Part III: Strange Interlude
Yakko looked at his clock and found that Nelly would still be at the archives here on the lot. He went to the phone on his dresser and looked up the extension number for the archives. He picked up his phone and dialed the number.
"Warner Brothers Studio Archives, Penelope Eclaire speaking, how may I help you?" came her soft sweet voice over the short distance.
"Nelly, it's Yakko." he said, trying hard to sound cheery and knowing deep within himself he was failing miserably.
"Oh hi Yakko! Did you go see Lon today?" she asked, her soft voice turning from professional to cheery in seconds.
"Yeah we did and he didn't give us much info except saying why he gave Swirls to the Church, but I just know the twins will want to know why the studio insisted upon it and Lon only eluded to it." Yakko explained.
"Why don't you go back and ask him tomorrow?" Nelly asked.
"Because the nurses there would probably only allow us another 10 minutes, and Lon doesn't seem interested in talking of the past. Only about how much he loves us."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Nelly offered, her tone sympathetic.
"I'm not sure." he responded tiredly into the phone.
"Yakko, you sound as if you haven't had a break from this 'mission' that you guys are on. How long have you been at it?" Nelly inquired.
"Two weeks if you include the first meeting with Swirls." Yakko responded as he headed over to the edge of his bed and sat down.
"My gods! Yakko you need a break or else you'll kill yourself on stress alone! How about we go on a date?" she asked.
Yakko fell back onto the bed and groaned. "I don't have any money." he muttered into the receiver.
"I'll pay for everything. Dinner and a movie. I'll even rent videos for your brother and sisters and just the two of us will go out. Entirely my treat and guilt free."
Yakko blinked. "Are you sure?"
"I'm positive. You pick the movie and I'll pick the restaurant. All I need to know is what kind of movie the twins like."
"They like comedies from the silent era and the 30's. I'll meet you at the bottom of the tower at seven. Sound good?"
"Perfect. And don't dress up. Those khaki's are irresistible." and before Yakko could say another thing the phone went dead and Yakko couldn't help but grin just a bit.
Nelly didn't meet him at the bottom of the tower. In fact, she met him at the door to bring up the movies.
"I got The Exorcist for Dot and The Gold Rush for the twins. Does that sound okkay?" she asked as Yakko let her enter the water tower.
"Perfect!" he said, then added, "Wait here." as he entered the family room.
Dot and Wakko by this time were playing Capcom Vs. Marvel on their Super Nintendo as Swirls watched on, but when Yakko entered, they put the game on pause.
"I'm going out for the night and I don't know when I'll be back. Maybe later tonight, maybe tomorrow morning." he said as he tossed them the tapes. "These should keep you occupied. If all else fails, I am sure you three have brains of your owns, and if not, I know the twins share one."
"Where are you going?" all three piped up at once.
"Just out, to examine the town. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." he reassured them. They eyed Yakko wearily for a second, trying to find if he was lying, but shrugging it off, they went back to their video game and Yakko left the room smiling.
"How'd they take it?" Nelly whispered as they went outside.
"The night is ours Miss Eclaire." Yakko stated as they headed for her car.
They went to the restaurant first, a place called Claim Jumpers and even though the walls showed buffalo and deer heads, along with a stuffed moose, the entire place was completely normal. Except the menu was done up like an 1850's newspaper. Still it was readable and was the perfect place for casual or formal dining.
Yakko looked around, and was glad it wasn't too busy at the moment. He had heard that places like these were packed on weekends, but this was the middle of the week. As they sat down at their private booth in a corner, he couldn't keep his eyes off of all the surroundings.
"Can I start you off with something to drink?" the host asked as he tried not to pass judgment on the odd couple.
"I'll have water, thanks." Nelly said, nervousness wavering in her voice.
"A Diet Pepsi." Yakko said as he looked just over the host's head who jotted down the orders and left.
"So, wha-what do you think of the place? I've always loved to come here." Nelly said as she finally let go of her purse and looked at Yakko. He quickly turned his head to look at the woman who still wore her hair in a bun, gold-rimmed glasses and a blue skirt suit this time. Yakko looked down at the table and noted it was the fake and yet highly polished wood most restaurants used.
"It's nice. Quiet at least. Not too noisy." he replied in short static sentences.
