Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

     Mister Nebby K Nezzer awoke that grey, Autumn morning with a yawn and a stretch. He sat up in bed and retrieved his mobile phone off the dresser to check the time.

     “Eight-fifteen, huh…? I guess I could get up now.”

     He hopped out of bed and then proceeded to fix it. Once the bed was straightened, the zucchini grabbed some clothes from the closet, left the room, and then poked his head into the room beside his. His heart nearly melted at the sight of his bunnies still asleep.

     Oh, how he loved them, all seven balls of fur.

     Looking at them resting...sort of made him feel like returning to sleep for a little while; however, Nezzer decided not to fall for the temptation. After all, he had someplace to be.

     And so, with a gentle smile, he sweetly said above a whisper, “Hope you're all having pleasant dreams…”

     It was time to get dressed.

     #

     The espresso machine continued to make its typical brewing sounds in the kitchen as Nezzer approached another room. He could hear faint snoring from behind the door, something which didn't surprise Nezzer at all.

     “Not surprised at all.”

     I just said that.

     Nudging at the door, he poked his head in. There was his housemate of many years still asleep in his king sized bed, snoring away.

     A chuckle escaped him.

     Nezzer hopped to the bed and then slowly removed the sheet from the gourd's form. Seconds after he had done that, there was a snort, an annoyed groan, and then meeting face to face with Lunt.

     Lunt slurred out with a frown, “What's up with wakin’ me up so early, man…?”

     “We're meetin’ up with the crew for new episode pitches. Remember?”

     Lunt puffed a sigh as he sat up. “I oughta give Bob a suggestion that we should have these at a more reasonable time.”

     Again, Nezzer couldn't help but chuckle, his chest shaking. “Would a nice big mug of espresso help ya get through this?”

     “...make that two, then I'll be good.”
     “Two it is, then!”

     #

     And so the boss and his right-hand man (as they were known as by everybody) chilled out at the dining room table with omelets and an espresso (or two in Lunt's case).

     The news began its morning run on the living room television while Lunt took a brief glance out the window beside him.

      [ "And I'm sorry to say, but these little grey skies are gonna get bigger and eventually produce a lot of rain. For the areas circled in red, don't be surprised if you guys have severe thunderstorms later on in the day." ]

     “Supposed to rain today or somethin’?”

     Nezzer lifted the mug to his lips. “Seems like it,” he responded, and then he sipped the drink.

     “...shoot.”

     That utter of Lunt's caught Nezzer's attention. “What's wrong?”

     “Today's a pumpkin spice kind of day, and yet here we are drinkin’ espresso,” he huffed, frowning ever so slightly.

     Nezzer might, or might not have, rolled his eyes; however, he conjured an idea. “We could always have some after the get together if it doesn't last long.”

     “...at a cafe?”
     “At a cafe.”

     "Man, you are spoilin' me today," he couldn't help but say with a small, cat-like grin, but then he suddenly asked, "What's the catch?"

     Nezzer blinked. "There isn't one. It's just that I wouldn't mind having pumpkin spice drinks later on, like you!"

     "Uh-huh."
     "Boy…"

     The gourd let out a tiny giggle at the pout he was getting. "I'm kiddin', I'm kiddin'! I know ya love me!"

     Nezzer scoffed at that last sentence, taking a sip of his espresso. 'I love you alright,' he thought, but he couldn't help thinking how cute that seemed.

     He chuckled to himself, his chest rumbling yet again.

     #

     When Nezzer stepped outside while Lunt shut and locked the door behind them, he took in that crisp air through his nostrils then released it, sighing.

     "Smells wonderful today," the large zucchini said with a smile.

     "I don't know about you," Lunt spoke up while he stuffed the keys in his leather jacket, "but this makes me wanna go anywhere but to work."

     Nezzer gave him a look which consisted of a quirked brow and his lips forming a slanted line. "To be fair, sometimes it doesn't feel like work when it comes to doing stuff for the show."

     "Maybe to you. Doesn't feel like that to me sometimes."

     Nezzer climbed into the sedan's driver's seat, Lunt slid into the passenger's, and once Nezzer turned the car on, the duo was off.

      Plip, plop, plip...a handful raindrops hit the windshield as the ride to the studio began.

     Nezzer let out a whistle as he pulled the car into the small parking lot. "Lookit that. The rain just keeps pourin' more and more by the second."

     "Just as long as it doesn't flood the studio floors like last year, we should be good," Lunt replied.

     The two climbed out, Nezzer whipping out an umbrella while Lunt tugged his jacket's hood over his head. Although he was already shielded from the rain, Lunt noticed a circular shade over his form. He looked up in time to see Nezzer at his side with the umbrella above both of them.

     "Thought you could use a little more than a hood," was what the large man said with a smile. "Don't wanna catch a cold."

     Lunt made an embarrassed grumble. "Thanks, Mom."

     Again, Nezzer chuckled.

     Today was the start of a new day.

     "So, by what we've got so far…" Bob backed up from the whiteboard, a black marker in his hold, and concluded, "it's safe to say that while they're all topics, they're the ones that won't fly well with the higher ups and some of the people that support the show...if you get what I mean."

     "Divorce is pretty common though," Petunia pointed out.

     Bob sighed, nodding. "I know. A lot of these subjects fall under that." He gave the group a small, sheepish smile. "Think we could conjure up some more stuff, guys? We're doing okay so far..."

     Some of the folks in the room started talking amongst one another. This moment of running into a creative speed bump happened every so often when they had to begin churning new episodes. They were with the times, those people in which Bob mentioned...weren't so. Always had been the case...probably always will.

     Suddenly, Larry shot up in his spot between Lunt and Pa. "I got a couple more, Bob!"

     Archibald gave the cucumber a slightly amused look from the other end of the room. "I presume LarryBoy episodes?"

     Larry whipped out a small box from, what it looked like, nowhere with a grin. "Mostly. Got a few westerns in here somewhere…"

     Bob couldn't resist holding back the tug at his lips that tried forming a smirk while he rolled his eyes. "While I'm not surprised by what they are, I'm glad you've got some ideas. Thanks, Larry."

     "Pft, I usually have ideas," Larry responded with an invisible wave of a hand.

     He hopped over to Bob and handed him the box with pride. The tomato checked inside and saw a hefty stack of papers. He took a closer look and, after a moment, gaped upon realization.

     "Are these...scripts?!"
     "I get a lot of ideas when I'm in bed."

     Bob blinked.

     "I…" the tomato shook his head and then tried again to speak, "let's take a break for now."

     #

     The wind and rain picked up in intensity outside, but for the cast and crew of VeggieTales, they were safe indoors and didn't pay much attention, even with how powerful the thunder rumbled. In fact, Jerry Gourd was just about finished with preparing some instant hot cocoa, a drink that he felt like a lot of people would appreciate during this weather.

     He called out with his rather quiet voice, "Anybody want some hot chocolate?"

     In an instant, he had fellow cast members hopping over from other parts of the cafeteria to retrieve a mug from the massive tray which the gourd held out.

     Larry returned with some hot chocolate to the corner where he and Lunt sat. "Did I miss anythin'?" He plopped down on the ground with a grunt.

     "The madman's tryin' another corruption code that's supposed to, like," Lunt paused, "make everybody's hands gigantic in the game."

     "Ooh, sounds silly."
     "A masterpiece is what that is."

     #

     "Still readin' what Larry wrote down, huh," Nezzer's voice from above his head caused Bob to jump in his seat from the interruption.

     "O--oh, yeah," Bob stammered out while Nezzer took a seat beside him at a table. "He sure wrote a lot. There's about...eight short stories here, mostly 'LarryBoy' like he said."

     He fidget in his seat, a small grin coming to his face.

     "One of them's about Thingamabob's origins, which, uh...might've caught my eye more than once."

     The zucchini smiled from amusement. "You really like that role, don't you?"

     Bob felt his cheeks burn as he darted his eyes to the side and his small grin twisted into a larger one. "Yeah, I won't lie…"

     Ahh, he should try changing the topic, or else he would turn even redder, if physically possible. The tomato returned his gaze to the man beside him who was now flipping through the stapled pages before them with a hum. Without hesitation, Bob blurted out, "B--but do you have any ideas? I hardly hear from you in the drawing room…"

     Nezzer blinked, turning his head towards Bob. "Me? Let me see."

     Bob watched Nezzer go quiet for a moment. His purple eyes focused to the table, narrowing. Now while Nezzer had given a hand in quite a few episodes, Bob came to the realization that the massive fellow beside him never completely "took the reigns" over an episode.

     Maybe...this could be his first!

     Like Larry, Nebby K. Nezzer was a creative individual, especially when creativity was in dire need.

     "Bob?"

     Nezzer's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Bob shook his head for a moment and then replied, "What is it?"

     The zucchini gave him a smile. "Ever heard of 'The Story of Ferdinand'?"

     Bob tilted his head, blinking. "I don't think I have. What's it about?"

     "A bull named Ferdinand who doesn't like fighting and spends his time with the flowers," he explained. Nezzer reclined before continuing the rundown on the story, "His mom's understanding of him and lets him be happy. When he's older, despite bein' a pretty strong bull - heck, the biggest one there -, he still doesn't want to fight."

     Nezzer's purple eyes went up to the ceiling, the lights flickering for a split second, but nothing which caused alarm.

     "The other bulls around him like fightin', and they especially wanted to show off to some people who were looking for tough bulls to fight a matador in Madrid. On that day, Ferdinand accidentally sat on a bee in the flower field and, well..."

     "He flipped out?"

     Nezzer grinned. "And impressed the people! So, he was sent to Madrid to fight the matador. When he was in the arena, he saw some of the women wearing flowers and became distracted by those instead of fightin' the matador."

     Bob let out a small chuckle. "And?"

     "The matador cried and gave up because Ferdinand refused to attack!" Nezzer shifted in his seat to one side. "And so, Ferdinand went back to his favorite flower field and lived happily ever after." He was beaming once he completed the story's plot.

     Well, that was a nice story.

     "I think…" Bob spoke up, "I think we could do something with this, Nebby! It's a nice lesson about being yourself!"

     "I had a feelin' we could do it," Nezzer responded and gave him a wink.

     The tomato turned his entire body to face him, smiling from ear to ear (if he had ears). "And you know what? You seem to like that story, don't you?"

     "Read the book when I was little a whole lot. I even read it once in a while nowadays."
     "How would you feel about being in complete charge of this episode?"

     For a reason Nezzer still couldn't figure out why exactly to this very day, the zucchini blushed as if thrown aback by Bob's suggestion. "You want me to direct it?"

     "I do," Bob confirmed, nodding. "In fact, I'm gonna tell the others about this when we regroup--"

     On cue with the thunder clapping outside, the studio went dark, which in turn caused a few of the members to cry out by surprise.

     "...oh dear," Bob could muster just as other voices began questioning or talking to each other about the sudden darkness. "They did mention something about a strong storm on the news…"

     Meanwhile, Lunt checked the battery life on his phone while Larry flipped the flashlight on his own mobile phone on. "Good thing I charged it before I left," the gourd said to nobody but himself.

     "Uh, Bob?" Larry called out, immediately getting Bob's attention while flashing the light towards the tomato, "Did we pay the light bill?"

     "...the lightning did that, Larry," Bob flatly responded while squinting eyes at the invading light from Larry's phone.

     Suddenly, a face shot up in Bob's face, followed by an accented, "Bob!"

     Bob yelped but then regained his composure when he realized it was--, "Scooter?"

     "I think the generator's been knocked out by that darn storm," the carrot told him.

     "The generator...do you think so?"
     " 'course! If it hadn't, these lights would've turned back on by now! It's not doin' what it's made to do!"

     Nezzer joined in on the conversation, offering, "I could go and check real quick."

     The thunder rumbled as though it was trying to reply to Nezzer's words.

     Scooter stood up straight, having been in a squatting position in front of Bob until now, and gave an unsure glance to the side. "It's a- stormin' out there, Nezzer." He returned his eyes to the zucchini. "If you're gonna step out there for the sake of us, at least lemme join ya."

     Nezzer smiled. "Alright."

     Bob spoke up, "Be careful out there, you two."

     "No worries, we will," Scooter assured the small tomato.

     "Uh," Larry asked, "you sure you wanna play this in the dark?"

     "Shouldn't be that scary," Lunt huffed as he opened an app on his phone. "I'm not a scaredy cat like you are, man."

     He gasped, offended. "You take that back!"

     "You had to keep the bedroom light on the whole night at our sleepover because you wanted to play that 'Doki Doki' game."
     "Dude, you wanted the light on too, you know."

     Larry was right.

     ...still, no way was Lunt going to admit that he had gotten scared of it (or anything, for that matter).

     Instead, the gourd (of the decorative kind) opened his mouth to say a smart response but caught the sight of Scooter and Nezzer opening the double door entrance from the corner of his right view. Both men were in their jackets while Nezzer whipped out his black pocket umbrella.

     "What'cha lookin' at?"

     "Guess the old men are gonna try gettin' the lights back on," Lunt replied to Larry.

     The gourd hopped off his seat and went to the duo just as they were stepping out.

     "Hey," Lunt called, getting their attention once he reached them, "where the heck are you two headin' to in this funky weather?" He gave Nezzer a look, a tiny grin coming to his face. "Leavin' me behind, boss?"

     Nezzer huffed a chuckle.

     "Not to worry none," Scooter replied with a smirk at the teasing words directed at Nezzer, "we're just gonna head out and see if we can get the lights back on."

     Nezzer joined in, "I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be a fan of coming outside with us for that." He grinned. "Would you?"

     The thunder rumbled through the heavy downpour.

     "...yeah, probably not," Lunt replied with a shrug. "Sounds boring anyway."

     He took a hop closer to Nezzer.

     Lunt said in a joking manner, "Just watch where you're hoppin' while you're out there, old man. Don't wanna slip and fall in a puddle."

     Once more, Nezzer huffed. "Boy, two things: I'm not that old, and I'm definitely a lot more careful than you are." He suddenly paused, thinking for a moment, and then said, "Oh, and also I'm not afraid of the rain like you are, so…"

     Lunt gasped at the insult. "Slander!"

