Hello all! Gosh it's been a while since I've submitted anything onto this site. Well, all these little drabbles are based on Mystery Skulls Ghost Animated. If you haven't seen the video, do yourself a favor and watch it.

Most of these drabbles will involve Lewvithur (because ot3 forever!) but some of them won't, don't worry. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

All Mystery Skulls characters (c) MysteryBen/Ben Magnum

She was lucky Tome Tomb was right next to the shop, otherwise she wouldn't have an excuse. The bell at the entrance to Kingsmen Mechanics rang, even though the sign said it was closed, making Lance look up in annoyance. "Can't you read the sign? We're-"

But he stopped himself when he saw Vivi and relaxed. "Oh. Hey Viv," he said with an almost forlorn smile. "You read the sign, right?"

"Yeah," the bluenette replied cheerfully. "But I let myself in. Is there a problem?"

"Nah, just…don't want people thinking we're open, is all."

"Why are you closed so early? It's only six o' clock!"

Lance shrugged. "Eh…didn't have the heart to keep it open right now." Making Vivi frown. She could easily guess the reason why.

"Actually, that's why I'm here. I need a favor from him. Is he in the garage?"

A nod and Lance motioned to the door to the garage behind him. "Yeah. Buried in work like always."

As if she didn't already know. She was almost sad to admit that Arthur was much better than he was the first few weeks he got out of the hospital. Though…that wasn't saying much. The first few weeks had been hell. Arthur had refused to take care of himself and his uncle had to do mostly everything for him.

But finally, after about a month, Lance had somewhat snapped his nephew out of it. He was eating and had gone back to working in the shop. It was an improvement. The only problem was…that was all Arthur seemed to do. Each day it seemed like he said less and less.

She vowed that she'd pull Arthur out of this rut somehow. Lewis' death really shook him, and he even lost his arm in the process. Arthur had just recently been fitted with a prosthetic but he never wore the damn thing. Said it was itchy and uncomfortable.

"Okay. Thanks, Uncle Lance."

"Vivi, how many times do I gotta tell you? I'm not your damn uncle."

She merely grinned at him and waltzed into the garage. "Artie!"

Said blonde's head shot up at the sudden voice. "Oh…hey Vi. What are you doing here?" And at least he was talking too. Vivi had to admire the fact that even with one arm, Arthur was still as handy as ever.

"I need a favor!" She replied cheerfully, perhaps a little too cheerfully. "Mystery's out of dog food and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind driving us to Petsmart real quick?" Vivi motioned to the dog at her side and gave her sweetest smile.

He'd forgotten that she didn't have a car of her own. "Wait, then how'd you get here?"

"I walked, silly." Oh, of course… Tome Tomb was close enough to her house that she could walk there and to Kingsmen Mechanics in one fell swoop. "But Petsmart is a little too far away. Please?"

Arthur suddenly looked dejected, staring down into the engine he was working on. "I…I'm kinda busy-!" But before he could even get out the rest of his excuse, he felt a hand ruffle his normally spiky hair. It had flattened recently. He hadn't had the heart to take care of it like normal.

"Forget it, Arthur. Drive your friend to the damn pet store. You need to get out of the shop anyway," Lance huffed.

"But Uncle Lance-!"

"Don't "but" me. You've been in here for days and you're beginning to stink the place up. It's just a small errand. It won't kill you."

Arthur would have loved to argue that. "But…"

"I just said no buts. Now go before I kick you out."

Well, there was no going back now. Arthur sighed in defeat and slumped over to the van, Vivi and Mystery following him. She mouthed "thank you" to Lance, who merely smiled and opened the garage for them.

Thankfully it only took about ten minutes to get there. Arthur absolutely refused to let anyone other than himself (and previously Lewis) drive his van. Lewis only got to drive it because of their history together. He had known the guy since middle school, after all…

A wince. That wasn't something he needed to think about right now. He had to pay attention to the road. Having only one arm didn't stop Arthur from driving at all. He tried to drive with the prosthetic but complained that it only slowed him down. So he switched to only one hand. He had to adjust (and luckily Lance let him do so in the safety of the parking lot) but that barely took any time at all.

"Alright, we're here," Arthur mumbled while putting the van in park. "Can you make it quick?"

Vivi frowned. "You're not coming inside with us?"

"No. Why would I?"

"So you could spend time with us!" Vivi had just about had it with Arthur's attitude. She wanted her best friend back. Her sudden outburst left Arthur speechless. "Please Arthur? I know it's been hard since Lewis'…since he left us." So she still thought about it too. Of course she would. "But you have to snap out of it! I miss hanging out with you, going on ghost hunts with you, just…you being you.

"So…please? Please just come inside?"

It won't kill you.

