"So you're telling me you left the guitars we made back in that other place?"
"W-Well i didn't t-think we needed t-them…sorry…"
"No...it's ok. You do have a point, why would you need em when you have better ones already?" Parappa scratches his hair under his beanie.
"W-Why do you even need a g-guitar?..."
"Ah...that's...a bit of an explanation…" I actually have no explanation...and trying to tell you my dream will probably cause you to laugh at me… Parappa's eyes roll about the room until he can think of something "I...just...wanna…" Quick, say anything!
"Wanna?..."
"Learn how to play one!" Well...that's as good a reply as any other I guess...wonder what she thought of it?
"O-Oh!...y-you do?" Lammy's hands find themselves drifting to her new guitar "I...can...help with that!"
Oh dear...well uh…"G-Great!...h-haha...now I just need to get a guitar!..."
"Well, I'd hand you either of my two guitars, but I rather not risk anything...happening to them…"
Sheesh it's not like I'd BREAK em or anything "A-Ahahaha...t-that's fine!"
"I-It's not like I don't trust you with em...it's just I just got this one after thinking it'd be impossible and my original one is a rather sentimental one that I'm a tad overprotective on and-"
"Lammy don't panic! I'll just get a new one. Now the question is...should I go for the store by the shopping row-"
"To expensive, and not even worth the price."
"Ok...how about the one that's across the street from beard burg-"
"Shoddily made to match their bargain bin prices."
"...Alright, then how about that place next to the record store-"
"You're better off using a Guiro by that point, it sounds better than anything sold there."
"Wow you uh...really know your stuff…" Parappa stares at her wide-eyed for her quick criticisms on the music shops.
"Oh!...uh...yeah I guess I do when it comes to guitars. When you play one for so long, you come to see where it's actually worth getting one to use." She simply plays a riff on her new guitar.
"Well how about the shop YOU work at? Think that place would have what I need? After all, that's where you got this one!"
Lammy stops playing as the guitar nearly drops from her hands "U-Uh...I...r-recommend NOT g-going there…"
Where the heck did her bravado go? "Is the place really that bad?"
"U-Uh...sure we can uh...s-say that…"
"Any...particular reason?"
"U-Um...oh would you look at the time!...The others should be awake soon! I should really head out and buy the stuff needed in order to get breakfast ready! S-Sorry Parappa, but we'll have to continue this another time!" She bolts to her room in a mad dash, a few moments later, she rushes out of the house altogether after getting suitable clothing and is seen running down the street from the window.
"That was...odd…" Parappa tilts his head as he places a finger on his chin "I'd even say concerning, but I can't really invade over little matters. If she says no then it's a no. Hmm...that just leaves Paul's place. And seeing as we BOTH used that place, i'm guessing that's fine." Parappa shakes his head, causing his ears to flop about "Really wish she didn't bring up a Guiro...still have bad memories from the thing...Bah that's not important now! Breakfast will have to wait, I need a guitar and quickly!" Parappa runs off to his room to get better dressed and also runs out in a hurry, but not to the extent that Lammy took.
"Alright so I just gotta keep driving on down this path and I'll be there before I know it!...say that's a large crowd of people...what's happeni-" Parappa drives up to see that a building had caught ablaze, the sight leaving him in a terrified awe as it brings up rather...unwanted memories "...H-Holy sh-"
"MOVE MOVE MOVE!" The fire fighters shouted, snapping Parappa out of it, as they scattered around the place, hoses ready.
"Puddle sir!" the firefighters await their chiefs call.
Puddle simply stares at the fire "Man...this is some heavy Deja Vu men…"
"Do we have enough to put it out sir?"
"It's not if we have the water, but rather if we have the time to save the building and everyone in it…Not again…" He stares at the ground in a PTSD induced flashback.
Suddenly another fire truck appears as more firefighters appear from it
("ALRIGHT MEN! THIS IS WHAT WE WERE HIRED FOR!") The Ex Tempo's march out of the truck and rush into the burning building, each and everyone one of them lining up on specific parts and floors of the building, holding it together.
"S-Sir! The new recruits are holding the building steady!"
"Well I'll be damned...ALRIGHT, THEY BOUGHT US TIME! NOW LET'S PUT OUT THAT FIRE REAL GOOD!"
"WITH THE FUNK!" The hoses began blasting water at the building that was now more stable.
"Alright, you, you and you will be coming with me inside to escort any trapped civilians out of there!" Puddle says as he points to three corresponding firemen.
"ROGER!" The three dogs say in unison as the storm in.
Puddle rushes after them but stops at the entrance of the building, whispering to himself "Heh...where you new guys ten years ago? Could've helped a lot back then…" He nods to himself before continuing inside.
Parappa simply stares, amazed at how efficiently the Ex-Tempo's managed to help in this situation until he closes his eyes with a smile "See Bunsen? Ur? Fire doesn't have to destroy after all." With a prideful nod he resumes his drive.
"Ok PJ so!...What do I gotta do?"
"Well it's pretty much straightforward if you just follow what I do Matt." PJ waves his arm around the ingredients "The orders are quick to prep, only thing to really be wary for is how long you let some of them bake or others blend. Don't wanna ruin anything before its done."
"Got it! So I'll just follow your lead! You'd think it'd be easy for Chop Chop to teach Noodles and Pinto that wouldn't it?"
"Well Noodle's case is self explanatory, and for Pinto...eh...she seemed like she was keen on just being the waitress."
Matt thinks on it "Well can't argue there, given both of their track records. Although given how smart Pinto is, you'd think she'd be above acting like the cutesy little girl."
"On the contrary, that just shows how smart she really is. She knew they'd eat it up And she also knew what to apparently do so that they would KEEP eating it up."
"Yeesh that's astounding, and a bit scary when you think about it."
"Relax, in the end she's still just a kid having fun."
"I guess, it's just astounding to have a kid so young with a brain so big! She started actually using it since she was like...six right? She even made that weird little blue thing that tags along with her always. Uee was it?"
"Bingo! Course with help from her dad, similar to Parappa and Boxy boy."
"Wait, Parappa made him?"
"Again with help from his dad, so because of that Parappa feels as if it was mostly just his dad."