     The zucchini couldn't resist laughing as he ventured outside. Scooter chuckled and followed him, letting the doors close from behind.

     Lunt simply stood there, grumbling incoherent words about the exchange. First, Larry teased him about the 'Doki Doki' game, and now Nebby was saying that he couldn't handle the rain like he was...some kind of cat, or something.

      Please, he was from New Jersey, not Texas.

     "So they're gonna fix the lights?"

     Lunt yelled and almost dropped his precious mobile phone when Larry's voice spoke up from behind. He spun and saw Larry now attempting not to snicker at his reaction.

     "Man, you're gonna make me jump out of my skin one of these days."

     "...I thought you didn't get scared of anything," Larry said with a silly grin.

     Lunt paused. "I...don't get scared."

     "Uh huh."
     "That's it, we're playing the game... at the darkest corner of this place."

     Larry's grin widened. " Bring it."

     The generator was situated behind the studio building, atop a three-foot high platform which had a tiny flight of stairs to access it. It sat in silence as the thunder and lightning continued doing what nature intended.

     "Ahh, there she is," Scooter immediately said upon reaching the generator with Nezzer, "hardly makin' a sound."

     Nezzer quirked a brow. "Is it supposed to?"

     Scooter shrugged. "Maybe. We've only had to come back here once in a while to check up on it. Don't remember the sounds it made…"

     Nezzer looked from Scooter then to the generator with a hum, thinking. He hopped up the four steps leading to the machine. While Scooter joined him up there and began to check the right sides of the generator, Nezzer decided to check the left portion of it. The zucchini shifted the umbrella whenever he moved so he could view the generator better through the heavy rain. Nothing off here, or there…

     "See anything, Nezzer?"

     "Still searchin', Scooter. How about your end?"

     "Everything's looking just fine so far," the carrot responded. "Fuel valve's where it needs to be."

     "Hmm…" Nezzer narrowed his eyes and examined the left side again. Only other thing on this section besides a few vacant plugin sockets was a red, circular switch.

     Nezzer stopped where he was, and then, after staring at that switch for a moment, lowered himself in front of it, his brows knitting in thought.

     "...Scooter."
     "Aye, what's up?"

     From his position, Nezzer told him, "The generator's engine switch is off."

     "...oooh," Scooter joined him on the left of the generator, saying in a rather embarrassed tone, "I guess I forgot to turn it back on after I did some stuff with it last month."

     "So, your bad?"
     "My bad."

     Nezzer barked a laugh at that.

     #

     "And as night grew near," Petunia continued her story, surrounded by Junior, Laura, Archibald, Jimmy, and Jerry at the table, "Sam felt the pit of his stomach drop, but he couldn't figure out why! Could it have been because he blew a raspberry at the strange kid at school earlier that day?"

     Jimmy spoke up, "Yeah probably."

     Archibald spoke up as well, though it was fussy in nature, "Petunia, this story isn't going to be silly at the end, will it?"

     "It won't," she lied as the thunder rumbled in the background. "Anyway, once Sam got himself cleaned up for bed and said goodnight to his parents, almost hesitantly, he climbed into bed and kept his desk lamp on. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep...and neither did it take long for his lightbulb to die out!"

     "Oh boy," Junior murmured.

     Archibald scooted closer to Jerry nervously. Jerry, in the meantime, held his hot chocolate closer to himself but made himself listen to Petunia's scary story she told in the dark. If they had hands, Junior and Laura would've been holding each other's for comfort. Jimmy took a slow bite of his donut.

     "Sam awoke all of a sudden and was shocked to find himself in his dark bedroom instead of the lit one he set up. He felt sick, sicker than the time he ate liver and onions at his uncle's!" Petunia leaned into the group, continuing, "He could hardly see the outlines of his bedroom -- it was that dark, and that darkness scared him! Oh, but nothing like the gut-wrenching fear he felt when he noticed a small form, like a kid's form, sitting at the foot of his bed. But it wasn't just a figment of his imagination... dot, dot, dot…

     It was Nicholas! The weird kid he stuck his tongue out at! Sam couldn't open his mouth and ask why his classmate was here, but Nicholas had a different idea.

     That fiend, that scoundrel! He leaned in to Sam with a blank stare, puckered his lips, and then--"

     Petunia blew a raspberry at the group at the same time the lights turned on. The group, honestly, was more surprised by that instead of Petunia's twist ending, it seemed.

     "...well," the rhubarb faltered with a shrug, "that was anticlimactic…"

     Larry and Lunt looked up at the lights over their heads, taking a moment away from the large "game over" written in pixelated blood on Lunt's phone screen.

     "Looks like Nezzer and Scooter got the lights workin'," Larry said.

     "Good," Lunt replied, "maybe I can see stuff better in the game this time."

     "...you sure that's the reason why you're glad the light's on?"

     "I wasn't gettin' scared! I was just getting jittery from caffeine." In a grumble, Lunt added, "I hardly get scared by stuff anyway."

     #

     Scooter could see light coming from the building thanks to the higher windows of the building and the humming of the generator. He beamed. "You did it, Nezzer!"

     Nezzer made a small grunt and stood up straight. "All I did was turn it on…" he pointed out.

     "Still, you did it!"

     "True." Nezzer turned with a small smile, glad that the issue was resolved. "Anyway," he said as he began to head towards the steps, "let's hurry and head back inSI--" the way he said 'inside' twisted into a yell as Nezzer slipped and practically flew a few feet off the ground…before crashing onto the bottom of the step, his back slamming on the step above it, causing him to cry out.

     #

     "Was that a yell…?" Bob worriedly got up from his seat and looked to the studio entrance.

     Maybe he should go check on Nezzer and Scoot--

     The double doors swung open, a frantic Scooter was there without his umbrella and getting soaked by the never-ending rain. This sight got a few people to stare at him; however, before anybody could ask what was wrong, Scooter cried, "Fellas, we're gonna either need an ambulance or to hurry to the hospital right now!" 

     Larry and Lunt were looking over to see what was going on as other crew members hurried to Scooter.

     "An ambulance?" Larry blinked while his eyebrows furrowed in question.

     Lunt paused his game. "The heck do they need an ambulance for?"

     Scooter wasn't done explaining. "Nezzer took a fall out here! He's in a lot of pain!"

     "Oh my god," Bob let that saying slip past his mouth just this once. "L--let me help you get him in my car, Scooter! We'll take him right away!"

     "Bob, Scooter," Dad Asparagus threw his jacket on, offering, "let me help too. I'll go ahead and drive us there!"

     More and more voices spoke all at once, each saying whatever in this situation. There was much concern for Nebby K. Nezzer by everybody. Larry gulped. This wasn't the first time somebody he knew had to be rushed to the hospital, so hearing about this was downright frightful for him. Poor Nezzer…

      Clank!

     The sound of something hitting the floor beside him snapped Larry out of his thoughts. The item was Lunt's phone. His brown eyes traced upwards to the gourd's face. His mouth was parted a bit, and his body focused ahead to the doors where Scooter, Dad, and Bob rushed through.

     Larry felt his stomach flop. This felt too familiar. As gently as he could muster, he called, "Lunt?"

     "Hey," Lunt said, not even looking away from the scene, "remember when I said that I hardly get scared?"

     "...yeah?"

     He couldn't say what he wanted to. He couldn't admit that, at that moment as his stomach twisted into multiple knots, he was very scared.

Chapter Text

     "Out of all of the things that I expected to send me to the hospital, slippin' in a puddle wasn't even in the top ten," Nezzer grumbled out loud as he plopped his head back against the pillow.

     "I guess it would've fallen under the 'accident at work' category," Bob replied in the chair beside Nezzer's hospital bed with a shrug.

     "...does that mean I get paid for this?"

     "Uh, well, I--I guess we could work something out, of course--"

     Nezzer cracked a grin. "Boy, I'm kiddin'. I don't need money for what happened. It was just an accident!"

     Bob slumped a little in his seat. "Oh. But," he spoke up, "you were in a lot of pain, so much so that they had to give you a lot of painkillers just to calm you down! Isn't there anything we could do to make it up to you once you're better?"

     "..." The zucchini fell quiet, thinking to himself for a second. Suddenly, his eyebrows went up. His eyes met Bob's as he suggested, "How about lettin' me write and direct 'Ferdidill'?"

     "Ferdidill?"
     "It's the name I'm givin' our 'Story of Ferdinand' adaptation."

     "Oh…" Bob cracked a smile. "Well, of course then! Were you gonna need some help?"

     "Already have someone who's gonna assist me with this," Nezzer replied, shutting his eyes with a smile of his own.

     "Oh, you mean--"

     #

     "Lunt?"

     Lunt continued slipping some soda through a straw at a waiting room table just as Larry called his name. "Mh," he made a muffled sound in reply.

     Larry tilted his head whilst unwrapping a candy bar. "How come you're not with Nebby?"

     He released the straw from his mouth with a pop. "One visitor at a time. Bob's in there." The gourd went back to his drink nonchalantly.

     Larry faltered. This was weird, very weird that Lunt didn't seem fazed anymore, but maybe it's because he knew that Nezzer was going to be alright.

     Larry puffed through his nostrils.

     Wish he had been like that with Bob's accident.

     "So, like," Lunt spoke up as he pushed his empty cup to the side, "whaddya get for someone in the hospital after somethin' like that?"

     Larry thought for a second. "How about...chocolate? Flowers? Chocolate flowers?"

     They sat in silence, having their own thoughts on what to get for the injured zucchini on the third floor. As they continued to wonder, their eyes (well, if Lunt had any to begin with) trailed from the table up to the hospital's gift store which calmly stood several feet in front of them.

     Larry suggested, "Guess we could go in there and see."

     But as Lunt rose from his seat with Larry, he felt a pair of eyes staring at him from one of the shop's windows. He looked in that direction, and a lightbulb went off in his head.

     Scooter entered the room, whipping off his jacket, followed by his green scarf. "Ah, Nezzer! You're awake! How are you doin', buddy? I'm," he sighed out as he hung his head a bit, "really sorry about what happened..."

     Bob turned around in his seat to greet Scooter. "Scooter, I don't think you have to apologize…"

     Nezzer nodded in reply. "Scooter, Bob's right," he assured the man with a smile. "Should've watched where I was going, if you ask me."

     Scooter lifted his head, sighing through his nostrils. "I suppose so, but I still feel, somewhat, responsible about all of this."

     "I'll be alright," the zucchini replied and shrugged without his smile faltering at all. "I just need to rest a few nights here, and then once I'm out, rest at home for a month and I should be okay after that."

     On cue, right when he tried fixing himself in bed, a loud yelp ripped from his throat, scaring both Bob and Scooter. Nezzer flopped back against the bed with a grumble.

     Scooter spoke up as he fiddled with the bottom of his jacket, "Ah Nezzer, I just hate seein' you like this!"

     Bob frowned. "Me too, honestly…"

     "Fellas, it's gonna be o--…" Nezzer slowly, ever so cautiously, reached behind himself and fixed the pillow for his poor back, "...okay." He gave the men a small smile. "Honest! Besides, if I need help with anythin' once I'm at home, I could always ask for--" 

     Larry popped up beside Nezzer's bed with a big box of chocolate, and the other three in the room cried out in surprise. "Hey Nezzer," he greeted the zucchini. "Got ya some 'get well soon' chocolate!"

     "Oh," Nezzer laughed softly as he was handed the milk chocolate treats, "thank you, Larry."

     "No prob. Lunt got ya somethin' too, but he said he has to wait outside since only two people are allowed in the room." Larry jerked his head towards the entrance, indicating the hallway.

     Bob spoke, "A--actually Larry, the limit is four people at a time, not two…"

     Larry blinked. "Oh." He hopped over to the doorway and then poked his head out, saying, "Hey, you can come in. The limit's four, dude."

     Almost faint, Lunt's voice could be heard going, "Oh yeah? Uh...guess I read the sign wrong. Well, let me in then!"

     Nezzer felt an amused grin tug at his lips as soon as he heard the gourd's voice; however, when Lunt entered, the grin widened at the massive, floppy-eared stuffed rabbit with equally massive feet.

     "Well well well!" Lunt grunted for a moment as he plopped the adorable bundle of fluff onto the bed. "Look who went and fell anyway even though I said not to!"

     Nezzer gave him a tiny, playful glare whilst his cheeks puffed. "Boy…"

     "I know, I know...it was an accident."
     "Yeah, trust me. I'm not particularly a fan of falling since I'm on the 'big' side, body-wise--"

     A small movement of trying to pull the plush bunny close to him caused Nezzer to loudly exclaim an "ow", scaring the four visitors. Lunt visibly flinched while Scooter pushed the bunny to Nezzer and Bob fixed the big pillow behind his back before Nezzer could fall back against it.

     Scooter gave Nezzer a smile. "There ya are."

     Bob asked the large man, "Are you okay? Need me to see if we can get something else for your back?"

     Nezzer shook his head while hugging the plush bunny to his side. "Nah, I should be fine. If it gets too bad, I can call someone. Thanks anyway, Bob."

     Larry took a quick glance at Lunt to see his reaction, but his mouth parted in question when he noticed Lunt lowered his head a little down and to the side.

     That reaction sure did seemed familiar to him.

     Nezzer spoke up, asking Bob with a tilt of his head, "Hey Bob, doesn't Joe get out of school in a few minutes?"

     Bob froze. " What ?"

     Scooter whipped out his pocket watch to check the time. "Looks like ol' Nezzer's right, Bob. It's ten minutes to two-thirty!"

     The tomato sputtered at that. How on earth did time fly so fast?! Must have been when they were all in the waiting room while Nezzer was getting taken care of. Boy, he felt bad that he and Larry had to leave Nezzer so soon...

     "Ah--I'm sorry Nezzer," Bob apologized suddenly, "we're gonna have to go now and pick up Joe!"

     Nezzer gave him an understanding smile. "You're good. Tell Joe that I said 'hi'!"

     "I will. Come on, Larry!"

