User blog:SaenihpNnylf/Can Someone Lend Me a Hand Chapter 5

'''Hey guys, we're sorry this chapter took so much longer than usual. We both have jobs now with opposite hours and Neverwhere Guard had been having a lot of trouble with his internet. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long. You'll see at the end why.

Disclaimer: We still don't own Happy Tree Friends. If we did, the Ants wouldn't exist and Lumpy and Sniffles intelligence levels would be much more obvious. Also, we wouldn't have left you on such a long hiatus like this… maybe. Unless we really wanted to.'''

Later that day, Lammy got to the diner right on time, obviously with an inanimate Mr. Pickels resting on her arm. As she goes in, she notices Handy standing off to the side and is relieved to find him handless. "Hey Handy, what're you doing here?"

"Petunia asked me to meet her here if was still alive which I obviously am."

She notices he's keeping a close eye on Mr. Pickels. "Don't worry, he promised not to kill anyone while I work."

That surprises Handy. "You're working now?"

"Yeah, I figured Petunia told you. Lumpy stuck me with a choice of working here or spending forever in jail."

"No, I haven't talked to her yet, she's been waiting on shift change and her replacement... so, it's you?"

"You said she told you to meet her here... and I thought I was on time. Aren't I?"

Petunia looks over from the counter where Mole is. "You're not on time until you're behind the counter with your apron on."

"Right, sorry." Lammy immediately goes over, putting back on the apron and placing Mr. Pickels in the pocket.

As Lammy takes her place, Petunia takes her own apron off and tucks it under the counter. "Are you going to be alright here Lammy? I can stay a little while if you want."

"Please do."

Petunia waves Handy over. "Are you hungry? I figure we can refresh Lammy's memory of what to do."

"Sure, I would like that." Handy comes over getting on a stool.

Lammy hands them each a menu, politely opening Handy's for him. "Let me know when you're ready."

"We will, and thank you, Lammy."

Lammy stands behind the register and keeps an eye out the window for anyone else. I hope that Flippy doesn't decide to stop by, that wouldn't be a fun way to start a job.

"I'll just have a vanilla milkshake," he orders being the easiest without help.

"And I'll take a strawberry shake."

Lammy checks the menu in her hand for the prices, and then tells them the total. Petunia nods and hands her the money, then points to the small machine by the cups. "I paid attention when you made Nutty's."

"That's good... so, have you figured out how to make the different types?"

Lammy looks over at the machine, not sure since she had asked the question. "Is there any difference between them besides flavorings?"

Petunia and Handy both laugh at the worry in Lammy's voice. "Nope."

Lammy frowns as she starts to make the shakes. She thought it was a perfectly valid question and she hates being laughed at. She gets enough of that because her best friend's a pickle that to everyone else appears to be nothing more… though… in their defense… until the town got a hold of him, they were right.

Lammy hears Petunia and Handy talking softly behind her back while she's making their shakes and tucks one hand in her apron pocket to pet Mr. Pickels. She can't make out what they're saying but something tells her they're making fun of her.

Just like last time, Mr. Pickels just pats her hand as his way of letting her know he's always there for her even if no one else is and sends a glare in the direction of Petunia and Handy though he obviously can't see them just like they can't see him.

As Lammy finishes the shakes and takes them to the couple, she hears Handy whisper. "I told you I'd have a talk with Disco Bear about it, I don't think he'll be bothering you or anyone else."

"Then you are a miracle worker, Handy."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. I just got my point across."

As Lammy sets the shakes down she notices a smirk on Handy's face, one that sends a chill down her spine. What did you do, Handy? she thinks as if not having hands gives tree friends mind reading abilities.

As Petunia takes a spoon to eat her shake, Handy tries to grab a straw, and then scowls at his lack of hands. Not needing to be asked and knowing he won't, Petunia nudges the straw so it's right in front on his mouth. "By the way Lammy, Mole already paid for his meal so you don't have to worry about him."

"Okay, got it. Thanks, Petunia."