"Ah I getcha." Matt taps his fingers on the counter "So-"
"No I will not continue this chat. You're trying to stall for time to avoid dealing with the eventual customers."
"Pffft whaaaaat. No i'm noooooooot." sweat started to emerge onto his face as a failed attempt at a smile plasters itself on his face.
"Matt relax, recall that Parappa, Tamanegi AND Paula will have your back here."
"Yeah...I know, but it's just still a LOT of people i'll have to deal with…"
"Again relax, it's not like someone gonna bail out on us-" PJ is silence by the sound of the cafe door opening "Oh? Who could that be? Tamanegi said he'd take a while…" Paula walks up to the counter, wearing a hoodie that cover the top half of her face from being seen "Oh, you're early Paula."
"Hey Paula, what's with the new hoodie?"
"Oh it's just to not make any on lookers worried."
"Worried?" The two boys say in unison. Paula then pulls down the hood revealing a more bandages that are wrapped around her head, even covering her left eye!
"Whoa what happened?!"
"The blow to my head was apparently much more...not good then what we presumed. Even temporarily lost vision in my left eye."
"Why do you sound so calm about this?!" Matt says as he fumbles his hands in place in an exaggerated manner.
"Oh because I already had it checked out, did so the second we cleared things with Chop Chop. Docs said I was smart to at the very least try to bandage it up, slowed down what would've been a real bad mess. I'm talking full on blindness! Thanks to Parappa's quick thinking, I got off with just temporary half blindness for about a day or two. Still gotta deal with the pain of the injury itself on my head though till it heals. Other than that I'm ok, hence why I didn't want anyone to worry."
"Oh man, it's still a cause to worry! Just don't overexert yourself...either way you can't work like this!" PJ states as he rubs his forehead.
"That's why I'm here early. I came to tell Chop Chop that I'll have to be benched for a few days till my visions fully restored, can't really do much with only half my depth perception." She looks around "Where is he anyway?"
"Out gathering more stuff, he didn't stock up since Noodle's was here taking care of it. Now that we're back he had to make a big trip. We'll pass the message for you."
"No, i'd rather tell him myself. I asked for the job, i'll take responsibility for my own actions on why I can't arrive for it!"
"You have no responsibility to take! That injury was out of your control!"
"You try explaining that to a doctor."
"No need, Tamanegi already made me feel like a child explaining a fever dream when me and Parappa tried explaining it to him…"
"You see?"
"Fine fine, just take a seat and wait for him."
"It's just a slight headache inducing hit, it's not like i'm just gonna drop and faint on the spot! Sheesh." Paula rolls her eye and then simply stares at PJ with an annoyed glare.
"Ok! I'm sorry I decided to be worried for a friend of mine!" PJ returns the annoyed glare to her.
Matt simply stares at the two of them back and forth, then crosses his arms and speaks up "You sure you two broke up?" Both immediately turn their gaze to Matt, he can feel the anger seeping off of them "E-Eheh...p-poor choice of words…" he immediately braces for impact "C-Can't you two take a joke?!"
"And here we are! Chuck's Custom Guitars! Sales*Repairs!" Parappa parks his car and hops out "It's the last place that wasn't criticised to the ground by Lammy so this is my choice by default!" He runs on inside and upon heading in he sees all the racks filled with guitars "Wow...this place usually doesn't all the stocks full…" He looks to the counter to see Paul and Deto laughing between each other as they seem to talk about things only they'd get "Yeah that explains it." He walks up to them.
"Well hey! Look who we have here! If it ain't the town star!"
("Oh laddie! Didn't think you'd be visiting me at my new place of business so soon!")
"Hello to the both of you! Man this place is packed to the brim with guitars!"
"Well that's thanks to the fun motivation brought to me thanks to my new buddy! Really does make it easy to chop even more trees down for fun!"
("Ahem!") "Agreed! T'was but a fine combination! There was instant chemistry and the guitars just filled the shelves! Now we're fully stocked and have to wait to be bought out before we can carry on! But I guess it's better this way, the trees can grow back in that time!" Both of the laugh as if they brought up an inside joke.
"Well that's great! It even seems as if the quality of the guitars improved even further!" Parappa says as he glances by the selections.
"That they have! Also an end result of our new enhanced work!" Paul gives a hearty laugh, causing his gut to shake "Since ya hear, I take it you'll be buying one?"
"Yeppers!"
Paul nods, but then scratches his head "That's odd kid, I thought you didn't play the guitar ever since you accidentally turned both your made one and fancy one into Guiros..."
"Well I mean I don't, but-"
"Buying a gift for someone then laddie? Is it for the lamb lassie? Or the cat lassie?" Deto says as he chimes in.
"No its!-"
"Oh that's right! I forgot about them girls! You trying to win em over?"
"No! The guitars for me! I...need it for something…" Parappa tries to avoid explaining the actual reason "I wanna learn to play!" I did it again!
"Oh! Well that's great to hear! Never hurts to branch out what you do! Just pick one out and we'll help send you on your way with it!"
After a bit of browsing, Parappa finds a guitar that catches his eye and decides to take that one. Once he talks with the duo, he pays for it and is off.
"There goes a satisfied customer!"
"I hope the learning process goes well for the lad. But i'm sure he'll be fine!"
"If it goes as well as the boy's singing front then he'll be better than fine!" Paul nods in confirmation of himself then begins thinking "I wonder if I can hire him for something I'll be planning in the future…"
"Oh right! You're plannin on proposin to your burd ain't ya? Who was she again...that there idol from hell, Mistress Yoko wasn't it?"
"The very same! I just hope she says yes is all…"
"Oh come on there! With how you say things are between the two of ya since yer time datin, I'm sure it'll go smoothly! Especially with the gift you're planning on makin and givin before ya even propose!"
"Hope you're right on that, don't really have time for jokers." He crosses his arms as he snorts out smoke.
"Oh have more faith in yerself! Anywho what did you have in mind for the furry lad?"
"Well in case things do go well! I'd plan to hire him as the wedding singer!"
"Oh how nice! Well all I can do is hope all goes well for ya!" The two clutch their hands in a heavy handshake.
