
Because of a Purple Juppie Java: Part Two
by arula100
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They clamped their paws to their ears as they entered Hotel
Opera. "What is that sound? Ugh!"
Zuni, just as disturbed by the music, responded
solemnly. "It's opera. I think they make you listen to it whenever you've been
bad."
"Urg, nobody deserves a punishment like that,
not even the Pant Devil." Composing himself, he continued, "Anyways, now what?
Put on the coat?"
Zuni looked around the hotel. "Nah, we're babies,
and we can play the sympathy card. Come on."
With the box rolling along behind them, they
walked up to the front desk, manned by a sophisticated Yurble. "Yes, young sirs,
how may I assist you?"
Kiba was about to respond when Zuni clamped
is paw over Kiba's mouth. "Can we have some sheets of paper, sir?"
"Surely." The Yurble began to rummage behind
his desk. "Where are your parents?"
Zuni thought fast. "They're, uh, staying here."
"Hmm." The Yurble brought some paper from behind
his desk and placed it gently to one side of the rolling box. "And here is a
pencil if you would like to draw, and some crayons for coloring. Have a nice
day!"
Zuni thanked him and headed for the rooms.
Kiba looked at all the fancy decorations. "Now
what?"
"Well, here's an idea. I will go around with
pencil and paper, and ask the people staying here to write about their experience
with the hotel. You can stay here with some paper and draw the elevation of
the hotel" noticing Kiba's confusion, Zuni sanded it down to more comprehensible
terms, "that's the front, and then you can draw some of the stuff inside. We'll
put the information we gather on this side of the box, and we'll go from hotel
to hotel getting dad the information he needs."
Kiba ran over what his brother had said. He
loved drawing, so his job sounded easy. "Alright, then. Gimme the Crayons."
Zuni handed him what he would need. "Alright,
I'll be right back." Kiba nodded and began to look at what he had to work with.
"Hey, there's no orange-red! Ah, well, I can make due without it, I guess."
He sighed and began drawing, humming Hikalaka tunes to drown out the opera.
He drew the front of the hotel, the main room, and some of the expensive looking
items he saw.
Zuni, surprisingly, was having plenty of luck.
Pets gladly wrote reviews and handed it to him, often handing him a piece of
candy to go with it. Zuni placed the reviews gently in the box and thanked everyone
who contributed. He rejoined Kiba shortly. "Done yet?"
"Yup." He placed them in the basket on top of
the reviews.
Zuni looked around. "You know Ye Olde Ship Inn
has a restaurant, right? I bet they have one in every hotel. Maybe we can grab
a menu. It might help."
Kiba nodded. "They definitely have a restaurant.
I can smell it from here."
Following their noses, the brothers found the
restaurant. The waiter smiled when he saw them and gladly gave them what they
requested, along with some after dinner mints. They left the Hotel Opera, almost
gladly.
Once outside, Zuni sighed. "Next stop-Cockroach
Towers."
Just the name frightened Kiba. "Fun. I hate
bugs. Ugh."
Zuni smiled sympathetically. "Same here, but
we want to help dad, don't we?"
Kiba nodded, and they headed for their next
stop. Even the outside of the hotel was fairly dingy. Running the reception
desk was a dirty old Moehog, reading a two year old issue of the Neopian Times.
He looked up from the paper when he saw the
two baby Lupes and grunted before continuing to read. They continued walking
until they entered a hallway.
Light fixtures flicked on and off, and cracks
ran up the walls, revealing the base sheetrock. The carpet was torn and stained.
A Spyder scuttled up towards them.
Kiba screamed and threw a piece of paper on
it, stomping the Spyder. He picked up the paper, holding it by one corner delicately.
"Well, at least I don't need to draw a picture of a Spyder now."
Zuni nodded timidly. "I-I-I'll go get some reviews.
Ummm…just…wait here…I'll be back soon."
They did their jobs, drawing and traveling,
and soon they were on their way out. Kiba ran into the restaurant quickly and
grabbed a menu, covering his nose to hide the rotting smell. He watched as the
waiter handed a Kacheek what looked like a fried boot.