Nelly nodded and couldn't help but look around the restaurant in nervous fear. She was sure someone was staring at them, and yet, all the people she looked at were eating their dinner.
"So, um, why do you like this place?" Yakko asked, still staring at the table. The Warner Master of Words had suddenly lost his knack -- he wasn't used to having no idea what to say.
She looked at him, his head lowered, studying the table intently and she realized that the poor boy was probably terrified knowing that his sibs weren't close-by to save him. She gave a small grin and said, "They have good food." and at the mention of food, a waitress came by.
"Have you decided?" she asked. She was young, probably no more than 17 and had short auburn hair, gelled back to stay out of her face. Her green eyes looked at the two in curiosity and had all the outward signs of airhead.
"No, actually, I think we need a few moments." Nelly said as she looked between waitress and Yakko who still stared at the table.
"Okkay, well, if I'm not back by the time you've decided, my name's Viola and I'm your waitress for this evening." she said giving them a cheery grin and then headed off to another table.
Nelly turned back to look at Yakko who was now fingering his spoon.
"Is there anything particular you want to eat?" she asked him.
Yakko finally looked up, but only so he could find his menu. He eyed the front of it and then asked, "Have you ever had the Sliders?"
Nelly shook her head and looked at her menu. "No, where are they?" she asked, trying to find them on there.
"On the left, second from the bottom." he said as he re-read the description one more time. After a moment Nelly oohed.
"I've never had those." she commented.
"Want to split? Then we could have dessert afterwards." he offered, giving her a smile. Nelly giggled. "Probably be a good idea. The food here is huge."
Viola once again returned, but seemed to have a bounce in her step.
"Think you know what you want?" she asked them, pad ready to be written on.
"Yes, we're splitting the Sliders." Nelly said as she collected the menus so she could hand them to the waitress.
"Ooh! Great choice. They're totally awesome. Small burgers, good fries." she said as she wrote down the order and took the menus.
"I'll be back soon." she said as she headed off.
Nelly giggled at the waitress. "She's got a cute personality." she said.
Yakko watched Viola bounce off. "I think she's missing a few screws." he said as he turned back to face Nelly.
"Really? Maybe she's just optimistic."
"Maybe. She's probably one of those Teeny bopper people." Yakko said as he looked at Nelly but fingered his spoon.
"She's your age. Maybe you two would have a lot in common." Nelly said, her voice growing soft.
Yakko eyed Nelly with a raised brow. "You don't like this age thing, do you?" he said gently. Now it was Nelly's turn to stare at the table.
"I'm just afraid what people will think. I'm nearly 23 and you're only 17." she commented in a whisper.
"And since when did other people matter? I learned something today Penelope. I learned that love is only what you make it, and if you want to turn it into a thing where the social norms find it as an unsacred thing, then you'll be running from it all your life." Yakko said softly as he leaned close to Nelly.
Nelly looked up and into his eyes. "You're so brave." she whispered.
Yakko leaned back and smiled. "I lived in the Great Depression. You had to be brave back then or else you didn't survive." he replied.
Nelly smiled. "I bet you know more things than anyone could know in a lifetime."
"Nope. All I know is this." and before Nelly could blink, she watched as Yakko picked up his spoon, licked the round part of it and stuck it on his nose. It hung there, balancing on the impossible and Nelly could only laugh.
Viola came around holding a tray with a plate on it and as she looked at Yakko, she raised a brow and asked, "You do know that a spoon is used for eating, right?"
Yakko rolled his eyes and plucked the spoon off nose. "Yes. Thank you for the tip."
"Oh, no problem. Just remember to return it at the end of your meal." Viola said as she placed the plate of burgers and fries in the middle of the table. "Enjoy!" she said and bounced off.
"Horribly perky girl. Don'tcha think?" Yakko asked as he looked to Nelly.
Nelly shrugged. "Like I said. She's cute."
"Ah ha! So, you're indifferent on the matter!" Yakko said as he took a french fry from the plate.
Nelly smiled. "Exactly! And that's all you'll hear from me on the subject."
"Oh, all right." Yakko said, trying to sound dejected and failing at it as he popped the french fry in his mouth.
On the other side of Burbank though, matters were quite different...
"We wanna watch Chaplin!" the twins cried out.