In the meanwhile, Parappa reaches his car and sets the new guitar in the seat next to him "Alrighty! Time to keep this with me now! Oh but I don't have time to get back and eat something...I'll just eat something at the cafe! Might as well since we're gonna be starting soon." He hums happily as he drives off.
"Alright time to go eat something!" He leaves his car with the guitar strapped on his back, but upon heading inside, he is shocked to see PJ and Paula launching objects at Matt, who hides behind a table, using it as a shield "What the hell did I miss?"
Matt is the only one to notice Parappa and quickly calls out "H-Help!"
Without hesitation Parappa heads off to help him while avoiding the objects flying about, within moments he arrives behind Matt's makeshift blockade "What the heck did you do?"
"Why do you assume that this is my fault?" Matt just watches Parappa as he crosses his arms and furrows his brow "Yeah...alright...this was my bad…I maaaaay have made a poorly timed joke from not reading the room properly..."
"Sheesh, Ma-san has rubbed you fully if that's the case...oh man let me help you out of this. Come on."
"I go out there, I may die." Matt huddles into a ball and falls onto his side, trembling in fear for his well being.
"Fine ya big baby, I'll help you out of this. They may be mad at you, but they won't try to harm me! I just got here!" The second Parappa stands up, he is conked in the head by a plastic jar, instantaneously knocked by it.
"Well...can't say I didn't expect that…" He gets up and runs off to Parappa's side "Aw man…H-HEY! QUIT IT! I SURRENDER!...YOU GUYS KNOCKED OUT PARAPPA!"
"Lying won't get you out of this Matt!" Paula yell from the other side of the cafe.
Matt picks up his unconscious friend and waves him around "This look like a lie to you?!"
The objects stop flying as PJ and Paula run up to him.
"Aw hell…" PJ stares at the unconscious Parappa before flicking Matt on the forehead.
"Ow!"
"This is your fault you know."
"Yeah yeah...can we just stop? I AM sorry...it was just a poor attempt at a joke…"
"Poor is an understatement…" Paula says before also flicking Matt on the forehead.
"OW! I DO bruise rather easily you know!..."
"Oh suck it up, I nearly cracked my head open and am here staring at you with only half my vision! If I can be alright with that, you can handle light taps to the head!"
"...wow way to make me feel like a wimp by comparison…"
"Man. Up. What happened to the Matt that apparently knocked over a big bad fire fox while also stopping him from offing your friend?"
"He stayed behind back there with any actual danger…" Matt groans "Look I get what you mean, and I do have my moments. I just rather prevent moments of that regard in a more moderate fashion so it doesn't NEED to come to that..."
Now PJ interjects "You weren't like that five years ago. Where'd your bravery go?"
"It went down the toilet along with my pride when I didn't bother helping Parappa during that warehouse nearly crushing us. And then being called lucky by the docs for just running away…"
"Not like you could've done much to begin with. None of us could have. We all felt bad, but it's by no means a reason to make sure you bubble wrap EVERYTHING."
"I know that now. Parappa made me see that with him, it's impossible to try to be that safe when he'll go headlong into a problem to fix it no matter what!" He groans in self aggravation as he smacks his own head "I both love and hate that he's got such a big heart…"
"You're telling us…" Both Paula and PJ force out a chuckle before PJ cargo lifts Parappa over his shoulder.
"Come on let's get him onto a chair, and then clean this place up...we open in under an hour…if Tamanegi sees any of this he'll blow open his layers!..."
"Ewwww...I did NOT need that mental image…"
"Same here...ugh...that's the classic PJ bluntness at work!" Matt laughs to himself earning another flick to the forehead from the bear.
"Ten minutes till we open!" PJ shouts out
"Ugh...my head…"
"Parappa's finally awake!" Matt shouts back "So Paula, aren't you gonna...you know head home and rest?"
She lifts her hood back up "Nope, at least not yet. I wanna speak with Parappa."
"But Chop Chop said you were good to go."
"I know, still wanna thank him for the quick thinking."
"Gotcha!" Matt walks back to where Parappa was.
"Ow...where am I…" Parappa continually rubs the bump on his head until he remembers "OH!...the cafe! MATT!"
"Hey! No need to yell! I'm right next to you!"
"S-Sorry...well...you seem ok now!"
"Yeah and all it costed was you getting hit in the head!"
"Lucky you…" Parappa scratches around his back until he notices that the guitar he had strapped on was no longer on his back "H-Hey where's the guitar I had?"
"PJ put it in the back of the kitchen."
"Phew…"
"What up with that anyway?"
"Ah...I just…" Might as well give him the same excuse "Wanna learn to play one is all."
"Cool. Paula's out there sitting at one of the tables, she wants to talk to you before she heads home."
"Head home? But we open in-" He stares at his watch "Seven minutes! Wow I was out cold...guess there's no eating here either for me…"
"You didn't EAT-" Matt was about to go off on a tangent, but Parappa quickly beats him to the punch.
"I'll work out something with PJ in the kitchen, so don't start. Now I'll go see what Paula has to say in the meantime." Matt facepalms in anger as he watches Parappa walk off.
"Hey Paula!" He continues speaking as she slowly removes her hood "What's with you bailing out on us? You look like you're in perfectly fine conditiooooOOOOOOOH WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR EY-" Paula shuts him up by shoving a donut in his mouth.
"Calm down and let me explain first! Look, after we came back from that weird place and finished up here, I went to the hospital to get myself checked out because I may have not told you guys that my vision was getting just a slightly bit blurry. Docs patched me right up and said that it was thanks to the slight bandaging that I managed to prolong what would've been a bigger problem long enough for me to get it fully treated! My eyesight will return by tomorrow or the day after. Of course I'll still have the bump and the headaches for a little while longer, but not as painful! And I gotta thank you for that, after all it was your quick thinking with the bandages."
Parappa forcibly swallows the donut in one gulp "Ow…" he rubs his throat before replying again "Well, i'm glad you're going to be fine. You probably should've said all that BEFORE you pulled the hood down, but I digress. I just did what I thought was the smartest thing to do! I had the bandages on me after! So...you're welcome! Although I really only had them because Katy, Ma-san and Lammy made me keep extras incase the ones I have now became to worn down or dirty or just plain ineffective. So you should be thanking them instead of me."
