Chapter Three

The Check-Off

This is the last day…. The young platypus's thoughts drifted.

He had closed his eyes only for a moment, but now it seemed he'd fallen asleep, or was at least dozing. How could he help it? He hardly ever found peace like this, especially back at Camp Kidney.

But his mind still pressured on, reminding him of the little time he had left. He finally forced his eyes open, sat up, and stretched.

It took a moment to realize that his monkey companion was no longer sprawled out alongside him.

He sighed, rolling his eyes. Here we go again….. He feared that another search was in order. But as he got to his feet, he spotted the monkey off in the distance, rummaging around in the sunflower field, looking as cheerful as ever.

Edward brushed off some grass that had made rest on his attire. Before he could gallop off towards the field, he noticed green stains on his shirt and groaned. "….That'll take forever to get out!"

Lazlo, who was busy in the flowers, glanced up to see the platypus fussing on about his shirt. He stood up and started waving with excitement. "Edward!!!! Hey Edward!!!!"

Edward looked over at the monkey, who was jumping up and down. He glared. "…..Settle down, would yah? I'm comin'…."

Lazlo's smile widened as he commenced digging around amongst the vegetation as Edward made his way over.

As the platypus stepped through the stalks and finally stood beside Lazlo, the monkey quickly got to his feet, holding his hands behind his back. A dark blush was visible on his cheeks.

Edward grew annoyed. "….What's with that look?"

Lazlo turned even more red. "….Um, well…" The monkey stalled.

Edward promptly grew impatient. "Spit it out!"

Lazlo bit his bottom lip, then smiled timidly. "Look! I picked these for you! Yah like em!?" He pulled out from behind him a giant batch of sunflowers and shoved them into Edward's arms, nearly knocking the little platypus over.

After regaining balance, Edward glanced down at the messy heap of dirty sunflowers resting in his arms. How should he react to this? He always had to make sure he retorted the correct way. The safe way.

What he had wanted to do was leap around in happiness, grab the monkey, and kiss him til his lips fell off. But instead he tried to maintain a serious composure.

"…..Ugh…. these things are filthy! Geesh! They'll stain my shirt ten times worse than the grass!"

He let the flowers drop to the ground, but Lazlo seemed un-phased by Edward's unexcited response. He stepped closer to him, so close they nearly touched noses. "…It's ok….I've got Tide back at the cabin."

The monkey's voice was smooth and enticing. Edward could feel his stomach drop and his legs turn to jello. He couldn't stand it when Lazlo used stupid puns to lure him.

He swallowed hard before looking away from Lazlo's adjacent gaze. "…Th-Thanks for the flowers…." He made it sound like he was exasperated with the monkey as he picked one of the flowers back up. He hated pretending. Truth was, he desperately appreciated everything Lazlo did for him! And the more the monkey did, the more Edward wanted. And what Edward wanted was more of Lazlo! Everything of Lazlo. But Lazlo was so naïve and oblivious to everything, especially to characteristics of desire, so how could he ever understand the intensity of his own? This aspect of the situation was salvation to Edward though. At least some of his feelings were still secret. Maybe they should remain that way?

He finally turned away from the monkey and started heading back through the sunflower stalks. "We should probably get back to camp… It's getting late."

Lazlo's shoulders dropped a bit. He'd wanted the day to continue! Was it really that late already? He journeyed after Edward. "Hey, wait!"

Edward was watching his feet walk beneath him as he trudged along through the flowers. All this blushing was bad for his complexion, but he couldn't make himself stop. It was all that idiot monkey's fault.

"Edward, stop! Wait for me!" Lazlo still chased after him.

Edward could feel his heart beating out of control. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't he stop it? Why couldn't he just get over this?

It was constant; the pressure to not like Lazlo. Here he'd found himself spending the entire day with him, as he'd been doing all summer. But today should have been different. His main goal was to break things off with the monkey for good, ultimately stopping himself from liking him so much. This was all so that when he had to say goodbye the next day, he could do it with some dignity and move on with his life afterwards.

But it was getting increasingly harder for him to make himself dislike the monkey.

He hated this.

He began to think of ways out.

Maybe he could ditch him once they arrived back at camp? Maybe he could just shut himself up in Pinto cabin and pack his things by himself! And not come out until the bus came to take him to the airport the next morning! He could avoid Lazlo for the rest of the night and then not say goodbye….and then maybe he could finally forget the monkey. Maybe that would make it easier?

