Venus crawls out from under her rock

[Reply #720 on:]

i'm not in my final year of college, i graduated three years ago. And it's three jobs now, waldenbooks just hired me as seasonal help.

[Reply #721 on:]

wowie, three jobs? I hope thats not too stressful for you.

Wow I dont think I've seen a Waldenbooks in years, I thought they went outta business or something.

[Reply #722 on:]

Sorry Venus.  For some reason I thought that you were doing an internship for your final year of college.

That's what happens when I rely on my memory.  The senility creeps in sometimes. 

Anyway, I hope that the kitties have adapted well to their new home.

[Reply #723 on:]

Three jobs?
Sheesh, you should just do what I do - step in front of cars and sue the drivers.

[Reply #724 on:]

THREE jobs? 
I have trouble enough with one!

And you still find time to write?

This one aint' human...

[Reply #725 on:]

WOW, more proof that Venus is better then normal people!

[Reply #726 on:]

As if her writing isn't proof enough? 

[Reply #727 on:]

It is, but the jobs add weight to the arguement

[Reply #728 on:]

Eh i'll be honest. I havn't written anything in over a month. I just have enough finished stuff backlogged on my computer that i can make my monthly updates thus making it look like i've been productive when i havn't been.

[Reply #729 on:]

Nice update, Venus.  Looking forward to the next installment.

[Reply #730 on:]

I let myself slip down to page 3 again. Venus is a bad girl. So here's some Shippy to make up for it. Behold!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just Outside of the Residence of Turanga Morris & Munda
11:04 am
Recovery: Day 8


As he neared the bottom of the ladder Fry playfully leapt off while he was still a few rungs up. Instead of the graceful and manly landing he had intended he tripped and face-planted onto the concrete. But falling was nothing new to the delivery boy and he recovered himself very quickly, dusting himself off and casually glancing around to make sure there were no witnesses. Satisfied that no one had noticed him he rounded the edge of the building and approached the front of the home.

Leela opened the door after the first knock. She was used to Fry showing up around lunch time and often made sure to be in the living room so she could intercept him before her mother had the opportunity to share another story about her infancy.

Fry smiled fondly at her as he entered. She looked so adorable with her hair down and in her faded pink pajamas. He decided he should tell her that.

“You look real nice today Leela.”

At first she looked startled but then a suspicious expression spread across her face.

“Are you making fun of me?”  She demanded with an almost dangerous tone in her voice.

“What?! No! Of course not! Why would I do that?” Fry asked looking very confused and a little hurt.

She continued to frown at him. “I’ve got no make-up on, bed-head, and these pajamas are so old they’re starting to fall apart. I look like crap.”

“You look beautiful!”

“Yeah, if you’re blind.”

“He’s trying to pay you a compliment honey, just go with it!” Munda’s voice rang from the kitchen.

“Yeah! What she said!” Fry agreed.

Still looking a little distrustful Leela walked away from Fry to sit on the couch. He waited where he was by the door until she cast him an expectant look, then he moved closer to her pulling something out of his pocket as he approached.

“I brought you all your mail.”

Leela briefly thanked him as she accepted the pile and began to rifle through it, opening important-looking envelopes as she came to them.

“Junk mail. Junk mail. Coupons. Junk mail. Jury duty. Water bill. Letter demanding to know why I didn’t show up for Jury Duty. Warrant for my arrest…” She trailed off. “That’s…bad.”

“Warrant for what?!”

“Apparently it’s a crime to not show up for Jury Duty.”

Fry grabbed the warrant from her. “Hermes’ll fix it. You couldn’t really show up for anything in a coma.”

Leela glanced back down at what was left of her mail pile. “As if that wasn’t bad enough, here’s my hospital bill.”

Knowing she wasn’t going to like whatever number was on that bill she took a deep breath before unfolding the paper and chancing a look at the number printed at the bottom. She was silent for a long time.

Her expression was unreadable but when her face paled its fourth shade Fry couldn’t take the suspense any longer.

“Leela?”

“I’ve never seen so many zeros on a bill before.” She mumbled looking dazed. “I’m going to be in debt for the rest of my life.” She looked up, meeting Fry’s concerned eyes as her expression began to morph from dazed to terrified. “I’m not going to be able to pay this. Even with my insurance I can’t afford this. If I can’t pay I’ll go into default. It’ll kill my credit rating and I’ll never be able to get another credit card, or car or house and when I have children I’ll never be able to start a college fund for them which means unless they get scholarships they won’t go to college and if they don’t go to college they’ll never get good jobs which means they’ll spend their entire lives working at a gas station for minimum wage and then when I die my bills will be passed down to them which will empty out whatever savings they manage to scrape together and everything they own will be auctioned off and TheyWon’tBeAbleToAffordEvenTheSmallestOfApartmentsAndMyGrandchildrenWillBeHomeless! ”

Fry stared at her, wide-eyed. “Please take a breath before you pass out on the carpet.”

She buried her face in her hands and moaned miserably. “What the hell am I going to do?”

Fry yanked the bill out of her hands and gave it a once-over. “Oh. This is your old bill Leela. This isn’t how much you owe anymore.”

She froze as the realization sunk in. “Oh God you’re right. The follow-up exam. With the tests and the pills and the alarm! He took us into his office! That’s got to be another couple thousand right there!”

“Noooo. I made a payment for you. So you owe less now.”

This revelation halted Leela’s frenzy in its tracks. “You what?”

“I made a payment for you. It wasn’t a very big one, but it still makes you owe less.”

She gaped at him like a fish out of water. “But…but…you have your own bill to pay!”

“Nope. Remember I was only actually a patient for a few hours. And I didn’t have to have any tests and stuff. So my insurance actually covered all of it.”