Yeah… Arthur knew his uncle had a point. He hadn't meant to hurt Vivi. That was the absolute last thing he ever wanted. "…A-alright. Sorry, Vi, I just…" The mechanic fell silent when he felt her hand over his.

"I know." Two simple words and yet they meant the world to Arthur. He even gave her a little smile, the first one he had given anyone in weeks.

Mystery trotted around the store happily. He had to be on a leash, rules of the store of course, but for now he didn't seem to mind. When Arthur saw Mystery like this, an innocent looking dog, he couldn't help but wonder if he was just hallucinating that giant form in the cave…

But a tiny dog like Mystery couldn't grow to the size of a war horse and tear off someone's arm.

"Oh man…" Vivi groaned. "They've rearranged things. Now I have no idea where the dog food is."

Arthur tilted his head. "Want me to go ask someone?"

A pause. While that sounded like the practical thing to do, wandering their way around here sounded like the perfect opportunity to keep Arthur out of that stuffy workshop longer than anticipated. Her annoyed frown quickly turned into a pleased smile at this thought. "No, that's okay! We can find it ourselves! It'll be like an adventure!"

Sometimes Vivi was so childlike, though Arthur couldn't help the amused snort. "The adventure for dog food, huh?" Mystery perked up. He liked the sound of that! And what a great reward! "I don't think it'll sell tickets, Vi."

"Pft! Then they don't know what they're missing!" She happily trudged ahead with Mystery right on her heels.

Sheesh, and they call me a dork. But he wouldn't have it any other way. And it was then that Arthur realized that he truly missed just simple outings like this. He was ashamed that he had forgotten what it was like…

Their search for dog food had landed them in the small rodents section of the store and Arthur was immediately drawn to it. Rats, mice…and hamsters, of course. He smiled down at the little creatures. Vivi wouldn't mind this little detour, right?

He started feeling a tad nostalgic. More than a few of these little guys had a home back when he was a kid. Somehow down the line, his parents had forbid him to get anymore. Maybe they were tired of paying for them.

"Oh Arthur!" Vivi's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Arthur look!"

"What?"

And again Vivi was all smiles. "This hamster! It looks exactly like you!"

It was true. The fur was the right shade of Arthur's hair, save for the white belly, and it even had the little strands of brown hair hanging in his face (usually they were standing up, but since he hadn't messed with his hair in so long…).

It was strange, however. All the other hamsters were running around as excited as can be. This one just lied there…unmoving.

And it just looked…so sad.

"Hamster Arthur! How cute!~" Vivi squealed before turning to the real Arthur. "Are you going to get him?"

That was a question he wasn't ready for. "I –er…"

"Excuse me." A different voice cut him off this time. The two of them looked up to see one of the workers looking down at them with a rather somber look. They moved out of the way and she quickly opened the very same hamster cage they were looking into…and picked up the very same hamster they were looking at as well. "Sorry, little guy…" Arthur heard her mumble and immediately had a bad feeling.

"Miss?" He called out to stop her. "Is…is there something wrong?"

"Oh, well…you mean about this little one?"

"Y-yeah…"

Again she sighed sadly. "He can't move his back legs. Born with his lower half paralyzed. And well…people aren't going to want a hamster that doesn't move so…"

Arthur felt sick. They were going to put the little guy down, weren't they? Just because he was paralyzed…

Losing the use of limbs was a horrible experience. Arthur could relate. He's just like me…

And then he stood, determined. "Bullcrap."

"E-excuse me?"

"Bullcrap that nobody would want him. I'll take him."

It all happened so fast that even Vivi couldn't catch up. Before she knew it, Arthur had gotten food, a cage, treats, toys, shavings, everything a hamster could have ever wanted and more. She had all but forgotten about getting food for Mystery at this point. It had been quite some time since she'd seen Arthur so determined.

But she could immediately understand why. Arthur connected with the tiny creature. It wasn't just about the looks. She knew that look in his eye. Arthur wanted to prove a point.

Finally everything was paid for and (after remembering the reason they came here in the first place), they were out the door. Vivi and even Mystery were helping carry all of the supplies back to the van. They settled nicely in the back.

Arthur paused. This could be a problem. He wanted to drive but he also didn't want his new pet to leave his side.

Oh boy. That only meant one thing. "Hey, uh, Vivi?"

"Yeah?"

"You, um…" He knew this was going to sound weird. "Would you…mind driving?"

Silence. Vivi stared at him like he had grown a second head. She put a hand onto his forehead. "Artie, are you feeling okay?"

He swatted her hand away. "Come on. I gotta hold onto this little guy and I don't have an extra arm to drive with, alright?"

Giggle. "I know, I've just never heard you ask me to drive your van! I'll have to mark this day on my calendar!"

"Yeah, and you'd better treat her right…" As overprotective of that van as always. Vivi would never understand it, but then again, she knew next to nothing about cars.

