After much deliberation, Julien came out of hiding and noisily cleared his throat, alerting Clover to his presence. She whirled around with a startled gasp, one of her hands clutching her chest – only to huff and laugh the scare off when she saw who it was.
"Oh my-! You – Your Majesty, please! You almost gave me a heart attack!" she wailed at him, her face reddening bashfully. "How long have ya been here? I – I... wasn't... counting on anyone coming back."
Julien withdrew one step. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know; if you want me to go, I can just-
"No, no, no, it's okay!" She reached out her arm to prevent him from leaving. "I probably shouldn't have been doing that out here in the open anyway..."
"Why do you say that?" he asked, stepping up to her. "'Cause – if you'll allow me to say – what I just saw there was simply... man, I don't know... superb! Like, you were pretty much a pro! Hell, if I hadn't known it was you from the start, I would've thought that was your sis setting this place on fire!"
Clover grinned and pushed him away as her blush, slowly but surely, subsided. "Naaah, get outta here; you're just saying that 'cause you don't wanna look bad! Crimson's the real gifted one – me, I'm just a fish out of water trying to find her groove, that's all. Whatever ya happened to catch must've been nothing special."
"Nonsense! Don't sell yourself short like that, Clover, you know you're more than capable of anything you put your mind to! Just look at me – I couldn't have done that even if I wanted! ...Or could I...?" Suddenly, with a cheeky little smirk tweaking his lips, the ringtail put his hands down on his flanks and jokingly tried to re-enact his bodyguard's routine, striding to and fro before her with purposefully exaggerated and clunky movements. "Like this, wasn't it? Ha ha! Oh yeah, check this out, everybody – I'm all ready to take on the world with my mad skills and killer looks! Bring out your cameras and start writing your love letters, 'cause there's a new star on the rise who's about to make it big on the showbiz!"
Clover couldn't help it. She just had to laugh again at the ungainly sight of her king capering around with all the elegance of a fossa trying to walk on its hind legs!
"Er, no disrespect intended, Your Majesty, ha ha ha...!" she snorted, "But ya look like, um... like you just had a little... incontinence accident, to put it mildly! Ha ha ha ha, talk about being outta your depth!"
Chuckling as well now, Julien stopped, happy to have made her smile. "Yeah, well, I guess this kind of stuff is better left to those of more ladylike proportions, right? He he..."
Clover shrugged at him, and was about to reply – when out of nowhere, she saw the smirk flee from Julien's face, as though there was something deeply troubling him now. Then, he sat on the damp, cobblestoned soil by the water's edge, huddled his knees to his chest, and began staring out downstream, obviously lost in thought. Clover's eyes softened with bemusement at this, but before she could ask him what was wrong, he looked right back up at her.
"Clover... am I selfish?"
The abruptness of this question caught her off-guard, so much so that at first, she didn't even know what to say.
"...Well... uh... um... er, I don't know! ...Sometimes you can be, I – I guess?" she stammered then, her brain fumbling for the first answer that would make sense. "I mean, it's not just you; everybody has a wee bit of selfishness in them that has to be let out every now and then, and, uh, in your case... maybe it can be a bit higher than your average Joe's? Which is fine by me of course, 'cause y'know, ya have so many other great qualities that balance it out and... stuff! ...Why are you asking me this?"
"Isn't it obvious? Look at you, Clo-Clo; this way you're acting... it just... it just isn't you!" he bemoaned openly, "Like, you're supposed to be the reigning queen of hardcore awesomeness and badassery, not some hokey little princess who plays dress-up and dances around a stage for entertainment!" As if to illustrate his point, he picked up a small cobble from the ground and flung it into the shallow waters with despondency. "And then there's all these hoops I'm making you jump through, too; this load of crap that you aren't comfy doing but have to do anyway just because I couldn't keep my big damn mouth shut... Huh, and don't even get me started on Crimson also being a giant grade-A bully towards you, as the cherry on top of the disaster cake! It must be driving you downright crazy, isn't it?"
His bodyguard smiled down at him in realization, though he could see this one was without joy. "Your Majesty, I like it that you worry 'bout me, but really, you don't need to. I can assure ya I'm holding up fine, regardless of what y'all might think."