“That’s really sweet of you Fry,” Leela said looking strained. “But you really shouldn’t be making payments for me. It wouldn’t be right of me to let you.”

“But what’s the big deal? It’s the only way I’ve actually been able to help since this whole thing started. Besides, your parents are making payments too and you’re not telling them to stop.”

“My parents are-MOM!”

At her daughter’s call Munda raced fearfully into the room. “What is it? What happened? Do you feel a seizure coming on? Do you need your pills?”

“What I need is an explanation! Are you making payments on my hospital bill?” She demanded.

“Of course.” Munda said as if it were the most obvious answer in the world and Leela should be ashamed for even needing to ask.

“Moooooooom! That’s your retirement account!”

“It started out as your college fund, so technically you’re entitled to some of that money anyway.”

Leela was shaking her head in dismay. “No. I can’t let you. It’s not right. You’ve missed three weeks of work and now you’re throwing money away on me. I…I…you can’t. It just wouldn’t be right.”

Sitting down beside her daughter Munda draped a tentacle across Leela’s shoulder. “If it makes you feel any better just think of it as twenty-eight years of backlogged X-mas, birthday, and graduation presents.”

“It’s my mess, I’ll find my own way out. You’ve all done more than enough.” Leela insisted lamely. 

“Argue all you want I’m making another payment on your behalf Monday.”

“Me too!” Fry chimed in.

Leela moaned.


Residence of Turanga Morris & Munda
7:27 pm
Recovery: Day 8

 
Feeling absolutely miserable Leela wallowed in self-pity on the couch. Today had been beyond horrible. On top of what had happened that afternoon, she’d had four seizures that day. One lasting so long as to leave her half asphyxiated and so unresponsive that poor Munda had gone into a panic. She’d eventually come around enough to prevent her mother from calling Morris who she’d actually managed to send off to work that morning. Convincing him to leave had been the only part of her day that had actually gone the way she’d wanted it to.

Ever since the seizures had first started Munda had stepped up her hovering. Originally Leela had found it comforting and enjoyable to have someone take care of her. Back in the orphanarium whenever she had come down with one of the many viruses school aged children inevitably spread to each other she would be more or less abandoned in her shared dorm room where she would curl up into a small ball under the blankets and pretend she had a mother who at any moment would come rushing in with a cup of hot cocoa, a few fresh-baked cookies, and some loving reassurance. Munda had filled that role brilliantly…at first. After the first seizure, “You can help me wash the dishes if you promise to be careful.” had become “How about you just drag over a chair and watch me do the dishes?”

Munda had even taken over feeding Nibbler because she didn’t feel comfortable with Leela handling such heavy loads of processed meat product. And despite the fact she wore the seizure alarm receiver in a pack around her waist ensuring she would know the second Leela needed anything she’d made a habit of never being more than one room away which left Leela with little feeling of privacy. It was rather grating on her nerves, but she didn’t have the heart to tell Munda she was being slightly overbearing. Her mother meant well and was going so far out of her way and Leela didn’t want to come off as ungrateful.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be secretly miserable if she wanted to be. She reached down to her lap and stroked Nibbler gently. She didn’t know how much of what was going on he actually understood but the larger of the seizures she had had that day had seemed to shaken him rather severely. He hadn’t left her side all day and kept wanting to crawl into her lap. Just as her doctor had predicted Nibbler had been able to sense all of her seizures beforehand and send up a warning. He had even resorted to biting her ankle whenever he thought she wasn’t reacting to the warnings quickly enough. Which happened so often since Leela had a tendency to want to finish whatever she was doing before retreating to the safety of the couch or a bed (anywhere away from hard or sharp objects that she might fall onto as she lost consciousness) that she was beginning to develop a fairly severe bruise on her left ankle. He would always suck up to her afterwards as if to say “Sorry, but you weren’t really giving me any other choice.”

Another point of irritation was the television. Leela’s televisional preferences mostly consisted of programs that had a continued plot spanning the whole of the season. The type of programs that if a few weeks worth of episodes had gone unwatched, too much had been missed to be able to follow everything that was going on. So left with nothing else to do with herself she had spent the last several hours watching the C.S.I. Alpha Centauri marathon on the Gore Channel and had officially hit her limit tolerance for blood spatter. 

She wasn’t expecting to hear a knock at the door, especially this late in the evening, but a distraction was a distraction and she wasn’t going to question it. When she opened the door she was even more surprised to see a very nervous redhead standing shyly on the porch with his hands hidden behind his back.

“Fry?”

He fidgeted and looked everywhere but her face. “Hi…uh…I was…I was just in the neighborhood, ya know, and I was thinking maybe you’d wanna’ maybe, I mean if you’re not doing anything else I thought…”

He pulled his arms out from behind his back. In one hand was a bag of take-out and in the other was a movie rented from PlanetBusters Video.

It was sweet. In a pathetically awkward sad puppy sort of way.

Leela knew a surprise date when she saw one. And odds were things would get rather uncomfortable before the night was out, but she didn’t actually have any real reason to say ‘no’, and with her mother in the next room she figured she should be safe from awkward advances. Besides, after everything he had done for her, she kind of owed him one.

And the hope in his eyes was disarmingly adorable.

Reaching a decision, Leela further opened the door and gestured for him to come in. The hope in his eyes turned to astonishment. This was the closest thing to a date she had ever allowed him to get away with. He desperately hoped he wouldn’t mess things up.

Following her almost reverently back to the couch he gently sat beside her and offered her the video. She opened the casing to see what he had picked out. Knowing Fry it was probably something with a wide appeal to the lowest common denominator and not something she would find particularly interesting. So she was pleasantly surprised when she saw what he had chosen.

