Nakur stared out across the strip at the gleaming golden tower in
front of him. "Mandalay Bay." the cat muttered, almost as a low
moan. "I've heard about this place, check out the great architecture…"
"Can it, fleabag.' Thunderwolf shot back, eyes also following
the graceful sweep of the buildings. "We can't get in there."
"Just what do you mean by `we'?" The hani asked, their
footsteps carrying them closer to the entrance. "I hear the
restaurants are great. They even have a place in there where women
fly to get you the bottle of wine you ordered…"
"I know what they got in there." Muttered the lion, now
stopped with a paw on the hani's shoulder. "I've been in there….
Shark is in there…"
"All right!" Exclaimed the hani, genuinely pleased. "glad to
see the kid got work again. After all, I told him that job with Mrs.
Paul's was only a temp thing…"
"Um….no. That's not it." Thunderwolf paused, and pulled out a
wireless pad from a rear pocket. "Remember how I wanted to try one
last time with Shark?"
"Oh yeah." The hani leered. "I can only imagine what…" Nakur
paused in shock. "Wait. You didn't….. not there." The hani grabbed
the saborlion by the shoulders and shook him. "Tell me you didn't
fuck him in the Shark Reef Aquarium?"
The saborlion looked disgusted himself. "Of course not,
asshole!" Nakur breathed an audible sigh of relief. "I can't fucking
breathe underwater. We did it out on the deck." The hani slapped a
paw over his eyes with a crack. Thunderwolf held up the wireless pad.
"Care to see the pictures?" The lion thumbed the display on,
and a pic of the lion and the fish entwined in ways nature had NOT
intended flashed over the screen. Me stared at it in shock, noticing
the group of schoolchildren watching in the background, an adult that
might have been the leader passed out on the deck as well. The hani
blinked.
"I had no…. idea…. THAT could fit there." The Hani mouthed in
shock, still staring at the screen.
"Oh, it gets better, I had a friend of mine animate it."
Thunderwolf pushed another button and the hani was now treated to the
sights and sounds of nature taking her uneven course. Nakur promptly
turned away and threw up into a potted plant. Thunderwolf waited
patiently as Nakur fed the fish in the tropical moat below. "You
finished now?" The saber enquired politely, the shit-eating grin
clear on his feline face as traffic moved behind them.
"Never show me that again." The hani moaned, clutching his
stomach. Thunderwolf made a note to Spam Nakur's inbox with said
picture and continued.
"Well, the upshot is that I'm not allowed to set foot in
another Mandalay Bay property for the rest of my natural lives.
Apparently, we ruined half a million gallons of sea water and killed
off half the coral reef." The saber continued.
"No shit. You're lucky they didn't shoot the two of you on
the spot." Nakur sighed, looking up at the tower and suddenly
grinned. "We're getting in there, Thunderwolf. I Have a plan."
"No way,. They said I go back in there, they got a fate worse
then death waiting. Trust me, I know from living out here….even "I"
don't fuck with those guys."
The hani looked up at the House of Blues sign. "How do you
look in black?"
**********************************************************************
"Did I tell you," Muttered the saborlion, a black fedora
pulled low over his brow. "What a BAAAAD fucking idea this is?"
Beside him, the hani continued walking up the walkway, nodding to the
admiring tourists, even giving a thumbs up to a young kid.
"Shut up, Thunderwolf, you look great in black. Besides, all
we look like is another couple regular working Joes out for a night
on the town."
"Dressed in black suits, black leather shoes and black hats?
We look like a couple of Hassidic Jews!"
"What we look like, if you'd smile a little more and stop all
the worrying, is a couple of tourists dressing up for the look a like
contest." The hani nodded again, this time at a trio of admiring
women. "And if you don't keep your trap shut, "Elwood" you're going
to blow the entire thing. Jake does the talking, remember?" the hani
then reached into his jacket pocket and shoved a harmonica into the
lion's mouth. "Here, suck on this for a while. It's the one thing you
can suck here without getting us killed. Now, come on! The sign up's
this way."
"Murhfurph-murf mufur miffur,,,' The hani reached out and
plucked the musical instrument from Thundeerwolf's lips. "If we
fucking live through this…." Nakur stuffed the harmonica back into
the cat's lips before he could continue.
"Relax, Elwood." Nakur grinned, pulling his own hat low "It's
not like we have to perform or anything. Just walk on stage with all
the others, listen to the crowd cheer and walk off. It's not like the
real ones are going to be here…. And when that's done we can walk
anywhere in the place."
A light tap on his shoulder froze the hani in mid sentence. The cat
pivoted to find a man with a boom mike and headset staring at them.
"There you two are! We've been looking for you for the past
twenty minutes…. You of all people should know that you don't keep
Mr. Ackroid and Mr. Goodman waiting. Come on, get going…"
"Wait a minute buddy, we're just here for the…" And with
that, a couple of large security guards dropped behind the pair of
felines and ushered them along behind Mr. boom mike. Thunderwolf
nudged the hani in the ribs, eyes wide as they were swept backstage
at the club with barely enough time to think. Thunderwolf muttered to
Nakur under his breath. "Any other bright Ideas, fucknut?"
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking…and one more comment like that,
and you're going to need a proctologist to get that harmonica back."
he hani muttered, swearing under his breath. "All you got to do is
play that damn thing… if we don't get out of this…. I'm going to have
to sing!"
Both of the feline's eyes went wide, at the next sight before
them.