Hey guys! I'm back with another fanfic in new fandom! And for those who haven't read any of my stuff before that's meaningless, but to anyone who has, it's great to see you back! Anyway, I got the idea for this one after thinking back to this episode and I was like, hey, wouldn't it be cool if Max actually did something about Preston's situation, because he clearly seemed to be the only person who knew what was going on? This isn't going to be, like, super angsty or anything (SPOILERS FROM FUTURE ME: Okay don't be so sure about that), rather it's just a fun idea I had and decided to write. I may write another chapter if you all like it! Anyway, enjoy!
Max groaned in annoyance as Mr. Campbell walked down the line of campers, handing an egg to each pair. He really didn't feel like doing this shit, it was a waste of his time. But nonetheless, this was how he was being forced to spend his Saturday.
He watched from a distance as each pair was handed their eggs, and as Mr. Campbell got further down the line he was able to hear what everyone thought more clearly.
"Uhg, this is stupid! I don't wanna take care of some dumb egg!" He heard Nurf say, Preston flinching away from the bully as he complained. He watched as Mr. Campbell carefully dropped an egg into Nurf's palm, watching as his whole demeanor immediately changed.
"My sweet boy." He murmured to the egg, immediately transfixed. Max scoffed.
"Alright kids, don't screw this up!" Mr. Campbell told them, before going off somewhere to do whatever the hell he does with his spare time. Which was probably something illegal.
"Well, this will be easy! Let's just leave it in a box and get back to enjoying our Saturday!" Max told his friend Nikki, the reason they had to do this dumb project in the first place. He couldn't be too mad at her though, now all the other campers would be busy and they could go get Neil and get back to enjoying their Saturday together, without risk of anyone interrupting this time!
"What?! We can't do that Max! This is our egg!" Nikki exclaimed. Max was surprised for a moment, as she continued.
"We have to take care of it, and let it know we'll always be there for it no matter what!" She finished.
"Huh?""Yeah, I don't know what's going on in my lower parts, but it's making me want to nurture the heck out of this thing! Lets go!" She exclaimed, walking away and expecting him to follow.
He sighed. This was going to be a long day.
…
"Boy Max, I don't know how to nurture the heck out of this egg!" Nikki exclaimed, pushing the egg along in a stroller along the outskirts of the activity area. "Is loving it enough or do I have to feed it too?" Nikki asked.
"We could just send it to a summer camp and have strangers take care of it for three months." Max muttered sarcastically, absolutely done with her dumb questions. "Don't be silly, Max, That's an awful idea." She replied.
Max didn't know if she got the joke or if she was serious.
Nikki and Max stopped by the extreme sports camp, and watched as Dolf painted his egg. Once Dolf was done painting the bottom of it with flames, Ered put a pair of sunglasses onto it.
"Cool." She grinned. "Our egg is going to be the coolest artist slash pro skater who ever lived!" Dolf replied in his heavy german accent, grinning.
"Oh!" Nikki grinned, getting an idea. "We could be the cool parents like Ered and Dolf! If our egg hangs out with theirs, it can be popular!" She cheered.
"I don't think I need to remind you that these are eggs and not, in fact, actual children, but I'm going to anyway." Max deadpanned.
"Dolph, I am loving the style of your egg! It's so fierce!" Preston exclaimed enthusiastically. "Thank you, Preston!" Dolf grinned proudly.Nurf looked offended.
"Hey Preston." Preston turned to the bully. "How about you give some praise to Nurf Jr over here before you give him an inferiority complex? I will not have our boy caught up in a cycle of hate and negative emotions, damn it!" He scolded.
"Oh boy", Max thought to himself, "this is a recipe for disaster."
"Nurf Jr? Who decided on that?" Preston asked, seemingly uspset.
"THAT IS NOT PRAISE, PRESTON!" Nurf yelled, Preston flinching away at the outburst. Nurf took a deep breath to attempt to regain his composure. "Not in front of the child." He muttered, looking down to the egg strapped to his chest worriedly. He looked back to Preston, glaring.
"We will talk about this later." He told the frightened boy, walking away. Preston looked afraid and uncomfortable for a moment before following.
Ered's chattering to her egg and Neil's concern faded into the background, as Max stopped paying attention and followed Nikki away from the scene.
