Gunther's Grotto
Gunther's cabin, or grotto, as he calls it, isn't really a cave. But, with all the clutter in it, it might as well be one. Mounds of miscellaneous parts lie in piles with only a few narrow walkways through it to get to his elevated bed and his desk. The walls are lined with various weapons, from basic crossbows, to several prototypes of his repeating crossbow, to weird tentacle-looking devices that had best not be thought too much about. Amusingly, the only neat thing in the entire room is his bed. It's so well made a shekel could be bounced off the sheets.

Humming merrily to himself, Gunther throws open the door to his cabin and bounds in. With a pirouette, his tail whacks the door and closes it behind himself. With a rolling raspberry sound as he phththbts with his tongue, Gunther weaves over to his desk and kicks the lower drawer. There's a loud clunking sound and the floorboards in front of his desk rise up on heavy wooden gears. One plank folds forward, making a chair back. The Kadie flops himself down into the chair and digs around on his desk. For a moment, he pulls out the diary the otters gave him a few days ago and peers at it. "Oh yeah, the letter … to a girl," he grumbles. Quickly setting the book aside, his attention shifts to a small box of junk on the desk's corner. He snatches it and starts curiously digging through it for something. "Locks, locks, locks," he chants.

"What?" demands a voice from behind Gunther. "You got a problem with girls?"

"Waaah!" goes Gunther … and so does his box of parts. Odd bits fly through the air! The Kadie hops up onto his chair and spins, trying to locate the owner of that voice!

Nene is right behind him, arms crossed over her chest. "You must not like girls, Gunther Kettenrad," she hisses. "Otherwise you would have invited certain females to see your air-boat. Maybe given them a private ride!"

"Geez, you scared me!" Gunther complains when he spots Nene and his tail defluffs a little. "I like girls!" he claims, "Well, otter girls. Two otter girls! Yeah, uh. Well … it was an experiment, could have blown up! I don't want you to blow up."

"Why not?" Bebe demands, poking out from under the bed. "We like blowing up!"

"You might have gotten hurt! Zahn's engine is still … fussy," Gunther asserts as he hops off his chair and goes over to Nene. Looking between her and Bebe, he says, "So, I guess you remembered the combination. Uh, how come you're here?"

"We heard," Nene says. "And came right over," Bebe adds. "You were having fun without us! On a boat!" they both accuse in unison.

Gunther hugs his tail and wilts a bit. "Well, not that much fun," he claims, "It would have been more fun if you where there, yeah… "

"Then why didn't you come get us?" Nene says, pouting (which is terribly cute on an otter).

"He doesn't think of us," Bebe accuses.

"I was going to drive it over to the otter area … but Zahn threw a fit and took the engine!" Gunther claims, "And I do too think of you! All the time!"

"Oh?" Nene says, and promptly hops into the Kadie's lap. "What do you think about when you think about us then?"

"And why didn't you tell us about all this treasure you have?" Bebe asks, finally squirming out from under the bed.

Gunther gleeps and finds himself with a lap of otter. Looking as if he really has no idea what to do with his hands, he sort of waves them around. "Lots of things! Like when I'll see you again, or how to find the right fish, or," he explains, "And this stuff is just leftover parts from things; I use it in my prototypes."

"Hey Nene, don't these remind you of that big ol' Khattafish that molested Grizzy?" Bebe asks, having found one of the 'tentacle things'. "That's all you think about us?" Nene asks instead. "Not what you want to do when we're with you?"

"Well … my brain sort of shuts off when I'm around you," the Kadie squeaks. "But, well, uh. It's just nice to be around you, too! Don't have to do anything special." His tail twitches nervously, then he asks, "Is there anything you want to do?"

"So… we can't ride on the boat now?" Nene asks, while Bebe continues her archaeological expedition.

"No engine, won't move. But! Zahn agreed to help build one just for it," Gunther explains, "Sorry you didn't get to see it running." Bebe finds … a lot of random junk, gears, sprockets, and tubes. Also … an odd pair of shoes with springs on the soles.

"What are these?" Bebe asks, holding out the spring-shoes. Nene perks up at the notion of a new motor though. "You'll take us on the virgin voyage of the new boat, right?" she asks, trying to ignore Bebe's interruptions.

"Sure!" Gunther tells Nene, "I want to un-virgin it with you two!" His tail then skews as his brain tries to parse what he just said. Thankful for Bebe's interruption, he explains, "Oh, uh, I made those last year when I had plans to try and win the Lapi foot race… "

"But… you aren't a Lapi," Bebe notes and shakes the shoes to make the springs shake. "That don't explain what they are though."

"It's obvious what they are," Nene says, trying to sound superior. "They're for throwing at Lapis to slow them down."

"They go on your feet and you bounce on them. Get more distance with each stride," Gunther tries to explain. "And of course I'm not a Lapi! I'd make a terrible Lapi. I'd make a better otter," he then claims.

"Better than me?" Nene asks, pouting again.

"Nonono! I mean that I could be a good otter," Gunther explains quickly. "I couldn't make anything better than either of you."

"Depends on which one of us you made it with!" Bebe barks out in laughter.

"What?" Gunther asks, looking very confused now.

"Gosh Gunther, are you proposin'?" Nene asks. "You want to be an otter so you can have babies wi' us?"

Gunther just pulls his tail over his head and whimpers. "I give up," he mutters into his tail.

Bebe pounces in behind Gunther, and asks, "What're you giving us?" quick as a Kadie. Not that otters are known for being any less hyper. "That's not what he meant!" Nene says, bopping her sister on the nose. "We made his head pop again is all!"

