Some Fluffy Among Us Logic One-shots

Don't ⁽ᶠᵒʳᵍᵉᵗ ᵗᵒ⁾ Feed the Elephant

[SYNOPSIS: Gnome and Engineer are going out on one of their dates at the zoo, and during their tour they stop at a concession stand for a quick snack. It's all fine, dandy and delicious...but it turns out they aren't the only ones who could go for some Cracker Jack.]

[Location: The regional zoo]

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"...You see anything, Engie?"

"This is the spot, according to the map," the purple crewmate replied, looking down at his pamphlet. "They are nocturnal, though, so it's possible they're asleep at this hour. Maybe we can come back here on our way out and see if-"

"Wait, look...!"

Gnome pointed towards one of the bot huts towards the top of the enclosure, and her boyfriend looked up just in time to see a fluffy russet and white-furred face peek out, the rest of its body emerging behind it until the animal's banded tail was fully visible...Gnome held back a squeal; as much as she was ADORED by the sight of a red panda close up, she didn't want to alarm it.

They watched intently as it expertly balanced itself along the suspended wooden beam and over to a puzzle feeder, meticulously pulling out a pawful of bamboo shoots and biscuits.

"Isn't it cute...!"

"Heh, yeah! It looks a bit like a raccoon, but less...uh..."

"...Dirty and nasty?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

The two of them watched again as the red panda retreated back to its hiding space with its food, and they could hear it start to munch from inside its hut.

"Welp, guess we should let it eat now," Engineer remarked. "Anywhere you wanna stop next, Gnomey?"

"Let me see what's nearby."

He handed her the map, and she scanned it for a few seconds, then looked up at the road ahead...There was a fork in the dirt path; the left path would take them to the Madagascar exhibits and the reptile house, and the right path would take them to the Africa section. THAT was where all of the zoo staples were; the BIG animals.

"Let's go right!" she immediately decided as she looked back down at the map. "OOH, and there's a snack bar there, too! Y'know, just in case we get hungry."

"I could go for something to tide me over till dinner," Engineer figured. "Alrighty, then. Lead the way, Gnome."

With a spring in her step, the lime crewmate lead her sweetheart along the pathway...The bright late afternoon sun tried to beat down on the two of them, but the trees lining the pathway shielded them with their shade, only beginning to part as they drew closer to their destination.

"That looks like the snack bar up ahead," Engineer pointed out. "Let's see what they've got...I just hope it's not five bucks for a bag of chips."

"Yeah, food at places like this can kinda rip you off sometimes," the lime crewmate agreed. "...If that's the case, you wanna go Dutch?"

"Heh! If you insist, babe!"

They made their way over to the stand side by side, where they were met with a young green-clad crewmate manning the counter.

"Hey, welcome to the Snack Shack. Can I help you with anything?"

"Nah, we're good. Thanks, though," Gnome replied, scanning the shelves and displays for anything that might seem good...The options were actually a little cheaper than she'd expected, so she was glad of that.