Petunia motions for Lammy, then whispers in her ear so Mole doesn't hear her. "Pay attention when he comes in, he has a tendency to try paying with buttons and anything else that's round."

"So, he's blind?" Lammy whispers, having not met Mole.

"Yeah, sorry. I keep forgetting you haven't been around as long as most of us have."

"It's okay. I'll make sure he gives me real money."

As they finish their shakes, Petunia looks around to make sure everything's clean. "Alright, Lammy, Handy and I are going to head out. You'll do fine."

Hopefully, Lammy thinks. "Thanks, Petunia."

Handy waves a nub at Lammy as he follows Petunia out the door. "Good luck on your first day."

"Thank you, Handy!" she calls as they leave. At least Petunia said it'll be pretty slow since it's the afternoon shift.

Outside the diner, Handy looks over at Petunia as they walk down the street. "You sure she'll be alright?"

"Yeah, she seems to have it all down. I wouldn't have let her leave this morning from training if I didn't."

"That isn't what I meant, you know how Flippy is. We've all died so many times it doesn't really bother us anymore. But Lammy's only died, what, twice since she came here?"

"Once, got close one other time at the playground but she inexplicably survived but if he does show up and flip out there's really nothing that can be done." Petunia sighs then looks at him weird. "Since when do you care?"

Handy sighs. "I don't know. It's just that lately I've been thinking more about how this town is... it's wearing on me."

"Usually you don't really care when others die unless it me or Mole. Seems like, if anything, it would go the other way around."

"Don't you ever get tired of it, Petunia? All the senseless pain and dying?"

"Of course I do; we all do but what can we do about it?"

Handy rubs his jaw as best he can with his nub. "There's nothing we can do... that's what makes it so depressing when I stop to think about it. We don't have a choice or a say: Some of us die every day in the most horrible ways possible, and then it's just back to the same thing the next day while some of us almost never have to go through it."

"Well, those that don't die every day, kill tree friends every day, lots of tree friends. I'd much rather stay as one of those that die every day." Petunia reaches over and playfully pushes Handy's shoulder. "Just let it go and enjoy it while you can; you're starting to sound like Flaky."

Once she makes the comment, it clicks what's going on. "Right, sorry, I do need to loosen up."

Petunia waves to Cuddles and Giggles, who're walking on the other side of the street in the other direction. "It's alright; I know you've been helping her the last few days so it's not too surprising it's on your mind." Petunia giggles at Handy's surprised look. "Mime doesn't talk, but he pays attention and likes gossiping just as much as everyone else."

Handy tries to think of any interaction with Mime recently only thinking of briefly at the store. "...I only saw Mime once the past few days..."

"Yeah, he came to the diner this morning after Lammy left. I gave him a piece of paper for him to put his order on, and since it wasn't really busy I talked to him and he wrote. For a silent guy he's actually really talkative, he mentioned you and Flaky went to the store while he was working and got plastic for her windows."

"It was just a job," he says, not knowing how to tell her the truth without telling her the whole truth. "A window exploded the day before and killed her so she wanted them all gone."

Petunia stops suddenly with a serious look on her face, making Handy a little nervous. "First the table, then the windows... awe! Handy's made a friend." She laughs at his scowl as they start walking again.

"I have friends," he grumbles.

Petunia puts an arm around Handy's shoulders. "What's really bothering you Handy? You've been out of sorts ever since Flaky had you make her a new table."

He quickly drew a line from when she thought he made her table and, since it's still her secret, whispers, "That has nothing to do with Flaky. I had just found out my girlfriend was drugged and kidnapped by the town creep, that's extremely off-putting."

"But you were acting a little strange before I told you that."

"It's just... I miss the days before I lost my hands. I've gotten so that there are things I can still do without, but being around Flaky has reminded me of some of the stuff I used to do; baseball with my co-workers and even just old hobbies. Even Russell can do the things he loves." Handy smiles sadly.

"Baseball…" Petunia thought for a bit remembering a story. "Cuddles told me that once he and Toothy were playing baseball but instead of a bat, Toothy just used his tail. He was doing it just to be funny but it doesn't require any hands."