It felt weird being in the passenger's seat of the van again. Sometimes when Lewis was driving he'd sit up here, but normally this was Vivi's spot…

Don't think about it, Arthur. Just don't.

Instead, he opened the tiny box they had placed the hamster in and peered inside with a smile. The hamster stared right back at him with his beady black eyes. "Hey there…" He mumbled, not noticing Vivi watching him in the corner of her eye as she drove. "I know it's kinda sudden but I hope you like your new home." The mechanic reached in with his only hand and gently pet the tiny hamster.

It let out a tiny squeak. Obviously the poor thing was still startled. Arthur was surprised the hamster didn't full on bite him.

"That was really sweet of you, Arthur…" Vivi gently cooed to her friend. He knew that kindhearted Arthur was still in there somewhere. "You saved his life."

Arthur fell silent. He went from taking life to saving it… This wouldn't make up for anything, at least when it came to Lewis…but one step at a time. Maybe he could make life just a little bit better for this little guy. "I want to see if there's something I can do for him. Maybe help him walk somehow." In fact he already had something in mind.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Gently Arthur scratched the little ham-ham under the chin. "He deserves to run around just like everyone else. Just lying there doesn't sound like all that much fun…"

The hamster looked at him curiously. "And then…maybe…"

"Maybe what?"

"N-nothing."

"Aw, come on! Tell me what you were going to say!"

But Arthur merely smiled. "I wanna work out a few details first. But when I do, you'll be the first to know. Promise." That twinkle in his eye, the one that Vivi knew meant he had tons of ideas just swimming through his mind, made her glad she and Lance had forced Arthur on this trip.

Maybe a hamster was just what he needed. Another distraction, someone to take care of. Someone to talk to when Lance was too busy and Vivi or Mystery weren't there either. It was perfect.

Speaking of Arthur's uncle…

"Arthur, what the hell? You brought home a hamster?"

"Yep, I sure did. This is what happens when you kick me out, Uncle Lance."

"…Remind me never to kick you out ever again."

It was so quiet in the room that one could practically hear a pin drop. Arthur was in full concentration mode, tongue popped out the side of his mouth and everything as he put the finishing touches on his little invention. "There we go!" Finally some noise around here.

Smiling, Arthur turned and walked over to the large glass home he had gotten for his pet hamster. "Alright Galaham, it's all finished," he said while picking him up. "Ready to try it out?" His only response was a confused tilt of the head and Galahad continued to chew on his sunflower seed.

It was a good enough confirmation as any. He plopped back down into his seat before getting setting Galahad onto the small contraption he had built for him. A small set of wheels, designed to perhaps replace the little guy's back legs.

The hamster wobbled the moment he was put in this strange thing. To go from having to movement to extremely fluid movement was something Galahad wasn't expecting and his face quickly met the floor (not that they weren't well acquainted already). With a wince, Arthur helped him up so he could try again.

And again. And a few more times. Arthur debated on getting rid of the thing but Galaham seemed determined at this point if the angry squeaking wasn't a good enough clue. Finally the hamster seemed to get it and soon enough the little guy was zooming all around the room like he had lived with that thing all his life. The mechanic was impressed.

It only made sense though, Galaham being his assistant and all. Arthur smiled at the small inside joke. He held out his hand for Galaham to come into and in an instant he was there, nuzzling Arthur's cheek in thanks.

It had been a while since he felt like this. Proud of what he had done…happy for himself. He had to show his uncle.

"So he can move around on that thing?"

"Yeah! It took a little practice but now he's a pro!" Arthur set Galaham down just for a small demonstration, but as soon as he did, the little hamster took off like a rocket. "Uh…" And laughed nervously. "He's a fast learner."

"Christ, no kidding…" Just as the ham-ham was zooming by, Lance managed to grab him and plop him right back into Arthur's hand. "Keep a better eye on him, will ya?"

"I will, I will." Arthur knew his uncle would never admit it but he knew the other had grown fond of Galaham in the short time he had been a part of the family. "Oh! I wanted to show you something else too!" He quickly turned to head back up to his room, hoping his uncle knew him enough to follow.

Of course he did. Lance knew Arthur better than anyone. "Yeah? What's it this time?"

The answer was received in the form of blueprints. Lance's eyes widened. He knew Arthur was smart but he had never seen the boy design such intricate blueprints before. "Is this…a prosthetic arm?"

"Yeah!" Arthur replied excitedly, more excited than Lance had seen him in quite some time. "Galaham inspired me! I figured if he could have robot legs (kind of), I could have a robot arm!"

Lance smiled as he listened to his nephew babble on. "It's made of metal and not that really annoying plastic, and it'll be attached directly to the nerves, and…"

Maybe he was finally starting to heal. He didn't mind the hamster so much after that.