The Past Comes Back to Haunt You

A Small Heart To Heart.

"Oswald- have you heard from Mickey or Bendy, yet? They've been gone for a while, I'm worried that maybe Minnie did something- "The black furred feline turned towards the slightly shorter Rabbit. Arms currently wrapped around a few stragglers. "Also question and I mean no offence by this but- why do you have so many kids? I mean they are cute though, but the amount kind of scares me- I feel like they might attack me in my sleep..." He looked down at the kids who seemed to look up with a beaming smile, ears twitching and bunny tails wagging.

"Hm? Oh uh- I'm trying to think positive, 'cuz if I don't, I might storm over there and yell at Minnie. So, I'm assuming they should be here any minute now, also I- er. I don't know why I have this many kids, but I love them all so I'm fine with it." He chuckled while holding a few up, hugging them tightly for a few seconds then placed them back on the castle's carpeted floor. "Don't you have kids? Or am I thinking of someone else, hmm."

"Uh no, Oswald I think you are the only one that has kids at the moment. You might be thinking of my Nephews though, Inky and Winky? I think you met them during my birthday or something. The moment this Cromink business started they went into hiding, actually I think my whole town went and closed up after Kitty went missing, so they should be safe." He rambled while looking deep in thought, he looked up as he felt a small paw press against his cheek and looked down at the small baby buns in his arms, he gave them an appreciative smile. "Now don't you two worry about me and your pops." He set them down and tickled them just on the stomach with the tip of his tail. "Now you two should hurry. I heard that Boris is going to play his clarinet, and you definitely don't want to miss that!" He grinned.

The two baby blue bunny's bounced around him and Oswald before running off to go see Boris, the sound of a door opening and the sound of cheerful clarinet playing filled that halls before the door closing echoed after. Felix sighed while shaking his head fondly. "Sorry- figured if we were going to talk about Minnie, we shouldn't have small ears listening, especially with how grumpy you seem." He walked over and patted the rabbit's shoulder, feeling the tension soon disappear as Oswald's eyes focused on a picture that was framed to the wall. "You know you're not alone in thinking that bringing Minnie is a bad idea, but this isn't about us... and if Mickey thinks she can be trusted then we should put our faith in him, plus It's Minnie, she wouldn't hurt a kid let alone hundreds so come on and at least try not to yell, I don't think your mousey brother would like that, yeah?" He asked while nudging Oswald.

The rabbit turned and let out a small puff of air through his nose, shoulders slouching, and ears drooped. "I hate when you're right, you know that?" He gave Felix a pointed look then proceeded to continue speaking "-You're right though, I need to trust Mickey with this, especially sense he was the one that was wronged, that mouse has no hate filled bone in his body I tell you, he could probably forgive the Cromink leader at this point, and that is pretty concerning." He shivered at the thought of his half-brother, well pseudo half-brother forgiving someone as heinous as the leader of these dreadful ink beings.

"Not that hard to tell that you hate when someone is right, but that's how the world works, Ozzy." He shrugged, parting ways with Oswald and walked over to a large window that outlooked the entire area ahead of black beauty castle. "It kind of makes me laugh, the whole Cromink thing-" He paused and looked at Oswald, golden eyes catching what little light shown through the window "-why is it that it takes a drastic turn of events like this to get all of us together again, even if it's momentary, we still are here together." He mused with a small smirk, leaning his side against the sill as he watched at the leporid with mellow eyes. Voice smooth and quiet as his ears flicked at the slightest touch of wind and for once Oswald was at a complete loss of words, he wasn't sure how to respond and he was still asking the question himself, albeit paying more attention to the fact that they need to fix this problem before it becomes any worse. Felix noticed the hesitance and turned away "You don't have to answer, it was mostly a rhetorical question anyhow." He chuckled, raising his left hand to his face as he covered it, the sound slightly bitter, like something was missing.

"Look, Felix I- "Oswald began, reaching out to grab the cats' arm gently, tensing up as Felix looked over and waved him off gently.

"I'm not upset Ozzy, just thinking about how long this will take, I get it that we just got started on making a plan, but we lied about when this started, this wasn't just a few weeks or something, these popped up months ago, Kitty was taken in May it's now September- they didn't even attack my town first Ozzy, they struck Traverse Town first! We haven't even told Mick this, yet we still continue to lie about how bad it is when some of these places were wiped clean of toons and people- Mickey is going to be so distraught if he finds out y'know. We really need to tell him so he understands just how dangerous these things can get- I'm not saying to try and get him to stay, 'cause we need all of the help we can get, but I want him to at least understand that these aren't things you can fully befriend."

The slightly smaller male soon slouched again, ears drooping more, compared to before as he crossed his arms over his chest, tapping one foot while lowering his head to stare at the floor, his mind swirling around causing a migraine to form as he opened his mouth and began to ramble. "I know, Felix- but I just don't want anyone to be forced into any more danger, especially after the Blot incident that. Hell it still bothers Mickey no matter how much he hides it, I know that the change in appearance affected him personally and with this being a new problem I just don't want him or the others getting distracted or possibly digging further down a rabbit hole of dark thoughts. You could see it can't you? How much it hurt when he was called out by Cuphead a few hours ago, I can't be the only one to see the defiance but also the agreement, he isn't like how he was years ago and I don't want to make it worse by having him do thi-"

"Oswald!" Felix whisper yelled while waving his hand to draw his attention over. "I get what you mean, but as I said before, Mick can handle himself and I'm sure if he ever looks worse for wear we will all be there, even Cuphead will be there no matter how much of a jerk he seems to be on the outside, alright?" He said while twitching his tail, hoping that the rabbit would agree with him which thankfully he did, eliciting a sigh of relief.

"Now come on... you look like a complete mess." He pulled out his signature whiskey and two glasses from his enchanted suitcase before placing said taxi yellow bag back onto the hard-wooden floor. Placing both glasses on a table and popped the top off the alcoholic beverage.

Oswald snorted, shaking his head at his old friends' antics. "Always trust you to find the perfect time to get a drink. Jack or Redemption?" He hummed, resting his chin on his palm while leaning against the table, a bit mesmerized as he watched the cat toon pour the drinks expertly with his tail as if it was another hand. Felix looked up and gave a toothy grin.

"It had to be one of us. And Jack, I usually keep the Redemption at home- "He paused and passed the glass to Oswald. "-To whatever the hell awaits us when your mousey brother and the twinkle toed demon return. Bottoms up." He rose his hand and the two clicked their glasses together then proceeded to down the hard liquor, enjoying the burning sensation that dripped down their throats as they finished their separate drinks.

Oswald placed his now empty glass on the table and looked at Felix. "And to whatever we see while we start the new journey, and Felix- "He paused as the cat looked up and rose a brow while staring at him.

"What is it, Oz?" He hummed, leaning against the table again.

"Thank you."