Hello! Lake Blue (I FIXED THE TETRAHEDRON!) suggested changing the rating, something I had been planning to do but forgot, so it's now K+
Shoutout to Clubpenguinlover8, who followed and favorited me!
I wonder what college is like...
"This is totally unfair!" Astra complained, picking up her pack before walking into Gary's reflection room. She wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or not. "Is this seriously real life? If it is, then why do you get all the good stuff? I thought Aunt Arctic said that we were to share the blame of the bathroom situation. She's just being bias now!"
"What's unfair?" Gary questioned in puzzlement, peering inside the reflection room. "We were both punished by having to, well, reflect on our actions in our respective reflection rooms, correct? You had one room, and I had another. How is it unfair?"
Astra snorted. "Let's start with the fact that this is not a tiny, cramped, claustrophobia triggering sauna. There's actually an air vent in here too! Heck, you even have a fan in case you get hot and a mini heater to warm up if it gets too cold! Why were you screaming and yelling in desperation as if you were running out of air?"
Gary flushed red slightly. "Because I did feel claustrophobic in here, and then fear takes over in the mind. Claustrophobia is an anxiety disorder that can lead to a panic attack! I nearly had one in here that almost stopped me from breathing! Why do you think I don't go on missions too much? Answer: Because I can't stand small places!"
You have got to be kidding me, Astra sulked silently, drinking in the spacious setting of Gary's reflection room. Okay, so it was pretty small compared to most people's igloos, but it was way better than Astra's reflection room. He had, as Astra said, a pedestal fan standing right in front of some boxes in the corner and a small heater sitting on top of a crate next to the fan, both plugged in for immediate use. Additionally, there was a mini fridge, a mattress on the floor, a bookshelf crammed with book after book after book, a laptop on a small coffee table in front of a cushiony chair, and even one of those old-fashioned televisions. All that stuff was set in a way to create more walking space, yet somehow, the EPF's inventor and scientist standing next to Astra had been claustrophobic.
"Really Gary?" Astra questioned, scowling at the inanimate room as if it was a living creature. "You call this cramped? What are you, a pampered genius who lives in a luxurious igloo? This has got to be some kind of weird joke. At the very least, you had an air vent and a window so you wouldn't be suffering from breathing issues or the heat! I was stuck in a teeny, tiny sauna full of supplies used to clean toilets with no source of ventilation! But no, you also get two electronics and books to entertain yourself, making a total of three types of boredom busters, and at least a hundred three ways to keep yourself occupied based on everything you can do on a laptop, the channels on the television, and the number of books on the shelves." Something round labeled with Roman numerals on the wall caught Astra's eye, which made her scowl deepen. "Heck, you even had a working clock in here to tell the time! Why didn't you, I don't know, read it and tell everyone still here that no one let you out by closing time?"
"Well, um, uh, I was a b-bit busy doing work for the Director because we needed a new gadget for the field agents to use, so-no, I mean, um," Gary stuttered and stammered through his explanation seeing the look of doubt on Astra's face when he tried to get away with not looking at the clock by being "busy." The laptop was still open and she could see that he had been playing Solitaire recently. The game window had simply been minimized to a little icon on the status bar in order to hide what he had actually been doing.
"Fine, I was playing games on the laptop and didn't realize the time," Gary grumbled, finally admitting to his crime. "When I did realize how long it had been since I was in here, I got claustrophobic."
"Yes, you got claustrophobic in a room roughly the size of my college dorm back in the Arctic," Astra replied sarcastically. She couldn't help tempting Gary into an argument with her, but sarcasm came way too naturally to her. She made a mental note to tone it down slightly (yeah, right) as not to make Gary's punishment too bad. Actually, she might enjoy blackmailing Gary. The guy seemed too perfect to her anyway. Aunt Arctic was always praising him and would turn a blind eye to whatever trouble he caused, such as the time he tested a mini bomb in front of Astra's igloo. Let's just say the explosion caused wasn't mini at all and left a crater right in front of the igloo's door. Every time Rookie went to Astra's home with a message, he would end up falling into the hole and forget whatever he was supposed to tell her. Astra was the one who had gotten in trouble after each of those occurrences with the Director rather than Gary, the one who created the problem.
Gary opened his beak to say something, but Astra held up her Spy Phone and played his words she had recorded earlier.
"Do you swear you won't criticize me over anything unless it's extremely rash?" Astra's voice played over.
"Yes, I swear on my life, my occupation as the EPF Tech. Lead, and even on the lab coat my mommy gave me!" G cried. "Now please, let me out!"
The present-day scientist's beak moved in audibly, words forming but no sound coming out. Eventually, he stopped and headed towards the wall, kicking at it and yelling at himself about making stupid deals with blackmailing penguins. If this was a manga, Astra probably would've had one of those annoyed icons drawn on the side of her head because that was exactly how she was feeling. The EPF Tech. Lead was literally shouting rude things about the crazy, mentally unstable agent form the Arctic when the crazy penguin was standing right there, hearing every word spoken about her. She already heard everything once earlier in the warehouse when they were using their fight as an excuse to express how they really think of each other, but hearing it again just showed how much Gary was annoyed by her and further influenced Astra's description of him negatively. It didn't help that she didn't trust him enough after the "smartest penguin in the world" incident, when Gary pretty much attacked her to become a real-life know it all.
"Can you not?" Astra grumbled, poking Gary in an annoying manner. "Let's just leave now. There's really nothing else we need to fix up anyway. Everyone's gone, the place is closed up for the night, and we can scold penguins tomorrow morning when we actually get some sleep instead of sleeping on boxes or the floor. Besides, do you really want the security guards to catch us sneaking around with no ID?"
"Well, actually-" Gary started.
"Fine," Astra cut in, as she was the only one without the ID card, "but still, do you really want to be caught by them? Remember what happened when Rookie stayed after closing time with his ID card?"
Gary winced, recalling the time Rookie had stuck around to explore the first day he was introduced to the set. He got caught and whatever happened made him want to leave not only the show, but the entire island of Club Penguin. "Alright, let's go," he said, heading towards the door.
"G, look out!" Astra exclaimed, spotting a discarded banana peel on the floor. It was too late, though. Gary slipped on the peel and smacked into the slightly ajar door, slamming it shut. He seemed unhurt, but Astra heard the dreaded click of the door.
"I'm okay," Gary moaned weakly, forcing himself up as Astra rushed towards the door and pulled the doorknob (Tallbert's right: I'm not very compassionate). Unfortunately, the door was as stubborn as the bathroom one and refused to budge. This time, however, there was nothing barricading the door.
Gary's eyes widened behind his glasses. "Okay, it's not time to panic yet," he reassured her, but it seemed more directed to himself considering that his voice had gone an octave higher. In the blink of an eye, Gary was right next to Astra.
"How-what-you were just over there-who are you and what have you done with Gary?" Astra demanded, surprised at how quickly he had moved. The scientist ignored her flustered state and pulled at the door, using more strength than she had ever seen him use.
The door refused to budge. They were locked in.
"You have to be kidding me," Astra groaned, pounding on the door with a fist. No one came. "How much worse can this get?"
She spoke too soon, because right then and there, a high-pitched scream filled the air.
...
I need to learn when to shut my mouth.
Have a nice weekend!