"Used his tail?" Handy thinks about that a moment. "I'll have to ask him about that next time I see him."

Petunia smiles as Handy's mood almost visibly changes, glad she could get his mind on something more positive. "See? There's the Handy I fell in love with. You never usually let your handlessness stop you from doing something. You always find a way. Yes, that way often gets you killed but it’s Happy Tree Town, of course it does."

"You're right. Maybe I have just been talking to Flaky too much. I just need to take a day or two off and relax."

"You know, this may sound crazy but after that day I lost them myself, even with hands, I still kind of like to bowl the way we did that day sometimes, just try to be more careful with the pinsetter."

"Yeah, that was fun... want to go bowling?"

"Sure, lets."

Handy notices a glint of orange and turns his head to glare as Disco Bear passes. "I hate that bear." The second he spots him though, the bear breaks into a sprint, the best the fatso can do.

Petunia notices Disco Bear and looks over at Handy. "You know, you still haven't told me what you did to him."

"I thought you knew from the start what I meant when I said I'll have to have to talk with him?"

"I figured you were going to get Lumpy on him since Disco Bear won't listen to anyone else."

"Really? I thought you knew me better than to think I'd ask someone for help."

"Well. Handy, it's not like he listens to anything anyone says or does."

"Well, I found a way to make sure he listened loud and clear."

"Well, whatever you did, it worked at least."

"That it did. He's terrified of me now."

"Yeah, I noticed. I've never seen him try to move so fast." Petunia looks around and realizes they'd just stopped and started chatting. "We should probably get moving if we're going to make it to the bowling alley."

"Yeah, don't wanna become road kill first." As they start walking again he adds, "And torture tends to do that."

Petunia looks over at him. "You tortured him?"

"Yes, I did and I'm not ashamed to say so."

Petunia walks in silence for a minute, letting that sink in. "I can't say I feel sorry for him."

"No, he deserved every bit of it and like you were saying, he doesn't listen to anyone so I had to find a way to make him."

"Hopefully it sticks this time."

"It seems like it's going to and if not then I'll just have to keep my promise to pay him another 'visit'."

Even though Petunia doesn't care much for the bear, she cringes a bit as a thought crosses her mind. "To be honest, even after what he's done, I don't think I could bring myself to torture him."

"Well, you don't have to."

Petunia shudders. "Can we talk about something else please?"

"Yeah, we should."

"Wait... we're here." He looks up realizing she was right. Petunia offers him her arm. "Shall we?" He goes to take it but remembers he doesn't have any hands attached giving quick thanks that he did that all the time before he started stealing hands so it wasn't anything suspicious. He gives his scowl. Petunia laughs at his glare again before tossing her arm around his shoulders. "You know, you're really cute when you do that," she says as they head in.

Handy blushes a little, which causes Petunia to smile as they walk up to pay for a lane. They find Russell working behind the booth. "Yar!"

The skunk and beaver both roll their eyes; while they don't have a problem with the otter; his sentence starter was always annoying. "Morning, Russell."

"Yar! Ye mateys be lookin' to send a'round?"

"Yeah, just put it on my tab."

"Yar! Aye, ye be castin' anchor in lane 2."

Petunia waves to Russell as they head to lane two and get ready for their game of handless bowling. "Ladies first," Handy tells her motioning with his nub.

Petunia gets a bit of a running start and rolls down the lane into the pins, scrambling out of the way before she gets chopped up as the pins reset. She is able to get completely clear, even her tail, before the pinsetter came down. No matter how short lived and rare, when she escapes death like that in a town like theirs, part of her could see Cuddles' point.

Handy readies himself as Petunia makes her way back down the lane, knowing it'd only take a moment's hesitation to prove fatal once he starts, and wonders briefly if his girlfriend feels the same rush of fear and excitement.

Towards the middle of the game, they both have a perfect score; being much easier to knock down all the pins playing this way, but then it was Petunia's turn again and one stubborn pin on each side didn't fall. She tries to knock them down, one being just out of easy reach. "Petunia! Get out of the way!"