Just then, a hand slipped into his own.

He stopped walking and raised his eyes to find Lazlo standing there beside him with that goofy smile of his mixed with worry spread across his face like a canvas.

His doubts melted for a moment, and then he had to force himself to remember them all.

"…..Wanna pack our stuff together?" Lazlo sounded like he was inviting the platypus to play a fun game.

Edward wished he could just push Lazlo away.

What was it he wanted?…. Did he want to hate Lazlo? Or did he want to love Lazlo? Love was such a strong word… A word Edward barely understood or cared about.

But when he stood there with the monkey's hand tightly squeezing his, how could he make himself hate that?

He loved every moment with Lazlo, whether he wanted to admit it or not!

Maybe he just didn't want to have to say goodbye in the first place?

Maybe he wasn't really trying to force himself to hate the monkey at all?

Maybe he'd already made up his mind that he loved the monkey more than anything, and nothing could change that!

He couldn't deny it.

"…Sure, let's go pack." He spoke with a calm essence, caving in.

Lazlo smiled with optimism.

As they began walking back through the forest towards Camp Kidney, Edward lowered his head once more to stare at his feet and hide his face. He didn't want Lazlo to see him fight away angry tears.

Camp had settled down immensely compared to the earlier hullabaloo. A pile of suitcases resembling Mt. Everest towered overhead Slinkman as he did his final name check.

"Alright, Milt, looks like you're all set. Good job, camper!"

The young hippo swooned in Slinkman's praise before skipping off to join his cabin-buddies.

The slug heaved a sigh, enjoying the evening air. It had finally begun to cool down. He peered over his list one more time, then rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot… we still have one more scout left." He held his index finger over Lazlo's name.

Before he could take off in a search for the monkey, his eyes caught the blank spot of another un-checked name.

"….Edward T. Platypus? Hm, that's funny, he's usually one of the first names I get to check off! I better look around for him too. Shoot, if Lumpus finds out that there are two scouts without luggage packed he'll throw a fit! And I've certainly had enough of his fits for one summer!"

As Slinkman rushed off to commence his hunt, Raj and Clam watched with peaceful expressions from the grassy sidelines.

"It has most definitely been a nice last day, eh Clam?"

"Lovely!"

The two friends smiled at one another. They'd kept busy all afternoon by playing at the beach, chasing the oh-so elusive imaginary lake monsters crawling around at the bottom of Leaky Lake. They soon tuckered themselves out and made their way to a nice resting spot in the cool grass, where they now sat.

It had been a good day. Fitting for the end of summer. Clam was surprised and relieved that Raj hadn't mentioned Lazlo's absence since their earlier discussion.

Naturally though, Raj was still curious as to where his monkey pal had been all afternoon and finally blurted out the question, "You think Lazlo had a nice day too?"

Clam just shrugged.

All of a sudden, out of the bushes emerged Lazlo with a limp Edward following closely after, hands still clasped together firmly.

Raj jumped up from his seat in the grass and rushed over to them. "There you are!"

Clam strolled after the elephant, waving.

Lazlo smiled and waved back. "Hey guys! Sorry about being gone for so long! I guess we lost track of time!"

Raj recognized Lazlo's plural reference and peeked behind the monkey at Edward, who was usually full of crude remarks at this point, but instead was as quiet as a mouse!

When the platypus realized he was being watched, he threw Lazlo's hand down and crossed his arms in front of his chest, averting eye contact.

Raj just raised an eyebrow then returned a worried gaze to his friend. "It's quite alright, Lazlo! Clam and I have had a fun afternoon as well. But you could have been a tad bit earlier than this! Slinkman is off looking for you as we speak!"

Lazlo tilted his head. "Why? Are we in some sort of trouble?"

Raj shook his head. "No, but you will be if you don't get your luggage out to the flagpole by 5:00 p.m.!"

Lazlo gasped. "Oops! I didn't know there was a packing time-limit! How much longer do we have?"

Clam lifted his arm up to Lazlo's face, revealing a wristwatch. It read 5:45 p.m.

Raj frowned nervously. "…Oh! Um….looks like… it's later than I suspected? Eh heh!"

"Very late!!" Clam exclaimed.

Lazlo nearly lost his footing. "Oh no! Come on, Edward, we gotta go pack our stuff, warp speed!!"

The seemingly mute platypus allowed himself to be yanked away.

Raj and Clam could only watch as they disappeared into camp.

