A Creative Admirer Pt 2 (Ending)

(Refresh Your Memory With Part One Here!)
After finally flying past the iridescent tree tops of of the intricate forest called Noctlium at jet-speed, Christina and HB carefully land their skells in front of the head-quarters of New Los Angeles. The two walked over to a man who appeared to be waiting for them.

“We've completed the mission. Here are the items necessary.” HB said proudly as he offered him the items.

The man's face beamed with delight. “Oh thank you! You two have no idea how much this is going to help with our research. Here's your reward. I threw in a goodie bag for extra measure.” the man said as he handed a box over to HB. “Well I'm off to work on our new assignment,I'll be sure to recommend you two for any more work that needs to be done!” he said cheerfully as he waved goodbye while walking off.

“It's all in a day's work of being Blade's Finest—my sidekick here being a close second. Isn't that right,Christina?”

Her eyes wandered about,as if she was thinking about something. “Huh? I wasn't listening. Sorry!”

”

He scoffed.“Hey! Don't be rude!” (Honestly...she's becoming such a pain..if it weren't for this rivalry..)

“I said I was sorry! Heh,let's see what we got in the Goodie Bag!” she rummaged through the rewards. “Hmmmn..money is good..but what else do we get...oh wait..dumb swimwear stuff...again.” she said as those brown eyes rolled back. “Tch.Whatever!”

HB folded his arms and chuckled.“Ha. After taunting me with that skell fuel earlier,I should run off with the credits and let you keep your “dumb swimwear stuff” ----but I am a man of honesty and fairness,so let's divvy up our reward.”

Christina waved her hand as she walked off into the head-quarters with her blanket and book in tow.“Hmm,maybe later. I really need to get cleaned up. You should too,you smell awful!” She said teasingly, turning her head to poke her tongue at him before quickly shutting the door.

 HB ears turned red at her remark,until a clean line of red was tinted all over his face. That really stung him. "The nerve!" he sniffed his underarm pits immediately after the accusation. "Well..I do smell rather rank. She usually collects her share right away. She also doesn't seem to want to do any activities with me outside of missions as of late." he looked down at the ground briefly as he muttered the last few words before looking up again. "Though it can't be helped right now. Off to the showers I go.". said Hector walked off to go freshen up elsewhere.

 “Thank goodness,now I can go back to finishing the final touches.”. Suddenly, the door opened behind her,and with it,a loud,thunderous,yet elated voice.

“Hell yeah! I'm ready for a mission! Where you at, pard?!” the man yelled,calling out to Christina.

“Crap,it's Yelv! I'll never hear the end of it if he catches me with this.” she muttered as her eyes shifted before uncovering her book to look at her drawing of Hector once more before covering it up and hiding it behind her back. “Do you have to be so loud?! I think I can't hear on the right side of my ear because of you,jerk.”

“Then get your ass over here! I'm bored! We should do a mission or two—maybe take down a few tyrants in Oblivia.” he grinned and cracked his knuckles before motioning his hand as if he were wielding a blade.

Christina moved to the kitchen to hide her book and blanket underneath the dining room couch. “It should be alright here.”. Yelv slowly crept up on her and poked her shoulder. “Ain't you a little too old for carryin' blankies around?” he snickered.

“Oww! Don't poke me!” she huffed,turning around to poke him right in the arm,only harder before her finger moved to pluck him in the middle of his forehead. “Shut up and let's go!”

After the pard-ly duo leave, a small,round, fuzzy,peach colored creature hops onto the kitchen counter where a plate of donuts rested. He adjusted his round glaces before jumping around joyously. “Yay,now Tatsu do dance of Solitude! Tatsu can eat whatever he want!” he looked to a plate of leftover cranjelly donuts and took one. One became two...two became three..and three became more! He patted his fuzzy belly after belching. “Tatsu couldn't eat one more cranjelly donut! Well..perhaps just one more.” the greedy Nopon said,leaning over to reach for one more,until the donut he reached for rolled off the plate and underneath the dining room couch.

“Oh no! Linly just cleaned kitchen!” he panicked,hopping his tubby body off the counter and running to the donut. “Hmm..looks like Tatsu didn't create major disaster. Wonderful! Tatsu will perform ceremonial dance of joy while eating sweet treat from floor. Three second rule is best human invention ever!” he said happily as he grabbed the donut with both hands while dancing,taking hefty bites,until a large clump of jelly falls on the floor. The look on his face went from joyous to dopey. “Mmmeh?!” he panicked once more,scrambling for something to wipe away the cranjelly..until he found a blue blanket.

