"So tell me again. WHAT happened while I was out at Meian's?"
Bobuste49629 (a.k.a.: Knuckles) and Derilith were having an intelligent conversation. "I already told you. You were out, and Rouge kissed you. And then you weren't out anymore. Got it?" "Eh, you're lying to me, pal." "I am not." Derilith bit into a pear. "It took her awhile to get warmed up to the idea, but she did kiss you in the end."
"Pssh." Knuckles scoffed with a scowl. "Rouge wouldn't kiss me if I was going to give her the Master Emerald for it." "Whatever you say Knuckles. All I have to say is that you have a definite way with the ladies. I mean, you walk onto the chat boards and there's girls hanging all over you." Der scorned, trying to hide his jealousy.
"Yeah, because I'm the only guy zafara who's dumb enough to go onto the chat boards." He countered. "Well, it's not like you can walk through Neopian central without people staring at you." "As if people don't stare at you, you're a fire kyrii." "Painting isn't everything." Silence followed. "This." Knuckles said innocently, "Wouldn't have anything to do with Ty, would it?" "No." Der snapped. ". Yeah."
"M'hm. I thought so. So what's you're trouble." "Er, I dunno. it's just." he started, holding his arm nervously. "I don't really know. I just know there's something wrong."
"Do you think it's Ty?" "No."
"Do you think it's you?" "I think so." "And what would be wrong." "I dunno. Maybe it's because I'm fire, and she's from Terror Mountain. or because she's a wocky and I'm a kyrii. Or because I'm not good enough for her or something." "Oh jeez, here we go. Okay. Rule number one: NEVER think you aren't good enough. NEVER. Unless we're talking about someone like o_Angelique_o or something. THEN it's fair." "Okay. Should I be writing this down?" Knuckles threw him a notebook and a pen. "Knock yourself out. But never think you aren't good enough. Y'see, Der, girls are like. mountains."
"Mountains?" he said skeptically. "Okay, not mountains. But they're kind of like tigers. You have to get to know em; you have to learn to tame the beast. Take Rouge, for example-" "KNUCKLES!!" a voice called, obviously Rouge. "ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ME AGAIN?!?!??!"
"NO, KEEP YOUR WINGS ON, BATGIRL!" Knuckles yelled back, then going back to Der. "See that? She's telling me to respect her. And I said I will. It's all in the language." "So I should tell Ty to keep her wings on." Knuckles put his hand behind his neck. "Uh. no, not exactly, no. That's ROUGE talk. We're talking TY talk here. Right? Unless this is all about some other girl." "No, it's about Ty." "Okay. So what do you want to know about Ty then?" "Well.. I dunno, I just get the feeling I'm doing something wrong."
"Oh, well that's obvious enough. Ty really likes you, you know. She just wants you to like her back. But every time you do, get all tense and. tense." "Okay."' At that moment, a pink and white boot began to skid across the floor and it whacked Knuckles in the foot. He picked it up and chucked it into the sink. "So don't get tense."
"How'm I not supposed to get tense?!" Der watched the boot, then put down the notebook and rested his chin on his hand. "I mean, you get tense around Rouge."
"Yeah, I do." Knuckles replied thoughtfully. "But does she notice? No. Because I cover it up. You just have to learn to cover for your tense- ness. You just. remain tense." "And how'm I supposed to do that."
"For one thing, believe in yourself a lot more. It always helps. Then, when you get tense, just calm down and remember that you believe in yourself."
"Oooooooh. You do that?" Der scribbled this down in his notebook.
"Yeah. Anything else?" "How can I get into a conversation with her?" "Eh. I'm not good with that. Just randomly start talking about something that you know has something to do with her; only don't talk directly to her. Then she'll start talking, and. just take it from there. I was never good with conversation myself." "KNUCKLES." Rouge yelled. "WHAT, ROUGE?!" he yelled back.
"WHERE'D YOU PUT MY ROLLERSKATES?!"
"AS IF I'D REALLY TAKE YOUR STUPID PINK WORK SHOES." "YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE, CREEP, I KNOW IT." "I DO NOT. JUST GO BUY SOME OTHER ONES OR SOMETHING. I'M BUSY." Knuckles turned back to Der, who watched him cluelessly. "She wants her shoes for work." "Oh."
MEANWHILE.
"So you kissed him." "Do we really have to talk about this right now?" Rouge called from the inside of a box. She was having a hard time getting ready for work: she couldn't find her roller-skates. "Well, I'm just curious. I was out at the time, but I take it Knuckles has no idea." "No, he doesn't. And I don't want you going to tell him, got that?"
