It was just after 8pm when the entire cast and crew, along with most of their family members, had gathered in the staff lounge for a casual celebration of their progress.
Following a hugely successful high school reunion Ash had hosted a couple years prior - which seemed to have become an annual occasion since then - Buster had taken the liberty of expanding the staff lounge into an unofficial party venue. The stage that had been built for Ash's reunion was now a permanent structure, Buster had a small drinks bar with an extra fridge set up in the far corner, and he was regularly looking for any kind of special occasion to host in this impromptu party venue.
"Right, now if I could just have everyone's attention, thank you..." Florence gently tapped her glass to gain everyone's attention, clearing her throat as they all quietened down and looked to her. "Well, I'll be the first to say that I'm extremely impressed with how well this show has been coming together. And I'm utterly thrilled by the amazing progress you've all made."
Meena shrank back a little as she heard this, only to feel Porsha's hand gently tightening on her own. She glanced over to the wolf with a small smile, though Porsha hesitated for a moment or two before she smiled back.
"Now I know how shy she gets, so I'll try not to embarrass her too much, but it goes without saying that I'm especially proud of how my wonderful little Angel has come into her own these past couple weeks..." Florence sent a warm smile to her daughter, who was already going red in the face. "Mummy loves you, Audrey!"
The younger gorilla was taken even more off-guard by the much bigger cheers and adulation she was getting from her peers - Johnny and Nooshy being the loudest by far - though with some prompting from Becky, Audrey gave a small curtsy and a few awkward waves and "thank yous" in response. She briefly glanced over to Mike as the mouse silently rolled his eyes, but she managed to keep a smile while her mother continued.
"I will admit, I had my doubts when we first approached you, Mr. Moon, but you've more than exceeded my expectations..." Florence turned to Buster as the koala clambered up on the table to be closer to her level. "Sufficed to say, this partnership has proven to be a great success!"
"Indeed it has, Ms. Fletcher!" Buster then gestured towards the elderly sheep that was sat beside them. "Of course, this hugely successful partnership would never have been possible without the sensational icon who brought us together."
"Hmm... indeed..." Florence chuckled as she looked over to their shared mentor. "In more ways than one, I'd say she's the very reason most of us are here today, so here's to Nana, everyone!"
"TO NANA!" The rest of the group all raised their own glasses, giving out a round of applause as the old sheep nodded gratefully.
Nana remained seated as everyone went back to their casual mingling, and Buster and Florence took a seat on either side of her while Rosita and Norman came over.
"I'm usually not one for futile flattery, but that was quite a lovely toast."
"Of course it was..." Buster gently held his old mentor's hand. "Only the best for you, Nana."
Nana then raised an eyebrow. "Speaking of the best, Mr. Moon, I'm still rather curious how you haven't been able to convince Florence here to perform in your show."
"Oh Nana, darling, don't be ridiculous." Florence chuckled, though she sounded slightly nervous as she gripped her cane. "I've not sang in public for nearly eighteen years. I'm an old lady now."
"Old lady...?! If you don't mind me saying, Ms. Fletcher, age is the last thing you need to worry about." Rosita said. "When I first started performing, I was older than you were when you retired! And I have twenty-five kids to deal with too!"
"And I still don't know how you do it all, honey..." Norman said as he held her hand.
"Well, it helps to have the most wonderful man in the world in my corner..." Rosita kissed her husband on the lips, before looking back to Florence. "My point is, Ms. Fletcher, it's never too late to make a comeback."
"Heck, just ask Clay Calloway! We just wanted him for the one show, and now he's singing all over the world again, just like the good old days!" Buster laughed, before taking on a more sincere tone. "But honestly, Ms. Fletcher, just say the word, and I'll gladly -"
"That really is awfully sweet of all of you, but... but no." Florence sat back in her seat, letting out a self-deprecating chuckle. "After all, I suppose plummeting off a platform in the middle of a song is an iconic send-off in its own right!"
Following the revelation of his former duties at the Theatre, Nooshy had led most of the younger troupe members - accompanied by Rosita's piglets - in begging Caleb to demonstrate some of his old magic tricks. After a good few minutes of their lighthearted goading, the caracal finally gave into the pressure and set up his old magician's box, with an excitedly enthusiastic lynx as his first volunteer.
"Right, all you've got to do is slide yourself in there..." Caleb held Nooshy's hand as she shuffled into one end of the box, making sure her hands or fingers weren't in the way as he closed the lid. "There we go... how's it feel...?"
"Bit compact, mate, but I'll probably... hang on, those aren't my feet!" Nooshy looked down at the other end, where a pair of brownish-gold furred legs were sticking out, and this prompted a hearty laugh from both Caleb and the others watching. "Wait... is that Tim?!"