…
As Nikki continued being concerned over whether or not she was doing a good job raising her egg, Max glanced at Harrison's magic stage, where he was apparently putting on a show with his egg. Nikki noticed this, and dragged Max over with her, excited, despite his protesting.
Applause rang out as Harrison introduced his egg to the crowd. "Isn't this fun, Nurf?" Max heard Preston ask loudly, and glanced over to see what was happening.
"I work hard every day, and the one afternoon I have off you drag me to some stupid magic show?" Nurf sighed unhappily.
"Work? What do you mean?" Preston questioned. "We're just campers!"
"Oh, so now you're DISRESPECTING ME?!"
"No!" Preston cried out nervously. "I would never!"
"I cannot believe you right now. You know how I get when I'm angry." Nurf glared.
Max watched as Preston raised a hand to his cheek, hunching over a bit. "I remember." He murmured in response, subdued.
Okay, what the fuck?
Before Max had more time to dwell on it, Nerris interrupted his thoughts, an accusatory tone calling out to Harrison.
Max watched as they argued, the end result being the death of another egg. Nikki looked pretty horrified, which honestly Max didn't really understand. Seriously, these were just some stupid eggs! Max decided he'd had enough of this bullshit. If he didn't talk to someone actually rational here, he'd fucking lose it.
So, he ditched Nikki and went to the one person he knew could understand. Neil.
But it was too late. Neil had gone crazy too.
"Hey, Neil." He greeted the boy, exhaustedly. "Boy, this whole egg thing sure is stupid, huh?"Instead of the affirmation he expected, Neil instead immediately got defensive over the egg he was holding.
Neil made an unintelligible offended nerd sound before holding the egg far away from Max. "I think that's close enough, Max."
Max hunched over a bit, upset that Neil didn't agree that this was pointless. Not that he'd ever admit that to anyone ever including himself.
"Really? You too?" He sighed. "Why do you care so much about this?""I.. Don't know. I just- I see a lot of myself in this egg. It's so small and fragile.." He muttered, looking to the egg sadly. "I must protect it at all costs."
"Max!" Nikki called, walking over to him. "There you are!"
Max sighed in annoyance. Looks like it was back to this shit.
"It's your turn to change the egg's diaper! We should not have started feeding it solids." She sighed.
"As you can see, I'm the only one who hasn't lost their mind over this." Max tried, gesturing to Nikki.
"We're just trying to be the best parents we can be, Max. Everything's perfectly fine." Nikki replied casually.
"YES, EVERYTHING'S PERFECTLY FINE, ISN'T IT?"
Everyone turned to the source of the loud voice and gasped. Preston looked awful, with a big black eye that was poorly covered by a pair of sunglasses and a bruise on his cheek.
Max was starting to put two and two together.
"Jesus, Preston! What the fuck happened to you?" Max exclaimed, trying and only somewhat succeeding to hide his concern.
"Oh nothing, just.." Preston paused for a moment. "Tripped and fell into a doorknob a couple of times!" Preston exclaimed with false cheer.
And Max then knew that two and two equalled four, and Nurf was fucking abusing Preston. Over a stupid egg. Holy shit.
"It was my fault really!" He continued. "Anyway,-" He continued, voice cracking slightly, "-I was wondering if you had a cup of sugar I could borrow please?" He asked, taking a paper out from behind his back and holding it out in front of him desperately for the others to see, the words "HELP ME" scrawled across in capital letters.
Oh god.
"Preston!" Nurf called from a distance, storming over. Not missing a beat, Preston quickly shoved the paper into his mouth and swallowed it. "Yes Nurf, what is it?" Preston asked, clearly suppressing a shudder as he turned to the bully.
Holy fuck. This is not okay, this is not okay in any sense of the word.
Max felt absolutely sick to his stomach. Although Nurf was a bully, and thus everyone was already kind of used to being hurt by him if he didn't get his way, Preston was being forced to be partners with him for this project, and thus he was forced to be around him all the time. So of course if anything went wrong, he'd immediately be a target for Nurf. And that would go on until the egg hatched...
Which could take weeks.
This can't continue. This can't fucking keep happening. Holy shit, this is so fucked up.