"Of course. I don't tell your secrets, you know that." Rouge straightened up quickly. Someone was mumbling in the kitchen, and she could swore she heard her name. "KNUCKLES!!" she yelled into the kitchen. Only one person would dare talk in a hushed tone like that about her in her house - and possibly live. But not this time. "ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ME AGAIN!?" "NO! KEEP YOUR WINGS ON, BATGIRL!!!" came a scoffing voice from the kitchen. Then he returned to mumbling; and sure enough, Rouge heard her name again. Rolling her eyes, she turned back to Ty with a smile. "So. What's up?" "Well." Ty said meekly, poking her paws together. "I'm having boy problems." "Oh Ty, come on." Rouge moaned, slapping her forehead. "You know I'm not a boy problem kind of person. Money problems, sure. Lack of reality, of course. Boy problems? No. Not my thing." "But you're doing better off than I am!" Ty whined. " I mean. you and Knuckles have problems, but you can get through it!"
" 'Me and Knuckles' shouldn't be put together in the same sentence." Rouge said simply, turning back to the closet to look for her skates. This was the best idea, because she had suddenly turned pink at the wrong time. "We have problems, sure. We can't stand each other, Ty."
"Then why did you kiss him and he woke up?" Ty countered. "Only someone who really cared about him could have woken him up."
"Yeah." Rouge said sarcastically. "A regular faerietale: Gone WRONG. Okay, what's up. Something about Der, right?" Ty nodded. "Well? Planning on telling me what's the matter?"
"I can't really explain it. It's as if. something's wrong. I can't place it, but something's wrong."
"Is it Der?"
"No."
"Is it you?"
"I think so."
"PLEASE don't tell me you're going to run to me, crying and say 'I'm not good enough for him!'" Rouge said, straightening up once more, pulling a pair of pink and white boots out of the closet and chucking them to the floor, listening to them skid into the kitchen. Knuckles didn't stop his hushed conversation. She turned around only to see Ty standing there, bottom lip quivering, and looking up at her with the saddest eyes she had seen in the past month.
"I'm not." Ty whimpered. Rouge heard a splash. Knuckles had just thrown her boot into the sink. As expensive as that boot was, and as much as she wanted to choke Knuckles to death, at that moment she chose against it. "Oh, come on, Ty." Rouge said, sitting on the stairs. Ty sat next to her. "It's not that bad. Think of it this way: You're worthy. You're worthy of anything in the world, if you put your mind to it, it's yours. Hell, Der should be begging YOU to be with him." Ty blinked up at her, meek again. "I dunno about that, Rouge."
"Oh come on, Ty. I hate to break it to you, but Der is really nothing more than a wimpy little brother of a once advisor to a great king who was murdered. You, on the other hand, are known as a life saver on Terror Mountain, you are well traveled, and you're good with kids. Der? Der is squat." Ty smiled. "Not squat."
"Okay, a pile of dung." Rouge looked up at her wall clock and jumped off the stage. "Good kami! I'm gonna be late for work!!" Grabbing her bag, she sped out the door, only to zoom back in a second later. "KNUCKLES." "WHAT, ROUGE?!" he yelled back.
"WHERE'D YOU PUT MY ROLLERSKATES?!"
"AS IF I'D REALLY TAKE YOUR STUPID PINK WORK SHOES." "YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE, CREEP, I KNOW IT." "I DO NOT. JUST GO BUY SOME OTHER ONES OR SOMETHING. I'M BUSY." Rouge rolled her eyes and looked at Ty, who was grinning from the stairs. "Do me a favor, sweetie. Run upstairs to Knuckles' closet, my rollerskates should be in there." Ty nodded and wandered up the stairs. Sure enough, there were the skates in Knuckles' closet. She brought them back down and watched Rouge put them on. "Think of it this way." Rouge said, standing wobbly. "People who really care about each other tend to play games." She gave Ty a wink as she turned back to the door. "If you'd like, you can use THAT as a PRIME example." She sped out the door again. At that moment, Knuckles wandered out of the kitchen, blinking. "Where'd Rouge go?"
"She was late for work." "Ah. Did she get her rollerskates?"
"Of course. You always hide them in the same place, you idiot."
"How'd YOU know that?" he gave her a suspicious look. "Because you just told me." She grinned. Der wandered out of the kitchen, holding a pear, a notebook, and a pencil. He smiled at Ty. "Here's an idea. Let's all go out for icecream at 3Ds. My treat." Ty squealed in delight. "I'm up for that!" "Race you both there!" And suddenly, Knuckles was gone too.
Ty and Der walked out the door hand in hand and wandered towards 3Ds.
