Title: A Lenny Fashion Conundrum
Fandom: Neopets
Rating/Warnings: G. It's freaking neopets, man.
Summary: Nostradmys is having a crisis of cute.
A/N: This is more or less exactly how it happened, up to and including
the pink Bluna. Nostradmys remains thankful I didn't turn him into a
Krawk.
It was springtime in Neopia, and everything was
fresh and green. Everything, that is, except for my green Lenny,
Nostradmys. He was completely blue. Sitting on the Kauvara couch of our
neohome, he let out a big sigh. Exiesenos, my red Blumaroo, bopped over
on her tail and peered at him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked with concern.
“Nothing,” Nostradmys sighed louder. Puzzled as to
why anybody could be sad on such a beautiful spring day, Exies
immediately got me.
“Sprunkers,” Exies tugged on my arm as I tried to
finish my Latin homework, “something’s wrong with Nostradmys!”
“Is he sick?” I asked, looking up.
“Come see for yourself!” Exies pulled me out of my
chair and I had no choice but to follow. Nostradmys was still moping on
the couch, puffing up his feathers miserably.
“Hmm, this does look serious,” I said thoughtfully.
I sat down on the couch next to my Lenny and asked him what was wrong.
After some coaxing, he finally told us what the problem was.
“I hate being a Lenny!” he exclaimed.
“Why?” I asked, taken aback. Nostradmys had never
seemed to have a problem with his species before.
“All the other neopets make fun of me because I look
so geeky!” Now tears were starting to pool in Nostradmys’s eyes and
roll down his beak.
“People only tease you because they’re jealous,” I
said comfortingly, but Nostradmys was having none of it.
“Why would they be jealous of me?” he demanded.
“There’s a reason that Lennies are the least popular neopets in all of
Neopia!”
“People just don’t understand the subtle complexity
of the Lenny,” I argued. “And anyways, they aren’t the least popular!”
“Only because we aren’t limited edition,” Nostradmys
sniffled.
“You know what you need?” I announced, having had an
idea. “A makeover!”
“Great, a Lenny with makeup on, that’ll draw an even
bigger crowd,” Nostradmys grumbled.
“Not that sort of makeover,” I corrected, standing
up in excitement. “A FASHION makeover! Come on, we’re going to go to
the shops and get you a new look!”
Twenty minutes later found me standing in front of
the Grooming Parlor with a very reluctant Lenny.
“You’ll feel much better after a new haircut,” I
assured him, pushing him into the shop ahead of me. As the bells
attached to the door tinkled, the red Usul in charge of the shop sprang
up in front of us.
“Oh, what a super wonderful day!” she chirruped. “Would you like to try
some of our new fragrance?” Without waiting for an answer she spritzed
us liberally with perfume that made us both sneeze violently.
“Thanks,” I coughed, waving my hand in front of my
face to clear the air. “But what my Lenny needs is a new haircut.”
“Really? That’s my specialty!” the Usul squealed.
“You just have a seat right here and I’ll take this lucky pet back and
get started!” She scurried away, dragging Nostradmys along. I plopped
down in a chair and picked up one of the ancient magazines.
After what seemed like ages, finally the Usul
bounced back into the room.
“Finished!” she crowed. “We bathed him in milk, then
blow-dried his feathers and buffed his beak! Viola!”
She stepped aside with a grand gesture to reveal a
supremely un-amused Nostradmys with no discernable difference, other
than beak glare.
“Well,” I offered, “You’re very glossy.”
“I look exactly the same as before!” he wailed in
reply. Sighing, we went back outside to try something different. Uni’s
Clothing caught my eye.
“How about some stylish clothes?” I cried, starting
towards the door. “That’ll do it for sure!”
After spending a half hour looking through rack
after rack of fashion, we emerged with what I felt was an ensemble sure
to knock the other neopets’ socks off.
“I feel silly,” Nostradmys complained, pushing up
the sleeves up his new sweater, “and this scarf itches.”
“You look great!” I encouraged. “Now nobody will
make fun of…”
I was interrupted by the shout of a young Mynci
behind me.
“Mommy, look at that funny green clown!”
“…you,” I finished sourly, turning to give the Mynci
the Evil Eye.
We decided to take a break, and stopped into our own
shop, Sprunkers’ Emporium, to visit Messalyna, my yellow Aisha who
watches the store.
“What’s the matter with him?” Messalyna asked as
Nostradmys began leafing sullenly through one of our used books that
was on sale.
“He thinks Lennies look too geeky,” I sighed.
“It’s funny you say that,” Messalyna’s second set of
ears perked up. “A customer just told me that now you can paint Lennies
psmelf!”
I quickly covered Messalyna’s mouth with my hand,
muffling her last word, and glanced over my shoulder to make sure
Nostradmys hadn’t overheard. I put a finger to my lips before removing
my hand, and we had a whispered conference.
“That’s perfect!” I whispered. “How much is in the
shop till?”
“Around 110k NP,” the Aisha whispered back. “We finally sold that
stupid pink Bluna.”
“Perfect,” I said again, withdrawing what was in the
till box. “I’ll be right back, you keep an eye on Nostradmys for a few
minutes.”
I ran out of the shop and looked around, searching
the shop signs in the marketplace for what I needed. Finally I caught
sight of the appropriate vendor: Discount Paint Brushes. Dashing back
to the shop, I retrieved the despondent Lenny, flashing Messalyna a
quick thumbs-up, and then it was off to the Rainbow Pool.
“What are we doing here?” Nostradmys asked, looking
interested despite himself.
“I have a present for you,” I announced, handing him
a gift-wrapped box. Eyes full of curiosity, he ripped off the paper.
“A pink paint brush?” he asked me. “But Lennies
can’t be painted pink.”
“They can now!” I exclaimed, pushing him towards the
fountain. “Go on, give it a try!”
Moments later, my transformed neopet emerged from
the fountain, grinning proudly.
Bright pink plumage, a fuller beak, and chic black
wingtips made Nostradmys a sight to behold.
“Wow!” he laughed. “Who knew Lennies could look so
good?”
“Now you’re the best-looking neopet in Neopia
Central!” I exclaimed, giving him a big hug. Nostradmys shuffled his
feet and blushed. Or at least I think he did, underneath all that
sparkly new pink.
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