Simple Solutions by Plucky Warner (pluck@ihug.co.nz) With thanks to Taper Wickel (jtwickel@nyx.net) for a lot of assistance in this one. Cheers! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You gonna play dat hand dis year, duck?" "Poker," replied Daffy, knowingly, "ith a game of tact and thkill. I'm merely considering my optionth." "What, lose now, or be conservative and lose later?" smirked Buster. Everyone laughed, except Daffy. The black duck failed to see the humor, and sneered at Plucky, who abruptly stopped laughing. "Jutht what are YOU laughing at?" he asked, irritatedly. "Maybe he's sensing a pattern here, Daffy." said Buster. "Yeah. He don't have ta be Einstein to see dat you've already lost fifteen hands tonight." added Bugs. More laughter. "You're all dithpicable." grumbled Daffy, "Gimme two." Bugs dealt him two cards, and the focus of attention shifted to Plucky. "What's it gonna be?" asked Buster. "Gimme a minute here.." murmured Plucky, musing over his cards. "Oy, not THIS again! I hope you don't take as long to decide what to do as ol' Poker Face over there does." said Buster, pointing to the scowling form of Daffy. Bugs watched Plucky's concentrated efforts with a mixture of boredom and irritation. "I tink I might take up hibernatin' while I wait fer dese two ta finish.." He reached forward for his bottle of soda, and took a long gulp. "Ahh." "How long can it TAKE to decide what to do in this game?" exclaimed Buster, a few moments of intense duck thinking later. "Hey," snapped Plucky, "you're one to talk. It's taking you long enough to get your .. full house .. organised, blueboy." Buster coughed and shifted uncomfortably, his cheeks reddening a little before the sudden stares of the others. All three knew what Plucky was referring to; Buster's alleged relationship with Babs. Sure, Buster and Babs were good friends. Great friends, even. Maybe even best friends. But he wasn't quite ready to tell her about how he really felt. Heck, he'd only just figured it out himself. Plucky suspsected, of course, as friends always do. It was the same with Bugs, and Daffy. Buster had a feeling that Babs knew, as well. But, still, he hadn't come out and told her, brought it out into the open, made it official, so to speak. And, as such, it was a source of great embarrassment and anxiety for him. "Just play your hand." he said, coldly. Plucky blinked, not quite expecting that reaction to his friendly poke in the ribs. "Sorry," he replied, a twinge of regret in his voice. He quickly put his cards down. "I'm out." The game progressed in silence for a few minutes, with uncomfortable glances between the two ducks and Bugs being the only form of communication. Slowly, conversation worked its way back onto the poker table, and eventually, once again, laughter rang out from Buster's burrow as Buster's embarrassment was forgotten and the guys' poker night continued through the clear summer night. * * * * * * * * * * * * Buster was awakened by a dull thumping noise. He snorted and slowly opened his eyes. His clock was staring him in the face, reminding him that it was now past the time he should be leaving for Acme Loo. "Darn," he said, rubbing his eyes, "overslept again." He clambered groggily out of his bed and stumbled over to his burrow's entrance, and the source of the noise. He looked up at the sunlight above him, and saw Babs' face looking down at him. "Hey, blueboy," she said, grinning at his untidy state, "you coming to class today, or did the tornado break your legs?" Buster looked down at himself, and around at his burrow, and laughed. Tornado was certainly accurate.. it looked like a bomb had gone off inside the burrow, and Buster's fur was mussed from his night's sleep. "Wait right here, Babsie," he said, smiling up at her, "I'll just go have a shower." Before she could answer, he zipped off at sublight speed, and for a brief time the sound of running water could be heard. Before she could blink, Buster was standing next to her, fur clean. "Let's go," he said, turning to start walking, "we don't wanna be late to class, do we?" She arched an eyebrow. "You want to get to class on time? This is new." She ran to catch up to him. "Nothing wrong with that, I just wanna get to