"Were they the ones to tell you to help me? From what I recall, Ma-san was busy with the Tempos, Lammy was unconscious and Katy was angry at me at the time."
"I mean yeah, but-" She shoves another donut in his mouth.
"Just accept the thanks already."
This time he manages to chew the donut efficiently before swallowing "S-Stop doing that!..."
"Will you accept the thanks?"
"Yes yes!..."
"Then I will. Here's the remainder of the box so you can eat them on your own. They were given to me by Chop Chop as a get well soon type gift, but I happen to overhear that you skipped out on eating breakfast."
"N-Not by choice!..."
"Excuses, excuses...now go eat!" She stands up and places the hood back up "I'll be off now."
"Won't you need help?"
"Oh don't worry! I only ran into three things on my way over here!" Parappa stares at her in fear of her well being and simply gulps "I'm KIDDING…" She sighs seeing that her attempt at lightening the mood failed greatly "Well, take care."
"I should be the one telling YOU that."
"Likewise." She winks with her visible eye before sliding out of the cafe.
"Man, sometimes I wonder if it's a good thing that we all stay the same as our younger days" He places another donut in his mouth as he just shrugs it off.
"Oh man, what a day…." Matt stretches his back and arms "Guess this is something I gotta get used to!"
"Well for your first day, you did great! Almost mixed up an order or two, but that was quickly handled!" He pats his friends back before carrying on "I can already see you going about as if you've been here all along!"
"Well with complementary motivation like that I can only hope!" They fist bump before PJ pops in.
"Hey, glad to see you're making our new recruit feel very welcome!"
"Uh...PJ it's just me-"
"Matt shut up and let me finish."
"But! Erm...ok."
"Since we recruited another male member! It's time for what Parappa and I planned since way back when! I don't even think we can remember how far back!"
"Where you guys expecting to have more recruits?..."
"Well we figured the cafe would've garnered enough popularity for newcomers…but I think it's because of said popularity that we may have appeared to be...I dunno, high standard?" Parappa says with a sad whine.
"Well those guys don't know what they missed! Honestly working with you two can have!...Mixed results…"
"HEY!" Both shout at Matt from that remark, but he simply laughs at them.
"You two aren't exactly proving me wrong!"
"Whatever, me and PJ planned out a snack fest with the would be new guy, but the only one who eventually opted to join was Paula, when we tried inviting her, she called it all a dumb thing and decided against it heavily...it was probably for the best as it was meant for a guy and not a girl after all."
"It didn't hurt to TRY and invite her, but she could've gone without the demoralizing…" PJ grumbles underneath his breath once he mentions this.
"Well I mean, this is Paula, what you guys had in store probably just didn't appeal to her." Matt says trying to cheer them up.
"Oh no doubt about that, but still! It's something me and PJ planned with utmost emotion!"
"Sheesh. How about we get off this topic and you just tell me what you two wanna do with me. Something about a snack fest?"
"Well yeah! Think of it as a mini binge initiation type deal!" Parappa fist bumps the air.
"Did PJ think this up?"
"Rude! How dare you accuse me of- yes. Yes it was mostly me."
"Heh, aw hell why not! Nothing wrong with stuffing your face everyone once and awhile!"
"Exactly!"
"Matt don't encourage him…"
"To late! Let's eat!"
"Words I wanna hear!"
"Alright. Guess we're eating!" Parappa just shrugs it off as he straps the guitar on his back and along with PJ, brings in the snacks.
The trio slowly strut down the street as Parappa holds his hands around his gut, eventually stopping to whine in discomfort "Ohhhh...I should not have let myself try and go against PJ all out…" Parappa clutches his stomach more tightly in pain.
"You're just realizing that THAT was a mistake just NOW?"
"I'm an optimist, I figured I could give it a shot." Parappa covers his mouth before releasing a painful burp "But that was probably the biggest mistake I'll ever make…"
"You can't beat the king, you can only humor him." PJ lifts his arms to the sky triumphantly as the slowly descending sun beacons off of him.
"I don't know if being the king of having a black hole for a stomach is something to be proud of man."
"Matt sometimes you can't be picky over your own ridiculous superpower."
"This does not qualify as a superpower." Matt turns his attention back to their hunched over friend "Right Parappa?...Uh...You ok man?" Parappa stayed in a ball as his face began turning purple.
"Uh oh...that's a heavy hit of deja vu...quick we gotta find a bathroom! Stat!" PJ plucks Parappa off the ground and zooms off with Matt following right after.
After enough running around, the trio eventually find a bathroom for Parappa. After he's done, PJ decides to tease him over it "Sheesh, glad we found a bathroom! Ironically it's the same exact one as when this little problem happened the FIRST time!" PJ can't help by laugh loudly at the memory.
"Please don't...I really don't wanna remember that...like...ever again…"
Parappa's reply just gets Matt to laugh along with PJ "I don't think anyone would, but it's just the fact that this happened to you AGAIN. Can you blame us for laughing?"
"...whatever...I'm calling it a day. I'll be at the Expo for a majority of the day tomorrow so don't expect me to be at work tomorrow. I already informed Tamanegi sensei."
"Yeah yeah...man, Paula calling out as well messed up some things huh?" Matt shrugs.
"Well whatcha gonna do about that? Can't be helped." he turns around "Well later guys."
"Later man, I'm gonna head off to. Need to catch up on my driving lessons that I've been missing for the week." As Parappa disappears in the distance Matt adds on.
"You? Driving lessons? Who's teaching you if it isn't him? Mooselini?"
"Nope. Leo."
"Why him?" Matt huffs, offended that he wasn't an option to teach his friend how to drive.
"Oh just...taking him up on an offer after him and I had a small chat."
"Well I just hope he's a good teacher…" Matt grunts as he kicks a can that's on the ground away.
"He is, no worries. What's up with you though? What got you all upset all of a sudden?"
"Well how come I wasn't an option to help teach you?"