“‘Romancing the Polycrystalline Aggregate’? I love this movie! It’s my-”

“Favorite. I know, that’s why I got it.” Fry stated looking exceptionally proud of himself. “I had to go to three rental places to find it. It‘s kinda old so no one had it.”

“I used to watch this back in the Orphanarium all the time, I haven’t seen it in years!”

“I brought dinner too.” Leela’s so-far positive response had given Fry a much greater feeling of confidence and he opened the take-out bag with a certainty that she would be pleased with him. “I went to ‘The Crunchy Lemming’.”

Leela was decidedly impressed. ‘The Crunchy Lemming’ was about as high end as take-out got and had a tendency to be a little expensive. Her favorite movie and a semi-pricey dinner. Fry had done surprisingly well. Much better then she would have ever given him credit for. When he reached into a separate sack and pulled out a bag of her favorite gourmet cookies found only in a small privately owned bakery located way on the opposite side of town she flashed him one of her very rare dazzling smiles and he about fell over.

Unexpectedly Munda bustled into the living room searching for her purse while she simultaneously attempted to put on earrings. She gave Fry a nod of greeting and Leela noticed that she didn’t seem surprised in the least to see him there.

“I have to head out for a little while Leela, I have a work meeting I couldn’t get out of. The University is doing its annual budget review and the Departments whose heads don’t show up are the Departments that get the biggest cuts. I’ll only be gone two maybe three hours, I should beat your father home. Love you Sweetie.” And she was out the door.

Fry turned back towards Leela and was alarmed to see that the dazzling smile had been replaced with an angry frown.

“This wasn’t impromptu.”

“In what who?”

“You didn’t come up with this on your own.” She slammed the video down on the coffee table in disappointed frustration. “My mom told you to come down here. She just wanted someone to watch me while she was gone. She probably even told you what to bring.” Leela had no idea why she was so upset. What did she care? It wasn’t as if she had any romantic interest in Fry at all, what did it matter what he did or didn’t do whether prompted or not? There was no reason she should feel so hurt.

“No she didn’t!” Fry defended himself. “Okay, yeah maybe she asked me to come down here, and possibly suggestions were made, but I picked all this stuff out on my own!”

“Yeah I bet. My favorite movie, expensive take-out restaurant, and favorite low-cal dessert? I should have known something was up.”

“No! I picked this stuff out all on my own! I swear!” Fry insisted desperate to recover the mood.

Feeling vindictive Leela decided to call his bluff. “How did you know what I liked then?”

“I pay attention to you when you talk!”

“You do not you big fat liar.”

“Not about work stuff but I do about ‘you’ stuff!”

“Fine then Mister Attention-Span, what’s my favorite color?”

“Pink, but you don’t like anyone to know cause you don’t want people thinking you’re too girly.” Fry stated defensively.

“Favorite song?”

“It’s foreign and I can’t pronounce it.”

“When I was fourteen I had a pet, what was the species and name?”

“Trick question. Orphanarium didn’t allow pets.” Fry smirked at her surprised expression. She really hadn’t expected he would know that one. “So there!”

“Go put the video in.” She demanded, sounding huffy, but really feeling much better about things.

Despite her tone Fry could feel the vibe in the room changing for the better and he happily got up feeling as if he’d just passed a really important test. 

Leela watched him silently as he tried to figure out how her parents outdated DVR worked. She couldn’t figure out what his game was. Was he going to attempt to get into her pants now that he had her alone, was he just there because he had been asked, or was this meant to be a sincere bonding moment between friends? He probably wasn’t going to like the movie, so what could he possibly stand to get out of it? Not knowing what he had planned was making her nervous. She hated surprises.

With a triumphant cry Fry managed to get the video started and swaggered back to the couch. While he had been up Nibbler had stolen his seat and now refused to give it back. After a moment of trying to shoo the animal away Fry was left with no choice but to sit directly next to Leela, so close they’re shoulders were touching. Neither of them noticed the smug look on Nibbler’s face that indicated he had done it on purpose. Over a thousand years ago he had made a promise and he intended to keep it.

His close proximity to Leela was making Fry flustered. He was loving the physical contact, but was a little nervous of what Leela’s reaction was going to be. He chanced a quick glance at her. She looked a little unsure, her body was tensed, but she wasn’t moving away though she had just enough room on her other side to put a few inches between them if she wanted. A few long moments slipped by before Leela seemed to arrive at a decision. She took a deep breath and forced her body to relax. Fry sent up a silent thanks to whichever God seemed to be on his side tonight.

While the opening credits played they divided up the entrees and split a packet of Lemming Sauce. The familiarity of the old movie loosened Leela’s mood considerably and soon a contented smile took up residence on her face. It didn’t take her long to get completely entranced in the plot and while she watched the movie Fry watched her.

It meant so much to him to see her there, whole and alive and happy. Sure it had been eight days since she had awoken and he had seen her every day, but sometimes while looking at her he would remember the fear and it would all come rushing back and instead of  being over a week ago it was suddenly yesterday. He never wanted to feel that fear again. Filled with a sudden and intense desire to hold her, to prove to himself that she was really there and this wasn’t all some elaborate dream brought on by his desperation, (Which would explain why she’d been so patient with him,) he performed the age old ‘Yawn and Stretch’ maneuver and draped his arm across the back of the couch before slowly allowing it to drop onto her shoulder. Without missing a beat Leela unknowingly relaxed into his touch and leaned her head against him. He stared at her in awe. It all certainly felt real. Real and wonderful and she smelled so good…

“Did you just sniff me?!”