school." "Why, cheerleader practice today?" "Hey!" Babs laughed, and was soon joined in laughter by Buster. "So," she said, "how was your weekend? Enjoy poker night?" "Sure, it was great! One day Daffy is gonna learn that he just can't play poker to save his beak." Babs laughed. "Please, don't tell me he lost his beak." "Let's just say that Bugs had a new ornament for his desk for a while. Anyway, how was your weekend?" "Oh, it was okay." "Just okay? What'd you do?" "Family stuff. Y'know." "Oh," replied Buster, nodding, "I know how that can be." * * * * * * * * * * * * Snappy Comebacks 101 was typically chaotic. Bugs sat cooly at the front of the class, leaning back in his chair, whilst the rest of the class insulted him. With every insult, a snappy retort was flung back at the insulter. Buster watched Bugs admiringly, listening to and remembering the comebacks, trying to master the technique himself. This was one class where Buster paid attention. "Psst!" Buster jumped a little, and turned to see Plucky holding a piece of paper forward. "Pass it on!" whispered Plucky, pushing the paper forward further. Buster blinked, and then took the note. "Shirley" was scribbled on the front of it. Buster rolled his eyes, handed the note to his left, and waited for the fireworks. They came shortly afterwards. Shirley read the note, frowned, crunched it up into a ball, and tossed it into the bin. Then, she calmly snapped her fingers. Buster noticed the scent of burned duck feathers behind him, and saw a singed green feather float past him. "Ow." Plucky uttered, painfully. Buster turned his head to look over at Shirley, but his gaze fell on Babs before he got there. He inhaled sharply, and his pulse quickened. He hid it well, but nowadays he felt a little nervous every time he looked at her. He watched her as she insulted Bugs, a grin on her face, and as she threw her head back in laughter at the reply. Her eyes sparkled, and Buster felt his heart pounding against his chest. He felt a little dizzy as he stared at her, almost floating on air. He sighed wistfully. "Yoohoo, ya listenin', kid?" Bugs' question snapped Buster out of his reverie, and he blinked a few times, as suddenly all eyes in the class were on him. "Uh.. wha?" he managed, eventually. "Yer gonna hafta come up with a better comeback dan dat, kid, unless ya wanna start wearin' this." said Bugs, holding up Daffy's beak. The class laughed, except for Plucky, and Buster. * * * * * * * * * * * * "You were a wreck in there, buddy!" said Plucky, scampering to keep up with Buster, who seemed to be ignoring him. "You really oughta do something!" "Do what?" replied Buster, distractedly. "Do something more than *stare* at her." said Plucky, rather too loudly. Buster screeched to a halt in the middle of the hallway, and turned his head slowly to look back at Plucky, one eyebrow arched. "I mean, sheesh," said Plucky, more quietly, "you were staring holes in her skull." "I was not." denied Buster, turning to continue walking again. Plucky stood for a moment, looking quizzically at his friend. His thoughts were interrupted as he realized Buster was disappearing into the crowd of students making their way to their next class. He again scampered to catch up. "If you wanna find out if she feels the same way," said Plucky, pulling up alongside him, "you're going to have to ask her out." "And you'd know, huh?" "Sure!" grinned Plucky, "After all, just look at Shirl. At first I thought she was crazy about me. Now I know she is!" Buster shook his head and wandered off towards his locker, muttering something about 'who's crazy?'