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"No fucking way."
"I know."
Olivia glanced up at me with wide eyes. "Can I hold him?" She asked excitedly.
I laughed and carefully picked up Red, who was busy exploring the granite island-top. Liv cupped her hands together and let out a tiny gasp when I placed him in her palms.
"He is so cute!" She whispered, watching him sniff her hands and hesitantly climb out onto her forearm.
"What'd you name him? Are you even allowed to name zoo animals?"
"Technically, he's not a zoo animal yet," I pointed out. "And I already named him Red."
"Awwww he's so tiny!"
Too tiny, I thought ruefully.
"I can't believe your not-boyfriend brought a god-freaking illegal exotic animal from Australia for you."
I choked on my latte and set the mug down slowly. "Red isn't for me," I argued, clearing my throat. "Raph just didn't want to leave him to die."
My sister rolled her eyes but said nothing more, too focused on the adorable grey fluff-ball clinging to her arm.
I sipped my latte, craving the caffeine and whatever energy it could supply me with. I'd been awake since four o'clock and it had not been a cheerful three hours since. I'd fed Red and showed him around the apartment before Liv crawled out of bed like a zombie and screamed when she saw Red curled up on my head. It would've been too hard to hide him from her, and I'd called Leo beforehand and he said it was alright if she knew. Now I had to deal with her excessive excitement and I was much too tired for that. The only thing getting me through this long morning was the thought of seeing the guys later.
Red abandoned my sister and scurried across the counter toward me. His small claws catching on my sweater as he rushed up my arm, across my chest, and placed himself on my shoulder. Liv was absolutely heartbroken that he left her so quick and so suddenly.
I downed the rest of my latte before it got too cold. "I gotta go get some stuff for Red," I said. "You going to work?"
She half-sighed half-groaned. "Unfortunately."
I hopped off my stool and walked around the counter, placing my dirty cup in the dishwasher before swinging it closed with my foot.
Liv's eyes narrowed. "Aren't sugar glider's illegal here?"
"Yeah, that's why I gotta get him into the zoo." Red's whisker's tickled my neck and I raised a hand up to pet him. I still couldn't get over how soft he was.
"Where the hell are you gonna buy him stuff?"
"I found a place called Trixie and Peanut online and a few reviews said they have stuff for sugar gliders." I shrugged. "I'm just gonna say I'm getting stuff for a friend in Canada or something."
She still didn't seem to entirely approve. "People aren't blind, Raiy," she pointed out as if I was stupid. "They're gonna notice him."
"People are blind and stupid," I argued. "I could walk around with a rat on my head and nobody would give two shits. They're too concerned with the phones in their hands."
Olivia blew the breath from her cheeks and rolled her eyes in a whatever way. "If you end up in jail or something I'm not bailing you until tomorrow night."
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. "Have some faith," I teased, turning to head into my bedroom. "I'm a ninja." Literally.
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"What the fuuuck," I hissed, trying to attach the clip to the wire of the cage in accordance with the diagram in front of me. After half an hour of constant confusion, I was officially regretting buying the coolest looking set over the more practical ones. But there was no way in hell I was gonna go back there just to exchange this, especially with Red. Unable to lay still in my jacket's inner pocket, he almost got me caught about six times. Not that the people at Trixie and Peanut would have caredโthey seemed happy enough to encounter someone purchasing from their sugar glider department, and even offered a ton of tips and information for my "friend in Canada" and their glider. Currently, he was clinging to the back of my sweater, tugging strands of loose hair from my bun, waiting impatiently for me to finish.
"I'm workin' on it," I muttered, securing the metal clip and moving on to the next one. I'd managed to set up most of the cage: a mesh net covering majority of its bottom; two cords of thick-braided rope dangling from the roof that would serve as a ladder of sorts; two much smaller nets hung above the larger one; triangles of fabric stacked in twos in two corners; and a small, cube-like cage of netting and fabric I was struggling to hang close to the roof and above the layered nets. Thankfully, my prayers for not-ugly-looking decorations had been answered and everything was coloured black and dark green camo print instead of some blue and pink patterned shit. It actually looked pretty sweet.
"Get excited, Red." I finished with the mini cage and picked up a pouch to hang. "This is gonna be hella fun." The clip caught on my finger as it snapped shut around the cage wire, rousing an annoyed curse from me. I fucking swear to god...
