Another Story, longer one too, featuring Ollie and Ivonne as well as some other Ocs of mine. Enjoy!
I don't own Tuff or any of its characters, just my Ocs.
It was the middle of the day. The sun was out in full shine as there wasn't a single cloud in the clear blue sky. It was comfortably warm, not too hot, a perfect day. Many of the citizens of Petropolis took advantage of the warmth to be outside, and what spot could be more perfect than the city park? The place was bustling with activity.
People were riding bikes, taking leisurely strolls, or just relaxing on the grass enjoying the perfect weather. One such citizen, a sienna brown female opossum in a green top and pants had decided as well to spend the day at the park. It was Ivonne, member of an underground crime syndicate rarely known to most of Petropolis. Even T.U.F.F., the Turbo Undercover Fighting Force had little info on it…if any of it was even true.
Ivonne was sitting on a park bench reading a book, or at least trying to. Every so often she was distracted by couples walking by, hand in hand. Sometimes she'd see a boy with his arm around his lady love, staring at her as if she was the most precious thing in the world, while the girl would smile back in a shy and sometimes flirtatious way. That wasn't so unusual. A park is a popular place for sweethearts, anyone could tell you that. What was different was that there were more couples than usual out today, because today was Valentine's Day.
Valentine's Day: a day for sweethearts and married couples, a day to celebrate the love you and your special someone share, a day of flowers, chocolates, and romantic talk. Ivonne sighed and attempted once more to read her book. Valentine's Day was really no big deal to her. How could it be? She never had good luck with men…especially those who worked alongside her with her boss, mostly because they were only attracted to her looks. That's all she was, eye candy, something pretty to look at. She didn't need that. She was resourceful and self-sufficient. She didn't need anyone. At least that's was what she kept telling herself.
Ivonne leaned back on the bench and sighed in frustration. Why did she come to the park today anyway? She never came outside on Valentine's Day. She was usually at work or at home. So why change that? Why now? Then a small, faint voice seemed to whisper from the back of her mind:
You know why.
"No," she said, "That has nothing to do with this."
It's because you're waiting.
"I'm not waiting for anything."
You're waiting to see if he'll come.
"I just felt like being outside today."
You know he likes coming here. You're hoping that he'll come today. That he'll see you. That's why you brought that book. So he wouldn't know that you were waiting.
"I felt like reading."
Because if he knew you were waiting, then he would know.
"I have nothing to hide."
He would know how you really feel.
She slammed the book down on the bench.
"I don't feel anything!" She exclaimed a bit loudly, "And I don't care if he does show up, I…"
"Um, Ivonne?"
Ivonne turned to find herself facing a tall, well dressed male opossum. It was Ollie an agent of D.O.O.M, the Diabolical Order Of Mayhem, the main cause of crime in Petropolis. They had both been working together for quite some time, because of a suggestion by her boss for his agents to work with D.O.O.M., a suggestion that was merely a cover up for him to take over Petropolis and to destroy T.U.F.F. and D.O.O.M. in the process. Ivonne wasn't happy at first, but after some time, she had to admit that Ollie wasn't such a bad guy. The more time passed, the better she got to know him. Then to her shock and dismay, she found herself falling for him.
Ivonne felt her face grow hot, embarrassed that he'd caught her talking to herself. Or was it because she was looking straight into those gorgeous blue eyes of his? Lately, her emotions always seemed to go crazy when she was around him. Flustered, she sat back down and smiled awkwardly, trying to look casual.
"I'm fine!" She quickly replied, hoping she sounded normal, "Just thinking out loud!"
Ollie stared at her skeptically.
"Um…okay," he replied, sounding concerned.
Both smiled, and then began to glance around them, neither knowing what to say after the awkward moment. Finally Ivonne spoke, desperate to break the silence.
"What um, what are you doing here?" She asked.
Ollie began to shuffle his feet nervously.
"Um…well," he replied, obviously hesitant to answer the question. "I was just... you know, going for a stroll…and um…"
He gave a quick nod to the bench.
"Mind if I have a seat?"
Ivonne could tell something was on Ollie's mind. A small smile formed on her as she made room for him to sit. She actually found it kind of cute when he acted nervous like that. He was silent for a bit when he noticed she was staring at him expectantly, still waiting for an answer. He broke into a silly grin.
"So, how are you?" He asked.
"Fine," said Ivonne, seeing that he was trying to stall. He wasn't going to pull that on her. She brought up the question again.
"So, why are you here?"
"Oh, right," said Ollie, his voice sounding a bit shaky, "Well, um, actually I was looking for you."
Ivonne felt her heart leap. She wished her emotions didn't react that way around him, she might give herself away. Lately, she had been finding it harder and harder to control them. Still, she tried to sound calm.
"Oh?" She simply replied, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Yes, I…" Ollie was about to explain, when he stopped, his ears twitching. To Ivonne's confusion, he turned and shouted at a bush that was beside the bench.
"FRANCISCO, GET OUT OF HERE!"
