#( tesla wondering if he should buy and wear a pair of shorts for the first time in over 15 years...

[cinghialefedele]

He's wondering, after stepping out in yet another set of tailored slacks and a turtleneck, if he should get some...actual casual clothes, for summer. It's so hot lately...he's lucky he hasn't spent too much time outside recently.

Maybe he should change that...

[sandyferal]

The Vacation part 6

“Are you sure you don’t just want to go out in the trench coat and hat?” Bushroot asked.

“No need!” Liquidator stepped into the flower pot and fell into it in a splash that left him looking nearly indistinguishable from ordinary water. “For a casual stroll there’s no need for me to navigate on my own. Besides the Liquidator now comes in convenient travel size!”

“Well I guess I’ll get some use out of this then,” Bushroot said, picking up the pot. “Though, no offense, but it’s not exactly a great flower pot since it has no drainage holes.”

“Oh sorry,” Quackerjack said, rolling his eyes. “I didn’t know you needed such specific requirements in a flower pot.”

“Oh of course you need drainage holes!” Bushroot said. “If you don’t have holes in it, there’s no place for the water to go.”

“Reggie…”

“And,” Bushroot continued. “If there’s no place for the water to go, then on top of being stuck in stagnant water, then the roots won’t get air and the-“

“Reggie?” Liquidator said, causing the plant to look at him. “I think they get the idea.”

Bushroot turned Quackerjack and Megavolt who were looking at him quizzically. Quackerjack looked slightly amused.

“Right!” Bushroot flushed. “Oh, w-well my point was, it’s much better suited for this th-than for a plant.”

“No, no, go ahead,” Quackerjack teased,grinning. “Sounded like a fascinating topic of conversation. Tell me, Bushy, do you do research before you go shopping for gardening equipment?”

“Believe me, Doctor Bushroot has no shortage of information on proper plant maintenance!” Liquidator said, a hint of pride in his voice. “A lot of which is actually quite interesting! But since we have other plans for this evening I wouldn’t advise it.”

“Yeah,” Quackerjack agreed, gesturing to Megavolt. “I’m sure it’d be like asking Sparky about Tesla coils.”

“Yeah.” Megavolt furrowed his eyebrows. “Wait, what does that mean?”

“Anyway, we were just about to get going weren’t we?” Quackerjack said, linking his arms in Megavolt’s.

“Right!” Megavolt said, forgetting his previous confusion.

In a few minutes the group left, Quackerjack pulling Megavolt along, and Bushroot carrying Liquidator. It didn’t take long after that for Bud to notice that Bushroot was to starting getting visibly uncomfortable. A quick glance out of his container showed nothing out of the ordinary.

“Is there something bothering you?” He asked, his voice low enough that passersby couldn't hear him.

Bushroot grimaced. “I didn’t think about the fact this outfit would be so hot,” he said. He tugged at the neck of the sweater he was wearing. “I wish I could wear less, but I’ve seen what happens when I go in public without a proper disguise.”

“You do realize that even in your disguise, you look like a weirdo talking to a flower pot right?” Megavolt said, butting into the conversation.

“Says the guy who talk to lightbulbs,” Bushroot replied.

“Yeah? What’s your point?”

Bushroot sighed. “Oh nothing. I’m not sure you can understand the irony.”

“Y’know speaking of lightbulbs,” Megavolt said. “I haven’t actually seen a ton around. No big flashy signs, not a lot of street lights, this place may actually treat lightbulbs somewhat humanely!”

“Well, you know there’s still lightbulbs inside the buildings, right?” Quackerjack said.

“Yeah, I said ‘somewhat,’” Megavolt replied. “I’m still definitely going to have to free a lot of them. Just y’know, nice to not see their enslavement out in the middle of the street.”

It was true that there weren’t as many light fixtures in this city as there were in Saint Canard. There were actually a few things that the four noticed as they navigated the streets of the city.

The first was that, yes, it did draw a bit of attention to them when Bushroot talked to Liquidator out loud. Fortunately, no one really got a good look at the contents of the flower pot, and the watery felon only really emerged when Bushroot told him he wouldn’t be noticed.

While Bushroot was more interested in his surroundings, the plants and people, Quackerjack, Megavolt, and Liquidator seemed focused on the content of the buildings. Being the odd one out, Bushroot allowed himself to be dragged into various places.

The second thing they noticed was that there seemed to be a good deal of old buildings in the area. Intricate architecture was scattered around the area, creating some interesting sights. Some of these seemed to be a big draw for tourists. Tourists who…

Third thing, were very wealthy.

It seemed that some higher class tourists favored this city as a destination. The level of wealth Quackerjack and Megavolt saw on their ride here, was the same as the average tourist.

The group couldn’t help but stare at some of the people who passed, decked out in accessories that cost as much money as any one of them could snatch in a small robbery.

They couldn’t wait until they could openly commit crimes.

It was a few hours later when the group finally thought about having to head back to the hotel. For the fifth time that afternoon, Quackerjack had dragged the group into a food establishment, only for them to leave without buying anything. This time however the group was discussing doubling back the way they came.

“But I’m hungry!” Quackerjack whined. “What's the point of going to a place that has good places to eat, and then not getting anything!”

Liquidator emerged slightly from the flower pot. “Though the Liquidator needs no nutrients to keep himself going, remember that additional food will be required for both of you during our entire stay here. We need to keep our prices low, and our criminal activity even lower! I wouldn’t say that eating there would have been a great deal, the food there wasn’t exactly cheap.”

