Heist Part 2
Drakken clenched his fist against his leg as his cousin leaned annoyingly close to him.
"Wow...how are you seriously not blue?" Motor Ed snorted. "I mean...seriously...this is wild."
"It's called makeup, Eddie," glared Drakken. "There is assigned seating—"
"Yeah, this is ours," said Eddie as he held up a name card. "Wicked right...seriously— Who's this? Where's Green?"
Drakken watched Motor Ed's confused eyes look at Shego next to him. Her hand snapped out of his grasp as she frowned at Motor Ed. Drakken's hand lingered briefly before retreating away from where it had rested on the table with hers.
"It's me, you dunce," scoffed Shego.
"Green!" Motor Ed practically yelled. "Whoa! Seriously, I mean you were a babe before but without that hyperchromic color...you're smokin', seriously!"
"Hyper— You know what, I don't care?" Shego narrowed her eyes. "Find another table."
"No can do, all filled up," gestured Motor Ed.
"I implore you, for the safety of the surrounding tables...look," growled Drakken. His words fell on deaf ears as three figures filtered to the table behind Motor Ed.
If Motor Ed joining them on what was already an aggravating night, the idea of others they knew was even more annoying to Drakken. Cleopatra joining them was only mildly surprising for the fact...that relationship was apparently still happening. Drakken made note of this in case his cousin got on his bad side...which was already slowly happening. The other two were the ones that confused and concerned Drakken. An exchange of a confused look with Shego proved he wasn't alone in this. Hermes and Pandora pulled up seats next to the other two—a very strange occurrence as the last he had known...they were not on good terms with Cleopatra. This thought was trumped only by the level of exasperation he felt with the current seating.
"You've got to be kidding me," grumbled Shego.
"Hey, seriously, check out this table," laughed Motor Ed. "Seriously, what are the odds!"
"Astronomical and yet...here we are," breathed Drakken. He noted Cleopatra's confusion, but the slight amusement on Pandora's and Hermes's expressions contrasted.
"Is this going to be a regular event thing?" smirked Pandora as Hermes pulled out her seat. "Because last time we managed to go to one of these...someone was infringing on territory then, too."
"We'd appreciate if this one didn't end in us being framed, thank you," Hermes sighed as he took his own seat.
Drakken and Shego spoke in unison.
"No promises." Drakken didn't have to look at her to see the emotionless expression.
"I'm sorry, have we met?" asked Cleopatra as she looked around at them all.
"Seriously, Babe. It's my cuz and Green...who's not green," Motor Ed gestured. Drakken watched Cleopatra's eyes narrow before a look of realization came across her face.
"Oh... So this is a thing, then," she sighed and sat down. "Who are you two pretending to be this time?"
"Well at the moment...pretending to be having a good time," snorted Shego. "So why are you four here?"
There was a silent pause at the table and Drakken's eyes narrowed.
"This better not be about the mood ring," he hissed. There was an exchanged look of relief and confusion.
"No, we're here for a particularly pricey bracelet," shrugged Cleopatra. "We're splitting it."
"I'm just here for free booze and some seriously fun villainy," grinned Motor Ed. He glared at his sleeves. "It'd be better without my guns being restrained... Seriously—"
"The moment we get the bracelet...feel free to deface the designer suit," smiled Cleopatra. "We didn't pay for it anyway."
Drakken felt Shego's breath near his ear.
"We could make a run for it... I know a table," she whispered. Drakken shook his head.
"At least we know we're in bad company at this one," he whispered back. He heard her snicker slightly.
"Not as bad as that hideous clutch Cleopatra has," was the response.
"Really... I'm more concerned about Eddie's repulsive color scheme," Drakken snickered back.
"Seriously. We can hear you," glared Motor Ed. He and Cleopatra looked unamused.
"Were we supposed to whisper?" Shego quieted her voice more. Drakken nearly laughed at her careless expression.
"What's this about a ring?" asked Pandora, choosing to ignore the hostile looks. "I thought you two went all hero now?"
"It's called neutral," corrected Drakken. "The mood ring is none of your concern."
"Is it valuable?" asked Hermes. Drakken felt a slight kick to his shin before he could respond.
He turned a furrowed brow of annoyance at Shego before it dawned just who they were sitting with.
"Since when are you four palling around?" Shego cut in casually. "Last I checked, Cleopatra here had tossed you into the wild."