This time Petunia actually hears him and, remembering why he was saying that, got out of the way almost in time but her arm is cut off right at the elbow by the pinsetter. She screams in pain and tries to apply pressure to the amputation site with her remaining hand.

Handy runs over to Petunia and, unsuccessfully, tries to stop the bleeding before realizing there's nothing he can do with no hands. He quickly looks around for someone who can help, but the place is deserted except for them and Russell. "Russell! Help, she needs medical attention." As the otter rushes over, the handless beaver curses under his breath while Petunia pales from blood loss, and wishes he had his first aid kit or that Flaky was there with her needle and thread.

To make matters worse, once Russell got over, Handy realizes he can only do him one better, though with Petunia still conscious and trying to stop the bleeding herself, they have a full set of hands between the three of them. "Petunia, you need to try to calm down. If you panic you'll only lose blood faster," Handy tells her remembering being told that himself.

A quick but crazed laugh escapes Russell's throat, causing him to stick his hook in his mouth and blink away the grey eye. Now was not the time for a flip out.

Handy looks at the growing pool of blood. "Russell, is there a first aid kit anywhere? And Petunia, stay with me, we need to get you out of the bowling lane. We don't need Russell slipping on the way back." Russell quickly heads back to the counter while Handy guides the skunk back to the main area, neither noticing the otter's momentary lapse.

Petunia nods, trying and actually mostly succeeding to keep calm as he helps her down the lane as best he can. "You're doing great, Petunia. That's the most important part about surviving an amputation."

Once they are out of the lane and Russell just gets over with the first aid kit, Petunia looks around to stop herself from looking at the wound, but her eyes settle on the scores seeing the perfect collection of Xs stained by a sudden 8. Exactly what she got injured trying to avoid and once she did, there was no chance of her keeping calm.

The skunk's scream causes both males to jump in surprise and Handy, thinking it's the bloody floor, tries to soothe his OCD girlfriend. "I'll mop the floor as soo..." His words catch in his throat as he follows her gaze to the scoreboard, only to be replaced by a muttered expletive. "Russell, wipe the…!" he starts to order, looking back at Petunia only to realize it's already too late; from what had already been lost, the accelerated heart rate only took seconds to finish the job.

Russell can tell from the glazed look in Petunia's eyes that she's gone, and uses his good hand to close her eyes while carefully patting Handy's shoulder with his hook. "I be sorry, Matey. There were nothin' to be done for her."

"Well, thank you for trying to help," Handy says, mentally cursing this town. He looks down their aisle surprised to find the arm still completely intact, taken off at the exact spot, just standing up in place of a bowling pin. As if the town was trying to test him, but there was no question. Not in a million years. Handy goes to walk out, not sure where to go now, but a thought stops him. I can't just leave her here.

After some thought, he decides to leave her; while it doesn't seem right to him, he can't really do anything with no hands and he's pretty sure the score will wipe automatically before she comes back and it sets her off again. I wonder what someone would think if they knew what we went through each day here. Even though there probably wouldn't be much they could do. He likes to think they would try to do something about the curse.

''Well, I suppose I can go check in with Flaky, maybe she'll have something that needs done and I didn't go over there yesterday. Hopefully she's alive.'' Handy shakes his head to clear the thought away and heads for Flaky's house, hoping for anything to forget having to watch Petunia die yet again.

Handy passes the deli, where the raccoon brothers sprint out, a disgruntled Lumpy chasing them with his meat knife, and the beaver smiles at his luck of choosing to walk on the far side of the street. 'I can't believe those two are still alive. I mean, not for much longer but still.' As if on cue, Handy hears the squealing of tires and someone screaming as he turns the corner to Flaky's block.

He goes up to the door and hesitates before kicking it, part of him still worried that he'll find her like when he came back from Lammy's. No answer, so Handy kicks again, harder, and the door slowly opens. With a quick look around to make sure no one catches him breaking and entering, he slips inside and looks around.