"Is it just me, or is Edward acting a bit more silent than usual?" Raj pondered aloud.

"Soundless." Clam nodded in agreement.

Lazlo dragged a stuffed suitcase across camp and up the steps to Pinto cabin. Inside, Edward sat alone on his bed, organizing his summer clothes and folding each individual item with precision. This allowed him to concentrate on something else other than the events of the day, and of course the burning thought of Lazlo in general. It was all too confusing.

Lazlo looked around the room and noticed Chip and Skip's absence, then remembered that "The end of Camp Kidney" campfire was taking place down by the lake.

He himself had wanted to join in on the campfire fun, but knew that he and Edward needed to get their belongings in order first.

He dragged his suitcase across the wooden floor and then plopped it up onto Edward's bed.

The platypus was still concentrating hard on color-coordinating his socks, pretending not to notice Lazlo's obvious presence.

Lazlo rocked back and forth for a moment on his toes before decided to crawl up onto the bed along with his suitcase. The mattress springs squeaked loudly in reaction to the extra added weight and Edward lost focus. He glared across the bed at the monkey, who sat there happily staring back.

"Oh I know! Let's see who can go the longest without blinking!" Lazlo grew excited and leaned closer, eyeballs wide as saucers.

Edward had to hold himself back from attacking the ignorant monkey. He sarcastically blinked ten times in a row to end the silly game.

"Cool beans, I win! Wanna play again? I'll give you a head start!" Lazlo was unfazed.

Edward gripped a pair of socks between his fists, then took a deep breath and set them down into his suitcase neatly.

Lazlo could tell he'd been acting weird, but Edward was usually a complex kid to begin with, so most of the time Lazlo pretended not to notice the silent-spells. Tonight was different though, they should be having fun on their last night! Making more happy memories to look back on!

He opened his suitcase and began pulling out random clothing and toys he'd brought over with him from Jelly Cabin.

Edward couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't just packed at his own cabin instead of hauling all of his things over to his. He watched as Lazlo began to wad tee-shirts and pants together and stuff them into hit and miss sections in his bag. Edward couldn't help but cringe. "You pack like a chronic idiot."

Lazlo looked up from his packing, "haha, really?" He was happy to hear some words come out of the platypus's mouth finally.

Edward sighed and crawled over to Lazlo's end of the bed, sitting down cross-legged beside him. "Move over. Let me show you how it's done."

Lazlo watched like a curious child as Edward un-waded the clothing and folded them orderly by size and color.

"Wow, you're really good at that!" The monkey exclaimed once Edward was finished.

"Yeah, yeah….you owe me for doing your packing for you."

As Edward crawled back across the bed to complete his own packing duties, Lazlo spotted a red-haired doll peeking out from the edge of the bed-sheets.

"Aw, don't forget Veronica!" The monkey picked her up and hugged her caringly. "She'd be lost without you!"

Edward gasped and yanked her out of Lazlo's arms, pulling her close to him aggressively, but with deep and obvious affection as well. "….Thanks."

Things were quiet for a moment. Outside, crickets chirped as the camp grew dark.

Lazlo looked around the cabin, now empty except for the beds and the small nightstands. Everything had been boxed up and ready to be shipped away.

It hadn't really dawned on him that camp was actually ending. He knew it in his mind, but refused to let it sink in! But after seeing Veronica's smiling face disappear into Edward's luggage and the cold emptiness of Pinto Cabin wrapping around him, he felt it; that feeling everyone gets when something wonderful is about to end.

He looked back at Edward, who had finally gotten the latch to close on his suitcase. His heart sank and rose at the same time. A complex emotion he wasn't familiar with.

He opened his mouth to speak, "I'm really gunna miss--…."

Edward peered across the bed at the monkey, waiting for him to finish.

"……."

"Miss what?" Edward finally had to ask after almost 5 minutes with no continuance to Lazlo's sentence.

Lazlo just shook his head and smiled. "Never mind. Hey, we're done packing!"

Just as Lazlo let these words leave his lips, the cabin door swung open revealing an overly exasperated Slinkman! "You boys are in MAJOR trouble!"

Lazlo and Edward just blinked.

Slinkman continued. "I've searched the entire camp for you two! Had to miss the first half of the traditional Goodbye Camp Kidney Campfire and everything!! Are your belongings ready yet?!! Lumpus is already going over the check-off list as we speak!"

