Home
It was a late night.
The members of the Chaotix Detective Agency were just then piling through their front door, rather angrily and with a visible lack of coordination.
The crickets and frogs outside continued to make an exaggerated amount of noise, regardless. Which would be fine except for the fact that closing the door (even as quickly as they did trying to keep the mosquitos out) did not quiet this racquet in the least.
Vector cursed about it often, but now was not the time to complain about that. Now was the time to complain about the day.
"I can't believe the mess you all made on that case! They'll probably never hire us again, all because someone can't follow directions, and someone else just can't do it quick enough!" He slammed his golden chain down to the ground- an act which was strange to watch, because neither of the teammates had ever seen him without the chain on.
"Well, maybe you should also take into account the fact that you cannot lead very well even as the supposed leader of this agency!" Espio retorted. He was already heading down the short hallway to the bedroom and didn't seem to care to hear whatever excuse Vector was going to give.
Vector was visibly enraged. "Hey, now, where do you think you're going off to? Are you so much a coward that ya can't even defend your case? Look, maybe I'd be a better leader if you two could just keep it together and listen instead of thinking you've got a higher idea a' what to do than me!"
"I don't want to hear it. Maybe you should accept the fact that you aren't a perfect boss and learn from your mistakes. Until then, I'm not going to try to cooperate with you." The door shut with a loud creaking sound as he left the conversation.
"UGH, I can't believe he'd be so-" And the rest trailed off into incoherent noises.
"We were only trying to do our best, Vectorrrr. I was only trying my best, at least, but your instructions were so unclear! And how am I supposed to know what a parrot pet is?" Charmy said.
"Parapet," Vector growled.
"Yeah! How am I supposed to know what that is or where to find it?"
"I don't know. Maybe I did make one mistake. I shouldn't have hired a literal six-year-old, my bad." He sat down on their (mostly torn up) sofa and held his hand to his face despairingly.
"Well, I-I didn't say that! I just said how was I supposed to-"
"I know! Geez, why don't you just walk off like Espio? I'd rather him be in here tyrna argue, at least he might whine a little less."
"OK. Fine. Badnight to you, too." The bee walked down the hall as seriously as he could muster and slammed his door behind him.
Vector huffed in frustration. Of course he had to hire the stupidest people in Mobius. Maybe his parents had been right about starting a stupid detective agency. He should have just done solo detective work. He'd make more progress that way then with two dumb ol'-
And he lied down, deciding to sleep out on the sofa that night. Only to prove that he didn't want to be around them. He fell asleep sulking to himself.
"Hello. I'm here to seek work, as I see that you're hiring."
It was the most formal way of words he'd heard from anyone trying to get the job. Maybe that's why it stuck with him.
The chameleon was so focused, even from the first moment they shook hands. On one hand, it looked like that would make him great for detective work. On the other, it sort of felt like those eyes were staring into his very soul.
They went over the requirements, the rules that Espio had to meet to get the job, the previous things that he'd trained for, etc.
He got the job.
They moved in together, at the detective agency itself. Espio had no better lodging and Vector offered it as part of the job. It was awkward, at first.
Espio never forgot what a strange man he'd taken his boss to be at their first meeting.
He'd been expecting a somewhat business-like look. He'd been shocked to find a very casual crocodile, music still playing loudly in his ears, even as they interviewed. He was hesitant to take the job, even the moment he'd gotten it. But, right then, it was his best option. He didn't have anywhere else to go.
It was a late night.
The insects, the frogs, the creatures out at night, were loud as ever.
But none of the members of the Chaotix Detective Agency even took notice of it this time.
Vector shut the door, as quickly as he could, behind them all.
"Well…"
"That was very tiring, to say the least," Espio finished. And he limped his way, halfway leaning onto Vector, to fall down upon the sofa.
"Do you think it's broken?" Vector asked. "You haven't moved it since."
"No, I'm sure it's fine. I was just trying to preserve my energy. But now, I just need to rest."
"Does it hurt too bad, Espio?" Charmy climbed up onto the sofa, facing Espio with cautious glances at the injured leg.
"I've felt worse. Don't worry." He lied back against the broken arm rest, but knew he would not get much sleep that night.
"Oh…"
"I'm...so sorry, Espio." Vector looked away when he said it, but Espio was shocked by the genuineness in his voice. It was not something he could remember hearing before in Vector's voice.
"It's alright." He closed his eyes. "I guess it's too late to ask if this job provides health insurance."