"Don't give away the damn trick, Nooshy!" Ash called out.
Caleb smirked, playfully knocking on the other half's lid. "Alright in there, mate?"
"Yeah, I'm ready!" Tim's voice was muffled, but he sounded comfortable enough.
This prompted Caleb to pull out a long, rubber saw, which made a whirring TWANG! sound as he flicked it with his finger. Becky gently shook her tambourine as an impromptu drum roll while Caleb drove the fake blade right down the middle of the box, drumming his own fingers on either side to build the suspense before he finally separated them into two.
Despite the small audience - including its youngest members - already catching onto the secret of the illusion, they still gave a round of applause and cheers as the two smaller cats got out and took their bows beside Caleb.
"Right fun, that was! Bet that always brought down the house back in the day..." Nooshy laughed as she prodded Caleb's shoulder. "Probably works better when it's two of the same animal, though..."
"Yeah. Back in the day, it was Tim's Mum and Dad doing it. Little fella wouldn't even be here now if it wasn't for that!" Caleb ruffled Tim's head and pulled the mildly embarrassed serval closer, taking on a more dramatically sentimental tone. "You could say in splitting them apart, I only brought them closer together!"
This prompted a resounding "Aw..." from the rest of the group watching, though Tim rolled his eyes with a playful scoff, as he would any other time Caleb made this cheesy remark.
"Well, what other tricks have you got, Mr. Clark?" Johnny asked.
"Oh yeah, he's got loads!" Audrey seemed overtaken by a giddy, childish excitement, prompting Becky to hold her hand to calm her down a bit. "Right, Caleb?"
"Ask, and you shall receive, dear audience!" Caleb called out what was clearly an old catchphrase form his magician days, chuckling as he folded open another part of his seemingly bottomless array of tricks and gizmos and began searching through it.
As he plundered through, he casually tossed aside a few of the more juveline gimmicks aside, including an old beret and a long, black-and-white wizard's wand that landed at Nooshy's feet.
"Oi Johnny, who am I...?" Nooshy put the beret on her head and held up the wand like a cane, putting on an exaggerated German accent as she spread her knees far apart. "5, 6, 7, and... Tippy Toes! Tippy Toes! I don't see your Tippy Toes!"
"Mr. Kickenklober...?" Tim tilted his head, unsure of his own answer, but he lit up as Nooshy silently pointed at him and made a congratulatory DING! sound.
"Oh yeah, Klaus! Tim and I went on a dance course with him last year!" Audrey said, wringing her hands together as she thought back fondly. "He was a bit silly, but he was right lovely too. Really encouraging."
"Pah! You must have got your monkeys mixed, love, because that bloke's anything but lovely." Nooshy scoffed, before raising a curious eyebrow. "And no offence, Audrey, but I wouldn't think he'd be nice to someone like you after what how things went down with Johnny here."
"Come on, Nooshy, we put all that behind us... Klaus wants to play favourites, he's free to do it." Johnny rolled his eyes, before looking to Audrey and Tim again. "Didn't know you two could dance, though. We could plan some moves for you in the show, if you want..."
"Yeah, let's not get ahead of ourselves..." Audrey giggled. "I know a bit, but I wouldn't say I'm a pro."
"Hmm... still a better starting point than I had, mate."
"Ah, Suki! There you are, honey!" Buster's face lit up as the saluki entered the room, and he quietly excused himself from the adults' conversation and ran over to greet her.
Suki was wearing a glittery turquoise dress with darker green leggings - which Buster instantly recognised from their first date a couple years prior at Salsa Y Salsa - but the koala's eyes bulged to their widest point when he noticed the golden, moon-shaped jewel hanging from her neck.
"Wait, Suki, is... is that my -"
"Your Mom's necklace." Suki knelt to his level and gave him a small kiss on the lips, taking the Crescent of Courage off her neck and gently placing it in the koala's hand. "This might be just what we need to convince Bernie to come to the show."
Buster hesitated for a moment as he looked at the necklace in his hand, before regaining his hopeful tone as he looked back to his girlfriend. "Yeah, it could be worth a shot!"
Gently placing the necklace into his pocket, Buster took Suki's hand and led her back over to the table. Marcus, Stan and Barry had joined the conversation, though Johnny's honorary uncles were mainly there so they could get pictures or autographs with their favourite gorilla singer.
"Don't mind 'em, Ms. F. You're quite the big name back in our neck of the woods." Marcus chuckled warmly as his two associates headed off to mingle elsewhere. "Y'know, if my Mary were still here, meeting you would have been a dream come true. She had all your albums, went to most of your shows, absolutely loved ya!"