“No! It was…uh cat hair! It went up my nose!”

Beside them Nibbler smacked his face with his paw. “Dear Lord,” The Nibblonian Ambassador thought to himself. “Casanova this guy certainly isn’t.”

 Leela stared hard at Fry for a moment, but the call of the movie was too strong and she allowed her attention to be drawn away and after a few minutes more her head once again found Fry’s shoulder. This time he was careful not to sniff her.

What the movie was actually about, Fry never knew. He never once glanced at the screen. Instead he watched the expressions change on Leela’s face as she reacted to the story. At some point he had unconsciously begun rubbing her upper arm and she had responded by snuggling against him.

Eventually the movie came to an end and Leela finally realized how close she and Fry had curled together. She also realized, with an edge of surprise, how comfortable she was and that she had no desire to disentangle herself from his grasp. Intellectually she knew she should pull away. Sitting as she was would only encourage him and she would never be able to rid herself of his clumsy advances. It might hurt him now but would only help him in the long run. Now if only she could get her body to obey…

Awkwardly they looked at everything but each other hoping to find any kind of distraction.

“We uh, we forgot about the cookies.” Leela stated softly once she noticed the bag sitting on the table.

“We did didn’t we.”

She leaned forward to grab the bag which pulled her out of Fry’s arms. But when she leaned back he reclaimed her shoulder as his. She let him. Opening the bag she took a cookie for herself and then offered one to him. It gave them a topic of lighthearted conversation, which eventually digressed to other small shops around the same area of town as the bakery. Fry mentioned the Swedish Novelty shop he had wandered into a few weeks ago and Leela confessed that she kept the stress toy he had bought for her on her bedside table. He smiled, pleased.

“So,” Fry started, “You’ve been getting to spend lots of time with your parents. That’s gotta be fun.”

Leela smiled softly. “Yeah. It’s been like a dream. Being with them is everything I ever wanted as an orphan, but…” Her smile faded as she trailed off.

“…But?” Fry prompted, concerned.

“Well, first the coma, then the life support, now seizures…You know my relationship with them is still new. I’ve only had them back in my life for about four months. What if-” Once again she trailed off.

“What if what?”

Leela stared down at the carpet, her answer was barely audible. “What if they decide I’m not worth the trouble I cause?”

“Leelaaaa.” Fry scolded gently. “That’s stupid. You’ll always be worth the trouble you cause.”

Her smile reemerged. “Thanks…I think.”

Nibbler, who had been dozing during much of the movie and subsequent conversation suddenly jolted upright and began chattering loudly.

Leela groaned, “Oh no, you’ve got to be kidding me! Now?”

His response was a long low wail. Fry looked back and forth between them, completely bewildered.

“What’s happening?” He demanded.

“I’m about to provide more subject matter for your nightmares.”

His eyes widened fearfully. “What - I don’t- What’s gonna’? You’re not…”

She nodded.

“Ack! No!” His grip on her arm tightened. “What’aido?!”

“You can stop bruising me for a start.” He let go of her arm with a whimper.

“Now don’t panic.” She told him sternly. “All I need you to do is watch me and make sure I start breathing again after.”

“But what if…what do I…Leela?” Her eye had relaxed into a half-closed, unseeing stare and her head slumped forward. Immediately afterwards her alarm went off and the shrill noise caused the pets to start shrieking. Fry watched, petrified, as the first of Leela’s tremors started.

“Oh man oh man oh man…”

He wrapped his arms around her as he had during the movie and held her gently. If this was what it had been like for her parents the first time it happened no wonder Munda had been such a wreck over the phone.

“Oh man oh man oh man oh man oh man…”

All at once Leela inhaled sharply and her eye shot open. Disoriented she glanced around. She would have come to her senses a lot sooner had Fry not responded to her wakefulness by grabbing her by the shoulders placing his face directly in front of hers and speaking like she was deaf.

“CAN YOU HEAR ME?! KEEP BREATHING!”

She shoved him away. “Shut up! I’m fine!”

“Are you sure? It looked horrible!” He asked shakily.

“I’m okay, I promise.” She said gently, mindful that this was the first seizure he had actually witnessed.
 
“Did it hurt?” He whimpered, “It looked like it hurt.”

“No it didn’t hurt,” She promised. “That was just my facial muscles contracting. I was unconscious. I didn’t feel anything.”

Fry didn’t look convinced. He was still staring at her like he expected her to liquefy all over the upholstery. Even Nibbler, who had been present for all of her seizures, was watching her with an edge of wariness. She sighed. 

“I guess we both know what you’ll be having nightmares about tonight.”

“Tonight? Try forever! I’m never gonna sleep again!”

Leela was silent for a few moments. The old familiar guilt was beginning to rise up.

“What do you normally dream about?” She asked, “I mean, when you have the nightmares about me.”

Now it was Fry’s turn for a moment of silence. “It’s different every night.” He said at last. “The only thing that’s the same is that you’re in some kinda danger and you need me. But I just can’t get there no matter how hard I try. The dream I had last night, you were drowning, and I was on the beach and no matter how fast I ran I never got any closer.”

“I can swim.”

“You were being held down.”

“I can take care of myself just fine.”

“You could take care of yourself just fine when you got stung. Didn’t keep it from happening. There’s all kinda things that could happen to you. You could get hit by lightning, hit by a car, bit by a shark, spontaneous human combustion.”

She raised her eyebrow at him. “I am not going to die of spontaneous human combustion.”

“You don’t know that!” Fry insisted seriously. “No one who dies of spontaneous human combustion knows they’re gonna’ die of spontaneous human combustion. That’s what makes it spontaneous.”

