No Shortcuts

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The bad news, Chloe had to work today. Ever since the boys had moved in, Scrooge had agreed to give Chloe more time off to spend with the family, but that meant she had to work even harder when at the office.

The good news, she wouldn't be alone today. Louie, Dewey, and Webby were all coming along with them, Dewey and Webby voluntarily, and Louie... not. Regardless, she was glad she got to spend some time with them.

As soon as Launchpad got to the bin, and everyone got out of the limo, Dewey said, "Thanks for letting us tag along, Uncle Scrooge, but I suddenly very much have to go use the bathroom."

"And I will show you... where to go... to that place," Webby added, and the two took off.

Louie tried to join them, but Scrooge stopped him. Chloe watched the two disappear and shook her head at Webby's very poor and obvious lie. With a sigh, she followed Scrooge and Louie, the former having to drag the latter up the stairs to the elevator.

"Why do you have to go upstairs to reach an elevator?!" Louie asked, seemingly already irritated.

"Because the person who designed this building is a moron," Chloe answered honestly. 

"Can't argue with ya' there. At least they got the design for the bin itself right," Scrooge agreed.

Louie groaned and stood up, his hands in his likely filthy pockets. The three of them finally reached the top floor. The second they went past the bin, Louie got excited.

"Is that your Money Bin? What do you want me to do? Count it? Make sure it's real?" Louie excitedly asked. "Go out and spend some to make sure it doesn't expire?"

"You do realize that gold isn't the only thing Scrooge keeps down there," Chloe pointed out. "It's really the... less valuable of Scrooge's valuable stuff."

"Aye, the lass is right," Scrooge said. "There's more to gold than just gold... What are you doing?"

Louie had rushed inside and was about to dive into the gold. Scrooge followed quickly and caught him before he was too far down. "Are you crazy? You'll crack your skull on that rock hard gold!"

"But I've seen you literally swim in gold!" Louie retorted.

"Because I've trained my muscles to be able to move in gold," Scrooge replied. "It takes endless hours of practice and dedication to fully master the art of swimming in money."

Chloe peeked her head into the bin. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Louie was just about to... Hey! What did I just say?" Scrooge said, Louie trying to use the opportunity to dive again.

"He tried to jump into the gold from up here?" Chloe asked.

"Aye. Take the lad into your office and teach him that you have to work for what you get," Scrooge told her.

Chloe nodded and out a hand on Louie's back. 

"So... what does Uncle Scrooge let you do?" Louie asked.

"I handle Scrooge's spendings and monitor his income and spendings," Chloe answered as they reached her office.

"Ugh, more work? Pass," Louie said, trying to walk out again.

Chloe stood in front of him. "You're ten, I get it. You think that being rich is easy and allows for nothing but relaxation. But you would not believe how hard it really is to keep Scrooge from misspending his money, keep his investors happy, and monitor everything that goes on here. Scrooge is right, you really do have to work for everything you get, especially when you're as rich as him. There just aren't any shortcuts, no matter how hard you look."

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