"What makes a bad guy so bad, kiddo?"
Connor Cooper sat at the kitchen table, carefully turning pages of the Thievius Raccoonus. His six-year-old son sat across from him, head laying on his flattened arms as he stared at his father in admiration.
Sly thought about this. "Because they do bad things?"
"Yes, but that's not the only reason. If it was, then we thieves would also be bad guys for stealing, even though it was from someone who deserves it. A lot of people think that's still a bad thing to do."
"They do? How come?" He was shocked by this. Why would anyone think that stealing from bad guys was a bad thing?
"That's a lesson for another day. Right now, let's keep talking about the bad guys. What do you think makes them true bad guys?"
The kit wrinkled his nose and thought about it again, for longer this time. "Because…because the bad things they do are really bad?"
His dad chuckled, thumbing a page corner while he re-read translated text from Salim al-Kupar.
"They're bad guys because they don't care who gets hurt by the things they do, or they like to hurt others. There are a lot of people in the world who take advantage of those who aren't as strong or powerful as them."
"Like those bullies being mean to the hurt bird at the park yesterday?"
"Exactly like that." Connor closed the book and met his child's spellbound eyes. "That's what makes us Coopers different from bad guys and even other thieves, Sly. We never steal from regular people. We never hurt regular people, and we always go after bad guys. We steal from the bad guys so they can face justice and feel as helpless as the people they've hurt."
"Okay!" The kit exclaimed. "Can I steal from those bullies if I see them again?"
"Only if you see them hurting someone again. Considering the dressing-down your mother gave them for that, they might already be reformed."
"Aw…"
The master thief raised an eyebrow, amused as his son seemed more disappointed over not getting to steal than that the teenagers they had encountered yesterday might go right back to tormenting helpless wildlife.
"You'll get your chance someday, kiddo. There's a lot of injustice in the world, and there's only a few Coopers nowadays to fight it." His hand rested heavily on top of the Thievius Raccoonus. "But I know that you'll be able to recognize bad guys for what they are, just like you did with those bullies. And if you find yourself getting frustrated or sad about it, don't ever forget that you have the power to change it. You can show those bad guys what happens when they cross a Cooper."
Sly is mad.
He's never been this mad in all his life. It makes him clench his fists and grind his teeth as he and Bentley and Murray leave the headmistress' office, and he barely notices that the turtle doesn't really say goodbye to them before hurrying back to his own room by himself.
How dare that awful old lady do what she did? Blaming them for bullying without hearing the whole story, making them clean all evening until their hands were sore, and then, when they were already starving, making them stand there and watch - !
Sly has never gone hungry before. His parents never ran out of things for him to eat or used it as a punishment. His stomach aches horribly, and it would be all he could think about if he weren't so angry at Mrs. Puffin for the things she just did.
He seethes as he gets ready for bed, and only snaps out of it for a little bit when his roommate comes up to him before he can climb his bunk.
"I'm sorry," the hippo says again, hugging himself as his own stomach growls. "I'm, um, my tummy gets really loud when this happens. I'm sorry if it keeps you awake."
Sly shakes his head. He's too shaken up to explain in writing that he's not gonna be able to sleep anyway because of his feelings and the hunger gnawing away at his gut, but Murray seems to understand enough of it.
"It gets better after a little while," he promises, gesturing to both himself and Sly. "You just gotta think really hard about something that's not food or sleep, cause if you think about those things then you'll never fall asleep. I like to think about my favorite things, like car racing and stuff."
The advice is nice, but it ends up not helping. The raccoon is so upset by everything that happened that when he finally crawls into bed, exhausted physically and emotionally, all he can think about is the sneer on Mrs. Puffin's face when she called them delinquents and forced them to watch her eat their food.
For the first time in the entire week he's been here, Sly doesn't fall asleep crying. He clutches his dad's cane and plays the scene over and over in his head of the headmistress' cruelty and how horrible she made him and the other two boys feel. How happy she was when she did it.
It's not hunger that keeps him awake.
Bentley isn't in their usual meeting place behind the shed the next day.
