Fanning the Flames
If there was one name Bogo always spoke with vitriol more than even Dawn Bellwether, it would have to be Gertrude Flanoir. He would tell Officer Hopps he was sorry for acting like a Gertrude Flanoir. He would apologize to Officer Wilde for holding her against him. He would tell Officer Trunkaby to avoid speaking with her. And of course, Benjamin Clawhauser heard the majority of the stories about her. How she was Chief Bogo's best friend for seven years before spilling his secrets to their entire high school. How prior to that event, Chief Bogo would never have thought twice about trusting her. How she seemed to be the easiest person to speak to until she ruined his life.
Benjamin Clawhauser wondered why someone would be so flippantly cruel to Chief Bogo, who, as he was well aware, would never do anything like that. For Clawhauser, it was difficult to believe that people would do things for self-centered reasons at all. Unfortunately, this made him quite vulnerable.
Gertrude Flanoir saw Chief Bogo on the street one day and tried to get his attention. He deliberately ignored her, but then lit up when he saw Clawhauser. Chief Bogo stole a kiss from Clawhauser and then the two laughed in unison, grabbed each other's hands and walked away. Flanoir's blood boiled at the sight.
"Really?" she asked herself. "I mean, even gay he could do so much better." Flanoir calmed her seething rage and then began to think to herself how she could salvage this situation. A thought struck her and she said, "Gertie, that's horrible. But… if it works…"
"Hey, vix, we need to get by," shouted a sudden voice behind her.
"Oh, right!" she said suddenly, moving out of the way for Officers Hopps and Wilde. "Gotta be careful what I say out loud," she continued in a quieter mutter.
The next day, she waited at the donut shop for Clawhauser to drop in. She heard him ordering three jelly donuts and then walked over to him.
"Oh, hello there," she said.
"Oh, hi," Clawhauser greeted back.
"I've seen you around these parts a few times," she said, "What's your name?"
"Oh, Benjamin Clawhauser," he said.
"Gertrude Flanoir," she responded.
"Oh," Clawhauser said, "Chief Bogo says you're bad news."
"Chief Bogo says… oh, of course he would say that," Flanoir said.
"Because you told the entire school his secrets and ruined his reputation?" Clawhauser offered.
"I did what I had to do!" Flanoir shouted.
"How on earth would that be necessary?" Clawhauser asked.
"Because Chief Bogo is a bully who would have hurt others the way that he hurt me," Flanoir responded.
"A bully?" Clawhauser asked.
"Yes, that's right, a bully," Flanoir said, "That was the secret I shared with everyone, ruining his reputation. And he's hated me ever since."
Clawhauser didn't respond for a few seconds. Eventually he piped up. "Chief Bogo can't be a bully. He's really nice to me."
"So far," Flanoir said.
"What do you mean by that?" Clawhauser asked.
"He always tries to be nice to you for a while. That's how he gets you," Flanoir said.
"Yeah, that doesn't seem very likely," Clawhauser said.
"How long have you known him?" Flanoir asked.
"You know, about 7-8 years," Clawhauser responded.
"I've known him for 30," Flanoir countered.
"With all due respect, Miss Flanoir, I don't honestly have any reason to believe your word over his," Clawhauser said, before leaving.
Flanoir was surprised that Clawhauser had held out this long, but she knew that even the toughest nuts could crack under the right conditions.
That evening, Clawhauser found Bogo and asked him, "If two people tell me that the other one is untrustworthy, how do I know which one is right?"
"Well, if you know in your gut something is wrong with one of them, there probably is," Bogo responded.
"But what if that's just because I've been biased by the first person's testimony?" Clawhauser asked.
"Clawhauser, I know you're better than that. You're less biased than anyone I've ever met. If you have a gut feeling someone is lying, they probably are," Bogo said. He kissed Clawhauser on the cheek. Clawhauser smiled and his face heated up.
"Do you think I could get another kiss on the cheek?" Clawhauser asked. Bogo quickly obliged.
The next day, Clawhauser approached Flanoir first. "I don't believe you about Chief Bogo," he said.
"I thought you might say that," Flanoir said, "He is very convincing. I don't think I've ever been able to convince someone of the truth until it's too late."
"What do you mean, too late?" Clawhauser asked.
"Why, after they've fallen in love with him, of course," Flanoir said. "But maybe I still have time with you."
"About that," Clawhauser began, slightly embarrassed.
