When the three of them wake up the next morning, there isn't anyone knocking on the door to haul them to Mrs. Puffin's office. Murray yawns and stretches, making the unfamiliar bed creak. He's always been able to sleep anywhere.
As he rubs his eyes, he hears someone moving on the other side of the room. The hippo pokes his head out from under the shadow of the bunk to see Sly already sitting up in his own bed, looking at that cool stick thing in his arms.
"Good morning!" Murray calls out. Then he feels bad, because he didn't even check to see if Bentley was awake yet. The raccoon turns his head to stare at him, but doesn't say good morning back.
"Yes, it is definitely morning," grumbles Bentley as he turns over in bed to give Murray a dirty look. "Thank you for confirming that by waking me up."
"Sorry."
The turtle says something else too quietly for Murray to hear, then speaks up just as Sly starts climbing down the ladder beside him. "It doesn't matter now. I guess it's probably better that we all woke up early, anyway, since we don't want to get caught in here together. Speaking of…"
He looks over at the raccoon.
"Did my - our presence help you last night? Or was your hypothesis flawed?"
Bentley's got this funny tone to his voice that doesn't have anything to do with him being tired, and Murray can't figure it out. He can't even tell if it's a good kind of funny or a bad kind. Sly seems to know, though, because he hugs the cool stick thing against his chest and nods without looking at either of them.
"That's great!" Murray says before the turtle can, because it is great! That's what they were hoping for! "See? I told you that friends help with all those scary things."
Bentley makes a weird face, but he doesn't argue with the truth. "I suppose it was…a successful experiment, then. I'm happy you got some good results."
Murray grins. Sly doesn't smile but he looks like he's happy, which makes the hippo's grin even bigger.
"Alright, alright, let's not make a big deal of it. We're still at risk here, remember." The turtle fixes his glasses. "I think it's probably best that you two return to your own rooms to get ready for the day before a staff member catches on."
It sucks to leave so early after the sleepover, but none of them want to get in trouble. As Sly leads the way back, Murray starts thinking out loud.
"Does this mean you guys aren't fighting anymore?"
The raccoon shrugs without turning around.
"But it does mean you're still friends, right?"
Another shrug, but this time Sly turns his head a little to glance at his roommate. After the last two days of being completely ignored by him, Murray feels ready to explode with happiness.
"I think it does. He let us do a sleepover and you didn't have any nightmares cause of it. I think that means you shouldn't fight anymore either, cause it makes you both happy to be friends instead of enemies."
Sly slows down a bit. Murray is pretty sure that means he's thinking about his words. After a few moments, he starts hurrying again, but lets the hippo walk side by side instead of behind him.
"If Bentley ignores us again today," the raccoon gives him a look at the word 'us', but doesn't protest it, "then let's do another sleepover again tonight. He's probably just shy or is worried about Mrs. Puffin being mean again."
His roommate seems to consider this, and eventually gives Murray a nod. The hippo is relieved that he agrees, because the idea of those two fighting again or ignoring each other or ignoring him after it seemed like they had finally made up is not something he wants to think about at all.
And just as they thought, Bentley doesn't come near them at all once everyone else is up. He says hello when they run into each other in the classroom and that's about it. Murray feels a sting of hurt even though he understands why the turtle is doing it. He can see the adults still watching them now that it's been pointed out to him, and Sly seems to notice it too, now, because he's obedient all day and doesn't seem so mad at Bentley when they run into him.
That night, the two boys sneak out not long after everyone has gone to bed instead of in the middle of the night. It's not nearly as dark outside, but it's still just as scary and they're still just as quiet, because they could easily run into an adult or even another kid while it's this early.
They make it to Bentley's room again without getting caught, and Murray knocks on the door to be polite, just in case he's still awake in there. The turtle answers, looks surprised, then suddenly not-so-surprised at the sight of them.
"I don't remember agreeing to make this a regular occurrence," he says, voice flat and arms crossed.