     Larry snapped out of his thoughts and returned to reality. "Oh yeah, Joe's gettin' out," he paused, "...and I'm gettin' a little hungry."

     Then Scooter said all of a sudden, "Ack, I forgot I rode in the car with you two when we brought Nezzer. I'd better go too since riding those buses are just a little too bumpy."

     Bob paused. "Wait." He turned to Lunt. "You got here with us too, didn't you, Lunt?"

     He shrugged. "Yeah, I did. I'll just take the bus back to the studio and take Nezzer's car."

     Nezzer frowned a little. "You only have your driver's permit…"

     "I should be fine."
     "...you crashed the car into Archie's yard the last time you drove."
     "Aural made me do it."

     Bob gave Lunt a sheepish smile. "Don't worry, we can drop you off after we swing by to get Joe. Come down to the car as soon as possible. Okay?"

     Lunt let out a puff. "Roger."

     "Come on," the tomato said to Larry and Scooter with a jerk of his head to the hallway, "let's head out!"

     Scooter gave Nezzer a sympathetic smile as he began to leave. "Get well, Nezzer!"

     "Bye Nezzer," Larry followed, chiming out with a grin. "Hope you feel better!"

     Once more, Bob smiled at Nezzer as well. "Take care, Nezzer. Call us if you want us to bring you anything!"

     Nezzer nodded. "Will do."

     And so, Bob took his leave; thus, leaving Lunt by himself with Nezzer. Lunt remembered that he only had a minute or two to talk to Nezzer before he had to go also.

     Something about that made Lunt's stomach twist.

     "So…" Nezzer's deep voice brought him back to reality, and Lunt realized he had been watching the doorway since the trio left.

     Lunt turned to face the large man in the bed. "So…"

     Nezzer grinned a little. "Looks like you get to have the house to yourself. It's been a while since you've had a chance like this."

     The left side of Lunt's mouth twitched but paid no attention to it. Instead, he hopped onto the bed, taking a seat at the foot of Nezzer's bed. "I dunno if you should be happy 'bout that, old man. I could order three large pizzas and eating nothing but that 'til you come back," he said with a shrug.

     "...well, if you really want to. You might get sick though."
     "Don't tempt me ."

     Nezzer chuckled.

     A moment of silence followed after the exchange.

     Lunt was looking down at the ground, his mouth at a neutral state while the rest of him felt rather odd. It was as though he couldn't...just look at Nezzer, his current condition, and what made him come here in the first place.

     Did he feel bad for taunting him about slipping and falling out in that storm? Well...yeah, of course he did. Nezzer was his boss at one point which then led to them being, perhaps, companions.

     "Oh, by the way, before you leave me, I have to tell ya something…" Nezzer spoke, causing Lunt to look to him in question, "when I get home, we have a project to do."

     He grinned.

     Lunt quirked a brow. "Project?"

     "I'm gonna tell the others not to tell you what it is. You'll find out once I'm at home with ya."
     "As if Larry will spill the beans to me if I'm casual 'bout it."

     Nezzer's grin widened. "That's what you think." Instead of going into even a tiny bit of detail, the zucchini nudged his head towards the door. "Better get goin'. They gotta go get little Joe. Have an extra cup of pumpkin spice for me while you're at it."

     And then, he added one more thing, saying, "Let the bunnies know what's up in case they're wondering."

     Lunt couldn't resist himself from grinning at that request. Of course the bunnies needed to know. "Yeah yeah, Bunny Dad. Rest easy."

     Lunt fixed his hat as though he was tipping it at Nezzer before turning and taking his leave. Once the small gourd was gone, Nezzer relaxed and leaned back against the gentle pillow while grabbing the t.v. remote off the table beside him. His smile softened a tad when his eyes briefly glanced to his fluffy, inanimate companion before returning to the television.

     After dropping off Scooter at his home, they arrived at the home which Nezzer and Lunt shared.

     Bob asked just as Lunt opened the backseat passenger door, "Not gonna be lonely in that place, are you?"

     "Nah, me and the bunnies are gonna marathon 'Planet of the Apes' with the largest pizza Pizza Hut makes," the gourd replied. He closed the door.

     On cue, Larry popped his head out of the passenger window. "Save me a piece when I drop by."

     Joe popped his head out the window as well. "I wanna have some too!"

     Lunt gave the two a grin. "Maybe for Joe, but you're on your own, Larry."

     Lunt ignored the cucumber sticking his tongue out at him as he began his brief hop to the entrance of the house.

     Larry fell back against his seat, puffing through his nose. Just as Bob was about to drive off, the tomato caught the sound of Larry's puffing.

     "Something wrong, Larry?"

     "Huh?" The cucumber blinked, looking over to him, but then he realized Bob must have noticed the sound he made. "I was just...wonderin' if Lunt's gonna be okay."

     Joe spoke up, curiously, "What's wrong with Mister Lunt?"

     Larry slowly shrugged while his eyes rolled off to the side. "Well...he jus' seemed a little quiet before we went in the room to see Nezzer," then he added, glancing back to Bob, "he said he was fine though, so…"

     Bob tilted his head. "Well, alright…"

     And with that, the car went away from the house.

     "Alright you fluff balls," Lunt said as soon as he approached the bunnies' room, "Dad hurt his back, so he's stayin' at the hospital for a day or two," he shifted his hat then continued, "so I'm head of the house 'til he gets back on his feet."

     He paused.

     "Well, you know what I mean."

     Some of the bunnies were just...doing whatever bunnies did, others slept, and others were eating from their massive bowl of bunny food.

     "Anyway," he said to the fluffy animals, "let me know if you need anythin'. I'll check on you all later."

     He returned to the living room but paused midway, for something that Nezzer said to him before he left rung in his head: "Have an extra cup of pumpkin spice for me while you're at it." 

     "...guess I will."

     Minutes later, he had a freshly brewed cup of pumpkin spice and another one sitting on the coffee table in front of him. Lunt sat back against the warm linen couch while he sipped away and let the television play whatever the heck was on.

     Yeah, cool, he got the house to himself.

     ...but it didn't feel right, the drop he felt in his stomach when he first arrived to the hospital and again when he saw Nezzer in that hospital bed told him so.

     In fact, he was sure he had felt it earlier too when Scooter hurried into the studio because Nezzer--

     "Just watch where you're hoppin' while you're out there, old man. Don't wanna slip and fall in a puddle."

     His stomach flopped, and he almost had the urge to throw up the coffee he drank.

Chapter Text

    "A two page essay analyzing a sixty second commercial? Give me a break..." he grumbled at his computer desk, looking at the image on the screen.

    Suddenly, his mobile phone to the right of him vibrated on the desk.

    Aural, or -- as a few have called him -- Mister Aural disregarded his assignment for a moment to check who could be texting him this late. He retrieved the device while plopping back against his chair with a sigh through his nostrils.

    It was a new text message from Lunt.

    He opened his chat log with Lunt and saw that it was merely a hand waving emoji.

    Well, time to procrastinate.

    "<<Hey little bro what's up.>>"

    Lunt immediately replied with, "<<Hey Aural...got the house to myself for a while.>>" 

    "<< Nice. Not gonna throw a house party or something while Nebby's out are you?>>"
     "<<nah.>>"

    Aural blinked. "<<Dang really? What's wrong? Are you sick?>>"

    After questioning Lunt, Aural didn't see an instant response from the other gourd. In fact, it took a moment or two before Lunt finally replied. What his sibling said next really got his attention.

    "<<he had an accident at the studio so it's not really a good feeling doing something like that you know.>>"

    Aural's brows raised at that. "An accident? Is the old guy okay?"

     #

    "<<Nebby had an accident? Man what happened?>>"

    Lunt was laying on his back on Nezzer's massive -- and very, very comfy -- Alaska King sized bed while he continued his conversation with his step-brother with a sense of guilt residing in his gut.

    He found himself letting out a short sigh.

    "<<he slipped and fell outside while trying to get the power back on for the studio like...around eleven or twelve today during that storm.>>"
     "<<is he gonna be okay?>>"

    His stomach twisted and turned into tight knots.

    "<<yeah,>>" Lunt answered, "<<he will be. Gotta stay there a day, two, three before he can leave. But the thing is...>>" he trailed off in his text, trying to think how to word the rest of his feelings to Aural.

    Aural spoke up, "<<Lunt?>>"

    Lunt sent the first half of his text, and then he completed his sentence, typing, "<<the thing is I said something to him a little while before it happened and I guess I feel bad about it.>>"

    Once that other portion was sent and read by him, Aural asked, "<<how come? Did you say something like 'don't slip and fall in a puddle old man'?>>"

    Silence.

    "<<uh how did you know?>>"
     "<<lucky guess.>>"

    He sighed loudly and then sat up. "<<I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I think Nebby hurting himself was my fault.>>"

    "<<Bad timing, but I don't think it's your fault. The poor guy just slipped in some water and fell, it's not like you tripped him or something along that line.>>"
     "<<true.>>"
     "<<I'll bet if you ask him that he'd say it wasn't your fault.>>"

    Aural was right, but, he just couldn't help but feel as though Nezzer could blame him if he wanted to. Instead of objecting what Aural said, Lunt, instead, replied with, "<<yeah I guess he wouldn't.>>"

    "<<so don't worry! Just let the big guy recover and you try to keep the house nice like he would've wanted it to be. Oh yeah, and take care of the bunnies.>>"
     "<<dully noted. Thanks Aural.>>"

    "<<No problem, little bro,>>" Aural added a heart emoji at the end of his sentence.

    "<<anyway, I guess I'll be heading to bed, You go do your college homework or whatever.>>"
     "<<how did you know I had homework?>>"

    And all that Lunt said was, "<<lucky guess.>>"

    The decorative gourd leaned off the bed and sat his mobile phone upon Nezzer's dresser, deciding not to shut it off for the night in case anybody decided to text him...or if he needed to text somebody. The bedroom light was already off, so all Lunt had to do was climb under the sheets and plop his head down on one of the many pillows. He left Nezzer's bedroom television on; however, he made certain to use the remote to turn down the volume to nearly mute so it wouldn't disturb his rest.

    Wouldn't be the first time he hijacked Nezzer's bed, but dang, he felt like he had to do this instead of sleeping in his nice king sized bed.

    It was kind of comforting.

    ...

    Nezzer was going to be okay. He was gonna get better. That big fella could handle it. Sure it might be a couple of days before he could come home, but it would be worth it.

    "When I get home, we have a project to do," Nezzer's voice echoed in his head seconds before Lunt felt himself falling asleep. What kind of project could he have meant?

    Mister Nebby K Nezzer sighed through his nostrils, looking down at the scribbled notes he made on a hospital branded notepad. Just the overall summary of "Ferdinand", a messy yet endearingly cute doodle of a bull's head, and nothing more. Sure, he could've watched something on the television or went to sleep since he was already in bed; however, he simply couldn't wait to get working on their rendition of "Ferdinand".

    ...well, he would've enjoyed working on it, but how would one stretch out a short children's storybook into an hour long episode?

    He hummed briefly.

    The zucchini sat the notepad onto the end table beside him and retrieved his cellphone. The time at the top of its screen read "11:45".

    "Somethin' seems off about that boy," he found himself murmuring all of a sudden. "Maybe I should text him before hittin' the hay..."

     #

    The sound of his phone buzzing twice brought Lunt back. He flipped to his side and grabbed the device to check what the notification could have been.

    It was a text from Nezzer which said, "<<Goodnight,>>" there was a bunny emoji placed afterwards, then, "<<I'll be resting well here don't worry. Don't forget that Coco's banned from going anywhere near the bathroom.">>

    Still sleepy, it took him a moment to process the text, and once he did, he huffed a quiet laugh. "Got it, the 'toilet paper floor' incident."

    In reply, Lunt answered, "<<Got it boss. Night...>>"

    Nezzer felt a smile tug at his lips. "Night, Lunt."

    Ka-klack , he opened the hospital room door as quietly as he could and in poked Bob's head.

    "Mister Nezzer, are you up?"

    He spotted the large zucchini man, awake and sitting up in bed with a tray of fresh, steaming food in front of him. His stuffed bunny sat up beside him with a napkin tied around its neck as though it was going to join in the feast as well.

    "Mornin' Bob," though a bit sleepy sounding, Nezzer still replied with his usual friendly tone, smiling at him. "Nice to see you here so early."

    The tomato smiled back. "I wanted to see how you were doing and hang out with you for a while since Larry's planning on visiting Lunt later. So," he hopped inside and took a seat in the chair beside Nezzer's bed with a tiny grunt, "how are things?"

    "Back still kinda hurts of course," Nezzer shifted in the bed for a moment before grabbing his mug of coffee, "but they're saying I should be good enough to leave in another day or two."

    "That's great!"

    Suddenly, there was a faint gurgling sound which made itself known. This surprised both men, but when Nezzer looked to Bob to see if the tomato had heard the sound, he noticed how he was darting his eyes to the side, looking even redder than he usually did.

    "...you haven't eaten yet?"
     "...I guess I forgot to before I left the house."

    Nezzer couldn't help but muffle a chuckle at the embarrassed response. He looked at his plate. He didn't touch his bacon and toast but was mid-way through his sausage omelet. He opened a napkin and placed two uneaten items and nudged it towards the end of his tray.

    "Have this in the meantime," he offered.

    Bob, when he returned his eyes to the side, carefully retrieved the food. "Thanks, Mister Nezzer."

    He smiled. "No problem."

    They began to eat together, listening to whatever channel Nezzer had on the television. The stuffed bunny, of course being a stuffed bunny, simply sat there with the bib still secured around its neck and stared ahead.

    Bob, all of a sudden said after swallowing a piece of bacon, "If Larry and Lunt mess up any of your property, I apologize in advance."

    "Wouldn't be the first time," a muffled assurance was what Bob received from Nezzer.

    "Ooh, pizza for breakfast. Must be nice doin' this without someone judin' ya like Bob would do." Larry sat back against the couch with an ooey-gooey slice of cheese pizza awaiting to enter his grinning mouth.

