I do not own Hamtaro. Man, I loved that show when I was little! This story will include a lot of romance among the Ham-Hams with a small variety of couples, rather than being centered on just one couple. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Bull
Dexter entered the clubhouse to find it nearly empty. The only Hams there were himself, Snoozer, and Penelope. When he saw Penelope, he could not help but tilt his head as the young hamster was surrounded by heaving piles of pink yarn. He asked, "What do we have here, Penelope?"
"Ookwee…" Penelope sighed. Her paws were tangled in the pink yarn. She flailed her little arms. At first, Dexter thought she was stuck. Then, he realized something.
"You're attempting to weave something, aren't you?" he interrogated. Penelope nodded.
"Ookwee, ookwee, ookwee," she explained in her baby hamster language.
"I see. You're saying you want to make a scarf for Pashmina?" Dexter accurately deciphered what Penelope had said. He sat down in front of her, not even thinking about his crush on Pashmina. At that moment, all he thought about w as helping Penelope with her nice gesture. "Here, let me help you."
"Ookyu?" Penelope's eyes lit up.
"Of course I mean it. I hate watching you struggle when I know I can assist," Dexter smiled at the young hamster. Together, they started weaving with the yarn. As they weaved, Dexter promised, "Later, we can embroider her name in it."
"Ookwee!" Penelope let out a delighted squeal.
They were about halfway done when Hamtaro opened the door and entered the clubhouse. He greeted, "Hey, guys! What's going on?"
"I was helping Penelope make a scarf," Dexter explained. "Penelope, would you like to make her a card, too?"
"Ookwee!" Penelope showed him a piece of paper covered in scribbles.
"Maybe…you should make another one," Dexter suggested, startled by the illegibility of Penelope's paw-writing. Dexter got out a fresh piece of paper and Penelope told him what to write. He signed it with her name and got back to the scarf. When Dexter was not looking, Penelope scribbled Dexter's name underneath her own name. It took a few hours, but the scarf was finished. It was a beautiful pink scarf with Pashmina's name embroidered in it with a lavender yarn.
"When are you going to give it to her?" Hamtaro asked them.
"When she gets here," Dexter answered. He folded the scarf neatly with the card placed on top. He then gave the scarf to Penelope and sat at the table, feigning innocence. Pashmina opened up the door and walked right into Penelope, who held out the scarf and card.
"Oh? What's this, Penelope?" Pashmina asked. She opened the card and read aloud, "'Dear Pashmina, I want to thank you for everything you do for me. I made you this scarf. Love, Penelope' Aww! Penelope, that is so sweet—wait, what's this at the bottom. 'And Dexter'? Huh. I should have known that most of this wasn't your paw-writing, Penelope. Dexter?" Pashmina turned to Dexter.
"Yes, Pashmina?" Dexter asked.
"You helped Penelope with this card? And the scarf?"
"Uh…" Dexter was hesitant. He was nervous, moreover. His confidence was waning. What was he to say? What was he to do?
"Ookwee, ookwee!" Penelope vouched for Dexter.
"Dexter, that's so sweet of you," Pashmina smiled. "I've never seen that side of you before. I guess I never really took the time to notice. Thank you."
"Y-you're welcome," Dexter replied nervously. He was still blushing. Suddenly, the ground shook. Pashmina squealed and hugged Dexter in panic. His light pink blush went right to a deep crimson. He could almost swear he saw his glasses fog up.
"Stan's a stunt hamster," Snoozer snored.
"Stan?!" Pashmina and Dexter repeated. They, along with Penelope, scurried up to the surface and met up with the other Ham-Hams. Before the hamsters was a giant mechanical bull that was rampaging at full power.
"YAAAH! This is totally fun!" Stan whooped on the mechanical bull.
"I told ya!" Howdy laughed triumphantly.
"Guys, can I please turn it down now?! It really isn't safe to have this thing bucking full blast!" Panda begged.
"No way! I haven't even broken a sweat yet!" Stan boasted as he was swung around.
"Big bro, someone could, like, totally get hurt!" Sandy insisted as Maxwell hugged her protectively.
"Most likely you," Maxwell added.
"Eek!" Bijou squeaked and hugged Hamtaro in fright as the mechanical bull bucked so hard it nearly hit her with one of its horns. The same thing happened with Pashmina a moment later, but Dexter pulled her back and hugged her protectively. Pashmina blushed as Dexter held her.
"Ookwee!" Penelope jumped up and down, wanting to go next.
"Absolutely not!" Pashmina forbade.
"AAH!" Stan was hurled right into Boss.
"Watch it, Stan!" Boss hurled Stan off of him. "You could have killed me!"
"Sorry, old man," Stan coolly and insincerely apologize. Boss growled in anger.
"Can I go next?" Cappy asked. "Or after Penelope?"
"NO!" everyone answered.
"Did you get hurt?" Dexter asked Pashmina.
"No. Thank you," Pashmina said and embraced him.
"We should, like, make a rule against this thing," Sandy suggested.
"So no one will get hurt?" Hamtaro asked.
"Precisely," Maxwell answered.
The mechanical bull let out a bellowing moo. Howdy started laughing hysterically. He chortled, "I reckon that's the first time I done hear that one before!"
"I don't even see how that counts as a joke…" Dexter muttered.
"He tells jokes?" Stan asked teasingly. Everyone laughed, including Howdy. Then, Stan said, "Okay. No more mechanical bulls. Ramming into Boss hurt my head." He got close to Pashmina and flirted coolly, "Maybe you can make me feel better, girl."
"Sorry, but I think I found someone," Pashmina said to Stan and then started beaming at Dexter.
"M-me?" Dexter stammered.
"Him?!" Howdy's dang old jaw dropped.
"Yes," Pashmina nodded and gave Dexter a hug.
"Aww!" the other Ham-Hams cooed.
"This is so beautiful!" Oxnard sniffled and cried. "So beautiful!"
"Heh. Well, I'll be," Howdy chuckled. "I never thought I'd say this, but I actually feel happy for them."
"Why did you never think you'd say it?" Pashmina asked him.
"Well, y'all don't know? Dexter and I have had it hot for ya for ages now," Howdy informed her.
"You have?" Pashmina asked Dexter. Dexter blushed and gave a slight nod. Pashmina smiled and softly spoke, "Well, I'm flattered."