He's a new arrival, that's why this happened. The idiots who work over in the relocation zone didn't properly check his habitat for any possible ways he could escape. They just figured he would stay on the ground, not climb into a tree and out an air vent. It was just a mistake, but I need you guys to get him for me. But you have to not alert the guests, okay, they cannot know that there's a loose giant Python in the zoo."

"Listen to me," Fletcher said, "you wanna catch a giant snake, you hire Steve Irwin. You want some help moving a couch, you call someone else because I'm not doing that either. Frankly, I'm a selfish person, and I think in this instance my selfishness justifies my lack of interest in attempting to capture this thing. What if it eats me?"

"It can't eat all of you at once," Casper said, as Fletcher shot him a look.

"That is NOT the helpful sentiment you think it is. 'Oh don't worry, you'll be digested slowly', yeah, real comforting," Fletcher said.

"Well, you guys don't have a choice, because I'm your boss, and this is what I'm telling you to do. We have temp tour guides right now filling in for you, so you don't have to worry, and in fact you'll get paid extra for this, so it all works out I feel," Nelly said as she got up from the cabinets and headed towards the door.

"Why do I have to do it?!" Fletcher shouted as Nelly opened the door and stood there, thinking.

"...because you make me angry," she said, before exiting and shutting the door behind her.

"...alright, well," Fletcher said, "I can't really argue with that reasoning."

                                                                                                         ***

Robin was pacing back and forth anxiously outside the gate near the parking lot, waiting for Sophie to arrive. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she saw Sophie's car pull in and park. Sophie climbed out and locked her car before stopping upon seeing Robin. Both smiled, blushing, as Sophie approached her.

"I didn't know I was worthy enough to-" Sophie started, but before she could even finish, Robin had grabbed her face and kissed her, making her giggle even more; after the kiss, Sophie added, "wow, is this the kind of treatment I'm welcome to every day now?"

"I couldn't stop thinking about you," Robin said, "and I'm...I'm not used to that. I mean, I've had relationships, but...I've never been the sort of woman to go gaga over someone, you know? Where they just...they consume all of your waking thoughts? But you...I couldn't stop thinking about you. I had to see you."

"Wow..." Sophie said, "that's...intense."

"I'm sorry," Robin said.

"No no, I like it," Sophie said, smiling, lacing her fingers through Robin's and squeezing gently, "It was...it was so nice kissing you the other day. I've never kissed anyone, and so it was, um, kind of a new experience and-"

"Wait, you've never kissed anyone? Like anybody at all? Like not a single other person?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, that's...that's kinda what I meant by that statement," Sophie replied, laughing, "does that...bother you?"

"No, I'm just surprised, that's all," Robin said.

"I'm not a very outgoing person," Sophie said, shrugging, "Ya know, I...I live at home, with my parents, and I don't really socialize outside of work and, well, even at work you're one of the only people I socialize with and...it just never happened. Plus I just...never got the chance. Nobody's ever seemed to be interested in me."

"I'm very interested in you," Robin blurted out, making Sophie laugh again, as Robin quickly adding, stammering nervously, "I mean, god, I'm so not good at this kind of thing. I've never felt anything for a woman before. But when you kissed me, it was like...it was like I'd been kissing wrong the whole time throughout my life. I suddenly enjoyed it. I wanted more."

"...you know I'm nothing special, right?" Sophie asked.

"I'll be the judge of that."

"I mean, I'm a janitor basically, and I...I'm not very smart, and...and not much to look at and I can't really see why anyone would want to-"

"Sophie, hey, don't...don't talk about yourself like that. Your job doesn't matter to me at all, and as for being smart, you're super insightful and as for being pretty, oh man, you are like watching a sunset come to life. All the things you might not like about yourself I love."

Sophie blushed and pushed her face into Robin's chest, letting Robin stroke her hair.

"I know it's scary," Robin said, "it's scary for me too, but...I wanna try at least."

Sophie didn't say a word. She just nodded eagerly in response.