    "Done it before but got a few looks from Nezzer," Lunt replied with a shrug, "so it's not like I did this judgement free all the time."

    With the slice poking halfway out of his mouth, Larry watched Lunt recline against the couch with a slice of pepperoni supreme with a tiny grin crossing his face. The gourd was licking his lips, getting hungrier the longer he stared at the pizza.

    The pizza drooped and so did Lunt's small grin, faltering into a neutral form of a partly open mouth, but one too small to even fit the pointy end of the hot food before him.

    Larry, seeing this happen, quirked a brow. "Uh, you okay...?"

    Lunt looked from the pizza to Larry and then back to the pizza. As good as it looked, as good as probably tasted, he placed the pizza back in its box. "Eh, guess I'm not as hungry as I thought I was." He hopped off the couch. "Maybe I'll have some coffee for now. Want any?"

    He adjusted himself on the couch now that he had it to himself for the time being by swinging his lower portion of his body on top of the couch seat without dropping the rest of his food. "The usual," he told him.

    "Got it. Be right back."

    Larry's eyes followed Lunt hopping to the kitchen. Something about his sudden change in eating felt odd. He tilted his head like a confused puppy at where Lunt was sitting. "Who would get turned off by pizza all of a sudden?"

     #

    Lunt watched as the coffee machine began to drip out the caffeinated drink into the pot mutely. Was his body going to reject enjoying this as well? He wasn't sure.

    Coco the bunny continued napping on the kitchen table.

    If he had arms, he would've been laying on them while he finished watching the coffee get prepared. His mouth quirked to the right, frowning. He had pizza, he was getting coffee, Larry (fellow trouble maker) was here, he didn't have to go anywhere...it should be a nice day today, but it wasn't.

    It just wasn't.

    The coffee was done.

    Once he gathered the two mugs of coffee, he began his return to the living room

    ...not noticing that Larry had been poking his head around the corner before he turned around to exit the kitchen.

    Larry plopped himself back on the couch with a tiny "oof" just in time, for Lunt joined him on the couch seconds later with their drinks. "Got the chocolate Santa sticks in 'em?"

    "Two Santas for you," he handed Larry his mug, "and one Santa choco stick for me."

    As soon as he saw the two chocolate Santa Claus sticks, a silly grin came to Larry's face. " Nice ."

    Dolly the bunny hopped on top of the coffee table as the two began to drink their coffee. Lunt was glad he found the strength to consume his. Guess his stomach needed some liquids first before getting to the good stuff.

    While drinking from his own mug, enjoying the chocolate-y taste mixed in with his coffee, Larry took a subtle glance over to Lunt. The gourd was just drinking away, staring ahead at the television, but not really watching whatever was playing.

    Larry thought for a moment.

    The way Lunt was simply standing in the kitchen, uncharacteristically silent as the coffee made itself was an odd sight, and as Larry kept his eyes on him, he was getting a gut feeling that this was definitely familiar to the cucumber.

     #

    The kitchen clock made its usual "tick, tock, tick, tock" as his brown eyes watched the leftover pizza spin around and around in the microwave. He wasn't hungry, but he knew he had to eat. That's what Bob would've wanted. Bob said so himself before Larry left the hospital that day.

    Bob.

    The microwave beeped, informing him that the pizza was ready, but Larry didn't budge from his spot, still leaning against the counter with tired, glassy eyes.

    Bob was going to be okay, he just got banged up while recording an episode as he did a stunt...

    ...he just got banged up a lot.

    It was enough to leave marks on him, enough for Bob to be barely conscious when he was taken away in an ambulance. Did he bleed? Larry thought he did. It wasn't a lot to really worry about, but...

    he was going to be okay,

    Bob was going to be okay.

    Bob wasn't going to--

    He wasn't going to ...

    Larry let out a hitched sob, followed by a weaker, shaky one. He felt tears streaming down his face, as much as he tried not to cry again so soon. He knew Bob wouldn't enjoy hearing he was crying, but he couldn't help it! Bob could have died today, and he felt as though it would've been his fault for not helping Bob like he was supposed to.

    All of this was upsetting, horrible, and downright scary.

    He could've lost someone so important in his life during something the two of them loved: making their show together.

    Larry could've lost Bob.

     #

    Larry realized he was staring down at his coffee while Lunt didn't seem to notice the change in his behavior just yet. His eyes glanced over to the gourd, his mind wondering if...if, perhaps, Lunt was going through a similar situation he had, after all.

    ...okay, maybe he should be subtle about asking Lunt.

    ...subtle how?

    As a very fluffy brown and white bunny hopped and landed atop his head from behind him, Larry lowered his mug and made an audible, "Uh...Lunt?"

    The simple use of his name grabbed Lunt's attention with ease. He looked over at Larry. "What's up? Too many Santas and not enough coffee?"

    "Nah, it's not that. I was gonna ask somethin' about you and Nezzer."

    "...what about?"

    Larry opened his mouth, prepared to ask a question, but his voice refused to make itself known. He frowned and bit his lip for a moment. Dang it, he hated it when he did that. Thankfully, Lunt wasn't giving him a weird look or asking what was taking him so long to ask whatever the heck he wanted.

    "Man, to see you so quiet is pretty dang rare," Lunt commented.

    Larry chuckled and glanced off to the side, embarrassed, "Yeah, I know."

    He turned his body on the couch to face Larry more. "...well, it's just the two of us," he noticed the bunny on Larry's head and jerked his own head at it in acknowledgement, "...and Lady Killer. It's fine. What's up?"

    "How's Nezzer?"
     "Haven't talked to him since last night, so I'm not sure."
     "Oh."

    "He's..." Lunt gave a shrug, "he's doin' okay, I guess. He didn't mention anythin' hurtin' while we were on the phone. It's gonna take a lot to take down the big fella."

    His hold on his mug loosened a bit but then it tightened. (Trust me, despite the lack of hands, he was doing that.)

    "A whole lot."

    Larry tilted his head. "And what about you?"

    He quirked a brow at him. "What about me?"

    "W--well, it's just...ever since the accident happened, you've been kinda off."

    Lunt's quirked brow lowered back in place. His mouth was left open, but it soon formed a small, thin line. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he did feel different, and for no real reason!

    ...

    "If I said, 'I've been okay, I guess', I'd be lying," Lunt replied, shrugging once again.

    Larry sat up straight. "So you're not doin' so well?"

    For the third time, the gourd shrugged. "I don't get why I wouldn't be. Not like I was the one who ended up in the hospital."

    He bowed his head, his brown eyes' reflection staring back at him. They were downcast, almost sad. Quietly, but not weak in tone, "...but someone you care about did, even though he's gonna be okay," he said. "Was it scary that it happened to Nezzer?"

    All Lunt did was pull his drink closer to him. His hat dipped down and hid his facial expression from Larry. For the first time in a while, it was hard for him -- someone who's been called a loudmouth by several -- to speak.

    Larry chuckled weakly. "I guess it was. I know how you feel." He began to swirl the coffee in his hold and watched its hypotizing movement. "I was like this when Bob got hurt badly on the set and had to go to the hospital."

    "Oh yeah, that accident a few years back," Lunt mumbled.

    "I--I mean," Larry spoke louder, sitting up straight again to look directly at the gourd, "I could be wrong but--"

    "Nah, you're right," he interrupted him as he shoved aside the sickening feeling in his stomach, "you're... really right, I think." The left side of his mouth quivered to a line; however, he forced a small grin for Larry. "That's because he's my former boss and I live at his place! It would kinda suck if anything happened to him! I'd be without a home and have seven bunnies to take care of!"

    Larry blinked. "Is that all...?"

    He barked out a laugh. "Sure sounds like it to me! Just genuine ol' concern between the former boss and the right hand man!"

    "Oh."

    "Yeah, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. That old guy will be up and out of there in a couple of days anyway! Might as well go crazy and have some fun here while he gets better," he gave Larry a cat-like grin, "wouldn't you say?"

    Larry's brows furrowed. "Oh, uh, y--yeah, I guess so."

    "Since you're here, do you have any sort of insight or suggestion for 'Ferdidill'?"

    Bob hummed in thought for a moment, sitting back in his chair. "Were you...gonna have everybody dress up as animals for the animal roles, or...?"

    Nezzer's mouth quirked a bit to the left. "I don't think so."

    "Huh, too bad."
     "Why's that?"

    He couldn't resist a chuckle before confessing, "I would've liked seeing you dressed up like a bull."

    Nezzer paused.

    "Did you say me dressed up as a bull?"
     "Well, yeah! Weren't you going to play him?"

    Oh, he...never thought about roles until just now, but, he should've. It was his idea, so of course he should play Ferdidill! He felt his cheeks burn a smidge, thinking about how silly he probably would look in a bull costume, despite his body size being rather suitable (for a zucchini anyway) to the role.

    "Well," Nezzer replied with a small shrug, "yeah?"

    Bob hummed in thought, but then he nodded in understanding. "That's alright for now, what's more important about getting an episode together is the story itself." He gave him a smile. "That's why you're having Lunt help out, isn't it?"

    "Not only that, but..." his voice trailed off, shrugging again. "I want his insight since I want him to have a role in it too. Maybe as some sort of new character to the 'Ferdinad' story."

    "Ah, I see."

    Silence.

    "Y--you know, I was thinking," Bob spoke up all of a sudden, "I think Lunt was worried about you yesterday, e--even though it might not have seemed like it."

    The large man raised a brow. "Y' think so?"

    "Larry seems to think so too."

    Huh, so he and Larry could tell as well? Not too surprising, but still.

    "I've known that boy for a long time," Nezzer said, "and I sure could tell somethin' was off about him too." He laughed lightly, joking, "He must have been worried about losing the place he called 'home' if somethin' serious happened to me!"

    Bob didn't catch the joke and instead faltered. "Uh--"

    "It's a joke, don't worry."
     "Oh, got it."

    Nezzer was prepared to say something else, but he found himself wincing from a sudden flash of hot pain shooting up his spine, causing him to let out a rather loud "ow" in the process. 

    Worried for the older man, Bob got up from his chair and asked, "Need me to get a nurse, Nezzer?"

    One eye was shut, the other looked over at Bob. He gave him a sheepish, weak smile. "Sure. Thanks, Bob."

    The rest of the time in which Larry and Lunt spent together continued for three hours on the irresistible couch of Nezzer's with pizza and even more drinks on the side. Once in a while, one of Nezzer's furry babies -- the bunnies -- would appear and disappear in the living room, but the one called 'Lady Killer' simply lingered on the arm of the couch beside Larry.

    ...huh, Larry could've sworn that Nezzer called that big ball of fluff beside him "Lunt" but kept it a secret from the gourd since Lunt was the first to name...well, Lunt the Bunny.

    Oh well, it's cool to have more than one name.

    His train of thought was abruptly interrupted, for his phone on the coffee table vibrated for a moment, alerting him that he got a text message. He felt Lunt watching him lean over and retrieve the mobile phone and then sit back against the recliner.

    "It's Bob," he announced, in case Lunt wanted to know who interrupted their channel-surfing bonding time.

    Lunt tilted his head to one side. "Time to head home?"

    "Looks like it."
     "Hm."

    "Oh hey," Larry perked a little, "Bob said the hospital's gonna let Nezzer out in two days!"

    The news was great of course, but a strange yet weak twist made itself present. It didn't linger, at least. Lunt made a small, toothy grin at the news. "The ol' fella's a pretty fast healer. Ain't surprised."

    "And Nezzer said to kiss the bunnies for him."
     "...I'll think about it."

    Larry fought back a snicker at the hesitation in the gourd's voice; however, he felt his tiny smile falter completely, his eyes glancing downwards in the meantime. He wondered if Lunt was gonna be okay by himself again. He had a nagging feeling that, maybe, just maybe , Lunt was lonely since Nezzer was out due to an unfortunate circumstance.

    ...ehh, it would be worth a shot.

    "Hey Lunt," Larry spoke up, turning his head to him, "if you ever feel like it, you can drop by our house. You can bring the bunnies too!" Lady Killer made a small, bunny grunt.

    A brow was raised. "I'll think about it. Thanks for the offer, Larry."

    Bob was exiting the hospital when he accidentally rubbed shoulders (well, shoulder against body) with a passerby. "Oh, sorry--"

    The zucchini turned and saw Bob. "Well, if it isn't Bob!"

    Bob blinked but then recognized the man as-- "Hi Wally! Came here to see Nebby?"

    Wally, one of Nezzer's brothers, nodded. "Sure have. Heard he took a slip on the job," he leaned in towards Bob with a sly grin, "you gonna pay him for that?"

    Bob chuckled a little. "No, Nebby said it was okay, but he is going to be in charge of the next 'VeggieTales' episode as payment."

    His brows perked upon hearing that. "That should be interesting. Did he say what it's gonna be about?"

    He nudged his head towards the hospital entrance. "Try asking him yourself, maybe you'll be able to steer him in the right direction."

    "Well, if it has anything to do with rabbits, it would be painfully predictable."

    "Don't worry, it's not."

    Wally let out a chuckle of his own before giving Bob a nod and finally entering the facility.

    Bob whipped out his phone to check the time. His outing with Larry and Joe would be in an hour, once he picked up Larry and then waited for Joe to get out of school for the day. He looked back to the hospital. "I'm glad he's gonna get out soon. I still feel so bad about him getting hurt..."

    He looked ahead.

    "And I can't help but be really curious about what he's cooking up for the show. Maybe we should have something special for him at the studio when he gets back."

    Honk honk!

    "Is that the old man?"

    Larry popped his head around the door and beamed. "Yep, it's him!"

    "Well," Lunt hopped up and retrieved Lady Killer/Lunt the Bunny from the top of the cucumber's head when he returned inside, "thanks for stoppin' by, man."

    "Anytime," he gave Lunt a toothy smile -- well, the best he could give him anyway. He looked at the bunny. "See ya, Lunt the Bunny!"

    Lunt paused at the name, but all Lunt the Bunny did was make a small grunt in response.

    If Larry could, he would've waved, but...y'know, since he didn't have the necessary limbs to do so, he gave Lunt a nod and left, shutting the door.

