Sadly, the lemurs' visit to Club Xanadu had to be brought to an end quite sooner than first intended. Julien, Maurice and Mort were just racing back up the access tunnel in pursuit of Clover, who, after a brief but explosive outburst, had stormed off without further explanation.
"Clover, wait, come back! Clover! Clover!" they called her name over and over again as they pushed on through in a desperate bid to catch up with her. However hard they tried though, it ultimately proved to be a pointless endeavor – the king's guardian was simply much faster than them, and so, by the time they came out into the surface, there was no sign of her anywhere. She was long gone amidst the busy crowd outside the club.
They tried asking Butterfish for help, but the portly bouncer wasn't looking very inclined to talk right now. He was bent over the fallen pieces of the stanchion (which they figured must've been knocked down by Clover on her way out), angrily muttering something to himself while he put them back together. Since he had his hands full with that, they just ran past him and kept searching for their missing friend elsewhere. They had to ask around the multitudes if anyone had seen where she had gone, but it seemed no one had a clue – all a few lemurs recalled was the look of downright frightening outrage burning in her eyes as she stomped away into the night like some sort of maddened lioness, fists clenched and teeth gritted tightly. Of course, everybody knew better than to get in her way when she was like that.
Then they remembered – Xixi still must be around here! If there was someone who always remained on the lookout, it was her.
The toucan wasn't tough to find; she was in the same spot she had been before, yet the tone in her voice suggested she was now annoyed somewhat. "Yes, yes, leave it, it's working fine! Just get those cameras up and running, people, we're back on-air!" she snarled as she carefully dusted the wooden frame of her TV, bringing out the mic when she was done. "Anyway – this just in, my sources are telling me that King Julien has given his endorsement to commence the esteemed pag-
"Xixi! Hey, Xixi, have you seen Clover?!" said lemur barged in suddenly, shaking her by the shoulder.
She nodded. "Uh, yeah, I have. Hard not to in fact, 'cause she almost trashed my TV; for a second there I thought she was gonna kill me! She went that way, said something about going home." Xixi aimed her wing at the grassy path that led away from the nightclub and into the darker thick of the jungle. As Julien promptly hurried in that direction, she then asked, "What in Frank's name happened in there by the way? She looked pretty-
"Angry? Yeah, we know! Blame him!" said Maurice.
"It's because King Julien has decided to enlist Clover into the pageant so she can win the big award for him!" Mort quickly went on to explain.
"Say what?!" Xixi snorted and flapped her wings in a display of incredulity. She could've almost believed Mort was pulling her leg, were it not for the deeply worried look in his eyes. "Has the guy lost his marbles or something? Everyone knows she hates that kind of vapid, superficial stuff! Asking her to do a thing like that is pretty much asking her to beat you up all the way to the morgue!"
"I know, but... ehm, look, we – we'll talk later! Bye!"
And without saying another word, the pair took off and disappeared into the undergrowth, leaving a highly dumbfounded reporter behind.
Clover was lying on her bed, mulling over what had happened not even twenty minutes ago. Her expression was set into a hard scowl as she stared up at the ceiling, the candles on the bedside table sending flickering shadows all around the dimly lit room. She had been trying to calm herself down for a good while now, which she achieved semi-successfully by taking deep, steady breaths. In and out, slowly. Count down to ten. Repeat. She had already unleashed the bulk of her rage upon some poor random tree outside before shutting herself in here, so this was rather easy for her. Soon enough, she had managed to vanquish the residual anger from her system – but even so, a feeling of... disappointment lingered on.
How could King Julien do this, asking me to do such a thing? Did he even care about what I'D think of it? What I'D actually want to do MYSELF? she thought.