"I want Linda Blair!"
"Chaplin!"
"Blair!"
"Chaplin!"
"Blair!" and before another word could be spoken, Dot quickly placed The Exorcist into the VCR and the eerie theme music began to play. Swirls screamed and ran into the great beyond as Wakko stood there and sighed.
"I hope you're proud of yourself!" was all Wakko had to say before he stomped off.
Dot nodded once and then sat in front of the TV. It would only be a matter of time before pea soup would cover the screen.
When Wakko entered his bedroom, Swirls was on the bed, playing Solitaire. "Wanna play Go Fish?" Wakko asked his sister as he took off his hat and laid it on the desk. Swirls looked up and removed hers as well. "Sure." she said as she gathered the cards up and began to shuffle them. Wakko plopped onto the bed to sit across from his twin. If it weren't for the clothes, anyone would think Wakko was playing against a mirror.
Swirls dealt the cards and the two arranged their cards in the same order.
"Got any--" Wakko was about to ask before Swirls quickly responded with, "Go fish." Wakko carefully picked up a card from the pile and looked at the card, making sure it was hidden from his sister.
"Got any 4's?" Swirls asked.
Wakko hrmed and frowned. "You don't have any 4's, why would you want mine?"
Swirls blinked and looked to her brother.
"You don't know if I have any 4's or not."
"You're cheating!"
"I'm not a cheater! You're a cheater!" Swirls retorted back. Wakko blinked and sat back, stunned. "You take that back!"
"You take it back!"
"I won't take that back. You're a cheater! Misses cheater!" Wakko taunted as he hopped off the bed. Swirls jumped down next to him. "Say that again..." Swirls asked.
"Misses Cheat--" but before Wakko could finish the sentence, Swirls had punched the ride side of his jaw. Wakko gasped and in a whirl of dust the two began a fistfight, rolling around the floor of their room, crying out that the other was a cheater.
Wakko jumped out from the fight. If his twin wanted a war, then she would get a war. He pulled a mallet from his shirt and was about ready to hit his sister over the head when an anvil dropped on him from no where.
"I am not a cheater." she said calmly as she stood and looked at her rather flattened brother. Wakko sighed as he pulled himself from underneath the anvil, and puffing he surrendered.
"Fine. You win."
"Want to play another card game?" Swirls asked, showing she was not a poor sport.
"Yes. Let's play War." Wakko said, an evil glint in his eye.
"This is a slice of cake? What does the full version look like?!" Yakko asked as he looked at a slice of the cake called 'The Motherlode'. It was a 7-layer piece of cake of double fudge devil's food cake mix and between layers was a deep rich chocolate frosting. This particular slice could have fed the Warners for a week unless Wakko got to it first. Nelly and Yakko had it all to themselves.
"We have the full version up front by the cash register. The whole cake costs about 35 dollars." Viola offered up the information.
"Swirls buys books that cost more than that!" Yakko couldn't keep from exclaiming. "Good thing you didn't want it ala mode. I'll go grab your check." Viola said as she eyed the slice of cake and walked off. Nelly sat there, trying so hard to stifle the hysterical laughter that wanted to erupt from her.
Yakko looked from the cake of death to his somewhat odd dinner companion. "Do we eat as much as we can and then box the rest?" he asked, unsure of what to do with so much food. Usually Wakko ate anything before Yakko could touch such delicacies.
Nelly shrugged, having sobered up from the laughing. "I guess so. Help yourself though, I ate most of the french fries, only polite you eat most of the cake."
Yakko just stared at the cake. He had wanted candy earlier, and now it was some higher power's payback time.
Yakko picked up the fork that lay on the side of the plate and slowly grabbed himself a bite from the cake. It seemed to just melt in his mouth and disintegrate into nothingness, leaving a rich taste in his mouth. "It's baked flavored air!" he said as he looked back at the cake.
"But is it good?" Nelly asked as she began to take a bite.
"Yes." Yakko replied and the two ate their dessert.
Dot opened the door to the twins room and found them rolling on the floor, screaming at the top of their lungs.
"Stop bitin' my arm!"
"Quit kickin' me!"
"Ow! That's my tail!"
"No, it's my tail!" and Dot had no clue which voice belonged to who.
