Another Rainy Day

Shiela, one of the oldest of the rabbits, had gotten a little caught up in the excitement. At first, she tried to pace herself. But, with Vespa, Poppet (still grinning from the compliment) and Hey Kid rushing ahead, she was determined not to be shown up! She took off at a hop, weaving between legs to keep up, and almost crashing into people a few times when she needed to skid to a halt as Percy turned.

It was quite a relief when Hey Kid had a burst of energy and ended the game for them. Sheila sat back on her haunches, her breath heaving. That had been something of a mistake, she realised, head dizzy and legs sore.

"You won!" Vespa was shouting back at Hey Kid. "I thought for sure I could catch up, but no way!" But Sheila was distracted from the celebration by the rumble in her stomach, now she had expended so much energy.

"Speaking of Colonel's crisper escapades," Sheila said, still out of breath. "I think it's about time we had some refreshments! Colonel, if you would do the honours?" Colonel responded that he might need assistance. Vespa agreed to go with him, and they both disappeared into the kitchen. They appeared a few minutes later armed with crudités and candy. Sheila beamed, eagerly reaching for some of the delicious celery on offer. "Right, eat up everyone! We must build our strength back up!"

Percy, much to his surprise, is good at the game! His body is shaped basically like a human's but certainly has none of the limitations of flesh and blood. Rather than turning his entire body, Percy twists at the waist to catch noisy players, sending them back to the starting line many times before Hey Kid's burst of energy wins the game.

"Yes, you win," Percy smiles. He picks up the gem and lightly presses it into Hey Kid's eager, outstretched hand. While the rabbits get a snack ready, Percy does his best to answer Hey Kid's many, many questions. Luckily, the eager child doesn't pause much between questions so Percy has to do little more than nod and say a few words when Hey Kid stops for breath. And if Hey Kid gets a little too excited and runs a little hot? Well, Percy can certainly handle it!

When the rabbits come back with the treats, Percy reaches for a bun: It's perfectly, mouthwateringly golden-brown. "Thank you, Colonel," he says before disaster strikes! His bulky arm falls heavy on the platter. Percy stutters "OH! N-no, I'm so sorry! Oh! Your snacks! I am so so sorry!"

"I win! I win! Yesss!" Hey Kid declares. They race around the lobby excitedly, heedless of the spilled platter of snacks. They cradle the gem that Percy created close to their chest.

"Another game! Another!"

Gertrude immediately jumps in to help out when Percy breaks the platter. "I got it Amelie!" she helps to clean up the mess and even gets out some new veggies for everyone to share.

While they take a brief break she thinks hard about the games and Hey Kid. She’s known them for awhile so she has an idea on just what they like and what they don’t. She finally comes up with an answer as she gets out some paper and colored pencils. "Let’s draw some comics. Maybe everyone can do a few panels and we can try a join it all up into one."

She begins drawing some comic panels of Nuetron Gal knowing that is Hey Kid’s favorite character.

Hey Kid bounces behind Gertrude, looking over her shoulder as she starts to draw. "Oh! Are you drawing Neutron Gal with her Neutrino Blasters? Those were only canon in the third and fifth movies, and also Neutron Gal XR but I didn’t like Proton Girl in that one so I don’t really watch it that much. I'm gonna draw her with the Carbon Smasher that she used to defeat the Laser-Beast in Neutron Gal II! You remember, the Laser-Beast, right, Gertrude? He was all like--"

For a moment, Hey Kid suddenly gets very large and scary! They loom over the other guests gathered in lobby, even Percy, snarling and slobbering! Their eyes glow red and a halo of black flames surround them!

"GRR! ARRGH!!!"

Then in a blink, Hey Kid is back to their normal size and appearance. "Yeah, so, I'm gonna draw now!" The devilish child plops down on the floor with crayons in hand. As they begin to doodle, it is clear that the child is finally beginning to calm down. They stifle a yawn, their seemingly boundless energy reserves finally nearing their limits.

Having helped Amalie right the living room, Mr. Boggs wanders over to see the house engaged in art. He watches from a sage distance so as not to soak the work in progress.

Percy is deeply embarrassed about ruining lunch and doesn't trust himself around paper. He politely excuses himself to his room upon seeing that things are winding down. "I had a lot of fun," he says as he's leaving. "You are all wonderful! I hope it's okay if we do this again sometime."

Gertrude smiles as she tries to keep up with Hey Kid, "Neutron Gal III, of course, remember you watched that one a few days ago. I thought it was pretty neat." She continues coloring showing Hey Kid her panels and joking back and forth with the younger person about Neutron Gal.

Slowly but surely Hey Kid begins to yawn and when they finally nap Gertrude puts a blanket over them to keep them warm. "Thanks everyone for playing with us and I have to agree with Hey Kid, maybe we can do it again sometime. I really liked watching that Crab Dance." She giggles a bit and then wanders down to her spot, on top of the dryer. She'd had a nice time and found out that she and Hey Kid had a lot in common actually. As time passed maybe she and Hey Kid would play more games together and become closer.

The rain continues to fall outside, but inside Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, it is warm and cozy--the perfect atmosphere for everybody who played with Hey Kid to recover from the intense afternoon! And poor Amelie is left with the mess to clean up!

And that is the story of how Hey Kid and Gertrude became close friends on another rainy day!