"Oh no, you already did fall in love with him," Flanoir said.
"In my defense, Chief Bogo is amazing," Clawhauser said.
"I'm not saying he isn't," Flanoir said, "Remember I was a victim too once…"
"Chief Bogo said that he didn't know it at the time but he rejected you for being a girl," Clawhauser said.
Flanoir tried very hard not to explode at Clawhauser and blow her cover when that was brought up. "No…" she continued, "I would have been peachy if he rejected me. He manipulated me for being a girl."
"I don't understand," Clawhauser said.
"Like all the other girls, I had a huge crush on Chief Bogo. I was just the best target. He strung me along for months, flirting with me, and even asked me out. And when I told him I would love to go out with him, he laughed in my face and said that he would never go out with someone as frumpy as me," Flanoir said.
Clawhauser gasped. "No, Chief Bogo would never do something like that!" he shouted.
"Are you positive about that, Benjamin?" she asked.
"I mean…"
"Do you have any evidence?" she reasserted.
"Chief Bogo's a terrible liar," Clawhauser said.
"And do you have any proof of this besides Chief Bogo's word and your intuition?" she asked.
"Isn't that enough?" Clawhauser asked.
"Remember Dawn Bellwether?" Flanoir asked.
"Y-yeah," Clawhauser said, "Why?"
"How long did you know her?" Flanoir asked.
"I don't know, about four years, maybe?" Clawhauser asked.
"And in those four years, did you ever once notice that she was a racist sociopath?" Flanoir asked.
"No, but to be fair, I rarely spoke with her compared to Chief Bogo," Clawhauser said. His voice was getting more hesitant.
"Of course, Chief Bogo's very terse a lot of the time, isn't he?" Flanoir asked. "That could make him seem less suspicious, right?"
"You're lying!" Clawhauser said. He was near tears. "Chief Bogo isn't like Dawn Bellwether."
"Oh isn't he, though?" Flanoir asked. "I mean, let's be honest, doesn't it seem a little suspicious that he's interested in you, when you're so… ahem, 'eccentric'."
"You can just say scatterbrained," he responded, slightly impatient with the overused euphemism.
"Well, thanks to your less than conventional way of thinking, Chief Bogo could easily surmise that you were gullible enough to take advantage of," Flanoir said, "Or, to quote him on the last mark I heard about… 'so stupid he'll never catch on.'"
"No, no, no!" Clawhauser shouted, practically screaming now. "Chief Bogo isn't like Dawn Bellwether, he's not manipulating me, he's a good person, he can't lie, and I'm not delusional!"
"Believe what you want. Forgive me for wanting you to have a chance to be safe," Flanoir said.
"I have to go," Clawhauser said, sprinting away from Flanoir at his top speed.
Chief Bogo noticed that Clawhauser looked very upset this evening. "Are you alright, kitten?"
"Yeah, I…" Clawhauser said, "It's just… how can I tell a genuinely nice person apart from a convincing sociopath?"
"Hmm," Bogo said, "That is a tough one. But I think you're actually in a pretty good position to tell some apart."
"How so?" Clawhauser said.
"There's an adage that those who are kind to their social equals but not those below their station are not nice themselves. If someone is mean to you, they're probably not nice."
"But if they're nice to me, does that mean they're genuinely nice?" Clawhauser prodded.
"I would assume so," Bogo responded. "But was Bellwether nice to you?"
"She was a little curt to me at times," Clawhauser said, "But I mean, she was the Assistant Mayor so I assumed that was allowed."
"By 'curt' do you mean 'like me after dealing with stupid people for too long' or 'literally never cared about you?'" Bogo asked.
"Umm, in hindsight, probably the second one, but I can't be sure," Clawhauser said, "I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt."
"That's very upstanding of you," Bogo said.
"But sometimes… it's hard," Clawhauser said, "When two people accuse each other of wrongdoing, I feel wrong for picking a side, you know? But I also feel wrong for not picking a side, because isn't that actually tantamount to picking the wrong side? And how do I know which side is wrong in the first place? I mean, yes, I have my ideas about it, but what if those ideas are just due to unconscious biases towards the one I like better on a primal level and have nothing to do with qualifiable ethics?"
"Clawhauser," Bogo sighed. "You're doing it again."
"Doing what again?" Clawhauser asked.
"Making yourself sick by overthinking. You are a good mammal, Clawhauser," Bogo said. "No mistake you make in ignorance will ever change that."
