Chapter 2

“Hey Don, aren’t you coming? You’re just going to stare t the TV and watch this event? He’s going to be running this whole city.”

“And there’s a huge crowd outside his office. No thanks. Just be careful Johnny. Don’t let all those cameras catch you.”

Johnny knew how to stay out of sight. After all, being a former thief for little island he knew all the tricks. He was just going to fly around behind city hall and sneak in through the office window. Nobody would notice him, he’d get a look at the prime minister himself instead of on a TV, and he’d have a little fun getting out of the house.

It wasn’t far to city hall from Don’s home, but for Johnny even short distances could be a challenge. After all, he was only 8cm tall. It did make dodging cameras and the press easier though. Eventually, after a rather long flight, he managed to sneak around back of the city hall. Drake was still in his rather boring meeting, leaving him a perfect opportunity to look around.

“Sure has a nice office. And he left the window open. No point in coming all the way down here just to stare inside.”

Johnny didn’t think about why nobody was in the office. Just one look around and he could see hundreds of hiding spots. He wondered how many other little anthros might be in this room, and for that matter all of city hall. “Hello? Anyone here?”

Johnny didn’t hear a reply. So with nobody in the room, and no giants to hide from, he gave himself a little tour. Right in the middle of the room sat a huge desk and a cozy office chair. It was incredibly silly, and if anyone had been watching he would have been horribly embarrassed. However, Johnny saw an opportunity and figured he’d have a little fun. He flew up to the top of the office chair and sat down.

“So this is what it feels like to be prime minister. Sit in a comfy chair all day long and relax. No wonder he wanted the job.”

He gave a little smile, pretending to be Drake. Until he heard footsteps Johnny was beginning to wonder if there was anyone even in city hall. Just before the door to Drake’s new office opened he dove to the nearest bookshelf and ducked behind some thick dusty books. Two giants walked in, talking about some memo for their new boss.

“Put it on his desk so he’ll find it.”

“Knowing this new guy he’d probably lose it in a stack of papers. Tack it up on his bulletin board there.”

One of the two giants walked across the room opposite Johnny and used a push pin to leave a piece of paper on it. They continued talking about their own business, leaving the office and shutting the door behind them. Normally a little anthro would take this chance to leave, but Johnny was curious about that note. And it was put up with a very nice silver push pin. While nobody was around he flew over and read the little note. It wasn’t too interesting, something about Drake needing to ask about why the military was maintained. Thanks to Don he already knew the reason.

“Came all the way out here to see the new prime minister and all I’ve had is a look at his office. Might as well take home a little souvenir. I’m sure he won’t mind, probably has hundreds of these around.”

With a little effort he managed to liberate the push pin and carry it over to the window. He didn’t really want to leave before seeing Drake up close, but he didn’t seem to have much of a choice. Johnny dropped the pin out the window and just started leaving when the door opened again. He couldn’t fly away and let someone see him, so he just ducked down outside below the window sill, doing his best to hide. “Hope he didn’t see me.”

Drake had finally escaped the boring meeting and went back to his office. First thing he saw was a little green dot on the window, but it was gone a second later. Dragon Isle’s new prime minister blinked and looked around the room, wondering if he had been seeing things. There was a paper on the ground just below his bulletin board, but nothing else was out of place. Drake walked over to the window and took a quick look outside.

“Nothing. Guess that meeting got me so bored I’m seeing things. Not good to be imagining things that aren’t there on my first day here.”

Johnny almost wanted to show himself, but he didn’t. Drake walked back over to his desk and sat down, sighing. For him it had been a long day already. Johnny finally got to peek up over the window sill and actually look at the prime minister. He was calling home to see how everyone was, giving the little anthro a perfect opportunity to leave. The last few words he heard Drake saying as he flew off with his little souvenir were simple. “Hi Crimson, I’ll be home early today. Hope everything’s okay at home.”

Don hardly noticed when Johnny got back. The press had given up in front of city hall and nothing interesting was on TV. “So did you get to see him?”

“Yeah, seems pretty nice. Looked respectable, sounded intelligent. You should have come.

Don noticed his roomie fly over toward his “room” and caught sight of the push pin. Normally he didn’t bring things home. “Hey, where did you get that?”

“From the new prime minister. What? I went all the way out there, so I brought home a little something.”

“You mean you stole that right out of his office?” Don asked, slightly shocked.

“He didn’t seem to mind. I couldn’t exactly walk right up to him, stand on his desk and ask. But he certainly didn’t miss it.”

“As long as nobody saw you. What are you going to do with that anyway?”

Johnny hadn’t really thought about that. “I’ll figure something out.”