LPS-Always There Chp. 1

"Check and double check."

Russell grinned with content as he marked his clipboard once more, turning his attention away from the crates that separated the loud squeaky toys from the much quieter ones. He was yet to lecture a certain lizard and mongoose about the significance of separating such provocative items.

The hedgehog flipped to the next page, inspecting the rest of the items he had scanned numerously since the day started. His eyes lowered with satisfaction, grin softening as his gaze fell from one double checkmark to the bottom of the page.

"Check double checks on checklist," he declared as his pen slid across that empty panel on the sheet.

However, the checkmark ended midway before he could create the curved V-shape. Russell sighed with frustration as he pulled his pen away. That was the second pen to lose ink this week.

"Just great," he muttered, rolling his eyes. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to stock up on new pens, and there was still so much to go over and check off.

Suddenly, an idea struck the organized hedgehog.

I'll go see Blythe! He thought excitedly, she has tons of pens. I'm sure she'd be willing to hand over at least one.

With that in mind, Russell tucked his clipboard under one arm before making his way over to the dumbwaiter that led to the top floor where he was sure his dear human friend was at the moment since he was well aware of her school schedule and such. Seated comfortably on the wide panel, he was about to tug on the rope before a soft voice called out.

"Oh, are you going to see Blythe?"

The hedgehog shifted his eyes to a certain panda of dark purple and white, her violet eyes gazing up at him with a serene-like disposition.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Russell responded, "yes, I am."

"Great!" Penny Ling chirped with a cheerful demeanor as she hoisted herself onto the frame and plopped herself beside him. "I want to see what Blythe's been designing lately!"

Her eyes widened with anticipation as Russell, with a roll of his eyes, gently raised them through the barrier from the pet shop.

"Oh, after the last dress she designed for me just for the ball," she sighed dreamily, "I can't imagine her creating something even more beautiful and perfect."

"Penny Ling," Russell spoke with a tone to match a stern father's, "Blythe probably has homework to do. And based on what I've seen from her textbooks, math is no walk in the park."

The female panda gave him an awkward expression. "You keep track of even Blythe's school work, too?" She asked, not sounding too surprised.

"Too?" Russell repeated stiffly. Before he could question her further, the frame came to a halt and they were greeted by the lights of the familiar room they had entered many times.

Scanning the bedroom, the two pets caught sight of their human friend, whose back was turned to them as she sat in front of her laptop, typing away as the text filled the screen.

"See? I told you," Russell told Penny sternly. "She's doing her homework, probably another current event report for English."

"Wow, Russell," Penny cocked her head to the side, gazing at him questionably with a nervous curve of her lips.

Blythe Baxter ceased her typing and quickly turned, her surprised expression shifted to one of content as she smiled at two of her animal friends.

"Oh, hey, guys," she greeted.

"Hello, Blythe," Russell greeted courteously.

Penny Ling just waved, her eyes mesmerized by yet another 'Blythe style' outfit her human friend was wearing. A blue blouse sparkling as if bathed in glitter, brown khaki shorts with a green sash through the belt holes, and dark blue sandals. Even her hair was magnificent as Blythe had it combed back in a high ponytail with a plastic blue flower pinned to the side. The little panda was so dazzled by the newest fashion of the day that she barely heard Russell speak his request to Blythe.

"I was wondering if I could trouble you for an extra pen," he asked politely, gesturing to the clipboard in his tiny paws.

"Triple checking the checklist, I presume?" Blythe chuckled dryly.

"No," Russell responded quickly, folding his arms with a huff. "Only doubling the checks."

"Right," Blythe rolled her eyes before she turned back in her seat and looked over he desk. "I'm sure I had a good one with thick, black ink here somewhere."

"Oh, I can help!" Penny snapped to attention as she rushed forward and reached over to the various drawers on Blythe's desk.

The human girl gave Penny a concerned glance as her drawers were immediately pulled back and the panda was swimming in a pile of designing materials and various other items either Blythe forgot about or had forgotten to throw away.

"Uh, Penny Ling, be careful," Blythe spoke in a timid tone, "there's some stuff in there that's kind of-"

"Is this the pen you were talking about?" Penny exclaimed happily, popping her head from the bottom drawer, a thick layer of dull blue clothing draped over one side of her face, grasping a jet black ballpoint pen.

Before Blythe could answer, the shift in Penny's body in the pile of materials caused some of them to spill out. A few tiny notebooks, buttons, and cut-outs from designer magazines littered the floor between them.

Russell smacked his face with a paw, groaning in frustration from Penny's carelessness.

"I'll clean it up," Penny announced eagerly as she hopped from the drawer, spilling more items onto the floor in the process.

"Better let me assist you," Russell insisted with a reluctant tone as he made room for Blythe to move from her seat and lie on her knees to help the panda.

Penny hummed to herself as she tossed a few buttons back into the drawer, followed by a few designer cut-outs. She picked up another piece of paper, assuming it was another  cut-out of the latest fashion. However, peering at it closely, the panda's humming ceased as she blinked curiously.

"Say, Blythe," Penny Ling called to her, "who's this lady?"

Blythe, arms filled tiny notebooks and cut-outs, turned to her in confusion. "What lady?"

"The lady in this picture," Penny added as she showed her discovery.

Blythe lowered her head and stared at it, before she let out a horrified gasp.

Both Russell and Penny Ling gazed at their human friend in confusion as Blythe immediately dropped everything she picked up. Before Penny could blink, the picture was snatched from her tiny paw.

"Wha-?" Penny could barely speak as she stared at Blythe, whose blue eyes were as large as wheels and her teeth sinking into her bottom lip.

"That was nobody!" Blythe cut in sharply, anxiety evident in her tone as she slammed the picture face-down on her desk, causing it to slightly shake. "Nobody! No one! Have no idea who that is!"

Both Russell and Penny Ling watched her closely. The hedgehog raised an eyebrow in question while the panda simply gazed at Blythe curiously.

"No one?" Russell repeated, not one to be fooled.

"Yeah!" Blythe's false cheer in her tone unable to provide much aid as she let out an even more false laugh. "No biggie!"

Quickly, Blythe grabbed the pen Penny Ling found and slapped it into Russell's unsuspecting paw, making the hedgehog flinch with surprise.

"Well, it was great seeing you!" Blythe hurriedly pushed them toward the dumbwaiter. "But, you know, I got schoolwork to do! You know, this and that!"

She gently placed them both back on the frame, her nervous smile becoming much too big for her face to accommodate.

"But, Blythe-" Penny wanted to speak.

"Sorry, bad time right now!" Blythe cut in, her hands grasping the rope.

"Hold on," Russell spoke out, hoping for her to spare a few moments, "what about your math homework? Does it need some checki-"

Although Blythe wanted them both out of her hair this very moment, she did not purposely let go of the rope, sending the frame of the dumbwaiter spiraling down, her two animal friends screaming with surprise.

Blythe gasped, stunned by a mistake she thought she would never make again. She winced as the harsh scraping of the frame against the wall ceased, and the sound of a loud crash on the bottom floor made her nearly jump with fright.

Nervously, Blythe poked her head into the dumbwaiter's opening, her blue eyes filled with concern.

"Are you two okay?" She called down.

Her anxiety slowly faded when she received a response of two loud groans.

"Other than math," Russell's voice crooned through the walls from the pet shop, "you really need to work on your physics."