"That's it?" PJ sighs "Didn't take you to be offended by the little things. I didn't wanna bother you guys. And as for Leo, he was simply a good countermeasure." As in, it's his punishment "So that's why."
"Well, not much for a reason, but I know it's all i'm gonna get out of you…." Matt kicks the ground in frustration "Ok! Just hope I can be of assistance to you as well with something else in the future."
"Of course, don't worryyyyyyy. You should know that I always keep you and Parappa in mind when I need help, but for now you should probably help Parappa more than me. Just know that I do understand the friendly gestures."
"I'm glad you do! I'll leave you to it then. Later man."
"Later." The two nod and part ways.
"I'm back!" Parappa unstraps the guitar from his back and heads for his room. He doesn't get a reply and simply shrugs it off "I'm sure they probably went out somewhere." As he heads to his room door, he hears voices from the other side just as he grabs the doorknob "Wha?..." Parappa leaves his guitar by the wall then places his head to the door to listen in.
"He's here! I can't go through with this!"
("Oh just grow a spine already! Beside you offered it to him and ALREADY planned the whole thing out!")
"Yes! That was an impulse action that i'm quickly regretting!"
("Regret THIS!")
"H-Hey Ma-san! S-Stop it! W-Waaaaah!"
There's a loud thud that hits the door from the other side, immediately Parappa opens the door only to have Lammy fall on top of him "Whoa!...oof…"
"Owowow…" Lammy rubs her head until she notices who she's on top of "E-EEEEP…" she wastes no time in getting off of him "I-I'M S-SO SORRY P-PARAPPA!..."
"It's cooooool...ow" Parappa peels himself off the ground "...what where you doing?..."
"I-I-I wassss…."
("She was setting up a surprise for you. She wanted to make the lessons she promised you start immediately the second she would see you with your new guitar, but as expected, she instantly started backing out of it-") Ma-san intrudes explaining the situation, only for her to be intruded upon.
"I-In fear that I w-wouldn't be a good t-teacher!"
Ma-san huffs ("Yeah...in fear of that...totally…")
"Aw Lammy! You didn't have to be afraid of that! You make a great teacher, no matter the task!"
"H-Heh...thanks…" Phew…
("Barf…") Figures brainless would believe spineless...ugh...what do I see in him again?
"I wouldn't say it if it weren't true! And hey Ma-san? What's with the bandage on your dynamite?"
("Huh? Oh this. I uh...figured that it might help seeing as my fuse is kaput and all...")
"I'm sure you're fiiiiiiiine Ma-san! But that aside, if anything that does make it look-"
("Ridiculous? Stupid? Pointless?")
"Well no...I was gonna say adorable. In a...funny out of character type of way."
("Ah...of course…") Oh yeah…you endearing piece of-
"A-Anyway! I t-think I'm just gonna h-head to my room! Not l-like I can teach y-you anyway! Y-You didn't get a g-guitar."
"I did actually. It's right over there behind you!"
"Wha-" She turns and stares directly at the new guitar. The body is black and orange, while the neck is red with pink and the head is blue and purple "Oh…" Huh...he has nice tastes in guitars…
("Dude it looks like every decade genre of music barfed all over your guitar…")
"Hehe...yeah it does look the part don't it? But hey! I liked it and therefore I bought it! That's as good a reason as I need!"
Lammy can't help but giggle while Ma-san rolls her eyes, both immediately reply in unison "You are such a dork."
"And I will not deny that!" He crosses his arm "Doesn't mean I won't take a little offense!"
("You are not obligated to take offense to this since you admit you're a big dork.")
"Whatever." He smiles "Anyway, I'd love to take lessons from you Lammy!"
"I-I uh...um…" her hands grab both her guitar and his new one "Guess I'm a new teacher now!"
"Well with me, you usually are!" Parappa's tail ways gleefully until "Hey wait where's Katy?"
"Oh! I got her to go on and thank Leo for the belt she annoyed off of him. It'll probably be a while till she gets back."
("Yeah and I ain't cooking till she's here. So you're gonna have to wait on that.")
"That's fine by me...kinda...wanna wait on eating for a while…"
Both Ma-san and Lammy look at each other before back at him ("What did you do?")
"Something I...rather not explain…just know I'm...full...for lack of a better word..."
("Uh huh…") Ma-sans glare drills it's way into his psyche.
"I'm ok! Look I ate beforehand and now I'm kinda...wanting to stray away from eating for a bit…" Ma-san's glare refuses to cease, causing him to lose his balance "I-I'm serious!...it was jus-"
("Stop. Your face is getting purple so I get what you're trying to hide.")
"I-I don't get it...w-what happened?..."
("Don't worry. It's nothing bad. He'll probably need to wait a while till his guts ready to accept food again.")
"Y-Yeah what Ma-san said! I'm good soooo, no need to worry over me!"
"..." Lammy simply ruffles her hair in confusion "Alright. Well if you wanna start your lessons just pick a room for us to practice in I guess."
"Oh! Well you were trying to catch me by surprise in my room so why not there still?"
"Seems good." Lammy walks into his bedroom carrying both guitars.
Parappa immediately scuttles next to Ma-san and whispers to her "Thanks so much for not saying it out loud!"
("You really shouldn't be thanking me for that. Katy filled me in on the story of your little…'accident' when you trying to impress that daisy gal way back when.") She shoves him towards his room ("While it is gross, i'm curious as to what the hell you did to be in that situation again.")
"Eheh...eating binge initiation with PJ to welcome Matt to the Cafe…I may have gotten just a tad competitive with PJ...just a smidge..."
("You are such an idiot…") as she shrugs she slightly smiles ("But I guess I am to after what me and Paula got everyone into. Now get in there and learn how to play your new guitar already!") She gives him a swift kick that sends him flying into his room.
Parappa plucks his face of the ground and looks over to Lammy "Hope I'm not a pain to teach!"
She tosses his guitar towards him after he gets up, a grin plastered onto her face "You'll be fine. Just try to not get left behind in my dust from awe.~"
Parappa holds his guitar in a position similar to how she's doing "So that's what you expect of me eh?~ I'll be sure to surpass your expectations!~"
"Puh-lease, you're jamming in my field now!~"
"Then let's rock Jammer Lammy!"
