lost but not alone

.

        A mirror. Another good idea from Tootles. Tink did like to look at herself just like any other woman. He couldn’t blame her, or any of them either, because he enjoyed looking at them just as much as they enjoyed looking at themselves. “I do. I’m the best.” Peter beamed proudly at his friend and the compliment. “Tink’s so weird about her friends. I don’t get it. Why doesn’t she want me to be friends with them too? I’m great. Tink knows that, you know that, everyone should know that.” Peter blinked, stunned by Tootles’ words. Maybe she has a crush on her. Maybe she did. It was something that he had never considered. “I should ask her.” 

A smile nudged itself unto Tootles’ lips at Peter’s strong confidence in himself. “You really are Peter.” He wished he could have that sort of belief in himself, it was marvelous. But Tootles could only dream of it, he knew he’d never be so strong to actually have that type of confidence. He had nothing of himself to be confident in. He wasn’t like Peter, who was so sharp and quick. He was clumsy, always broke things and messed things up. He had nothing to be proud of. “I don’t think there’s anyone I know as cool as you.” He could only give a light chuckle as Peter spoke about his greatness. As cool as the other was, humble sure wasn’t on the resume. Not that Tootles minded, the confidence was inspiring. “You are pretty neat.” He agreed. “Yeah, you know Tink. She could just be... possessive. I guess.” Though Tootles could only guess which person she was possessive of, and it probably wasn’t the other girl. 

“Oof…ex..excuse me! Excuse me! Can you help me please?” Marinette called, grunting as she struggled with the large bag of flour. She’d already dropped one, the evidence quite literally all over her. She couldn’t afford to drop this one too. She neared, putting the bag down a sec, letting out a sigh of relief. She wiped her hand across her head, leaving a steak of flour behind it. “I just need you to hold the door open so I can get this inside?” she huffed, face flushed as she finally looked up at them. @aforgottentale-starters​​

“Oh yes, of course!” Tootles ran to her side, stumbling over his own feet but luckily managing not to fall for once. He understood the toughness of being a klutz all too well, there was no way he would abandon the girl to her fate and her flour. He opened the door for her, making sure she was set inside before letting it close. Stepping behind her so he could help her finish bringing the flour over. His hands were caked with it but Tootles never minded getting messy. “Here you go,” He said. “Do you need help with anything else?” The last thing he would want was the poor girl getting stuck once again. 

“No need to thank me,” Basil checked something on his phone, not even looking at the boy. “It was painfully obvious you aren’t the one responsible. I don’t understand how they didn’t see it.” It was then he finally looked up – just a little bit pleased with himself. “But I suppose that’s why they bring in consultants.” He pocketed his phone, adjusting the hem of his jacket. “They should be back to release you shortly.”

The guy didn’t look too interested but Tootles still felt indebted to him, and grateful for stepping in to get him released. “Usually they say the opposite about my face, ah- that I look like a guilty gremlin.” That was particularly memorable experience. Though his very favorite memory had called him a sneaky skunk. Personally, Tootles didn’t think he smelled that bad. “Are you a lawyer?” He asked curiously. “Or uh- I guess a consultant isn’t necessarily a lawyer.” 

Basil had been at the station to question someone entirely different. But the shouting of the boy was rather hard to ignore. 

But being a regular consultant for law enforcement meant he heard a lot of things most civilians didn’t. He was able to recognize the crime in question just based on the limited description he’d heard and the other information he had. 

He went over to one of the officers. “If you’d take a look at the mud stains on his shoes, you’d know that the consistency and color is completely different from what you’d find at the crime scene. Had a very distinctive red shade, and it was raining – couldn’t have gotten out of that location without getting splattered.” After Basil explained, the officer went to double check records to confirm. Basil simply rolled his eyes and went over to the cell with an irritated sigh. “Honestly.” The culprit Basil needed to talk to was still being questioned by someone else. So, at the moment, he was playing the waiting game. 