Finding no trace of her, Handy remembers that he passed Cuddles and Giggles on the way to the bowling alley and they had seemed to be heading here. Handy sighs knowing that if those two dragged her somewhere again, she was definitely dead. There's no way she'd have survived that twice in a row. The more he thought about them recently, the more he detested their behavior towards her. It was one thing to flirt with death in a town so happy to oblige yourself, but to always have to quite literally drag someone like Flaky along? And call her a chicken if she says no? Some "friends" she has.

Maybe I should teach him a lesson... Handy shakes his head to get rid of the thought. Cuddles is nothing like Disco Bear, and Flaky would never forgive him for hurting her friend. ''I could try having an actual talk with him about it, though. He might not even realize what he's doing.''

Not sure what he can do now besides just try to stay alive, Handy just heads to his own house but once he gets there, he finds a purple car in the once again, broken garage door. Glad that his best friend/roommate is one of those that rarely has to worry about dying; he heads in carefully, calling. "Mole, you here?"

"Yeah, I'm here." Mole's muffled reply drifts from the kitchen area so Handy heads that way and finds Mole eating an apple.

Handy does a quick double take to make sure what he was eating was indeed an apple, which it surprisingly was so he took a seat next to Mole asking. "Can we talk for a bit?"

Mole nods and sets his apple down, giving his friend his undivided attention even though he was 'looking' at the fridge. "What's wrong, Handy?"

"Things have just been… weird recently."

Mole fixes his unseeing gaze so it's somewhere above Handy's left ear. "You'll have to explain; weird is something pretty common here."

"Weird in a different way though, some of my own thoughts have been going completely unlike me. Like, you know that even before this curse existed I never really cared what happened to anyone but myself, you, and Petunia but recently these random worries would come up for random tree friends. I hadn't really thought much about it until I commented to Petunia on if Flippy were to show up while Lammy's working and she just kind of looked at me funny and asked since when I care."

Mole takes his glasses off and cleans them on his turtleneck while he thinks, giving Handy a view of the unfocused eyes that are always hidden. "They are your friends, even if you don't generally see them that way. We're all in the same situation, so it's not so strange when you put yourself in their shoes. Or maybe the recent change of heart is because you've been spending more time than usual with Flaky."

Mole chuckles and puts his glasses on as Handy's weight shifts and causes the chair to creak, guessing correctly that he surprised his friend. "I'm blind, Handy, but my other senses work just fine. I could hear you talking the other day in the store, and you've had more of the others' scents on you than usual; especially Flaky's." What he said next actually makes Handy literally fall out of the chair though his hard hat did help his skull not crack open from it. "Besides, clearly you're still you enough to be stealing other people's hands."

Handy stammers as he sits up on the floor to see Mole's hand offering him help up. "H-h-how..."

"Remember a few days ago when I ran you over at Flaky's house?"

Handy thought back to it as he got up. It was the first day of the hand stealing but it still didn't make much sense. "Y-yes… but…"

"Well, when I got out of the car, I could definitely smell Shifty but not enough to think he was there but too much to just be traces. With that, knowing you, and having caught your near death confession, it wasn't that hard to figure it out. Then since that happened at Flaky's house I knew she must be connected somehow so that you keep smelling like her told me that it's still going on but what really sealed it was when I found Disco Bear's hands in the fridge."

Handy's still caught on the first part. "Wait... you knew it was Flaky's house you crashed into?"

Mole shrugs. "I was bored. By now I know where everything is, and since everyone chalks it up to the fact I'm blind, why not? I didn't realize you were still there though until I was already on top of you."

"So all of those 'accidental' killings weren't accidental?"

"Well... some of them were... but... yeah, most of them weren't. Like when I filled Cuddles with stuffing, that was fun, he made a very comfy chair."

Handy rubs his jaw with his nub, trying to remember what started the conversation before it veered off. "I'd forgotten about Disco Bear's hands in the fridge, but that was... a special case."

"Seemed that way since they were there. Something about your vendetta against him?"

"No, not his hands at least, I hate the rest of him though. There was something I had just found out about that went way over the line but she wants to keep it a secret…"

"Are you talking about when he kidnapped Petunia?"