“Besides,” He continued, looking down into his lap and playing with the hem in his jacket. “I don’t care how it happens. I just don’t want it to happen to you.” He looked up with an utterly pathetic expression. “You’re not allowed to ever die, okay?”

He looked so vulnerable. Leela couldn’t help the little lump that was rising in her throat.

“I won’t if you won’t.”

Fry smiled softly at her. “It’s a deal. Cause anything that wants you hasta go through me first.”

Leela frowned in dismay. “Fry…”

“I mean it!” He stated shrilly. “I’m not gonna’ let anything like in my dreams happen to you for real. I’m just not. Once was enough.”

“You didn’t let anything happen to me.” She pointed out softly.

“And I’m never gonna.” His gaze met hers, unwavering. “Cause I love you. And even if all we ever are to each other is friends, I’m always gonna love you and I’m always gonna do whatever I can to keep you safe.” He took her hands in his. “Cause I’d rather die than live in a future where you’re not a part of it.”

Leela had never been more floored in her life. She stared dumbly at him trying her damndest not to cry. 

He misinterpreted her silence and tearful expression and looked away ashamed.

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

“Don’t be sorry. No one’s ever said anything like that to me before. Don‘t take it back.”

“Well I was never gonna’ take it back, I just didn’t wanna’ make you cry is all.”

She leaned towards him as he reached for her. Her arms encircled his neck and she tilted her head towards him. He held his breath in anticipation of her…

…as the front door opened and Munda stepped in.

“Leela, I’m ho-” She froze as she processed the scene before her. Her daughter and her nice friend wrapped in each others arms both with expressions like deer caught in headlights. Munda looked startled for a moment, but that look was quickly replaced by the largest smile she was physically capable of wearing.

“Don’t mind me.” She stated as she headed for the stairs. “You two just continue with whatever you were doing.” She sent Leela a knowing look. “I mean it, don’t let me interrupt.”

After Munda’s retreating form had disappeared from view Fry glanced towards Leela. She looked horribly embarrassed. Just as he feared, the moment had passed. Turned out God wasn’t on his side tonight after all.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now if only someone *cough*Shiny*cough* would update her story all would be well.

[Reply #731 on:]

*headdesk* damnit woman you got me all fired up and expectant.

Hee, spontaneous combustion... Yesh, I want more Shiny story too.
Glad you updated! Looking forward to the next bit.

[Reply #732 on:]

Awww, that was sweet....

[Reply #733 on:]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! *dies from lovely shippyness*

And now I know it'll be ages until another update. *dies again* I can't handle the suspense!

That was so so good with plenty of humour and shippyness, I loved it!

[Reply #734 on:]

Awwww, poor Fry and Leela.  Always something to interrupt their moments.

[Reply #735 on:]

Excellent update, Venus!   

[Reply #736 on:]

Nice stuff; did I beta-read that section? No matter; that was classic shipper stuff - but poor Fry never seems to get a break! 

[Reply #737 on:]

Argggh! Again with the interruptions! If only they could have some kind of a quiet moment to themselves...
Great update, though. Very funny too-

 

Originally posted by Venus:
She raised her eyebrow at him. “I am not going to die of spontaneous human combustion.”

“You don’t know that!” Fry insisted seriously. “No one who dies of spontaneous human combustion knows they’re gonna’ die of spontaneous human combustion. That’s what makes it spontaneous.”

That made me laugh out loud. Typical Fryness at its best. The only thing I have to say about it is that I found it a little surprising that Fry even knew what spontaneuos meant. 

Keep it up!

[Reply #738 on:]

Hurray an update! Wonderfully written as usual. Waiting impatiently for the next one...

[Reply #739 on:]

 

Originally posted by LuvFry:
Hurray an update! Wonderfully written as usual.

Absolutely.

Waiting impatiently for the next one...

[*Glare*]

[SC wags finger]

No. No. NO! 

Do not be "impatient."
Be "eager."
Be "excited."
Be "enthusiastic."

Not "impatient."
Quality work takes time, and working three jobs, the lady has precious little of that!

DO be "encouraging!" 

@ Venus:
Keep it up, kiddo. You're doing fine.
Mighty fine. 
If there's anything I may for you, I'm as close as your e-mail. 

[Reply #740 on:]

 

“Did you just sniff me?!”

Ahahaha, thats good stuff, sounds like something my friend would do.

Great going!

[Reply #741 on:]

Cool update, I loved Leela's reaction to Fry's monolog confession, it was perfect, I espectily liked the way he said that he'd love her even if all they ever were was friends, I think thats what Leela really needed to hear. Its a shame Munda happened to walk in but it keeps the tension and it gives Leela something to think about and Fry more dreams to dream. Keep it up Venus 

[Reply #742 on:]

Great update Venus!

...Man I hope Fry and Leela do kiss each other one day... Maybe in the "movie" if it does one day come out...

The part with Nibbler keeping is promise to Fry was perfect. Great call back!

Keep it up Venus.

(Btw I can't wait for Shiny or Layla to update again. Where did those girls go???)

[Reply #743 on:]

I have only one thing to say about the hospital bills: Thank God for the NHS! 

That was so cute. I just wanna give Fry a big hug! It's a shame they can't actually get together, since it's supposed to fit into canon... Ah well, they can still have shippy moments! 

And thank you, NIC, for bumping the thread so I didn't have to 

[Reply #744 on:]

Wow, page 4. A new low.

Well anyway. I noticed in the Peelies thread i got quite a few nominations for best fanfictionist. So time for me to earn it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Residence of Turanga Morris & Munda
8:32 am
Recovery: Day 9


“He was putting the moves on my daughter, under my roof, on my couch?!”