 Tatsu almost instantly took the blanket and tried wiping off the mess,until the blanket got all the sticky mess up. “Crisis Averted! Oh joy! Now Tatsu must throw away the uh..evidence!”,he nodded to himself as he proudly placed his hands on his hips before dragging the blanket to be thrown away, the small book protruding out of the wraps as he sat on top of a stool to reach the trash can. The book slips out and onto the floor, letting off a flat “thud” sound. Tatsu's head tilts at the curious sound,before shrugging it off and wobbling off elsewhere.

Suddenly the door to the entrance opens again. “Now that I'm spruced up...where is she?” HB looked around. “Ahem,Christina? Hm,rather odd that no one is here.” he walked into the kitchen and near the seat,lifting his foot to move forward,only for the sound of his shoe to draw back a sticky sound. “Well,that's not gross at all. Guess I'd better clean this mess up.” he sighed and walked towards the sink to retrieve a paper towel and turned on the water faucet,those hands moving the towel into the water slightly to dampen it. His emerald eyes looked down below as he wiped the cranjelly off his shoes,until his sights were set on the book on the floor. “Hm? Who would leave such a thing unattended?” he said as he went to throw away the towel before washing and drying his hands. Curious,HB picked up the book and began delicately flipping through the pages. “Hm? Seems to be a bunch of drawings...not bad”.

Suddenly, Yelv walks back through the door mumbling to himself. “Can't believe she got mad at me!” he huffed as he began to mock her voice. “Yelv,stop making everything aggro in the skells! We're only here to get treasure! You don't have to shoot everything,Yelv! Fine then,Yelv,I'm going to Noctilum!” he folded his arms,shuffling his way towards the kitchen. “Who the hell are you?” his eyes focused on HB.

HB adjusted his glasses,never looking Yelv in the eye as he spoke while flipping through the thick book of sketches. “Wow,you're very polite. I am HB,also known as the Future Commander of Blade,and your superior in manners. You must be that Old Yeller man Christina unfortunately takes on missions.” he gave a smug look before smirking. “If you know where she is,do tell. I'd like to speak with her.”

“Hey,the names Yelv, poindexter,and don't you forget it! Wait..my pard knows you!?” Yelv raised a brow and folded his arms. (“Well, pard has been doting on someone named HB for a while..so this is the guy!? Hah,this pale little shrimp ain't got nothin on me!”) he thought to himself. “She's in Noctilum,she put me in the friggin' doghouse,so she ain't talkin' to me right now.” he sighed.


HB finally looked up at Yelv. “Doghouse?Interesting. I thought she would choose a man of a more higher caliber...but to each their own. Just don't get in the way of our rivalry and all will be well.” he shook his head and looked down at the drawings again.

Yelv's eyes widened,jumping back a bit at his assumption. “The hell did she say to you!? We ain't a couple! I mean,she's cool and all, but she's waaay too much trouble. Plus,it's not even like that,man.” his eyes curiously stared at the book. “Whatcha lookin at anyway? Gimme that!” he snatched the book from his hand swiftly,flipping through the pages. “Also,I heard that lil' comment---higher caliber my ass..I'm top shelf..top ramen...” his fingers rummaged through the pages as he mumbled.

“Top ramen..you mean those little ninety-nine cent packages?Yes,that suits you well.” HB retorted,taking the book back. Yelv grunted “You tryin' to start somethin' four eyes? Cause I got plenty of time to finish it!”. He grabbed the book,dropping it on the ground,causing it to open to a very familiar image of a man with short brown hair and black framed glasses. “Let's go, bud.I'm gonna--”.

“Quiet,Yell.” HB lifted his hand as he looked down at the book opening and cut Yelv off. He kneeled down to pick it up again. “What...why..this is me! Who on Mira would do such a thing? Hm,I actually look good here...though not better than the actual me,of course. Surely there's a signature on here somewhere to give me a clue. Hmm?No signature?” his eyes wandered all over the page.

Yelv tilted his head and folded his arms. “Hmm,that is strange. Why would anyone wanna sketch a pompous blowhard like you? Well,whatever the case,check the back or front of the book from the inside..there should be something there.”

“Oh? That's actually not a bad idea. It seems as though you aren't a total barbarian after all.” the corner of HB's mouth curled as he made another snarky remark,turning to inner back of the book and seeing an inscription “Hm...says here...Tina? So it's a woman's work?”

