These characters are from the sweat-beetled brow of Craig Bartlett... they're not mine, but if they were, this is the sort of thing I'd do with them..
Rated T cause I felt like it, and some characters might just end up nude later. We'll see...
Enjoy.
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Helga held her breath as she looked down at the sleeping forms of Arnold and Phoebe before her.
"What are you dreaming?" she thought, "Are your dreams like mine?" Not likely, she mused.
Seeing the two of them together was hard, REALLY hard. But it would all work out in the end. "He promised it would..." she said in a half whisper.
Reaching down, she gently stroked Phoebe's hair and softly spoke to her. "Rise and shine Phebes, you got a house full of company. Time to be the good hostess." Groggily, Phoebe sat up and smiled, genuinely delighted to see Helga.
"Ugh... w-what time is it? Is dinner ready?" she whispered as she reached up to grasp Helga's hand.
"Sheena and Stinky are here, and I need to talk to Arnold, so why don't you help Sid finish up with dinner?" Helping her little friend to her feet, Helga suddenly found herself helplessly mired in an iron-strong bearhug.
"H-Helga... I... um, thank you for... I mean, it's just that... I, uh..." stammered Phoebe softly.
Smiling, Helga kissed Phoebe's cheek and whispered in her ear, "I know Phebes. Now get out there and see to your guests."
As the door closed behind Phoebe, Helga sat on the edge of the futon and without looking back said, "You can open your eyes now, faker."
Grinning, Arnold sat up and moved to the edge of the futon to sit beside her, "Now how in the world did you know I was awake?" he asked, kissing her lightly on the shoulder. "I heard your erection when I was hugging Phoebe." she said flatly, earning a welcome belly laugh from Arnold.
As the moment settled, she smiled at Arnold and said, "So, the three of us living together... you excited about this? This'll certainly add to your reputation..."
Standing, all the mirth evaporated from Arnold's manner as he began to pace the room, "Well, this is cute and all, but I think I'm going to nix the idea of sharing a place with you two. Sid's offered to put me up at his house, and I think that would be better for me. You and Phoebe go ahead though..."
Helga was on her feet in an instant to face him, "WHAT! But you have to... I mean, don't you think it would be better for us to share a place?" she was almost in a panic.
Looking at her with a steely gaze, Arnold said, "Why is this so important to you, Helga? Why do I 'have to' share a place with you two?" She froze, knowing full well that he was onto her...
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Sid couldn't take his eyes off of Phoebe. Bright and effervescent, she laughed and sang as she flitted about the apartment; helping Sid with the last of the dinner preparations, chatting with Sheena and Stinky, setting the table as best as she could to accommodate a party of six... she was so beautiful. Slim and petite, she'd always been insecure about her looks, but to his eyes she was perfection as flesh. They'd not only grown up together, they'd grown together, from childhood friends to confidants. Phoebe had always been there throughout high school as a part of their posse.
Sid, Arnold, and Stinky were all to used to wannabes and sycophants circling them like hyenas; that was the price of celebrity. But gals like Phoebe, Nadine, and Sheena had proven to be true friends and had stuck with the guys through bad times and good, but more importantly the bad times. Only recently did Sid begin to see Phoebe for the earthbound angel that she was.
Dammit Arnold, why did it have to be you? Any other guy and Sid would have made an all out assault to win over Phoebe's affections, but now... he couldn't bring himself to challenge his best friend for her. Sighing, he tried to keep his mind on the elegant dinner at hand, made all but impossible by Phoebe's low key flirting.
His heart almost stopped as he felt Phoebe pressed against his arm. With a new found self confidence in her high school years, Phoebe sought to mask her insecurities behind a flurry a campy vamping and voguing. In anyone else this facade of sensual bravado would have seemed rather pathetic, but in some odd way it seemed to suit her. She gently hugged his side as she took in the toothsome aroma of the pan broiled steaks, the feeling of her breast against him almost dropping him to his knees.
Composing himself, he asked, "How do you like your steak, beautiful?" and meant it.
"Served up by a handsome gentleman." She said, making an exaggerated show of sniffing the pan, "Ah, just the way I like it!" she grinned, giving him a naughty little smile. Damn you Arnold...
He smiled and said, "Yeah, the football head complains if the meat isn't screaming when it hits his plate. Me and Stinky like 'em well done." and waved the fork for emphasis.