My earring vibrated. I bet it's Mikey.
I pressed the stud's fake diamond, answering the call. "Yo."
"Yo yo yo!" He cried in answer, instantly lifting my mood. "What's crackalackin', RaiyRaiy?"
"Mm, nothin'. Just setting up Red's cage. You?"
On the other line, something in the background crashed, bringing about a distant hum of voices. Mikey didn't address it. "I'm tryna find my old skateboard, have you seen it?"
I thought for a moment. "No. You have one with rockets and shit, why do want your old one?"
"I remember it being awesome."
I rolled my eyes. "Did youโ?" Another loud crash interrupted me. I winced at the volume and spun the diamond to tone it down.
"You're checking the storage room?" It was hardly a question that needed answering. It was a known fact that whenever Mikey went into the storage room he managed to knock over at least one carefully-stacked tower of shit.
"Yeah," he replied. "But I dunno if it's in here."
I backed away from the cage to get a better look at the setup, deciding whether or not to change the pouch's location. "I'm almost done with this, then I can come and help you look."
"Sweet! Thanks, man. What's your sis doin' today?"
"Working." Red scrambled onto my shoulder to inspect the earring, his whiskers tickling my ear almost unbearably. I swallowed back my shriek and quickly snatched him away, holding him in front of my face. "Don't do that!" I cried. He squirmed in my grasp, making strange hissing noises.
"What is that?" Mikey asked.
I laughed and placed the glider inside his mostly-completed cage. "Red's hissing at me."
"What!?"
"It's normal."
"Sounds like a weird snake."
Smiling, I watched Red explore his new cage excitedly, no longer hissing his annoyance at me. "They make a lot of weird noises."
"That's scary, man."
I shrugged and picked up the last set piece to hang. My phone vibrated on my desk. The zoo.
"Sorry, Mikey, I gotta go. The zoo is calling me." I picked up my phone, confirming it really was Lauren.
"No worries, I'll see ya later!" He hung up and I quickly answered my phone.
"Hey, Lauren."
"Hey, I finally got a response."
I grimaced nervously. "Please tell me it's good."
"If he passes an examination, Red can join the colony."
Hearing those words dropped ten pounds off my chest. Lauren was laughing at me over the phone, and I couldn't help but join her. "I was so nervous," I admitted.
"I could tell," she said. "Doctor Kim is in right now if you want to come and get Red checked out. It shouldn't take very long."
"Everyone's okay?" Hearing the name of the zoo's veterinarian always made me nervous about the animals.
"They're fine. He's checking up on some lemurs today, nothing to worry about."
"Oh, good." I watched Red crawl hesitantly inside the small, mesh cube hanging inside his cage. "Okay. I'll be there soon.
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Dr. Kim watched Red as he clambered up my arm to my shoulder following the conclusion of his examination. "He has bonded with you very fast," he noted.
I grinned and stroked a finger down the glider's back. "Yeah, do you think it's because he lost his mother so early?"
"I suppose so," he agreed. "Sugar glider joeys rely on their parents for two months after leaving the pouch. He is only five weeks or so, he could not have defended himself. He needed a mother to raise him, and he found one." Dr. Kim motioned to me, "you protect," then he gestured to Red, "and so he trusts. ...Red is a remarkable case. He would not have survived without your friends."
I took the glider in my hands and held him in front of my face. "You hear that? You're a lucky guy." He crawled out of my palm and burrowed under my sweater sleeve. A moment later, I felt a tug on my bracelet, making me smile.
"Is there anything else I should know?" After the info-dump I received from the workers at Trixie and Peanut and now from Dr. Kim, I was beginning to think I knew just about everything there was to know about sugar gliders, but I had to be sure. I couldn't bear to screw something up with Red; this poor little guy, losing his family just like me. I wanted to give him a new one, as the turtles did for me.
Dr. Kim placed his hands in the pockets of his white lab coat and shook his head. "But if you ever have any questions, feel free to ask me at any time."
I nodded. "Okay, thanks."
The examination room door swung open suddenly and Lauren's bright face popped inside. "Sorry to interrupt," she said.
"It's no problem," Dr. Kim replied. "We're finished."
"Oh," she stepped further into the doorway, raising an eyebrow at me, "how'd it go?"