She had told him. She had made her stance on such affairs crystal-clear from the get-go, and yet, Julien had ignored her like she hadn't even opened her mouth once. So careless and selfish of him it had been... but then again, that was exactly the kind of thing everybody came to expect; always the "shoot-first-ask-questions-later" type of guy, an attitude she was entirely used to, and even respected as one of those distinctive quirks that made Julien... well, Julien. However, she also wanted to believe he had meant what he said with the best of intentions – after all, that smile he had on his face when bestowing her the dubious "honor" had been one of pure belief in his decision, like he couldn't have been more glad to be choosing her instead of anyone else.
While thinking of that did make Clover feel slightly better, she still was a bit hurt. And while she also knew she just couldn't stay angry at Julien for long, no matter what he did – as time had proven again and again – right now, to be honest with herself, she wasn't very sure if she wished to see him, or anybody else for that matter. All she wanted now was some time alone with her thoughts, perhaps enough to forget everything related to the unfortunate incident so she could then carry on with her night as normal. Or maybe, she'd just lie there by candlelight, until tiredness drifted her off to sleep. Whatever she'd end up doing, for now she just closed her eyes and sighed, settling deeper into the mattress.
It was so quiet out there... Nothing but a peaceful backdrop of chirping crickets, songbirds, and other lowly creatures of the night engaged in their small-time rituals. That is, until Clover's keen ears picked up the sound of soft footsteps approaching her door. Seconds later, a knock broke the silence.
She opened her eyes and asked after some time, "...Who is it?" even though she already knew.
Indeed, King Julien's voice came through the other side, timid and regretful. "Hey, Clo-Clo, it's us. Um... could you... could you open up, please? I know you probably don't wanna talk right now, but... I just need to straighten things out with you here," he pleaded.
Clover lifted her head from her pillow to stare at the door, wondering if she should actually do it. Then she let out another sigh – as much as a part of her fought against it, how could she say no to such a request? Morosely, she got up and went to answer. When she opened the door and met the moonlit faces of her three friends, the look in her eyes was really a lot gentler than they had been expecting, considering how much fury had blazed in them before.
"What?"
"Clover, I..." Julien began, taking his crown off to scratch his head in a cumbersome manner. "Listen, I'm awfully sorry for what happened back there. That... was a total jerk move on my part."
Her stare softened a little more.
"You're damn right it was," Maurice hissed, shooting daggers at His Majesty before cracking a smile for her. "Don't worry, me and Mort just finished telling him what's what on the way here; that he just can't jump into decisions like that so abruptly and without properly asking first!"
The smallest grin of levity creased Clover's lips at that, and she gave her short fellows a thumbs-up.
"That's certainly 'ppreciated, mates. Now, are ya three just gonna stand there giving me the sad eye all night? C'mon in; let's talk." She stepped back to let them inside. Once they were all in, she closed the door and turned around, perching both hands on her hips as the boys sat on the couch. "Alright... Let's get straight to the point. So that's what all that guff was about, huh? Your 'brilliant' idea." She made the air quotes sign at Julien. "You wanted me to sign up for the beauty contest? Are ya taking the piss or what?"
The royal hung his head low, averting her probing gaze. "I said I'm sorry, okay? You all know I'm an out-and-out smoothbrain who never thinks things through! Believe me, I never meant to make you upset by doing that, I just figured that since you're the only girl among us... well..."
"I'd be able to just roll in, no questions asked, and snatch the big prize for you?" she finished for him. Then, she added more scathingly, "And what about me, huh? Did ya even stop for one second to think about my side of the fence? I guess not, 'cause it's painfully obvious to me that you weren't listening when I told you my opinion this morning. I guess you were just too focused on that trophy to care..."
Her words hit the lemur king, and they hit him hard. He felt like such an idiot right now... An absolute, irredeemable joke. He planted his hands on either side of his face, exhaling with dejection. "...I know. You're right. I let my excitement get the best of me instead of listening to you like I should have. I mean, what kind of friend does that?" he admitted venomously to himself, "Putting some dumb piece of shiny junk over your feelings... Man, I really did mess up this time."