"I love you," Clawhauser said.
Bogo smiled, until he noticed that Clawhauser was not smiling but still wore a worried expression. "Please, kitten, if you're worried about something specific, give me some more details and I can help guide you."
"No, Chief," Clawhauser said, "I… I can't tell you about this one."
"Since when do we keep secrets?" Bogo asked.
"Since I've felt this way," Clawhauser said, "I'm sorry."
After Clawhauser was out of earshot, Chief Bogo growled loudly to himself. "I don't know what's going on, but it's not right for Ben to be so miserable. I have to find a way to fix it."
The next day, Clawhauser saw Flanoir and tried to avoid her. Unfortunately, she spotted him and approached him while he was turned around, before he could flee. "Benjamin, why so skittish?" she asked.
"Sorry about that," Clawhauser said. "It's just that… well, the things you say about Chief Bogo are so completely against everything I know that I… feel like I don't have a good grasp of reality anymore."
"Is that so?" Flanoir asked, pretending to be sympathetic and trying not to smile. "I know, he's really convincing, isn't he?"
"He's too convincing, Gertie," he said. "If he's lying, then he's too good at it. But on the other hand… if you're lying, you're too good at it. I don't know anymore."
"Well, then I probably shouldn't tell you about what I heard," Flanoir said, "It would just make it worse."
"What?" Clawhauser asked.
"Oh, no, forget I said anything," Flanoir continued.
"Please, tell me!" Clawhauser shouted.
"It's Chief Bogo… he was on the phone with Raoul Cerdonez—he was a friend of ours from high school before everything blew up—and saying that he was going to propose to you," Flanoir said.
"What!?" Clawhauser asked, suddenly becoming cheerful. He squealed loudly then continued, "That's amazingly wonderful! How is that bad?"
"Because remember what I told you he did to me?" Flanoir said. "About getting my hopes up and then crushing me?"
Clawhauser remained silent.
"And I'm not the only one. The last two he did it with… well the first one hasn't left her house in over a decade and the last one ran away to Bunnyburrow… or at least he said so, but then no sign of him was ever found there," Flanoir said, stone-faced, "I'm one of the lucky ones."
"But I mean, that's… there's someone he's genuine with, right?" Clawhauser asked. "Even if what you're saying is true, that doesn't mean that this time will be the same."
"Benjamin," Flanoir said, sighing, "Unfortunately, that's not all I heard."
"What do you mean?" Clawhauser asked.
"I heard Chief Bogo say specifically that he was going to take the proposal away when you said yes and laugh about it," Flanoir said.
"But… but why would he tell Raoul that?" Clawhauser asked.
"You have to remember, Ben, that Raoul went to school with us," Flanoir said, "He knows about Chief Bogo's deceptive nature. He's cool with it. I guess they're having an affair now."
"An affair?" Clawhauser asked. "No, no way, Chief Bogo isn't cheating on me."
"No?" Flanoir asked, "Hmm… I guess it's possible that I misheard the end of the call."
"Wait…what?" Clawhauser asked.
"Bogo said he'd meet him at a hotel later," and then she continued using scare quotes, "If you know what I mean."
Clawhauser froze. "No… no," he said, "Chief Bogo said he wasn't… I mean that he didn't want… He said it wasn't personal."
"Oh, wow," Flanoir said, genuinely surprised. "Here I thought he'd at least have the decency to give it to you before you went all infatuated fairy tale princess."
"Shut up!" Clawhauser cried. He realized that he'd just used rude language and quickly said, "I'm sorry, I just really, really need you to be a really, really good liar."
"It's sad how devastated you seem to be that Chief Bogo screwed someone else before you. I mean, no offense, but be honest, Benjamin, do you really think someone as hot as Chief Bogo would really want to be with someone as flabby and sissy as you?" Flanoir asked.
"He… he told me he rejected several guys outright for thinking that way," Clawhauser said.
"Oh, like that's realistic," Flanoir said, rolling her eyes. "I'm beginning to understand why he picked you as the gullible mark."
"No, no, no," Clawhauser said, "I won't believe it. I won't."
"That's your prerogative, Ben, but…" Flanoir said, "Watch out for discussions of your proposal."
Clawhauser left immediately. As he was leaving he spotted Chief Bogo in the distance talking to Emmitt Otterton.
"I mean, I know you have experience here so can you let me know, just purely for aesthetic purposes, do they like gold or silver rings better?" Bogo asked.