"No, you're not! You've never been! Come on, Clover, you don't have to lie to me; whatever's up there on your brainy bits, by all means do tell me! I just... I've just been so busy thinking about my own goals all this time that I haven't given you the chance to speak your mind yet – and that ain't right, man! That ain't right!"
Now understanding that he wasn't going to leave without a proper answer, the crowned lemur nodded, then lay down beside him, bright emerald eyes surveying the aquatic vista. "Look, you've all known how I feel 'bout the whole beauty pageant business ever since Maurice brought that newspaper in to work the other morning. Y'know that I'd rather be spending today – and tomorrow, and the day after – just taking a backseat and seeing how everything plays out, not having to worry 'bout a thing... preferably without any exploitative, condescending, manipulative slimeballs screaming in my ear every five seconds while I'm at it!"
Julien hung his head as she spilled these last words with abject bitterness – just to raise it again when she sighed and added more softly, "...Though I also swore that I wouldn't let ya down, so I'll be damned if I'm gonna let anything stop me from seeing this through to the end. Besides, if I truly wanted to quit, believe me that I already would've done so long ago..."
However, her king still looked unsatisfied with this response.
"...But what about you, Clover? What you think is best for yourself, I mean."
"I do know what's best for myself, King Julien, and that's making those I care about happy. Sure, I might not be keen on diving head-first into that tasteless clown show, and the whole thing does have me shaking in my boots a bunch, but it's not the end of the world! I'm a gal that spits on the face of danger pretty much day in, day out – no flimsy little contest is gonna break me!" she explained boldly and with clenched fists, which she then dropped onto her lap as her gaze fell downward. "But then, there's that whole... other matter too..."
"...Crimson," the royal inferred.
"Yeah..." Clover's tone of voice slipped here into a quieter, more melancholic one, as if bringing this up greatly upset her. "Honest to Frank, mate, I don't know what I'm gonna do with her... Well... I guess not much, really. Y'know, 'cause no matter what happens, she's just gonna keep being herself – a hella tiring pain in the loins whose only worries are how many hot guys she can score at her next big party, or what latest shade of fuchsia she's gonna be using for her eyeshadow – nothing more, nothing less. Hm, I'm even sure that if I suddenly were to fall horribly ill or something and couldn't perform anymore, she'd be more concerned 'bout her losing her free ticket to wonderland than my health." She gave a feeble shrug of acceptance. "But hey, what can ya do, right? It is what it is..."
Julien, meanwhile, found himself at a loss. Conversations about Crimson in any way, shape or form had always been a pretty delicate subject that Clover generally tried to avoid whenever she could. Years and years of withstanding that darker, more extreme side of her sister's personality had led her to conclude that at this point in time, she was basically a lost cause. Julien wished so much he could have all the answers – or any answer, really... but he didn't. Just like her, he too had suffered similar experiences with his uncle and even his own mother and father, although his relationship with those people had been virtually non-existent from the start: his parents had never loved him and straight up abandoned him when he was so young he could barely walk, and his despotic uncle didn't fare any better, having always seen him as little more than a loathsome pest to be eradicated – which he undoubtedly would've done had Maurice not been there to take care of him. It wasn't the same as having a sibling at his side from the moment he'd first opened his eyes to the world; someone with whom he could share that very special, ineffable bond; someone to love, live and grow up alongside of; to face life's tribulations together as inseparable partners...
Only to slowly drift apart over time.
He didn't know what that was like; how it felt. Every time he'd attempt to give Clover some comforting words about it, he would come up short. And just like then, so did he now.
"...Man, I... Listen, Clo-Clo, I'm... I'm sorry I put you up to this," was all he managed. "In hindsight, maybe we should... pull the plug while we still can... don't you think?"
However, she just smiled at him once again. "You're kidding, right? C'mon, Your Majesty, where's your fighting spirit? I ain't giving up just because of a few minor setbacks; y'know I can handle myself! ...But, look... in case you're still having cold feet, let's put it this way: we all gotta do things we aren't okay with from time to time, right; that's just a part of life! For example, d'you remember that one day when I literally made you risk your own neck to save mine by signing up for an incredibly dangerous deathmatch tournament... that nearly got us both killed? Multiple times over?"