    Once he heard the squeaky "hi Bob" and the sound of a car door opening and closing, Lunt glanced down to the bunny in his hold. The bunny looked up at him through the fluffy fur covering his eyes.

    "One of us is gonna have to change our name and it ain't gonna be me, you ball of fluff."

    The bunny, once more, grunted.

Chapter Text

      Wallace P. Nezzer was known to some as "Mister P. Nezzer" or simply "Wally" since he had a like/dislike for the formal version of his name. For his dear brother, Nebby Nezzer, he went with "Wally" as an endearing address, and that's exactly what he exclaimed as soon as he saw his brother enter his hospital room.

      "Wally! So you decided to hop on by and visit your twin, huh," Nezzer cracked a grin upon seeing the well dressed Wally enter.

      "I don't see why not," he replied with a slight shrug. "Mom and Pop wanted me to make sure you were okay since they're still vacationing in Madrid." Wally sat down in the chair which once had Bob sitting in it with a grunt. "So, tell me again how you've managed to hurt yourself because of a careless misstep?"

     It was Nezzer's turn to shrug, feeling a bit embarrassed now that Wally put his situation that way. "I just took a bad hop was all. Usually, Wally, a little puddle of water isn't enough to knock me down."
     
     "Heard it rain cats and dogs in this area, so...those 'little puddles' were probably not so little."
      "...probably, but--"

     Wally snickered at Nezzer's -- well, Nebby's -- feeble attempt to explain himself. "No buts here, Nebby, only the truth and nothing but."

     "...that ended with a 'but', though."
     "Shut up, you know what I mean."

     While Nezzer let out a scoff, Wally reclined, making himself comfortable for this visit. For additional comfort, he undid his tie, asking his brother, "How's our little Lunt handling this brief separation? Did he burn the place down yet?"

     "Thankfully, no he hasn't damaged any property at the moment," he replied. Nezzer glanced over to his stuffed bunny companion from Lunt he had received and fixed it up in its seat beside him. "Seems like he's doin' just fine, but for some reason, I get the naggin' feelin' that..." he shrugged once again, "maybe he's a little upset that I got hurt?"
     His brows raised, mumbling, "Really now..."

     "Just a guess though, judgin' by what Bob told me whatever it was that Larry said."
     "What would that be?"

     "That maybe," he fixed himself straight in bed, "Lunt blames himself for me landin' in the hospital in the first place. Larry said he looked scared when Scooter called for help for me."

     Wally gave him a side glance which Nezzer couldn't really read what he was trying to say with his eyes. 

    "...what?"
    "Nothing."

     Nezzer puffed his cheeks, almost huffing until Wally suddenly asked, "What's the episode gonna be about?"

    "...episode? Oh, you mean, 'Ferdidill'? But how--"
    "Bob mentioned about you working on something for the show after we bumped into each other outside."

     "Huh, well..." he turned to his stuffed bunny, grabbed the hospital-branded notepad from its lap, and then returned to Wally, "you know that one story Pop read to us as kids all the time about the bull?"

     Wally immediately knew. "You're doing something off of Ferdinand?" He paused. "...you're gonna be prancing around in a bull costume? Please tell me you are."

     "No bull costume."
     "Shoot. Well, the 'make peace, don't fight' moral's a good one, at least."
     "Yeah, but I still have no clue where to go from there...which is why, I think, I'll let Lunt take the reigns for that."

     Wally tilted his head. "So you're giving him something to do for this? Shouldn't be surprised, I guess."

     "Of course I'm letting him help!"
     "...knowing him, he'll make this as chaotic as possible."

     Although Nezzer chuckled at first, he objected with, "To be fair, he's pretty good. He can get a little too wild, but hey...he was one of the main writers for 'Esther' and 'Fennel Frontier'--"

     "And both movies--"
     "I'm giving you examples when he wasn't almost in trouble with the law or destroyed public property, Wally."

     Wally smirked from amusement. "Got'cha."

     The door suddenly opened and in popped the doctor's head with a clipboard in, uh, "hand". "Afternoon, Mister Nezzer! I'm gonna give you a checkup in a couple of minutes to see how well your back is doing. Just a heads up, okay?"

     And just like that, she was gone.

     "...think you'll be heading home soon?"
     "Depends. I've only had a few sharp pains in my back this morning..."

     "Good," Wally responded. "You always did heal pretty quickly."

     "Usually," he corrected him. "Let's see how long this takes."

     "I'm betting another day or two before you're out of here."
     "Two days for me."

     The two men chuckled, but the stuffed bunny didn't since it was a stuffed bunny.

     Ahh, still nice and warm. Papa Mario never failed keeping its pizza temperature the same as when they popped out of the oven thanks to their specially made insulated pizza boxes. Lunt's brows quirked at the warmth filling his mouth thanks to the cheese-covered meal as he continued to stare at the television. It was playing the afternoon news, so he wasn't as invested as he would've been had it been on something...well, interesting.

     But he didn't feel like changing the channel yet.

     He reclined, his back touching the softness of the couch within no time at all.

     ...

     ...

     ...

     ...geez, it's quiet. Too quiet.

     After finishing the piece of pizza, he grabbed his mobile phone to check to see if there were any recent texts from anybody.

     Nope, nothing yet.

     Lunt the Bunny hopped into the spot next to him with a tiny grunt. The gourd glanced over at him.

     "Oh...hey, name stealer."

     The bunny just sat there, staring at the television as if the fluffy bunny could even see the thing, considering he always looked like his eyes were closed.

     He sat his phone aside and picked up the name-stealing bunny, observing his face. "Why the heck did Nezzer name you after me?" He tilted the bunny to one side, the animal not seeming to care, only grunting softly. Lunt noticed how fluffy the cheeks looked thanks to his massive amount of fur. If it weren't for the ears and bunny tail, he could've passed as a Persian cat or something...

     ...
 

    Curiously, he tilted the bunny backwards then brushed the fur away from where his eyes should be.

    There were a pair of cute, half-lidded eyes staring at him.

     Lunt stayed quiet for a moment, but then he gave the bunny a grin, lifting the rim of his dear hat back to show off his matching set of eyes to the fur ball. "Ahh, I see. Guess he really saw me in ya after all."

     Pause.

     "Copy cat."

     Lunt the Bunny grunted.

     "You're lucky you're cute," he sat him aside. "Anyway, did you come here to talk to me or somethin'?"

     His nose was twitching innocently as he kept staring up at Lunt (the gourd).

     "...am I really gonna confide in a rabbit that looks like me?"
     "..."

     Well, who else did he really have? He said as much as he wanted to Aural, his own brother. He sorta-not-really told Larry what was happening, and Larry was rather close to him after all of these years. More and more names of folks he knew and trusted floated in his mind, dismissing each and every one of them. He just couldn't do it.

     ...

     ...no, he most definitely couldn't tell Nezzer. He was ashamed.

     Inhale, exhale through his nostrils.

     "Okay okay," he grabbed the remote and turned the volume down a bit, as though he was worried about whether the bunny would hear him or not, "guess I don't have a choice."

     'I get it that, yeah, wasn't my fault that Nezzer got hurt, but...'

     Wally gave Nezzer a nod and small smile before hopping out of the room, and then, seconds later, the doctor from earlier reappeared with a sincere and cheerful, "Hi again, Mister Nezzer," and the man in question responding, "Hi, Doctor Abby."

    'I've been gettin' these sick twists in my stomach. I just had to have said not to slip and fall, and...look at what happened to him. Coincidence? A jinx? I dunno man.'

    "Let me know if it's too much, okay?" Doctor Abby carefully pat from behind his neck and moved downwards. (For us hand-owning guys, this probably doesn't even look like that, let's be honest.)

     Nezzer flinched, one pupil shrinking with the eye squinting from the pain while he bit his lip to hold back a yelp. "...ow," he squeaked.

     'He's gonna be okay, yeah. He's strong.'

     "...you okay?"
     "...j--just peachy, Abby."

     'I still feel kinda bad about it. But then, I've got some other issue happenin', little guy.'

     Abby fluffed the pillow behind Nezzer's back, inquiring, "Not too many of these sharp pains?"

     Nezzer made a tiny "oof" before he answered truthfully, "Besides just now? Not too many."

     "You were out of bed earlier, walking around in the room, right? Any problems?"
     "No, not really."

     She tilted her head in thought, humming to herself.

     'I think...'

     "...Mister Nezzer, if we prescribe you something to help with the remaining back pains and follow our self-care guide...would you like to be out of here by tomorrow afternoon?"

     'I was scared about losing him? Like...what if he had died somehow.'

    Nezzer blinked widely. "Tomorrow?"

    "That's right! I was checking out the x-ray we did of your back this morning, and it looks pretty good!" She nodded, smiling. "I think you should be alright enough to head back so you're not stuck eating hospital food for another two or three days."

     To tell the truth, the food wasn't bad at all, but being stuck in the hospital wasn't fun. Heck, he was getting homesick, as sappy as it might have been considered for a lot. Nezzer couldn't help himself! He missed sleeping in his bed in his comfy pajamas. He wanted to hug and spoil his sweet baby bunnies. He missed being at home with Lunt.

     ' Heh, you know, I told Larry it's because I'd have to move out and take you fellas with me. That's what would happen, but...'

     Nezzer fell silent for a second but then smiled back. "Sounds nice, actually."

     'I think Nezzer dying would kill me. My chest was hurtin' a couple of times while we sat in the waitin' room to hear how he was doing. Haven't felt like that in a long, long time.'

     Doctor Abby was now beaming. "Great! We'll double check everything tomorrow morning to be sure it's fine. Now remember," she warned, "just because we're letting you out, that doesn't mean to push yourself at home or anywhere else you need to be, or else you might have to rush back here..."

     'He's my friend, that's probably why, but, the two of us are pretty close. You see it, right?'

     He chuckled, his chest rumbling. "Got it, Doctor."

     "Then again," she said out loud in consideration, "your body seems to be getting over that injury quicker than the other ones I've seen, so I kinda doubt you'd find yourself having to run back here for help. You're built like a bull!"

     "..." he blinked upon hearing the last word. Nezzer felt his grin widen. "Funny you should call me that..."

     '...I really care about that big fella. Like...a whole lot.'

     #

     Lunt had the brim of his hat yanked down from embarrassment, his cheeks burning hot and red, and all that the bunny did was stare up at him with his head tilted to one side.

     "...look...I know you're just a bunny 'n' all--"

     Said bunny grunted--

     "But, uh, if you and Nezzer can communicate with each other somehow, don't tell him I said that," he lifted his hat a bit to give the bunny a look, "got it, fluffy?"

     Another grunt from the fluffy animal.

     All of the sudden, his phone vibrated.

     Lunt sat up a bit, brows quirking before he reached forward and retrieved his phone. There was a new message in a recently made group chat.

     It was from Nezzer, and several people were responding so fast, Lunt had to scroll up the chat to see what was happening to his boss with the strange twist in his stomach.

     "<<The doctor just told me that I'll be able to leave the hospital tomorrow,>>" Nezzer had typed out, ending it with a rabbit emoji at the end of his sentence.

     Lunt's mouth gaped. "...that was fast."

     All of the comments underneath Nezzer's announcement were those of relief and congratulations to him. Good grief, everybody must've been available to respond at the same time...the notes just kept flooding in!

     He broke out into a grin.

     "That's my boss. I knew that old man could get over it so quickly."

     The grin weakened a bit as he re-read the message for the third or fourth time.

     ...that's his boss. And he thanked God his boss was doing better.

    Lunt the Bunny fell asleep beside his non-bunny counterpart.

Chapter Text

     Much later in the night...

     Nezzer took a sip of his well-deserved hot chocolate as he kept his eyes focused on the television set. Of what? Well, the Hallmark channel. It was the time of the year in which the infamous channel would start airing its impressive amount of Christmas movies. Yes, in mid-to-late Autumn, they did this. He loved it! Lunt made a few jabs at how corny they were, but Nezzer couldn't help watching these sweet, light-hearted tales.

     (Probably why he found himself watching 'Beauty and the Beet' once in a while at home...)

     ...admittedly, he missed the little commentaries Lunt would make during these films. They were pretty amusing, even though he would give a quiet "shh" over at his direction.

     "...wonder how that boy's doin' right now," Nezzer pondered to himself before he took another sip.

     "Okay, listen...I appreciate the emotional support after my lil’ confession, but," Lunt struggled to sit up but flopped back onto the couch thanks to the seven bunnies surrounding (and on) him, "I'm not big like your old man!"

     Lunt the Bunny grunted, now awake from his two hour nap.

     "...you're not helpin'."

     Lunt huffed when the bunnies stayed in place. Even Dolly refused to leave his side...the cute little sap.

     All of a sudden, the loud vibration of his phone on the coffee table started up again.

     With a loud grunt, he pulled himself up, causing the fluffy bunnies to fly every which way except for the name-stealing one. "Hang on, hang on," he said to the buzzing phone. Lunt whipped it off the table and answered the phone whilst the bunnies slowly returned to his side.

     "Hey."
     " Well, 'hey' to you, too," Nezzer's voice responded on the other end.

     Oh. Guess he should've checked the id before he answered.

     "So, uh," Lunt paused to clear his throat then continued, asking, "what's goin' on over on your end?"

     "Turn it to the Hallmark channel ."
     "...oh no."

     Not to his surprise, when he flipped to the mentioned channel, Lunt was greeted for an ad for a Christmas movie playing in a minute. He couldn't help but groan loud enough for Nezzer to hear him, which caused his boss to chuckle in response.

     "Their Christmas movies ...? You're watchin' them without me, boss?"
     " Why? Just so you'll make farting sounds if a couple kiss at any point in the movie?"

     Lunt cracked a grin at that. "That's the best part, though!"

     "For you," he said in a light-hearted tone, "maybe. I actually enjoy the plots."

     Pause.

     "And this channel is exactly what I'm going to watch as soon as I get home tomorrow, right on that couch you're sitting on."

     Lunt blinked. "Oh yeah, you're finally draggin’ yourself back home tomorrow."