"You said we'd only do it once if it didn't help Sly," Murray points out. "But it did help, so we should totally do it again!"
Sly nods along with him, holding his chin high like he dares the other boy to claim he didn't say that. Bentley drags a hand down his face very slowly with a groan. "Remind me never to give either of you any loopholes to exploit ever again."
"What's a loophole?"
"Never mind. Whatever, I guess we can do this again." The turtle sighs, throws up his hands, and turns around to let them in. Murray sees the smile on his face anyway.
Sly notices it too, because the corners of his mouth lift up as he enters the room.
That's what they do for the next few days - Bentley stays away from Sly and Murray the whole day, and they all behave for the adults, and then at night they do a big sleepover in Bentley's room. The hippo feels like a spy in a comic book every time he and his roommate sneak through the halls while everyone else is sleeping. The orphanage is so different and quiet at night, and even though he's still scared of the dark, it's starting to get less scary and more cool. Being with Sly makes it all seem so cool.
Sly is just so cool!
Eventually, just as Murray knew they would, the staff stops paying attention to them. They haven't been caught screwing up or breaking the rules, and there's a lot of kids here, and so the adults leave them alone. Bentley finally feels comfortable letting the other two boys hang out with him during the day, and it's the best thing ever.
But they keep having sleepovers, because it's been really fun and none of them want to stop. On the fifth night of doing it in a row, Bentley watches Sly climb down from his usual bunk with the stick thing looped around his neck.
"Okay, I have to ask - what's the deal with that cane?" He pauses. "It is a cane, right?"
The raccoon nods as he pulls it off of him, running his hands along the golden hook. It looks very cool and shiny, and Murray wonders if it's real gold.
"Okay, so, what's up with it? It…it looks familiar, but I can't figure out where or how."
The hippo is really curious too, actually. He's seen his roommate with it in their room before, and he'd thought it was some kind of new, cool toy. But Sly never plays with it and always just sleeps with it in bed, and Murray hasn't been brave enough to ask about it. Thank goodness that Bentley is here.
Sly bites his lip and looks back and forth between them. He looks down at his cane for a while, and just when Murray thinks he's not going to tell them, the raccoon pulls out his notebook.
It's my dad's cane
"Ah." Bentley clears his throat, uncomfortable. "I understand. Apologies if I spoke out of turn."
Murray understands, too. When you're only allowed a little space for your own things and already have to give up so much, taking something that belonged to your parents means that thing must be very special.
It's okay, Sly writes. After another moment of hesitation, he continues. My dad is the coolest person ever.
Murray's eyes get big. "Wow, really? Was he the president? Or a famous race car driver?"
No. He's the greatest thief who ever lived.
A…thief? That can't be right.
Stealing is bad, and people who steal are bad. That's what Murray has always been taught. He also knows it's bad because when he was younger, other kids used to steal snacks from him. Even though that hasn't happened in a long time because he's so big now, it felt awful, and he still remembers it. How can Sly's dad be so cool and great if he's a thief?
Oh, Sly is glaring at him. Did he say that last part out loud?
"I didn't mean to be mean," he says, dropping his gaze to the carpet cause that glare is pretty scary, actually. "I've just never heard about stealing being good. I'm sorry."
The raccoon huffs and crosses his arms around his cane, still giving his roommate a pretty dirty look.
Bentley hums in thought, not paying attention to their argument. He's too busy studying the cane with a big frown on his face. It almost looks like he's seen it before.
"A thief…" he murmurs. Suddenly his head snaps up, startling the other boys. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You said your last name was Cooper. Isn't that - wasn't that - on the news the while ago-!"
"Uh…" Murray is so very confused. He has no idea what Bentley is trying to say, and he looks at Sly to see if he understands. The raccoon puts one hand on his hip and uses the other to hold the cane up in front of him. He looks both proud and sad somehow, which the hippo also doesn't get.