"It's on Parappa the Rapper!"
Ma-san shakes her head with a deflated chuckle as she listens to the two from outside the room ("I swear you two are so alike at times it's ridiculous.") she leans on the wall with a fake sigh as she listens to their playing.
"Ok...so Leo should be here...but he's not...great…" Katy slams her head on the steering wheel causing the horn to blast out "Ughhhhh...just how long am I expected to wait…" Of course he's busy once I'm being forced to thank him…
A car pulls up to the front of the club, alerting Katy. After a bit comes out PJ and Leo.
Leo collapses onto his knees once he's out "Ohhh...why must you accelerate so much when driving..."
"It's natural to me, besides I do it in a way where I'm still being safe on the road."
"But not the people riding with you...oh i'm gonna be sick…" He dizzily gets back up, trying to remove his helmet until PJ stops him.
"I think you have company so you might wanna hold off on taking this off."
"Huh?..." They both look towards the van as Katy hops out "It's Katy! Why is she here?"
"I would say that she'd also want driving lessons, but she already knows how to drive."
"Don't even joke about that…" His helmet emits a sweatdrop as PJ chuckles.
Katy walks up to them with smoke emerging from her head as she approaches Leo angrily "Where were you?! I've been waiting all this time to say thanks to you!" She begins flailing her arms aggressively towards him as he tries to block the hits.
"Say thanks?! Then why are you trying to hit me!..."
"Say thanks for what?" PJ's voice causes Katy to stop trying to smack Leo as she turns her attention to him.
"PJ? Why are you here?"
"I believe I asked a question first."
"Well I wanted to thank him for the special belt he gave me yesterday." She creates a Katy clone that points to herself
"I'm the reason it's special!"
PJ simply lifts his shades to stare at the second Katy then to Leo "You gave her something that does THAT?"
"I said I would think it over! But she wouldn't stop asking, so I gave it to her so that she would stop asking…"
"Why am I not surprised…" He lowers his shades then looks back to the original Katy "Well I'm here for the driving lessons."
"Oh riiiiight...Leo did bring that up before we went to that place in the pond."
"Did he now? Well he was still making good on that, and as for you. Aren't you gonna say your thanks?"
"Oh right. Thanks for the belt, it occurred to me that I may have forgotten to thank you when you first gave me it."
"Oh that's fine...you were rather distracted by it. Sorry for making you wait."
"It's fine now. Had I remembered that you were helping PJ, I wouldn't have gotten upset over wait...or you know...not waited at all and only arrived till you were done!"
"I suppose so…" Leo looks towards PJ.
"Don't look at me. You know very well you 'owe' me the 'time'."
"...Yeah...I knowwwwww…" Katy's tail bends into a question mark as she looks at the two talk between each other before Leo continues on "Well...I can't exactly return the time you waited for...but I can try to make up for it if you like?"
"Make up how?"
"Well since I'm done with PJ's lessons for today."
"I didn't say we were done for to-"
"Since I'm done with PJ's lessons for today."
"Ok. We're done for today." PJ throws his arms to the air as he heads back to the car.
"Want me to take you along the town for the night? I feel like I owe a lot more than that, but it's what I can offer for now." He taps his helmet "I will have to take PJ along with us since I'm his ride back home though."
Katy's tongue sticks out as she begins thinking. Eventually she snaps her fingers causing the clone Katy to vanish "Can we do that tomorrow morning?"
"Oh...uh...why?"
"Well the shop I work at is closing for a bit of maintenance all day tomorrow. However It's gonna be dull since Ma-san and Parappa have something to do and Lammy seems to wanna do something else as well. So I'm gonna be bored out of my mindddddd by myself. Ya dig?"
"I mean...that's rather unconventional-"
"You offered!"
"Yeah...yeah I know…" A loading bar appears on his helmet before an error takes over "Ok! Then I guess my offer is for the morning! The scenery stays the same here regardless cuz...you know...no sunlight!"
"How does everyone here deal with that? Isn't sunlight kinda...you know...heavily needed?"
"You say that as if everyone stays here. This big ol town is more of a tourist attraction if anything! Ironically people who live here go elsewhere for tourist traps!" a smiling emoji appears on his mask "That's not to say this place is bad to be in! The houses here are equipped with a source of light equivalent to sunlight so that the daily people get used to the actual sun as well as get what they need!" His smile turns to a frown "Of course...my place isn't outfitted as such…"
"Why not?"
"Because I live…" He grabs her by the hand and pulls her to an angle that can see what's behind his club. He points to a tall building, bigger than his club as it breached the sky! "There...the place so kindly gave me the...top floor…so I get the luxury of sun directly in my face at all times in the morning and afternoon..."
"Yeesh that...sounds like it sucks a lot…"
"You have NO idea…" He shrugs "But I learnt to live with it. Anyway alrighty! Just give me a call over when you want to actually start the apology trip."
"Will do!" She walks off to her van as PJ walks up to Leo again.
"Well that was awfully nice of you."
"She's partially my mom. It's kinda in my blood to be a good boy. Same goes for the other gals. Does make sense though since I am part dog."
"What you didn't inherit from Parappa in appearance you inherited in heart it seems." He chuckles.
"Whatever Uncle PJ, so you wanted to chat?" He puts so much emphasis on calling out his uncle.
"Yeah. Let's head inside." Both of them head into the club, but as the door closes Katy's ear twitches in the distance.
"Uncle PJ?..." She slides into the driver's seat of her van "Why would he call him that?..." she shakes her head to get the thought out "Maybe I misheard him...oh forget the what if's! I gotta get home now!" She quickly drives off.
As Katy pulls up to the outside of her home, she notices a group people outside cheering towards a window, even the neighbors "What's going on?..." She forces her way through the crowd, and the second she opens the door the other people try to get in "H-Hey!...no intruding in our place!..." she closes the door and immediately locks it "Sheesh it's not even that fancy an apartment…" she heads upstairs and upon opening the door she immediately calls out "Hey guys i'm here i'm sorry I was waiting for Le-...guys?" She hears weak guitar playing from Parappa's room. Ma-san stands by the window where the crowds cheering can be heard.