     “Sure am! My lil’ babies better have a good report about you once I ask ‘em .”
     “Oh, you’ll bet they’ve got a good one to tell ya. Honest.”

     Nezzer uttered a faint “mm-hm,” in response. “It’s funny hearing you talk so relaxed like this, I could’ve sworn you’d be a lil’ more excited to hear I was getting out already.”

     Oops.

     “I—I am, I am,” Lunt quickly picked Lunt the Bunny off his head (how and when he got up there, he wasn’t sure and neither did he care too much), “I was just...y’know, tryin’ not to go overboard with my reaction! Ain’t the rest of the group flooding your inbox right now?”

     “Not so much anymore, but they were earlier. It’s just me and Bob .”
     “Just you two, eh? Sounds boring...”

     A huff came from the other end of the phone. “Boring, huh? We were talkin’ about our project I mentioned to you.”

     “Oops, well lemme rephrase that: sounds interestin’ considering your choice of words and I want in.”
     “ Hmm, I won’t spoil too much, but it does have somethin’ to do with the show.”

     Within less than a second, Lunt shot a grin, “Our own episode?”

     “...well, shoot, pretty much ,” he admitted. “ At first, Bob offered me to be at the helm at an episode that he liked the summary of, but then I asked if I could get a little help from a certain someone,” at the end, the tone in Nezzer’s voice was teasing.

     “Of course you wouldn’t leave me outta it, Boss,” Lunt replied with a shrug, “that’d be like having pulled pork sandwiches without barbque sauce.”

     “...are you saying that I’m plain? ”
     “N—no? Just...y’know...I try sprinklin’ a little pizzazz whenever I help out with behind-the-scene stuff! You’re kinda like Bob and try to keep things cool and collected instead of goin’ nuts!”

     Nezzer was giving him a look even without being present, Lunt just knew it.

     “Anyway,” Nezzer immediately changed the topic, “there’s a new Christmas movie premiering in a few minutes. How about the two of us watch it together and then call it a night?”

     Lunt blinked. “Uh, sure, I guess? You not gonna talk anymore about the episode?”

     “Nope! I’m keepin’ everything else a secret ‘til tomorrow. ”
     “Fine, keep your secrets. Let’s get ready to watch this corny Christmas movie you wanna see so badly.”

     Beat.

     “Just lettin’ ya know...your fluffy kids are currently trying to smother me, so they’ll be joining us for the ride.”
     “ Tell them I love them and that I hope they enjoy the movie .”
     “Got’cha, Boss.”

     To make a rather long story short, simple, and to the point, the duo (along with the seven bunnies belonging to Nezzer) watched the televised film, commercial-free and all, for the next hour and a half. Although the big guy wasn’t sitting by his side, at least Lunt got to listen to his voice on the other line of the phone, hearing any chuckles and innocent side comments the older fella made. (He, Lunt, of course wasn’t going to admit that to Nezzer out of dignity.) Lunt was honestly surprised that this film didn’t get too corny for his liking, thanks to the combination of trains, time traveling, and Christopher Lloyd as the wise yet kind train conductor. Not bad, might watch it again with Nezzer with a peppermint alcoholic drink of any sort in order to get into the Christmas spirit...in a month and a half from now.

     “Ow ,” a tiny grumble, an annoyed one, interrupted Lunt’s thoughts, bringing back to reality as to why the zucchini man wasn’t at home with him, “ sorry, I’m okay. I was just shiftin’ in the bed a bit to get comfortable.”

     A small thin line formed across Lunt’s mouth. “Y’sure you’re gonna be fine hopping back here tomorrow?”

     “I will, I just can’t do too much while I recover at home .”
     “Wait, so how are you gonna do our episode like that...?”

     There was a brief pause on the other end, and for some reason or another, Lunt didn’t get a good feeling from it, the same uneasy feeling he sensed when Nezzer took that fell; however, Nezzer soon assured him, “Don’t worry, it’s just a precaution, I’ll talk about it with you tomorrow, okay?”

     “...well, whatever ya say,” he shrugged, despite Nezzer not there to see it. “Just, uh, y’know...take it easy, old man.”

     “Don’t worry your handsome gourd off,” Nezzer responded while pulling his plush bunny closer to his side, “I’ll be sure not to overdo it while you’re not around. Now get some sleep, they’re letting me out by lunchtime.”

     “Got it .”
     “Promise. My babies need their sleep too.”
     “ Oh, you don’t have to ever worry about these fluff balls, they’re fallin’ asleep as we speak.”

     Nezzer shut his eyes and smiled, feeling Dreamland luring him to sleep every second which passed by. “Well, alright...have fun sleeping there with them.”

     “Wait what? I ain’t sleeping on the couch when your massive bed is right there ! C’mon you fluffs, we’re movin’ somewhere better!”

     The smile widened at that huffy response. “See you in the morning, Lunt. G’night...and be nice to the babies!”

     There was a faint grunt, followed by the sound of Lunt hopping off the couch and making contact with the carpeting below. “G’night, Boss. Don’t snore too loud and keep everybody else awake!”

     The smile never left him, even after one final, “Promise. G’night.” Nezzer waited for his righthand man to hang up, and once he heard the phone disconnect, he placed his own mobile on the end table beside him. He decided to allow the television to play holiday films through the night for good ol’ white noise, so Nezzer retrieved the remote control and turned the volume down, low enough to fall asleep to.

     “Wait, so how are you gonna do our episode like that...?”

     Lunt’s question reached his thoughts, and that caused Nezzer to hum in thought, laying back against the plush pillow. “How indeed...”

     It was around nine-thirty in the morning when Bob and Larry arrived at the hospital and picked up Nezzer. For the most part, it was a simple “in and out” once Nezzer was given his recommended medication and then discharged; however, Bob being Bob, couldn’t help but feel somewhat concerned about how he should drive with someone who injured his back fairly recently, even with Nezzer’s reassurance that he wasn’t as injured as Bob believed.

     “Let me know if I need to drive slower.”
     Chuckle. “Bob, it’s alright! You’re drivin’ just fine! We’re almost there anyway.”

     Larry shot Bob a grin from the passenger seat. “Y’ heard the man, hit the pedal to the metal!”

     Even though Nezzer was making a tiny snicker at the suggestion, Bob shook his head and rolled his eyes, replying, “Uh, no. The speed limit’s 50 in this area anyway.”

     “Hey Nezzie,” Larry turned around in his seat to look at Nezzer, his grin still ever-so present, “wanna talk about your project some more?”

     Bob gave him a quick nudge (the best way he could with not only driving but being a tomato). “Don’t be so nosy, he hasn’t even given Lunt the full details yet...”

     “Aw c’mon, he could share just a little preview about what to expect!”
     “Well, I mean, maybe, but--”

     Nezzer jumped into the conversation, answering with a nod, “I don’t mind a teaser, you two are the creators of the show, after all.” He sat back more into the pillow to get comfortable. “So I’ve already told you two that it’s based off The Story of Ferdinand which has a...well, a ‘be yourself’ message, and,” he shifted a little, retrieving the plush rabbit which sat beside him, “while we’re definitely not gonna be runnin’ around in animal costumes--”

     “Still a missed opportunity,” Larry interjected.

     “What kinda setting is still up in the air,” Nezzer continued, “but I wanna make sure we have references to the original work which shouldn’t be hard at all, considerin’ it’s a short children’s book. I’m gonna see what Lunt can come up with, setting-wise, but knowing him, he’s gonna want less ‘silly-silly’ and more ‘silly-serious’.”

     Bob made a hum at that last bit of information. “Silly-serious, huh? So something along the lines of ‘Esther’?”

     A lightbulb went off in Nezzer’s brain.

     “Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what he wants to lean towards,” he replied, “especially since he helped with that episode.”

     Larry let out a small “ooh” sound. “Serious episode, eh? Wouldn’t mind doin’ that.”

     In unison, Nezzer and Bob gave the cucumber a look (yes, Bob was thankfully at a red light, don’t worry).

     Larry cocked his head, blinking. “Uh...what?”

     Bob quirked a brow just as he started driving once again. “Did we hear that right? You wanna do something serious...?”

      Nezzer blinked. “I’m honestly surprised, Larry. You’re the president of Silliness of the show.”

     He stuck his tongue out at the two. “I can handle serious too, I’m an actor!”

     “Well, depending on what goes through that lil’ mind of his,” Nezzer responded, “we’ll see how serious of an actor you’re gonna have to be.”

     Understanding, Bob beamed a half smile as he made a turn. “Ahh, I see. Well, as long as it’s entertaining and still has a message, the two of you can go crazy with Fer...” he trailed off as though forgetting something, “Fer--...what was the name you were going with again, Nebby?”

     “It’s--”

     “Ferdidill??”

     An amused grin stretched across his lips as Nezzer watched the confused stare Lunt gave him from across the couch, all seven bunnies sprawled on them and the couch itself. “Ferdidill , it’s our take on ‘ The Story of Ferdinand’!”

     Lunt tilted his head and then sipped at his pumpkin spice, a drink which Nezzer requested Bob to allow him to pick up on the way home for the two of them. “That’s your favorite childhood book, right? We’re gonna do Ferdinand?”

     Nezzer happily nodded.

     “...you’re gonna dress up like a bull?”
     “...no animal costumes.”
     “ Dang, I would’ve loved to have seen it.”

     The zucchini went into further detail, explaining, “This is where you’ll be in charge. Because we won’t be obviously doing animal costumes, I wanted to see how you’d imagine it, considerin’ you’ve had obvious experience with writing episodes.”

     Lunt hummed in thought. “So that’s why you need my handsome brains for this, eh?” He gave Nezzer a cheeky grin. “Seeking guidance from me about that is an honor, Boss.”

     Nezzer shook his head, darn well expecting that reaction from the gourd. That boy, he swore...

     “And, I was thinking, Lunt,” he spoke up again, “if you could try for a more...silly-serious story with it.”

     Lunt simply sat there, and then he tilted his head again. “Silly-serious? Like...’Esther’, maybe?”

     “Exactly! Since we’re the stars and people seemed to like us in that episode, I thought we could go that route, especially since...”

     Nezzer’s voice was trailing off, and Lunt immediately caught on that something was wrong.

     “Uh, ‘especially since’ what? What’s up?”
     “Well, remember when you asked me about how am I supposed to do ‘Ferdidill’ with my back still in this sorry state?”

     A half frown crossed Lunt’s face, but he tried sounding casual as he replied with, “Yeah?”

     Placing Dolly the Bunny - who had been in his lap the whole time – to the right of him, sitting her on the plush bunny Lunt got him, Nezzer let out a quiet sigh. “The doctor recommended that I take things easy for a while, so this is gonna be my last episode until I’m given the ‘okay’ to do more physical stuff again.”

     That half frown turned into a full one. “...what ?” Lunt had a feeling there was going to be a “catch” to doing this episode, and he was – admittedly – not too thrilled about Nezzer’s predicament. Yeah yeah, it’s for his own good, and yeah it made sense because it was a back injury, but this episode...this ‘Ferdidill’ episode was to be his final episode until he was fully healed? Sheesh...this...

     this kinda sucked.

     “Look on the bright side,” Nezzer chuckled in a light-hearted manner, “this could’ve been my swan song!”

     “...man, please don’t even say that.”
     “Just tryin’ to make you feel better, Lunt.”
     “...w—well, I mean...you bein’ here is the second best thing, I guess?”

     With a smile, Nezzer shrugged. “That being said, I want us to really put our brains together and concoct something that we just know will be entertainin’ for everybody. As far as we should be concerned, we don’t have much of a limit because it’s my last episode for the time being. Just as long as it’s an hour in length, age appropriate, has a lesson, and I’m careful with whatever I do on stage, we can go crazy with this.”

     Lunt fell quiet and, unbeknownst to Nezzer, his eyes fell downcast to his coffee. What the heck? How was he supposed to even feel about this? He wasn’t gonna share a stage with the big fella for an uncertain amount of time once this episode aired, which sucked...really sucked. This was only temporary, he had to assure himself. Nezzer wasn’t leave the show overall, he had to take care of himself and wanted to go out with a--

     “So,” Nezzer asked, “what do you say? D’ya think we can make another memorable episode?”

     Silence.

     “...Lunt, are you okay--?”
     “You got the book, right?”
     “Of course! You need to read it real quick?”

     Something in Lunt’s mind was beginning to process an idea, slowly, but it was getting there, even though a part of him remained bothered by Nezzer’s upcoming hiatus. They wanted something like ‘Esther’ but mashed up with a cute story about a harmless bull, huh? The two of them were free to do – almost – anything they wanted except stuff like swearing, ey?

     What if they...what if they...?

     “Yeah, I’m gonna need a look at it to get a feel of the story, y’know,” Lunt then quickly guzzled the rest of that sweet, sweet pumpkin spice while Nezzer and Lunt the Bunny watched him, heads tilted. “If we’re gonna send ya off for the time bein’, I’ve got an idea – several!”

     Nezzer sat up as straight as he could, blinking widely. “Already?!”

     “Heck yeah! Gonna keep the plot to the side for now,” he shot up on the couch with a wide grin directed at Nezzer, “but I’ll tell ya this, big fella: we’re gonna go out with a ‘bang’!”

     He felt himself become lighter with excitement. There was his creative Lunt, getting hyped with the thanks of coffee possibly. “Oh, really?”

     Still beaming ever-so brightly, he proclaimed, “We’re gonna do this episode without bars, throw off everybody by what could happen – by doing it live!”

     Nezzer sat there for a moment, allowing the words to sink in, but then he blinked widely once again. “Live...?”

Chapter Text

     “Live...?”

     “Yeah, y’know,” Lunt elaborated for the man beside him, “like how we did that Christmas spectacular thingy a few years ago?”

     Nezzer, as somewhat guilty he felt for doing so, snarked with a half grin, “We’re talkin’ about the same Christmas spectacular that almost drove poor Bob into a mental breakdown, right?”

     “That’s the one.”
     “Huh. What made you decide to do our episode live though?”