Bobuste49629 (a.k.a.: Knuckles) and Derilith were having an intelligent conversation. "I already told you. You were out, and Rouge kissed you. And then you weren't out anymore. Got it?" "Eh, you're lying to me, pal." "I am not." Derilith bit into a pear. "It took her awhile to get warmed up to the idea, but she did kiss you in the end."
"Pssh." Knuckles scoffed with a scowl. "Rouge wouldn't kiss me if I was going to give her the Master Emerald for it." "Whatever you say Knuckles. All I have to say is that you have a definite way with the ladies. I mean, you walk onto the chat boards and there's girls hanging all over you." Der scorned, trying to hide his jealousy.
"Yeah, because I'm the only guy zafara who's dumb enough to go onto the chat boards." He countered. "Well, it's not like you can walk through Neopian central without people staring at you." "As if people don't stare at you, you're a fire kyrii." "Painting isn't everything." Silence followed. "This." Knuckles said innocently, "Wouldn't have anything to do with Ty, would it?" "No." Der snapped. ". Yeah."
"M'hm. I thought so. So what's you're trouble." "Er, I dunno. it's just." he started, holding his arm nervously. "I don't really know. I just know there's something wrong."
"Do you think it's Ty?" "No."
"Do you think it's you?" "I think so." "And what would be wrong." "I dunno. Maybe it's because I'm fire, and she's from Terror Mountain. or because she's a wocky and I'm a kyrii. Or because I'm not good enough for her or something." "Oh jeez, here we go. Okay. Rule number one: NEVER think you aren't good enough. NEVER. Unless we're talking about someone like o_Angelique_o or something. THEN it's fair." "Okay. Should I be writing this down?" Knuckles threw him a notebook and a pen. "Knock yourself out. But never think you aren't good enough. Y'see, Der, girls are like. mountains."
"Mountains?" he said skeptically. "Okay, not mountains. But they're kind of like tigers. You have to get to know em; you have to learn to tame the beast. Take Rouge, for example-" "KNUCKLES!!" a voice called, obviously Rouge. "ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ME AGAIN?!?!??!"
"NO, KEEP YOUR WINGS ON, BATGIRL!" Knuckles yelled back, then going back to Der. "See that? She's telling me to respect her. And I said I will. It's all in the language." "So I should tell Ty to keep her wings on." Knuckles put his hand behind his neck. "Uh. no, not exactly, no. That's ROUGE talk. We're talking TY talk here. Right? Unless this is all about some other girl." "No, it's about Ty." "Okay. So what do you want to know about Ty then?" "Well.. I dunno, I just get the feeling I'm doing something wrong."
"Oh, well that's obvious enough. Ty really likes you, you know. She just wants you to like her back. But every time you do, get all tense and. tense." "Okay."' At that moment, a pink and white boot began to skid across the floor and it whacked Knuckles in the foot. He picked it up and chucked it into the sink. "So don't get tense."
"How'm I not supposed to get tense?!" Der watched the boot, then put down the notebook and rested his chin on his hand. "I mean, you get tense around Rouge."
"Yeah, I do." Knuckles replied thoughtfully. "But does she notice? No. Because I cover it up. You just have to learn to cover for your tense- ness. You just. remain tense." "And how'm I supposed to do that."
"For one thing, believe in yourself a lot more. It always helps. Then, when you get tense, just calm down and remember that you believe in yourself."
"Oooooooh. You do that?" Der scribbled this down in his notebook.
"Yeah. Anything else?" "How can I get into a conversation with her?" "Eh. I'm not good with that. Just randomly start talking about something that you know has something to do with her; only don't talk directly to her. Then she'll start talking, and. just take it from there. I was never good with conversation myself." "KNUCKLES." Rouge yelled. "WHAT, ROUGE?!" he yelled back.
"WHERE'D YOU PUT MY ROLLERSKATES?!"
"AS IF I'D REALLY TAKE YOUR STUPID PINK WORK SHOES." "YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE, CREEP, I KNOW IT." "I DO NOT. JUST GO BUY SOME OTHER ONES OR SOMETHING. I'M BUSY." Knuckles turned back to Der, who watched him cluelessly. "She wants her shoes for work." "Oh."
MEANWHILE.
"So you kissed him." "Do we really have to talk about this right now?" Rouge called from the inside of a box. She was having a hard time getting ready for work: she couldn't find her roller-skates. "Well, I'm just curious. I was out at the time, but I take it Knuckles has no idea." "No, he doesn't. And I don't want you going to tell him, got that?"