("Bout time you came back.") She huffs ("You missed quite the performance I gotta say.")
"Performance?" Ma-san replies by tilting her head towards Parappa's room to which Katy goes towards. She opens the door and pokes her head in "Hello?..." She sees both Parappa and Lammy as they can barely hold the guitars in their hands. Lammy's hands cramp up from the overuse and the blisters, but they refuse to let go of the guitar. Parappa's bandages have been entirely worn away from the constant strumming of the guitar, he barely keeps a good grip on it as his hands tremble from exhaustion, but they also refuse to drop the guitar "What the hell happened here?..."
"H-Haaa...you can't...hold it right anymore!...I win!..."
"Y-Yeah right...you can't...even strum yours...anymore!...so...I-I win!..."
"Neither of you won anything! You both look like your arms are gonna fall right off!"
("If anything, I'd say the crowd won.") As Ma-san says this, both Parappa and Lammy look at her.
"C-Crowd?..." as they say this in unison Ma-san motions them towards the window. When they walk over to it, they see the massive flood of people that gathered around. Said crowd immediately cheers once they see the guitars in their hands seeing that they're the source of the music.
"Wow...to think we attracted this crowd with that lesson turn standoff…"
"E-Eheh…" Lammy turns to Parappa "Wanna...call it even?..."
Parappa nods as he holds his arm out "For now, but once I learn to play. We'll be at it again!"
Lammy grins as she grabs his hand "You're on!" Both immediately let go as they hold their own hands in pain, forgetting how weakened they were.
("Pride above pain, that's both honorable and stupid.")
"Oh boy...Mind filling me in on what happened as I help patch up their hands Ma-san?"
Ma-san shrugs with a sly grin ("Sure, anything to recall what happened. Moxie was certainly high I can tell you that right off the bat.")
"I can tell after witnessing this…" She pushes the two along "Come on you two…"
After a bit of cooling down and explaining, Katy merely groans at the situation that took place prior.
"Y-Yeah we may have g-gotten out of hand...just a bit…"
"A bit? Lammy you drew in a crowd!"
"Well there's nothing wrong with that. Doesn't she generally do that? Don't ALL of you generally do that?"
"That's when we play together as a band purposefully! Not trying to attract a mob of fans or paparazzi to our home!" Parappa flinches as Katy shouts at him.
"Yeep...yeah….that would explain why you guys picked such a quiet, out of the way neighborhood…"
"Well...it's not like we didn't expect this to eventually happen...but it would've been nice to go a little longer without the overbearing clamoring. Gotta keep a quiet normal life from time to time you know? Can't ALWAYS have the hussle and bussle."
"Yeah I understand you. And I...erm...apologize...it's mainly my fault since I got the guitar and everything… Lammy wouldn't have offered if that weren't the case."
"Yeah...Lammy told me earlier today you wanted a guitar...why though? You never really had interest in one ever since the Guiro incident."
"Guiro incident?" Lammy tilts her head in confusion as she stares at Parappa.
"A-Ahaha...yeah a funny thing that happened...thanks to PJ…" he frowns but immediately regains his composure "But that's not the point! The guitar was...for uh...something I wanted in particular!"
"What an out of the blue urge…"
"Hahaha…y-you know me!...Always out there!..." He struggles to maintain eye contact.
"Right...well. I gotta say, I must've missed one hell of a guitar off!" She smiles before grinning mischievously "For something that was supposed to be a simple teaching process. It sure became quite a duo dessert!"
"I-It wasn't anything l-like that...j-just me g-getting a competitive streak is a-all." She buries her face in her hands.
"Whatever it was Lammy, I still did learn quite a bit as I was doing my best to catch up."
("And judging by the crowd, I'd say you caught up quite quickly.")
"Psshh. Nah. I don't think I could've caught up THAT easily to her. She's still leagues above me." he rests his hands on his hips with a smile, as he praises his new teacher.
Katy chimes in "You're such a dork, you know that?"
"I've been told."
"I'm sure you have. Now come on Ma-san! Let me help you cook due to taking so long to get back!"
("Ain't saying no to help!") They both head off as Parappa walks up to Lammy.
"Hey, thanks for all this. It honestly caught me off guard that you offered to help on the fly. You even tried to make it like that of a surprise party!"
"H-Hehe...yeah...I guess it, I dunno, made me happy to hear you wanted a guitar?..." She bashfully rubs her shoulder "Something in me just...wanted to help with that…"
"Well I'm glad!" The dream person didn't tell me that I couldn't LEARN how to play the guitar. For all I know it's probably a requirement! "I'd be glad if you can continue to teach me after we eat! Hopefully it won't end up another competition." he shrugs "I wouldn't mind if it did though, just gotta be gentle on our hands!"
She perks up instantly "I-I'd be glad to!..." She smiles in a way that makes his heart skip a beat "It'd be nice to have another instrument player here!...but uh...think you can help me with my singing? I wanna...be able to sing like you and Katy...but everytime I try with Katy I just get super panicky because I think about MilkCan and worry over me singing horribly on stage…"
"I'd be glad to, as I'm sure you'd be great! Although you don't really need help since you're already such a fantastic singer!" He pats her on the back "Of course I'll still help if you really want me to!" They both simply smile and nod at each other.
After the four of them eat, Katy decides to ask Lammy what it was she had planned for tomorrow before she went off to teach Parappa some more "So Lammy, what was it that you were gonna do tomorrow?"
"O-Oh!...right!...that…" She takes a deep breath before turning to Parappa. She tries to force out words as her mouth struggles to open. Eventually she shouts out "P-PARAPPA W-WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE F-FOR ME TO ACCOMPANY YOU O-ON YOUR LITTLE F-FAMILY OUTING!..." She closes her eyes and tilts her head down as she tries to avoid looking at him, knowing his reply would be a no. She however is surprised once he speaks up.
"Sure! I don't think my dad or Pinto would mind!"
She raises her head back up as she stares at him "Are you s-sure?..."
"Of course I am! The more the merrier is something my dad would say when it comes to inventions!"
