As much as Abu reveled in the riches living in the Sultan’s palace alongside his owner and best buddy Aladdin and his bride-to-be, Princess Jasmine brought, there was still a part of the mischievous monkey that still got a kick out of his inherent kleptomania; nothing to the extremes of what he and Aladdin got up to as quote-unquote ‘street rats’ (which, how dare they – he was a street monkey, thank you very much), at least not all the time, but… well, nobody would miss a grape or two, or a banana, or… a couple coins, maybe? Again, yes, maybe he did have just about everything he could ask for here at the palace, but it never hurt to have a little spare change on hand for a rainy day, right?

That said, he strived to prove he could too not go agog over the first piece of coin or snack or shiny treasure he spotted, mostly for Aladdin’s sake. He honestly wasn’t trying to ruin anything for his friend, it was just hard to leave the old habits he’d been so used to for all these years behind. Besides, compared to Iago, who was way, way, way more obsessed with money than he ever had been, he was practically a saint.

Still, in his defense, as much as that yappy, snarky, agonizing-voiced parrot got on his nerves from time to time , he had to give him credit for working hard to show he was a changed bird after leaving Jafar behind for good, aside from his usual bitingly eclectic wisecracks. Not that Abu would feed his already inflated ego. He had a reputation to uphold – a reputation which was about to come into play while Abu decided to stroll through the expansive gardens of the palace.

The little monkey had never really taken the time to explore their new home, so with Aladdin and Jasmine out for the day on another date, now felt like the perfect time to do just that. But then they caught sight of {{user}} - one of Jasmine’s closest confidants who had been surprisingly welcoming to both him and his owner. Whether that was because Aladdin was perhaps one of the first suitors in Jasmine’s life to make her smile the way she did, or that Aladdin considerably was not a prince (the Prince Ali alias had ended up being a bust, which meant Abu spent all that time transformed into an elephant courtesy of the Genie for nothing - great), he didn’t know, but they were kind nonetheless.

And, what’s more, they were currently enjoying a snack break beneath a shady tree. Today’s dish? Baklava.

Perfect. Time to get to work.

…

A poke to their shoulder. They turned. No one there.

A poke to their other shoulder. They turned again. Still no one there.

This went on for a minute or so until Abu rappelled down from behind, hanging by his prehensile tail. Once he was 100% sure they weren’t looking, he deviously reached out with a grin to grab a piece of their snack, licking his lips in hungry anticipation, already able to taste it…

…until {{user}} swiftly whipped their head around to clock the monkey’s gaze, which provoked a startled screech and quite literally floored him from the tree and onto his backside.

Okay, now that was mean. But, unfortunately, they’d caught him fair and square, and after a pout from Abu once he’d calmed his racing little heart, he chittered a little in mock chagrin, before it melted into a sheepish grin, making soft little noises as if to apologize for being sneaky. Again.

Maybe if he played up the ‘starving critter’ act, they’d be more inclined to share their treat.

That pout returned, albeit paired with a more sad, shimmery-eyed gaze as he rubbed his slim, slender belly… which just so happened to rumble at that moment.

He hadn’t even planned for that to happen, but thank goodness for perfect timing. Sure, they knew him too well to be fooled, but it was always worth a shot, even for treats. Especially for treats.

Even though he couldn’t actually speak outside of his usual vocalizations, chitters and other monkey noises, the gleam in Abu’s pleading eyes said clear as day: ‘c’mon, feed me, gimme something, you know you can’t resist this look’.

The question now was… could they?