"You can say that again," uttered Mort.
Clover pulled up a chair from her work desk and sat down in front of the trio. Her face glowed in the warm light. "Besides, why'd you care so much about it, anyway? What's the point of winning something that in the end serves no purpose whatsoever, other than looking nice and collecting dust on a shelf?" she asked the ringtail. "I just don't see it."
"It's a competition, Clo-Clo," he answered, "The whole point of competitions is to win them! And that trophy was just mega sick too, mind you."
She leaned closer, laying her forearms on her thighs and interlacing her fingers, frowning. "Look, Your Majesty, you can ask me to do almost anything; all ya have to do is say the word, and I'll happily obey. But that is one thing I'm simply not willing to go through," she asserted pointedly, finger thrown at the window. "I'm just not that kind of girl, and you know it! To go out there in a dress and tons of makeup like some kinda fake doll, and be gawked at by so many people... just... no. No way I could ever do that. I'm sorry, but I've made up my mind, and there's nothing that's gonna change it."
Maurice nodded in understanding. "She's completely right. You must realize, King Julien, that nobody can force her to do this; not even you. That'd be her call, and no one else's."
"Hey, I wasn't gonna force her! I'd never do that!" he briskly jumped to his own defense, "I just...!" But he stopped talking, for he knew he'd probably just make matters worse. Only a mere whimper left his mouth then, initiating a period of silence between them all.
"...So what now then?" Mort spoke after a while. "Plan's busted, so we might as well act like none of this ever happened, right?"
Although Julien appeared quite saddened by this, he knew that was the best course of action. "Yeah. I guess..." he whispered meekly, and then glared at Clover straight in the eyes. "Er, listen, Clover, nevermind any of it. Forget I ever said anything. Just know that I totally respect your viewpoint, and, uh... I should've listened to you from the start instead of acting so rashly like a jackass. You think you could... forgive me? That's all I want now." The look he gave her at that moment spoke all on its own. He really was feeling awful on the inside, with such sincere, evident remorse that it even aroused a spark of pity.
Seeing this, Clover smiled, nodded her head, and then warmly said, "But of course, Your Majesty! I'll always forgive ya, come this or any other mindless screw-up on your part. I'll admit I was pretty damn angry about this one at first, but ain't there nothing an apology can't fix! As long as you acknowledge you were wrong, how could I ever stay mad at ya?"
An ear-to-ear simper overcame the king as he heard those kind words, and he at once breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Thanks a ton, Clo-Clo; you're the best! I feel a hundred times lighter now!" he exclaimed, as he reached to lightly punch her in the arm. Now that the mood was laid-back and friendly once again, he jumped off the couch. "Come on now, let's throw this whole matter into the trash and get our night back on track! Anything you guys want to do? It's not that late I think, so there's still lots of time to get down on all kinds of crazy stuff our minds can come up with! The watering hole is off-limits though – we've already been there all day."
Mort raised his hand. "Oh, oh, I want to go back to the Xanadu and get myself the strongest thing they have! This heat's gotten me so parched!"
Julien shot Clover a questioning look. "You cool with that?"
The crowned lemur seemed deep in thought for some reason. It was only a moment later when she reacted, as she flicked her vision towards him. "What? Oh yeah, sure!" she replied, "I mean, I'm guessing Xixi, Butterfish, and a few other blokes whose faces I might've driven to the dirt earlier won't be too happy to see me, but I think it'll be fine."
The royal clapped his hands, laughing loudly. "Awesome! Then get your booties moving, y'all – those sweet frozen margaritas won't last forever!"
He was needless to say, the first one out the door. Despite this though, he couldn't go much further, for Clover held him by the arm.
"Hold up, Your Majesty. May I have a quick word with you?" she asked him, suddenly directing her gaze towards Maurice and Mort, who'd just gone outside too. "In private, if possible. It'll be just a moment."
