Yes I'm still alive! I'm sorry for my absence, but it was sort of a combination of trying to curb an Internet addiction and laziness. Anyway, despite the fact I still have no reviews for this story, I am determined that this story will get finished no matter what. Enjoy and please, please tell me what you think. (Again I do not own Veggie tales, Big Idea, or Larryboy.)

Chapter 3: Mutual curiosity

After Mira left, Alvin decided to take another look around the girl's hideout. He was still puzzled as to why this Mira was helping him, but he would have to ask her about that later. He hadn't noticed it before, but the apartment was actually warmer than he expected. Quickly shedding his winter get-up, Alvin grabbed Lampy and headed towards the living room. Looking out the window, he noticed they were on the fourth floor. Alvin had seen this building before: a light, tannish building with five floors and a flat roof with a view of the park. Currently, the park was covered in layers of thick snow and the clouds were a silvery white.

"Merow!"

Alvin turned around to find Alysha staring up at him with her golden eyes. She could have been mistaken for a statue if it wasn't for the way her tail slightly moved across the carpet.

"What?" he asked looking rather annoyed, "am I not even allowed to look out the window?" The cat didn't answer, but instead walked up to Lampy and started sniffing him.

"Hey! No!" shouted Alvin as he pulled Lampy away and glared down at the feline, "he is not a scratching post!"

Alysha immediately arched her back and gave a hiss in annoyance. Smirking slightly at her display of toughness, Alvin set Lampy to the side; accepting her challenge. Leaning forward, he raised his arms, opened his mouth, and let out his own frightening hiss; one worthy of the famous veggie monster "Vampscallion."

"MEOW!" In a flurry of brown fur the cat ran into the hall; her tail bushed in fright.

"Ha! You see Lampy?" smirked Alvin, crossing his arms and turning to his friend, "I told you that dental work was worth it." He lightly tapped one of his fang-like teeth in emphasis.

Continuing his walk around the apartment, Alvin began to study the details he had missed earlier. One thing he noticed was that the rhubarb loved color. That was evident from her artwork. However, throughout the whole apartment there was one color that wasn't on display very much. White. The fridge and stove were covered by pencil drawings and paint, and the sink and shower walls had blue gel stickers on them.

"What does that Mira girl have against white?" thought Alvin as he shocked himself by absentmindedly turning the faucet and seeing water come out.

Walking into the kitchen, he ignored Alysha growling and glaring at him, and decided to find some food. The fridge had some left over take-out, a bit of milk, and a few non-living produce items, but not much else. Grabbing a pear, Alvin headed back to the living room and noticed a pile of books. Kneeling down, he looked through the titles to see if he could find anything of interest, since there wasn't a T.V. or computer in sight. Most of them were art books (no surprise there), and a sci-fi novel, but the most interesting book in the pile, was a heavy, dark purple volume with fancy lettering and a picture of a brain.

"The Effects of Color and Sound on the Brain," read Alvin as he furrowed his brow in intrigue. Taking that and the novel, Alvin sprawled out on the couch to eat and read; more curious about Mira than ever before.

By the time Mira returned home (about six o' clock), Alvin had already finished two thirds of the Effects book and was getting hungry. Hunger didn't bother him too much, thanks to his years of hard living and scavenging, but familiar things do have a habit of becoming tiresome. Noticing how he glanced at her one plastic bag, the rhubarb gave him a sad smile.

"Sorry, but I didn't make enough to get more food," she apologized as Alysha walked into the kitchen, "I was able to get a few supplies for you though." she added, brightening up a bit.

"There are 'other' ways of getting what you want," said Alvin pointedly, walking up to the rhubarb, "but of course you already know that."

At first all Mira did was pause in her hop to her closet, but then Alvin noticed that same rustling sound from beneath her cap. Her face however, was neutral aside from a slight frown.

"What do you mean?" she asked looking up at him. Even though he was not the tallest veggie in Bumblyburg, Alvin liked to pride himself on towering over most of the citizens he encountered (including Larryboy). In fact, Mira was about the same height as that clumsy hero.

"One: I don't see a library list anywhere," Alvin started as his left hand held up the sci-fi novel; bearing a logo from the local library, "and two: there's no way that a girl in your position could afford this," he finished; using his other hand to draw out a small piece of two-toned pink plastic and headphones he had found inside the couch. The rhubarb closed her eyes with a sigh.

"Fine, I admit it, the library doesn't know I have those books, and I didn't exactly buy that Vpod with my own money," she said in defeat, "but I had to get myself something for Christmas, and I've had almost five years of practice sneaking those books out and returning them."

"Five years?" asked Alvin.

"What?"

"Five years," he repeated, "is that how long you've lived here?

"Yeah, I know it's not an ideal living situation," she admitted, "but I do what I can with my job."

"What do you do?" asked Alvin, surprising himself with his curiosity.

"I kind of think of myself as a street artist," explained Mira as she hopped over to sit on one end of the couch, "I charge people to let me paint portraits of them, usually one to two dollars per person. It's harder to make enough money in the winter due to the cold, but I manage."

"Do you go to school?"

"Not anymore," Mira answered glancing to the side.

"Just how old are you exactly?" Alvin asked as a thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Seventeen, but I'll be eighteen April thirtieth," she answered simply, "what about you?"

Alvin was taken aback by her turning the question onto him, but he recovered enough to say, "I'm twenty-nine, but I'm the one who should be asking questions."

"Well I'm just as curious about you as you are of me," said Mira as she laid her head and sleeves on one of the armrests. "I mean, I've seen you on T.V. and everything, but like I said, I never have company."

"Wait a minute," said Alvin as a sudden thought occurred to him, "if you already know who I am, then why did you ask for my name when we first met?"

"Oh, that was to make sure I hadn't given you amnesia," replied the rhubarb, looking away and turning slightly pink.

More awkward silence followed, before she got up and hopped into the kitchen; returning with the plastic bag. "Your supplies," she answered quietly, as she placed the bag on the couch and headed towards her room. Before Alvin could ask his most pressing question however, something strange happened. Not noticing that he was watching, Mira reached into her pocket and pulled out a key. The key itself was just an ordinary gray key, but Alvin thought he saw…something holding the key. Then to make it even stranger, he noticed how she didn't hop into her room, but rather glide!

Shaking his head, Alvin turned to Lampy, "you didn't just see what I just saw did you?" He couldn't help but let a disturbed look cross his face. The lamp of course, just smiled in silence.

"There's something odd about that girl Lampy," the super villain continued darkly, "and I'm going to find out what."

Yeah, I know I keep prolonging the mystery, but I think it's kind of fun to tease the audience a bit. So, in order to make things interesting, how about I work on the next chapter and post it before Sunday?! I have to be careful though, since I limited my Internet for fun for Lent. Enjoy these last couple weeks of February and please, please tell me how I'm doing. Hope your winter isn't too bad (our weather keeps flip-flopping here in the Midwest).