Bentley shakes his head in disbelief. "No way. There's no way. I knew I've heard your last name somewhere!" He turns to Murray, flailing his hands wildly around him. "Didn't you see the news the other week on the TV in the living room? The thing the staff kept talking about all day?"
There's a lot of news on TV that the staff talks about all day. Murray hasn't paid attention to it in a long time. "Uh…the one about the poli-ti-cian who yells a lot?"
"No!" The turtle looks like he's going to pass out. "The master criminal they found who was murdered! The - the Cooper Thief!"
Oh. Murray's mouth drops open, because he does remember the adults talking about that one. A criminal so good that he was never ever caught, no matter what he was stealing. The hippo turns to stare at Sly, shocked and amazed because never in his life could he imagine knowing someone related to a master thief.
It's scary, but it's also really, really cool.
"Are you a master thief too?!" It bursts out of his mouth before he can stop himself.
Sly goes still. He opens his mouth, closes it, looks at both of them and looks away and then looks back again. Then his jaw clenches tight.
Not yet. But I will be.
"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh." Bentley repeats the words to himself with his hands on his face as he stares at the Cooper Cane. "I can't believe I've been associating with a criminal in the making all this time. Oh my gosh."
Murray isn't sure how to feel about this thing that has rocked his entire world, either, but that's not going to stop him from staying friends with Sly.
"Well - well - I think it's cool!" He stammers as the raccoon's ears start to droop. "I've never known anyone in my life who's so cool! Sly is really cool and I'm glad I'm friends with him!"
Sly stares at him, wide-eyed. Bentley does too, so he keeps going.
"And - and - and I know you're worried about getting in trouble, but Sly said he won't get caught, and he hasn't yet, so I trust him! And you should trust him too! Cause he's your friend!"
The turtle makes a weird, high pitched sound, still looking like he's going to faint, but all he does is sit down on his bed and cover his eyes with his hands.
"Okay. Okay, just - give me a minute. Oh my gosh."
Murray sits down carefully next to him, and Sly does the same on his other side after a few seconds of hesitation. The hippo can see how hard his roommate is gripping his dad's cane. Eventually, Bentley lifts his head to stare up at the top bunk mattress hanging over them.
"You're really the son of the Cooper Thief."
It doesn't sound like a question, but Sly nods anyway.
"And that's really his real cane that he used for real heists."
The raccoon nods again. Murray doesn't know what a 'heist' is but he doesn't dare ask right now.
"And you - you're going to follow in his footsteps someday, aren't you?"
Sly holds his head high and puffs out his chest. There's a proud glimmer in his eyes as he nods.
Bentley makes that funny sound again. He looks at Murray, who shrugs and smiles, and then Sly, who stares back at him just as intensely. Then he looks past the hippo to his nightstand for a long moment. Murray isn't sure why - all that's there is a stack of books. But whatever the turtle sees, it's enough to help him make a decision.
"I just know I'm going to regret this," he says, holding his hand out to Sly. The raccoon blinks in surprise, then smiles - a real, honest smile - and takes it. "Please don't make me regret thi–is!"
The word turns into a squeak as Murray wraps his arms around both of them to make a big group hug. He knows it's rude to do it without asking first, but he can't help himself right now!
"Murray…" Bentley grunts against his chest. Sly wriggles like a worm and taps at his arm with one hand.
"Sorry! Sorry." He lets them go; both look very shocked from the sudden hug. Shocked, but not mad. "So…how are you gonna become a master thief like your dad someday, Sly?"
It's probably not a good question to ask when Bentley is still freaked out about this whole thing, but he's really curious. The turtle groans and rolls his eyes, but he looks just as interested as Murray.
The smile returns to Sly's face, small but strong.
My family has this book…
A/N: We did it! The Cooper cat is finally out of the bag! Once again, let's all give Murray a big Thank You for saving this chapter because poor Bentley was having a panic attack at the end there and I did NOT know how help him by myself lmao
Thanks for reading!