Julien blinked at her in confusion. Shrugging, he went back inside the hut with her.
"So, what private things are you thinking of?" he started once they were secluded within the four walls. "Wait! Is this about..." He jumped, his eyes became narrow, and he shot furtive stares around the room, just in case there were any uninvited guests nearby, "That one time last week when I went a little overboard with the hard stuff and ended up making a terrible mess in the men's bathroom, but then I said it had been Maurice and almost got him kicked out? 'Cause we agreed to keep it a secret – don't you go ratting me out to the cleanup dudes now! I swear again I was mostly unaware of my actions!"
Clover instantly cringed at the embarrassing memory. "The bloody hell are ya on about? No, it's got nothing to do with that!"
He relaxed. "Phew, good to know. Then what?"
With more seriousness in her voice, she told him, "There's one thing I want to know, and I want you to answer it truthfully. That means no sugarcoating, and no beating around the bush."
"Just fire away."
She began to pace back and forth in front of him. "So you've made your point abundantly clear about me having that contest thing done for you. But I'm still curious as to why. I mean, why me?" She stopped moving then to face him. "Surely there'd be way better choices out there to do it, everywhere ya look! Why'd you choose me out of so many women?"
Julien looked at her like that was a non-question. "Come on, Clover. You know why."
"Uh, no, I don't."
His Majesty took a deep breath, and confessed at last, "Look, I asked you because out of all the girls I know – and I know a lot – you're by far the closest one. You're pretty much a sister to me, so who else would be better suited for the job than that; someone super close who I can always count on for anything? Also, there's the fact that I knew you'd have the best chance because you're, uh... man, how do I say this without it sounding weird?" he scratched his nape, his voice holding a glint of awkwardness as he carried on, "You are the prettiest woman in the kingdom, bar none. Simple as that."
"I... huh?" her eyes enlarged in surprise.
"Yeah, you are, Clo-Clo, for real! As your best homie and king I tell you this! I had no doubt in my brainy parts that if you had participated – which you aren't obviously, so don't worry – you'd just have smoked the competition no probs, like, with your eyes closed! And I'm sure Mort and Mo-Mo would agree with me!"
As she listened to her king say this, Clover couldn't stop a tiny yet noticeable blush from spreading all over her cheeks, along with a flustered smile.
"...Wow," she gasped. "That's... not... quite exactly what I... expected to hear."
"Yeah, but don't mind it, it's not like it matters anymore. Just a little bit of laying out the facts!" Julien said as he went for the door and opened it. Maurice and Mort were waiting for them on a nearby branch. "Well, Xanadu, my baby, here we come again for some due partying!" Eagerly he ran, winking and doing the shaka hand sign as he passed the aye-aye and mouse lemur by. In no time, he had scooted away from his bodyguard's house.
As Clover watched him go, Maurice approached her, asking, "So what did you talk about? Don't want to intrude or anything, I'm just curious."
She briefly stared him down. Luckily, her blush had faded by then. "Nothing important. Just some blather involving... bathrooms, a lot of vomit, and the worst hangover in party history."
"Ah, that story again, I see?" he chuckled airily, "Heh, we better keep him on a short leash next time he tries to pull off something like that, because I sure am not taking the blame a second time."
"I can take it for you if you want, Maurice! Glad to do it in fact!" Mort giggled from his spot.
"Yeah, anyway," Clover rolled her eyes. "Let's get going, fellas. We've got a looong night ahead of us, if experience is anything to go by."
Maurice took the first step forward. "You know it. Never a dull moment at the Big X, for better or worse."
"Usually worse..."
And out the three lemurs went, trotting away at a fast pace so they could catch up to their long-gone ruler. Throughout every step of the journey back to Club Xanadu, all those things he had said stood ingrained in Clover's mind, permeating her every thought and perhaps, giving her a new perspective on things.
It would seem everything had gone back to normal upon their return. Or rather, almost everything.