. Plucky scratched his beak thoughtfully as he watched Buster disappear into the crowd. He couldn't stand to see his friend dispairing over this. Besides, if he got Buster and Babs together, it might score him some brownie points with Shirley. He rubbed his palms together gleefully. "Pluckster, my boy," he said to himself, "you are a genius." * * * * * * * * * * * * "Buster, Buster, Buster," said Plucky, shaking his head, "you've got all the wrong ideas. Taking her to a monster truck rally wouldn't impress her!" "It wouldn't?" "No. Listen to a duck with experience in this, bud. You've gotta be romantic! Smooth! Cool, calm, and collected! You've gotta be Mr. Popular, bud! I've got some simple solutions for you!" "Hmmm." replied Buster, stroking his chin. "For a start," said Plucky, looking Buster up and down, "you need a bit more, uh, muscle on your bones there." "Whaddya mean?" said Buster, flexing huge, rippling muscles, "I *am* Arnold!" Plucky pulled out a pin and held it up. With a swift motion he prodded it into Buster's arms, shoulders, chest, and legs. In a rush of air, Buster's rippling physique was gone. He prodded Buster's belly. "Maybe Tom Arnold." "Hey!" exclaimed Buster. "Quit arguin', and follow me." "You'd better be right about this, duck." "Heeeeeey, trust me!" * * * * * * * * * * * * Buster strained under the barbell, pushing them gradually upwards, straining with the effort, panting and sweating and straining. "Hey, Buster, you want me to put some weights on the bar now?" Babs and Shirley wandered through the gym, talking excitedly about the upcoming football game and the good-looking guys who would surely be playing. Shirley saw Plucky and Buster straining with the weights in a corner of the gym and laughed, pointing. "Look, it's Hanz and Franz." The pair giggled and walked over towards the boys. "How's it going, boys?" asked Babs, grinning as Buster's arms wobbled beneath the barbells. Plucky grinned and walked past his straining friend. "It's going great! Don't he look buffed? I bet he could beat up those wimpy football players any day of the week." "Flurnt!" grunted Buster, unable to voice his objections to Plucky's boasts. Babs walked around behind Buster, and watched him strain with the weight, his cheeks going red. "He could waste those guys!" "Hunrph!" "All of them!" "HURGHHH!" "At the *same* *time*!" said Plucky, bubbling with enthusiasm. "FLARGH!" grunted Buster, bubbling with fear and anger. His arms wobbled enough to worry Richter, and his grip on the weights grew very weak indeed. The bar tipped, and three 10 kg weights slid off the end of the bar, and fell to the ground with a loud *KLANG*. After bouncing off Babs' foot, with a slightly softer *KLANG*. "OW!!!" yelled Babs, her now flat foot throbbing painfully. She hopped around, clutching her red-glowing foot. Buster turned and grimaced as he watched her hopping around. He briefly glared at Plucky before returning his eyes to Babs. "Uh.. sorry about that, Babsie.." Babs slowly stopped hopping, and put her sore foot tentatively on the ground. She managed to swallow her mounting anger, and said, in a forced calm, "That's okay, Buster, it was an accident." She turned to the scowling form of Shirley, and said, "Let's go, before Mr. Muscle breaks our necks." "Smooth move, Plucky." said Buster, frowning. "Hey, not to worry," replied Plucky, reassuringly, "it's only a temporary setback." Buster arched an eyebrow, his head in his hands. "Beat us all up, huh?" The boys blinked, and turned to look behind them. "All at once, huh?" said the other bulky-looking football player. Buster looked over at Plucky, who grinned sheepishly. "Uh, well, I, er, um.." Buster gulped, trembling, as he looked up at the football players, both of them towering at least three feet above him. "You're going to pay for this, duck." One of the football players reached down and picked Buster up by the collar of the shirt. "Come with us, muscle man." Plucky watched, wincing occasionally. "Ow, that's gotta hurt. Eep.. I didn't know bunny legs did *that*.." * * * * * * * * * * * * Buster sat down slowly, his bandaged form aching with every movement. "Gotta be more buffed, he said." he grumbled. Plucky simply smiled weakly and shrugged. "Gotta get some muscles on my bones, he said." continued Buster, "So much for your big plans." "Okay, okay," admitted Plucky, "I might have been wrong. The way to Babs' heart is not to work out and get strong." "No. That's the way to the hospital." "Okay, no problem whatsoever, bud!" consoled Plucky, smiling, "That was only my preliminary plan! I have backups!" "Oh, no you don't, I'm not listening to another one of your schemes." "Just give this one a chance!" said Plucky, raising his voice a little as Buster started to trudge away. "No." replied Buster, walking. "The way to her heart is to be romantic! You've got to speak soft