They left quickly, hoping never to experience
such an, erm, experience again. They traveled across Neopia Central, Visiting
the many hotels.
The twins greatly enjoyed the Mountain Lodge,
with all of the new smells. The restaurant was an old fashioned grill, seasoned
aromas reaching their nostrils.
The AstroVilla was very hospitable, and Kiba
felt his drawings could never be worthy of such a beautiful place, and reluctantly
began with his childish style of drawing. The restaurant served only gourmet
foods. It took a while to pull themselves from the delicious aromas.
Unfortunately, the Fleapit Motel was next. It
would have been a little nicer if they hadn't left scratching. The food was
nearly as bad as that of Cockroach Towers, but, of course, Cockroach Towers
can not be outdone.
After rolling in the grass to rid themselves
of fleas, they entered the Presidential Palace. It was nice, not all that special,
but it did have good food.
The Faerie Castle was next. They read that you
received one free bottled faerie for each night you stayed there, and most of
the architecture was created from clouds. The food was wonderful; Faerie Bubbles,
Faerie Pizza…Kiba and Zuni wished they could stay.
They entered the Cheap Hotel with little enthusiasm.
It was poorly built, and the menu was written on sections of rope. They were
in and out rather quickly.
Last, and certainly not least to the twins was
the Royal Neopian. Upon entry they were both given a novelty crown to wear,
and Kiba had fun coloring in all the rich hues. The food was fit for even the
table of King Skarl.
When they arrived back at Ye Olde Ship Inn,
the sun was setting over the ocean. They ran as fast as they could to the elevator,
pulling the box along behind them. Zuni climbed on Kiba's shoulder's to press
all of the necessary elevator buttons. They dashed for their room, only to find
their father unlocking the door to enter. In one paw he held an incredibly large
brightly colored bag.
They both gulped. Nearly lost for words, Zuni
spoke. "Uhh…hi Dad."
Their father spun around, furrowed his eyebrows,
opened the door to the hotel room, peeked inside, and then looked back at his
sons. He quickly hid the bag behind this back. "Alright, where have you two
been?"
Zuni nudged Kiba. Kiba stammered. "W-w-we were
only t-t-trying to h-h-h-help, Dad," their father's eyes softened, and Kiba
continued with more clarity, "Ya see, we got all the Myncis over there to be
quiet, and then we got some information on the hotels, that's in the box, and…"
Their father swept both of them up in his arms.
"Let's continue this inside."
Zuni explained the day's events, Kiba nodding
in agreement. When they were done, he looked in the box, shuffling the papers
around. "This is just what I needed to write my article! How did you know?"
Embarrassed, Zuni responded. "We didn't. We
just guessed."
Their father smiled warmly. "Well then, you
two are pretty good guessers. By the way, I got these for you. I thought you
were being good, no one called the security on you, but I suppose you are still
deserving." Out of the bag he pulled two large wrapped boxes.
They unwrapped their gifts excitedly. Each got
a White Weewoo Plushie, a Neopian Times Bean Bag, and a book. Both of their
bean bags were personalized with their names. Zuni picked up his book. "Wow,
thanks dad! A Tale of Two Lupes!"
Kiba looks at his book in awe. "Arts and Crafts
with Lupes! Sounds like fun!"
Their father smiled as his sons ran up and hugged
his legs. "Go on now, it's bed time." The twins nodded and pulled their bean
bags over to a desired location. They curled up, each cuddling their web plushies.
They fell asleep,content, to the sound of pencil scratching on paper.
***
The working shift for the old Kougra waiter had ended, and it was time for
him to go home. When he reached the coat rack, he stared at it, baffled. "First
a Purple Jubilant Lava, and now disappearing coat and hat."
The Kougra ambled slowly through the revolving
door, shaking his head slowly.
The End
Author's Note: You could never guess how I was inspired by this story;
I was sitting in the window of our hotel room overlooking the ocean during a
thunderstorm while holding my baby Lupe plushie! Original, eh? Yesh, I believe
my baby Lupe plushie(now named Kibatwizuni, or Kiba for short) shall be a key
to many story inspirations….