Vector looked over at him, trying to determine the nature with which he said that. But Espio's eyes were closed, and his face was serious, and it was impossible to tell.
"That was a joke," he opened one eye to glance at his boss, and to his surprise Vector straight out burst into laughter.
"What's so funny? I don't...I don't get it," Charmy said.
"Oh, sorry." Was all Vector could manage to get out.
Espio smiled, if only slightly.
The laughter finally died down and was followed by," No, but I am really sorry that I can't offer you better...If I could just afford a little more money for a hospital or-"
"No, it's fine." He was touched. He had not known that Vector cared much until that day. "I told you, it will be nothing." And, for a trained ninja, it wasn't much at all.
"Well, should we give you some space?..." Vector asked.
"That would be much appreciated."
"Come on, Charmy."
"No." The bee attempted to crawl up into Espio's lap but remembered that, oh yes. A hurt leg. That's why he couldn't. "I don't want to leave you."
"And why not?" Espio snapped.
"Because if you're really too hurt…"
"I told you, I'm not."
"But...you could die." Apparently, he was very quick to jump to conclusions. "You could die and-"
To all of their surprise (probably even his own), Charmy couldn't finish that sentence.
"Hey, now. Don't- don't be so quick to draw conclusions. You're overreacting, it's a very mild injury…." Espio wasn't quite sure how to handle a crying child. He had no idea that it was such an intimidating thing until then. Probably because he had never encountered one until then.
"I think we're all just tired…" But Vector wasn't quite sure how else to lessen things. Other than dismiss emotions as exhaustion. That was usually a good excuse.
"You know? Hey, hey, hey, listen. We have those mattresses...I suppose I'll permit you to sleep out here with me," Espio consoled.
Charmy did his best to stop crying after that, and Vector went and dragged the mattresses to the living room.
To Espio's surprise, two mattresses.
"I guess...you don't mind if I stay with you, too?" Vector whispered as he passed by the second time.
"Not at all."
Espio could not imagine how they would react if they heard that he had literally broken ribs before. He underestimated how much non-ninjas overexaggerated injuries.
There was a small knock at the door.
Vector was still very persistent about answering his own agency's door then, so he was the first one to see the newest member.
"Hi!"
He almost leapt out of his leather to see a kid when he had been expecting their first client.
"Uh...hi. Are you...lost? Are ya tryna sell something to-"
"Nope. I'm here because you're hiring. That's what the sign on the door says, see?"
Sure enough, Vector had forgotten to take down the "NOW HIRING" sign.
"Well, sharp eyes, kid, but we ain't really hiring. I jus' forgot to take that down. Sorry 'bout that."
"Oh." The small bee looked around, obviously confused. "Well, can you please hire me?"
"You do realize this is a detective agency and not an arcade, right?"
"Um, yes. Because if it was an arcade it would be wayyy brighter, and cooler, and all. But I came here to be a detective!"
"I don't think I could legally hire you."
"But I can find things really really well. I can figure out directions. I can warp between flowers. I can-"
"Yeah, yeah. That's nice an' all, but I'm afraid I can't hire you." At that point he was just getting bored of the conversation.
The bee stood there, unflinchingly.
Vector huffed and leaned upon the outer door frame. "Look, I hate to do this. But I will call the police and say you're loitering- which you are."
The bee looked up at him with the widest eyes he could muster. "Please just hire me. Pleaseee."
"Not legal."
"Well….I-I found rings." And to Vector's surprise, the bee extended several rings to him in a last effort.
"You found rings?"
"Here." Vector looked down to the rings in the bee's arms, and then back to look at the bee's face- now with a sort of pleading look to his face that Vector found hard to dismiss.
Instead, he tried to change the subject. "Um. Wow. How'd you find those?"
"I told you! I'm a good detective! Now please please please hire me."
"That's not legal. But, if you don't mind, please give me those…"
The kid handed them over easily. Maybe Vector wasn't the best, but his mind momentarily got distracted with the idea that, hey, he could get the kid to bring him money. He could get a monetary advantage through the kid, without actually "hiring" him. He quickly pushed that thought away.
"Hey. So, where are your parents? They're probably looking for ya."
"Um...I don't know. I don't remember seeing them. I guess I don't have any?"
"Well….er….who...owns you?"
"No one. It's just me."
"Just you?"
"Just me!"