                                                                                                          ***

"Where the hell is everyone?" Robin asked as she and Sophie entered the breakroom, only to find nobody there. Robin set her bag and other items down on the round table in the center of the room as Sophie leaned against the wall, confused. Suddenly Casper entered and everyone stopped to look at one another. After a moment of awkward and confusing silence, Robin spoke.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Zoo is shut down today," Casper said, "you two need to come with me. Fletcher, Harvey and Nelly are already on a hunt, so we're the other group."

"The hunt? What...what are we hunting?" Robin asked as Casper opened a cabinet, pulled out some dart guns and handed Sophie and Robin each one before loading his own and cocking it.

"We're hunting a 200 pound, 20 foot long Python named The Violator," Casper said, "so lock and load ladies."

"I just love coming to work," Robin said, making Sophie laugh, as they each loaded their guns and followed Casper back out to the main roundabout of the zoo. Once outside, they stopped and looked around; Robin cleared her throat and asked, "so, if I were a giant, murderous Python, where would I be?"

"That is the million dollar question," Casper said.

"So do I really get a million dollars if I figure out the answer? Cause I'll wrestle a Python for a million dollars," Sophie said.

"Their diet consists primarily of rodents, birds, lizards, and mammals like monkeys, wallabies, pigs, or antelope, so honestly the options for their whereabouts of seemingly endless," Casper said, "Considering the rodents, birds and lizards are essentially in closed off habitats, a lot of them in plain glass enclosures, I vote we make tracks for the mammals."

"A Python can eat an Antelope?" Robin asked, "christ that's terrifying."

"Gives whole new meaning to 'I'm so hungry I could eat a horse'," Sophie said, she and Robin laughing until she asked, "wait, are Antelopes related to horses? Am I just dumb?"

"The thing we really need to be aware of is that it could likely be hunting any of us as well, so that's why it's important to say together in a group like this," Casper said, "so always have your back to a wall if you can, and always keep one another in your immediate sights."

"Why do you sound like you've done this before?" Robin asked, "you don't regularly go hunting giant snakes in the Amazon or something, do you?"

"What I do on my own time is my personal business," Casper replied, "now we got a snake to hunt."

                                                                                                        ***

Fletcher, Nelly and Harvey had found themselves holed up in the Prairie Dog habitat, seeing as it was the only 'rodent' one that was not entirely enclosed and was something The Violator could get into. Nelly was sitting on the ground against the wall behind the brush, with Harvey and Fletcher, as she chewed on her nails, her tranq gun in her lap.

"I can't even imagine eating a prairie dog," Nelly said, "that just isn't a creature I'd ever even entertain consuming."

"What you and I find unacceptable, others consider a culinary delicacy," Harvey said, checking the sights on his gun, "kind of like how the Japanese will eat Dolphin. We see it as an awful thing, but that's just a part of their cultural  heritage. Who are we to judge."

"Uh, we're superior moral Americans, that's who," Fletcher said, "I'll judge a mother fucker for anything, you watch."

"Yeah, we're aware," Nelly said, "you guys, I don't think he's gonna show in here."

"Well then where do you suggest we post up?" Fletcher asked, sounding annoyed, "look, Nell, you asked me to do this, and I'm doing it my way. You wanna go off on your own like some kind of snake bounty hunter, be my guests, but this is, I promise you, the most accurate place he could show up. Easy target, and lots of 'em to choose from. Plus he can slither down into their burrows. This is the spot."

Nelly wanted to argue with him, but...Fletcher kind of had a point. And, as he said, she had entrusted him with this endeavor. He was already doing more than he normally would for her, even with her being his boss, but still, he was notoriously difficult to work with and yet...here he was, not only doing exactly what was asked of him, but taking it seriously to boot. He exhaled and ran a hand through his hair as Nelly looked up towards him.

"It couldn't hurt to check elsewhere," Nelly said.

"Yeah but we need to be in groups of 3, because someone going off on their own makes them a target, isolated and easy," Harvey said, "we need you here, Nell."

