A/N: I think this will be the last chapter of prequel that I write :( I really enjoy writing it but I find it easier to write during the Boosh rather than before. However, if anyone wants to see anything written, send me a request and I will try my best. By the way, the song Vince is listening to at the beginning and singing along to is Sleep by Marion. It was the only song from the 90's that I know and own. I hope you enjoy it :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the godly personality that is the Mighty Boosh

27/1/97

Music blared through the tiny hut, deafening Howard on its way past his ears. Vince was making a cup of tea, singing along:

"Oh, someone told me that you really liked me but I fell asleep almost instantly. And in my sleep I dreamt that you found me but I found my feet so come and run with me!" Howard couldn't even identify the song, but it was giving him headache.

"Vince!" He yelled over the din. "Turn that bloody music down!" Vince jumped and spilt tea on the floor, but quickly turned the dial on the radio so that it was quiet enough for them to hear each other talk. He mopped up the tea in grouchy silence, shooting daggers at Howard when he turned his back. But Howard turned around and said:

"Look, I'm sorry, but you were doing my head in."

"Yeah, it's alright. I know you prefer jazz."

"Jazz is a wonderful thing, sir."

"Not to me, it ain't. I reckon it's to do with ears."

"What?"

"Ears. You know, maybe your ears need to be a certain shape to like it, or something."

"You do talk crap, Vince." Vince shrugged and sat down on the saggy sofa, cradling his warm mug in his hands. He needed the heat; the hut was freezing. But then, it would be. They were snowed in. There was a foot of snow outside, freezing the door shut and icing the windows to their frames. They were trapped in the hut. The zoo was closed because of the weather, and other keepers came in every day to feed the animals. But they never seemed to notice, or care, that there were two more keepers trapped nearby. Howard and Vince had given up trying to make them hear. They had enough food to last about a month, and they'd managed to defrost the pipes and fix the heating. Well, mostly Howard had done that part, although Vince had pitched in with his hairdryer to warm the pipes. The thing was, Vince was starting to care a lot more about what he looked like, and less about other people. Howard had explained to him that that wasn't how it should have worked, that it was how he acted that would define how people saw him. But Vince didn't understand that properly. He just got on with it. And most of the time, he was his usual, happy, cheery self. But the winter weather always got him down. He liked the sun and warmth, not the cold, snow and hail. Howard watched as he sighed, sending the steam from his tea into a billowing cloud that slowly evaporated into the air.

"Are you alright, little man?" he asked, sitting down next to him on the sofa. He wasn't quite sure where the nickname had come from, but it sounded right. And it made Vince smile a little.

"Yeah. I'm just… I don't know. I feel tired, but I only got out of bed an hour ago. And it's like… darkness. That's all I can see."

"You don't sound too alright to me."

"I get like this every winter. It's like being in a tunnel. And then, in spring, I get to the other end, and everything's fine again."

"I think it's just the weather, Vince. Cold makes your body slow down, you know."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And that can make you feel different."

"How do you know?"

"Cause I used to get like that in winter as well. Didn't you notice, right back when we first met? I got it differently though, I got stressed."

"Oh, yeah. You were well stroppy when that pigeon got in, d'you remember?"

"Yeah." Howard had to smile at the memory of being dragged around the city finding animals. Vince smiled a bit too, but it soon faded.

"I wish it had never happened now." He whispered.

"Hey. Come on, now. It's not that bad here, is it? We're gonna be okay, you know."

"Are we?"

"Yeah. Promise." Vince smiled again, properly this time, but innocently. He didn't seem to know that this was a promise Howard could never be sure if he would keep. He patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't touch me." Howard grumbled. Vince raised an eyebrow and backed off, taking his mug back to the sink. Howard realised what he'd done and groaned.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I keep messing things up, don't I?"

"Yeah. Just a bit. But it's okay, cause you're my mate, and that's meant to happen sometimes, otherwise things are too perfect." Vince smiled again, innocent as a child, wide eyed under his embellished trilby hat.

"Um… okay. How do you know that?"

"Cause you told me once. Don't you remember?"

"No."

"Well, I'll tell you."

6/6/94

"Vince, for god's sake, you can't go to work in that!" Howard said in shock.

"Why not? It's just a cape!" Vince responded angrily.

("Oh, I remember this one now." Howard put in.

"Help me tell it, then." Vince replied.)

"Fossil'll go nuts!"

"Oh, who gives a monkey's? Fossil can take a running jump for all I care."

"That's the point, Vince! You can't just not care about someone like that! You have to pay attention to others."

"Well, why should I, when they don't pay attention to me?" Vince stormed out of the kitchen and into their room in the flat, cape streaming behind him. Howard put his head in his hands. Was this what it was all about? Attention? Was that why he wore those ridiculous clothes? Because he thought no one cared enough to look at him, listen to him? He hadn't been himself lately, Howard would be the first to admit that. So he went into their room quietly. Vince stood in front of the wardrobe, looking for something else to wear. He looked up when Howard walked in.

"Fuck off, Howard." He said with feeling.

"Look, mate, I'm sorry. I know fashion's important to you. You need to keep up impressions, so… You can wear the cape if you want to." Vince looked up, a sparkle in his eyes.

"Really?" He beamed.

"Yeah, go for it. You're right. To hell with Fossil. But you do need to listen to him sometimes. He is our boss."

"Yeah, I know. And thank you." He hugged Howard tightly. Howard protested, but gave up as Vince said: "And I'm sorry I'm such a dick."

"It's alright. Sometimes you need to be a dick, because we're good friends and something needs to go wrong occasionally to stop it being too perfect."

"Oh. Okay then."

"Come on, we need to get to work, or we're gonna be late."

"Yeah, okay."

"That wasn't a bad day, really, was it?" Howard said, back in the present.

"Nah. Fossil didn't have a go at me after all." Vince said with a grin.

"No. He seemed all in favour of it actually."

"Yeah. I swear I saw him the next day wearin' a cape and dancing."

"Not unusual for Fossil really, is it?"

"Not really, no. Nothing's unusual for him."

"True. He's definitely… what shall I say? Unique."

"Weird more like. But we're all unique, aren't we? I like that everyone's different. Like, you like jazz, and I'm all fashionable, and Naboo's a shaman. And who knows what Fossil is."

"Yeah. It's good really, isn't it?"

"Mmm." Vince seemed to realise something, and smiled. "You know what, Howard?"

"What?"

"I feel a bit better now. Maybe tea and a memory is all you need."

What do you think? Reviews are as cool as a...no, not a cucumber. A banana. Ha, got you, there, didn't I? :P