Laser Pointer of Fun
Russell let out a sigh of content, lounging in his bean bag chair with a book in his paws. For once, the pet shop wasn't in chaos, most likely because the others were out with Blythe shopping for snacks. She had offered him the chance to tag along, but he had declined, wanting to get caught up in his reading. With how energetic and hyper his friends were (especially Minka) it was a rarity when he could get some reading done. He enjoyed these quiet afternoons by himself when he could be alone with his books. Sure, he did enjoy spending time with his friends and, although reluctantly, going on their many zany, crazy adventures. But, fromt ime to time, he just wanted to be by his lonesome with nothing but a good book in his hands and the quiet atmosphere that was brought on by the pets' absence, and maybe a nice mug of something hot to drink to go along with it, if provided.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd read this book. He had never finished it. He thought that maybe he'd gotten halfway through it at one point in time, but due to his poor memory when it came to reading, he had had to go all the back to the beginning before he could continue onwards with the story. Not that he minded in the slightest, mind you. The book was indeed one of hsi favorites, so if he had to go back to the beginning of the story to enjoy, he supposed he could put up with that.
Turning a page, his eyes momentarily drifted to the clock just above him, the skinny-as-a-rail second clock sluggishly counting down the seconds. It still early in the afternoon, so he didn't expect his friends to be back any time soon. Most likely, they would like to do some looking around other than buying their snacks, and more than likely Blythe wouldn't object. After all, it wasn't every day that they got to do some exploring outside the pet shop. Well, on most days they would somehow get into some crazy situation, but said situations were very mild and not life-threatening. Other days, on the days he liked, they would simply stay in the pet shop and spend time with each other. Other times they would just sit and talk or they would each go about the day exploring their own talents, such as Vinnie with dancing, Minka with painting, Zoe with singing, Sunil with magic, and so on and so forth.
Looking back down at his book, he kept reading. He didn't see himself getting anywhere close to the ending within the next couple of hours, but he would still like to see how far he could get.
"It's a shame Russell diddly Bussell didn't come with us," Buttercream stated, her ears rising and falling as she hopped alongside the other pets.
Vinnie nodded in agreement. "True. He's never really been an outgoing kinda guy."
"Always with his nose stuck in a book," Zoe said, shaking her head and smiling.
The yellow rabbit smiled. "Has he always been like that?"
"Always," Sunil replied.
The bunny's eye gave a twitch. "Always?"
"Always," the others said in unison.
"Now, let's see . . ." Blythe mumbled to herself, scanning the various rows of pet snacks. He glanced down at the others. "Which snack does Russell like again?"
Penny shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me. He hardly ever talks to any of us."
"Always reading," Zoe repeated, chuckling to herself.
"Hmm, well, maybe he'll like this," Blythe suggested, snatching what looked like an appetizing snack. She added it to the basket of treats that she was carrying with her. She looked back down at the group and counted heads, her eyes widening when she realized that Pepper and Minka were among the group. "Has anyone seen Pepper and Minka?"
"Minka's over there," Vinnie said, pointing over his shoulder at the pink spider monkey gleefully scampering about the floor, looking as if she was chasing something. "But I have no clue where Pepper is."
Blythe studied for the spider monkey for a few moments before noticing that Minka was chasing what appeared to be a red dot. Following where the dot was, she was able to spot Pepper lying on her stomach on top of one of the shelved cases that held various items. The skunk had a giddy look on her face, a laser pointer in oen paw, and Blythe smiled to herself when she saw what a fun time Pepper was having, but suddenly frowned when Pepper pointed the laser at a nearby shelf, causing Minka to smash face-first into it. The girl cringed visibly. Minka being Minka she didn't feel an ounce of pain and merely went back to chasing after the dot.
The dot suddenly disappeared and Minka began running around in circles, looking like a dog chasing its tail, trying to find the ever-evading red dot. "Where'd it go? Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?"
