𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
It was a relatively a nice morning, breakfast was served in an neat arrangement on the table.
The table that both snake's had noted to have messed up the night prior, now neat as if nothing had happened.
Suspicious eyes were casted at the lavishly done food that sat quite beautifully before them, Ms. Tarantula poked the pancakes on her much smaller plate, checking for something.
"What'd you think Webs? Safe?" Wolf gave the tarantula a look to see if things were in order, to which she nodded and smiled.
"Dig in fella's!"
Chao's ensued, plate after plate of food was eaten and tossed aside for the next.
Cuddles was kept busy by most of the orderings.
"I hope you'll all be able to fit in the fits I had scheduled for you all. The Galla is right around the corner, don't ya know"
Everyone froze mid-bite, Wolf had a fork poking from between his teeth from the bacon he had been eyeing.
Shark's face had turned a chery red from embarrassment when forgetting his manners, placing the utensils down quickly.
Piranha gave a small wave, clearly unfazed from the female snakes presence.
Snake had rolled his eyes, shifting his curled body away from the other reptilian in the room.
"Um... What are you talking about Ms. Vice?" Wolf had asked expectantly, his paws had laced between themselves to look more civilized.
"I was informed by the professor that you are all going to this very special Gala, and it all came to mind that you all need to be prepped for the occasion!"
Her mouth had curled in a small smile before placing her clip board onto the dining table.
Rows of eyes had peered over (Y/n)'s head.
Small boards holding different kinds of clothing items that each individual animal could try on.
"Ooh! Ooh! I like that one!" Piranha had hopped onto the table, taking one of the many pictures that contains an array of nice suits.
Over the chatter of options that they would be willing to try, Wolf had placed his paw down over the clip board, his eyes shifting up and down over the reptile that only sat idle to the side of the table.
"Why are you helping us? Pray tell? Is it Ms. Foxington that's got you to try and shift your own focus? Because it can't just be the professor."
Ah, there we are. That question had the female snake reel her tail out, taking one of the papers that had a small picture on it.
"You see, Wolf. I have had many encounters with sly people trying to be sneaky. But..." a small laugh had snuck it's way through her nose before holding up the photo.
It was of a time where wolf had a worn a granny outfit, lights stricken him to the point of looking like a deer in the headlights.
And it looked like he was trying to eat something from the kitchen, mouth half stuffed with what looked like fresh baked cookies.
Wolf looked appalled, his face reddened as he tried to grab the picture, yelling "Hey! Where'd you get that!" He tried oh so desperately to grab ahold of it, only for it to be held up swiftly by (Y/n). A burst of laughter had came through the whole table, Webs wiped the tears that had forced their way out of her face.
"Wolf! Was that really you?! Oh man- that disguise was awful!" The tarantula wheezed, laughing right next to Piranha, who had repeatedly slapped his knee due to the sheer shock of the situation.
"Hey, hey, hey! Woah! Guys, this was before I even met Shark! I had to do the best with what I had!" Wolf tried to reason with his friends, a sweat drop dipped at the side of his head when he saw that they were absolutely dying on the dining table.
Snake had rolled his eyes at the memory, having been there on that exact heist, the smirk playing on his lips as he slid his tail over Wolf's shoulder, patting the poor man.
"No worries bud, that was only a small phase. Though, that granny get up was extremely funny to watch." Wolf had shot his friend a glare, which the reptile only let out a small choked laugh when Wolf lightly flicked snake on the side of the head.
Another paper had slid out past the picture, a small document had in big bold letters - THE BAD GUYS - Records.
Everyone had stared at the folder that had been brought to their attention.
"I've been doing some... Research. Like the incident at Mr. Ho's pet store," Snake paled, his body had formed a small pose where it tried to make him look tougher.
"Hey-!"
"Breaking into a dog pound and terrifying over 200 dogs out of the building,"
Shark had smiled at that one, sighing a small bit, a tiny blush coating his face, his fin holding his head up, as if in a daydream.
"Ah.. my first time trying my very first costume, and that man was super nice trying to find my dog..."
"And then there was that time you all tried to free chickens at a very... Closed in chicken coop... I might need to take look at that one actually."
Snake's body launched forward, anger seething through his body as he now saw what this was all about.
"YOU'RE BLACKMAILING US!" Snake screamed, a paw and a large fin had pulled him back from snapping his Jaws at the other snake, keeping her cool composer as she took the remaining evidence into her bag.
(Y/n)'s sly smile making her look like she could be a bad guy herself.
As if flipping the switch, her smile returned fully. Slithering out of the chair that she had been seated in. "I wouldn't say Blackmail, just... Motivation to not screw up the event. After all that hard work to get people to finally see you in a good light... You wouldn't want it to slip past your grip, ri-ght?"
The reptile had fully grappled their attention, eyes wide and reeling.
"Well? Grab your stuff, we're going to the changing booth to see what you all might like."
And with that, her body disappeared past the doors.
The room fell silent for a small minute, till Piranha looked off to Shark, a smile forming on his wide mouth.
"She seems nice!"