Ivonne's jerked back in surprise as the head of an alligator popped out of the foliage. It was Francisco, another D.O.O.M. agent and friend of Ollie's, though it didn't seem that way at the moment as he shouted back defensively.
"I AIN'T HERE! I MEAN, I'M NOT SPYING, I MEAN…AW DANG IT!"
He leaped out of the bush and high tailed it through the confused passerby, quickly disappearing in the crowd.
"YOU ARE DEAD WHEN I GET BACK TO HEADQUARTERS, DO YOU HEAR ME?!" Ollie shouted after him.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Ollie sat back down next to a weirded out Ivonne. Quickly fixing his lapels, Ollie suddenly snapped back into "dapper gentleman" mode and smiled passively at Ivonne.
"So where were we?" He asked, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Ivonne just stared at him in disbelief, a bit disturbed by the whole incident. Then again, it wasn't the first time she had witnessed one of D.O.O.M's weird antics. She brushed the whole thing off and answered his question.
"You were telling me why you were looking for me." She leaned back and folded her arms, giving Ollie a sly like smile.
"So why were you?" She asked.
Before he could answer another interruption came in the form of a playful giggle. Both turned to see a handsome fox and a lovely vixen walk by, his arm around her shoulder. He held her close to him, smiling fondly at her. She smiled back, her hand clutching a beautiful red rose. Both were lost in each other gazes, oblivious to everyone else around them. Ollie and Ivonne silently watched them go by. Without thinking, Ivonne gave a small empty sigh. Ollie turned to her.
"It's… Valentine's Day, you know," he stated, sounding hesitant again. Ivonne stared ahead.
"You don't say," she said apathetically.
"You don't seem too thrilled," Ollie observed. Ivonne shrugged.
"Meh, Valentine's was never much of a big deal to me," she explained, "I usually spent it at home or at work. It was really just like any other day for me." Ollie placed his hands in his suit pockets, still seemingly stalling about something.
"That's a shame," he said softly. Ivonne just sighed.
"You'd feel that way too if all people ever saw when they looked at you was a pretty face," she said quietly. Ollie glance at the ground, not sure how to respond to the statement.
"Um, I'm sorry," he finally said. Ivonne folded her arms.
"You don't have to be sympathetic towards me," she said, defensively.
"What?" Ollie said, surprised, "No, I'm not, I mean, I'm just…trying to be polite." She turned toward him.
"Why were you looking for me?" She demanded, "And no stalling this time."
Ollie stared at her nervously, knowing by her tone that she expected an answer. Taking a deep breath, as if gathering courage, he sat up straight and reached into his suit. Ivonne's eyes slowly widened as he brought forth a long stemmed red rose, like the one the vixen had. He held it out to Ivonne, a timid smile on his face.
"Happy Valentine's Day?" He said timidly. Ivonne stared at the rose, as if trying to make out what it was. She gave a sad sigh.
"Ollie…" she began. He held up his hand.
"I know, I know what you said when we started working," he stated, "But…you deserved something nice for today. I mean, I know we're not "sweethearts", heh, but, we are partners, and I enjoy working with you."
Ivonne looked at Ollie. Outside she looked confused, but inside she was delighted. He got me something, she thought excitedly, I had my doubts, but he did. She slowly took the rose from his hand, studying it inquisitively while gently stroking its petals. When they first started working together, if he had tried something like this, she would've flung the rose back in his face. But now…it was different, very different. Ollie started to squirm.
"Well, say something," he pleaded. To his surprise and delight, she smiled. It was a small smile, but a very sweet one.
"Thank you, Ollie," she said, "That was very thoughtful." She looked right at him, still smiling.
"You know, I enjoy working with you too," she admitted. Ollie's blue eyes brightened.
"Really!?" His voice squeaked in delight.
She nodded. "You're not such a bad guy. A bit strange at times, but pretty decent, for a guy who works at D.O.O.M. Actually, out of all of them, you have the most common sense...even if you do participate in the stupid things Snaptrap does." Ollie's face colored slightly at the compliment. It was nice that someone noticed that. Ivonne continued.
"Also, when we started, you respected my wishes about…well not trying to get "romantic" with me, making advances…you know trying anything "funny". I have to admit, I was surprised. With a few of the guys I work with, it would've fallen on deaf ears."
"Well, like you said, I respected your wishes," Ollie agreed, "That and I knew you were capable of doing me great bodily harm." Ivonne giggled and then suddenly gave him a hard punch in the arm.
"Ow!" He cried, "What the heck was that for!? I thought you were done with the whole 'hitting Ollie' thing!"
"That was to let you know that it doesn't mean I didn't notice all those attempts you made to impress me," Ivonne answered almost scoldingly, "And I didn't hit you that hard."
"I…I wasn't trying to impress you!" Ollie argued weakly. He rubbed his arm.
"And yes, you did," he muttered off to the side.
Ivonne gave a smug smile." Oh please," she said with an playful laugh, "You couldn't have been more obvious if you straight up told me."
Ollie folded his arms stubbornly. "Alright, alright, maybe I did try too hard," he admitted grudgingly, "I admit it was rather stupid of me to think you wouldn't notice." He saw her raising an eyebrow at him.