"Oh there you are. What are you doing over here?" Nurf asked, suspicion dripping from his tone. "I think he was asking for help?" Nikki offered, and Max had never before wanted to punch her so badly.
"What the fuck, Nikki?! Don't you see what's going on here-"
"Oh god. She doesn't. She doesn't see what's going on. I'm the only one here who can tell anything is wrong."Max's expression went from murderous to horrified in a matter of seconds as Nurf looked to the poor theatre boy with an absolutely enraged expression.
"UH- HELP MAKING THAT CAKE YOU MENTIONED YOU LIKE FOR DESERT!" Preston jumped to explain to him, quickly thinking of an excuse. Nurf's expression turned surprised, and it seemed he had actually believed that.
Oh thank god, Preston wasn't going to get hit again. Everything was okay. He didn't have to worry anymo-
Preston quickly turned back to them, continuing his request for help "baking a cake" like the true actor he was, doing his best to make the excuse convincing. "I just need some sugar, and then a few eggs-" Preston was cut off by an offended gasp.
FUCK.
"How could you even mention using eggs in front of Nurf Jr?!"Max then realized if he didn't think of something now, Preston was fucked. And as heartless as he seemed most of the time, he couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let this poor boy be abused by this emotionally fucked bully while he knows he could've done something about it. But the question was what?
"You know what?!" Nurf yelled out, before quickly taking off his makeshift baby carrier and hanging it on the branch of a tree behind him, leaving the egg out of his sight. Max realized that the egg was the cause of Preston being abused in the first place, and realized that he had to get rid of it. It was the only way to get this to stop. But how would he able to get rid of it without anyone knowing what happened?
Max then spotted Preston's notebook and a pen, dropped on the ground a few feet away and opened to a couple of pages of blank paper, with page torn out from the middle that Preston had used to write his cry for help with. And Max was going to answer that cry, damn it!
Because he had an idea, a crazy idea, that he hoped just might work. And everyone here might just be stupid enough to fall for it.
Quickly, he glanced around and noticed no one was paying attention to him, but instead to Preston and Nurf. Perfect. Max quickly dashed over to Preston's things, tore a page out of the boy's notebook and took Preston's pen, getting to work.
He tried to write down a note quickly, panicking as he heard the argument continue. "I am trying to set a good example for our egg, Preston! And I need you to work with me on this!" Nurf yelled, making Max panic even more. He struggled to balance writing as quickly as possible with making sure the note was legible. Finally, the note was complete.
Now was the tricky part. He had to replace the egg with the note without anyone noticing. Nurf was still yelling, and as awful as that was it was actually lucky for Max, because everyone was too focused on him to even pay attention to what Max was doing. Even Preston, who could likely see the tree behind Nurf from where he was standing, was too busy focusing on Nurf with terror-filled eyes to even notice Max.
And as depressing as that was, maybe that meant he could get away with this.
"I will not have him grow up in a broken household like his father!" Nurf continued, as Max snuck up behind him and to the egg, taking it out of the makeshift baby carrier. "So if I hear anymore talk of, "Im leaving you", Or, "Oh! Your scaring me!" Or anything like that,"
Max began to panic. "Oh fuck, I have the egg now, but where the hell am I going to hide it?!" Max's thoughts screamed to him.
Suddenly, he knew.
"I am going to REALLY LOSE IT!" Nurf roared out, as Max carefully put the egg into the pocket of his hoodie. And damn, he was never more grateful for always wearing a hoodie than he was now. He then put the note where the egg was a moment ago, before dashing away from the tree and around to where the group was, trying to stay out of their peripheral vision.
He ran in a large semicircle until he was behind them. Once he was behind them and certain he wouldn't be noticed, he slowly moved back to his spot. No one noticed a thing. The years of sneaking around his house had really seemed to pay off.
Because Preston was saved. He only ended up needing to put up with a day of this torture, and although that was already too much, he probably wouldn't need to be Nurf's partner in an activity ever again after this. And he wouldn't need to put up with the weeks of bruises until the egg hatched.
Max didn't know why he risked getting beat up by Nurf himself to save Preston, but damn, he felt like he might actually be a good person now that he did.
"Nurf, I-"
"NO! Save it! We can talk about this later after I eat that cake." Nurf said, clearly trying to calm down the best he could. But Max knows that he would've only hit Preston later after saying that. He wouldn't now, though.