Nelly smiled weakly. Well, she thought, if nothing else, at least this event was making them appreciate her company.

Meanwhile, off near the Antelope enclosure, Casper, Sophie and Robin were approaching, Casper leading the pack a few feet ahead of them. Sophie leaned into Robin and whispered.

"So, about everything in the parking lot," she said, "you know, about you and me and us and-"

"We'll have plenty of time discussing that when we're not in the middle of a literal b-horror movie," Robin whispered back.

"I know, I know, I just...I need clarification," Sophie said, and Robin stopped, looking at her now, as this sounded serious; Sophie exhaled, blinked a few times, then asked, "because...because others have expressed interest on rare occasions, and then they always take it back. Like...once they see me, who I am and what I'm like, they completely withdraw their interest and I just don't think I can handle that again, so-"

"Sophie, hey," Robin sad, putting one hand on her face, the other holding her gun, "hey, listen to me, okay? That is shitty that people do that, but I'm not that kind of person. When I truly like someone, I like them until they tell me to fuck off, so you're kinda stuck with me, partially cause I'm very much into you and partially because we work together. So unless you directly tell me you don't want anything to do with me, platonically, romantically or otherwise, you're gonna get a lot of kisses."

Sophie giggled and blushed as Robin leaned in and pecked her on the nose.

"Hey!" Casper whispered back at them, "over here, check this out!"

The girls ran up to join him, only to see The Violator hanging from a tree inside, of all things, the Crocodile habitat. Robin bit her lip and inhaled violently.

"Well that isn't good," she said coldly.

                                                                                                          ***

"Well, let's pack it in, I guess, maybe hit another possible location," Fletcher said, sounding immensely disappointed. He gathered up the groups belongings and, as Harvey punched in the code to the door that allowed them to exit, Nelly walked right beside him, hand on his back.

"Look, sometimes things don't go the way you plan or expect, it's not your fault. You're dealing with an intelligent and dangerous wild animal here," she said, "so try to cut yourself a little bit of slack, okay?"

"Guys, it's Casper," the radio on Nelly's hip rang out, "you need to get over to the Crocodile pen. We have a situation."

And within minutes, Nelly, Fletcher and Harvey all had gathered into a little cart and zoomed on over there. They found Casper, Robin and Sophie waiting outside the habitat, and Fletcher jumped out before Harvey had even parked, rushing up to the ground, gun at the ready. Casper turned to greet him as he did.

"Whoa, calm down there, Rambo," Robin said upon approach.

"He's in there?" Fletcher asked, and Casper pointed to him.

"Yeah, he's right up there," he said, "I don't know if he's just relaxing, or if he's, like, secretly plotting something, but-"

Just then The Violator unclenched itself from around the branch it had taken hold of, and dropped onto an unsuspecting baby Crocodile underneath. The water splashed as the two animals began thrashing violently, and Sophie screamed in surprise. Fletcher turned and grabbed Casper by the shoulder, looking into his eyes.

"I'm goin' in," he said, "if I don't come back, tell my mom I love her."

"I don't even know your family," Casper said.

"Find my mom and tell her she meant the world to me," Fletcher said, holding his gun up.

"That sounds like a lot of effort, honestly," Casper replied.

"Then just...send a postcard to her," Fletcher said, annoyed, before climbing over the fence and into the habitat. He clung onto the branch with one arm before dropping on top of the two creatures, causing everyone to scream. The water splashed more, and for a few minutes, nobody could really make heads or tails of anything they were witnessing, it was all just a watery blur of scales and skin. After a few minutes, however, they heard the sound of the gun go off and then everything went quiet. Three shots had been fired in total. After another minute or two, Fletcher emerged from the water, the Python over his shoulder like a prized kill, the Crocodile floating gently against the shore of its habitat. At the sight of him, everyone broke into cheers.

"Goddamn man, you're like an action hero!" Casper shouted.

"Fletcher, I'm giving you a promotion!" Nelly yelled, at which he saluted.

