Method #2: Spreading Rumors

"Something tells me this isn't a good idea."

"I know. It's a great idea!"

"That's not exactly what I meant." Russell finally averts his gaze from the blue mongoose quietly conversing with Penny Ling at the other end of the pet shop. He ducks behind the large recliner chair again, dragging Minka back with him. He gives Minka a look; a look that he hopes says, 'Maybe we shouldn't do this.' Minka blinks, giving him a blank stare, so Russell knows it didn't translate. He sighs. What he's feeling right now isn't exactly easy to put into words… "Ominous" might be a good one. Or maybe "misfortunate?"

No, Russell isn't feeling misfortunate, since nothing bad has happened yet. But he has a feeling that misfortune will befall them if they go through with Minka's plan. Or maybe he's just been watching too much of The Duchess of Lancashire Lane.

Finally, he decides to voice these concerns to Minka, who plops down onto her bottom as Russell begins to speak—almost as if she knows she'll need to get comfy. "Look, Minka, your idea is great and all, but it's kind of…," he struggles to find a word that doesn't sound cruel or harsh, "controlling."

Minka blinks again, her expression hardly having changed. "Well, I don't see what the big deal is." She gestures towards Russell with one paw, for emphasis. "You control people all the time, Russell!"

Russell sputters before regaining his composure, scowling as he mutters, "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." Minka doesn't respond, so Russell continues. "Anyway, what I'm saying is, we shouldn't be spreading lies just to get the two of them together. It's manipulative, rude, and a surefire way to get caught!"

Minka pouts. "I don't see your point," she says sharply, folding her arms across her chest.

Russell groans, massaging the bridge of his nose. He doesn't have a headache, but he wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly got one out of nowhere. He's about to argue his case when Minka starts talking; and once she starts, she doesn't stop.

"Okay, yeah, so it's kinda manipulative, but what other choice do we have? You were the one who took notes on their personality, so you were already gonna manipulate them anyway, right? Right?" She smiles a little, sure of herself. "Right! So, if we just go with my plan, we can be just a little more manipulative, with twice the reaction! And after this, there's no way Sunil's gonna think of Vinnie as just a friend! And—plus—technically, if I do it, it wouldn't be a lie, since I sorta heard it from you, right?" She grins again. "Right!"

Whatever Russell was going to say is demolished now, because Minka is right. What Russell was doing was already manipulation, and chances are, this is going to be much more effective than his old plan. Plus, it's not like Sunil's going to tell anybody that—

"So, can I go tell him?"

Russell nods, albeit hesitantly. "Sure, you can tell him." Minka leaps away from her spot on the floor, hurdling herself away from the recliner chair and towards Sunil. "Just don't tell him you know it's true, because even I'm not sure—" Too late, Minka's already halfway across the pet shop, and raising his voice any further would reveal their plan to the other pets.

"Don't tell who she knows it's true?"

Russell suddenly sucks in air, and he squeaks as it rushes past his teeth. He turns on his heel, instantly turning bright red.

Too late. Again.

x

"Sunil, Sunil!" Minka cries as she races across the pet shop. Sunil turns around, his eyes growing wide in recognition. Minka can hardly contain her excitement. This could change everything, thiscouldchangeeverything, thiscouldchangeeverything.

Just like Russell, Minka has thought—for a while now—that Vinnie and Sunil might be cute together. …Okay, maybe it's more like she saw Vinnie fall on top of Sunil once or twice, and immediately started painting pictures of them in that position, maybe just as an excuse to get them to stay in said position for just a little longer… But having them as a couple would also be nice, if not better, because it gave Minka the opportunity to see them in that position for even longer! And also kissing. Kissing would be nice.

So when Minka reaches Sunil's side, she bursts into a flurry of excited, incoherent nonsense. "Sunil, Sunil—guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat, You'll never guess! I was talking with someone—I won't say who—and guess what they said you'll never guess."

Sunil blinks once, then twice; very quickly. "I—um, Minka…" He takes a deep breath, as if translating her babbling in his head. "Alright, what is it that they were saying?"

Minka's smile grows wider. Here it comes… "They said you and Vinnie—" she drags the next word out for effect, "—miiiiight be kinda really cute together!" She's practically bouncing on her heels now; she's so excited to see Sunil's reaction.

First, Sunil looks confused, if not a little concerned. Then, as realization strikes, his eyes grow wide and his fur takes on a deep red tint. Then, he adverts his eyes from Minka, hunching his shoulders and bringing both paws up to his mouth. "Oh."

Minka's on the edge of her seat now. "Oh?!" she repeats, in a tone nearly opposite of Sunil's.

Sunil's staring at his feet now, so Minka follows his gaze. One foot kicks back and forth, back and forth, nervously. It calms Minka—that, or it makes her nervous, too. Either way, she feels a little less excited.

"I… that's… very… interesting," Sunil mumbles, still not meeting Minka's eyes.

"It is?" Minka smiles, but her voice is less frantic now.

There's a long, significant pause, and then Sunil nods. But—despite what most pets would think—Minka's no fool. Sunil's considering it, Minka knows he is. No matter what, his thought process will prove to be worrisome and self-doubting, and that's going to be the biggest hurdle. That's why overwhelming him is so important. If Sunil doesn't develop feelings for Vinnie—feelings that become a problem—then all of their work will be for nothing.

So at this point, Minka has accepted that if she is any kind of whelming, she is the overly-whelming kind.