     “Well, ‘cause,” the gourd plopped back in his seat, “listen, it’s gonna be your last episode for the time bein’, and you’ve got fans, man...you’d be the first person to ‘leave’ the show, so we’re gonna do this right. Screw editing and whatever else – let’s make it so whatever happens live stays memorable and unedited from everybody! It’ll be unpredictable!”

     Nezzer gave a hum in thought, evaluating Lunt’s points alongside his own. A live performance of his episode...that would be interesting; not only that, he wasn’t even an active actor for the aforementioned Christmas spectacular but rather his dear brother Wally playing the role as the antagonist. He wondered if he could run through the script without issues. It shouldn’t be too much of a challenge...

     Lunt was right. Although temporary, Nezzer would be the first cast member to leave the series; so why not go off with a “bang”, like his righthand man said earlier.

     “I’m game,” he finally told Lunt who immediately perked up in his seat upon hearing that. “We’ll have to make some arrangements to make sure I don’t hurt myself, but other than that, it’s a free-for-all! Want me to grab the book so we can look this over?”

     Nezzer was about to rise from his seat, restraining a wince until Lunt made a loud “uh-uh-uh”, gesturing him to keep his butt seated for a moment.

     “We’re doin’ it live,” Lunt said, “but we’re gonna do more than that. Y’see, Boss...I caught this old show one night with Bob and Larry and found out somethin’ amazing about that particular episode...”

     Oh boy.

     “...go on.”

     Lunt gave him a cheeky grin. “Y’see, there was this banner at the bottom of the screen, sharin’ facts about the episode. On that episode, before filmin’, two of the actors made a deal to one-up each other with something that wasn’t scripted, somethin’ that neither actor knew the other one was gonna do. One came into the scene without his costume’s pants, the other, near the end of the episode, the other guy kissed ‘im! The audience, the other actors, they were thrown off completely by these two!”

     That grin never left his face as he leaned in a bit closer to Nezzer.

     “I say we do what those two did.”

     Well, that sounded fun and interesting! Amused by the idea, Nezzer couldn’t help but jokingly question, “You want me to kiss you live?”

     Lunt felt his cheeks burn hot at the notion and, try as he might, couldn’t hold back his voice as he yelled, “NO , man, NO ! I’m sayin’ we should be daring out there like those two guys, geez!”

      “...you sure you don’t wanna do that? It’d be memorable for everyone involved.”

     The flustered growl coming from the gourd beside him caused a wide grin to form across Nezzer’s face while said gourd tugged his hat over his eyes. Nezzer decided maybe it was time to retrieve the book for the two of them to check out and get those ideas pumping, and so, with a quiet grunt, he rose from his seat.

     “I’m kiddin’, boy. Anyway, I should be alright grabbing the book. Be right back,” Nezzer told him.

     Without returning back his hat to its normal position, Lunt grumbled out a small, “Got it, Boss.”

     Lunt’s eyes (yes, eyes, they’re hiding under that hat he wore) were staring down at the ground as he fought the heat which persisted in his cheeks for whatever stupid reason. He heard Nezzer hoping off to retrieve the book, and once he knew the guy was gone, Lunt finally raised his hat and gaze elsewhere.

     “Ugh, you idiot,” he started grumbling at himself, “he didn’t kiss him, he smashed a quiche in his face! How’d you mess that up?!” Where the heck did that slip even come from? His stupid brain’s been scrambled, it seemed, since Nezzer had to go and hurt himself--

     ...oh. That...made sense.

     Well, whatever. Nezzer was back, so his brain needed to return back to its default mode and focus on the matter at hand: their collaboration for Nezzer’s “final” episode. So, he was looking for something silly-serious (or was it serious yet silly) akin to “Esther”, ey? Something involving a bull that loved laying around flowers instead of butting heads with fellow bulls, huh? Maybe...maybe it could be mafia-esque like “Esther”...hm? Might be a little lazy, but he could make an attempt to twist things about while still making it kid-friendly enough to hopefully only receive one parent’s complaint over something minor which happened in the background or whatever.

     Live, however it was the duo planned on performing this simple yet sweet tale, they were doing it all live.

     “Hmm,” Nezzer quietly hummed out loud as browsed his short bookshelf, on the search of his beloved childhood book. With every bend he made to read the titles on the spines, he was sure not to do so hard enough to strain his back. Sure, it took longer because of his recovering condition, but he’d rather be safe than sorry--

     A lively wind chime interrupted his search, and as he stood up straight to retrieve his phone from his pocket trousers, his shoulder brushed against the bookshelf which, in turn, caused a book to drop from its spot and hit the ground.

     “Shoot,” he whispered but then checked his phone to see who was calling. “Oh!” While pressing the green “answer” button, he carefully leaned down in order to retrieve the book. “Mornin’ Wally, is somethin’ up?”

     “Nope, just checking in on ya to make sure you’re home now.”
     “Oh, yeah, I’m home.”
     “So you told lil’ Lunt what’s going on with you and the show yet?”
     “Yep, we’re startin’ our brainstorming session in a bit. He wants it to be a live show.”

     “A live show,” Nezzer heard his brother repeating the phrase while he examined which book fell of the shelf, and at once, a smile crossed his face, “boy, you guys haven’t had one of those since I was in that Christmas special of you guys’.”

     A familiar red book with a cute cartoon bull holding a flower on the cover greeted Nezzer.

     “Heh, I know. I’m not surprised, you saw how big of a wreck Bob was during the production; he sure as heck didn’t want to experience that any time soon.”
     “Well he should be fine now after more show experience and two films under the show’s belt, wouldn’t you say?”
     “Yeah.”

     The zucchini flipped the book open while cradling the phone against his “ear” (there was an ear somewhere, possibly). The scene he got was when the older Ferdinand accidentally sat on a bumblebee and began to run around wildly, snorting and stamping from the sting.

     Running around wildly, snorting and stamping, huh?

     “...hm...”
     “What’s wrong?”
     “...say, Wally, would you like to help out with the show?”
     “Heh, suppose I could drop by as a special guest! What do you need?”
     “Well...”

     Nezzer had his bedroom door shut, so as Lunt decided to retrieve a few articles from his room, he could catch the muffled sound of his boss on the phone with someone. He was itching to be nosy and press himself against the door to see if it was anything even remotely juicy, but he chose to shrug it off and return to the living room. Eh, it probably was just Bob checking in on him.

#

     “Lunt,” Nezzer returned to the living room with an apologetic smile, “sorry it took a while, I was on the phone with someone and had to answer--...what are you doin’?”

     The gourd in question looked up from his seat in front of some sheets of paper and colored pencils with a half-grin and answered, “Designin’ the costumes, Boss. Come look!”

     When Nezzer took a seat beside Lunt, his eyes immediately went to the work Lunt was doing. Four sheets of paper were clear, but the one closer to the color pencil case had a large doodle of a smiling Nezzer wearing a heavy black jacket, striped pants, a large hat (perhaps his attempt at drawing a fedora), and a simple flower pinned to the jacket’s collar. “A flower on the jacket seems fittin’,” he commented.

     He nodded. “Right? And this is just one of the costume choices. How ‘bout you read the story out loud while I try to sketch ‘em out? Might help me create more ideas vividly.”

     “You sure? It’s a kid’s book, so it’s a little short.”
     “Yeah yeah, it’s fine. It’s gonna be a quick sketch.”
     “Well, alright.”

     While Nezzer opened the book and carefully reclined against the couch, Lunt reached over for a fresh paper and the color pencils in one go. He heard the older fella clear his throat, preparing his reading voice, much to his amusement.

     ...heh, his boss was back.

     “Boy, are you laughin’ at me already?”

     Lunt took instant notice of the pouty tone of Nezzer’s voice had to cover his hide from embarrassment, assuring him, “Nah, boss, my mind’s just wanderin’ as usual. Anyways, the story for inspiration, please?”
     Nezzer took his word...for the most part with a cough to clear his throat,
     “...Once upon a time in Spain,
     there was a little bull and his
     name was Ferdinand.”

     His boss.

     Lunt darn well knew he had to make Nezzer’s Ferdinand costume reflect the story and the mafia theme. That first costume worked well, and Nezzer appeared to approve of it; however, he knew there had to be a “time skip” attire which reflected Ferdinand’s ascent into adulthood and being brought to fight in Madrid. Perhaps, while he made the second outfit, he could modify the first one whenever he was struck with an idea. He wasn’t super fancy-schmancy with outfit designs like Archie or Petunia or especially Madame Blueberry, but he had an understanding how fashion worked.

     Just...don’t make it suck.

     He took a brief inhale through his nose and then exhaled ever-so-quietly and slowly, and then, he began to draw and color away as he listened on to the soothing, deep voice of Nezzer, which he and his nerves appreciated while the story continued. Once in a while, he would steal a brief glance of Nezzer to see how the big guy was doing, only to be greeted with the sight of him keeping focus on the book with a gentle smile; because of that, a half smile tugged its way onto his face.

     “As the years went by
     Ferdinand grew and grew until he
     was very big and strong.”

     Funny, Nezzer almost fit that character to a t. A large, gentle guy who didn’t enjoy rough-housing and preferred harmless, gentle things such as flowers (or in Nezzer’s case, rabbits). Was that why he enjoyed the book so much and for so long? Regardless of the story behind his admiration for “Ferdinand”, Lunt had to get the costume and plotline down, something that could hopefully leave an impact. Not only was it necessary for the audience’s entertainment, but it was also for him, and for Nezzer, who in all honesty deserved it for the crap he went through.

     Crap, thinking about Nezzer and his back made him freeze for a brief moment, but then he found his groove when the zucchini beside him chuckled the next line of the story, going,

     “Instead of
     sitting on the nice cool grass in the
     shade he sat on a bumble bee.”

     Lunt huffed a quiet curt laugh and resumed his designing, thinking, ‘What a doofus.’

     Hm, and now, the characters. While Nezzer was reading the tale out loud, Lunt mentally took note of the characters so far: Ferdinand, Ferdinand’s mom, five guys who were scouting for strong bulls, the Banderilleros, the Picadores, and finally, the Matador himself. Now, where would he be in this list of characters? The Matador would be amusing, sure, but he thought about giving the role to someone else instead of typecasting himself.

     From underneath the brim of his hat, his eyes darted to Nezzer whilst his thought process paused. “...”

     Not only that, the Matador didn’t appear until near the end of the tale, this “Ferdidill” take was supposed to be a story involving both of them, and darn it, he was gonna be by the big guy’s side one way or another.

     ...as he picked up a deep red colored pencil, Lunt concluded that he was just going to have to pull a few strings and make the oddest of rewrites, hoping Nezzer would agree with them whenever he was finished reading.

Chapter Text

     “And there you have it,” Nezzer concluded, beaming from his seat which he had been offered as soon as he entered the studio the following day – it was one of those nice office chairs that swiveled and had the best set of wheels (oooh). There was another office chair sitting beside him but had its back facing the group of friends who had listened to the episode plot with anticipation and intrigue.

     Archibald mumbled with a very faint hint of amusement in his tone, “A shame a bull costume isn’t being involved with this adaptation, though I suppose we don’t want to get too silly, even for my standards.”

     Petunia blinked, glancing across the table at him. “You still have standards for silliness nowadays?”

     Larry, having been seated by the monocle-adorned asparagus, gave a grin. “No worries, Archie, this one’s serious,” he assured him.

     This made him quirk a brow. “Really now?”

     Nezzer had no trouble catching the side conversation and decided to politely join in, “Really, Archie. The two of us aimed for somethin’ around the same atmosphere of ‘Esther’, except with flowers and Spain thrown into the mix.”

     Archibald hummed. “And this premise, is it still in its development stage...?”

     “Nope! This script here,” he waved it a bit over his head so the entire group could see it clearly, “has been finalized. Went over it with Bob before the rest of you got here. That bein’ said, all we need to do now is pick the roles, rehearse--”

     The chair beside him dramatically spun to face everyone, Lunt calmly lifting the brim of his hat by a wee centimeter, “get the costumes together, and get ‘em perfect since this is gonna be a huuuuuge event ‘n’ all.”

     Bob immediately paled for the fifth time since the meeting had begun. “H—heh, yeah, a ‘huge event’ that’s going to be live, we’re aware, Lunt.”

     “You sure you’re aware it’s gonna be live, Bob? You’re lookin’ a bit on the ‘pale red’ shade of tomato.”
     “I’m aware this is going to be a live event, Lunt.”

     Lunt let out a faint giggle while Nezzer cleared his throat before saying out loud, “To get back on track,” he gave Lunt a glance – the gourd immediately sitting up in his seat from the stare, “we’ve already discussed who would be playing which major and minor role, well...with the exception of the Banderilleros and Picadores.”

     Petunia couldn’t resist emitting a low whistle. “Wow, we’re moving this along fast, Nezzie!”

     He chuckled. “Might have to! We wanna get this out before the year’s over...” the zucchini fella paused and then added, his tone dropping in volume a smidge, “that, and I had somethin’ planned once we’re done, so...”

     Lunt titled his head at that. Huh, was he just making that up? He sure as heck didn’t remember Nezzer bringing that up to him during their episode brainstorming at home...unless he spaced out when Nezzer said it. Guess it could’ve been for his back, as requested by the doctor.

     “So Bob,” Nezzer turned his attention to Bob, smiling, “I think we’re ready to slowly start handing the script and roles out to everybody. Should we head to the counter or the stage?”

     With a shrug and a small smile of his own, Bob responded, “I’ll let you choose.”

     “Suppose the stage wouldn’t hurt – it’d give me an idea how the performance will run a bit better.”
     “Stage it is, then! Let’s head on over there!”

     As a customary action of Bob, he allowed others to leave the room to be sure everybody was together and stayed on track; however, he took notice of how Nezzer carefully stretched his back before prepping to leave while Lunt kept a quiet composure and watched his boss. Larry was grabbing the random scraps of paper he had laid in front of him in case he felt the need to scribble anything down, but like Bob, he soon paused for a moment once he noticed the other duo.

     “Oof, there we go,” Nezzer grunted once he felt a small sense of relief in his back.