"Well…" Emmitt started.
Bogo suddenly noticed Clawhauser was standing by and looking surprised. He cleared his throat and reported, "Oh, uh, Clawhauser, I was definitely not talking about proposing to you. Any similarity to that discussion is purely coincidental."
Clawhauser suddenly couldn't take it anymore and broke down sobbing. Emmitt put a paw over his mouth and tried to distance himself from the scene. "Wait, Ben," Chief Bogo said, "I didn't mean that I was never going to. I will propose to you someday, I promise… just not yet!" He wrapped his arms around Clawhauser.
"I think I'm insane, Chief," Clawhauser said.
"Why on earth would you think such a thing?" Chief Bogo asked gently, then kissed Clawhauser's cheek.
"Someone has been telling me that you're tricking me," Clawhauser admitted, "That you don't really love me."
"Well, obviously whoever's doing that is just jealous and trying to get into your pants," Bogo said. Clawhauser only cried harder at that statement. "What?" Bogo asked, "Did I say something wrong?"
"No, Chief," Clawhauser said. "I… it's just… more of the same."
"More of the same?" Bogo asked. "What, is that liar trying to get in your pants by telling you I'm sleeping with other people?"
"Well, the second part, I guess," Clawhauser said, "But it's a woman."
"Well, that doesn't mean she can't try to get into your pants, it'll just have a much lower success rate," Bogo said, "Assuming the results are non-zero, which I hope for my sake they aren't, since I'm not sleeping with other people even if the liar says so."
"No, Chief, this is serious," Clawhauser said, "She's telling me that you're just pretending to love me so that you can break my heart. And… I really, really don't want to believe her, but every time that I question her, she comes right back with an answer that somehow makes sense and now I don't know what to believe anymore." Clawhauser continued to cry. "Every time I'm with you, you make me feel like the luckiest cheetah in the world, you're so sweet and caring. But then she comes by and makes me doubt that it's genuine. I mean, I know in my heart that it is. I know in my conscious thoughts that it is. But those other thoughts, the ones that whirl around my head like demons, they tell me 'what if it's not?' And I feel terrible for telling you this, because I'm 99.99999% sure that you're not a liar, but a few days ago I was 100% sure and I hate that it's decreasing," he continued through a wall of sobs.
"Who is she?" Bogo asked. "Who is it who's doing this to you?"
"You know her well," Clawhauser said. "Gertrude…"
"Flanoir?" Bogo asked.
"One and the same," Clawhauser responded.
"I'll see to it that she doesn't hurt you anymore," Bogo said.
Bogo found Flanoir fairly soon, and when he did, he growled to himself, loudly. He confronted her and asked, "What is wrong with you!?"
"My, whatever do you mean?" she asked sweetly.
"Cut the crap, Flame Tail. Feigning ignorance doesn't become you," Bogo responded shortly.
"Like you'd know the difference," Flanoir retorted.
"You need to leave Clawhauser alone," Bogo said. "Go apologize to him and then never bother him again."
"You got it, Horns," Flanoir responded, rolling her eyes.
"Good," Bogo said with his back turned. He looked over his shoulder, gave her a death glare and added "And I mean it!"
Flanoir sighed at her plans being foiled briefly, but soon after realized that she still had one card left to play. If all went right, she could technically do what Bogo had asked of her and still come out on top.
The next time she saw Clawhauser she didn't hesitate. "Benjamin, I've come to tell you I'm sorry…" she began.
"It's okay…" Clawhauser said, "Well maybe it isn't, but I forgive you if…"
"I'm so sorry," she continued, "That I didn't tell you the true extent of how Chief Bogo is."
"No, please, Gertie," Clawhauser said, "I've heard enough from you about that."
"No you haven't," she countered. "Chief Bogo's convinced you that I'm a liar, hasn't he?"
"Well… yes," Clawhauser said, surprisingly bluntly.
"Oh…" Flanoir said, "It's your funeral."
"What do you mean?" Clawhauser asked.
"Well, it's just… I mean, Chief Bogo really seems to care about you, doesn't he?" Flanoir asked.
"Yeah?" Clawhauser asked.
"Come on, Benjamin, I know that you're smarter than other mammals give you credit for. Think logically for a second. Why would someone as perfect as Chief Bogo care about someone as plain and average as you?" Flanoir asked. "It's all an act. I mean, to be honest, Chief Bogo wouldn't even care if you died tomorrow."
