These Hey Arnold! characters aren't mine, but if they were, this is the sort of stuff I'd do with them.
Rated PG-13 cause I felt like it, and some characters might just end up nude later. We'll see...
Enjoy.
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Hesitantly, Phoebe leaned forward and gingerly pressed her lips against the underside of Helga's forearm. They were in seventh grade and Gerald had finally asked her out on a real, honest to goodness date, and Phoebe felt she needed a crash course in kissing. Helga, deliverer of several kisses on Arnold, was her proctor and becoming more and more frustrated with their slow progress.
"No no no Phebes! You don't just put your lips against his. There's a bit of movement in there... think of it as trying to grab his lips with yours... only slow and softly." intoned Helga.
"O-oh, I see... like this?" and again the arm smooch, which was a slight improvement, but only slightly.
Phoebe wanted this all to be perfect, as her first date with dreamy Gerald had to go off perfectly. A year from now, she'd use several other euphemisms for Gerald; Lying Little Bastard, Stupid Asshole, Gerald the Rapist... but for now he was Gerald the Center of Her Universe.
This just wasn't working out. While an academic titan, Phoebe was a social cripple, and was awkward in almost all social settings outside of school.
With a sigh, Helga said, "Okay, I can see the only way to do this is to just do it. Close your eyes..." Leaning forward, Helga gently placed her hands to her little friend's cheeks and placed a kiss to her lips. It was a gentle sincere kiss, full of the love she felt for the friend who'd stuck by her through thick and thin. This was important to Phoebe, so Helga would do whatever it took to make this her best date ever. She continued to kiss the little woman. One, twice, three times, then drew back and waited for Phoebe to open her eyes.
Sitting upright, Phoebe blinked twice then bent forward to return a kiss on Helga's lips, drew back slightly, then repeated the kiss.
"Well?" asked Phoebe, almost hopefully.
"PERFECT!" grinned Helga, "If you were a guy, I'd be totally digging you!"
Squealing, Phoebe hugged Helga and said,"OOOOOH, thank you Helga! I hope he likes it..."
"Helga!"
Helga Pataki, clad in her bra and jeans started from her daydream. She was sitting on the bed in Lila's room as she tried on a few of her friend's tops in preparation for this evening's outing.
Puzzling... what had made her remember that moment with Phoebe?
"Helga, which one?" asked Lila holding three blouses aloft.
"Uh, I'm sorry... for you or me?" she mumbled.
"You. I think I'm going with the black one. Are... are you alright?" Lila raised an eyebrow. Taking the blouse from her friend, Helga's brow furrowed.
"Lila... you remember... um, all that talk about... about having sex with Arnold...?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just teasing." smiled Lila as she returned the other two shirts to her closet.
"He... he asked me..." said Helga, almost in a whisper.
Lila's world popped right off the hinges. Arnold had... ASKED HER! She stared at Helga in stunned disbelief. Despite all of her joking, she too actually thought Arnold would never have tried such a thing.
"I... I see... so, what did you say to him?"
Helga couldn't face her, "I said I'd think it over... but I didn't say 'yes'... not yet, at least."
Lila sat down next to her, a friend of only a week or so, but they'd grown as close as lifelong companions in those six days. What their relationship lacked in longevity, it made up for in intensity. Each girl had seen a void in the other and rushed to fill it with love and secrets, feeling that she had found an emotional lost twin. But even as comfortable as they were with each other, they still moved cautiously so as not to inadvertently step on each other's toes. That could only come with time together, no shortcuts.
This was just one of those moments. Lila had a million things she WANTED to say, but was stopped short by what was the BEST thing to say. This was so TOTALLY unexpected, for both of them. Helga truly believed that Arnold would never cross this line so early in their relationship, and Lila was willing to trust her friend's instincts on this matter.
"Helga... you can't do this. It's just too early. Not now, I mean, maybe after you two had been together for a while... a long while... but... but now is just too soon." and she placed a hand softly on Helga's shoulder.