Munda sank the can opener into the large lid of Kibbles&Snouts and raised her eyebrow at her husband as Nibbler danced in excited circles around her ankles.

“It was only a kiss. Not even that, I interrupted them. Besides, I thought you liked Philip.”

Morris sulked. “…I do, but…on my couch? I sit on that couch!”

“What’s it matter?” Munda asked bemused, “Leela was conceived on the dining room table, and we still eat off it. Again, it was only a kiss, and Leela seems pretty determined not to let things between them get any further so I doubt you really need to worry about the virtue of your couch being tainted.” 

Nibbler’s dancing stopped and he gave Munda a look of disgust. These people really knew how to take the joy out of breakfast. And tables. He shot a jealous look at Muffin and Fluffy, who having the advantage of not understanding much English were enjoying their morning meal without the interruption of the gag reflex that was threatening to rise up in him. But it would be a crime to allow such a perfectly good can of Snouts to go to waste so he began to choke it down trying desperately to think of anything other than what took place on that table a little over twenty-eight years ago.

He was about halfway through when a familiar ominous tingle shot up his spine. “Oh no,” He thought. “She has no warning.” He whirled around and ran out of the kitchen as fast as his little legs could carry him, wailing at the top of his lungs while desperately hoping it wouldn’t matter if she had advance warning or not.

KA-THUNK-ATHUNK-BAM!

The crash was immediately followed by the monotone trill of Leela’s seizure alarm.

The startled parents stared at each other in frozen horror before both launching themselves in the direction of the noise. Glancing quickly around the living room Munda spotted her daughter.

“Oh God, Leela!”

The young cyclops was lying in a crumpled heap at the base of the stairs. Still in mid seizure it was impossible to tell how severely she was injured though the small puddle of blood beginning to pool on the carpet indicated she had taken quite a blow to the head.

Standing at her side Nibbler stared horrified, with all three eyes open wide. Though it wasn’t something he generally advertised, he had always had a morbid fear of blood. So much so in fact he had taken to eating anything alive in one giant gulp so that he wouldn’t have to look at any left over carnage. And seeing the thick red liquid slowly make its way down the forehead of someone he genuinely cared about was seriously wigging him out. He slowly reached out a paw to touch her, then thought better of it and took a step back. Whining helplessly he looked towards Morris and Munda for assistance. 

Munda made a desperate dash for the phone while Morris knelt down beside his daughter and cautiously checked her for other injuries. He was afraid to move her too much, worried about her neck and back, but he did what he could to make her comfortable. 

The seizure itself was a relatively short one and it wasn’t long before she went limp. Delicately, Morris shook her shoulder.

“Leela?…Kitten, can you hear me?”

She didn’t stir. Evidently the hit to her head had been severe enough that had the seizure not rendered her unconscious the blow would have.

Morris looked over his shoulder. “Munda, she’s not waking up.”

Munda blanched as she turned back to the ambulance dispatcher. “Please hurry,” She whimpered. “We don’t know how bad she’s hurt.” 


Residence of Turanga Morris & Munda
9:12 am
Recovery: Day 9


“There we go, almost done.”  The paramedic gently wiped away the blood before beginning to cauterize the wound with his laser pen. Leela stared blearily at him as he worked. She had been moved to the couch after finally awakening and was being held upright by Morris who she was leaning heavily against. Munda stood off to one side with Nibbler in her arms, to keep him out of the EMT’s way. He watched the man like a hawk and growled whenever something he did made Leela flinch.

“You are one very lucky lady.” The doctor stated as he finished up.

Leela gave him a groggily blank look. “What?”

“You took quite a blow to the head. You‘re lucky you didn‘t fracture your skull.”

“Who?”

Morris, Munda, and Nibbler exchanged concerned looks.

“Should she be this…fuzzy?” Morris asked as he repositioned his arm around Leela’s shoulder to keep her from sliding off the couch.

“She has a slight concussion, but she’ll come around.” He began packing up his supplies while his partner conferred with the hospital on her cell phone.

Munda anxiously stepped forward. “Wait, that’s it? You’re done? But she lost so much blood, are you sure she’s really alright?”

“Wounds to the head and face have a tendency to bleed out of proportion to the actual severity of the injury. Makes them look a lot worse than they actually are. But everything checked out. Her blood pressure is decent, there’s no signs of any fractures or internal bleeding. She’s gonna’ have one spectacular bruise by tonight and she’ll probably be pretty sore, not to mention the headache she’s gonna’ have for the next few hours, but your daughter is going to be fine.”

Munda nodded, mollified as Nibbler wiggled out of her tentacles and leapt into his owner’s lap. Leela tried to focus her blurry vision on him so she could figure out which of the two Nibblers in her lap she should be reassuring. She only succeeded in making herself dizzier and eventually gave up. The paramedics gave Munda some final instructions before heading out on their next call.

“You think you can sit up on your own?” Morris asked concerned.

Leela nodded drunkenly. “I’m fine.”

Slowly Morris let go of her ready to grab her again if needed. She kept herself upright just long enough to convince him she had it covered before suddenly falling over sideways onto the cushions.

“Leela!”

She waved him off, slurring her words slightly. “‘M fine…comfy…gun’na nap-” She was asleep almost before she finished her sentence. Morris stood, positioned her legs on the couch and draped a light blanket over her before stepping over to Munda.

“Never a dull moment in this house, huh?”

She nodded. “Monotony is so underrated.”


Residence of Turanga Morris & Munda
11:14 am
Recovery: Day 9


“Awww not now, ten more minutes!” Leela buried her face in the couch cushion and reached out to smack what she thought was an alarm clock. But instead of silencing the noise she heard a startled yelp.