"No, no, no, you're lying! You have to be!" Clawhauser screamed.
"I mean, can you prove me wrong?" Flanoir asked.
"I…" Clawhauser asked. He thought grimly about that.
"Chief Bogo could easily find another chubby effeminate weirdo to string along. Let's face it, most would drool over him," Flanoir said.
"That's true, but…" Clawhauser said.
"But what? But Chief Bogo's too nice to do that? Too honest?" Flanoir said.
"Yes!" Clawhauser answered.
"Okay," Flanoir said, "Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." Suddenly Flanoir started to cry crocodile tears.
"Gertie…" Clawhauser said sympathetically.
"I'm sorry," she said, "It's just that… I don't want to see your heart get broken by Chief Bogo just because you're too stubborn to change your mind."
"Oh, Gertie… I…" Clawhauser said, "I'm so sorry."
"It's alright," Flanoir said. "I'm strong enough to get through it. I just want you to be able to know that Chief Bogo literally cares so little for you that he wouldn't care if you turned up dead before he had the chance to hurt you anymore."
"Okay, you've given me a lot to think about," Clawhauser said.
"See you later?" Flanoir asked.
"Uh," Clawhauser began, but then fled the scene before he could finish his thought.
Flanoir smirked as he left.
The next morning, Bogo saw Clawhauser in front of the precinct, but later realized that he wasn't at the front desk. It wasn't like Clawhauser to skip on his work days without calling in. Bogo attempted to call Clawhauser's cell phone, but it rang several times and then went to voicemail. Bogo decided to go out and look for him, but he didn't get very far before he ran into someone else he was much less happy to see.
"Alright, Flame Tail, what did you do?" Bogo asked.
"I did what you asked," she said, "I apologized to your boyfriend, and I won't bother him anymore."
"Then can you explain why he disappeared and didn't come to work?" Bogo asked.
Flanoir looked Bogo directly in the eye and said, "If I can't have you no one can."
"Why did that sound suspiciously murderous?" Bogo asked.
The silence from Flanoir's end was all he needed. He cornered her and fiercely asked, "Where is he!?"
"The Rainforest District is where he said he'd try," Flanoir answered.
"Try what?" Chief Bogo asked. He realized the answer a second later and slapped Flanoir so hard that she collapsed. "You goddamn psychopath!" he screamed.
"It's not nice to hit a lady," she said.
"Ladies don't attempt to murder people," Bogo said, "By the way, you're under arrest."
"Ooh, are you going to handcuff me? Getting frisky, huh, Horns?" Flanoir asked coyly.
"Don't flatter yourself," Bogo said. He looked over at Officer Trunkaby and beckoned her over. "Can you make sure this vixen gets arrested for trying to kill Clawhauser?"
"With… pleasure," the elephant said, fuming at the thought.
"Come on, I didn't do anything wrong. Chief Bogo's just holding a grudge because I told everyone he was gay," Flanoir said.
"I'm a lesbian," Trunkaby responded.
"Oh," Flanoir said, simultaneously remorseful and repulsed.
"Don't sound so disgusted," the weary Trunkaby responded, "I'm taken, and even if I wasn't, people who attempt to murder my friends are definitely not my type."
"I trust you to take it from here," Bogo said to Trunkaby. "Hopefully I can get to the Rainforest District before we have to up the charges." He hurried off.
Clawhauser was afraid. He stood on the sky tram dock contemplating if it was really worth it to stay. He didn't want to die, not really. He turned around to head back to work, or at least home with a contrite late call-in, but then remembered hearing Flanoir crying and thought that it seemed genuine. He didn't want Chief Bogo to break his heart, but mostly he didn't like being trapped in a world where he couldn't tell what was real anymore. He took two steps closer to the edge of the sky tram dock. When he did so his brain flooded with the question, but what if she is lying?
If Flanoir was lying and Chief Bogo was genuine, then he would be the heartbreaker for going through with this. He thought of his sweet, caring boyfriend, reduced to a puddle and screaming at anyone who was foolish enough to talk to him about it. Unable to decide which course of action to take, he sat down on the dock and sobbed. "Please, please," he prayed, "Can someone, anyone tell me what I should do?"
Not even three seconds later, Chief Bogo saw Clawhauser on the dock and shouted, "Oh, thank god you're still alive!"
"Chief Bogo?" Clawhauser asked.
"Ben, get away from the ledge," he said.
"I'd probably land on my feet," he assured.
