Author's Note
I just couldn't resist this couple, I mean the whole reason I paired Chunky with Petunia was because I didn't see anyone else that fit with her. Toothy, in my opinion, is gay, Nutty is too obsessed with candy, and Handy, well there's nothing stopping that pairing now, I suppose…
She Nubs Me, She Nubs Me Not
Handy's tow truck, with his new house guest in tow, slowed it pace as it approached his house, turning and pulling up the driveway, stopping to allow the automatic doors to open, and finally it drove right into the garage, stopping dead center. Petunia was surprised, to say the least.
After fumbling with the door handle, and then finally settling on pulling it open with her teeth, she stepped out and sighed, "Whoah, I still can't believe you were able to do that."
Handy, who had already somehow made his way out of the car, laughed, as he held the door open for Petunia, "It's all practice, years of practice," he lead her into the living room. It was very well kept, considering its owner had no hands. Walking into the den, Petunia was pleasantly surprised, with how clean everything was. Handy led her over to a comfy chair by the TV, and invited her to have a seat,
"It's my favorite chair, I'll start on dinner and you can just relax." Petunia blushed,
"Oh, no I couldn't. I may be a guest but I really shouldn't impose. Maybe I could help with dinner?"
"Please, I insist. Let me handle dinner tonight, I'll teach you tomorrow." He held his nubs out to the chair, and Petunia reluctantly took a seat.
"It shouldn't take long, Pasta's okay right?" Handy said, as he headed into the kitchen.
"Yes, that'd be lovely." And then she was alone. Though not really, the kitchen had no door, he was still within earshot. She decided to make herself comfortable, and laid back into the chair, resting her nubs on the armrests. She felt something rough, and noticed the left armrest had a remote control embedded in it. She felt the other, and found a small button. With a click, a TV tray unfolded in front of her.
"Wow, he really has quite a set up." She whispered, and tapped the controller with her nub. The TV flickered on, and she attempted to change the channel, but even with the oversized buttons, her unskilled nubs mashed against the controller, ending up on a random channel. It was some sappy movie, from the 50's. A Fox was sitting in a wheelchair, she seemed young, but had a deep sadness in her eyes. A cat, an actor Petunia had seen in many big productions, stood near her, crouching to meet her eye level.
"I just don't feel like there's anyway I can keep living. I coulda been in pictures, my name up in lights, and now it's all over!" She said, drying her tears with her sleeve.
"Flurry, you can't give up hope on me. I know your pain. That car crash, the one that killed my parents when I was only eight, left me paralyzed for five years. You can't give up yet."
"I-I'm not as strong as you! I can't make it."
"It doesn't matter how strong you are, you're not alone, not while I'm here!" He embraced her passionately and abruptly, shocking the girl. But she soon broke into tears, and returned the embrace.
"You'll always be there, won't you?"
"Of course I will, I'll always be there to protect you."
Petunia reached to dry her tears, but remembered that she had no hands, and groaned while staring angrily at her nubs. She went to change the channel, when something hit her.
"Oh my God, this is exactly what I'm making Handy, believe, isn't it?" She brought her nubs up to her mouth, shocked. "He thinks he's going to be taking care of me, forever…" She trailed off, afraid of her own imagination. Though, in all honesty it was far from a terrible fate, she shouldn't be, no, couldn't pretend to be in love with him. It was so wrong, all so very wrong.
"No, I'm just being paranoid, he's being friendly and all. Just friends, we're just friends…"
…
A flick of his nub, and the radio sprang to life, playing a lighthearted tune. Handy skipped back and forth as he reached into the cupboard, grabbing a box of Pasta with his teeth. The pot of water was already boiling, and he bit down on the box, causing the spaghetti to spill out. He grabbed a wooden spoon between his two nubs and stirred a pot of sauce he had set up, singing off key to the song on the radio.
"Hey! I'm gone today, but I'll be back around someday! It seems like everywhere I go, the more I see the l know. But I know, one thing, that I love you!"
He hopped over to the counter, grabbing a package of ground beef. He skillfully separated it, rolled the pieces across the countertop to shape them into balls. And then he grabbed his spoon and lined it up against a meatball as if he was a pool shark. With a steady aim he snapped the spoon outward and the meatballs began rolling to and fro across the counter, bouncing off each other until they were all in a straight line, rolling towards him. He held his shoulders out like a platform, and they rolled onto one nub, across his back and off another, landing in the saucepot across the kitchen. He smiled and went back to the stirring, whistling.
"Oh man, this is the greatest day of my life, Petunia's here, and I'm making her dinner!" He sighed contently. "Man, who knows how long she'll be here, maybe weeks." But he suddenly snapped back into reality.
"Oh, but Chunky's going to be back soon. And either way, Petunia's not that kind of girl." He sighed, and continued stirring the pasta. "Oh, but what was I thinking? Helping Petunia just to get with her? I'm such a jerk."
A bird began to tweet with the music, and he turned to find a parakeet sitting on his window sill. He left the pasta for a second, and went to pet the bird.