"In the meantime, I'm going to take Nurf Jr away, so he isn't exposed to any more domestic issues." Nurf told the theatre boy. Max immediately tensed up. Now, it was the moment of truth. He was going to see whether or not everyone fell for it.
Max watched as Nurf turned around before seeing the note in place of his egg. Nurf tensed up, visibly worried. "Wha..?""It's a note!" Nikki exclaimed, surprised. Good, if she was surprised, that meant he really had done the stealth part of his plan right. But now it was time to see if he'd done the note-writing part right. And Max couldn't help but be a bit nervous about that.
Max quickly realized he was supposed to be the rational one in this situation, and quickly made a confused noise, not able to manage much else as he tried to control his breathing so it wasn't obvious he was trying to catch his breath after making a mad dash from Preston's notebook and back.
"Dear parents," Nurf began to read aloud, "I could not take being raised in such conditions any longer and decided to run away to a better life. I hope you two can work things out, if not for me, than for each other. Love, Nurf Jr..?" Max couldn't help but suck in a breath nervously as Nurf began reading.
He had wrote that note specifically so that Nurf would be able to believe it, and in such a way that would hopefully also deter him from hurting Preston. Hell, he almost signed the note Preston Jr out of spite, but he knew that might cause Preston to be hurt and he didn't want that. He only hoped that it was believable enough.
"He.. ran away?" Nurf muttered, tears welling up in his eyes. "HE RAN AWAY?!" Max repeated, pretending to be absolutely baffled. On the inside though, he was setting off fireworks and screaming out words of triumph. Nurf believed it. His crazy plan to save Preston had worked.
"Oh god! I'M A HORRIBLE PARENT!" Nurf cried, falling to his knees and bawling his eyes out.
For a moment, Max almost felt bad. Because you know, Nurf didn't have an easy life either, and only way he knew to take out his anger was lashing out, so maybe it wasn't entirely his fault. It was absolutely partially his fault and Max would never deny that, that bastard should've never hit Preston in the first place, but maybe it was also Mr. Campbell's fault, for putting the pressure to raise these eggs on everyone in the first place, and putting Preston and Nurf in the situation they were in at all. Because yeah, Nurf was definitely a douche.
But so was Mr. Campbell.
"You really are, Nurf." Preston told him, sounding sympathetic, before placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Max knew that he would never be able to deny how amazing that was to him. Because despite the shit Nurf had managed to put Preston through today, Preston was still able to have a sense of empathy for the bully.
Max wouldn't admit how much he admired Preston for that. But he couldn't really deny it either.
"Our boy, our beautiful boy.." Nurf cried out as Preston walked him back to his tent. Max knew that there was nothing to worry about now, Nurf was too depressed to even try to lay a finger on Preston. He was safe.
And… Max had done that. He had saved him.
Max couldn't help but feel proud. He'd actually done it, he'd done something nice for once and answered Preston's cry for help.
"You see, Max! This is why we have to figure out the best way to raise our egg!" Nikki's voice snapped Max out of his thoughts. Because holy shit, she wasn't even affected by that?! Did anyone else care about what just happened?!
"And we better do it fast, because at this rate, our egg is going to be the only one left."
…
Before he knew it, Neil had broken his egg too. It was only Nikki's left. Well, technically it was also his, but whatever. And Preston's egg was still intact too, but no one else knew that.
"Kids, what the heck are you doing out here?! My blood pressure is through the roof!" Cameron Douchebag Campbell himself asked, looking like a mess. "I have no idea what I'm doing, that's the problem!" Nikki cried out in dismay. Max blinked in surprise.
"What?"
"Yeah, there's only one egg left." Max clarified, glaring hatefully at the man.
"WHAT?!"
"Well, that's what you get for leaving a bunch of stupid kids to raise fragile eggs and without any supervision, asshole." Max thought to himself. He suddenly wondered where David and Gwen had been throughout this.
"It's all terrible!" Nikki wailed. "I don't know what's right, I don't know what's wrong, all I know is that I'm scared and I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!"
Max couldn't help but feel bad about Nikki panicking, so he did the only thing he know how to do. "Nikki! Calm down!" He exclaimed.
