When Gamma awoke, he walked down the stairs- still lightly fatigued from slumber.

Unfortunately for the frog, Acapella seemed to be in an even WORSE mood than she had been prior. Instead of just shaking the Keronian- the Gem proceeded to bump her head on the ceiling again, pick up Gamma entirely, and shake the poor alien while screaming in his face!

"WHAT KIND OF MEAL WAS THAT YOU SHALE-HEADED SLIME?!" The Pearl was obviously not amused.

"Huh? Meal? You mean the food from Flip's Fillet? It's regular Keronian cuisine..."

"-MY SANDWICH WAS MOVING!"

"OH! Good! That means it was fresh!" Gamma made the mistake of smiling pleasantly...which resulted with Acapella shaking the poor frog even more violently!

"THE. FOOD. HAD. LEGS. YOU. IDIOT!"

At this point, Gamma was trying his best not to vomit. "A-Acapella...please...need food...feeling...nauseous..."

The Pearl dropped the Keronian quickly with disgust! The last thing she wanted was to be covered in smelly organic fluids...

Gamma slammed to the floor, and scurried quickly over to the kitchen table before he could be yelled at again. The frog located the remaining sandwich and decided to both satisfy his own hunger, and demonstrate the proper technique on how to eat a famous "Flip's Fillet Space Sandoitchi FX". The Keronian proceeded to grab the unopened sandwich, and quickly undid the wrapping as he had done many times before...

"SKREEEE!"

The meal extended its legs at the sudden burst of sunlight, and began to scuttle away in a panic!

"FLOOP! SHLORP!" In a rain of spray and terrifying carnage, Gamma simply extended his massive tongue, caught the prey, and swallowed it whole! "GULP!" Gamma looked mightily proud of himself! "See?! It's easy!"

"UGH!" Acapella stuck out her tongue in disgust! "That's...that's HORRIFIC!"

"Noooooo...just how you're supposed to eat them! Lots of Keronian cuisine involves the thrill of the hunt! It's common local knowledge actually. On our planet, if the meat isn't still alive- it's considered "unfresh". I...thought you knew this? Your specialty was in food and foreign alien cultures...correct?"

Acapella blushed. "Well...YES...but Homeworld's resources on both subjects can be...lacking. Even in our libraries and resource centers...not many Gems know about either subject...unless they are uppercrusts with the privilege of eating food...or spies..."

"MRGH..." Gamma was NOT amused. He assumed that the "Pearl who know all about Keronians" would have knowledge on such trivial things. The frog supposed it was like the first time a human had given him the "burger" at the MIB. He was slightly insulted at first. He thought the creature had been trying to offer him a spoiled meal. It had taken Gamma several weeks to get used to the fact that Pekoponians enjoyed EVERY piece of meat- dead, frozen, stiff, and processed. The frog reflected on the fact that the only meat killed before consumption on HIS planet, were meals meant for baby tadpoles that didn't have fast reflexes yet. That's why the "bundled insectoid home fries" were so popular among the little ones, and were always included in "Tadpole Meals".

The Keronian supposed that if he was used to his meals being alive, then other creatures who ate stationary food may be slightly shocked by the change...

"WELL! Either way, WE are going grocery shopping RIGHT NOW." Acapella transformed into her Keronian disguise in a huff. "-and if what YOU say IS true, then this family is now strictly vegetarian!"

"WHAT?! NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! I've waited almost TWO YEARS to eat some authentic Keronian cuisine! Unless...YOU'RE not up for the task of cooking it, Acapella?" the frog turned to the Pearl with a smug look on his face.

"No." Acapella did not look amused.

"...Eh?"

"No. You are NOT using that "reverse psychology" crap on me THIS time! Even I have limits!"

Gamma suddenly looked rather sheepish. It seemed the Gem had seen through his plan. "Come on Acapella...I need my protein!"

"I am NOT cooking live organics in front of Kelly and Toaster! It will traumatize them...AND ME!"

"-but..."

"NO! I'm putting my foot down! We are sticking to PLANTS! That's is it! NO complaints!"

"MERF!...G-gama..." The frog harrumphed to himself before crossing his arms in a rare display of immaturity. "Yeah...well...if you're going outside the house, your disguise needs some work!"

"What's wrong with my disguise?!" Acapella looked down at herself- incredibly offended! Indeed, she thought her disguise was fairly accurate! The fake Keronian was yellow (of course), had two stylish dull spikes on each side of her face, and bared three additional spikes in the middle of her make-shift trapper hat (that slightly represented the tip of her regular hairstyle). Other than the (obvious) gemstone on her neck, Acapella seemed like a (fairly accurate) Keronian.

"Hmm...well...first of all...you don't have any distinguishing marks on your belly or hat. Almost all Keronians have a sticker on their belly, and a pin on their hat that represent their job, personality, or hobby."

"Hhhrrrrmmm..." Acapella looked over herself before going deep into thought... "OH! I know!" With a magnificent ray of light, the Gem produced a matching logo on both her hat and stomach. The logo was a simplistic yellow silhouette of a cockatiel happily standing in front of a cake. "There! Perfect!" Acapella smiled with pride!

"Merf. What about your gemstone?"

"Hmm...what did the Humans keep calling it? A necklace! A broach?"

"Ugh...FINE." Gamma huffed in annoyance again. "...but we're stopping at more than one store! I need to get some extra stuff to make Kelly, Lilly and Banana's stay more comfortable.

Thusly, an agreement was arranged. Toaster (being the oldest), was left in charge of the house while Gamma and Acapella retrieved some..."necessities" from the outside world.

The tiny Ruby was less than amused- feeling left out once again. The trio argued among themselves, until Gamma caved in, and promised the small Gem treats upon his return.

This was going to be a looooong day...

...AAAAAAANNNNNDDD...WE'RE BACK! (sorta)

Surgery went well...now dealing with a cold or something (hard to breath and stuff).

...Still, I'm suddenly inspired to write! Let's do this folks!

(...also, everyone can thank my brother, Karl, for the new art cover by watching the "Long Gone Gulch" trailer! It's awesome (and on Youtube!) DO IT!)

XD