“Oh, Muffin, I’m sorry…”  Waking up fully she sat up as Munda walked across the room to answer the door, the actual source of the noise. “That’s probably Philip honey. Are you up to visitors?”

Leela stared at her mother in confusion. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

Munda gave her a pointed look.

“Oh, right. That.”

“Hi Mrs. Munda!” Fry greeted cheerfully as he was ushered in.

“Go easy on her Philip, she’s had a rough morning.” Munda murmured so only he could hear.

He gave her a questioning look but she simply shook her head. It was Leela’s story to tell, not hers. 

His concern and curiosity piqued he made his way to the couch. Leela moved her legs to allow him a space to sit.

“You missed the show.” She told him.

“Oh?”

“I fell down the stairs, hit my head on the banister. I think I left a dent.”

Fry recoiled, horrified. “In your head???”

“No! In the banister!”

She moved her bangs to allow him to better see the dark purple and black mottled bruise that was already starting to spread down the side of her forehead. “Split my head clean open. Bled all over the carpet.”

Fry blanched. “Holy crap! Are you okay??”

“I’m seeing single again.”

Fry reached up and cautiously poked her bruise. “It still hurt?”

She flinched away from him, irritated. “It didn’t till you did that.”

“Oh! Sorry.” He quickly lowered his hand and looked away guiltily. When he did he noticed something on the easy chair. “Holy nuts! That cat caught a snake!”

Leela glanced over to where Muffin lay. She had Fluffy pinned firmly under one paw and was aggressively grooming the top of the snake’s head. Fluffy was struggling for all she was worth but was unable to wiggle free.

“She didn’t catch a snake.” Leela explained. “Muffin’s a mutant too. She has Fluffy in place of a tail.”

Fry’s face lit up. “That snake’s name is Fluffy?”

“Dad thought it was funny.” Leela crinkled her nose in affection. “He has the weirdest sense of humor.

“I thought the cat was your moms.”

“Muffin belongs to mom. Fluffy is dads.”

Fry looked thoughtful for a moment.

“That would make for a really interesting custody battle if they ever got divorced.”

“Fry!”

“Do they ever fight?”

“No!” Leela insisted, affronted. “They have the perfect relationship!”

“I meant the cat and snake.” He corrected sheepishly.

“Oh. Uh, not that I’ve ever noticed.”

“I wonder who would win. The cat would be all Mrow! And the snake would be all Hiss! But the cat has bigger teeth, and claws. But the snake has this action going.” Fry wiggled his arm around in imitation of a wildly flailing snake. “But the cat could swallow the snake, but if she did she would never be able to finish cause eventually she would hit her own butt so she’d have to throw up, but if she couldn’t she would be stuck being all round. Like a donut cat. But the snake would still be all eaten and I bet your dad would be mad.”

Leela stared at him, dumbfounded.

“I’m going to pretend that was the concussion talking.”

Fry’s eyes widened. “You have a concussion? Oh man, I’ve had those. They hurt. Remember the last one I got?”

“You mean the lamp incident?”

Fry chuckled at the memory. “Hehheh yeah, goooood times. At least, the parts of it I can actually remember.”

She shook her head amazed. “It astounds me that you’ve survived this long.”

“Like your one to talk miss two-weeks-in-a-coma!” Fry sneered semi-good-naturedly at her.

“Yeah well, I don’t plan on making a habit of that.”

“Good. Cause you’re no fun to talk to when you’re unconscious.”

“I’ll bear that in mind.”

Fry grinned at her and she was left with no choice but to smile back.

“So,” Leela began looking a bit wistful. “What’s been going on back at the office? I miss anything interesting?”

Fry thought for a moment. “Well, last week Zoidberg ate Hermes’ box of paperclips and Bender took all the styrofoam cups from the kitchen and hid them in stacks of three in random places all over the office. He won’t tell anyone why.”

Leela’s face brightened. “So it’s pandemonium?” She asked hopefully.

Fry shrugged, oblivious to the extent of her interest. “No more than usual.”

She deflated. “So everything’s been going fine without me?”

“Yup. We go on deliveries, then we come home and watch TV. Same as always.”

“So…my being away hasn’t made any difference at all?”

“It did at first. We got to slack off. But then the Professor made Amy replacement Captain. She doesn’t nag as much as you, but she doesn’t let us sit around.”

Now Leela looked stricken. “Amy’s Captain now?! Is she any good at it?”

Once again Fry shrugged. “She doesn’t completely suck. Bender gives her a hard time though. He wanted to be captain again, but Hermes wouldn’t let him. I think that has something to do with the styrofoam cups, but I can’t figure out what.”

A look of insecurity crossed Leela’s face but she suppressed it before Fry could notice. It would be mean to wish total calamity on Amy but Leela couldn’t help but hope that things didn’t go too smoothly for the intern. She did not want to be out-captained by that shallow bubblegum princess. It would be too humiliating to bear.

“Oh!” Fry stated as he suddenly remembered, “Hermes fixed the Jury Duty thing, so you’re not under arrest anymore.”

“Thank goodness for small favors.”

Both running short of conversation topics the pair was silent for a few moments. Had they not known each other as well as they did the silence would have been awkward. Finally Fry spoke.

“When are you coming back to work? I miss seeing you all the time.”

“You do see me all the time.”

“An hour a day is not ‘all the time’.”

“It’s a good portion of the time.”

“Well I wanna’ bigger portion.” Fry whined pathetically.

“That’s sweet, I guess. But I don’t know when I’ll be back. Hopefully as soon as these seizures stop. A week maybe?”

“An’ then maybe we can have another movie night?”

Leela considered for a moment. “We’ll see.”