"It's like I told you, none of this matters! Nobody knows what they're doing when they're taking care of something too dumb to take care of itself! There's no right way of doing any of this. How do you think we turned out so fucked up?" Max ranted. Because the one thing he did best was being an asshole who secretly cared.
Because believe it or not, this was his way of trying to calm her down. But it only made him feel guiltier, because it was clearly not working. In fact, his ranting was doing the opposite of what was intended, Nikki was beginning to tear up!
Wow, now Max felt like shit.
However, both Max and Nikki's thoughts were interrupted by a light cracking noise. Max stared down at the egg in shock. It was hatching already? "OH GOD! NOW IT'S BREAKING!" Nikki screamed.
"No, it's hatching!" Neil corrected.
Max, Nikki and Neil watched in awe, as a tiny, baby platypus broke out of the shell, making a tiny noise of triumph.
"Awwww…" The trio, even Max, cooed to Nikki and Max's platypus baby. Could it even be considered his as well though? He'd barely done anything for it, could it even be considered his own? He really owed Nikki an apology, he did nothing to help raise this egg, and even until the very end, he couldn't even calm her down properly. And for that, she deserved praise, for putting up with that and still managing to hatch the egg.
As Mr. Campbell expressed his relief that at least one baby was born, Max praised Nikki. "Wow… Nikki, thanks for getting us through this. You know, sometimes..." Max inhaled sharply,knowing what he was about to say was incredibly cheesy. He braced himself. "... Life really is beautiful."
Nikki gave him such a bright smile, that it made Max think, maybe, for just a moment, he could get used to being sappy. It wasn't such a bad feeling. After all, it made his friends happy, so maybe it wasn't so bad?
But then the stupid adult platypus ruined everything, and ate its young before Max's very eyes. Max's warmed heart once more went ice cold as the platypus ate her baby, eggshell it was never able to crawl out of and all, crawling up into Max and Nikki's hands where the egg used to be held between them moments ago.
"No it isn't." Neil sighed, matching Max's thoughts exactly.
"Well kids, that's why you always have a Plan B." Mr. Campbell smiled. "None of you saw me here. Dasvidaniya, campers!" Mr. Campbell called to everyone, making his escape in a russian submarine.
"... Fucking waste of a Saturday." Max sighed. He removed his hands from their previous position, causing the platypus to fall on its ass with an offended "Mwack!"
Max walked away nonchalantly, putting his hands in his pockets, pausing his movements when his hands brushed against the egg. Max quickly began to walk again, cursing quietly. Had Preston's baby platypus hatched too? The boy quickly made his way into the tent he shared with Neil, taking the egg out of his pocket carefully. He sighed in relief at what he saw; The platypus hadn't hatched yet, and the egg hadn't gotten damaged.
He guessed that his and Nikki's egg must of been the first one to be laid, otherwise another egg would've hatched sooner than theirs, or perhaps when one of the other eggs were broken a fully developed baby would be inside.
So if that was the case, Preston's would hatch at a day or so later at the very least, it'd probably take longer than that though.
Max paused a moment. How was he going to take care of the egg? He couldn't take part in all the camp activities after the weekends were over and take care of the egg at the same time. And what would he do when it hatched?
One issue at a time, Max decided, he'd worry about what to do when it hatched WHEN it hatched. For now, how was he going to take care of the egg? Clearly he couldn't do anything the other campers did, none of it worked well except Nikki's method, which would require not only his full attention but also for him to be batshit crazy. Hell, he was crazy for attempting to steal this egg in the first place, it could've ended horribly, was it even worth it?!(...yes.)Why was he even trying to take care of this egg? Why doesn't he just smash it onto the ground and walk away like nothing happened?No, no. He couldn't do that. He was pretty uncaring to most things, but killing an unborn baby platypus after what he just witnessed moments ago? He couldn't do that.
So what would he do…?Max thought for a moment before it hit him. He could do what all other creatures in the wilderness did. Make a nest! He couldn't, like, sit on it to keep it warm or whatever, but he could get it a soft, warm place to stay when he wasn't able to take care of it himself. When he knew he wouldn't be doing anything that could potentially get it cracked he could carry it around in his hoodie pocket to provide body heat! It was perfect!
But what could he make a nest with?
