King Julien sighed, leaning back in his spinning throne. His collar was chafing his neck, and he had begun to scratch at his much like Clover had done. He had resorted to kicking at his neck with his back leg like a mangy foosa, because his kick and claws were stronger there. "Maurice! I need help."
The portly advisor winced. He was mere feet away from King Julien, it wasn't as if his shout was needed. He flicked his right ear, wondering if he'd be able to hear from it properly still. "What is it, Your Majesty?" He responded finally.
"This collar! It's totally not cool, man, it makes it hard to dance, it doesn't play music, it's rubbing my neck all sore, and it itches." With that, he sat up and crossed his arms, a new round of itching eating at his neck. He resisted it for a few seconds before digging into his neck, scratching beneath the collar's box shape especially. It was good only Maurice was in the room; he looked like he was infested with parasites, the way he was digging into his skin.
"King Julien, you have to stop scratching, at least," Maurice practically yawned the words out, rubbing his eyes. He sat down the stack of papers and the feather-tipped pen he was writing on them with. King Julien usually had stacks of paperwork to finish as part of his job, but rarely did the ring-tailed lemur actually do them - it usually fell to Maurice to do so. "If you start to look unhappy the kingdom will get freaked out… And we don't want that, not with trees falling all over the place." He hopped down from his seat and hobbled across the room to where a dusty, ragged suitcase sat against the wall. Maurice opened it and began to dig through it, hoping there was something in the 'first aid kit' that could ease King Julien's scratching.
"Your Majesty! I found her trespassing," came Clover's strong voice, cutting their discussion short. The entrance to the king's quarters, a set of red, tattered curtains, were flung open dramatically by Clover to announce her presence. She was dragging a familiar (and similar) crowned lemur behind her.
Crimson, looking worn and quite angry, stood up and shoved Clover off herself. She, too, sported a collar. It was just as dull gray as her sister's. "I come only because I need help… and if you help me, then I guess I owe you. We can argue barter terms later. But I need - wait, you and my sister both have one of these?" She snorted, crossing her arms. "I suppose I can give up asking for help on that now then. But that doesn't change that lemurs are disappearing. Your uncle, Julie, is gone."
"Am I supposed to feel bad about that? He was always trying to… you know… kill me, and so were you, now that I think about it!" King Julien stood up and lashed his tail. "Why are you here?" He pointed at her and pursed his lips angrily.
"Look, the past sucks between us, but can we move on, Schmoopy-Bear? I really am in need of a little help…" Crimson pushed out her hips and blinked fervently at him. He stared at her when she did that. Her blue eyes entranced him, her soft, perfect curves adding to the bliss. He heard Maurice whisper his name, snapping him out of it. King Julien shook his head quickly, ripping himself out of the silly trance.
"Where's your… muscular, big, boyfriend? Sage?" King Julien huffed. "Can't he help you? Without the threat of me dying?"
"He was captured," Crimson muttered. "I just need a place to stay until this blows over, Schmoopy-Bear." She flitted her eyelids at him and tilted her head cutely.
"And why should we trust you?" Clover shoved her sister to the floor suddenly, holding her down by stepping on her chest. "You've tried to poison, maim, destroy, and otherwise kill King Julien!"
"Calls into question why you even brought her to my office, Clover…" King Julien raised his hands and made a questioning gesture, a confused look on his face. "Kind of a bad move when you think about it, really…" He paused and put a hand on his lower jaw in a show of thinking.
"Because ultimately it isn't Clover's decision," Crimson stated in her sultry, sweet voice. She brushed herself off as she stood again, throwing her sister off balance and causing her to topple over. While Clover shook off the force of the fall, Crimson pranced over to King Julien. She wasn't afraid to flaunt her curves and it more than distracted the king.
Clover looked purely livid, her tail lashing and ears twitching. She hadn't even bothered to get back up. "He wouldn't have much of a choice if I just took you out…" She growled.
"Your own sister?" Crimson laughed. "That'd be low, even for you, Clo-Clo." Crimson shot her an innocent smile.
"Don't call me 'Clo-Clo.' It's Clover."
"Whichever you prefer, Clo-Clo. Now, Julie, you wouldn't let me be helpless and alone out there would you?" The crowned lemur purred and wrapped her tail softly around his neck, pulling him to her height and locking her blue eyes with his intense, amber ones. "Why live in the past, anyway, Julie, when we can make the present so much better? You're the here and now type, aren't you, dear?"
"Um…" King Julien was rendered speechless, his tail swishing back and forth in confused excitement. His ears had fallen flat against his head, a stupid expression engulfing his face.
"It's King Julien," Clover corrected her sister again. She was met with silence.
King Julien swallowed and carefully plucked Crimson's tail from around his neck as he finally came back to his senses. "Well… I guess trying to forget the past is a good idea…" He grinned nervously up at Crimson. "But you better not try to… kill me, or something! Clover, go make sure Uncle is actually captured and Sage is too… If they're not, I want Crimson out of here the second you know."
"Of course, Your Majesty!" Clover saluted him and then dove out the window of the metal bird.
Maurice was looking at the situation with a tired expression. "I'm going to go on a calm, peaceful walk, away from all of this."
"And leave me alone with the, well, hot, but still a psycho pyscho!? Hello, Maurice!" King Julien waved at his advisor. "You can't go!"
"I'll yell at Mort to get up here or… something." Maurice yawned and scratched his back, wandering out of the room. True to his word, Mort then came dashing in a few seconds later. He stared precisely at Crimson and didn't stop. King Julien swore he didn't even pause to blink.
"So… Crimson… How'd you get your pretty necklace, haha..?" King Julien laughed nervously and batted at the collar that was so similar to his around her neck. He turned his back to her and, after throwing a glance over his shoulder to ensure she didn't attempt to attack him, he went back to sitting in his swivel seat of a throne. He retrieved the bony arm of a long-dead furless from beside his chair and held it close. Despite Mort watching over him, he didn't feel quite safe. The bone arm helped him feel more in charge, as well.
"Trying to save your uncle. Then I realized the old rat wasn't worth it, but only too late," she sighed. "How about you?" She pushed her hips to the side again and swayed her lengthy tail.
"Well, you see… The peoples were all upset and afraid of the big noisy things, so I went to see them and tell them, you know, you got to go! This is my kingdom! And I fought them with my awesome… kingly… powers, and they ran away screaming. But one dropped this thing on me and I can't get it off." King Julien raised his chin triumphantly, pointing at the collar as if it were a trophy.
"He ran off in the middle of the night and was knocked out by the furless, and came back with it on," Mort giggled a few seconds after King Julien's explanation. "The furless are still here. Clover, Maurice, and I found him past the south side."
"I think I believe Mort more than you, Julie." Crimson rolled her blue eyes and brushed her tail against his nose. "As… totally realistic as yours was." She blew a kiss in his direction and then sauntered over to the seat Maurice had been sitting on prior to her arrival. She curled up in the smaller chair, tucking herself in an almost perfect ball. She flicked her tail, sending the stack of papers Maurice had finished dealing with into the floor. She gave a small, mischievous giggle as she closed her eyes to rest.
"Mort, is this what sleeping with the enemy means?" King Julien asked in a raspy whisper. The mouse lemur shrugged without looking back at him, his eyes still trained solely on Crimson.