Part 07
The reluctant acquaintances got back to Moon's apartment and Crystal's mouth fell open. "Oh my gosh." He saw Moon's wall was almost dominated by the photographs of his friends, including his daughter. "Why is Porsha on your wall?"
Buster shrugged. "She was my friend. I cared about her, sir. Like I cared for everyone in my cast. I think she was just… so scared up there… It's easy to say you can do it but doing it is something else." He sighed. "That's why I had to change her role. You say you would have been fine with her performance but no one else would have been. She would have been humiliated on that stage and I couldn't let that happen."
The wolf had to admit it. Moon was right. His pride in his daughter was unique to him. In his mind, she was great at whatever she chose to do. The reviews wouldn't have been so forgiving. "You were trying to protect her. She said you all hated her."
Buster shook his head. "We didn't hate her. We loved her. She is one of us. That's why we went back for her…" He sat down with his coffee. He picked up his remote and switched it to Porsha. As expected, she was with the group in the suite. His body still on the couch with Eddie covered up beside him.
"Who is that?" Crystal asked curiously while sipping his steaming espresso.
"That's my best friend," the koala sighed. "The greatest friend ever."
"Wait a minute! That other sheep, that's…" the wolf shook his head. "You know Nana Noodleman? Why not name-drop her?"
Buster looked up at him. "I didn't think an opera prima Donna was your style." He sighed. "And I didn't want to use her after everything she'd already done for us. For me…"
He face-palmed himself. "Instead you name-drop a guy you've never met who was still grieving his late wife. Yeah, I know he's a widower."
The koala nodded. "I know! We were both stupid. Oh, Nana, I'm so sorry." He looked at the sheep, his mentor. "I guess I wanted to do it without her help for once. To prove to her that she was right to trust me." He settled back to watch.
———————————
Johnny came into the hotel suite with the tiger. He put his hand behind his head sheepishly. "Hey, guys, this is Ryan. I hope it's okay if I brought him up with me."
Ryan held up a few boxes and a bag of multicolored dinosaurs. "I brought chocolate."
Rosita tried to smile. "Thank you, Ryan. It's a pleasure to meet you properly. And thank you for supporting Johnny last night." She accepted the chocolate and put it with the pastries Alphonso had brought that morning.
He nodded. "I couldn't do anything else. Johnny had worked so hard to perform that move. I'm sorry for letting Klaus take my place. More importantly, I'm sorry for Mr. Moon." He looked over at the little creature. "I didn't know him well but what I did know, I liked. He was one of the good ones." He and Johnny sat down on one of the sofas.
———————
Crystal frowned. "What did Kickenklober do?" He asked.
Buster cringed. "Well, obviously you can't do anything about it now but he forced Ryan to let him take his place so he could ruin Johnny's act and humiliate him."
He nodded. "Well… he would have been fired. I've been receiving reports of abuse about him since Johnny joined his class. I was ready to question him when I learned that you had lied about Calloway…"
Buster nodded. "But… at least Johnny seems to have found some support. I didn't get to know Ryan well but… he seems like a decent guy." A knock came at his connecting door. "Come in!"
Benji came in. "Is everything alright, son? We heard you…" he froze. "Oh, I see…"
Rosamund peaked around Benji. "James, what in the world? I hope you haven't been bullying Buster."
The wolf groaned. "Of course not, we were simply setting aside our differences. I mean, it's not like any of it matters now. And Porsha is on his wall." He looked down.
She reached out to him. "Yeah, she is… but come on. Let's go home now. Mr. Moon, thank you for being so forgiving." She took his white paw and pulled him out, gently scolding him for using Moon to get around her request that he not go back to the tv.
Benji looked at Buster who had the grace to appear sheepish. "Sorry, Dad. I just couldn't help it. It's hard not to look in on them."
"Don't be too hard on him," Bonnie told her husband. "Buster, come back and join us so that you're not tempted."
He reluctantly rejoined his parents. "I remember when I first got here," Marion said. "It was terribly hard. I didn't know anyone already here so I was escorted by my Guardian and his team."
Buster shook his head. "Your guardian? Like one of us?"
She nodded. "You'll learn more when you go to your Orientation. There is a lot that goes into it. Don't worry though. You'll get the hang of it easily." She looked at the clock. "I should probably go. I'll make you a deal. I will keep an eye on Johnny for you and if there's anything you need to know about, I will tell you."
Ruby nodded. "And Clay recently added Ash to his wall so I can watch over her. I wanted to give him children. It was just not in the cards for us." She sighed. "But you need to avoid the television for the rest of the day, at least."
Buster sighed. "Deal. I won't go back to the television for the rest of the day." He promised.
AN: A short one, I just wanted a transition chapter here. Next chapter: Orientation