The lemur crew had gone straight to the bar to enjoy a couple refreshing drinks, just like they did on most other visits. Engrossed in inconsequential chit-chat between the four of them, their night went on as usual for the most part, yet it was evident that something kept bothering King Julien. And that something was clear as day: he just couldn't forget about that darned contest! Sitting along the populated counter as they were, he had a good view of the stage – the sign-up procedure was still open for participants, although movement had slowed down substantially as things would be getting ready to wrap up soon. And that trophy, the source of his frustrations... It still sat there, pretty as a picture, taunting the hapless king, mocking him with its inaccessibility. Even in the midst of the conversation with his friends his eyes kept wandering impulsively to it every now and then – which didn't go by unnoticed.
"Uh, King Julien?" Maurice's voice swept him off his reverie, "Are you listening to me?"
"Wha...?" he swiveled his head dully. "Oh, o – of course I am, Mo-Mo! You were talking about trophies – I – I mean, ponies, right?" he gave his advisor a hasty smile, which he didn't return.
"You're daydreaming about it again, aren't you?"
"Uh, nope!" Julien brought his drink to his mouth. "What makes you say that?"
Clover put hers down and said with vexation, "C'mon, Your Majesty, even the most wasted drunkards 'round here can see you're staring at that thing like it owes ya money! What happened to 'it doesn't matter anymore', huh? I thought you were over it!"
"Guys, it means nothing, really! I did say it doesn't matter, so we'll just keep it at that." He nudged his chin towards the stage. "The whole shebang going on over there? It doesn't even exist as far as I'm concerned."
He smirked at them like that was assuredly the case, yet his voice and body language betrayed what he was actually thinking deep in his mind. The biggest telltale sign was the moment his guise faltered almost entirely – he grabbed his half-empty coconut from the counter, and just stared despondently at the icy lime juice and tequila mix held therein, as though he didn't even want to keep drinking it anymore, something he never did since it was his favorite. He had even started flicking his index finger at the straw as a kind of futile distraction, when a communiqué in the form of Ted's voice rose over the thumping EDM melodies that filled the air.
"Dear patrons, just giving you all a quick reminder that the registration window for the beauty pageant is closing in half an hour! That's thirty lil' minutes and counting down – tick-tock, tick-tock! Any latecomers, this is your last chance to hurry up and seize the last slots for yourselves!"
Well, there it goes... Julien thought sadly.
"Ehm, King Julien," now it was Mort talking to him, "I know you keep denying it, but... you don't look very okay to me..."
"For the last time, I'm fine, seriously!" he blurted through an insecure grin, "You three are paying more attention to this than me at this point; just let it be, will you please?" He took a long sip from his cocktail as if to convince them of this. "Now what was that you were saying about ponies, Maurice? Whatever it was, it was sounding mighty interesting."
The advisor frowned, and spun in his stool to face him eye to eye. "First off, that's not what I was talking about! And second, you clearly haven't let go of it yet!" He yelled in irritation, before mellowing his tone to a gentler one once he saw Julien flinch. "Look, Your Majesty, I know it's hard, but sometimes you just have to accept things as they are and deal with them like a true, mature grown-up. Us boys can't participate in that contest and neither is Clover, so please stop obsessing over it already, for the sake of everyone in this club!"
"But I can't!" his ringtailed friend finally broke down. "And believe me, I'm trying my best! But the more I look at that... golden demon with all the pretty colors and lush ornaments, the more it lures me into its trap! It's like it's got me in a hyper tight grasp and won't release me, like... I – I don't know, something that grasps you tightly – like one of those snakes that squeeze you till your eyeballs pop off!"
Mort shrugged. "Then don't look at it. Easy-peasy!"
