A/N: the next few chapters might be full of fluff and hella slow BUT then the real drama llama will happen soon. I just want to develop their relationship and get all the feelings out slowly so the problem can be dealt with later. I don't wanna rush into things cos it won't feel real ;P (even though it's not.)
Disclaimer: It'll always belong to Mr Warburton, I own nothing!
Operation: R.E.L.A.X
A day later, things between Kuki and Wally hadn't changed much. The latter's conversation with each other was still awkward, but they had apologised to each other and Wally couldn't contain his happiness.
Also, on this particular day, the other members had gone out to relax: Nigel was fishing with his dad; Hoagie had to babysit his brother and Kuki was at the Rainbow Monkey Sugar Land amusement park with her sister Mushi. That left Wally and Abby with each other.
Not like they were complaining.
Wally and Abby had gone through two video games and even watched a couple of movies with two bowls of candy; it was fun, plus they were pretty high on sugar at this point.
Besides, Wally knew he owed everything to Abby, who helped cheer him up and even convinced him to talk to Kuki again. So, he wanted to thank her in his own way, which was through video games. Even though he was currently losing. To a girl.
I regret askin' her to play with me, now, he grumbled under his breath as he scowled at the TV.
"Ha, suck on that sucka!" Abby yelled as her character beat Wally's out of the game. He scoffed and glared at her.
"I've been lettin' ya win, y'know?" he muttered.
"Oh, really?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, really. What, ya don't believe me?"
"No, Numbuh 5 don't believe nothin' you say. You're just a sore loser," she said, ruffling his hair. Wally swatted her hand away as his left eye began twitching comically, and he gripped his remote controller tighter.
"Fine, then! Let's have a rematch!" he cried.
"Sure thing, baby. But don't come cryin' to me when you lose again." She shrugged, and Wally growled.
"We'll see who's cryin'," he mumbled as he glared at the TV, furiously pushing all the buttons on the controller. He was determined to win - he was Wally, after all.
C'mon, I can do it! he said, hyping himself up.
"C'mon, C'mon, C'mon you stupid character! Beat the crud outta 'er!" he yelled at the TV as he stood up on the couch, moving the controller rapidly.
"Aaaaaaaand," Abby pressed a button and Wally's character once again fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious. Abby turned to him victoriously. "You lost again, baby. Man, we should place a bet on these games!"
"WHAT!?" Wally yelled in frustration. In a fit of rage, he chucked his controller on the ground. "These cruddy games are rigged, I tell ya!"
"Suuuuure, whatever you say, Wally," Abby said. She smiled as she watched him plop down on the couch and sulk to himself.
"Dumb, cruddy, rigged games, lettin' girls win all the time," he grumbled. Abby shook her head, feeling kind of sorry for beating him repeatedly. But at the same time, she didn't want to help build his ego by letting him win either.
And considering all the years she'd spent with Wally, she had a feeling he wouldn't appreciate that either.
Abby shrugged. "Well then, I guess you gotta get better at games, sport."
"Don't call me that," he spat, sending a sharp glare in her direction. Just a second later, he rubbed his stomach and began to whine. "Ugh, I'm startin' to feel sick from all the candy you forced on me. It was your plan, wasn't it? Fatten me up on all this sugar so you could win while I'm dyin'!"
"What?" Abby looked at him wide-eyed. "Oh, don't go blamin' me, baby, that's all on you! I even offered to eat all the candy myself, but you insisted."
"Pfft, as if I'd let ya eat it all yourself! You were bein' selfish by hoggin' all the candy!"
"Numbuh 5, selfish? Heck no! I don't know where you're gettin' all these ideas, but that's the first I'm hearing of it."
"A first? You've gotta be kiddin' me! You're more selfish than those Delightful Doofuses and their stupid cake!"
"Nobody's as selfish as them dolts," Abby remarked, rolling her eyes before reaching over and quickly stealing some candy from his bowl.
Wally's mouth dropped. "HEY! That's my butterscotch ya just stole, ya stealer!" he exclaimed, irritated as he tried to snatch it back.
Abby opened the wrapper and placed the candy near her mouth. "Apologise, or Numbuh 5's gonna be eatin' this while she makes ya watch!"