The last thing Tootles expected was a total stranger to step in on his behalf. The kindness felt unreal to someone like him who didn’t experience it all too often. “Uh yeah, that.” He didn’t really follow what the guy was talking about but it sounded like actual proof to the actual truth of the matter, Tootles’s innocence. “Thank you so much.” His hands held tight against the bars of the cell as the police officers went in the back. It felt like he was actually gonna get out. The relief spasmed in his chest.

~

“Oh, so degeneracy is a common thing for you,” she offered with a smirk, though it wasn’t accusatory; more curious than anything. She leaned against her hand as she waited for him to tell his story. She nodded along before he got to the ending. “Looks like guilt by association to me, that’s rough,” she said with a sympathetic downturn of her lips. “My parents tell me I’d make a great lawyer, maybe I can help talk you out of here.” She then shrugged. “Or pay your bail, but you’ll have to be really nice to me for that one.”

“Uh well… yes?” It’d be nice if he could say something different but Tootles was nothing if not honest to a fault. He felt inclined towards the truth unless someone he respected told him against it. “When you put it like that it sounds like I deserve it.” He grimaced. Did he? He would never do anything to actually hurt someone though some schemes were hazier than others. “Really??” He was surprised by the kind offer but he had no options right now. “You may be my only hope.” He said and then chuckled. “Naw you can’t pay my bail; I’d feel too terrible about it.”

.

      Peter nodded as Tootles came up with another idea. A handheld mirror wasn’t a bad idea either, but neither of those screamed forgiveness to him. “A jewelry box?” Now that was an idea that he could work with. Last time he had gone into Thingamabobs Antiques, he had seen something like what Tootles described. “I think I know just where to get one.” Peter’s eyes narrowed at his friend, brows pulling together to form a crease in the center of his forehead. “Why would she want it for herself if she already had it. Yeah, maybe.” It didn’t make sense. Blinking, his eyes moved away from Tootles as he tried to think of a better reason.

“Something with a mirror.” Not that he would ever call Tink vain but she did like looking at herself on occasion. “Or one of those pocket sized ones? He suggested. “You really have a place for everything, don’t you Peter?” He asked fondly the questioned. “Not the username but the girls whose username it is. Maybe, for whatever reason, she doesn’t want you two to be friends.” Tootles could think of a reason or two Tink wouldn’t want Peter to befriend another girl, not that he’d say it out-loud. “Maybe… she has a crush on her?” Probably NOT but it didn’t hurt to theorize.

.

     “Ah, well. Being in the wrong place at the right time is kind of a specialty of mine, so” Oliver grinned, shaking his head gently. “There was a misunderstanding with some spray paint last week…once I cleared up that it was for a college project they were pretty cool about letting me go. Although, I’m pretty sure Rita probably had something to do with that” the redhead shrugged. “Well, uh, I guess if these keys happened to fall from their hook that, that would just be weird coincidence, right?” he rose a brow, turning to the other to check for any signs of protest before he picked the keys up, dropping them to the ground. “I should have added that I’m pretty clumsy…oops” he shrugged, kicking the keys across the floor to him. “Wild, right?”

~

Her eyebrows raised slightly, her curiosity piqued. “So you usually don’t go on solo missions, huh?” she asked. This kid seemed a bit too soft to have done any time inside a jail cell, even for one night. She looked back at the policeman the guy was looking at and chuckled ironically. “Yeah, that one doesn’t exactly like listening to reason,” she said pointedly, not caring whether he heard her or not; part of them hoped he had. “So. What’re ya in for?” she asked, walking up to casually lean against the bars closest to the other.

“Nope,” the P popped from Tootles’ lips. “Quite honestly I’d rather not participate in most missions at all, but I also don’t like being left behind so it creates somewhat of a conundrum.” He confessed. “This time, however, its rather cut and dry. I was not involved whatsoever.” Ironically enough there were times when he was involved that he hadn’t been caught at all. Now that he wasn’t involved he ended up behind bars, not cool at all. “I was being friendly,” Tootles began to explain. “I work with this lad— Skipper, I was chatting with him when I ran at him at the local pharmacy. No idea that he was planning to pillage the place! Now I’m here and certainly not considering us friends any longer.”