Max looked around the tent, before seeing some sciency shit in boxes on Neil's side of the tent. He took an empty box that Neil probably been saving for future sciencey shit and put it under his cot where it couldn't be seen. That could help make the nest look inconspicuous and be contained and possibly transported easily, Max decided, but it wasn't soft or warm enough on its own.
Max looked around a bit more, not seeing anything good enough lying around their tent. He sighed in frustration, flopping down on his cot angrily, though mindful of the delicate egg still in his hands. Almost wanting to laugh at how stupidly gentle he was being with this damn egg, he put it back in his hoodie pocket carefully for safekeeping…
Wait.
His hoodie!
Max grinned widely as he stood up and got out the spare hoodie of his that parents had sent to him a while ago. Looks like they were good for something after all. After he had thrown it away to the other side of the mess hall, it had ended up neatly folded up on his cot later. He suspected that was because of David. But it turns out it would have a use after all!
Because Max knew how warm, soft, and comforting his hoodies were firsthand.
He carefully lined the box under the bed with the hoodie, wrapping the egg up with it carefully. Perfect. Max sighed in relief, knowing that the egg would be safe there and went off to go back to his friends, but not before nervously adjusting his hoodie so that there was a bit of room for air to reach the egg, in case it hatched while he was gone, so it wouldn't suffocate.
He went back to Nikki and Neil, trying to act normal but unable to hide the spring in his step from being clever enough to think of the ideas that he'd thought of today. Saving Preston. Making a nest to take care of his egg properly. He couldn't help but be proud of all the good things he'd done today.
…
It turns out that Max's initial idea of leaving the egg in a box that he'd proposed as soon Nikki and him got it was actually best for it.
Whenever Max wasn't able to keep it near him, it was in the makeshift nest. Every few hours, Max would slip away from whatever camp activity everyone was being forced to do, and would nervously check on the egg. It hadn't hatched yet, but it wasn't damaged either. Until 8 days later.
Max sighed in relief as the camp activity finally ended. This one in particular had been really annoying; David had felt the need for a group bonding activity.
Max made his way back to his tent, wanting to check on the egg before going to the mess hall for dinner. He got down to his knees and carefully pulled the box out from under the cot, unwrapping what was once the egg.
Because it wasn't an egg anymore. In the egg's place was the creature that had been developing inside it for about a week. The baby platypus made a happy little noise as it was able to move more freely, freed from the small chamber it had been in before and able to see the world fully for the first time. It was lucky Max kept the habit of leaving space for air to get in when he wrapped up the egg.
Max gasped in awe. This one was even cuter than the last one,or maybe he had just grown attached to this one since he'd actually been the one to raise it. Either way, he couldn't help but feel a wave of pure joy looking at the baby, grinning widely. He'd caused this creature to be alive right now. He'd raised this animal, he'd saved Preston by, well, probably saving it too.
Because really, there were probably only two things that could've happened to it if he hadn't intervened. Either the egg would be broken like the others before it hatched, or it would hatch and Mr. Campbell would sell it to some crazy person. Because who in their right mind even want to buy a platypus?
So Max had saved it from that, he'd decided not to smash it, built it a safe place to stay so he couldn't accidentally break it during a camp activity, took care of it himself when he could, and carefully watched over it. And now here he was. He'd done it. He'd successfully hatched the egg.
But that left the one question. What now?
It was a living creature now, that he'd need to feed and give water, or maybe milk, wait, what did baby platypuses eat?! Or was it platypi? Was the plural platypuses or platypi?! Did it matter?!
Max took a deep breath to calm down. Its fine. It would be fine. He just had to steal either David or Gwen's phone and look it up. And they were probably in the mess hall with everyone else right now, so that would be easy!
He looked to the platypus contemplatively for a second before scooping it up and putting it in his pocket, taking it with him. He broke into the counselor's cabin, and looked around, seeing Gwen's phone charging. Bingo.
A few google searches later, Max found the depressing truth. There wasn't enough information that he could easily find about what baby platypuses eat, more specifically what you could feed an orphaned baby platypus, to give him any options. He didn't know what was safe to feed it and what wasn't.
Which meant the only reliable way to feed it was by letting its mother do it, and, well. Max wasn't sure that he could trust the mother.
This was awful.