"Yes, you did," Gunther mutters. He peeks over his tail and adds, "I think you two are just … making fun of me."

"We're making fun with you!" Nene claims, and gives Gunther a big cuddly hug while Bebe scratches his ears. "Can we jump on your bed then?" Bebe asks, for no apparent reason.

Gunther hugs Nene back, though haltingly, as if she was some volatile chemical about ready to explode. He also asks Bebe, "Uhm, why do you want to jump on my bed?"

"It looks really tight and bouncy," Bebe replies honestly. "Like a drum! You must bounce on it all the time!"

"Sometimes," Gunther admits. Looking at Nene in his lap, he asks her, "Uhm, did you want to bounce on the bed too?"

"Sure!" Nene says, and then looks to see how low the ceiling is. "Or I can help you with your letter!" she offers.

"Maybe help with the letter afterward?" Gunther asks, trying to smile without looking nervous about it. He tries to smooth down his tail, then adds to Nene, "And thanks for … I dunno. You're nice to me."

The ceiling isn't too low, but there are signs it had to be fixed before…

Nene kisses Gunther on the nose, and then races Bebe to the bed. Soon the otters are all on all fours bouncing up and down and squealing happily. And noisily.

Gunther watches the oddity of the two otters bouncing away on his bed. His head tilts this way and that as his tail also twitches around. After a good couple of minutes, the Kadie comes over and joins them. This doesn't help with the noise problem, no.

The noise goes on for the next few minutes … right up to when the door to his cabin opens and Elsa Kettenrad walks in. She's rubbing her left ear lightly, looking mildly annoyed. "Gunther, what are you up to? It sounds like an otter … " she starts to say, then halts, jaw halfway open as she stares at the odd tangled pile of otter and Kadie on the bed.

"Eeep, we're caught!" Bebe squeals and tries to squirm free. Nene just hugs Gunther in fear! "We weren't stealing him!" she says.

Elsa's brow curls upward as she observes the odd pile. With a long sigh, she reaches up and rubs the bridge of her muzzle with her fingertips. "Now you're growing up too," she says, "These must be your … otter girlfriends I've heard rumor about. Care to explain what you are doing in bed with them?"

"Uhm … bouncing?" Gunther squeaks as he's hugged by Nene. "They came to see the boat, but Zahn took the motor, so they wanted to play in the bed instead."

"It's a very nice bed Missus Gunther's Mom," Nene notes, smiling innocently.

Elsa purses her lips and she asks Nene, "Are you trying to corrupt my son … miss? Just what are your intentions with him?" While her eyes remain fixed on Nene, she points at Bebe, then adds, "And you stay where you are."

Bebe curls up when pointed at. "We wanted to ride the boat! He said we could for the devirgining next time," she claims.

"He's fun?" Nene offers.

"Who are your parents?" Elsa asks next. Her voice is calm and without anger; but certainly expecting an answer.

"Mom and Dad!" Bebe replies, practically blurting it out.

"Names," Elsa asks next. "And another flippant answer would be a mistake."

"She means Marmalade and Asparagus Oggton, ma'am," Nene replies.

"Mom!" Gunther finally blurts out, pleading, "They were just visiting and being silly! Don't yell at them, please? They're the only friends I have. Zahn's always off with Amelia and you and Dad are always busy. They actually do things with me and like me being around."

"We're the new shrine maidens, ma'am," Nene says, hoping it will allay Elsa's concerns. "Vestigial virgins and whatnot."

"We're gonna plaque-tate the rivers," Bebe squeaks.

"Ah, so you are the ones that old Isolde chose. Well … that," Elsa says, then just shakes her her. "You really like them, don't you?" she asks Gunther directly.

"Yes," Gunther says a bit timidly.

Nene squeezes Gunther tighter at the admission! "And he made an otter suit just to be with us!"

"All right, well, I guess this was innocent enough. But … if you're going to continue being friends with my son, well … I expect you to do something," Elsa notes, though the otter suit comment gives her some pause. "You will take an invite home to your parents. I think a discussion over dinner is in order."

"But… then they'd know we'd been here!" Bebe objects. "It'd ruin our ranking in the scouts!"

Nene looks shocked, but sticks her nose into Gunther ear and quickly whispers, "Kadies eat fish, right?"

"Ah, so you're just using my son in some game, then?" Elsa asks, eyes narrowing.

"Uhm, not usually, no. I think Amelia might, but," Gunther whispers, now cringing.

"No ma'am!" Bebe promises. "It's serious! We're Otter Scouts, and Gunther here is almost one too! And… uh… 'discussion' is talking, right? Talking while you eat? Wouldn't the bits get sprayed everywhere?"

Elsa rubs her fingers over her eyelids and sighs. "Gunther, we will discuss this later, in private," she finally says. "I won't forbid you from seeing these two, for now. So long as they do not get you in further trouble." The elder Kadie then just turns, walks out, and closes the door behind her.

"She's mad," Gunther whispers. "Whenever she's mad she gets all … business like."

"Wait… we were allowed to get you into trouble before?" Nene asks.

"I … don't know," Gunther admits. "So, uh, maybe we should work on that letter now… "

"We aren't gonna be skinned right?" Bebe asks, while Nene bounces off of the bed and says, "Sure Gunther! We know all about letters! I can recite like… a dozen already!"

"I might get skinned. You're safe," Gunther explains as he hops off the bed. "So, right, a letter. Some some girl named Kia. What a dumb name… "

"It's a Kia-yoot name!" Nene offers. "You gotta flatter Skeek girls a lot with cutesy stuff! They like cutesy stuff, according to Emmett. Like… fish with bows on and such. And tails. Complement her tail!"