Dot watched in stunned amazement and couldn't decide if the Exorcist or the twins fighting was worse. But after a moment of not knowing what to do, Dot screamed out, "QUIET!" and the twins stopped mid-fighting. Wakko's arm in Swirls' mouth, Wakko's mouth on Swirls' neck and both their hands on each other's tails.
"You can watch Chaplin now." Dot said calmly as if nothing had happened and then walked out of the room. The twins looked at each other, released themselves from their death grips and raced towards the family room.
Nelly looked up towards the night sky and let out a blissful sigh. "I can't believe you finished off that cake!" she said and then giggled.
"Why? Did you not get enough?" Yakko asked as he walked down the street with her. "Oh, no, I got plenty. I just can't believe you ate the other half!"
Yakko grinned. "Next time we'll buy the whole cake and you can watch Wakko eat the entire thing in one gulp."
"He actually does that?" Nelly asked, amazed.
"Of course. But now he'll have to learn how to share, what with Swirls now."
"Oh yes, I saw her eat her share at breakfast this morning." Nelly said as the two headed towards the ticket window at the AMC.
Once inside the theater, Nelly looked at her ticket and then up at the two sections of where the movies were. The Red side where theaters 1-10, or so the marquee explained, and the Blue Side was 11-20.
"Want any popcorn?" Nelly offered.
"After that cake? Please forgive me if I say no thank you." Yakko said as he led Nelly towards the blue side.
Nelly watched as Yakko picked the exact middle of the theater and found that she was rewarded with the best view of the screen.
The theater had been recently renovated and people had the choice of either having the arms up or down on their seats. Nelly sat to the right of Yakko and placed the arm on her right down, while he placed the arm on his left down and they couldn't help but cuddle as the light dimmed and the movie started.
Dot lay on the couch, staring up at the ceiling as Swirls and Wakko cuddled in the La-Z-Boy, both trying to fend off sleep.
"I'm sure he'll come home anytime now." Dot said as she yawned.
"And," Swirls yawned, "Maybe pigs will fly." she said and then watched as Wakko yawned as well.
"He did say maybe in the morning." Wakko repeated the words said earlier by their brother.
"But Yakko wouldn't just leave us home alone by ourselves." Dot said as she began to sit up.
"Why not? He's all ready done so much for us, the least we could do is let him have a night on the town." Wakko replied.
"But he has no money!" Dot said worriedly.
"So? He can't go far. Go to bed Dot. We'll wait up for him." Swirls said.
Dot sighed and began to head for her bedroom, but before she entered the hallway she asked softly, "Someone tuck me in."
Wakko and Swirls looked between each other and then stood. "We'll both do it." they said in unison.
"That was such a sweet film." Nelly said as the two walked to her car.
"Yeah. I thought we'd both enjoy it. I'm so used to having to watch films Wakko and Dot want to watch it's rare I get to see something that interests me."
"Well, where should we head off to next?" she asked him as she unlocked her car.
"You're the driver, you decide." Yakko replied to her.
"What time do you need to be home by?" Nelly asked as she started up the car.
"I told them I might not come home till morning."
"Then, well, perhaps you want to see my place? I know it's a drive, but I've seen the tower, maybe you should see my home away from the studio." she offered, her voice wavering in slight nervousness.
Yakko smiled. "It'd be nice to see."
There was good traffic and in a little more than an hour Nelly was pulling into the parking lot of El Rancho Casa in Yorba Linda of Orange County.
Nelly's apartment was on the second floor and one door down from the stairs. Yakko looked around as Nelly searched for her keys and unlocked the door. "Light blue seems to be a popular color." Yakko noted as he followed Nelly into her apartment.
Nelly flipped on a light and closed the door and smiled as she watched Yakko's eyes widen and a small gasp escape from him.
The entire room was in authentic 1920's. From the beaded lampshades, down to the plush rose colored carpet, Yakko felt as if he had been thrown back in history.
"It's only a one room apartment." Nelly explained as she walked in and placed her purse underneath a covered end table where a pink beaded lampshade gave off most of the light.
Yakko blinked and audibly gulped. "Y-You live here?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, too stunned to really make any sense of it.
"Yeah. Most of this stuff was my grandmother's and the rest is from antiquating or garage sales. Do you like it?" she asked as she headed into the kitchen.