That particular memory was hazy in the ringtail's mind, though he still remembered enough for it to send chills up his spine. "Oh Clover, that happened like a gazillion years ago; I hardly even remember any of it! Whatever went down back then, it's all long buried and forgotten!"
"Sure is!" She chuckled. "It's just that that example gets the point across pretty well!"
"If a bit over the top, might I add!"
"Yeah, you'll have to forgive my reopening old wounds there... What I meant by it is that I did something I shouldn't; you forbade me from going 'cause you were worried sick something would happen to me, and I still disobeyed ya behind your back. I was too full of myself to stop and think about how much I could've hurt you, and for that we almost had to pay the price," she recalled, rubbing her arm. "...Er, anyway – while nobody's in danger of getting minced into gory ribbons by some horrifying beast this time, obviously, what you did for me that day, you did it 'cause ya wanted to help a friend who was in a bit of a pickle. Well, the same basic principle applies to this. I wanna help ya with that trophy so that's what I'm gonna do, come hell or high water! That is, of course, if you're still after it..."
Grinning broadly now, she arched a brow at him, and His Majesty had to face away so she wouldn't see the coy little simper tugging at his lips, prompting her to laugh sweetly.
"Hmmm, I'll take that as a yes. So then, to get back to your question: I think we all could use a little change in certain areas – some more than others, mind ya – but I'd say you're quite alright yourself, King Julien. Just don't forget; you owe me big time once this is all over."
"Anytime, Clo-Clo!" He patted her on the back. "Ask and you shall receive; anything you want is yours! Arms, guns, weapons – unspecified tools for maiming or destroying, the legality of which might be at best questionable... Maybe a new expanded gym for your hut? Hell, I'll suck it up and do all your household chores for a whole month, if that's what tickles your fancy!"
Clover giggled at the silliness of his proposal. "I'll take ya up on that one; I'm sure you'd make for one exemplary housemaid! And come to think of it, I do have this big closet full of old stuff and all sorts of junk I don't need that really could use a touch-up or two. I've never gotten 'round to it, so perhaps you could see what could be done about it...?"
"Ugh, fine – as long as it's not too degrading! And we totally keep it a secret between us; my street cred would plunge through the floor if anyone found out!"
She reached out her hand to shake his, and he could see by the playful look in her eyes that she wasn't actually being serious about any of this. "Deal! Your secrets will always be safe with me, Your Majesty."
"There's no one else I'd rather have for the job!"
"Ah, that's just what friends do, isn't it?" She shrugged at him, and as she let go of his hand, she balled hers into a fist and offered it to him. "Ya leap into the fray for 'em and ya do it without a second glance, 'cause if there's anyone out there who's worth the hassle, it's them."
He very gladly bumped it with his own. "Hell yeah, sis; couldn't have said it better! ...But, uh, now talking for real, I still wanna make it up to you somehow. For now, what do you say we go somewhere fun tonight to get all the doom and gloom off our minds? Just us – no extra baggage, if you catch my drift."
"Oh, I catch it alright." She nodded knowingly. "Yeah, that sounds great! I sure could use more downtime like this..." Frowning all of a sudden, she took a rather sturdy-looking stick from under a nearby plant and then closed her fingers around it, applying pressure till it began to bend and fracture at its middle. "Because I swear to Frank, if I don't grab myself a drink soon, somebody's gonna go home with more than a harmless little tail injury!"
Just then, the stick snapped with a vicious crack – right in two, as if it had been a mere little twig. Then, she held her fist out and opened it, letting the shattered wooden fragments cascade to the ground before Julien's shock-stricken eyes.
"Uh... I'll assume that was another joke and leave it at that."
"Good call. Some things are best left unanswered."
"Riiight... That's not concerning at all."
For a moment, there was silence. However, it wasn't long before king and bodyguard were brought again together as they laughed and laughed, and then relaxed for a while underneath the cloudless summertime sky, talking about whatever would come to mind, simply relishing each other's company... until Clover, claiming that the heat was making her thirsty, went out into the water with her smile yet unwavering. Julien remained at the bank while she drank, feeling like a heavyweight had been lifted off his shoulders.