Handy freezes, trying to get his jaw to unclench enough to speak. "Y-you knew? Why didn't you tell me?"

Mole put up his hands in defense. "I had assumed she told you and if not, it would be better to hear it from her. I did get my own payback on him though. Something more personal than pain and death."

That gives Handy pause as he thinks about it. "You're right, sorry... so, what'd you do to Disco?"

"He came into the barber shop freaking out because a small piece his afro got messed up so, naturally, I shaved the whole thing off. What I would have given to see the look on his face. Between his desperation and this town being this town it worked out even better than I could have imagined."

That brings a smile to Handy's face; he'd heard about the incident, but he was killed while riding with Flaky and Shifty's van swerved in front of her. "I heard you even went and trimmed his house's afro afterwards."

"Once I found out Lifty and Shifty sold him a bunch of hair growth formula, I just had to check out how that ended."

"So... why were you trying to run Flaky over anyway?"

"You hadn't left me many options. Though it's easier to keep the town pleased than to please it, it's still really hard as no one knows better than the top fifty percent. I'd bet even that new girl Lammy really knows more than you guys do."

Handy sighs, remembering his talk with Flaky about it on the first day. "No, we both know. It's just hard for me without hands and Flaky's, well, Flaky."

"I get that and I know you know it to an extent but not as well. And by you guys, I didn't just mean you and Flaky; you, Flaky, Petunia, Lifty, Shifty, Nutty, all the tree friends that die almost every day. "

Handy looks down at his nubs. "Maybe I don't... the night you ran me over I'd thought I'd pleased the curse, then that happened."

"You can't please the town in a day, Handy. Almost everyone has had a day or two that intentional or accidental, they killed a very large number of tree friends. The town needs to see promise in you as a consistent thing. You can usually tell when the town's starting to gain interest; you don't really die less but considerably later. It's kind of the town's way of testing you, seeing if, given that freedom, you'll let it down."

"Well, that explains why Splendid's 'saving' people has never turned the town against him." Handy ponders, thinking about the hero. Even with his powers, Handy has no doubt that the town would have no trouble killing him if it wanted to. Though it isn't common knowledge at all that the town has killed him before, Splendid made sure no one else found out about his weakness.

"How would it turn the town against him?"

"He's always trying to protect everyone... but I guess the town just cares about the outcome, not the reason behind it."

"You got it. If he ever actually learns how to use those powers without making things worse, then it would be a problem and the town would probably take the powers back and he'd definitely lose his spot as a top fifty percent."

Handy thinks about the 'hero' for a moment. It had been no secret that the town had given Splendid those powers itself just so he can pretty much do exactly what he does with them, it probably isn't even possible to use them without disaster when their directly laced by the curse, and then there's Splendid's personality on top of that. "I don't see that ever happening."

Mole chuckles and nods in agreement as he picks his apple back up. "Was that everything you wanted to talk about Handy?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Really, I more just needed to talk to someone."

Mole nods in understanding. "I'm here any time you need."

"Thank you, Mole." He pauses, thinking about back at Flaky's today. "Actually, there is something else." Mole lowers the apple from his mouth without taking a bite, noticing something different in Handy's tone. "It's just, I was thinking how Cuddles always has to literally drag Flaky on his dangerous ideas and calls her a chicken if she tries to refuse and… well… it's not right. He claims to be her friend but with the way he treats her… I was thinking that if I were to just talk to him…"

"If you talk to him, he'll stop." Mole finishes for him, thinking about the daredevil's personality. "He's a good rabbit and doesn't actually want to hurt anyone. For that reason, if you ever want any chance at becoming a top fifty percent, you'll leave it; it would make the town angry at you."

Handy sighs, he'd been more occupied with Flaky's predicament that he hadn't thought about how it might backlash in a town where everything wants to maim you. Now he has to decide if it's worth angering a town like theirs which turned out to be a harder question than one would think. "Yeah... thanks again, Mole."