Yakko slowly took a step forward. "Yes." he said, his voice going to normal and his eyes taking in the beauty of the room.
"Do you want any coffee? Or I can make you some hot chocolate, the one that uses hot water instead of milk." she called from the kitchen.
Yakko gently fingered one of the pink glass beads on the lampshade. "Chocolate, please." he said as he went from lampshade to the white doily that lay on the table. On top of the doily sat a porcelain cup with an indistinguishable design on it. Inside lay popourri that smelled of lilac and lavender.
Once she had set the water onto boil, Nelly re-entered the room to still find Yakko taking in everything. She watched as he lightly fingered the material on the couch, or run a finger down another lampshade. His steps were so light on the carpet, almost afraid as if he might trample it.
"What do you think?" she finally asked him.
"Is-is there more?" Yakko asked softly as he turned to her.
"Just my room, and the kitchen. But they're so unor--"
"Show me."
"Ex-excuse me?"
"Would you mind if I asked for the grand tour?"
Nelly smiled as for once someone was interested in her stuff. "I'd love to." she said as she led him to her bedroom.
She slowly opened the door to her room and only sunlight itself could make the room any brighter. It modeled no one single era, but many of them. The bed looked something like out of Gone with the Wind. It had a pink and creme satin canopy and a golden tassel rope could be pulled to close the curtains around the bed to create an inner sanctum. Light blue satin covered the headboard and four large pillows were propped onto the bed. In the middle of these pillows was a pink shaped heart pillow. A comforter with large roses covered the rest of the bed.
The carpet here was also rose colored and plush, just like everywhere else in the apartment. A woman's dresser was filled with earrings and necklaces, as well as hair ties and an authentic silver brush, comb and mirror which had Nelly's initials engraved in an elegant script on the back.
There were two other doors; one that led to a closet and the other to a bathroom which looked like it would be the only modern thing in here. Besides the bed and the dresser, porcelain dolls filled one wall of the room, along with a few teddy bears.
"I think I may have overdone it." Nelly said as Yakko looked around the room, particularly at the overly comfortable bed.
"Is the spread and pillows real goose down?" he asked softly.
"Yes." Nelly replied, curious as to his question.
"Then you have only fulfilled in keeping the past and my dreams in tact." Yakko responded rather poetically as he looked at the porcelain dolls.
"I guess you could say I take my work home with me." Nelly said as she headed over to the bed just to take off her shoes. They were flat pumps, but even those got tiring on occasion.
"You protect old films and then come home to them." Yakko said with a smile as by now he was at the dresser looking at the antique perfume bottles.
Nelly giggled and walked over to the dresser as Yakko still looked at each particular bottle. She took the hair-tie from her tightly wrapped bun and as her hair cascaded down to her waist, Yakko watched in the mirror, amazed at it's length. Picking up the hairbrush, Penelope began to brush out the waves. The perfume bottles vanished from Yakko's thoughts and he watched as she moved over to the bed, sat down, and continued to brush her hair.
He quickly took his eyes off of Nelly and looked at the hand mirror which had her initials engraved on them as well. P.A.E. "What's your middle name?" he asked as he traced the initials.
"Anne. Penelope Anne Eclaire," and then she blinked and set the brush down on her knee, "I sound like a dessert!" she cried out softly.
Yakko chuckled, not being able to help the sudden realization. ~Yeah, but you taste great.~ he thought.
"If you could change your name, would you?" he decided to ask to help divert her from the sad thought of being a dessert.
"Yes. I always thought Persephone was an under-rated name." Nelly replied as she resumed brushing her hair.
"Ah, but see, then I could shorten that to Nessie and refer to you as the Loch-Ness monster." Yakko told her as he walked over to where she was to sit at her feet.
"You wouldn't, would you?" she asked worriedly.
"Hey, I've heard rumors you hate being called Nelly. That's just a typo from Nessie." he said as he sat Indian style at her feet.
"Gods you're evil." Nelly replied with a smile as she brushed the underside of her hair. Yakko waggled his eyebrows, "You have no idea." he said in a low voice to her.
"What about you?" she asked, trying to change the subject, knowing the little boy's mind was quickly filling up with bedroom thoughts. "Do you have a middle name?"