Max tried his best to keep his composure as he carefully thought about what to do. Either he'd have to let the baby starve, abandon it somewhere so he didn't have to watch it die, kill it himself so it didn't have to suffer, try to feed it something that might not be safe for it, or try to get its mother to feed it and risk its mother eatingit herself.
After careful contemplation, there was only one rational option that Max could think of.
He'd need to hold down that fucking platypus mother.
No way in hell he'd let this baby die if there was a way to save it, as slim as it may be. He'd already grown way too attached. Which was kind of pathetic, really, but now wasn't the time to worry about that.
He couldn't let it starve, that'd be slow and painful and end tragically. He couldn't abandon it, the guilt would eat away at him and he'd never know what exactly happened to it, just that it'd probably died a painful death. He couldn't kill it himself, just the thought made him feel nauseous, so he already knew he'd probably never be able to do it himself. If he fed it something potentially unsafe, he'd most likely be directly responsible for it's death, which he'd be unable to get over.
So, the only option was to get some gloves and hope that the platypus canibal didn't kick him.
Well, actually, in his search he'd desperately looked through an interesting facts list, in which he's learned only the male platypuses are venomous. Still, better safe than sorry. Max swallowed nervously. He really hoped this would work, for the sake of the baby.
…
Somehow, it had worked. He'd wrestled with the platypus mother until it was pinned and guaranteed not to eat its child, and he'd waited until it fed the child instead. Each time it happened, the platypus mother gave up faster, as Max was somehow able to overpower it every time. It seemed to be starting to learn that there was no use fighting, and that he wouldn't go until the baby was fed.
But that didn't mean there were no drawbacks. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Firstly, it took too much time. The first time especially, as the mother platypus didn't know what Max wanted, and Max didn't know how to make the mother platypus do what he wanted. She was learning, luckily, but not fast enough for time to stop being an issue.
Second, everytime he fed the baby Max left with claw marks and bruises across his body, mostly his legs.
Third, he had to heavily rely on no one bothering him during the process.
And finally, he had to worry about protecting the baby from the gaping bill of its mother all the while.
And that was only feeding the baby.
And Max couldn't do it anymore.
He couldn't balance taking care of this child and hiding these new wounds on top of everything else at camp. He wasn't strong enough. He wasn't ready to be a parent to this platypus child.
But he couldn't let it die either.So he could only think of one thing he could do.
He carefully wrote a note containing everything someone needed to know to take care of the baby platypus, including how to wrestle its mother. He ignored the fact that a few tear droplets stained the page.
Since when had he gotten so soft?He got out the old cardboard box he'd used for the nest, and got a spare towel from the counselor's cabin to line it. It wasn't as comfortable as the hoodie he had used before, but whatever. He didn't want anything in the box to be identifiable.
He poked a few small holes through the top edges of the box just in case, and placed the baby and the note inside.
He'd only been able to care for it for another week after it had hatched. It only took a week for him to give up.
More tears welled up in his eyes as he gently pet the platypus child, bidding it farewell as he closed the box.
Max wrote across the top of the box. It read, "CAREFUL, FRAGILE.", And, in smaller text across the bottom, "Only open this once you're alone."
Max stayed still for a moment, before putting the box under his cot and waiting until the dead of night, when everyone was asleep. Once it was, he got the box from under his cot.
He quietly snuck out of the tent, box in hand, as Neil snored softly. He carefully approached one of the camps, and placed the box were he knew only the recipient would find it. They went there every day, so there was no way for them to miss it. Max stayed for a moment, crying for a bit longer.
He'd gotten so, so soft. Weak. He'd grown weak because of this poor baby. He hoped it stopped hurting this much one day. But this was for the best.
Max knew if he were to remain here any longer, he would change his mind and take the baby back to his tent and continue to try to take care of it. But he knew he couldn't handle it any longer. He'd been stressing over the platypus ever since it was still an egg, and he knew he wouldn't be able to handle the stress anymore.
Someone new needed to care for it. Someone who hadn't had to stress over it for weeks yet, who was able to start caring for it without already being exhausted.
Max needed someone determined, kind hearted, and strong to take care of the baby. Someone who would be kind enough to abandon the child, who'd be determined enough to try and learn everything they could about caring for it, and who would be strong enough to face the mother to feed it every day for 3 months until it can eat bugs and worms.