"Okay, I was being an idiot! Happy now!?" He exclaimed, sulking in defeat. To his surprise, Ivonne began to laugh. Not a mocking laugh, but a happy amused one. He stared at her in wonder, and then smiled. There was something about her laugh that always seemed to lift his spirits. Possibly because when their partnership started, it was something he rarely, if ever, heard her do, at least not in a genuine way.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"You," she replied.
"Me?"
"You're very …amusing at times".
"Well, I'm glad I'm good for something," Ollie muttered, "Actually, now that I think about it, you were the one doing the majority of the work on our assignments, not to mention getting us both out of trouble many times. You pulled my hairless abnormally curly tail out of the fire a couple of times."
He sulked a little bit. "You know…I don't think you really needed me at all," he said almost gloomily, "You could've done all those assignments easily by yourself."
Ivonne frowned a bit when she heard this. No, she thought, I do need you. More than you know. But she just gave a sympathetic smile.
"Hey," she said, "You pulled your own weight, contributed some clever ideas, and you make a mean cup of tea. Trust me; you're not as useless as you think."
Ollie gave her a grateful smile that warmed Ivonne's heart. All the effort to keep her emotions at bay, completely disappeared. Flustered, she brushed away a lock of hair from her face.
"Um, thanks for the rose," she said softly.
"You're welcome."
Ivonne stared into his blue eyes. He stared back, smiling. She could feel her heartbeat quickening. She started to smile. Suddenly, she wanted to be closer to him, to rest her head on his shoulder, to feel his arm around her. She started to scoot in closer, leaning towards him. He started to do the same. Ivonne was about to get closer to him when suddenly an image flashed into her mind. It was a face, a cruel fanged face. The face of her boss, glaring disapprovingly at her from her subconscious…then she remembered. She remembered the plan, the reason why she was working with Ollie in the first place. What would happen to him if her boss suspected that she had feelings for Ollie…and what would happen to her. Ivonne jerked back as her mind snapped back to reality. Ollie jerked back also, noticing the sudden fear on her face.
"Ivonne?" he asked, concerned.
"No," she whispered. She gave the rose back to him, "I'm sorry."
Ollie looked at the rose in his hand, then back at her, a look of sad confusion on his face. Ivonne could feel the pain welling up in her heart. She shook her head.
"I can't," she said, "My boss won't like this, not when you're not part of our organization."
Ollie just blinked. "Well, I know I'm not," he said, his voice sounding a bit hurt, "But…once we finally take care of T.U.F.F., surely it won't matter?"
Ivonne bit her lip in dismay. How could she tell him? That it wouldn't make any difference because part of the real plan was to destroy him along with his D.O.O.M. friends? Ollie started to sense that something wasn't right.
"Ivonne what's wrong?" He asked, suspicious, "Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Nothing is wrong!" Ivonne stated loudly, "And if there was something wrong, I would tell you! But there's nothing wrong, so there's nothing to tell you! Because everything…is…fine!"
Ollie was more confused than ever. He held the rose out to her. "Then why…" he started to ask.
Ivonne stood up, backing away from him. "I don't want your stupid rose," she said harshly, regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth, "Just leave me alone."
Ollie stood up, looking crestfallen. "But…but I thought…you said…"
"I said leave me alone!" Ivonne cried angrily.
"Hey!" Shouted a voice from behind her.
Ivonne turned around to find a dark grey robust male opossum, with an extraordinarily long tail, staring at them. It was Terrence Whiptail, another top agent of her boss' organization. An agent who also harbored feelings for Ivonne. He glared at Ollie as he came up to Ivonne.
"This punk giving you trouble, Ivonne?" He growled. Ollie just glared right back at him.
"Terrence!" Ivonne exclaimed in surprise, "Um, no! No, I was just leaving." Terrence continued to glare at Ollie, unconvinced.
"What are you doing here?" Ivonne asked, trying to keep trouble from brewing.
Terrence turned to her, while also keeping a wary eye on Ollie. "I've been looking for you," he answered, he then lowered his voice to a whisper, "The boss wants to speak with you, ASAP. For some reason your communicator was turned off."
Ivonne felt her heart skip a beat. She inwardly cursed herself for leaving her communicator off. She turned to Ollie, who was still standing there, watching them suspiciously.
"I have to go, Ollie," she said, reverting back to the old stoic manner she had when he first met her.
Ollie watched helplessly as Ivonne and Terrence walked off, side by side. As they left, Terrence glanced back at Ollie, giving him a smug look. Ollie glared at him in frustration…then sighed hopelessly as he stared glumly at the rose in his hand. He had a feeling he was outmatched in this romantic competition. What he didn't notice was Ivonne glancing back at him, her heart almost breaking as she saw the forlorn figure of the British opossum staring sadly at the rose…her rose. Ivonne looked straight ahead, filled with bitterness and regret.
I hate Valentine's Day.
Ouch, poor Ollie. If only he knew the real reason for Ivonne's behavior. And poor Ivonne, she's in quite the dilemma. There's still more to come. Let me know what you think so far!