“Besides, since when did you care about quality food?” Megavolt asked. “From what I’ve seen, you’ll eat anything, even my cooking!”

“You cook?” Bushroot asked.

“I burn things,” Megavolt replied. “Which is how I like it.”

“Just because I can eat anything doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate actual good food.” Quackerjack folded his arms. “But fine, if you wanna eat junk then that’s fine.”

“Well…” Megavolt sighed. “If you really want to eat our or y’know...something, we should probably do it on our own, since those two can’t actually eat.”

“Oh! A play date! That’d be nice,” Quackerjack practically purred. “It’s not as fun without some kind of police chase, but still.”

“Uh, I’m going to go check something out,” Bushroot said, slowly stepping away from the pair. “But if you two want to stay there and keep flirting, go ahead.”

“Oh you’re one to talk!” Megavolt said.

“Yeah.” Quackerjack followed Bushroot, tugging his partner along with him. “We were talking about this earlier, you give us weird looks when we do anything, but you and Liqui can be sooo sappy sometimes.”

Bushroot grew dead silent.

“At least we don’t spend ten minutes coming up with compliments for each other,” Megavolt said. “Have you ever heard how that wet dog talks about you when you’re not around? I think you can put up with a little bit from us if we have to hear that.”

Liquidator poked his head out a little. “The Liquidator will not take heed of criticisms concerning how I talk about my own superb partner. I have no complaints with how you handle your relationship, don’t bring my methods of affection into this.”

“Okay!” Bushroot’s face was red and his voice was a slight bit too loud. “A-anyway, did anyone else notice that-that crowd? I wonder wh-what that’s about, why don’t we check it out?”

The other three exchanged a look. Quackerjack and Megavolt both looked slightly pleased at the flustered reaction they had elicited from the plant. Then the group turned their attention to where Bushroot was pointing.

It seemed there was a decent crowd gathered loosely around what looked to be a fountain. The four moved closer to check it out. When they approached they saw a few informational signs around it.

“Says it’s just an old fountain,” Quackerjack said, reading one of the signs. “And no one’s allowed to touch it? Ugh, then where’s the fun in that?”

“I mean, there are some interesting things about it,” Bushroot said. “Like it says here that-”

“Weren’t we going to head home anyway?” Quackerjack said.

Bushroot frowned. “Yeah, I guess we were.”

“Wait a second,” Megavolt said.

“What?” Quackerjack asked. “You’re interested in a boring old fountain? I thought you didn’t like water?”

Megavolt squinted at the fountain, then a horrified look crossed his face. “Do you see that??”

“See what?” Bushroot asked.

Megavolt grabbed ahold of the plant’s face, and turned it so it was facing the fountain. “Look at that!”

“I don’t see anything,” Bushroot said. “There’s just a bunch of water and lights.”

“Oh no…” Quackerjack’s eyes widened.

“Exactly!” Megavolt said, now very loud. The rest of the group gave him looks imploring him to be a bit quieter. “Some monster stuck those lights there underwater! Imagine those poor things spending all their time in that awful thing!”

“But Megsy, babe, you couldn’t even get them out of there without short-circuiting yourself,” Quackerjack said.

“I know that Quacky, dear,” Megavolt said, giving his partner a huge pair of puppy-dog eyes. “But maybe you could-”

“Oh no!” Quackerjack shook his head. “I’m not helping you just because you give me that look. Besides, what part of stealing a bunch of lightbulbs from a public fountain that no one’s allowed to touch works with keeping a low profile? I’m pretty sure I’d be spotted immediately!”

“There may be a solution to both problems!” Liquidator said.

Megavolt looked at the flower pot container the watery canine with hope in his eyes.

“The Liquidator can create a distraction and relocate the water, while you liberate your lightbulb pals!” Liquidator said.

“You’d really do that?” Megavolt asked, grinning widely. “That’d be great!”

“No problem! The Liquidator specializes in water-based trickery and manipulation!”

With that, Liquidator jumped out of the pot and into the fountain. Across from where Megavolt and the others stood, small jets of water began to arise from the fountain. Then it began to really move, jumping up, swirling, and bubbling in visually pleasing patterns. Slowly, the crowd started taking notice, and moving away from where the three criminals stood.

When almost all of the surrounding people were on the other side of the fountain, a wave of water rose up, causing the crowd to make noises of appreciation, and blocking the three from their view. The water in front of the lights pulled back, leaving it open for Megavolt to start removing them.

After all the lightbulbs were removed and stuffed into various bags and clothing articles, the water settled back down and Liquidator hopped back into the flower pot.

“Let’s get out of here before anyone else notices they’re gone,” Bushroot said.

The others agreed and they quickly absconded with the lightbulbs, heading back towards the hotel.

“Well I’d say that was a good first day of vacation,” Megavolt said, looking very pleased.

“The Liquidator would have to agree!” Liquidator said. “Because the lightbulbs weren’t the only things I helped ‘liberate’ from that fountain.”

“What do you-” Bushroot’s eyes widened as he looked in the flower pot. “Holy cow!”

It seemed that when Liquidator had removed himself from the fountain he had taken a huge amount of coins with him. In fact, he was now taking up much less room in the pot, since much of it was filled with pennies, nickels, dime, and lot, and lots of quarters.

“Seems like the tourists are fond of the whole ‘wishing fountain’ idea,” Liquidator said with a smug grin. “Personally I think they’re going to a better cause now.”

“You mean helping us fund the rest of this vacation?”

“Yep. Like I said, better cause.”