Dragoncrest Cliffs But I’m still tired of sleeping with the light on

Meerkat's reassurance did little to smooth Stingray's ruffled feathers. Mr. Bubbles was still laughing at him, waving his flippered hand across his turtle snout as if warding off a bad odour. Stingray wrinkled his nose at his friend, who wasn't being a very good one right now, and obediently followed Meerkat away from the borders.

It wasn't even Bronco's fault, really. Any other day, Stingray could be a good sport. He might even have laughed. There was something about being caught doing something bad that made young children terribly self-conscious, if only for a short while, which made the joke ill-timed.

Once returned safely to the rendezvous and placed under the watch of someone a little more responsible than him, Ray settled down for a nap. When he woke later, he wouldn't remember being butthurt about his uncle's joke, only feeling vaguely curious about the man, and Mr. Bubbles wouldn't remember the joke, either. At least until the next time someone called him a hurtful name.