"We've moved on," shrugged Cleopatra. "Besides, the rubies were forgiven with the new gauntlets for my collection."
Drakken heard Shego choke on the water she'd picked up to drink and he felt a wave of concern flood through him.
"You gave her those... You were supposed to destroy them," glared Drakken.
"Oh relax, Cuz, seriously... It's not like my babe doesn't know her cursed objects." Drakken saw an amused glint in Motor Ed's eyes. "Who's seriously dim enough to put those things on...seriously?"
Drakken saw the exchanged look between the four and suddenly he didn't care about his cover or going neutral. He badly wanted to find the nearest laser gun and test fire it. He felt a hand slide over where his fist was still balled on his pant leg. Shego held an annoyed expression as she looked across their table. It didn't match the gentle pressure that slid over his hand before giving a solid squeeze.
"Accidents happen...all the time," sighed Shego. "By the way, where's my hover board?"
Drakken looked up from where he had been focused on Shego's hand and debating if he should hold her hand or not. He glared at Pandora and Hermes.
"Yes, where is that borrowed item?" he inquired. "Rather impolite for someone to offer you a ride and it not be returned."
"It crashed somewhere outside Bristol, we had to swim to shore," shrugged Hermes.
Drakken grumbled under his breath as he reached for his own water glass as servers began moving through tables with food and drink. It was going to be a very long dinner.
Shego looked towards the table in the distance where the dark-haired woman's back was to her. As the chatter of their table guests rambled on she wondered how casual it would seem to walk over to a stranger's table at dinner and snatch jewelry. She knew she could do it flawlessly, but the soft sound of music was far more enticing than the escape from the current situation. Her eyes glanced at Drakken who had not made much conversation since dinner began. She didn't know if he was still bothered by the clear fact that Motor Ed had made a jab about the gauntlets...which meant it had been the point of an amusing story to the four at one point...But she narrowed her eyes at the thought. They had never talked about either incident clearly, but she knew the cursed objects were more than just aggressive and violent.
"So this bracelet you're trying to locate. Anywhere we need to avoid as not to, 'infringe on territory?'" Shego asked casually. She needed to familiarize the topic to get Drakken out of his silence.
"Some idiot inherited a bracelet worth millions and gave it to his ex-wife... So instead of simply breaking into a collection...now it's a fun little heist," grinned Pandora.
"Such rare precious stones all on a single bracelet that only get labeled as rubies is rather sad," sighed Hermes. "Shame it will be sold—"
"Don't get any ideas about switching those stones," glared Cleopatra.
"Yeah, seriously," snorted Motor Ed as he took a drink. "Babe was telling me about how easy those tombs seal. I don't think you'll want to help test them, seriously."
"Oh," grinned Cleopatra, "I like that idea."
Shego rolled her eyes and smiled as she felt Drakken's face closer to hers before breath touched her ear.
"How long until Eddie finds out how easy those tombs seal?" whispered Drakken. Shego leaned back towards his shoulder.
"A few weeks," she snickered.
"Shame. I was hoping a day or two," smirked Drakken. "Too much to hope for?"
"Hmm," Shego hummed. "I have an idea if you want to have some fun tonight?"
"I'm listening?" he breathed.
"Would be a shame if that bracelet just...got kicked under a table somewhere." She fought a giggle at her own thought.
"Shego—"
"They crashed my hover board," sighed Shego. "That was a Christmas gift from a really handsome scientist."
She watched Drakken's brow raise for a second and a devious glint in his eyes mirror his new smile. She knew he was about to ask for her to elaborate but she couldn't help but hope he was intending to kiss her. As he leaned closer to her, the split second before she was just going to go with it and do so herself, they were interrupted from Drakken's left.
"What are you two planning?" Motor Ed looked at them with suspicion. "I doubt you're whispering sweet nothings."
"Oh, but we are," snorted Drakken. Shego saw his confidence flare. "What else would we be doing?"
"Hmm, sorry for the lack of charm your date has Cleopatra." Shego sat up and finished the last of the bitter wine they'd been served.
"Whoa, seriously Green, don't question my charm," scoffed Motor Ed. "Motor Ed is seriously all charm, some just don't appreciate it like my Babe. Right, Cleo?"
"It's an acquired taste I do enjoy on occasion," she shrugged casually. "So what are you two planning?"