“A woman? Oh come on,don't tell me (Wait a minute...it might be a crush..if he can get a girlfriend, maybe he'll leave my pard the hell alone. Haha..I can finally get rid of this annoying,smug, little shrimp!)

--” Yelv's eyes lit up like Christmas lights at the thought of his newfound nuisance getting his own friend. “You know, she might have a lil' crush on ya. I think you should find her and hear hear out! I'll even help ya,since you forced me to pay attention to all this crap. Let's go ask Elenora..that little busy-body always seems to know what everyone's up to.”

“What?! Don't be ridiculous. I know I am physically,and mentally an Adonis..but..really?” he rubbed his chin . Well,let's go,if you're serious about helping me find her.” HB placed his other hand on the book and closed it shut, walking out of the barracks. Yelv soon followed after him.

HB and Yelv made their way towards the Blade Concourse,which was conveniently just across the barracks to talk to Elenora. He stood before her and cleared his throat to speak---until he was almost instantly cut off by Yelv.

“Hey,Elanosey—you know who this crap belongs to? We found it lying around near the trash in the barracks. Signature says someone named Tina owns it,but there's a lot of Tinas around here,so it could be anyone.” he casually snatched the book back to hand it over to Elenora.

She chuckled and shook her head . “Well it's nice to see you too,Yelv. Hmm,let's take a look.” her gloved hands grazed against the intricate golden swirls designed across the corners of the blue book. “Hmm, come to think of it...I think I saw a woman with a ponytail sitting somewhere with something similar.I don't quite remember her name...but she would duck off somewhere around one of the division spots further down with a book in her hand. Funniest thing is she always changes her hair color almost every week.” Eleanora giggled. “Certainly one of the more fashionable recruits. Although, Tina could be short for Christina..but that doesn't quite narrow it down. I'm sorry. I hope I was able to help you two.” she returned the book to Yelv with a smile.

Yelv and HB turned to one another and scratched their heads..then suddenly,Yelv's neon green eyes widened. (“Changes her hair color a lot...nah..it can't be.” ) he thought to himself. “Well,that's more than what I expected. Thanks,I guess. Let's go check if she's made rounds near the location Eleanora suggested,HB.”. Yelv folds his arms as he walks off, HB following soon after,with a puzzled look on his face. (It could very well be her...) he thought to himself.

Near the end of the pathway, the two stop in their tracks after seeing a woman with a brown ponytail tucked away in the Pathfinder isle,like a quite wallflower among the chatting soldiers. She carried a red book with a similar look to the blue one Yelv held. “I know that face from anywhere...pard,is that you??!”.

Christina's heart felt like it was hopping as her back arched up from being startled while in hiding, she could feel a warm,tingling sensation running down her spine as she tried to hunch back over and pretend she didn't hear the sound of her boisterous comrade. “Aw crap,why is he here!?” she muttered to herself. Growing more impatient, Yelv walks closer to her and pokes her arm rather hard. “I know you hear me!” he teased. Christina's right eye twitched slightly at the instant irritation of being poked like that. She finally caved in and turned to him. “For the love of Mira..!”.

HB shook his head at the two's behavior towards one another as he folded his arms and sighed. He could easily see where the two stood in terms of relationships. “Before you decide to stick bubblegum into each other's hair and tattle,can we please get to the bottom of this unsolved mystery? Apparently Eleanora says this book might belong to you. Do you confirm or deny,Christina?” he then offered the book to her,even opening the page where the portrait of him was found. “We found this in the barracks near the trash can. The only person I know who could be this woman is you. Rather interesting,if I must say so myself.”.

Christina's face grew increasingly red as she felt a small lump in hear throat..as if she swallowed a boulder tattooed “embarrassed” and it plopped right to the pit of her stomach. “Uhh...I can explain,ok?” she looked away and sighed,placing the red sketchbook on her lap. (Damnit...this is really awkward now.).

HB kept his arms folded as he raised. “Well, I suppose I can hear you out. After all, it's harmless,but odd coming from someone like you. I thought you didn't quite like the idea of being around me much. You've been going around ducking off elsewhere a lot,leaving in the most abrupt ways imaginable when we complete missions. Not to mention your comment about me possibly being a member of Blade for the glory a few weeks ago.” .