Pepper couldn't help but snicker to herself, and looking down she was glad to see that the other pets, and even Blythe, were having a good time seeing Minka having fun. Sadly, she realized that the fun couldn't last forever and she supposed that they should've been heading back to the pet shop as soon as possible. She scampered down to the floor.
"Hey, Pepper," Minka cried, "did you happen to see a red dot anywhere?"
The skunk shook her head, biting her lip to hold back a cackle. "Nope, haven't seen one." The laser pointer was clearly in her paw. Luckily for her Minka was looking anywhere but at her paws.
"How much is that thing, Pepper?"Blythe asked.
The skunk gave a shrug of the shoulders. "Beats me. I just found it in a box over there." She pointed to a box resting on a shelf across from her and the other pets.
Blythe examined the price. "Hmm, two fifty . . ."
"Blythie wythie must have a plany wany up her sleevy weevy," Buttercream said, hopping from side to side.
"What?" Penny asked.
The bunny gave the blue and white panda a confused look. "What?" Suddenly, her ears coiled around each other tight as someone wringing out a rag, her eyes shrunk, a giddy expression was on her face, and she was tapping her foot at such a pace that it was almost a blur. Her ears uncoiled from each other and her eyes returned to their normal state. The expression on her face was replaced by an expression of contnetment. She leaned forward, letting out a shuddering sigh. "Anywhoo," she said, her eyes rotating in their sockets, "I bet Blythe has something in store for Russell."
Russell checked the clock once again. Anytime now the pets and Blythe would be back from the pet store. Oddly enough, this depressed him since he knew that he would have to discard his reading material for something the other pets wanted him to join them in, like a game or something. Honestly, he didn't mind them trying to come out of his fuzzy shell. He had tried on a number of occasions, but had never quite succeeded. Oh, sure, he got along swimmingly with the other pets, but only because they were a family and because they were a family, they respected and loved each other and regularly helped each other through their problems.
Smiling to himself, remembering the fond memories he had of his friends and their many adventures together, he turned back to his book until he noticed something in front of him. He squinted. What on earth was that? He leaned forward a bit, trying his best to get a better look. Unfortunately, he leaned a little too far forward and ended up falling on his face, the book skidding a few feet in front of him once it fell out of his grasp. He picked himself up and retrieved his book to discover the mysterious thing underneath it. He leaned down once again, being careful to watch his step so not to humilate himself again. He put a finger to his chin, a quizzical look on his face as he struggled to figure out what the thing on the floor was. It was red. Perhaps it was a drop of blood, but to his knowledge none of the pets nor him had been bleeding on their way out. Just to be safe, he checked himself over, only to discover that he had no scartches or bruises of any kind. Perhaps the thing could be caught.
So with that, he got on all fours and wiggled his rump before leaping forward, his paws outstretched, trying to nab the red thing, whatever it was. "Ha! Gotcha!" He moved his paws out of the way, saddened to discover that the dot was no longer under his paws. He looked around wildly, trying to find the dot yet again. Ah! There it was! On the chair that Sunil often sat in, resting along the back rest. He ran on all fours, naturally, gaining more momentum as he ran, his chest aching as he was slowly but surely losing breath due to his excessive running. Nonetheless, he did find himself . . . having fun for once as he scampered all across the room trying to catch the blasted dot!
In the space that connected Littlest Pet Shop to Sweet Delights, Blythe and the others laughed to themselves as they watched the orange hedgehog run all around the room, the laser pointer in Blythe's hand. She was slightly elevated in order to get a farther reach with the laser. She smiled down at the others, who were struggling to keep their laughter at bay, especially Pepper, not wanting to be dsicovered. At least not yet. She faced forward again, pointing the laser at the wall and covered her hand with her mouth as she snickered when Russell attempted, but ultimately failed miserably at scampering up the wall to catch the red dot. She bit her lip to contain her laughter, unsure of how long Russell would keep up the chase.