He gasped, the sound strangled as if he had just witnessed a tragedy. "Alroight, I'm sorry! Just...just leave my butterscotch alone, will ya?!"
Abby began to laugh at the desperation etched across his face as he looked at her. Her eyes swam with tears as the laughter became louder, harder, her body beginning to shake with it.
Wally, on the other hand, didn't seem too pleased, the desperation fading and replaced by an agitated expression. He stared at Abby, blankly, who looked like she couldn't breathe. He took that opportunity, though, to snatch the butterscotch back and pop it into his mouth.
"H-hey!" she protested, but she couldn't control the second round of laughter that bubbled up.
"Oh, just shut up," Wally grumbled, his mouth full.
Abby let out a couple of deep breaths to try and regain composure before she reached out and ruffled his hair. He clicked his tongue in vexation and swatted her hand away, but she smiled at him, affectionately. Abby was beginning to like and enjoy his company; she felt like she could say and do anything with him.
She didn't have to be the serious and oh-so-wise Abigail Lincoln. She could be silly and act her age. And she hadn't laughed like that in ages.
"Numbuh 5's jus' jokin'. You owe me for helpin' you with Numbuh 3, so I deserved that butterscotch."
Wally turned to look at her, his eyes softening. "Yeah...yeah, you're roight. It's cos of you that we're talkin' now." He let out a delighted sigh. "I forgot how fun it was with 'er!"
Abby smiled brightly. "See? And you have Numbuh 5 to thank for that."
He scoffed. "Anyone coulda helped me with that," he joked, before saying, "Nah. You're roight. Thanks, Abby."
"Don't thank me, squirt."
"ARGHHH! Don't call me that!" Wally growled in irritation. She laughed in response.
"But no seriously, give Numbuh 5 a butterscotch."
-.-.-.-.-.-
"Thanks again, Abby, for everythin'," Wally said, looking up at her as they grabbed an ice cream from the local stand. They had decided to go out and get some fresh air after being cooped up in the treehouse for practically hours.
"You can stop thankin' me now, Wally. You've said it a million times!"
"Well, I feel like I need ta thank ya bagilene times!" he said.
Abby stared at him with raised eyebrows. "Ba-what?"
This time, he was the one raising his eyebrow at her - not like she could see as they were mostly covered by his bangs.
"Bagilene. Do I need ta spell it out for ya, too?" Wally asked in exasperation. "B-A-G-I-L-E-N-E."
Abby tried not to snort in laughter but instead tried to help him. "You mean bajillion?"
"Yeah, that too," he said, smugly.
"You do realise that's not a real number?"
He looked at her as if she was crazy. Couldn't she just accept that he wanted to cruddy thank 'er a lot?! Women. He thought, annoyed.
"And ya do realise I don't care?" he retorted. Abby rolled her eyes.
"Well, you should, mister grouchy pants."
"Well, I don't, miss I-think-I'm-so-smart pants," he mimicked her, resulting in her whacking the back of his head with her cap.
"Ow!" Wally exclaimed, rubbing the sore spot. "What the crud was that for?!"
"For bein' annoying," she said, bluntly. Wally scowled but said nothing as he continued rubbing his head. They walked a little more before they decided to sit down at a bench that overlooked the beach.
Wally eyed the ice cream Abby bought in disgust. "Wait, hold on a cruddy second: you like pistachio ice cream?"
Abby raised an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong with pistachio?"
"It's a nut!"
"It's a yummy nut, kid," she said, teasingly.
Wally snapped his head to glare at her, and she instantly bit her lip to stop from laughing. The sight caused him to grin as well and Abby's eyes widened.
"Woah, boy, what happened to the oh-so-defensive Wally?"
"Guess bein' called a kid ain't that bad. I am a kid, after all, but we all know that you're the real kid here," Wally smirked when he saw the gobsmacked face that belonged to none other than Abby.
"Oh, really now? Well, watch yer back cos Numbuh 5's gonna get you back good, baby!" she said when she regained her composure as she was initially taken aback by his somewhat smart response. Wally snorted at her and licked his Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice-cream.
Man is this good or what?! Wally mulled excitedly, practically devouring his treat.
"Calm down there, boy. The ice cream'll still be there, so you don't need to be so hasty," Abby said with a snort. Wally rolled his eyes.