"I know... it's just... it's just I really thought I knew him. I never thought he'd do this. It... it's just not like him. Lila... I can't stand to lose him, not now... I..."
"Whoah girl! Don't GO there! If you really believe that the only way to keep him is to give in, then he's not the guy you think he is! I... I REALLY think your first impressions were right... I think he'll be okay if you say 'no'... It's for the best. Hell, it'll give him a reason to hurry back if you don't." she said with a little smile.
Returning her smile, Helga leaned over to hug Lila, "Yeah... Thanks..."
All had agreed to meet at the Sunset Arms boarding house at about 6:00 PM... Lila was on the front stoop at 5:30.
Finishing her musical little knock, she bit her lip and waited. Waited for the encounter that could turn confrontation in an instant. Waited for fears to be validated or dismissed. Waited for her greatest fear to be realized; time alone with Arnold.
Arnold's mother Stella opened the door and smiling, ushered her in and up to his room. Alone, he'd be in as soon as he finished helping his father with a bit of packing.
She paced his room nervously. It had changed a LOT in the years since her last visit here, which was about two years ago, and not pleasant. Arnold came close to actually grabbing her that day, and the moment ended with a slap to the face and his profuse apologise for letting himself get out of hand. Lila had never told Helga of that incident, nor was likely to do so... especially not now.
How could they both have been so wrong about him? Neither believed that he'd be anything other than a true gentleman towards Helga in these last few days before his journey to Texas. His desire to rush things with her was somewhat out of character for him... or was it? Neither Lila nor Helga actually hung out with Arnold for a few years and it occurred to her that maybe he'd changed a little while they weren't looking. She really hoped not...
Arnold entered the room, panting and drying his hands with some paper towels. "Oh hi! Sorry, just a bit of last minute packing to get out of the way. Where's everyone else?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, I'm just fashionably early, I guess. Excited about the move?" she smiled.
"Yeah, I guess so. All the same, I'm glad it worked out this way; I've really wanted to talk to you in private before I left..." her back was to him, as she pretended to look over his bookshelf. "Please..." she thought, "Please don't say it..."
"O-oh really? Whatever for?" she said aloud.
"It's about me and Helga... "
"You and Helga? What would you need to say to me concerning your relationship?" She was afraid she was close to tears, but maintained her composure. He was going to do it; he was about to break Helga's heart.
"I... I think that given time, you and I would make a really good couple, y'know, after a while... " she could hear that he had moved close behind her, "don't touch me" she thought, "...but since I discovered Helga's true feelings for me, well... I'm sorry, but I think you need to find someone else. I didn't want to hurt you, Lila. But I have to follow my feelings." Arnold said with a little drama, "Lila? Are... are you okay? You're awfully quiet."
Unseen by Arnold, Lila was sporting a maniac's grin as every cell in her body exhaled at once. He was so deliciously clueless sometimes, always had been, and this moment was almost too funny for words.
Who but Arnold would think that there was even a snowball's chance in the Congo that she'd ever get serious with him? Ah, you live in your own little world, don't you?
Composing herself, she turned to face him with a warm, soft smile, "Arnold, Helga is my absolute best friend in the world, and I'd put her happiness before my own any day of the week. You can rely on that..." suddenly, she was aware that a slight opportunity had just been handed to her on a plate,"...and I think I know you well enough to know that you're the best possible choice for her happiness." Somewhat taken aback, he smiled sheepishly at the sudden praise.
"You just have to remember how shy she is about expressing her feelings to you. You need to always remember to ask her directly how she's feeling, and never take it for granted that she's comfortable with a given situation, even if she says she is..."
Arnold's brow furrowed as he mulled over the myriad of possible meanings in what she'd just said. Was Lila speaking generally or about something specific?
Before much else could happen, there was a soft knock at the door and Stella ushered Curly into the room. After a bit of pleasant small talk, Lila excused herself to the lady's room. Inside, she slipped open her purse and removed the small tape recorder and hit the STOP button, watching as the RECORD lite faded and dimmed. She sighed happily as she realized just how good it felt to be proven wrong about someone...