Phoebe wrinkled her nose, "Ew, me too. Burn mine to a crisp, please. I don't know HOW Arnold can eat half the garbage he does."
Sid let slip a little smile, "He gets it from his Grandpa. You should have seen the two of them at a barbecue... they were like land based piranhas."
She laughed and set about getting the last of the silverware. "Y'know Sid," she said absently "you're too good a cook to stay single for long. You need to get a girlfriend and settle down..." without looking up. Before he could catch himself, Sid said, "Yeah well, I was thinking that too, but Arnold beat me to the punch..."
He didn't look up, but behind him, Phoebe wore the oddest expression...
Helga's mouth went dry as she desperately tried to think of an exit strategy from Arnold's stern gaze. "Well?" he asked impassively, "Why is it so important to you? Spill it Helga, you're up to something, I just can't figure out what."
She grinned weakly, "N-no, it's nothing special... I just think it would b-beneficial t-to all three of us... that's all. Really."
He was stone faced as she spoke, then said, "The truth, Helga. You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you have NEVER been able to bullshit me... EVER." Which was true. Since their friendship began, Helga had never been able to deceive Arnold, even in their letters.
Gulping, she whispered, "A-Arnold, I... it's just that..." then silence as she turned her back to him. This was too painful, and she couldn't face him like this.
After an interminable silence, Arnold said softly, "Okay fine. I'll tell Sid to start cleaning up the guest bedroom for me. Good luck with the new place..."
"ARNOLD! I..." Helga cried, almost in tears.
He just looked at her as has headed for the door.
Again, she looked pleadingly at him, "Arnold... please... please shut the door and sit down." Broken, she stood slump shouldered before him. As the door closed, Arnold crossed his arms and leaned against it, waiting for her to speak.
"I'm listening." He said, wearing the look of an executioner.
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Without even trying, Stinky's long, lanky frame filled most of Phoebe's sofa, leaving just enough room for Sheena, which suited him just fine. Snuggled in tight beside him, Sheena idly ran a finger through his hair as she chatted with Phoebe. He sat back, enjoying the attention from the queen of the cowgirls as he quietly took in every word spoken. Since the seventh grade, this had become his nature; stoic, thoughtful, introspective... at least, until he hit the basketball court.
On the hard wood, he was the physical personification of motion and speed. His powerful playing style, matched with an uncanny ability to sense where the ball would be, had earned him his nickname in the sports press, Mephisto. Along with Arnold and Sid, they were the Unholy Trinity. Sid, unrivalled in assists, seemingly able to fly to reach errant shots and deliver them to Stinky. Arnold, who if the ball even touched his hands would instantly find itself in the basket, no matter where he stood on the court.
Of them, only the lord of darkness himself considered a career in professional sports, much to the delight of the NBA scouts. Lavish was their tributes and they lined up to abase themselves before him. As their relationship seemed serious, Stinky had asked Sheena how she liked the idea of moving to San Antonio, Texas. She did, very much so.
Stinky smiled to himself as he thought back to the photo shoot the three of them had done for Sports Illustrated. Underlit and surrounded by cheerleaders accented with devil horns and tails, Sid and Arnold flanked him as lighting and props added to their infernal public personas. Captioned "Hell Bent On Winning", the art director had added tiny wisps of smoke to Stinky's hand as he clutched the ball. They'd arranged to make posters of this photo, and Sticky had asked for 200 as gifts. This was fun and all, but they were careful to keep this all in check. When asked about an especially spectacular win, Stinky's quote to the press was "Ah chock it ahl up t' mah faeth in Jeez-us".
Even off the court the three of them were close as brothers, and while the same age, it fell to Stinky to be the watchful older brother and keep his ne'er do well siblings in check, an all too common occurrence. With Helga back in town and Sid's inability to NOT talk about Phoebe, he detected the first faint signs that these two were ready to grow up a little, but the current situation hinted that this was not to be. Despite what everyone SAID, to Stinky's baleful eye, Sid and Phoebe were more of an item than perhaps either was prepared to admit. He made a mental note to talk with Arnold about his future plans, with or without Phoebe.
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Helga shifted nervously from foot to foot, wringing her hands like Lady MacBeth.
"Well?" asked Arnold dispassionately.
Finally, she looked him straight in the eye and said, "Arnold, are... are you happy now that you're back with Phoebe?" the question caught him flat footed. "You're not totally, are you? You're already having doubts, aren't you? About you and her, about you and me, right?" she asked, less a question than a confirmation of a known fact.