And Max knew that there was only one real choice. It was fitting, really, that they'd get the child. Max wouldn't want it any other way.
Max shot one last teary smile towards the box before walking back to his tent, trying his best to get his shit together.
Max reached his own tent, and layed in his cot, trying not to make much noise as he cried. Weak.
Neil made a soft noise as he turned towards Max's cot, unable to see Max's teary face in the dark.
"Dude? What're you doing up so late?" Neil murmured, only half awake. "Don't worry about it. I just had to take care of something." Max replied, trying his best to keep his voice steady.
He knew it'd be better this way. He'd done the right thing. He just hoped his stupid heart would realize that soon.
…
Preston hummed as he walked to the theatre camp, going backstage to where his typewriter was, so that he could write another play. The last one hadn't gone that well, and he really wanted to improve! He had to wow everyone!
He stopped in front of his desk, before noticing a box sitting on his chair, with the words "CAREFUL, FRAGILE", And, "Only open this once you're alone." Scrawled across the top in hasty handwriting. Preston gasped. A gift, perhaps? From who?Preston eagerly opened it, and saw something loosely wrapped in a towel with a note laying on top of it. A love letter perhaps?! Preston took the note and began reading eagerly.
Dear Preston,
I'm just going to get right to the point. Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when we had to raise those eggs? I'm sure you remember how yours "ran away". But that was a lie. I stole it.
Don't tear up this note in a fit of rage, please, hear me out.
I knew what Nurf had done to you, and that the egg could take weeks to hatch, and I didn't want you to have to endure that, so I took the egg so that you didn't need to be his partner for the activity anymore. I'm sorry that happened in the first place, by the way, it shouldn't have. I'm so sorry that you got hurt. Truth is, I care more about everyone here than I'd like to admit.
But the point is, I took the egg and left that note, and raised it myself. I knew better than to treat it like a human child, luckily, and just made it a nest to hatch in. It worked, and the egg hatched. I tried to find out what platypuses ate so I could take care of it, but the only thing I knew it could safely eat at this age was its mother's milk. But you saw the mother eat Nikki's platypus baby, I'm sure. I had to pin the mother down so it couldn't eat yours. And I waited for the mother to feed it. Luckily, that worked, if it didn't I didn't really have a Plan B.
Just so you know, platypuses feed their young like any almost any other mammal, except the milk leaks from their pores and into special indent in their abdomen so that the baby can lap it up, don't question why I know this. So you'd need to pin it on its back to get it to feed its baby, just so that's clear.
She started learning that when I pin her and put the baby on her stomach (away from her mouth of course) that she needs to feed it if she wants to be free. But it's too exhausting for me to handle, doing that every time the baby gets hungry.
Preston, I can't take care of the baby anymore. But I know you can. I trust you not to abandon it, and I know you aren't scared of some stupid platypus mother and what might happen if it kicks you. Which is nothing, by the way. Only male platypuses are venomous when they kick you. Plus, you were its first parent. It's only right for me to give it to you.
Please make sure it's warm and has enough air, you can probably even keep it in the box it came to you in! Be careful with it, it's barely a week old, and if anyone finds it and asks were you found it, just say that you found an egg that Campbell missed or something. DON'T let them know it's your first one. I don't want Nurf hurting you again.
I really hope this is enough information for you to be able to take care of it, but if it isn't, you could always try to ask David, he know tons of random things about nature, or just steal a phone. Good luck, Preston. Don't try to find me, I did my best to make this letter as detached from who I am as a person as possible.
-Love, A Person Too Weak To Be A Parent
By the end of the letter, Preston was trembling, noticing a few dried tear stains on the page and adding a few of his own to it. He carefully moved the top of the towel away from the loosely wrapped bundle, and wasn't too surprised at what he saw.
A sleeping, baby platypus. Nurf Jr.
But, well, Preston had never really agreed to that name at all. Maybe he could call it something else now.
AND THAT'S THE END! Holy shit, I worked really hard on this! I actually had to do a bit of research for this, and I decided that platypus wrestling was probably the only way Max could feed the baby. If anyone liked this, feel free to leave a review! I may or may not add another chapter if it's requested, but I don't know for sure, so I'm going to mark it as complete for now. I hoped you all enjoyed!