To Save the Toucans
AN: Hi guys! It's, uh, been a while -innocent blinking-. Crack pairing, what else?
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She'd never seen someone eat a warm, gooey, chocolate cookie with such unhappiness before.
"Don't you have," cruunnnchhh, "family or something to bother?" Crunchcrunchcrunch. The remnants of the cookie were obliterated in the older boy's mouth.
"Not until four," she said absently, shifting her weight and angling the pamphlet for him to see for about the fiftieth time that afternoon, "Now listen, if you just donate the 5.00 you can save a square mile of rainforest! A whole square mile for a measly 5.00! Think of all the toucan habitats you'll protect-"
"Wait, is Serena even here? How did you get in the house?"
"-thewindowwasopen, Collin, think of the toucans!"
"I told you Patty-"
"Catty."
"-whatever, I don't have any money on me so if you could please get the hell off my couch so I can take a nap, I'd appreciate it."
Catty stared up at her friend's older brother, her eyes going round and watery from her spot on Collin's couch that was looking warm, inviting, and oh-so sleepable. Seriously, if the tree hugger didn't move in a few minutes he was just going to have to sit on her.
"You could always volunteer!" Catty suggested instead, not one to be deterred from The Cause once she was going, "We meet once a week at the community center-"
"Look, Catty, I'm sure you're a sweet-" mental, crazy granola hippie, "-girl but I'm just not interested. Now, are you going to move or am I going to have to make you move?"
Catty's watery eyes narrowed dangerously as she crossed her arms over her chest, "You're 'not interested'?"
"Not even remotely," he tossed some hair away from his eyes, "I just had a wipeout, I'm bushed, and I have to go take a chemistry exam tomorrow, so I'd appreciate you taking your little PETA-"
"Save the Rainforest isn't even remotely affiliated with PETA!"
"-propaganda-"
"It's NOT propaganda, the toucans could die-"
"-to your fellow tree hugging nuts and getting the hell off my couch so I can fall into a coma for the next few hours."
Catty huffed, crossing her arms even tighter and glaring at the wall, "I don't know why Serena likes you."
Collin's jaw dropped, "I'm her brother, she loves me."
She scoffed, "Yeah, well, her brother's a big heartless moron who doesn't even care that there are toucan babies dying."
Collin slapped his palm against his forehead, "No, I don't care that tuscan-"
"Toucan."
"Whatever. I don't care that baby critters are dying in some trees a billion miles from here. I don't even know what a toucan is. So let me get some sleep, woman!" He declared plopping himself down next to her and crossing his arms as well, the two mirroring each other's expressions of extreme annoyance perfectly.
Intense silence followed, and Catty wiggled in her seat slightly, not liking the awkwardness. Her thigh touched his but he so didn't notice or care or anything. He could feel his eyelids drooping. So freakin' tired…
Finally she cleared her throat, "You don't know what a toucan is?"
Words were too much effort, "Uhn."
The curly haired teleporter tapped a finger against her lips thoughtfully, "You know Fruit Loops?"
"Uhhuh."
"The blue bird's a toucan." She adjusted the pitch in her voice, "Follow yer nose!"
Collin couldn't help as a slight scoff of amusement- not a giggle, giggling was for girls- escaped his throat. It was a pretty dead on impression. Catty smiled at him, and he absently noted that it was a better expression on her face than the scowl she had been throwing at him ever since his first refusal to pay the donation and sign her petition.
"Oh!" Catty squealed, mistaking Collin's lack of verbal threatening for genuine interest in the Save the Toucans movement, opened up her bag, rifling through it for a few moments, "I have a picture!"
Collin groaned, slightly less than annoyed mood vanishing quickly, "Catty, I don't freaking care-"
"Here it is!" She beamed, withdrawing a flyer.
Collin, deciding to be difficult, immediately glued his eyes shut.
"Collin, look at it," she whined shaking it in front of his closed eyes.
"No."
"Aw, c'mon!"
"No!"
"Pwease? Pweasepweasepweasepweasepwease-"
"I don't want to."
"It's reeeeally cute…"
"Take that picture and cram it up your-"
"Look at it!" She all but screamed.
Collin growled, "After I do you better go back to your commune."
Catty smirked rather evilly, not that Collin could see. "Sure."
Sighing, the surfer opened his eyes.
What he saw was…unexpected…
A trio of tiny baby birds were huddled together, apparently waiting to be fed or something. Their big bills were yellow in color, and their large, watery eyes just screamed Somebody Love Me!
"What do you think?" Catty asked, noticing that Collin's eyes had gotten rounder and a bit watery themselves. His lower lip part slightly, making it seem as if he were frozen saying 'Aw…'
"They're…"
"They're?" Catty pushed.
"They're adorable," Collin whispered, "They really freaking are."
She smiled again, "Don't you want to protect their mama toucans so that they can live? For a mere 5-"
Collin groaned, realizing that they were back to this, "Look, I told you that I don't have any money-"
"Your contribution also goes towards protecting baby dolphins…"
Collin made a long suffering sigh, "Fine. You win. Let's go to the nearest ATM."
Catty pumped a fist in the air, "Awesome! I can't wait to get you an official t-shirt and membership card!"
"Wait, wha? I didn't say that I'd join your weird little eco-cult-"
It was too late. Catty latched an arm around his and forcibly pulled him up- Collin was impressed, and a little scared, by her astounding upper body strength- and started to steer him towards the door.
"Details, details. I already got Serena to join, and we have free snacks!"
Collin paled, coming to the conclusion that he needed to start monitoring who Serena's friends were more closely.
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I have a link to the picture of the baby toucans on my profile, if anyone is interested in seeing it :D