"Aw, well aren't you cute?" The bird flew off and the window slammed shut, thankfully Handy had nothing to lose, and gave a sigh of relief. "Phew, that could have been messy." And with that he went back to preparing dinner.
…
Petunia had dozed off laying in the chair, and was sleeping soundly until
Ratatatataatatatata!
Her eyes snapped open with the sounds of gunshots. Panting, and sweating from the shock she saw the TV, the movie was still on, but showed a very different scene. The fox was kneeling over the cat, his body full of holes. He was bleeding heavily and she was crying, he had probably died in her arms. The wheelchair lay nearby, the girl must have been thrown from it. A figure, a Deer dressed in a fine suit, held a Tommy gun, still smoking. The Deer pulled his cigar from his mouth to speak
"Ya bitch, you think you can run around without me, while I'm outta town??" The girl pulled her head up and spoke between her sobbing,
"He was there for me, not like you!" The deer raised his gun at her, and she ducked down.
"Nobody plays Don Rhyme!" The gun flared and blood splattered across his face. Petunia shrieked and slapped the remote, turning off the TV before she could see anything else. She was terrified, but was even more shocked when she heard a voice behind her, but it was only Handy, standing in the doorway.
"Petunia, are you alright?"
"Oh, oh my, yes I'm fine. It was just a scary movie. Um is.." She trailed off, panting a little.
"Actually, I just finished the spaghetti, if you're still hungry. I set us up a table on the deck outside."
"You have a deck?" Petunia said, hopping off the chair.
"Yeah, I, uh, built it. Do you want to eat inside instead, I mean it wouldn't be-"
"What? I'd love to eat outside, it sounds absolutely wonderful." And so Handy led her outside to a finely built wooden deck, brought her to a small table with chairs on either side, and pulled out her chair with his nubs. She blushed a little and sat down, as Handy struck a match he held in his teeth and used it to light a few lanterns around them. Petunia noticed the lights around her,
"Oh wow, a candlelight dinner, how.."
"Romantic?" Handy's eyes widended
"Actually I was thinking sweet."
"Oh, yeah, right, just sweet." He sat down with her, and held a fork between his nubs, scooping spaghetti onto Petunia's plate, then his own. Handy began eating, but his friend was having a little more than some difficulty. Finally she knocked her fork to the ground in frustration.
"Problem, Petunia?" Handy asked, his mouth half full with Spaghetti.
"Just having some trouble, you know, holding things."
"Let me help," He said, taking a fork full of pasta, and brings it to her face.
"Okay, are you seriously feeding me?"
"Petunia, please, just let me help."
"Fine," She opened up and he put the fork in her mouth. She bit down and he went back to eat his own food, not realizing he still had a piece of pasta on his fork, leading straight to Petunia's mouth. He stuffed the food in his mouth, sucking on a loose strand of spaghetti in his mouth.
"My God," Petunia thought, chewing the food her friend had just fed her, "this is pathetic, I'm being fed like a child. I suppose I'll just have to swallow my pride for now."
Handy, meanwhile, was wondering why this one piece of pasta went on for so long. Finally, he pulled his head back, and yanked Petunia forward over the table. She landed on him, their lips colliding. They stared into each other's eyes for a second, before Petunia pulled herself off, blushing. She was covered in sauce, and above all was sweating and blushing. Handy was deadly embarrassed.
"Petunia, I'm sorry, I just" Petunia cut him off,
"I need a shower, please." She stood horrified at her own appearance more than anything, her OCD taking over.
"Oh, of course, down the hall, on your right." She walked away, with a hurried pace,
"Petunia, do you need any help with,"
"NO!" She shrieked, and his heart skipped a beat. He just sat there, covered in sauce himself, but more petrified with how angry Petunia must be. Finally, he screamed and pounded his fists over and over again into his helmet.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!!"
…
Petunia stood there, in the stream of hot water, hardly moving, just leaning against the linoleum wall behind her. She saw the movie again in her mind, but instead of the fox girl and the cat that cared for her lying dead, a beaver and a koala were sprawled out in a pool of their own blood, a huge gash in the left part of their chest. And standing above them was a skunk, a knife clenched in her hand.
"I thought I knew who I loved…"
Okay, sorry, this chapter was started two days ago, but HTF released a Puzzle game, "On Thin Ice" and I got addicted to it, beat every level. And hey, Deadliving, try and make it to level 19, you'll laugh.
Oh, and Flurry, Frost (Jerryassmonkey) and Rhyme (Meowth's Toon Dragon) made a cameo in this chapter, like Caramel(Kitten630) did in the last chapter. And in case you're wondering, these character's owners did not ask me to be in the story. Hell, I didn't even ask them. I just thought it would be nice to throw in subtle hints to other's OCs. So don't ask, if the opportunity arises, I might include your character.
Also, sorry for the shameless plug, but if you haven't checked out my latest story "One World", make sure to check it out. It's not strictly a HTF story, but Flippy and Flaky are major characters.
So there, shameless plug. Good bye friends!