She had such a way of making him feel at ease... Such strength of will like he had never seen before...
Little did he know, all his joy would've been no more had he been able to see the bleak look of sadness that overcame her as soon as she had her back to him.
Hours later, upon the onset of sundown, the lemurs' work was finally completed.
Luckily for the five of them, things went much more smoothly throughout the remainder of the day; Julien was quite pleased to see that his ultimatum to Crimson had been a resounding success after all. Though she was too prideful to ever say so directly to his face, even she had to admit she'd been pushing her luck too far, and the thought of him actually banning her from all social hotspots in the kingdom forever was a blood-curdling notion that she wouldn't dream of in her worst nightmares. She knew Julien well – he was a clement king with a notable penchant for forgiveness, but that didn't mean he wasn't capable of fulfilling his threats... and with how dead-serious that last one had sounded, it was obvious she was treading on very thin ice.
So when she and the others returned from their break, she set out to prove just how cooperative she could be: never again did she yell, mock, or chastise her sister (save for the odd slip of the tongue – mere force of habit – which was quickly rectified), and she began actively striving to be more caring and sympathetic towards her. Nevertheless, this didn't have much of an impact on Clover's mood – while it was a most welcome change to be able to train without all the constant arguing, she just couldn't bring herself to show happiness, because she knew none of it was genuine.
To make herself feel better, Clover poured herself into her task instead; being the devoted and hard-working person that she was, she toiled away tirelessly for hours on end, not allowing herself even the shortest respite until she was one hundred percent sure that she had memorized the full routine. Everything had to be flawless – period – mistakes simply were not an option. Even at the end of it all, when the music had long faded out and the sky had become darker and coppery; even when her friends were telling her that what she had done already was perfectly acceptable, she kept requesting more time, going over all the steps again and again and again until Julien had to practically restrain her to make her stop.
It hadn't been easy, but she had made it. And she was pretty confident in her chances, too – after all, she had learned from the best.
A few congratulatory words, speeches and hi-fives later, and everyone was ready to head back home. Mort and Julien started by picking up the boombox (Clover had volunteered to help with it like she'd done that morning, but her king had deemed it imperative that she rest now) – however, before they could get going, Maurice beckoned Clover off to the side. The aye-aye had something to tell her that had been swimming around his mind for quite a while.
"What is it, mate?" she asked him, lowering her voice so the rest wouldn't hear, "Something eating at ya?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Maurice scratched behind his ear. "Uh, listen – first I wanna say that you did great there; I have no doubt you've got this one in the bag!"
She narrowed her eyes inquiringly. "...But...?"
"But also that... I'm sorry, Clover."
The crowned lemur cocked her head to one side, puzzled. "You, sorry? For what?"
"For getting Crimson involved! She hasn't exactly been the kindest coach to you – actually, she's been a pretty awful one – and that's all on me. I simply didn't think she'd act like this when I recommended her, you know? All the yelling, and the in-fighting, and – and then all that stuff with the club that she's hustling us into... I-
"Ugh, c'mon! First King Julien, now you too? What's gotten into you guys lately?" She interrupted him with a roll of the eyes. "Look, Maurice, you must understand that none of that is your fault – we had no choice but to recruit my sister – it was either that or nothing!"
"Oi, what's the hold-up over there? We're running outta daylight by the minute in case you hadn't noticed, so unless the two of you have something to say, there's some of us here who'd really like to get going!" said lemur called over, casting a wary eye on the king's assistants. Crimson had a feeling they were talking about her... and she didn't like that. Not in the slightest.
Clover turned toward her. "Yeah, yeah, just give us a minute! You lot go on ahead, we'll be right with ya!"
Then, she faced Maurice again. "Anyway, like I said, mate, you have nothing to feel guilty for. We did what we had to do – end of story. Now let's go; we've got a long way home and I sure as hell can't wait to split from that smarty-pants."
With this statement, she turned to follow the others, but he hurried over and stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "Wait, I wasn't finished!"
"Argh, what now?" she grunted at him, irritated. For whichever reason, Maurice seemed on edge all of a sudden.