Yakko shook his head. "Nope. Yakko Warner s'all I got."
"And if you could change your name, would you?" Nelly asked.
Yakko grinned, "I could be Groucho Jr."
Nelly laughed. "I think Arthur Marx has that one covered." she said.
Yakko shrugged and Nelly decided to go on with her next question. "And if there was one thing the world needed to know about Yakko Warner, what would you tell them?"
Yakko thought long and hard on this one before he replied with, "That even though I may take after my siblings which means wrecking havoc, causing chaos and scaring people, that I am growing up as well and someday they will no longer have me under their thumb."
"They?" Nelly asked curiously.
"The world, the studio, people who want to act like our parents. The moment I can get them to believe I'm 18, I'll be legal. I could vote then you know." Nelly nodded knowing well the responsibility and freedom that came with that age. Yakko smiled.
"And what does the world need to know about Penelope Eclaire, the world's best tasting dessert!" he said happily.
Nelly gave him a look, "Watch it bud. But as to answer your question, I'd like the world to know I am not a dessert, as bookish as I appear and that only a few people in this world may call me Nelly. My parents and my boyfriend."
"Your...boyfriend?" Yakko asked softly, quickly looking at the ground.
Nelly slid down to the ground and took his hands in hers which made him look up and they stared into each other's eyes. "You." she whispered softly. Yakko smiled and before another word could be said, the teapot whistled.
The twins had tucked Dot into bed and then left her so they too could fall asleep in their own bed. But by the time 1:37 rolled around, Dot found she was still wide-awake, and that the majority of her thoughts were worried about her brother.
Sliding out of bed and putting on her pink slippers, Dot slowly opened the door to her room and stepped into the hallway. The door to the twins room was closed and she was sure they were asleep by now.
She stood there for a moment wondering what she should do. Yakko had said he was going out, by himself. And yet, he had brought rental movies. From Blockbuster no less and Blockbuster was rather expensive.
~But he said we have no money.~ Dot thought as she made her way to her eldest brother's room. She slowly opened the door to his room and peered in. It was empty save for the moonlight illuminating the room in a pale splendor.
She entered the room, closing the door behind her. Perhaps something in here would give her an idea where he had gone off to. ~Won't return till morning. Does he think a pair of fifteen-year-old twins can take care of me?~ she thought angrily.
She carefully looked around the room. Looking at his night stand and finding nothing she went to his desk and went through the papers that always seem to litter the walnut colored writing area. She finally looked up at the mirror that hung above the desk and found a yellow post it note with pink writing on it. "Nelly's number" it read and then gave an out of county area code.
~When she spent the night with us, she said she lived in Yorba Linda. What's the area code for Orange County?~ Dot thought as she stared at the post it note. She searched her memory for all the times she remembered Yakko asking her to make a phone call for him. It dawned on her. Yorba Linda was in Orange County and the area code was 714. The number in parenthesis was 714!
~But what if he isn't at her house? What if he's just out taking a walk?~ Dot looked at the note again. ~Never hurts to try.~ and she picked up Yakko's cordless phone.
Yakko and Nelly sat across from each other at the small round table that was perfect for them. It was only meant to hold two people. They both sipped at their drinks, coffee for Nelly and Hot Chocolate sans marshmallows for Yakko. They were silent, each pondering their own, happy to just be in the other's company.
It took them a moment though when the phone began to ring as the sound didn't seem to quite connect to their tired minds.
"I think it's the phone." Yakko finally said as he looked over at the white rotary on the wall. Nelly blinked and looked at the cat clock. The same one the Warners owned as well. "Who would be calling at 2:00 in the morning?" Nelly wondered aloud as she stood and got the phone.
"Hello?" she asked as she picked it up.
"Um...is a Miss Eclaire there? This..." and then the voice stopped, as if afraid to go on. "Yes, this is Miss Eclaire. May I ask who's calling?" Nelly said trying to sound as polite and gentle as she could.
"Is my brother at your house Miss Eclaire. This is...Dot. Warner." the scared little voice replied back. Nelly mouthed the word oh as her eyes widened a tad. She looked over to Yakko who by now was quite curious.
"Yes Dot. Your brother is here. Would you like to talk to him?" Nelly said. The moment the word Dot was uttered, Yakko began to shake his head and hands wildly trying to beg Nelly not to let her do it.