"Hardly!" Snake cut in, the sound of glass breaking when his tail slid and smacked a glass of the table, spilling the liquid onto the marble floor.
"They tricked us! Now they have everything to use against us, and if she sees even a little bit of a screw up- we're all toast because of her!" Right before Snake could go on a tangent, Wolf raked through his furred cheek to try and get some bearings before trying to calm the oldest of the bunch down.
"Snake, bud, everything will be alright. I'll get the plan updated as soon as I get more Intel on what the Galla has in store for us alright? You can trust me." Wolf reasoned, his hand taking ahold of one of the many papers he had worked up when the vice wasn't looking.
"And I think I have a plan..."
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The place was absolutely huge!
Gasps of awe had been slapped on all of the gangs faces when they were met with a variety of clothing of all different shapes and sizes.
The ball python leading the way to the changing isle, stopped for a moment. Her eyes shined at the many textures of dresses and suits of many styles before settling back on the group.
"Alright now everyone, you may all wander and pick your choice of clothing for the Gala. Doesn't matter if it's too big or too small, pick something and I'll get it personally fitted just for you."
Shark was the first to head off, trying to find something that would suit his sense of style for the night.
So, here's the plan...
The place that we're going to is gonna be huge, shark your gonna be our look out. You may also find your suit- by the way.
Webs had crawled up towards the python, a small look of worry crossing her face.
"Excuse me, but do I have to wear a dress to the Gala? It's uhh.. sorta not my style honestly."
Webs, you'll be our distraction. Makes sure she's busy by the time we're done.
(Y/n) looked down to the spider, her head leaning down so that she could talk to her at eye level.
"Of course you don't have to wear a dress, it's an open event. No one's gonna judge. And between you and me, Diane isn't really a big fan of dresses either. She just wants to look nice for being governor."
"Really?"
The snake nodded with an amused smile, her tail slightly swishing in a 'follow me' gesture.
"We can find something you'd like to wear that's more comfortable."
And me, snake and piranha should have enough time to... Investigate the vice through some of the things she should have left behind in her bag.
"You sure we should be looking around in her purse, Chico? That's kinda a ladies business if you ask me." Piranha pulled out a small tube of concealer, putting it to the side to search for something else in one of the side pockets.
"She dug shit on us! If anything, we're doing ourselves justice by seeing what secrets she has!" Snake pulled out something that looked like a coin purse. Shaking it a bit before opening it.
A crumpled piece of paper, along with a few coins stashed in.
Without a small inkling of thought, he unwrapped the paper. Pulling at the wrinkled ends to try and smooth them out. A face stares back, a closed lip smile of a male snake, a hat adorned his head, covering a bit of his face.
"Huh, would ya look at that~"
Snake's voice lowered an octave, an evil smirk graced his lips.
Wolf's ears perked at that, head leaning over to see just exactly what Snake had found.
His eyes widened.
"Is that?-"
"Uh-huh, looks like little Miss do- good has some very keen relationships." Snake flipped the picture to show Piranha, who let out an extremely loud gasp.
A small "No way!" Squeaked pasted his sharp teeth, giddiness coursed through his body.
"She knows the Diamond king?!"
"Looks that way." Snake smiled, placing the newly acquired evidence in the pocket of his red, Hawaiian shirt.
"I got the papers, hurry and put everything back!" Wolf grabbed the folder that had all of their information, slipping it into the confines of his suit jacket. Trying to shift a bit to make sure the papers weren't crumpled by the end of their mini heist.
Snake was about to back away till Wolf, as sly as ever, threw the bag towards his friend, causing him to catch it so that the contents wouldn't clatter to the floor.
"What the---! Wolf!"
"Hurry up and give it to them! Get on their good side!"
"But I don't wanna get on their good side! I'm never on anyone's good side!"
Before Snake could give Wolf back the bag, Wolf shoved the Brown Eastern Snake towards one of the isles where (Y/n) could be heard silently mumbling curses to herself.
When Snake turned to glare at Wolf, he only gave a gesture to 'hurry up and go'.
With a low grumble, Snake slithered to the Python, bag secured around his tail.
Once he saw her, his face slightly softened, not enough to be seen as nice... But he had to admit, she wasn't that bad to look at.
She looked stressed, eyes glancing at everything, even the floor. But she tried to seem as if nothing was wrong, her spine straight and slightly stiff with her movements.
When she first caught Mr.Snake, suspicious laced her face till she quickly pulled her head back when the sight of her purse had been shoved to her.
"Here ya go Ms.Vice. You left your stupid bag at the front, you should keep a closer eye on it next time." The reptile grumbled, the wrinkle on his brow deepened once he saw her graciously take the bag into her tail.
Expecting nothing but a stink eye and wave off from her, he turned tail to leave. But a small laugh caught his attention, confusion crossed his face, turning his head slightly to see that (Y/n) had tried to stifle something.
Once she saw that she was being looked at, she tried to put back their best mutual looking face, but what only happened was a silent wheeze to slip past her nose.