     Lunt didn’t feel like hopping off his chair yet, his focus more on Nezzer for the time being. “...hey, you good, boss?”

     “I’m good, thanks.”
     “Don’t hurt your back on the way there, got it?”

     Nezzer snorted a brief laugh. “I promise. I know when not to do something that could get me hurt...further.”

     Bob held the door to the room open, wide enough for the others to exit once they were ready. “Are you good now, Nebby?”

     He nodded, smiling to reassure the tomato. “Let’s get goin’.”

     “Larry, Lunt,” Bob glanced over to the two, “ready?”

     Before Lunt had a chance to even think of a quick response, Larry threw him off by suddenly saying, “Just a sec, Bob! I wanna ask Lunt somethin’ important in private.”

     Lunt blinked (well, if one stole a look under the brim of his hat, anyway). “Wait, what--”

     Bob also seemed confused by the comment, but instead of playing “instigator” or just plain nosy, he decided to allow the two some privacy while Nezzer carefully hopped by him, shooting a quick glance over his shoulder at Larry and Lunt. “Well, okay. We’ll meet you on stage. Don’t take too long, okay, Larry?”

     Larry winked. “Got’cha, boss.”

     Bob rolled his eyes and shook his head but went on his way, regardless.

     And so, once the door closed and Lunt raised the brim of his hat to have a gander at Larry better, the cucumber flopped himself down in the wheeled office chair beside him.

     “Soooo...” Larry spoke up, grinning.

     “Soooo...?” Lunt echoed.

     “How’ve you been since Nezzer came home?”
     “Uh, good? His bunnies sure missed him a lot, though.”
     “Like you didn’t miss ‘im a lot either?”

     Lunt quirked a brow at Larry’s cheeky tone. “Course I did, man. I told ya--”

     “--you’d be ‘without a home and have seven bunnies to take of’ if somethin’ happened to him,” word-to-word almost, Larry recalled Lunt’s dismissive excuse from days ago. The cucumber, who was typically known to be bright and silly, displayed his bright demeanor; however, something felt off as he leaned back in the chair with a squeak of the chair. “I dunno why, but it sounded like a flimsy cover-up for you bein’ worried about Nezzer.”

     He gaped quietly and then clammed his mouth before Larry noticed. Where the heck was this coming from? “Why’re you bringin’ this up now?”

     Larry shrugged but gave an answer anyway, “I guess ‘cuz of the way you were lookin’ at Nezzer...and maybe the fact that you weren’t even looking at anybody during the entire episode pitch, ya had your chair turned.”

     “...I thought the dramatic turn would be a nice touch.”
     “...it was, it’s just that you usually don’t wait that long to do it.”
     “What, and you wouldn’t do that?”

     Larry paused and then nodded, a goofy grin suddenly appearing on his face. “Eh, I guess I would! But, uh,” the grin faded as he asked once more, “seriously...are you okay? Be honest, dude. I know you’re sayin’ it’s because of the house and bunnies ‘n’ all, but...ya know.”

     Larry shrugged yet again.

     “I--I was bein’ honest with you about what happened with Bob a few years back when he got hurt, if it makes you feel better...like, uh, that was scary for me, even though I wasn’t the one who got hurt. It was scary knowin’ I could’ve lost him, even though it was just a few bruises here ‘n’ there.”

     “...” Lunt glanced from the cucumber to the table with a quiet huff.

     Larry puffed his cheeks from the avoiding stare but then chose to sit up straight, saying, “You...might feel better talkin’ about your feelings, like how I eventually told Bob once he knew somethin’ was up. Promise ya I won’t laugh.”

     ...well, Larry was his friend, and even though the silly cucumber could get a bit oblivious sometimes, it was typically an accident on Larry’s part and would soon apologize for the inappropriate behavior. He could trust him, sure, but could he have the guts to admit that, perhaps, his worry over Nezzer did have a strong grip on his well-being? Larry was aware that he cared for his boss on a surface level, but could Larry have any idea how much further it went?

     “...”
     “...Lunt?”

     Before he knew it, a flash of white with black text swooshed in front of Larry’s face, throwing him off quick enough for a surprised squeak to escape him.

     “Oh yeah, since you’re here,” Lunt said while he kept the script between the two of them as a makeshift shield, “might as well give you your script. Here ya go, Tony.”

     Larry blinked as he grabbed the script from the gourd, saying, “I’m Larry.”

     “No no, you’re Tony in ‘Ferdidill’.”
     “...oh.”

     Beat.

     “Who’s Tony?”

     “One of the flower shop owners in the story,” Lunt simply explained. “Bob’s the other owner, name’s Munro if you’re wondering.”

     “Hmm...” he knitted his brows and, curiosity getting him, began to randomly flip through the first couple of pages to find his character. Ooh, there he was! So, it seemed like Tony and Munro owned a flower shop that Ferdina—ahem, Ferdidill not only frequented it, but he also sold baked goods there. Grinning, he looked to Lunt. “Do we get to be a part of the possibly juicy drama since the story gets serious?”

     “Uh, I guess so? Forgot what we wrote for Tony and Munro.”
     “Nice.”
     “Oh hey, we’d better meet the others now. I got a feelin’ Bob’s gonna come get us at this rate.”
     “Oops, yeah, guess we should go.”

     The duo hopped out of the chairs and headed towards the door. At first, it didn’t dawn upon him, not for a few seconds, but once it did, Larry stopped mid-hop down the hall (Lunt was a few feet ahead of him and had yet to notice) and thought upon realization, ‘Dude, he’s dodgin’ the question...’

    “ So, Munro and Tony own a flower shop because Ferdinand from the original story loves flowers...” Bob mused out loud, his eyes scanning the script he was handed m inutes prior, “makes sense.”

     During the time in which Larry had a moment with Lunt in private, the rest of the group gathered on stage as Nezzer – with the help of Bob – began to pass the scripts around to everybody, some being assigned a role, be it minor or simply background...every role was important to this, and every other, episode.

     “Shoot,” Nezzer uttered which grabbed Bob’s attention in an instant.

    “What’s wrong, Nezzer?”
     “We’re short a couple of script s ... guess Lunt has ‘em. One should be Larry’s, and the other one’s-- ”

     A third voice broke into the conversation, with a bit of a fussy tone in his voice, “Hey, the heck’s taking them so long? Did they ditch us or something?”

     Bob shook his head, turning to Jimmy who was now standing in front of them, brows furrowed in question. “Lunt, I could see doing that if he wasn’t interested in what we were doing, but Larry...not really? They’re probably just goofing around on the way here, Jimmy.”

     Nezzer offered, “Maybe you could grab ‘em? Lunt’s got your script.”

     This piqued Jimmy’s interest, very much so, with his form straightening and a half grin making its way onto his face. “Is that so? Heh, I was wondering why I didn’t get mine yet. Be right back, I wanna get this done before I get hungry for lunch!”

     And once the gourd hopped off to retrieve the missing two, Nezzer fell quiet momentarily and then glanced at Bob.

     “Say, Bob?”
     “Hm?”
     “Sorry for bein’ nosy, but I need to ask you something about Larry and Lunt.”

     He blinked, pondering why at first; however, it didn’t take him any longer once he noticed the rather concerned look on Nezzer’s face. Oh, he specifically meant Lunt, didn’t he? Bob nodded, replying with an earnest, “Of course! We should be far enough for nobody else to hear us,” he turned his gaze towards the other side of the stage, briefly observing some of the group reading their scripts, others chattering or messing with their mobile phones while they awaited patiently for Larry and Lunt to join them.

     Bob returned to Nezzer.

     “Okay, shoot.”

     Nezzer took a quiet puff of air and then released it. “Has Larry mentioned anything about how Lunt was while I was in the hospital?” Right as Bob opened his mouth to ask, perhaps an elaboration, Nezzer explained, “I can’t really pinpoint it, but Lunt’s been a little off since I got back. I know it might be expected since he’s upset about me getting hurt, and he’s been tryin’ to act like his normal self, but...” he shrugged, his eyes trailing to the side as though to avoid Bob’s stare, “he’s hesitant.”

     Bob hummed, pursing his mouth in thought as he tried to recall any conversations he had with Larry in regards to Lunt. C’mon guy, have a flashback!

    “... well...”
     “Yes...?”

    “When I picked him up from his day with Lunt,” Bob answered, “ I tried asking him, and thankfully, Larry didn’t seem to hide anything about what happened...”

     “Like you mentioned, Lunt was acting like himself ‘sometimes,’ but he apparently got quiet as time went on. Larry said he tried to get Lunt to open up a little, but...”

     “Dude.”
     “What? This is, like, the third time you called me back there.”
     “It’s ‘cuz you know why I’m tryin’ to talk to ya!”

     Lunt bit back a snicker at the pouty tone of the cucumber trailing behind him but refused to turn around to look at him while their hop down the halls continued. “Look man, I dunno what else ya want me to say that I haven’t said already--”

     “There you guys are! What the heck’s taking you so long?”

     He and Larry looked further ahead and there, hopping towards them with a huff, was Jimmy. The duo stopped and allowed the gourd to meet up with them the rest of the way, and once Jimmy was in hearing distance, Larry asked, “What’s up Jimmy?”

     “Everyone’s waiting for you guys so we can start,” Jimmy answered and then turned to Lunt, “plus, you’ve got my script.”

     Lunt blinked. “Huh,” he looked down to the papers still in his possession for a moment, shifting them a bit until another script slipped out between the pages of another, “oh dang. Can’t forget to give you yours, you’re important for this episode...here, man.”

     It was Jimmy’s turn to blink while he took the script from him. “Ya don’t say...what makes my role so special?”

“Simple. Walk with us, Jimmy.”
“Hop, got it.”

     And as Lunt oh-so-subtly convinced, the now-trio began their hop further down the hall as he explained to Jimmy, “So while he didn’t have a huge role in the original story because he was introduced so close to the end with a whimper ‘n’ all, the Matador’s got bigger stakes and causes chaos for Ferdidill near the end...”

     Jimmy was to the left of him, Larry to the right (the cucumber seemed to have forgotten how his questions from earlier were still in the air, unanswered), so Lunt gave a grin, looking ahead. “I thought you’d be a perfect candidate for him instead of good ol’ Archie ‘cause: one, I don’t wanna typecast ‘im, two, you’ve had to sword fight for some those Shakespearean plays you perform in from time-to-time, so I said,” he shrugged without his grin faltering, “‘why not’.”

     Jimmy bashfully chuckled, his cheeks reddening by a smidge. “Ah, shucks, you remember my roles that well, huh?”

     “’course man, you’re impressive with a sword.”
     “C’mon, don’t butter me up so much!”

     Larry snickered at them. “Get a room, guys.”

     Lunt snorted over at the cucumber. “Should’ve told us that when we were still datin’.”

     Beat.

     Larry blinked. “Wait, what?”

     Now Jimmy was grinning over at Larry. “We dated a few times early last year.”

     Lunt joined in on the explanation, “He was curious, I was especially curious about certain things about myself, so we tried it out.”

     “Huh...” Larry blinked a few times, still surprised, “cool.” Okay, he wasn’t expecting that sure, but where the heck was he when two of his friends flip flappin’ dated? Did they do it outside of work, from wandering eyes? Would’ve made sense, because he didn’t remember ever hearing this from anybody else before.

     That was when Jimmy huffed a chuckle. “Hey speaking of dating, you think about trying a hand at going after that mysterious guy you told me you had a thing for?”

     Lunt let out a mortified gasp but quickly clammed his mouth shut, much to the confusion of Larry, who glanced at him with a quirked head like a confused puppy. “H—heh, no idea who you’re referrin’ to,” but then he leaned in so close to Jimmy with impressive speed and whispered, “keep it to yourself, you’re the only one who knows. Shh!”

     Larry scrunched his brows.

     And still, he had yet to pry another word about him and Nezzer.

     Dang.

     And so, it was time for the first-time read-through of the script...

     With a few hops through the prop doorway entrance, Nezzer glanced around with a bright smile before taking a deeeeep inhale, pretending to take in the adoring aroma of flowers, and then inhaling ever-so slowly. “Munro, Tony!”

     While Larry was tossing around a bunch of artificial flowers in the background – “for the immersion” as he explained to Bob before they began – Bob popped up from behind a stand-in counter with a smile, script in “hand”. “There you are, Ferdidill! Doing alright this morning? You’re usually super early getting here...”

     Sheepishly, Nezzer smiled. “Sorry about that...just ran into some of the guys on the way here, wanted to know if I wanted to roughhouse with ‘em for a bit.”

     From the back where he was screwing around, Larry chirped out, “Aw you could’ve joined ‘em! We don’t mind!”

     Bob blinked, looking towards his partner. “Tony,” he reminded him, “Ferdidill doesn’t like roughhousing, remember?”

     Larry tilted his head. “Isn’t roughhousing huge in the Toro Estate? That’s what I heard at the pub yesterday.”

     “Ugh, Tony!”
     “Was it somethin’ I said?”

     Nezzer shot Bob a smile as he shrugged, assuring, “It’s okay, Munro, he’s right. It’s just that roughhousin' isn’t for me, though my family back home isn’t aware of that.”

     From the right wing of the stage, Lunt relaxed against a plastic weeping willow tree as he flipped through the script, listening along to the reading. Yep, so far so good, as expected as those three. Every so often, as the scene involving Nezzer, Larry, and Bob, he would steal a peak from underneath his hat to see Nezzer better, curious to see how the zucchini fared with his back.

     Hmm, slight turn...looked fine doing it. Bending over the counter for...some reason? (The heck was the context of him doing that? He didn’t feel like re-reading the line that inspired him to do that movement) Yeah, he was fine doing that too.

     Lunt glanced back to the script, choosing to randomly flip the pages until it was time for his first scene – ‘course, wanting to have a smooth transition into the episode, he couldn’t resist grinning as the trio was close to completing their scene.

     Alright, time to get goin’ down the path to the best damn live episodes they could ever produce... (“...” He couldn’t help glancing to Nezzer one more time as he stood up from his spot on the floor.) for the boss’ sake.