"Red is single and ready to mingle." Hearing a new voice, Red poked his head out of my sleeve and watched my manager standing in the half-open doorway.
Dr. Kim laughed as he wrote something on a clipboard. "Yes, he's approved for integration."
A smile broke free on the zoo director's face. "Great. The gliders will be in tomorrow at eight am, along with their new keeper. If you could be there with Red to meet him and the animals, that would be great."
"Yeah, of course." Internally, I was crying over the early hours. It was finally the weekend and I couldn't even sleep in on Sunday morning. Not that I probably could sleep for any longer than a few hours. Wait... I frowned. "Is the enclosure up already?"
Lauren's expression morphed into a grimace. "Shoot, I have to go check on that." She glanced at Dr. Kim with an apologetic look. "Sorry doctor, we'll get out of your hair."
Looking up from his writing, he smiled and waved a hand in farewell. Lauren held the door open, motioning for me to follow. I transferred Red to my chest to free my hands before hurrying after her.
"The enclosure's coming along quickly," she said, navigating HQ to head outside. "It should be ready to open in a week. Until then, the gliders will be staying in the back room."
"Oh, I was wondering what the huge cage was for." I noticed it a few days ago and kept forgetting to ask about it.
Lauren's short, platinum blonde hair bobbed in time with her quick stride as she exited the employee's only section. She glanced back at me, holding the door open. "I got Vick working on it right now while the enclosure is still being set up."
Red's fur tickled my neck, reassuring me he was still clinging to my sweater. "How long have you known about the glider colony?"
"Since Wednesday." She inspected the throngs of people around us who admired the birds and greenery around them. "Good thing we decided to kickstart our next project early."
"Yeah, no kidding." Construction started over a month ago to transform an empty space in the Tropic Zone for another animal enclosure, and until a few days ago we weren't even entirely sure what species would be occupying it.
Lauren kept walking through the crowded building until we made it outside. A huge crowd of kids and adults had gathered around the sea lion enclosure in the centre of the zoo. The feeding would start soon. I followed my manager as she made a sharp turn to head into the much less chaotic intelligence garden.
There's definitely something she wants to talk about. I lifted a hand to my shoulder, feeling for Red's tiny, soft body to confirm he was still there.
Lauren crossed her arms and looked at the tall buildings of Manhattan stretching above the trees of Central Park. "Would you be interested in being assistant glider keeper?"
Oh myโ "Is this a promotion?" I could feel my heart hammering in my chest. I couldn't believe it. After two years of working the same boring position I was finally getting promoted!
Lauren laughed. "Only if you accept."
"Yes! Yeah! I'd love to!"
She grinned. "Great! Your hours won't change much, you'll still be working in the Tropics, but more behind the scenes with the animals and stuff. If you're good at it, you might step up to keeper. Or," she added teasingly, "I'll drop you back down to educator."
I rolled my eyes. "You'll miss my poison dart frog demo. I know you like it."
"I don't."
"Yes you do."
"No I don't." She uncrossed her arms and stepped past me. "I'll see you tomorrow at eight!"
I smiled excitedly to myself and scratched Red's back. Assistant glider keeper. It wasn't as glorious a title as I imagined, but I was finally heading upwards.
author's note
What is up my dudes it's been too freaking long lol
This chapter was kinda boring so I tried to make it up to you guys by making it hella long! This is the most in depth I've ever written about Raiya's zoo job, and in case y'all haven't noticed it's not very accurate. I've never been to NYC let alone Central Park Zoo so I'm winging this shit lmao this is based purely on google searches. I'm creating my own characters for the zoo employees instead of using the names of actual staff that work there, just to be safe. Also bcuz I don't want to research the real director and curators and all that shit I don't got time for that.
Anyways, lemme update y'all. I got my own room and turns out it's freezing af and the wifi doesn't reach past the door. Literally it's so cold I think my plants are dying. Again. Tbh I should probably stop buying plants but I really want a bonsai tree. I'm supposed to be at school right now but instead I'm drinking a shitty latte in my pyjamas at home haha yess ima go in later for my important classes
SO I'm gonna try my best to give you guys another chapter as soon as I can! I have two weeks off school starting today (hella blessed) so hopefully I can get my shit together. Until then, enjoy this early gift from moi! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Idk any other ones lol Happy Holidays! I hope everyone enjoys their break as much as I'm going to!