Russell's claws tore at the wall in front of him, his attempts at climbing up it and catching the dot ending up being fuitle. He let out a groan as he suddenly fell on his rump. Hissing through gritted teeth, he got to his feet and rubbed his backside, the pain slowly but surely melting away. He let out a sigh as the last of the pain went away. In the silence that surrounded him, he thought he heard something. His ear twitched at this and he strained his ears to make sure that he wasn't mistaken.
His green eyes scanned the room slowly, trying to detect anything out of the ordinary. His eyes widened and he smiled to himself upon seeing something gray and white and furry sticking out of the space that he and the gang used to gain access into Sweet Delights. "Pepper Clark," he bellowed, cupping his paws over his mouth, "front and center, now!" He pointed to the space resting directly in front of him. He was sure if anyone was behind this little prank, it was definitely her! He watched as the skunk timidly entered the room, his arms folded and a glare on his face. He could see that the skunk was attempting but failing to hold back her laughter. She looked like she was about to have a fit!
She finally came to a stop in front of the orange hedgehog and sat on her haunches. "Yes, Russell?"
He wasn't exactly sure where to begin, but he supposed shooting from the hip wouldn't hurt. "There seems to be an intruder in our midst."
The skunk cocked an eyebrow. "Oh?"
The hedgehog nodded his head. "Mm-hmm."
Pepper pawed at the floor, looking anywhere but at Russell's eyes. "So, uh, so, tell me, what does this 'intruder' look like?"
"Well, it's small and red and-"
"Is it shrimp?"
"What? No."
"Lobster?"
"No."
"Cra-"
"No, it's not any kind of sea animal!"
Pepper's face fell. "Oh."
"If you hep me find the little intruder," he dropped to all fours, "I'll give you half of my snack?"
"No kidding?"She beamed.
He smiled up at her. "Nope."
She stretched out a paw. "Deal."
He glanced at her paw for a moment or two before smiling and standing up momentarily to shake her paw. "Deal." He got down on all fours yet again. "Now, come on!"
She saluted him. "Aye-aye, captain!" She giggled to herself and crept behind Russell, the hedgehog's backside bobbing back and forth as he waddled across the room on all fours. For the longest time, the two of them simply walked around the room, inspecting every little piece of furniture to the point where even she was becoming bored. At long last, however, they approached the crawlspace connecting the two shops and he peered in. Seeing her chance, she pounced on him and both of them rolled into the crawlspace in a ball of gray, white, and orange, until finally they stopped and both looked up at the smiling face of Blythe.
Russell smiled up at her in return. "I should've known." He managed to get untangled out of Pepper's tail and he got to his feet. "I'm guessing you were behind this little charade?"
Blythe blushed. "Well, it was Pepper's idea."
The hedgehog glanced over his shoulder at the skunk, who smiled nervously and waved. He smiled back at her. "I thought as much."
"It was just a joke, Russell," Blythe mumbled. "Sorry."
"Sorry?" the hedgehog bellowed, making the others, including Blythe herself, jump. "For what? That's the most fun I've had in a while."
Blythe grinned. "So you're not mad?"
"Mad?" The hedgehog seemed to be taken aback by the question. "No!"
Blythe sighed in relief. "Good." She and others crawled out of the crawlspace.
Pepper stopped suddenly upon feeling someone tapping on her shoulder. As soon as she turned around, she was surprised to feel Russell kissing her on the nose. As he pulled away, she blinked, confused and unsure how to react. "Uh, what was that for?"
"I was just thanking you," he admitted.
"Thanking me? For what?"
He smiled. "For getting me to have some fun for a change. It's no fun being up-tight all the time."
She threw herself at him and gave him a hug. "Anytime, Russell. Anyime. Ow!" She suddenly leaped back, stretching out her arms to discover them and her paws covered in quills.
He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down, embarrassed. "Yeah, sorry. You have to watch out for the quills." He chuckled nervously.
She smiled and shook her head. "No big deal, Russell."
He put an arm around her and the two of them began walking. "Come on, I'll help you get those out. Where do we keep the tweezers?"