Sympathy and pity threatened to take over the crocodile, just with the way that, despite what the kid had said, he stated it so cheerfully, oblivious to the sadness he should have said it with. He huffed again and put his forearm to the back of his head. "Well, tell ya what, ya got me these rings...I think I'll let ya inside, at least. Maybe you can work for me...um but not full shift or else I'd be in trouble with the law, but-"
There was a very long evening after that. The two detectives had several discussions between themselves over the matter. At first, Espio was strongly resistant to allowing the kid any part in the agency. Of course, he saw the sympathy with which Vector had made the decision. And, yes, perhaps they could provide temporary shelter to the bee, but that didn't mean they had to allow him work. (He also added they should be very careful for the first few days in case this was just some sort of trap for the detectives. It was their job to be suspicious, after all). Yet, Vector was the head detective and he had no authority to make the call. He decided to consider quitting, though, if the crocodile allowed sympathy to overrule his judgement.
Vector, on the other hand, was pretty sure it was in the best interest to allow the kid to stay with them. It would show the charitable nature of their detective agency, for one thing. For another, Vector suspected that the kid wasn't a bad addition in the first place. So long as he minded his manners. (Vector, having little experience with children, may have underestimated typical childish behavior at the time). If the kid lived with them, they would have to take him on their cases anyway, and then that way they could appease the bee by saying it counted as "hiring", too.
It was ultimately decided that they would let the bee stay, if only for a few weeks. It led them to do a few things they would have never considered doing otherwise.
The bee eventually settled into the small house, and though it took him awhile to get the general "schedule" right, he still managed it. He didn't appear to come with any trace of a past home or relatives or...anything really, though the detectives tried as hard as they could to find something. He had no recollection of a name. It took them two days, but they eventually found a name suitable enough. It was Vector's joke, at first, that he had been "tricked and charmed" into letting the bee in. At least, on the bad days he said that. Somehow, and they never really remembered when exactly, they transitioned from calling him "bee" to calling him "Charmy." A strange jump between words, but it worked in the end.
Espio often remarked that the bee had been very fortunate to find their detective agency, of all places. He could have very easily ended up at a place that was...not as friendly or with such good intention as they had there. Of course, Charmy had no clue about this until he was a bit older, but he would eventually come to appreciate them.
It may have secretly scared the two older detectives to think of how easily it would have been for someone else to take him. They may have also secretly been even more proud to be the people that took him in and made sure that those others didn't get to him first.
And the "few weeks" that they promised to let him stay, turned to several months.
It was a late night.
The insects and frogs were most likely dead now as it was getting to be a colder season.
The members of the Chaotix Detective Agency had long walked through the door in the evening and had long since stayed napping around.
"Wow. How long have I been out?" Vector mumbled when he finally awoke. The clock- 5 minutes wrong, as always- read 7:00 but it felt much later.
"Like, 20 minutes," Espio replied. His voice was tired, but he looked as wide awake as ever. Classic of him.
"You missed, like, the whooolllleee game of hockey, just saying. Well, the end of it anyway." Charmy stuck his tongue out in Vector's direction, but Vector only rubbed his eyes.
"Pff. Who cares about hockey? Basketball, football, golf...anything is better than that."
"Nuh-uh. Well, okay, maybe some sports are. But hockey is still better than golf."
"No."
"Yes!"
"Well." He yawned. "Maybe golf is more fun in practice."
"No."
"Uggghh," he threw his head back dramatically." I can't win any battles with you."
Charmy laughed like that was hysterical.
"Can we please watch the martial arts tournament now?" Espio sighed.
"No." Came two voices, jokingly.
Charmy handed Espio the remote.
"Y'know. You guys are fun." It was such a random comment that it caught Vector and Espio off-guard.
"Are we, now?" Espio asked, flipping through channels.
Vector had a quick random dispute with Espio questioning why they had martial arts on tv anyway, before Charmy could reply.
"Yes. Just look at you both!" He leaned towards Espio and looked up to see whether or not he'd be allowed...and he was. He leaned onto Espio's shoulder.
"We should be saying that of you," Espio said.
"Naaah. I'm no fun at alllll."
"You're getting to be too sarcastic all the time. Shouldn't be playing those games, should you?" Vector said. He was a bit envious of Espio's position and was embarrassed to himself because of it.
"No. I think that'd be your fault." Vector could feel that Charmy must have stuck his tongue out again- where'd he get that habit from, anyway?- but he couldn't see well in the dark living room. Well, dark except that the old tv that would keep blinding him with those flashing lights.
There was a silence, only broken by the announcer on tv.
"You know…"Charmy's small voice started off slowly, and startled Vector who had just begun to doze off again.
"Yeah?" The older detectives' voices unexpectedly synced, but they largely ignored this.