"Ah-ha. Well, your wife had exquisite taste!" Florence laughed warmly, taking a sip of her champagne. She was unsure whether to prod further, but with the passing of her own spouse on her mind, she decided it was necessary. "I, um... I take it she's not in the picture, then? Mary, I mean."
"Hmm... fifteen years next spring." Marcus took on a slightly more mellow tone, the rest of the group - Buster especially - lowering their heads slightly. "He gets it from her, Johnny does. All the music and stuff."
Florence clicked her tongue, glancing over to where Johnny and Nooshy were trying to teach Audrey some of their simpler dance moves. She then looked back to Marcus, gently patting the larger gorilla's hand with a comforting smile. "Well, if your son takes after her at all, I'm sure your Mary was a very special woman."
Having quietly excused herself from Caleb's impromptu magic show, Porsha made her way over to the bar and approached the old lizard behind the counter. "Hi, Ms. Crawly. Yeah, I'll just have my usual, and Ash'll have, uh... oh yeah, lemonade with a little bit of lime, that's the one!"
"You got it, sweetheart!" Ms. Crawly started preparing the young wolf's favourite raspberry slushie, so Porsha turned her attention to Nancy and Gunter's conversation while she waited for her drinks.
"Oh my gosh, of course you're from Schnitzeldorf!" Nancy laughed. "Yeah, you sound just like my Grandma Heidi. Hmm... oh, I really loved Grandma Heidi."
"Oh ja, family is a total big deal over in Schnitzeldorf!" Gunter said proudly. "Even friends of the family are family in my family, no?"
"Yeah, after we skipped town a few years back I was really wanting to go back there, see all my cousins and stuff again." Nancy sighed. "But, Mike being Mike, he figured it was better to head off to Redshore instead. Then we got this job at the foundation, so... I guess we just put it on hold."
"Please... just look at him. Big grown man makin' a fool of himself!" Mike spat bitterly from the other end of the bar, Porsha quickly realising that he was looking over at Caleb's magic show. "Any respect I mighta had for that cat before's just about disappeared like in one of his stupid little tricks. Poof, and it's gone!"
"Ugh... what the heck is your problem, man?" Porsha felt a small burst of courage that prompted her to speak up, though she still kept her voice at a lower volume to avoid making her a scene. "Why ya gotta be such a jerk to everybody? We don't ever look down on you!"
"Oh, is that so?" Mike scoffed. "Look, you mighta been born with the silver spoon in your mouth, kid, but when you're a little guy like me, you gotta do something about it! Your Uncle Buster knows that just as much as I do!"
"No... no, you're nothing like Uncle Buster..." Porsha sounded more determined as she stood up. "All you ever do is bring everybody else down. Uncle Buster brings 'em up."
Mike was taken slightly off-guard by this, and he couldn't help noticing a proud smile forming on Gunter's face as Porsha started walking off. But the mouse was never one to tolerate losing an argument, and he wasn't going to let the young wolf have the final word.
"Y'know, it's a good thing your Mom's already gone!" He pulled a smug grin when Porsha froze on the spot. "Seeing what a worthless little snowflake ya grew into woulda probably killed her anyway!"
Porsha clenched her fists and bit her bottom lip, whimpering quietly as her eyes began to mist up. With everyone else occupied, she quickly bolted across the room over to the exit, only managed to hold back her tearful breakdown when she was out of their heading range.
Mike pulled a proud grin as he looked back to Nancy, not noticing the furious scowl forming on her face. "Eh... it's like I've been tellin' ya, baby. Kids these days don't have the kinda thick skin to -"
SLAP!
The back of Nancy's hand connected hard with his left cheek, sending Mike spiralling back as his fedora flew right off his head. By the time he'd regained his 20/20 vision and remembered where he was, Nancy had already hopped down off the bar table and was heading for the exit.
"Aw, come on, Nancy, we was just horsin' around!" He whined as she stormed off, his complaints only really getting Rosita and Ash's attention while everyone else went about their own conversations. "That little brat's just too sensitive for her good, that's all!"
It was nearly midnight when Buster finally closed up the Theatre for the night. With most of the cast and crew having already headed off to their homes about an hour before, he and Suki led Nana down from the lounge towards the front entrance, where Hobbs was waiting with Eddie to lead her the aged starlet over to her white limousine.
"You know, Mr. Moon, I was thinking to myself about how much things have changed around here as of late." Nana grunted a little as she made her way down the stairs, letting Buster help her as she took the last few shaky steps. "It seems it was only yesterday you were a ghastly little charlatan driving this theatre into the ground... and yet here we are now. Standing in the a palace of wonder and magic. Just like the good old days."
"They weren't good old days, Nana, they were glorious!" Buster laughed as he fondly recalled what she had once said to him. "Besides, we never would have gotten anywhere if it wasn't for you, Nana."