"Wouldn't make a difference from this height, would it?" Bogo asked. "Please, get away from the ledge."
"If it makes you feel any better, Chief," Clawhauser said, "I was too paralyzed to go through with it."
"That's how it should be," Bogo said, "Come here." He offered a hoof to Clawhauser.
Clawhauser got up and Bogo immediately pulled him into a tight embrace and kissed him twice on the cheek. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" he said. "I was worried to death about you."
Clawhauser could not reconcile this with anything that Flanoir had said. Chief Bogo hadn't been told where Clawhauser was or what he was planning to do. He wasn't being opportunistic—he was going out of his way to help. Clawhauser broke down in Chief Bogo's arms. Bogo held him comfortingly, occasionally kissing him.
Clawhauser finally spoke, "I'm so sorry I almost abandoned you," he said. "I should have known that you were genuine. But it's just that Gertie said…"
"She only ever said one true thing and it was something I didn't want her to," Bogo said, "Don't listen to her."
"I just can't see why she would have lied about stuff like that," Clawhauser said.
"Because she's jealous," Bogo said, "Jealous that you have the life she wanted." Bogo breathed deeply, then continued, "Jealous enough to kill you."
"Wait… she was trying to kill me?" Clawhauser asked. "By lying to me? How?"
"You tell me, you're the one who nearly leapt to your death," Bogo said.
"Oh, but that wasn't her, that was just me because I heard that it was possible you wouldn't care if I died…" Clawhauser said.
"From whom?" Bogo asked.
"Oh," Clawhauser said after a few seconds of silence.
"Oh," Bogo repeated.
"I can't believe she was accusing you of being a horrible dishonest person when she was the liar all along," Clawhauser said, "I guess I really am too gullible."
"No, Clawhauser," Bogo said, "You're too nice. Too nice to believe anything bad about anyone. Which is why she was able to hurt you so."
"But Chief, I did believe her about you being the bad one," Clawhauser said.
"No, you didn't," Bogo said, "Remember? You told me there was a ridiculously tiny percentage of a chance that she was right."
"Exactly," Clawhauser said.
"I don't think you and I agree on the meaning of the word 'believe'," Bogo said, somewhat facetiously. Then he looked at Clawhauser comfortingly and continued, "You never once unfairly lashed out at me or accused me of wrongdoing. The only thing you ever did was ask questions and report what she had said."
"That still seems like believing her to me," Clawhauser said, "I should have just dismissed her the whole time. You would have."
"Yes, and I have a well-deserved reputation for being as blunt as a battering ram," Bogo said, "While yours is that you'd apologize to a teacup."
"I…" Clawhauser said.
"It's not a moral failing to be afraid," Bogo added. "It's even more ludicrous to believe it's a moral failing to be afraid to hurt others."
"I'm still not sure… I believed her enough to come here to…" Clawhauser began, but he was physically unable to finish the sentence.
"Why didn't you?" Bogo asked then immediately panicked and added, "Not doing so was the right decision! I'm only trying to prove a point!"
"Well I mean, it's obvious you didn't want me to," Clawhauser said, giggling sympathetically at Bogo's awkward socialization.
"Before I got here," Bogo said.
"Because I thought it would be awful if you missed me," Clawhauser said.
"Because you didn't believe her," Bogo said.
"Because… if I had believed her that wouldn't have been enough…" Clawhauser said with a tone of sudden realization.
"QED," Bogo said. He then kissed Clawhauser again and led him out of the area.
Meanwhile, in the Zootopia jail, Trunkaby locked up Flanoir. Her cellmate asked, "What'd you do?"
"Oh didn't you hear?" Trunkaby asked, "We're arresting her for trying to kill Ben."
"The front desk guy?" she asked.
"Yeah," Trunkaby said, "See you later." She left.
"Flanoir saw that her cellmate was looking at her like a savage predator would look at a mammal who disturbed them. "Uh, maybe I should get some guards in here."
"No one will side with you," the cellmate said, readying her claws.
"Surely one of these guys will…" Flanoir said, gesturing to the other cells, but all she could hear is the others cheering on her cellmate to let her have it. "Well…" Flanoir said, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
On the other side of the door, Trunkaby was sitting by McHorn. "We really should put her in solitary," McHorn said.
"I will," Trunkaby said, "In about," she said as she glanced at her watch, "Eight minutes. I am on break after all."
"Of course," McHorn said. Both shared a knowing smirk.