"Yes please. I'd like to ask him something." Dot replied, still in a soft, cute voice that made her sound like she was six, and not ten. Nelly nodded and offered the phone to a sighing Yakko as he took it.
"Hello?" he asked, his own voice sounding tired now. The sound that replied was an angry voice and Nelly could hear it, even if she couldn't make out the words.
"Who do you think you are?! Leaving your poor defenseless sister with a pair of twins who fight over cards games and are afraid of scary movies! You just up and leave us so you could what?! You're over at her house! Are...are you...are you having..." but Dot trailed off and Yakko let out a heavy breath as anger began to swell within him.
"Are we having fun? Why yes, we are. Are we having that kind of fun? Weeeeellll if you hadn't called I might have been able to tell you tomorrow morning when Miss Eclaire would be bringing me home." Yakko responded, deciding to not get angry at his overly curious sister.
Nelly smirked and quickly stifled the giggle that wanted to come out as she overheard this. "But Yakko! I--"
"I'm fine, you should be in bed and that's final!" Yakko said, ignoring Dot's protest. He heard Dot sigh over the phone.
"You will pay for this." Dot said harshly over the phone.
"Oooh! I'm so scared. What are you going to do? Paint the door to my room pink?" Yakko asked.
He couldn't help but fight with her just like a kid brother would do for in fact, that was what he still was. Even though he couldn't see it, Dot smiled evilly,
"No dear brother, I will find worse to hurt you with." she said in a calm voice which sent a tiny shiver down Yakko's spine, but before he could reply he heard a click and knew Dot had hung up on him. He sighed.
"Why are women always hanging up on me?" he muttered as he handed Penelope the phone.
Nelly giggled as she hung up the receiver. "Because women know that if they let you talk they'd either find that you end up being right in the end, or you'll talk their ear off." she replied as she sat back down at the table.
Yakko raised a brow as he picked up the mug to his chocolate. "I thought women were always supposed to be right?" he asked as he took a sip.
Nelly smiled. "Everyone's wrong sometimes, but I heard that on rare occasions men are most often that not more correct on certain subjects." Yakko nodded as he listened but couldn't help but stifle a yawn in the process.
Nelly gave the boy an empathetic smile, "I'm sorry, I must be boring you."
"No. Just tired. I'm not used to all nighters unless they involve some...activity." he said, brows waggling on activity. Nelly rolled her eyes as she took her cup to the sink. Yakko followed and handed his mug to her.
"Do you just constantly think about sex?" she asked him. Yakko gasp and took a step back as if in shock.
"Why my dear Nelly! On the contrary, until last night I constantly thought about women." he replied.
"What happened after last night?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"I met you, we had some fun and now I just think about you, that shirt and that..." Yakko growled, obviously mentioning the black thong. Nelly could only chuckle at the last comment.
"Well, I can't say you've never made me laugh." she said as she led the way to the bedroom. Yakko followed, he hadn't been told he couldn't yet.
Heading for the closet, she picked out her own nightclothes and then began to rummage around, pulling out a large green checkered flannel shirt. "Well I'm sorry, but you're sleeping clothed tonight." she said as she threw him the shirt. Yakko looked at it and made a slight face of disgust.
"So now the situation's reversed and you have the upper hand." he said softly, but with a smile.
"Yep." she said and she entered the bathroom and closed the door, smiling.
When Nelly came out from the bathroom she was wearing a long pink nightgown with a green fairy on the front. The word 'Princess' was printed in a rolling script underneath. Yakko, having changed into the green flannel shirt shook his head at Nelly's nightgown.
"I should get Dot one of those for Christmas." he said as Nelly made her way to the bed.
Yakko stood in the center of the carpet as he watched Nelly slide under the covers. She smiled at him and patted the spot next to her.
"You can join me, as long as you promise to behave." Yakko gave his half grin and hopped in next to her as he gave her kiss a cheek.
"Good night my little Dessert." he said as he snuggled under the covers. Nelly shook her head as she too snuggled under the covers.
"Good night my little Yakkster." she said as she couldn't help but wrap her arms around him. He cuddled against her and just before she fell asleep she felt his tail wrap around her ankle and she couldn't care less.