"Hmm... to be honest, I'm not entirely sure about that." Nana's warm smile put Buster at ease after her rather cryptic response. "But I will say, to have you and Florence finally working together on this festival, it... it really does warm my heart."
"Yeah, and it's gonna blow your mind when you see it for yourself, and that is no lie!" Buster boasted proudly, striking his signature pointing pose as Eddie came over. "Well anyway, like my Dad always used to say. Get a good night's sleep, do a great day's work, right?"
"Indeed..." Nana chuckled as Eddie linked his arm with hers, letting her grandson lead her out the door while she looked back to the koala again.
"Yeah, so uh..." Buster cleared his throat, putting one hand on his hip while he waved to the old sheep with the other. "Goodnight, Nana."
"Hmm..." Nana hesitated for a brief moment, only to pull a small smile before she finally headed out the door. "Goodbye, Buster."
"Oh come on, Porsha, just pick up already!" Ash groaned into her phone as it kept ringing, not noticing Rosita's face light up as they reached the parking lot of the apartment building. "She didn't even bring her key with her tonight, I have no idea where she could have -!"
"There she is!" Rosita rushed over to the front doorway, where Porsha was sat huddled up on the top step sobbing into her knees, and quickly threw her arms around the young wolf. "Oh sunshine, we've been so worried about you!"
"Yeah, buddy, you just took off without telling us! I don't even know what time you left!" Ash tightly gripped Porsha's hand, gently brushing her hand to wipe her roommate's mascara-stained face. "What happened in there, huh?"
"I'm so sorry, you guys, I... I'm..." Porsha tried her best to stammer out an answer, only to start breaking down again as Rosita tightened her embrace. "Aw, I'm such a failure!"
"No... no no no, sunshine, nobody thinks that!"
"Mike does! He said it was a good thing my -!"
"Well, why should it matter what Mike thinks?! Huh?!" Ash put her hands on her hips, taking on a more stern tone. "Porsha, Mike's a sad little mouse who doesn't feel good about himself unless he makes everybody else feel bad!"
"But... but he's an artist, he always talks about how he went to the Lincoln School of -"
"Doesn't matter if he studied at Julliard itself!" Rosita cut in. "Mike doesn't treat everyone like that because he's an artist, Porsha, he treats them like that because he's a bully, and he always has been."
"Probably the best thing that ever happened to our troupe was when he packed up and left us!" Ash scoffed. "Honestly, Porsha, if he talks to you like that again, he's gonna have me to -!"
"I just wanted her to be proud of me, okay...?!" Porsha snapped, taking both the pig and porcupine off-guard, before lowering her head again.
"Who...? Fletcher?!" Ash rolled her eyes with a groan. "You have nothing to prove to anyone here, buddy! Okay...? Not to us, not to Mike, and especially not to some snotty theatre lady!"
"I wasn't talking about Fletcher, I... I was talkin' about my Mom..." Porsha whimpered, holding back even more tears. "I'm carrying her name and I can't even do the thing she was best at... and then I got fired too!"
"Ugh, again with the firing?" Rosita chuckled, though she kept her comforting tone. "Porsha, I know it's disappointing that you can't do your Mom's stunt, but you still have your duet with Meena."
"Yeah, but only 'cause me and Uncle Buster set her up to fail too! Face it, if I just knew how to swim from the start, none of this even woulda -!"
"Wait wait wait wait wait!" Ash suddenly cut her off, taking on a more interrogative tone. "What do you mean by that, Porsha...?"
"Whaddaya think I mean! The only reason I got fired was cause I can't swim, and that's -!"
"Not about that! What about Moon?!" Ash snapped, noticing her roommate's eyes slowly widening in horror. "Porsha...?"
"Oh my gosh... aw no, I wasn't supposed to say that!" Porsha gripped the fur on her head, nearly pulling it out. "Oh man, Uncle Buster's gonna flip if he finds out I said -!"
"Porsha!" Rosita kept a gentle but firm grip on the young wolf's hands, with a stern but motherly tone of voice to match. "Let's just calm down for a second, okay? Deep breath in... and deep breath out..."
Porsha did as she was told, taking a long inhale before letting out a more relaxed exhale, but she was still a little on edge as the mother pig looked her right in the eye.
"Now, I want you to tell me the truth here, sunshine..." Rosita said calmly. "What did Buster do...?"
Author's Note: Just wanted to give a quick shout out to Designation M, for suggesting the scene with the magician's box. And by extension, inspiring the entire creation of Caleb's bigger role in this story. When I first came up with the character I wasn't entirely sure what his bigger contribution was going to be, but I really have you to thank for what I have in store for him now!