"Shut up," he mumbled, his entire mouth now covered with chocolate. Without a second thought, Abby casually reached over and wiped his mouth with the napkin she was holding.
"Dang, Wally, eat more slowly, it's all over ya face," she said, coolly. When Wally froze under her touch, she realised what she had done and stiffened, too. As their wide eyes met, he gulped, confused. Abby was panicking on the inside, her stomach twisting and turning weirdly.
Emerald eyes stared into charcoal ones intently...and awkwardly. Everything had turned silent all of a sudden; the bird noises, the screams and laughs of people of the beach could no longer be heard as it felt like there was no one else but them.
It was only when a beach ball nearly hit Wally in the head that the two came back to reality; Abby pulled her hand away quickly as if she had been burnt.
Now, why'd I go and do that for!? She thought, annoyed. She wanted to slap herself but didn't want to look like she was pondering over something so little.
"You gotta stop eating like a 5-year-old," Abby rushed out, trying to cut through the awkward silence that had suddenly filled the air.
"Uh...roight," Wally said with a forced chuckle.
"How're things with Numbuh 3, Wally?" Abby asked, attempting to divert the topic. The atmosphere instantly turned lighter as Wally's face relaxed.
"Yeah, pretty good. Things are back to normal, thank cruddy goodness for that! She's fun to be 'round, y'know?" he said, and at the teasing look Abby was shooting him, he flushed a dark shade of pink.
"Numbuh 5 can see you're blushin'!" she teased and Wally huffed, looking away.
"I ain't blushin'!"
"Yeah, you are."
"No, I ain't. I don't blush. You're just blind, Abby."
"You wish, baby! Numbuh 5's eyesight has never failed her!" she actually giggled seeing the dark shade of red that overtook the tanned boy once again. Wally's eyes widened, and he snapped his head to stare at the girl beside him, taken aback.
Abby was just as shocked as him and they both shared a look before they burst into laughter.
"You just giggled. The Numbuh 5 just giggled," he said, horrified causing Abby to cross her arms, defensively.
"Numbuh 5 only giggled once. It's not a big deal," she muttered, suddenly embarrassed.
Wally snickered at her. "Ya still giggled," he snorted, finishing the last bit of his ice cream cone by chucking it into his mouth. "If ya turn into anythin' like those sissy girly girls then I'm gonna go cruddy nuts."
"You've already gone nuts, fool," she said, then with a smirk continued, "for Numbuh 3."
Wally narrowed his eyes at her and glowered at the girl who was bent over laughing, the ice cream nearly falling off her cone. "Har-har, that was sooo cruddy funny," he said in a dull monotone as he stared blankly ahead.
His eyes then glanced over at the ice cream again, and it was then that a smirk overtook the frown on his face.
If she's gonna laugh at me, then alroight, suit 'erself, he thought, with a scoff. Without another word, he snatched the ice cream out of her hand and took a massive bite out of it.
Abby straightened up to stare wide-eyed at Wally who's face had quickly turned into a grimace. She snatched her cone back and narrowed her eyes at him, though she was thoroughly enjoying the look of disgust on Wally's face. He was obviously regretting taking a bite of her ice cream now.
"You just ate Numbuh 5's pistachio ice-cream, fool!" she scolded him, trying to hide a mocking grin on her face.
"I know, and I'm startin' to-," he choked on the words as he talked with his mouth full. Swallowing hard, he continued, "-startin' to cruddy regret it. BLEUGH, it tastes like cruddy nuts!"
Abby face-palmed and ate the remaining of her ice cream, not caring that most of it was consumed by Wally. She wasn't like other kids who thought cooties were real.
Wally had noticed that ages ago, especially during the mission where he ate the Coconut Logs despite being allergic to them. Everyone had thought he had cooties, everyone but Abby.
Right now, he caught a glimpse of her gently licking her ice-cream without a care in the world. Without fretting about the fact that he had just bit off most of it with his mouth and how his saliva would most definitely be on it.
He wanted to shiver in disgust, but his body didn't want to cooperate. Instead, he could feel his face going beet red, and when Abby caught his eyes, he felt as if he had been caught stealing from the cookie jar.