"...King Julien has told me about your heart-to-heart back at the creek; how you still wanna do this in spite of everything, so me and Mort have been doing some thinking these last couple hours and we, uh... please don't hit me for this... we believe it would be better if we let Crimson come with us tonight!" he blurted out before smiling nervously.
"You what?!" Clover stared at the aye-aye as if he'd lost his mind. Then, she stole a backward glance to check if the others were still there, but they were gone. "Oh no, forget it! I've already had my fair share of torture for today; the last thing I want now is her clinging 'round like a leech so she can make a mess of our night too! Hell-effing-no!"
He pleadingly clasped his hands together. "I know, Clover, but please bear with me for just one second! I understand how you must be feeling – you've been taking orders left and right from damn near everybody and Crimson is making everything like fifty times harder than it should be – but it doesn't have to be that way, you see?"
She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that by letting her accompany us as we do some clubbing around town and stuff, we'd be opening up all sorts of new possibilities for you and her! Think about it, when was the last time you two have had any actual quality time together, huh?"
Clover didn't answer him, but the way she sank her head and her eyes wandered away said it all.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," he continued, now grinning buoyantly, "So picture this: you and her are sitting there all nice and cozy with your fave drinks in hand while this jazzy laser show shoots up the place, the music is hitting it just right, there's people dancing and having fun all around you...! Doesn't that sound like the perfect kind of scenario for, say... patching things up a bit? We've still got about forty-eight hours left till she leaves for good, give or take – so wouldn't you agree it'd be better to spend those in sweet harmony, rather than clawing at each other's throats like you're always doing? Me and Mort could even help you with it; I asked him if he would and he said yes!"
But she just gave him a sardonic laugh. "Oh ho ho, now you're just being funny! Turns out the key to solving all your problems forever and ever is partying them away, of course! Gee, why didn't I think of that sooner?!"
"Clover, I'm not fooling around. We're not just talking about some teeny nuisance here; we're possibly talking about your mental state! We need to do something; otherwise you're just gonna keep being miserable for no good reason! Because sure, you can go on pretending that what Crimson is doing to you doesn't affect you; that if you just shut it all out it'll eventually go away, but the ugly truth is that it won't! And I know you know that as well as I do!" Maurice knew he would be testing Clover's patience by telling her all of this – a risky move indeed – yet an even more necessary one at that.
"Well, what d'you want me to do?" she asked him then, rhetorically. "It's not like I can just burst in and go, 'oi, Crimson, you should stop being such a stuck-up prick and start treating me with the respect I rightfully deserve as both a person with feelings and your only living relative!', as if that'll somehow turn her instantly into a saint! I've been burned way too many times to learn that that's not how it works!"
"But that's because you've never given it a chance! Look, you've said yourself many times before that you girls stopped interacting on a closer level since around your mid-late teens, right? That when you both became old enough to live independently, that was it; you turned tail and ran like hell... and then the rest is history, as the saying goes." Clover wrinkled her nose at him as if urging him to get to the point already, so he quickly added, "Er, anyhow, maybe that's partly why you always seem to get into so many... disagreements these days – you simply haven't taken the time to just sit down and communicate; you know, savor some of those traditional sister-to-sister moments, like you used to back in the day!"
"Psch, that's easy for ya to say; none of you guys have any siblings, let alone evil ones like her! You have no idea what that's like! No idea!" she asserted with her voice loudly raised; now Maurice could see that she was rapidly growing more and more flustered the longer they kept talking.
"And I won't pretend I do. But the bottom line, Clover, is that she's your sister – how hard can it be to just go to her and talk?"
"I can't do that, Maurice; how can ya ask me that? And even if I could, what d'you think she'd do, huh? Hug me, give me a lil' tap on the back and whisper into my ear that everything's gonna be a-okay from now on? That all the years of bad blood just... don't exist anymore? Maybe in your gullible idealized version of the world, but not in this one!"
The royal advisor frowned a little bit. "Hey, that's uncalled for! All I'm saying is that you shouldn't knock it till you've tried it – you don't have to listen to me if you don't want to, but it might save you a lot of pain in the long run. Because I don't know about you, but I only see two options if we insist on sticking this whole pageant nonsense out: either we keep on going the way we are already till we crash and burn, or we do something to steer this ship around. Which one would you rather take?"