"Okay I have two problems," Fletcher said, "the first is I can't possibly carry this sucker up the enbankment and back to zoo grounds, and the second is I shot myself and I think I'm passing out."

And with that, he fell to the ground.

                                                                                                              ***

Fletcher was laying on a cot in the break room with Nelly watching over him as everyone gathered their things to prepare to head home for the day. On account of all that had happened, it was a short day, and after the excitement, Nelly figured it was fair to just give everyone some paid time off, along with the extra pay for the activity itself. Robin and Sophie walked out first, while Casper went back to his own space to gather his things. Harvey, however, stayed behind, sitting at the table, watching Nelly.

"He was a hell of a guy today," Harvey said.

"He really was," Nelly replied, "he may not be my favorite employee, but damn if it he's the best for some things."

"Awww, you play favorites?" Harvey asked playfully, making her smirk.

"Well, you know, it is like raising children," Nelly said.

"Hey, I resent that! I am not a child! I am a teenager, or young adult at the very  least," Harvey remarked, making them both laugh; he took a sip from his water bottle then added, "so you're gonna stay here til he wakes up?"

"Might honestly just crash here," Nelly said, "don't really feel like going home. Apartment's been hell lately. Lots of construction outside, the woman above me just had a baby, and the couple below me is a newlywed fucking like rabbits. Between it all I'm mad about not getting laid and not getting sleep and frankly I'm not sure which one I'm angrier about if we're being honest."

"That is a shame," Harvey said, capping his bottle, standing up and pulling his coat on, adding, "well, if you ever need help with anything, you have my number."

"...help with what, exactly?" Nelly asked, and Harvey shrugged.

"Finding a new place maybe? My cousin works in real estate, he could get you a nice little house to rent," Harvey said, "or just some company, I don't know. I'm just sayin' I'm here for you, Nell, that's all, don't make it more than it is."

Harvey patted her on the shoulder, smiled at her and exited. But Nelly did want to make it more than it was. She'd admired Harvey from a distance for a number of years now, finding him level headed, down to earth and attractive. Sometimes she'd lay in bed and fantasize about inviting him over, making dinner with him, and then taking him right on the couch in her little apartment. Maybe she was just so deprived of intimacy that anyone would do, but Harvey was her suitor of choice. Still, he'd never go for it, she felt, and why eat where you shit, right? Fletcher rustled on the cot and mumbled.

"Mommy," he said, "can I have some chocolate milk?"

Nelly ran her hands through his hair and laughed. Oh yeah, she thought, she was gonna hold this one over him for a long time. Meanwhile, Robin and Sophie reached their respective vehicles in the parking lot and stopped.

"Do you want to go do something? My...roommate...isn't going to be home for a while and I'd rather not be alone," Robin said.

"I'd like to, but my folks always want me to come home right away," Sophie said, looking at her fingernails anxiously; she then exhaled and said, "um...maybe after they've gone to bed, we can go out to dinner?"

"I'd like that," Robin said, unsure of what excuse she'd use on Kyle for her not being available, but he didn't know the zoo was having an off day, so she'd just say she was working late; Robin leaned in and kissed Sophie on the forehead, then added, "I'll wait for you, you're worth it."

"...why are you so nice to me, I don't understand," Sophie whispered, almost sounding hurt.

"Have others not been? I mean, I know they haven't, but...why wouldn't I be?" Robin asked, and Sophie leaned in and buried her face in Robins chest, crying. Robin didn't understand, but she just held her and stroked her hair. Sophie was clearly damaged, and after some time Robin figured the answer for her baggage would come out, but right now she was just happy to be a place of comfort and safety for the girl she was falling for. Much like they'd hunted The Violator, Sophie had been hunting for years for someone who understood and accepted her. She never figured she'd find that person at work, though.

Who says your job is good for nothing.
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About

So Happy Together is a dramedy about couple Aubrey & Brent. After Aubrey plays an April Fools joke on Brent that she's pregnant, Brent confesses out of panic that he actually has a secret daughter with an ex wife, and everything changes overnight.

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