"Hold up...seriously." Motor Ed's brow furrowed as he looked at Cleopatra. "I'm not charming?"
"Oh, I like this energy," grinned Pandora as she and Hermes exchanged an excited look.
Shego leaned back towards a snickering Drakken.
"Hate to agree...but I'm enjoying the energy too," she whispered. "So?"
There was a pause before Drakken responded.
"A little tiny detour in our evening's venture seems like a fun time," he whispered back. Shego felt a swarm of excitement renew in her chest at his words.
"Hey, I heard that," glared Hermes. "You two stick to your mood ring...thing... Why do you want a mood ring?"
"It's not simply a mood ring. It's advanced technology that can control energy around—ow!" Drakken yelped as Shego kicked him again. She watched his anger at this fade to panic as Motor Ed's brow rose.
"Run that by me again?" asked Motor Ed. "Something that can seriously sway...like... You could use this to make a group of dudes completely okay with say...taking an advanced piece of tech to trick out a ride?"
Shego watched Drakken narrow his eyes as he looked at Motor Ed.
"No," he lied. Motor Ed narrowed his eyes and Drakken swallowed hard.
"Seriously, Drew... You know I can tell when you lie," Motor Ed scoffed and then grinned. "How about I help you swipe it...and we go on a road trip—"
"There will never be another road trip, Eddie," glared Drakken. "The mood ring is mine and I'm not sharing."
"Well fine! I'll take it myself then," pouted Motor Ed. "Seriously, what a big baby... Won't even share."
"I am— you—" Drakken made a series of noises before Shego cut in.
"Back off of the ring, Motor Ed," glared Shego, "unless you want to be humiliated and outdone."
"Seriously, doubt that... I have no problem getting some tiny jewelry," glared Motor Ed. "I mean I walked off with a massive converter from a maxed-out security place...in a city protected by superheroes... Seriously... Ring is no sweat."
"Team Go doesn't count," Pandora shook her head. "That's more a police situation... Unless you're terrorizing the city."
"I was trying to set up a dig at Green," sighed Motor Ed. "Like, seriously had this whole thing like... 'Oh yeah, aren't they your brothers? Seriously this is gonna be cake,' thing. Seriously."
Hermes snickered.
"That would have been funny," he said, clearing his throat. Shego watched Pandora slide the wine glass away from him in concern.
"Yeah, well... There's normally only one lucky family member that gets the brains," smirked Shego. "If you want, Drew can explain to you what it's like for him also being that one family member."
Shego watched Motor Ed's brow narrow further, but she was more focused on Drakken's eyes locked on her. She wondered if he hadn't gotten her dig at Motor Ed, but it was clear Motor Ed did by the slight growl he gave before sneering.
"All right, Green. It's on, seriously." Motor Ed looked confident suddenly. "We'll take both...and I'm not sharing."
"Eddie, this is ridiculous," sighed Drakken as the two began to argue, most of which proceeded to be petty jabs and insults.
"I no longer like this energy," grumbled Pandora. "Now we're competing... It's bad enough we still have to find this Shea Valentine—"
Drakken and Shego cut her off in unison.
"Shea Valentine?"
"Keep it in the box, Pandora," hissed Cleopatra. Her brow raised. "Wait, is that who has your mood...thing?"
"Oh, this seriously just got amped," laughed Motor Ed. "I was worried this heist schtick was gonna be a real snooze, seriously."
"Listen here, Edward—" Drakken began another argument.
Shego looked around the room to the known table, but the dark hair was gone. Guests had begun heading towards the dance floor after dinner. While the idea of competing over who got what was irritating...she was the only one who knew where Shea Valentine was. She contemplated how they had decoy mood rings, but not a bracelet. She would need to see it and hope they could get away with both...if only to annoy the others. She looked at Drakken. His body was completely tensed, and she could see the makeup he wore fading from where his brows kept knitting together. She grabbed a napkin and was about to fix this when Drakken took a deep breath and stood abruptly. She watched his expression school into one of forced calm.
"Would you care to dance?" He offered his hand to Shego.
Shego blinked and looked at the annoyed and confused Motor Ed, Drakken clearly ignoring him mid-argument. Shego smiled and took his hand and followed him to the dance floor. The problem wasn't over, but for now...she had an advantage. And it could wait a few songs to be of use... It was still partially her fun night, right?
Music Awaits...