She was going to be late for class so Tink’s foot tapped impatiently until she could worm her way to the back. “Tootles - stop talking.” she snapped turning on her heel back to the office. “See? It’s a mistake.” she said trying to reason with the campus police. “What’s he accused of anyway?” she asked narrowing her eyes hands on her hips. 

A starter reply for @sparetootles​

.

     “Oh, uh, are you talking to me?” Oliver quirked a brow, glancing behind himself just in case before he turned his attention back to the loud man in question. “I don’t work here…I just swung by to see if I left my jacket here last week..” he explained, rocking on his heels. “What’d you do?” He wanted to believe that the man would have been locked away for a reason, but if he was telling the truth then that might not have been the case. “I don’t think the sheriff’s been around for a while”

“Well, no.” Tootles had been trying to get the attention of the officer but the man refused to give him the time of day. “I’m pleased at least someone heard me though,” Not who he was aiming for but better than being utterly ignored. “Do you visit here often?” Perhaps if Tootles was lucky the man could pull some strings ans get them out of there. “I accidentally bumped into a very rash officer, I had no idea they were chasing a perp! I wasn’t trying to prevent justice, rather I’m a big fan of justice. It was a total accident.”

Merida was bored. She had been here before, spending the night in the cell before one of her parents paid her bail to pick her up. In Merida’s defense for this time, the guy at the club had grabbed her ass after constantly being told she wasn’t interested, so she was completely justified in beating him up. Still, the idiot cop didn’t see it her way and brought her to the station. It was only a matter of time before she would get let out, but still, she didn’t like waiting. She smirked at the display of the guy in the other cell as she asked “First time?”

No matter how much he attempted to explain the cops just didn’t seem interested in listening. They were convinced of their own story, and nothing Tootles could do or say would sway them otherwise. Their minds were made up and it sucked. He hated feeling so helpless, so powerless. He turned his head to the red head who had addressed him. “No- I mean, not exactly, no.” He had been in the station before, locked up before, behind bars before. “It’s moreso my first time on my own,” There was a softness in his voice that came with the admission. “It’s a bit nerve wracking, if I’m being honest.” He had always others to rely on in the past, to keep his nerves down. Noneso much right now. He glanced at the officer who wasn’t even paying attention to them. “That probably doesn’t help my case, though I doubt he heard it.” 

.

        “You think she’d trade me for a necklace or something?” It wasn’t the worst idea that Tootles had ever come up with. It might have even been the best one. Something told him it wasn’t going to be that easy if he really did want to get that username though, and he did really want that username. Peter would have to think of a different way to convince Tink to give it to him. “I don’t know…she was pretty upset.”

“She might! Or maybe one of those handheld mirrors girls like? Or a- those little boxes they keep their- a jewelry box!” He remembered as he spoke it during the sentence. “Hmmm, perhaps theres another reason for her upset-edness?” It didn’t feel like the correct word but Tootles didn’t care enough to search for it. “Maybe she wanted the username for her own self?” He suggested. “Or maybe something else was eating her and you asked at the wrong moment. Tink could be uh, silly, like that.” Was silly the word? It would have to do. 

Closed Starter for @sparetootles​

       “Can you believe that?” Peter asked, clearly frustrated as he sat down next to Tootles. Annoyance seethed off of Peter like a pot boiling over. Tink was his best friend, but that also meant she knew just how to get under his skin. Not giving him one of her friend’s snapchat just happened to be the thing of the day. “Why does she have to be such a girl all the time?”

“Uh...” Tootles was not very good at advice. To be frank, he sucked at it. Peter probably understood girls far better than he did, heck Peter understood people better than Tootles did. And Tink herself was already temperamental enough of a person as it was. “Maybe you could bargain for it? Tink likes shiny things. Maybe she’ll trade.”