"I love you guys."
There was a pause, in which thoughts ran rapid.
"Oh." Espio spoke calmly. "You-you do?"
"Of course I do." He didn't hesitate.
Vector, meanwhile, looked over at him in silent shock. "Oh." He shocked himself even more by saying," That's good, kid. I love you too."
"You do?" Charmy sat up slightly from his leaning position. "Really?!"
"Yes."
"And I love you as well," Espio added, with surprisingly only a hint of hesitation.
Charmy held in a small squeal, or so it seemed, from the noise his throat made. "I love you both so much!"
There was a long, content silence in which the three of them glanced back at the tv, pretending to watch what was on it.
"Ok...but are you both...are you both sure?"
"Uh...yes." Vector responded, he hoped, for the both of them.
"Then will you take me to that theme park I wanted to go to?"
"Uggghh why are you such a rascal?" Vector ruffled the bee's antennae.
"Because I want to be?" Charmy smiled up at him in his semi-devilish way and Vector knew it was going to be a long while before he would become quiet again.
"Hmm, not a good excuse." He shook his head in feigned dismay. "Ya know, I s'pose you'll never let us live that confession down. Just 'cuz we admit to the fact that...yeah. We're smitten with you."
"Well maybe I'm proud of that fact." Charmy leaned into Vector's chest and settled there. Vector glanced Espio's way in slight triumph.
"I know ya are. Rascal, I told ya. But what can I say? I had no idea what to expect the day I brought you in, but I didn't expect things to turn out this way... At all."
"Is that a good thing or...?"
"Nah, it's a good thing, kid."
Vector leaned back further into the cushion and glanced at Charmy. "We are technically your legal guardians, after all. I think that goes to show how much we learned to love you."
"You mean?" Charmy looked frantically between the two, leaning forward and almost leaping off of the sofa in shock. "You mean, as in, you have papers? You signed the papers? You're both legally my- both of you?"
"Both of us." Espio answered, holding back as much emotion as he could. He hadn't been anticipating either of them admitting that to him, but it was just as well.
"So...so you're my legal guardians. Huh. Ok. Well, that's-" In his excitement, which he slowly grew embarrassed of, he couldn't seem to form the words.
"Your parents." Espio said, as quiet as he could manage. "Technically."
And the small bee embraced them both with tears streaming down his young face. None of them spoke, because frankly none of them knew what to say. But it was okay, neither of them would have wanted to take the chance of ruining the moment with words.
A tranquility fell over them, and they didn't speak again for several hours after.
Vector was probably not quite sure what he was building when he started hiring for his detective agency. Perhaps he thought he was just establishing a workplace for himself.
He had no way of knowing that at some point in time, years later, he would have a family, rather than detective partners.
As he hammered in the last nail, as he painted the last panel of wood, as he hung up the "Now Hiring" sign, he never could quite picture what this new stage of his life would bring him. And at that time he didn't really care. He distinctly remembered going inside on the final day of moving furniture and flopping down on the sofa, falling asleep right away.
Unknowing that a couple knocks at his door in the next few weeks would change his agency forever. His life along with it.
It was a late night.
The crickets, and frogs, and whatever other creatures were out there, were probably just as loud and bothersome as ever; it was just that they had started to generally ignore it.
The members of the Chaotix Detective Agency walked through the door of their home, chattering to one another as if they had something new to talk about. And while they weren't quite sappy enough to compliment one another on completion of the case (though they had their sappy moments), some of the things they said tended to come off that way unintentionally.
The amount of time it took for them to get settled into the house was much quicker than it had been so many months ago.
Nowadays all it really took was for them to sit down and argue, rather vaguely, over tv even though they didn't really watch it once they decided on a channel.
Most nights, as with that one, they just sat on their undersized sofa and absentmindedly chit-chatted.
"I can't believe you still have those chips stored away…" Vector noted, with a suspicious and slightly alarmed look towards Charmy.
Charmy shrugged it off. "Well, I've had them in my room for a little while now. Y'know? From that one case? And the lady gave us some bags of chips as a reward? And you got all mad...and so I took them for you?"
"I'm not sure which is worse. The fact that you got them that long ago, or the fact that you kept them in your room to begin with," Vector said.
"Or the fact that you just accepted food from a stranger. What did we tell you about that?" Espio added.
"Yeah...but, it's been this long, and I haven't gotten sick!" The bee stuck his tongue out at his companions, despite knowing it was fair advice.