Wally quickly diverted his eyes away to the beach and cleared his throat as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "C'mon, hurry it up already. You're slower than Kuki," he grumbled.
Abby took her sweet time in finishing the tasty treat and shoved Wally playfully.
"Just because you finished your cone doesn't mean you can irritate Numbuh 5 about it, boy!"
"Whatevah," he mumbled, crossing his arms.
"Uh..guys?" Nigel's familiar voice floated through their ears, and both Wally and Abby whipped around at the sound.
Nigel and Lizzie stood a fair foot away from them, holding hands. Nigel looked more than a little nervous, his smile forced and crooked.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, chuckling nervously. Abby narrowed her eyes and shared a knowing look with the blonde next to her. They both knew exactly why Nigel was nervous and red-faced.
"What are you doin' 'ere, Numbuh 1?" Wally questioned him back, raising an eyebrow before smirking in Lizzie's direction. "You on a date, eh lover boy?"
"I am not on a date!" Nigel silently ground his teeth as both Abby and Wally began to snicker, teasingly. "This is NOT a date, guys!" he again tried to clarify, snatching his hand away from under Lizzie's.
Lizzie frowned and crossed her arms. "Nigieeee, why do you always lie to your stupid friends?!"
Wally stopped laughing and frowned in her direction. "Who you callin' stupid, st-"
Knowing what was coming, Abby quickly cut him off. "Numbuh 1, you said that you were out fishin' with your dad," she then raised an eyebrow, "so you were lyin', huh?"
"N-no! I never lie-" Lizzie cleared her throat, and Nigel sighed in irritation. "-I don't lie often, but my dad was busy, okay? Lizzie called and wanted to hang out so I saw no harm in doing so. It is just another mission."
"Roiiiight. Another mission, eh? Ya mean your date?" Wally remarked with a playful grin. At seeing Nigel turn as red as a tomato, both Abby and Wally snickered together for what seemed like the millionth time that day.
Abby grinned, mischievously. "Well, then, we don't wanna hold you up on your 'date', Nigie."
"Yeah, Numbuh 1, have fun being all kissy-kissy face with your guuuuuuurlfriend," Wally said, his smirk growing more extensive at the sight of Numbuh 1's flustered state.
"G-guys, I said this wa -"
"Let's go, Niiiigie! You promised we could go on the Sugary Love ride together!" Lizzie whined. She yanked on Nigel's arm, pulling him in the opposite direction, completely ignoring Wally and Abby.
"Sugary Love ride?" Wally exclaimed, outraged, his mouth curled down in disgust as he stuck his tongue out. "What kind of lame, cruddy ride is that?!"
"Ignore him, Nigie!" Lizzie said, pulling Nigel's flustered self away.
"O-Okay, guys, I'll, uh, see you later?" As he was being dragged away, he looked over his shoulder, talking over Lizzie's excited screams. "By the way, why are you guys here together?"
Wally and Abby's laughs had vanished immediately. They were stuck on an answer - not that Nigel would hear even if they gave him one. He was long gone by the time they had thought of an appropriate response.
After a few seconds of silence, Wally shrugged as Abby recited the words from her mind.
"Well, we're friends, and Numbuh 5 thinks we can hang out if we want to."
"Roight!" Wally agreed quickly, nodding his head as if he was convincing himself of something. Her sentence - for some reason - didn't sit well with him, and it caused him to frown deeply.
"Anyway, do you want to go back to the treehouse or go to the beach?"
Wally shot up, alarmed. "The beach?! Oh, NO cruddy way! Ya know I can't swim, so why would ya even suggest somethin' as stupid as that?!"
Abby shot her hands up in surrender. "It was just a suggestion, baby. No need to get all hulk on me." She grinned as they began walking back to the treehouse. "But Numbuh 5 could always teach ya to swim one day, you know?"
Wally stiffened and stared up at her, his green eyes now vulnerable - a rare sight to Abby. "Would ya actually do somethin' like that?"
Abby looked at him as if he was crazy. "Course Numbuh 5 would do that. Well, if you want, that is."
"Yeah...yeah, I'd like that, I think," Wally said, tearing his gaze away from hers. They then both began to walk back to the treehouse in silence, Abby more surprised as the last thing she expected was for him to think over the offer.
Still, she found herself not minding.