It wasn't like the calm and passive Slinkman to barge into a cabin and make a ruckus, but Lazlo and Edward were on their feet by now carrying their suitcases out the front door.

"Sorry Mr. Slinkman! We….just had so much stuff! We had to spend extra time getting it all together!" Lazlo tried to sound apologetic as he lied with terrible skill.

Slinkman tapped his foot on the wood floorboards, then slowly started settling down. "Oh, it's alright Lazlo. I'm not mad, just stressed. You have no idea what kind of upset Lumpus gets into on packing day--"

"SLINKMAN!!!!!!!" An enormous scream was heard from outside. Pinto cabin trembled.

"Oh great, this is exactly the kind of thing I was worried about…!" Slinkman ran over to the two boys and hurried them outside the cabin and towards the flagpole. "Get your things over there and I'll deal with Lumpus!"

Lazlo and Edward did as they were told and literally threw their suitcases in front of them to make it to the flagpole in time.

"SLINKMAN, WHERE ARE YOU?!!" Lumpus was calling for the slug from his quarters. After a moment of silence, his left eye started twitching. "Ugh, fine! I guess if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself!" The moose began marching out his front door with rage in his eyes, holding the check-off list in one hand and a sledgehammer in the other.

Slinkman ran in front of the scoutmaster and tried to act casual. "Uhm, what's the problem sir?"

"Slinky! There you are! I'LL tell you what the problem is!! LOOK AT THIS!" Lumpus shoved the list in front of Slinkman's bobbing eyes.

The slug took the list and then smiled. "Oh! There seems to be a spelling mistake on here…" He took out a pen and started scribbling.

Lumpus grabbed it back before he could finish. "No, Slinkman! Not a spelling mistake!! Two campers names are missing checks on here!! ….See….right here!" He pointed to Lazlo and Edward's names. "THERE!!! Where ARE these beans?!!"

Slinkman began to sweat, then looked over his shoulder and found relief in seeing Lazlo waving happily back at him, he and Edward both sitting on top of their suitcases under the flagpole.

"Right over there, sir! Edward and Lazlo! You see, nothing to worry about! I simply forgot to check off their names from earlier!" As Slinkman said this, he snuck his pen in-between Lumpus's arms and put checks by their names cautiously.

Lumpus read the list over again, then rolled his eyes. "….Monkey boy and pollywog, eh?" He sneered over at the boys, who just stared back at him. Lazlo looked pleased.

Finally after a second or two, Lumpus bent down and whispered to Slinkman secretively. "Keep an eye on those two… They're trouble! Nothing but trouble! Especially that Lazlo feller'…."

Slinkman blinked, "…Of course, sir…"

The moose made a 'humph' noise and trudged back to his cabin. Before he entered, he turned back around, pointing at all of them menacingly. "AND WHY AREN'T YOU ALL AT THE CAMPFIRE!! GET OVER THERE NOW!! IT'S A TRADITION!!"

Slinkman lifted a finger to speak. "Yes, but, um...sir? Aren't you going to be joining us also? After all, you just said it's a tradition."

"You know I would, but I've got a date with a bathtub and a lazi-boy chair that I just can't cancel again!"

The slug wallowed for a moment. "Sir, I really think you should--"

"I SAID GO TO THE CAMPFIRE AND LET ME HAVE MY PEACE!!! GAHHSHH!!"

Lazlo jumped up and waved. "Loud and clear, Scoutmaster Lumpus!!"

The door was slammed before the moose could hear the monkey's loyal response.

Slinkman sighed and then walked over to the boys as he wiped his forehead with a hanky. "That was close, you two, but thank you for getting your luggage taken care of before Lumpus really got out of control!"

"No problem, Mr. Slinkman!" Lazlo smiled.

"You should hurry over to the campfire now! I'll be there in a jiffy!" Slinkman saluted them and then hopped off.

Lazlo saluted back, then glanced over at Edward who was staring glumly at the ground. He nudged him in the arm gently. "Wanna go to the campfire? See everyone?"

Edward sighed. "….I guess. Better than doing nothing for the rest of the night."

"It'll be fun!" Lazlo grabbed his hand and ran off towards the lake to join the other scouts.

Edward didn't really know what he wanted anymore, but a burning feeling inside him pressed him to tag along with Lazlo as long as he had time to. As much as he hated pointless traditional campfires and all the other scouts, the evening was dark and Lazlo's hand was warm, and his gut told him to hold on tight and pretend that the next day wouldn't come.

[TBC