Mole nods, catching Handy's depressed tone. "Like I said, I'm always willing to lend an ear for you, my friend." As Handy turns to head to his room and enjoy one of the few nights he can actually sleep, Mole's voice catches him, almost an afterthought. "By the way, can you take a look at the pipes for the sink? I tried to get a glass of water earlier and it wouldn't run."

"Yeah, I'll take a look." Handy gets his toolbox in his teeth, really liking fixing anything anyway no matter how hard his disability made it; so he goes over to the kitchen sink. He sets the tools on the table and steps in front of the sink when the floor caves in, dropping him into a flooded hole.

The handless beaver uses his feet and tail to surface, sputtering and coughing from the unexpected submergence. "Mole... the floor collapsed...grab the... rope." He lets out a scream as something bites down hard on his tail.

He is shocked when he hears Mole's calm voice say, "Sorry, Handy, but I have a spot to keep."

Handy grits his teeth and tries to call up an expletive to his friend, only to sink and come face to face with Russell's fish. He doesn't really have time to think much else before being reduced to a skeleton.

Meanwhile, Lammy, doing her shift at the diner, sits behind the counter; wondering if she should just close and head home as there'd been no customers for the last hour. She figures she probably should have expected that with almost the entire town dead by now.

She sighs, knowing she get in trouble if she tried so she sits there petting Mr. Pickels with one hand and drumming the fingers of the other hand against the counter. Since Petunia had the earlier shift, she hadn't even had anything to clean to at least give her something.

Suddenly, her attention is snapped up by the ringing of the bell on the front door. The green bear walks over and sits at a small table in the corner, surprising her since everyone else had been sitting at the counter. She grabs a menu and takes it over to him, eyes catching the outfit and knife strapped to his back. "Let me know when you're ready to order." She also notices that his eyes had the normal Pac-man pupils and she remembered Petunia mentioning that his eyes are gold when he's in murder mode. That and his behavior tell her that she's relatively safe as long as nothing reminds him of war.

"I will. Thank you." He takes the menu and looks at her. "You must be Lammy, right?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Lumpy talks about you all the time. Mentioned he hired you on here." He looks up from his menu, giving her a clear view of his normal looking eyes. "Well, more like blackmailed..."

As Lammy waits for the bear to order, something nags at the back of her mind. Unable to put a finger on it, Lammy has the feeling she's missing something; something important. "Are you ready to order?"

"A steak, medium rare, fries with extra salt, and a glass of water."

"Alright, I'll have that out as soon as it's ready." She heads back to the kitchen and realizes with a groan that meant back into the freezer.

She looks to make sure the bear can't see, then takes Mr. Pickels out of her pocket and sets him by the freezer door before opening it and going in, looking to the right for steak. She does find it but she takes longer than it should have with her mind distracted, she leaves alive but chilled to the bone.

She puts it on the small stove and pours a cup of cold water from a pitcher and gives it to him before going back and getting the fries started and picking Mr. Pickels up from beside the stove and putting him back in her apron pocket and rubs her arms, trying to get any kind of warmth back into her.

Lammy gets the fries and puts them on a cheap plastic plate, the only kind Lumpy has at the diner, and checks the steak; realizing it's almost still frozen and that she should have waited on the fries. "Your steak's still cooking, but your fries are ready if you want them now."

"Sure." Lammy takes Flippy his fries, along with some ketchup and a salt shaker, and goes back to the stove, still trying to remember what she'd forgotten.

Just now, it clicks to Lammy that she forgot to have him pay. Because the town got bored, at this very moment, Flippy starts choking. Lammy, unsure what to do as this has nothing to with Mr. Pickles, stands frozen in place as the bear's face turns purple and he falls out of his chair.

Hands shaking from more than just the cold still clinging to her, she reaches into her pocket pulling out Mr. Pickels turning him to Flippy. "You said you could get that for me right? I forgot to have him pay."

Mr. Pickels looks at the body as Lammy moves closer, quickly noticing the wallet inside a jacket pocket. "I've got it Lammy, don't worry." With that, he jumps down onto the bear's stomach. As soon as he lands though, the obstruction dislodges and suddenly, a green hand shoots up grabbing him as a pair of burning gold eyes snap open.