She was pacing now, "I-I wasn't ready to talk about this yet, but I knew from the start that you and Phoebe wouldn't work out. Don't ask me how I knew this; the truth is too weird for words." He raised an eyebrow at her.
She raised a hand, "Please, lemme just say my piece. This... 'thing' between you and Phoebe wasn't what you thought it was. It was me. You two were projecting your feelings for me onto each other, y'see? But now that I give you two the thumbs up, you feel strange about this, don't you?"
He nodded slowly, but said nothing.
She acknowledged his response but seemed to derive no pleasure from his answer. "In a few weeks you'll find that Phoebe feels the same way. She's so happy right now that the three of us are together that she's not really thinking about it, but trust me it's coming."
Arnold stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders, turning her to face him.
Looking up into his serene green eyes, she just wanted to melt into his arms. "Helga, how do you know all this?" he asked softly.
"Am I right though? About you and Phebes, I mean? Is this how you feel?" she asked.
He nodded slowly and said, "Maybe.", more to humor her than anything else. She smiled a little, not happiness per se, but rather reassurance in what she already knew. "Why Helga? What's going on? I don't get ANY of this. Why encourage me and Phoebe to get back together if you knew we were doomed to fail? What was the point of all this?" He was almost to the point of anger, but took a deep breath and collected himself.
Helga was silent for a few minutes, then placed a hand over his, "For her. For Phoebe..." She turned to face him again. "Y'know how she is. As long as either of us has known her, she's had this problem with her self-image. But when she's around us, she's a dynamo. She could have moved back to Kentucky with her folks, but she wanted to stay in Hillwood with all the people she loved. Now, you gotta admit, that was a BRAVE move for her." Arnold nodded.
Helga ran her hands lightly across his chest, "She knows you two weren't right for each other either, but I wanted HER to come to that realization on her own, y'see? If I just came back and you and I got together, she'd always be dogged by what might have been, y'know?" Sighing, he gave her another little smile and brought his hand up to stroke her cheek. "You dumbass..." he grinned' "You were going to let me sleep with phoebe until she got tired of me? That's not much of a plan."
She giggled, "No! You know good and well that you weren't going to sleep with her. You're the most ethical guy I know." And she playfully slapped his chest.
"Oh really?" he grinned, "You don't know. You two might just have been the start of my harem. I gotta keep up with Sid." and they both laughed which turned into gentle kiss and knowing smiles.
Pushing back from him again, she smiled as she got lost in his eyes, "I love her like a sister, probably even more than Olga. I really want her to be happy, y'know how it is. Living with us, she'll get more confident and not be afraid to follow her dreams. You want that too, right?"
Arnold smiled and hugged her close, "You know I do, what kind of question is that?" he hugged her tighter, "But what am I suppose to do now? This is all just words right now. Don't think I'm sold on all this just yet. You wanted me and Phoebe back together, so you better be ready to deal with it."
Helga let out a deep sigh, "Well, I think she wants affection more than sex. And... I think I can... deal with this just fine. I have faith in all three of us."
Arnold looked down at her, "You mean just me and her? Oh... Well, given the way she goes on, I'd say we're BOTH going to be in that boat. Hope you're ready for some wild, swingin' times." which earned a laugh from Helga.
She sighed, "Well, whether you know it or not, you have a bit of competition in the boyfriend department..." Arnold looked baffled, but didn't pursue it.
Taking a step back from her, he took on a thoughtful air, "You're not off the hook, Helga. I still want to know how you knew all this, and don't try to BS me. This is no mere intuition or supposition on your part. Spill it, how did you know all this?"
Now it was her turn to look sober, "I... please Arnold, it's too weird to explain..."
A look of anger returned to his face, but Helga quickly cut him off, "Look, I'll make you a deal. Tomorrow, I'll... 'do something' that'll prove to you that I know what I'm talking about. If you're satisfied by my demonstration, you have to agree to just trust me about all this, okay? Agreed?"
He looked unconvinced, "What kind of demo?"
Helga took on a playful air, "You'll see. You agree to this?" After a slight pause, he arched an eyebrow and nodded, bringing a huge smile to her face. Drawing her close to him again, he bent and kissed her on the forehead.
"C'mon, I think our girlfriend is waiting for us." grinned Arnold and they headed out to join the party.
To Be Continued
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