With this question he raised his brows at her expectantly, clearly hoping she would see reason. However, to his chagrin, Clover just scoffed and shook her head at him. His persistence was seriously getting under her skin. "...That's it, I've had enough of this! Don't go speaking of things you know nothing about, pal – you're way outta order here – so spare us both the trouble and quit bugging me already!"
She was about to leave him with his words in his mouth – but Maurice wasn't going to give up just yet.
"Clover, for the love of Frank, listen to me! I'm not doing this on purpose; I only want what's best for you! Please, don't pass up this chance!" he started imploring then in a last-ditch effort to persuade her, "I see how difficult this must sound for you given everything that's been, but if you just gave it a shot, maybe you'd find that all you needed to reach a mutual agreement with your sister was one tiny little push in the correct direction! Not everybody has that same privilege, you know? I mean, take one look at King Julien and that deadbeat psycho of an uncle of his, and then tell me what is there to be done! That's right, nothing! Their 'relationship', if we can even call it that, is so far down the fricking drain that it might as well be six feet under – but you and Crimson are different!"
As he said this, Clover's eyes went huge and wild with dismay, as if thoroughly convinced that all this had to be part of some kind of cruel prank he was playing on her. Before Maurice knew it, her ears had also drooped limply at either side of her head, her tail had started twitching erratically, and she was clenching her fists so strongly now that he thought she was going to dig her nails into her palms and draw blood from them. Frankly, she was beginning to alarm him.
"...Right," she hissed then through gritted teeth, "'different' as in my sister's a rotten, self-absorbed egomaniac who thinks everyone and their mother should bow down to her and kiss her feet just 'cause she can dance real posh; 'different' as in she's someone who never has a kind word for me save for when it suits her and has tried to weasel her way into my affections to get stuff outta me more times than I can remember; 'DIFFERENT' as in she probably despises my guts just as much as she does our king's; and uh, what else am I missing...? Oh yeah – that she's also 'helping' me right now only because all I am to her is a damn piece of meat for her to use and then throw in the grinder once she's done – 'thank ya for your service, now sod off, you STUPID SUCKER; don't come back till next time I BLOODY NEED YA!'" she ferociously shrieked out at him, so ear-splittingly loud and with such terrifying and long-pent-up grief that seemed to rise from the deepest pits of her soul, that much like a clap of thunder, her voice scared away entire flocks of birds away from the trees near them.
Maurice winced away from her as well, stunned into silence. Clover's rageful form towered over him, her chest heaving up and down, bulged eyes raining hellfire – and then she immediately realized what she had done. Blinking repeatedly like she'd just woken up from a bad dream, she put one of her hands to her mouth, then crouched down to the royal advisor's height and rocked his shoulder as gently as she could.
"Maurice...! Hey, buddy! I..." she sputtered out, her voice breaking, "I... Oh, gods, I'm sorry! I – I didn't mean-
"No, it's alright. It's alright." He unsuccessfully attempted to smile. "Forgive me, I shouldn't have been meddling in all that private stuff anyway. I won't do it again."
Clover stared deep into him, turmoil etched all over her face. Once again she had let her emotions get the best of her... Maurice – misguided as he may be – was just trying to help; he didn't deserve to be treated so wrong...
When she had calmed down slightly, she blew a remorseful sigh, muttering, "...Listen, I really couldn't ask for anything better than y'all wanting to look out for me, and this ploy stuff you've cooked up sounds great on paper... but ya gotta wake up, mate – Crimson just doesn't care. I've told ya the story before: there used to be a time when I at least think she did, many years ago, but then... things changed. Things are always changing, you see, nine times outta ten for the worst, and there's not a damn thing you can do 'bout it!" Her gaze evaded his, staying hushed for a few seconds. "...I'm sorry, I just... I – I gotta go."
And without a word more, she rose on heavy feet and walked away from him. He watched her; off she went slowly into the dimming depths of the jungle, her head hanging low... until she suddenly stopped and appeared to bury her face in her right hand. His big ears flattened at the sound of her exhaling tiredly through her nose. Then, after a minute, she held her head high, clearing her throat before she rushed out of the glade.