"Of course. I don't tell your secrets, you know that." Rouge straightened up quickly. Someone was mumbling in the kitchen, and she could swore she heard her name. "KNUCKLES!!" she yelled into the kitchen. Only one person would dare talk in a hushed tone like that about her in her house - and possibly live. But not this time. "ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ME AGAIN!?" "NO! KEEP YOUR WINGS ON, BATGIRL!!!" came a scoffing voice from the kitchen. Then he returned to mumbling; and sure enough, Rouge heard her name again. Rolling her eyes, she turned back to Ty with a smile. "So. What's up?" "Well." Ty said meekly, poking her paws together. "I'm having boy problems." "Oh Ty, come on." Rouge moaned, slapping her forehead. "You know I'm not a boy problem kind of person. Money problems, sure. Lack of reality, of course. Boy problems? No. Not my thing." "But you're doing better off than I am!" Ty whined. " I mean. you and Knuckles have problems, but you can get through it!"
" 'Me and Knuckles' shouldn't be put together in the same sentence." Rouge said simply, turning back to the closet to look for her skates. This was the best idea, because she had suddenly turned pink at the wrong time. "We have problems, sure. We can't stand each other, Ty."
"Then why did you kiss him and he woke up?" Ty countered. "Only someone who really cared about him could have woken him up."
"Yeah." Rouge said sarcastically. "A regular faerietale: Gone WRONG. Okay, what's up. Something about Der, right?" Ty nodded. "Well? Planning on telling me what's the matter?"
"I can't really explain it. It's as if. something's wrong. I can't place it, but something's wrong."
"Is it Der?"
"No."
"Is it you?"
"I think so."
"PLEASE don't tell me you're going to run to me, crying and say 'I'm not good enough for him!'" Rouge said, straightening up once more, pulling a pair of pink and white boots out of the closet and chucking them to the floor, listening to them skid into the kitchen. Knuckles didn't stop his hushed conversation. She turned around only to see Ty standing there, bottom lip quivering, and looking up at her with the saddest eyes she had seen in the past month.
"I'm not." Ty whimpered. Rouge heard a splash. Knuckles had just thrown her boot into the sink. As expensive as that boot was, and as much as she wanted to choke Knuckles to death, at that moment she chose against it. "Oh, come on, Ty." Rouge said, sitting on the stairs. Ty sat next to her. "It's not that bad. Think of it this way: You're worthy. You're worthy of anything in the world, if you put your mind to it, it's yours. Hell, Der should be begging YOU to be with him." Ty blinked up at her, meek again. "I dunno about that, Rouge."
"Oh come on, Ty. I hate to break it to you, but Der is really nothing more than a wimpy little brother of a once advisor to a great king who was murdered. You, on the other hand, are known as a life saver on Terror Mountain, you are well traveled, and you're good with kids. Der? Der is squat." Ty smiled. "Not squat."
"Okay, a pile of dung." Rouge looked up at her wall clock and jumped off the stage. "Good kami! I'm gonna be late for work!!" Grabbing her bag, she sped out the door, only to zoom back in a second later. "KNUCKLES." "WHAT, ROUGE?!" he yelled back.
"WHERE'D YOU PUT MY ROLLERSKATES?!"
"AS IF I'D REALLY TAKE YOUR STUPID PINK WORK SHOES." "YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE, CREEP, I KNOW IT." "I DO NOT. JUST GO BUY SOME OTHER ONES OR SOMETHING. I'M BUSY." Rouge rolled her eyes and looked at Ty, who was grinning from the stairs. "Do me a favor, sweetie. Run upstairs to Knuckles' closet, my rollerskates should be in there." Ty nodded and wandered up the stairs. Sure enough, there were the skates in Knuckles' closet. She brought them back down and watched Rouge put them on. "Think of it this way." Rouge said, standing wobbly. "People who really care about each other tend to play games." She gave Ty a wink as she turned back to the door. "If you'd like, you can use THAT as a PRIME example." She sped out the door again. At that moment, Knuckles wandered out of the kitchen, blinking. "Where'd Rouge go?"
"She was late for work." "Ah. Did she get her rollerskates?"
"Of course. You always hide them in the same place, you idiot."
"How'd YOU know that?" he gave her a suspicious look. "Because you just told me." She grinned. Der wandered out of the kitchen, holding a pear, a notebook, and a pencil. He smiled at Ty. "Here's an idea. Let's all go out for icecream at 3Ds. My treat." Ty squealed in delight. "I'm up for that!" "Race you both there!" And suddenly, Knuckles was gone too.
Ty and Der walked out the door hand in hand and wandered towards 3Ds.