"Hmm. And what would we have done if it did make you sick?" Espio looked over at him mildly, his dango- quickly snatched from the fridge upon arriving- still at hand, hardly forgotten about.
"Um...taken me to the hospital?..."
"Well, we don't ever want to have to do that."
"Especially financially," Vector joked.
"Yes. Especially." Charmy rolled his eyes playfully.
"Nah. Nah. We would never want that in the first place." The crocodile put his arms around the two, something that wasn't quite uncommon anymore.
"Well...let's hope not." Clearly, Espio was still uncomfortable with any displays of affection, but he did his best to seem steady.
"Aww, you still a little afraid a' me?"
"No. Of course not." And he pushed Vector's arm away despite his denial.
"Thought so." And the crocodile grinned at him in his own irritating way and Espio couldn't help but smile back and bear it.
"You know, no matter how much I...like you." He was ever careful with wording, not planning on admitting "love" quite yet. "I might not ever be used to your...affections. That's just not the ninja thing to do, you know."
"I know, I know." He shook his head. "But you better get used to it, anyway, Es."
"Hmm."
"It might not be the ninja way, but you can keep a secret. Can't you, ninja?"
"I suppose I can." But he only playfully glanced at his boss, hardly considering it. Or perhaps silently considering it.
Charmy glanced curiously between the two adults. "Are you guys ever going to…'fess up?"
"'Fess up? 'Fess up to what?" Vector raised his eyes at the bee.
"How much you care about each other?"
"Oh." Vector, not expecting that answer, gave no response for a long while. "Well...we care...enough."
Espio nodded and returned to eating at his dango, unsettled and yet...slightly okay, this time, with the vulnerability.
"As for you…" Vector said, changing topics, ruffling Charmy's antennas. "Ya know how we feel 'bout ya. So no need to be interferin' with our matters, k?"
"Ok….but what if I'm the only one who can get you guys to admit it...remember that night?"
"Yeah, yeah, we all remember that night. No need to rub it in. We both know how we feel about each other, and that's enough. Right, Es?"
"Yes...of course." And he was hoping that he actually did know. But he wondered if they could ever really tell whether they liked each other equally or not; and if so, to what degree, in what relational sense?
Vector nodded and the subject was dismissed for most of the night, despite the fact that, again, he insisted on wrapping an arm around the chameleon.
A few hours later, long after Charmy had fallen asleep, the subject was cautiously brought back to Vector's mind, as he stole a glance at the chameleon a few feet away.
Espio looked back at him for a moment, in a way more quiet and steady than Vector had, despite his efforts.
The moonbeams coming through the window glinted off of their wine glasses and covered a portion of the floor.
Vector was lying in bed, his glass at hand held in a way posing a danger to spill. Espio was across from him, closer to the window, on his cot and sipping occasionally from his own glass, but not as frequently as Vector did. The moonlight cast over him, being closest to the window, was rather beautiful and haunting. Charmy was in the living room elsewhere, lying on the sofa and enwrapped in his blanket, probably dreaming of something outlandish.
Vector laughed, as softly as he could, in an effort to break the strange silence. And the other finally spoke.
"What is it?" And the other glanced out of the window due to habit. No one was out there, as usual, and it was relieving.
"I don't know, I was just thinking." He didn't tell the other about the fact that he was thinking about what Charmy had said earlier, contemplating his thoughts about Espio. Instead he just gave a toothy smile and took another sip.
"Hmm." He looked at Vector with the same graveness that he always held, but there was a certain softness and intimacy that was within and threatened to show itself. "Well, keep it to yourself then."
"I will." He kept watching the chameleon, smiling to himself slightly as he reflected on how far they'd come from that moment they first met.
Espio looked away, back out the window. And he didn't tell, but he did have an idea of what Vector was thinking of. He took occasional glances at the crocodile, returning the sentiment silently, in his own way.
As they eventually set their glasses down, lying back in their beds to sleep, Espio nodded towards the other. "Well, goodnight."
"Goodnight," Vector returned, voice surprisingly warm. "I'll see ya in the mornin'."
They might not have acknowledged in words their trust, their confiding in one another, but they both knew. And that was enough for them; in fact that was more than enough for them, especially considering one of them was a dedicated ninja.
The truth was that they had eternal trust in one another. And that was beautiful and terrifying and rare.
The Chaotix Detective Agency was a business to most, but to the Chaotix themselves, it had slowly become a home.
A run-down, mostly unfurnished, rusty home externally. But in all other ways, it was the only home they ever wanted. Money could not buy them a better one.