The evening began a little shaky as Arnold and Curly were convinced that the other had booked the cab, and a last minute scramble ensued to get transportation, just as Helga arrived.
But once on the road, the party seemed to fall into a groove and the two couples were soon relaxed and in good spirits. As they exited the cab, Lila and Helga exchanged little smiles as Curly and Arnold haggled over who would get to pay for the ride, and how generous the tip. These two...
To Be Continued
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King Cheetah Extra
Shipping and Handling ---- Phoebe Heyerdahl
Oft when putting pen to parchment in the noble endevour of fanfic, one can tire after tale upon tale of the perfect Arnold and Helga romance and be tempted to tales of a few of the lesser stars of the show, and who better that Helga's best friend and accomplice to numerous count of breaking and entering, Phoebe Heyerdahl. Only daughter to Kiyo and Rheba Heyerdahl, she is a bright, studious, but socially awkward nine year old who until the introduction of Lila Sawyer, was the smartest forth grader of PS 118. For stories set contemporainiously with the show, Phoebe will no doubt be found aiding Helga in her latest scheme or prank. But if one were to spin the clock forward and set your stories in middle or high school, how might Phoebe turn out?
1) "Wonder Bras only work SO well..."
Phoebe, meet puberty. Being a slim, petite young thing, it's easy to imagine her staying that way into her teens... or her thirties. This has lots of story potential both tragic and comic, from ugly duckling stories to Rhonda's nitwit attrempts to "fix" her. The show as is shows Phoebe as somewhat insecure and that would go along way to explain her friendship with Helga. Meek, mousey Phoebe, secure in the personal safty zone of Helga, whom no other forth grader will cross. To add insult to injury, Helga would probably be drop dead gorgeous in high school. Poor Phoebe...
2) "I was a genius... in fifth grade."
I myself was a straight "A" student until sixth grade, when I hit the wall and began my academic carreer as a straight "C" student until graduation. And I wasn't the only one. So what if brilliant Phoebe finds that sometime around sixth or seventh grade that she's no longer having such an easy time of it, and adding to her compusive need to excell, a tougher course load in high school could tip her over the edge. Goth Phoebe, anyone? Suddenly her world is SO unfair and no one understands what she's going through. Or you could have her trying to compensate through social connections (Rhonda's righthand girl) or other outlets likje sports(girljock). Lots of pathos potential.
3) "You're my best friend... just not in public."
Relationship going into high school are a tricky thing even in the best of times, but for Phoebe I can see it being especially choppy. First off, I see NO future for Phoebe and Gerald, and evidently the shows writers agree. The fifth season of Hey Arnold show few instances of Phoebe and Gerald together (in contrast to the previous seasons), and Gerald is noticably absent from a few episodes. Phoebe's Little Problem was rather startling in this regard in that not only was Gerald not making any effort to help Phoebe deal with her social stigma, Arnold WAS (Hmmmm, romance in the air?). And Helga will probably go from protecter to buddy, or maybe not even that. So then, what new friendships and/or romances might she have in her future?
Outside of introducing new characters, it's fairly easy to see her hooking up with any of the current female cast; She'd share Nadine's inquisitive, natural scientific curiosity, Sheena's social sensibilities, Rhonda's popularity, or oddly enough Lila's good natured company (who is alledgedly as good a student as Phoebe, so she might just have someone on her level). As for the guys, Park, Robert, and Joey are almost blank slates onto which you could create any sort of boyfriend for her that you like. Sid might clean up pretty good, and Phoebe might just be the thing in his life to calm him down a bit. Curly might just be less of a loon in high school, but would definately prove that opposites attract. And then there's Arnold...
So there you have it; a lot of good possibilities if you'd like to try something outside of the usual Arnold/Helga stories. Anyone have any other thoughts on this?