“Woohoo!”

“‘We’ll see’ Doesn’t mean ‘yes’. ‘We’ll see’ means ‘We’ll see.’”

Fry shook his head stubbornly. “You interpret it your way and I’ll interpret it mine”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hopefully you won't have to wait quite as long for the next update!

[Reply #745 on:]

YAY UPDATE
*jumps up and down in excitment*
I feel sorta sorry for Leela, but Fry was cute as always and I loved Morris' reaction at the start and I liked the end bit and I hope Amy doesn't do to good coz that'd be bad for Leela. THE UPDATE ROCKED
*throws party for the return of Venus*

[Reply #746 on:]

 

Nibbler’s dancing stopped and he gave Munda a look of disgust. These people really knew how to take the joy out of breakfast. And tables.

Ahahaha.  That made me giggle.

 

Standing at her side Nibbler stared horrified, with all three eyes open wide. Though it wasn’t something he generally advertised, he had always had a morbid fear of blood. So much so in fact he had taken to eating anything alive in one giant gulp so that he wouldn’t have to look at any left over carnage. And seeing the thick red liquid slowly make its way down the forehead of someone he genuinely cared about was seriously wigging him out.

That's a really interesting tidbit, and it makes sense.  I never would have considered it.  Nicely done.

Venus, I must admit I've been waiting anxiously for an update.  I stumbled over PEEL a couple weeks ago and your story was one of the first I began reading -- it somehow stole my attention so completely that before I knew it, it was five in the morning.  I was up that late two days in a row reading it  over a weekend.  You have this way of writing that makes the reader want more, but you don't overdo things.  It's wonderful.

[Reply #747 on:]

Woo!  Update!

 

“You have a concussion? Oh man, I’ve had those. They hurt. Remember the last one I got?”

“You mean the lamp incident?”

Was that intentional, or am I making something out of nothing (as I tend to do)?

The donut cat story was genius, the breakfast table tidbit was suitably cringe-worthy, and you continue to remind me why Nibbler is one of my favorite characters.  All in all, it's really nice to be able to read more of your work.  I'm glad you finally had a moment to give us an update.

[Reply #748 on:]

lamp incident was intentional and i was hoping the table story would be cringeworthy.

[Reply #749 on:]

Yay, an inter-fic refernce! The full cleverness of the "lamp" line may be missed my many, but thanks for the mention Venus.       

I've been away from this forum ever since I 'retired' after wrapping my last story up, but I've decided to make an effort to catch up on this and maybe a couple other fics I've been slacking on reading. That said, a post with actual comments coming within the fortnight...

[Reply #750 on:]

 

“You mean the lamp incident?”

And here I was thinking that Venus was giving a subtle shout-out to one of the most infamous PEELers.

Dittos on the 'table incident'.  I can see poor Nibbler's face trying to wash that mental image out of his mind.

[Reply #751 on:]

*sniffs* It's beautiful!!!

[Reply #752 on:]

whahoo, an update!  Awesome as always, Venus. 

[Reply #753 on:]

Something I was wondering about just now:
 

Leela tried to focus her blurry vision on him so she could figure out which of the two Nibblers in her lap she should be reassuring. She only succeeded in making herself dizzier and eventually gave up.

I often wonder about little sight things that we take for granted, and how Leela would perceive the same things (if at all).  So I tried an experiment - covered one eye and tried to mess up my vision enough to see two cell phones next to me instead of one.  I couldn't do it.  I made the phone jump around, but there was still only one. Is it even possible to go "cross-eyed" when, well, you only have one eye?    No offense!  I love that line; it's such a great description of her not being able to see well.  But me and my curiosity...

[Reply #754 on:]

Damn it! I was hoping no one would catch that! I know it's inaccurate i just couldn't think of anything better. Curses!

[Reply #755 on:]

Heh, sorry about that.  It's actually not that big of a deal, but if you wanna change it, the "jumping around thing" could work.  Maybe.  *ponders*  (Try it, you'll see what I mean.) Or else just incredibly blurry vision - to the effect that she almost can't tell if it's Muffin or Nibbler on her lap.

[Reply #756 on:]

Well it took me forever to read, but this is an amazing story! I'll be watching with bated breath for an update.

[Reply #757 on:]

 

And here I was thinking that Venus was giving a subtle shout-out to one of the most infamous PEELers.

Well, that too.

OK, I'm all caught up.  Go me.
 

Fry shrugged. “A bunch of stuff I didn’t understand. All I got from it was that she’s still in danger and that she has to take a lot of pills now. She didn’t like it. And then she got all grumpy. And then she cried. And then we all had dinner.”

“Favorite song?”
“It’s foreign and I can’t pronounce it.”

Very well written Fry there, I approve and commend.
 

pandimensional white rat

Hey, I thought you had never read that book?!
 

‘Romancing the Polycrystalline Aggregate’?

Horrible.  I love it.

Oh, dramatic fanfic... I've been away for so long I forgot that though I make fun of it I  still like it in certain cases.  Great stuff as always; best of luck continuing the arc.

PS:  Sine: ‘Bated!’ 'Bated!' arggg... sorry, but that one bothers me.

[Reply #758 on:]

I read the book eventually. and i can't take credit for 'Romancing the Polycrystalline Aggregate' it was genius suggested by someone else whose name i forget.

[Reply #759 on:]

 

Originally posted by JBERGES:PS:  Sine: ‘Bated!’ 'Bated!' arggg... sorry, but that one bothers me.

Ah! Thanks. That's what two days of nearly no food or sleep does. I normally take pride in my spelling. Now let me take this opportunity to once again congratulate Venus on having one of the best fanfics ever.