Christina's eyes still averted elsewhere until she took a deep sigh and stood up. “Yeah...about that...I'm really sorry,HB. I thought about our last mission..you know,with the Blood King. Our first few missions didn't leave too good of an impression of you on me, but when I saw you get angry at him slaying those poor Nopon,my opinion of you changed. I mean,you're still a pompous,vainglorious braggart, but you have a genuine,compassionate soul. I guess I wanted to surprise you until I was finished with it..maybe to sweeten the apology you deserved?” her brown eyes looked away from him again as she fidgeted with the hibiscus neatly placed in her ponytail. “I'm sorry if you find me drawing you weird, and making you feel like I was avoiding you for a while.”.

HB stood amused at her nervousness at first,until he was able to process she was actually apologizing to to him. His eyes widened,giving a blank stare. It was as if he was in shock. (“Did—did she just apologize to me?!) he thought as he felt something tickling his heart all of a sudden. The more it tickled,the more his lips curled into a smile. Those lips of his scrunched up,before a burst of laughter escaped from them. “That's rather interesting. So you finally have taken notice of my brilliance. I suppose it's better late than never. However, your actions shouldn't come without consequence,so I'll be taking this imagery of me.” he gave a mischievous look before placing the book it behind his back. (Ha...and here I was worried I had become a nuisance to my rival...!)

Her brows furrowed as she heard him laughing at her at first,until his laughter infected her. The ball of embarrassment that dropped into her stomach,blossomed into a bubbling batch of laughter. She held her sides together as she laughed along with him,laughing louder at his typical self-praising, until he mentioned keeping the drawing away from her. “Wait I'm not finished! Give that back!” she tried reaching behind him, only for HB to raise the book above his head casually as he watched her short body try to reach above his tall frame. “Looks like the last survivor of the Pikman can't reach her arms this high.” his mouth scrunched up again. “No worries, I'll let you finish after you have lunch with your muse. Your little secrecy game has made me hungry. I'll only absolutely forgive your past transgressions until then.”

Christina's almond eyes squinted as those full lips pouted at his remark about her height. “Pikman? I ain't that short!!” she playfully protested,chuckling to herself until her stomach began to grumble. “Ugh.. I am pretty hungry. You're on. Let's go Yelv!” she called to him. “Yelv?”

Yelv walked off before the two of them noticed. The sun was finally setting,the sky kissed with hues of red,yellow,and subtle shades of purple. Yelv wandered around until he went into into his skell “Black Angel” and taking off to the sandy landscape of Oblivia. He suddenly found himself outside of the skell,near Keegan Ridge, staring into the distance.

“Well old pard,I really did try to get a new pard. I guess I just ain't really good at the whole socializing thing, so I ticked her off good enough to replace me. Maybe it just means some of us are meant to be lone wolves.” Yelv rested a hand on his waist as he sighed. “I thought we were gettin' along too.” he said to himself as his lips curled downward,shaking his head.

Suddenly,a pink and teal skell lands just a few feet next to his own skell. A womanly figure promptly steps out and footsteps could be heard soon after,until they stopped right behind where Yelv stood.

“Yelv,you rude dunderhead!” Christina shouted to him. Yelv jumped in response,turning around. “P-pard?! The hell you doin' here?!”he raised his chin up, a confused look sweeping across his face. Christina rolled her eyes and huffed “The hell you think I'm doing here? I asked if you wanted to go to the diner with HB and I,and before I knew it, you walked out on me!” she waved her finger at him. “You got one more time to tick me off,you know that? Here,your suid stew's getting cold!” she smiled and offered him his wrapped dinner plate and sat down next to him with her own wrapped food.

Yelv stared at her and began slowly blinking his eyes, the crease between his brows growing the more confused he got at her reaction towards him. He took his plate and sat down next to her. His eyes wandered around,not wanting to to look at her,as if he were a shy child. He slowly unwrapped his plate and took a plastic spoon began eating. Each gulp became more awkward the more Christina watched and smiled at him. (The hell is she smiling at? Did she come to rub her new pard in my face or somethin'?!”) he thought. Yelv placed his bowl to the side and shook his head. “You know it's your fault I left in the first place! Sitting there with Mr. Siditty Four Eyes and laughing...you yell at me and he gets a friggin portrait. I mean I get it,he's your new pard. I'm canceled.”.