Lammy simply smiles widely with glee "O-Ok!"
Ma-san and Katy only stare at the duo with their mouths open.
"Huh...guess she does have a spine. Where the heck has it been then all this time?!"
"W-Wow...she made a move like that so easily… Why didn't I think of doing that?!..."
Parappa notices the two of them and speaks up again "What's up? You two wanna come as well?" They quickly snaps themselves out of it.
("Sorry, no can do. Gotta work and all. Papa-Ma's still kinda miffed, what with me being gone for a week with no form of communication.")
"I'd love to!" But then I'd just be a third wheel...and clearly Lammy's trying so hard to start something...ARGH...be the bigger person...you have been helping her more than yourself after all "But I can't either." Katy struggles to think up an excuse until she recalls what she and Leo agreed on "Leo's gonna be showing me all around Neon Heights all day tomorrow!"
"He is?" The trio say as they look at her.
"Yep. Said he wanted to make up for causing me to wait so long for him to get back when I was trying to thank him. And this was the best he can try to do! Of course he is still adding on once we actually are going about."
("Wow. A famous celeb offering to take you around one hell of a town. Must be a dream for him given how much of a fanboy he is.")
"Well yeah. But he was rather calm and not fanboying as he offered. Showing that he was serious that it was mostly for an apology. Which is respectable! He's been raised well is all I can say on it!" Katy then sneezes as a sense of irony seems to faze by her, much to her confusion.
("Of course there's also the possibility that he's making it a date.") Parappa's ear twitches as Ma-san brings that up ("I mean, think about it. A town bathing in neon lights. The town itself is always cascaded by night, allowing for the lights to just shine on, in what most would consider a romantic environment.")
A wave a jealousy slowly enters Parappa's psyche "I doubt it's that Ma-san, Leo doesn't seem like the type to WANT to date yet!"
("While his lifestyle choices are sporadic to a point that what you say may be true, you also have to take into account how much of a fan he was. Now recall this. When you hit it big and some of your female fans managed to spend some time with you, what was their first innate instinct?")
"...To hit on me… So much so that I needed to have Sunny next to me at all times just to get them to buzz off…"
("Bingo. Who's to say this isn't his attempt?") She shakes her head ("It's probably a sly tactic that he had in sto-") Ma-san is clocked on the head by Katy ("OW!")
"While you do make a valid point Ma-san. Leo doesn't seem like the type to do that. Honestly he seems to give off a weird...familial air? I dunno. I can't put my finger on it…" She sneezes again "Blegh...point is. That doesn't seem like his goal. He really is just being a bro about it and trying to make up for his mistakes, whether they were warranting a big flashy apology or not. Kinda like...a dog trying to be a good boy! Or a son trying to apologize to his mother after messing up big time!" Katy is now in a sneezing fit, once she stops she growls in anger "WHAT'S WITH MY NOSE?!" She immediately places a close pin over it "It's not like there's pollen or anything that I'm allergic to nearby!..."
Lammy hands her a box of tissues "Maybe someone's talking about you?...T-They say you s-sneeze a lot when you're being talked a-about behind your b-back…" She then scratches her ear "Or irony...when you talk about something that's more under your nose than you think...of course I don't think it's the second thing. So...I hope whoever's talking about you is at least talking about nice things…"
"Same here...although I rather they stop talking about me in general…" Katy then growls lightly "It's probably my mom and dad...blegh…" She stands up "I'm heading to my room for the night. You two try not to keep the lessons going on for to long alright? Not just because Parappa needs to maintain his sleep order for his body's sake, but because you two will be going to an expo early in the morning after all."
"Right!" The duo say in unison.
"Good. Night you three." she walks off.
"N-Night Katy!"
"G'night Ka-" Ma-san abruptly speaks up to taunt Katy again, cutting Parappa off.
("Have fun on your date tomorrow!") She begins laughing heavily ("Try not to do anything to craz-") Parappa instinctively flicks her on the back of the head ("OW WHAT'S WITH THE TWO OF YOU?!")
"Katy herself said it's not a date."
("I'd expect to hear that from Katy herself, but what got your panties in a knot mutt?")
"Nothing! I'm just saying that it's not a date is all!" He crosses his arms.
Ma-san's sly smile returns ("What are you? Jealous or something?~")
"Don't be ridiculous!...I just...know how annoying the topic can be when it comes to fans that pester you over it!"
Ma-san laughs. He's totally jealous. ("Right. Alright. You have a point and I apologize! Just go enjoy your lessons already!")
"I will!" He gets up with gusto "Let's go then Lammy!"
"U-Uh...right!..." She glances between the two of them. What...the heck just happened?...
As Ma-san watches the duo head off out of sight, she rolls her eyes. Would you look at that Katy? The mutt got jealous over you! If that ain't a sign that he's got some interest in you, then I dunno what is with him! Oh wait till I tell you about this! She hops off her chair and heads over to Katy's room.
Meanwhile with Parappa and Lammy.
"Parappa...a-are you ok? You seem a-a bit...upset…"
"Huh?...Oh! Yeah I'm fine. I dunno just Ma-san's teasing got to me is all. I'll get over it!"
"You s-sure?"
"Yeah! No worries! Now before you start my next lesson, let me call my dad to tell him that you'll be comin with!"
"G-Good idea!..."
As Parappa scrolls around to get to his dad's number, he can't help but get lost in his thoughts. It's not a date...Leo's just being a bro...like Katy said… Why do I care so much over this?... He is snapped out of it by his dad's voice, who he managed to call subconsciously "O-Oh! Hi dad! Look I kinda gotta tell you something!"
Tomorrow's gonna have a lot going on...What's gonna happen at the expo?...What's gonna happen with Katy?...What's...gonna happen here?... Guess I just gotta wait and see…
A/N
Hoo boy this was a doozy to write out due to complications, but I managed! It's come to my knowledge that I'm terrible at hiding the obvious future. By this point it's obvious that he'll end up with Lammy as I suck at splitting suspense! But despite the future being known, doesn't stop me from trying to maintain the suspense. After all it's not like you know WHEN he'll hook up with Lammy, only me! And for you to find out, ya gotta wait! Until next time!