It smelled of three-week-old banana peels blended with a fragrant aroma of what was sure to be vomit kindly donated by a late-night party-goer.
"For the love of God, SpongeBob, tell us what you're looking for already so I can go home and play my clarinet in peace!"
SpongeBob sprang up from the garbage heap, unidentifiable sludge ran down all of his pores.
"Squidward!" he exclaimed, mouth agape "One shouldn't use Neptune's name so willy nilly like that! Get over here and help me find Patrick, he seems to have lost himself in the refuse"
"Nope! Nope! Absolutely not, there is no way you can convince me to willingly crawl in a garbage bin. Not even if you dazzled pearls and jewels before my eyes, there is no way I am getting in—"
"Squidward? SpongeBob me' boy?" a familiar crustaceous voice could be heard in the distance.
"Mr Krabs?" SpongeBob and Squidward said askance in unison. Both hands full of groceries, the red character scuttled his way closer to his below minimum wage employees.
"What are you boys up to?"
"Well, Mr. K, we're on a treasure hunt!"
The blood from Squidward's face flushed, his face pale as a sheet of paper. Mention one thing about gold, money, treasure, or anything related to the three and throw in SpongeBob and you get an expedition filled with reckless abandon. The value wasn't necessarily in the object itself but in the hunt for those two. Squidward knew this very well, even if they didn't, but it wasn't such a fact that spooked the soul out of Squidward's body rather it was the sheer absence of morality in their actions to reach the end of their quest. In their unquenchable thirst for adventure, no one within the city limits would be safe from what those two would do to find some piece of garbage that they would dub 'treasure'. It wasn't something Squidward ever understood and it isn't something that he cares to ever find some semblance of understanding. All he knows is that he may very well be the only thing that can stand between the two and the rest of the city. In a way, he felt responsible for these grown men as if they were his children. This, however, was something Squidward was not aware of. It was a strong belief held deeply in his subconscious that caused him to say things like:
"Yes. A treasure hunt. Why don't you help SpongeBob dig for it."