#tpom dave

DREAMWORKS!

DROP A TPOM SEQUAL WITH DAVE AND DR BLOWHOLE TEAM UP AND MAYBE HAVE THEM BECOME POWER COUPLE + PARTNERS IN CRIME

A dark, early morning, the sun not having peaked yet to shine. The Tux brothers had slept in their underground base. Most of the bunks held at least one of the members- two were empty of their hosts. Outside the room, one of them was climbing up the ladder, shoes making low “clunks” with every step. He opened the roof entrance, steel creaking as it turned when he opened it and when he closed it and hiding it again under a dresser.

 Skipper strolled through the living room, following the light from the archway to their kitchen. He peaked his head in.

 “Kowalski,” he sighed, crossing his arms and leaning his shoulder onto the doorway, “What are you doing up so early? I told you today’s a break day from any missions.”

 There, sitting at one of the bar stools in front of their counter, sat Kowalski. At one glance, one could easily see his sleep deprivation easily. His back hunched, compared to his usual proper stature, his eyes were ridden with dark rings and looked blood-shot. His hair, though usually messy, was even more disheveled. Surrounding him on the countertop were stacks of papers and a manila folder full of one of their current cases. Next to the stacks was a mug, that Skipper could smell was a particularly strong coffee.

 “I haven’t slept, Skipper,” Kowalski answered, shifting his glazed daze to his older brother. He neatly fixed the papers in his hands and set them down on another pile as Skipper made his way to him, taking a seat on the stool next to him.

 Skipper sat hunched slightly, arms still crossed but sitting atop the counter. He observed all the items on the table, figuring out which of their cases this was.

 Lately, their cases haven’t been too urgent nor dangerous- but this one was a bit more. And it was a bit more of a long- term case. It’s objective? To locate and catch the deranged Dr. Blowhole. The team heard rumor from the other agencies that he’s hatched a new plan. And it possibly included the capture of someone in one of the agencies to use in the plan. From the mad scientist’s first meet with his younger brothers, Skipper suspect that Private was at high risk of a kidnapping, and so he took on the case with the other teams to put the potential threat down ASAP. But, as of recent, Skipper hadn’t told his brothers the change in plans yet.

 “I’m not letting him near Private again.”

 Skipper’s eyes snapped to Kowalski, as he was pulled out of his thoughts by his voice. It was serious, deadly serious, yet full of desperation and nerves.

 “Is that why you stayed up?” Skipper asked.

 “Yes. I’ve been trying to figure out his plan, his route, where he could be- anything. But I can’t find anything,” Kowalski said, voice further tensing, as he shook his head as he looked through the piles of papers. He groaned, agitated and rigid, as his hands reached up to his head and held on tightly to strands of hair.

 “Kowalski, calm down,” Skipper said soothingly. He placed a hand on Kowalski’s shoulder, the other hand trying to get Kowalski to stop tugging on his hairs. “Look, I know this potential danger for Private is getting to you. It’s getting to all of us. But look,” he cut himself off, giving Kowalski an empathetic smile when he looked up to him. “We’re not on this case anymore.”

 “What? Why?” Kowalski asked, obviously in disbelief.

 “The North Wind have put themselves in our place- they’re going to handle it-”

 “Skipper, no! If there’s anyone that’s going to keep Private safe, it’s us, and you know it!” “I do! But if there’s anyone that can keep Private safe until Blowhole’s threats are subdued, it’s us! If we’re off focused on the mission, who’s keeping Private safe from any of his henchmen that could be going right past our eyes?”

 Kowalski sat quiet, eyes disgusted from Skipper’s sudden change. He never would give up a case, especially if it was for one of his brothers.

 “Do you really think they can do our job like we do?” Kowalski questioned, voice harsh.

 Skipper burrowed his brows, biting his lip. He loosened his grip on Kowalski’s shoulders, his own shoulders slumping slightly.

 “No,” he huffed. “But it’s the safer option, Kowalski.”

 Neither spoke, but Kowalski’s face showed confusion to his words.

 “Remember the last time we focused too much on catching the enemy?” Skipper’s breathing hitched slightly. “We left Private alone because we thought we finally caught him, only to find out he slipped right past us- and was able to get his hands on Private and take him away from us. That was my fault, and I’m not letting it happen again. We have to put this case down, no matter how much we know we can execute it faster than Classified and his group. Private’s safety is our mission now.”

 Kowalski’s bottom lip curled inwards, as he was biting down on it to try to force himself not to give in. But his face- Skipper knew Kowalski’s trying to accept it.

 Skipper, along with the rest of his boys, all could remember the incident that happened just months before. The Dave incident. Ever since, Skipper’s been wary about their missions, careful to make sure that none of them are similar situations that would place a target on one of his brothers. Whether he’d decline such missions for the rest of his life, he couldn’t tell.

 Skipper could tell that Kowalski’s finally accepted giving up on stopping Blowhole themselves, and stood up to clear the papers of the file off the counter. “Everything’s going to be fine. Private will be safe, and the North Wind will handle Blowhole.”

 When all the papers were finally gone, Skipper sat back down, eyes sympathetic to the nervousness on Kowalski. The mug that still sat caught his eye, grabbing it, and sniffing its contents. “How many cups of this did you have?” Skipper asked, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

 Kowalski gave a nervous, half-hearted laugh. “Ah… I don’t recall, but maybe six throughout the night.”

 Skipper’s brows raised. “I’m guessing you’re having a hard time sleeping again anyway, right?”

 Kowalski nodded. In the past nights, sleep has been impossible for Kowalski as the case stayed on his mind, and when he was able to fall asleep, nightmares were usually waiting for him.

 Skipper hummed. “Kowalski’s probably gonna be anxious until he crashes from exhaustion, I guess I could…” Skipper thought to himself, before pushing himself up from his seat.

 “Wait here, birthday boy,” Skipper called, as he made his way out of the room.

 Kowalski stared after, words ringing through his mind a few times. “Birthday boy?”

 After a few minutes, Skipper came back, a small colorful box in his hands. “Here,” he said, tossing it to Kowalski, who nearly dropped it three times trying to catch it.

 “Don’t tell me you forgot your birthday,” Skipper played, sitting back down.

 Kowalski’s eyes concentrated, as he tried to think back. How could he have forgotten it was his birthday? But then again, he didn’t really care much for it as, to him, it didn’t matter too much as he was probably already in his peak age of his “immortal” life.

 “Are you gonna open it, or what?” Skipper mused, pulling him from his thoughts.

 Kowalski looked at the box in his hands, pulling off the top. Inside, a smaller cube- each side having different sorts of buttons and switches and such. He pulled it out with one hand, observing it again, before looking up to Skipper perplexed.

 The older man rubbed the back of his neck, smiling softly. “It’s a fidget cube for when you need something to mess with when you’re anxious. I was gonna give it to you later when we’re actually celebrating, but I guess you could put it to use now before you pull out all your hair,” he kidded. “Especially when you’ve had like six cups of this strong coffee hell,” Skipper added, nudging Kowalski’s arm.

Kowalski suddenly put his hands in front of him, examining all the hairs that decorated his white gloves.

 “I- I- uh, you-” Kowalski began, fumbling with his words before puffing out air, and taking in a deep breath. “T-thank you, Skipper, I love your gift, big brother,” he said, smiling tiredly.

 “Don’t mention it, Kowalski,” Skipper chuckled, patting Kowalski’s back. “Now go enjoy your break day. When the others wake up, we’ll go out to celebrate.”