A little annoyed, Snake flicked his tongue. "Yeah? What's so funny? Ya laughing at how stupid I look or somethin'?"
That only made the other want to laugh more, but tried - and miserably failed - to hide it with a cough.
"No! No, it's nothing like that, it's just- super unexpected."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. You can go brag about it to whatever newspaper guy around." He seethed through the open gap between his fangs, he already knew the set up and humiliation he was going to receive, first it was the fact that she now knew everything about him, and then the onesie situation... Now this?!
"What are you talking about? I'm not gonna report you. That's just abuse of power... Over something so pointless too." Amusement coated her tongue, it matched the beautiful sparkle of jewels in her eyes.
"I think it's sweet. Thank you Mr. Snake."
She slithered off, a smile and a small pink tint dusted her cheeks.
Off to the side, Snake could hear (Y/n) gawking about how Webs looked good in the suit she picked out. But he couldn't even be bothered to listen at that moment.
He was thanked?
Why would she, of all things- of all people, thank him?!
Mr. Snake, one of the Bad guys?
Just for an insignificant purse.
What was wrong with her? There has to be something that he was missing.
Suddenly, he could recognize the scent she carried along with her... It was something that seemed normal to everyone else, out of the ordinary, but to him... It felt faintly sweeter.
He noticed the way her body swayed against the tile, and the light casting against her scales to mimic one of glistening glass pearls against the sea shore.
The way her eyes sparkled when they saw a particular dress that caught her attention, looking over the tags. And the adoration she gave when Shark had pulled out a suit that he had spotted on his own.
" .....nak?"
What the hell was this? This stupid beating in his throat that won't go away, he felt himself sweating. Why was it so hot in here?
" Snake! Buddy! You alright?"
"Hello! Chico! ¿Estás bien?"
Snake was rudely snapped out of his daze, the sound of Wolf snapping his fingers to get his attention made him catch himself from practically almost dropping his jaw to the floor.
Wolf tilted his head to the shook snake before him, never had he once seen his friend so stiff and nervous looking.
"Uhh, yeah! Yeah... I'm fine wha- what happened?"
"You were in a daze hermano, like- we were trying to talk to ya, but you just needed a wake up call!"
Piranha exaggerated with his fined hands, clapping them repeatedly. The action caused Snake to shake his head before turning to Wolf, his face switching from confused, to serious quickly.
"Anyway, nice goin' Wolf. Flawless plan as always, now let's go get our stuff!"
Snake slithered off to some of the tailored suits just waiting to be tried on. When Snake was out of sight, Piranha and Wolf looked at each other, Wolf shrugging a bit before smiling.
"Looks like our snake-y got himself a friend."
"I just thought he ate something sweet on the way here, for him to get all smiley like that all of a sudden."
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It was dark once everyone had gotten back to Marmalade's mansion, the wind was a bit harder than before. Biting a bit at the exposed skin, fur and scale of the individuals who walked inside to get away from it.
Tomorrow was the Gala, and so the gang was bustling about how things might look in the grand scheme of things, what kind of fancy-shmancy food might be there.
(Y/n) watched as they all headed to their shared room, wanting to take a load off and just relax. She could understand, she also wanted to just lay down and sleep for the next few hours.
But work must be attended to; looking through her back, she pulled out her phone. Clicking it open to reveal several news links and some new emails.
(Y/n) swiped through her contacts and landed the tip of her tail on Diane's contact number, pulling it up to her ear to listen to the ringing.
Seconds pass, and finally the fox picks up.
"(Y/n), Hey!"
"Diane! I'm calling to let you know I'm going to come back in a few, the gang got their Gala cloths for tomorrow, and hopefully it'll be smooth sailing." The snake smiled, maybe things were looking up for them. Sure they were all a bit rough around the edges, Shark was sweet, popping jokes every now and then to lighten the mood, Webs was someone you could talk to about almost anything, she's cool and as she found out, extremely chill.
Piranha was definitely loud and rambunctious, on the crazy side no less... But she could see how much he cared for his friends, often referring to them with many nick names and just, generally keeping them close to his heart.
Ah, Wolf, their leader so to speak, witty, very observant. But his eyes hold many things, (Y/n) could tell that he was greatly affected by these turn of events.
Mr. Snake... Charming, in his own grumpy way. She was sure she had seen him smile a few times, usually over something funny Wolf said, or just being a total prick to Shark on some occasions... Something stuck with her when she tried to picture him doing something good.
Giving them back their bag was something that they hadn't had in mind, but it was the thought that counts.
She had checked her wallet just to be sure, not a single dollar was snatched, or replaced with fake set holders.
"That's good to hear! I'll be home after I've picked up my cloths for the Gala, it's the blue one!" She could hear the smile on Diane's face when she said that, she remembered her friend finding it absolutely gorgeous. No doubt she would pull it off just as well.
"Ooh! Can't wait to see you absolutely rock it, I assume your dancing with it?"
"Uh-huh, yeah we'll see about that. I'll talk to you later, get back home safely alright?"
"Will do, see you later Dee Dee."
The call cut.