all that jazz
theme 05: hidden treasure
"Please don't tell me we wasted the entire day, burning down Hojo's laboratory, which I will never regret – but on this occasion I might, for the sake of a missing teddy bear!" Reno scowled, raking his red hair back.
"… maybe." Elena shyly smiled, squirming ever so slightly.
Her hands tightened protectively against Splodge, a teddy with patchwork fur and a missing button eye.
"Oh, look!" Rude attempted melodrama. "The bear has lost an eye. Somebody call the doctor immediately!"
Cue the gasp and glassy, weeping eyes.
"I can't see anyone." Elena sniffed, holding the bear out. "It's you, Rude, it has to be you. Save my Splodge, because only you can save him!"
"With pleasure, ma'am. A good friend always carries a button and needlework with them." Quite macho, Rude attempted to continue the act in a gruff voice, pulling out the correct needle size. "And may I say, ma'am, that you have a stupendous uppercut when punching the lights out of Hojo."
"I learn from the best." Elena blushed, giggling.
"Oh my god." Reno blinked, possibly blind from the stranger's actions, previously known as Rude. "Elena, I think you broke Rude. You made him… weird. And what the hell is up with that bear?"
"Secret." She grinned brightly, actually skipping in joy.
Reno would never know that Splodge was Rude's welcoming gift to Elena for initiating into the Turks.
Because all the elite have patchwork teddy bears named Splodge, no matter how hidden they were from the world.