Her head tilted to the side,that long brown ponytail sweeping across the side of her face. “Ohhh, so that's why you're upset? Just a minute!” she raised her finger before getting up and and jogging to her skell to retrieve something. Once finished,she rushed back to plop next to Yelv again,carrying the red book from earlier. “Open it.” she said as she handed it over to Yelv.

Yelv rolled his eyes and scoffed,but reluctantly took the book anyway. “What is this..some lame-o HB fanfiction to match the portrait?” he said as he thumbed through page after page. “Ain't nothin in here so far...what kind of crap is this?” his voice growing more impatient until he reached one where another sketch was made. “Huh?!” Yelv's eyes widened a bit at the sight of what he saw. It was a sketch of him, wielding his raygun. His face was depicted as fearless,his stance heroic even.

Christina smiled at his reaction and leaned her shoulder on his to playfully push him gently. “You big dummy,why would I replace you? I'd get bored out of my mind without you. I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier,but I don't think you pissing off a few hostiles is grounds for pard demotion. You're one of the first people I've encountered on this planet that makes my boring life a little easier with your antics. Not to mention I can't get rid of my favorite photon saber and raygun wielder. You've gotten me out of some tough cookies and I'm always amazed at how you keep getting stronger. Sure you're a lil rough around the edges,but you have a wild flame in your spirit,a spirit that never dies and never gives up—that's enough for a true pard for me.” she looked away and sighed. “So stop being a lil baby and eat your gotdamn food!”

Yelv's eyes widened and ignited once more took a deep breath as he heard her praise him,his face looking away from her again.(“So I was wrong...all along? I should have known better...my new pard wouldn't do something so lame. You hear that old pard? I still haven't forgotten about you...but it's good to have new pard around. Guess she sees what you saw in me.”) he thought before he puffed his chest up and looked to her to speak. “Huh..I knew that...you didn't have to..get all soft on me.I mean sheesh...anymore sugar and I'll catch diabetes.” he laughed and went to eat his food again. "I guess I could learn to be a little more..less skell-happy when collecting treasure around mega tyrants. My bad." he said as he took his spoon and scooped up his first portion of suid soup. “Man I love this soup. You got me this the last time we were in Oblivia.”.

She smirked as she held in her laughter as he saw him toughen up in front of her. “Whatever,banana head.” she pulled her sandwich from her bag and began to quietly eat along side of him. As the two of them watched the sun set, a black,gold,and purple skell parks just beside their own,revealing a man with glasses and a bag in his hand. “How rude,Tina! You didn't wait up for me at all. Though I suppose that's what I deserve for leaving you behind earlier.” said HB. He walked over and sat next to her while opening his clear tray filled with salad. “Thankfully salad doesn't need to be warm,so I don't have to worry about it getting cold.” he nodded to himself and began eating his own meal along side the two. The trio began small talking and eating as the all watched the sunset, Christina eyeing HB's food for the crouton,and HB shifting to turn his back slightly away from her wandering eyes. “Get your own salad! Honestly,you choose the greasiest nonsense and you look at my plate?” his poised eating suddenly transformed into quicker,larger bites. (“I'll stay one step ahead of her with this proper diet. Hah!”) he thought,smirking to himself as she pouted.

After everyone finished their meal,the night sky came about. Christina smirked and lifted a small paper bag from her lap,dipping those gloved hands into it and revealing a coldberry cookie. “Mmm...this is just what I need in a hot place like Oblivia.”. Yelv's nose began to sniff the air, HB looking alert. “Coldberry cookies?” the two said simultaneously. Her eyes ping-ponged left to right at the two. “Nope! You didn't want to give me a crouton. And you ran out on me before I could ask what you wanted to eat!” she said as she stuck nose in the air and took her first bite. “Tch.” Yelv sucked his teeth,but then snatched a coldberry cookie out of her bag. “Screw that.” he took a chunky bite out of the large cookie. “This is for stealing the chocolate out of my skell all the time.”,he said with his mouth full. HB soon took a cookie afterwards. “What? You can't just let your muse get hungry. Besides,I just remembered it's cheat day.” he explained. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders,chuckling to herself. “You know,being like this feels kinda right...right?”. “Hmph,I suppose.” HB shrugged. Yelv scratched the back of his head as the crumbs flew out of his mouth “I dunno..yeah I guess..as long as you're my pard.”. The trio looked to one another and gave a nod of approval before they watched the glittering stars scattered across Oblivia. Christina smiled as she looked to the sky “It's really nice having these guys around.”, she thought to herself.

[end]