Sly pauses in his shimmying halfway through the narrow gap, surprised and confused not to see the turtle there on the other side. He's always there.
Worried that the bullies from yesterday might have found him on his way here, the raccoon squeezes back out into the rest of the yard to look for him. He sees Murray by the far fence, sitting in a worn-down red wagon and pretending he's driving it, and the hippo waves when he notices Sly looking at him. Bentley isn't with him, either.
Concerned now, he walks around the backyard, ducking flying balls and running kids and someone's outstretched foot that was definitely on purpose. There's no sign of the turtle - not a green shell or red bowtie in sight anywhere. Not even a pile of books to mark a spot he's coming back to.
The house, maybe?
As Sly heads inside, he wonders why he wants to find the other boy so much. They haven't known each other that long, and the only reason they've been hanging out is so Bentley can learn French. It's been a nice routine, but it's not like Sly needs it. It's more for the turtle's sake than his own.
Obviously, the biggest reason he's looking for him is just to make sure he's okay. He doesn't want him to get cornered by those kids if he's by himself, or get in trouble for something he didn't do by the adults again. He just doesn't want someone innocent to get hurt. That's what a gentleman thief does.
The explanation runs in his head over and over, right up until he walks into the living room and sees Bentley curled up in a chair with a book, undisturbed and all alone. Relief floods the raccoon instead and he runs up to the other boy.
Bentley looks up and stiffens. Sly freezes three feet away from him, caught off guard by the look on his face.
"Um," the turtle stammers, closing his book and holding it close to his chest as he stares at him. "Um, were you - looking for me?"
Sly gives him an annoyed look, then points up at the clock hanging on the wall. When the turtle reads the time, his eyes get bigger and he suddenly can't meet his gaze anymore.
"Oh, right, I - I guess this is when we usually have our lesson, huh…" He picks at the corner of the book cover, finding it very interesting. "Listen, um, Sly. I was thinking a lot about yesterday, and, w-well, I don't think, um, that it would be - beneficial, for us to continue those lessons."
Sly stares at him.
"I mean, well, there's only so much we can do, anyway, and it's not like you can really teach me, uh, y'know, advanced grammar, or…proper pronunciation."
Bentley still won't look up, and it seems to give him courage as his rambling gets a little more understandable.
"So I think it's best that we - we quit while we're ahead. Stop before we set ourselves up for failure and disappointment. And - and besides, what's your compensation for it, anyway? I was monopolizing your free time with nothing really substantial to offer in return. It wasn't a bargain worth making in the first place."
Sly finds it hard to swallow, all of a sudden. Something unpleasant prickles at the back of his head.
"So - so yeah. You understand my reasoning, surely." The turtle finally risks a glance up, and his confidence crumbles at whatever emotion he sees on Sly's face. Sly's not even sure what emotion that is.
His hands are making fists, though. When did they start doing that?
Bentley clears his throat, nervous, and opens his book back up. He lifts it up in front of him so he doesn't have to look at the raccoon anymore. "A-A-Anyway. If you'll e-excuse me, I have a lot of - reading to catch up on."
Sly takes a deep breath, pivoting on his foot as heat builds behind his eyes. He stomps out of the room as loud as he can - which is pretty loud - just to show the other boy how much this decision doesn't affect him at all. He's so unaffected that he doesn't even look back at him when he stops at the doorway to take another deep breath.
Stopping doesn't count, anyway. Taking another breath to stuff the bad feelings deep down in his stomach until it hurts like it did last night doesn't count. He doesn't need those stupid lessons.
And that thing that Murray said, about friends keeping the monsters away - well, he can do that just fine on his own.
He's a thief. He's a Cooper. That's all he'll ever need.
A/N: This chapter was going to be a lot longer, but I decided to cut it off here because it felt like it matched the story beat better. Consider it a transition chapter, I guess?
Also, if it feels like Bentley's reaction was a little abrupt after he started opening up to the others the day before, this is a kid who's never really gotten in trouble suddenly experiencing the full brunt of adult disappointment and irritation, and then left alone all night to stew over it. Poor guy had to wrestle with a lot while facing the night hungry and alone.
Thanks for reading!