"How can I not look at it when it's standing right there, man?" he pointed away with both hands, and then let his upper body fall over the counter dejectedly. "Dammit, I just didn't think it would be this difficult to stay distracted...! Not even this tasty party-mood kickstarter can keep my mind away from it!" He moaned, gesturing to his margarita. "Gods, why couldn't Frank have given me the ability to just change my gender at will, like, with a finger-snap? It would've been so easy, but nooo, of course he didn't do it! Hmph, and to think we used to be such great pals..."
Maurice and Clover exchanged looks, the former shaking his head as Julien finished his melodramatic rant. While they did understand him to an extent, what were they supposed to do? The one single chance they had at even entering the contest in the first place was if Clover accepted to take the big leap, and that was already, positively out of the question.
...Or was it?
The orange lemur quietly kept her piercing green-eyed stare on him, scanning him over. Honest to the deities above, she had zero idea why that trophy seemed to mean so much to her king, or just what he had planned to do with it in the very far-fetched case that he did end up winning it somehow. What she did know is that she couldn't stand to see her best friend like this, all sad and deflated, defeated by the circumstances. Was he exaggeratedly blowing things out of proportion and acting a little like a petulant child? Probably, yes. Did any of this even matter in the grand scheme of things? Most definitely not. But none of that mattered to her. She had the power in her hands to do something about it. What she lacked was the will.
But just maybe...
"...Would you... would you guys excuse me for a moment?" she told the boys out of the blue as she slid off her stool, "I gotta, uh, go to the restroom real quick."
They nodded at her. So Clover left the bar and walked off towards the bathrooms, which were located at the end of a short tunnel on the southernmost side of the club. Fortunately for her, the ladies' room was empty, so she could at least have a few minutes of peace and calm to collect her thoughts. Coming to a halt in front of a set of large stone sinks carved out from the wall itself, she took a long look at herself in the mirror and began angling her head around to get different views of her face.
Now, Clover had never really considered herself model material, but she also didn't think of herself as anything less than a normal-looking lemur girl. Just someone who was on the average end of the beauty spectrum, nothing more special than that. Certainly not a dazzling bombshell that could drop anybody to their knees with a single look – that title was relegated to her much more outgoing sister, notwithstanding their near-identical outward appearance. However, if King Julien's earlier remarks were to be believed...
She took a step back so that most of her body showed in the mirror, putting one hand on her hip and twisting her torso from left to right repeatedly. Just that seemed absurd enough.
"Dammit Clover, what on earth are ya even doing...?" she sighed to herself then, hardly louder than the muffled sounds of music and raucous partying just outside. "Are you seriously considering this? What are ya, crazy in the head? ...Yeah, I suppose you must be..."
She groaned lowly as she moved forward again till she was an inch from her reflection, and softly caressed her right cheek. She just didn't know what to do! On the one hand, she most definitely did not want to get herself entangled in anything regarding that idiotic pageant, as she had insisted so stubbornly before, but on the other hand, she wanted to please Julien; to make him happy more than anything else. He was the best friend she had after all, who had done her so many selfless favors in the past she had trouble recounting even a small handful of them.
Maybe this once would be okay? Would I be willing to do that, just for him? were among the things she wondered at that moment, again, again, and yet again.
She did find some comfort in the firm belief that in all likelihood, it wouldn't be that big of a deal anyway. She'd likely just lose right away and get disqualified as fast as she had come aboard, since these topics were almost completely outside her area of expertise. But at least she would've tried, and she hoped that that alone would be enough to satisfy Julien.
Biting her lip, she turned one of the sinks on. She let the water run free for a while, then dipped her hands into the resulting pool and splashed her face wet, as if to shake off any last remnants of doubt from her clouded mind. The cold rush on her fur made her feel better, more at ease; it assuaged her worries and made her think that much clearer, helping her reach a conclusion. Raising her head again, her nose and chin dripping tiny crystalline droplets, she stared at the orange figure in the mirror like it weren't her anymore, but a stranger instead.
"Oh blimey... I can't believe I'm actually gonna do this..."