Maurice was left there rooted to the ground, bashing himself mentally for agitating her like this.
Frank dammit, you idiot...! What in the gods' names were you thinking?
Clover always had been one to stand tall in the face of adversity, tenacious till the bitter end – almost to a fault at times, Maurice would say – but this storm that was inside her right now, brewing and raging and intensifying despite her continual struggle to keep it contained, could perhaps end up being too much even for her. Having feelings like those bottled up for such a long time with no way of satisfactorily releasing them just wasn't healthy, no matter which way one looked at it. All it was was a poison to the mind; a crippling burden that no one should have to bear.
He felt so sorry for her...
He only wanted to make it right. That he did! But now... he figured he might've just done the opposite.
When he did finally go after Clover a little later, he did so unaware of a pair of icy blue orbs that had been spying on them from a neighboring treetop all along. Their owner, having eavesdropped on their whole conversation, quietly leaped down and scampered back into the shadows like she'd never been there at all.
The lemurs arrived back at the kingdom right around nightfall. After making a quick pit stop at Julien's house to leave the boombox there, him and his crew were now ready to part ways with Crimson. However, given the recent circumstances, there was understandably little to celebrate tonight. There were no jovial send-offs, no easy chatter commemorating a good day's work, or heartfelt expectations about seeing each other again tomorrow; just stilted expressions all around, along with the most rudimentary of farewells.
Maurice had been watching the two twins very closely in case more hostilities broke out, yet neither of them had spoken a single word to one another the entire journey. As a matter of fact, Clover had become so cold and detached towards everyone that even now she kept strictly to herself, while all her friends were busy saying their goodbyes to her sister. She was currently several feet away from the rest of the team, slumped against the front wall of the royal home with folded arms, and her eyes were constantly fixated on Crimson. Her expression, as well as her thoughts, though, were an unsolvable enigma; she could've very well been singing a cheery song as much as flinging the most atrocious piles of obscenities imaginable at her twin.
She didn't even lift a finger when Crimson announced she was leaving a minute later. Jaded as she was, she just couldn't be bothered.
But then, something strange happened: Crimson locked gazes with Clover – quite intentionally so, it appeared. Following a short pause, she approached her, and hesitatingly, laid a hand on her downturned shoulder.
"...Sup, sis? How are we doing?" she dared to ask.
"Wonderful," the orange twin replied tersely before shaking herself free, to which the red one sighed.
"Listen, Clo-Clo, I get that ya ain't in the mood for talking right now, but... just between you and me – I... I wanted you to know that, uh, well... you did... you did pretty alright today, okay? It was kind of a rocky start, but... you pulled through in the end. Not bad for your first day on the job," she murmured out awkwardly and with a very thin, very forced smile upon her face, as though it cost her a lot of effort to string the sentence together.
Clover's expression didn't change; instead she looked at her sister dead in the eye, like she were unsure what to make of this. More often than not, she was able to see right through most people's lies – a useful little knack she had acquired over the years, courtesy of Crimson's never-ending deceitful tendencies. Any other time, she would've responded with cynicism under the presumption that she had just said that to look good in front of everybody, only there had been none of her usual cockiness lacing her words then; no underlying derision masquerading as kindness or anything of the sort. This made Clover question if perhaps she was being truthful about it, and if so, why she was telling her this.
"...Anyway, I suppose I should get going. We've all got stuff to do I guess, so I'll let you fellas get to it," said Crimson then, turning around. "See ya."
Forming a V-sign, she began strolling away from the place – when Clover, seemingly out of pure instinct, suddenly reached out for her.
"Wait! Crimson!"
The red twin halted and glanced back, curious as to what she could want now. Maurice nearly couldn't avoid gasping out loud.
However, much to his disappointment, Clover backed down at the last second; only hollow silence ensued, followed by her doing nothing but lower her arm and utter a modest, "...See ya."
Maybe it had been out of cowardice. Maybe she hadn't had anything else to say.
Holding her gaze for a moment longer, Crimson smirked weakly, before leaving.