words to her! In French! You need French lessons!" Buster stopped, and turned back to face Plucky. "French lessons?" "French lessons! You'll impress the heck out of her if you tell her how you feel in French, the language of love!" "Hmm.. you might actually have something there. But where am I going to learn French?" "Well, who do we both know that speaks French?" "Ah, but of course.." * * * * * * * * * * * * "Let me handle this." said Plucky, leaning back against the wall. He and Buster had been looking in through a partially-open door into the library, where Fifi was reading. "I'll get her teaching you French faster than you can say "Eiffel tower!"." "You'd better, duck." Plucky grinned to Buster, then strolled into the library. Fifi was inside, reading a book of some sort, completely engrossed. "Hiya, Feef!" beamed Plucky, his voice dripping with enthusiasm. Fifi looked up from her book. "Hmm? Oh. 'Allo." Plucky slid a chair out from under Fifi's table, and sat down opposite her. He clasped his hands together atop the table and simply sat staring at her, grinning hugely. Fifi eventually grew tired of him staring at her, and looked up from her book again. "Can I 'elp vous?" "What'cha reading?" "Eet eez ze, 'ow vous say, romance novel. C'est bon!" "Romance novel, huh?" said Plucky, fighting his inner revulsion of romance novels and trying not to show it, "Sounds interesting! You like romance stories, huh?" "Oui, oui, zey always bring ze tear to mon eyes." Plucky grinned. "They do, huh? How would you like to be a part of a real romance story?" Fifi's eyes lit up. "Sacre bleu! Ze real romance story? Ah would be 'onoured to be a part of eet!" "Great! Y'know Buster and Babs? They're destined for each other! They just need a bit of a kickstart to get them going!" Fifi nodded, listening raptly. "And that's where you come in!" "Moi? 'ow can I 'elp?" "Don't you think it'd help if Buster could whisper sweet romantic French phrases to his beloved bunny? That'd get them together, and it would be all romantic, too!" "Oui, oui.. ah weel be glad to teach 'im Francais!" "Great! I knew you would! Wait right here!" Plucky dashed out, grabbed Buster, and yanked him back to the table where Fifi was sitting. Buster blinked, looking a little flustered at being shifted so fast. "Uh.. hi, Fifi!" "'Allo, Bustair. I 'ear zat vous wish to learn ze language of Francais, non?" "Non. Er, I mean, yes!" Fifi smiled. "Zen ah weel be glad to instruct vous een ze art of speaking in ze tongue of Francais." Plucky grinned down at Buster, who smiled a little. "Okay.. what do I have to do?" asked the bunny. "Before vous are ready to learn ze art of Francois, vous must be in ze right, 'ow vous say, 'mood' to learn." "Mood?" "Oui.. ze best way to do zat is," said Fifi, smiling and rising from her seat, "to *dance*." Buster's ears dropped behind his head. "Dance?" "Oui, ze dance weel build inside vous ze mood of romance, of love, of ze French." Buster gulped, and looked over at Plucky, who shrugged. Buster's lack of dancing skills were legendary, but Fifi seemed to have forgotten that. He rose slowly to his feet, shaking a little, and moved over towards her. She took his hand, and smiled at him. "Do not worry, Bustair, ah weel be gentle." She began leading him in a slow waltz, around the mostly-empty library. "Le yow! Le yipe! Le ouch!" yelped Fifi as he stepped repeatedly on her toes. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I've got two left feet." Fifi giggled softly. "Do not worry. I 'ave seen worse." she smiled, "Ah zeenk eet eez cute." Buster blinked, and blushed a little. The pair continued dancing around the library, whilst Plucky sat at a table idly scribbling down ideas for what to do on his soon-to-be date with Shirley. "Oui, oui! Ah zeenk vous are getting, 'ow vous say, ze 'ang of eet!" Buster grinned. "I think I am!" They danced faster, spinning and twirling in a strange, unidentifiable dance, increasing in speed and seemingly growing more random, until suddenly Buster seperated and went spinning across the room, before crashing heavily into a chair and ending up on his back sprawled over it. "Mon dieu!" cried Fifi, "Are vous alright?" "Ow." said Buster. Fifi rushed over to him and looked down. He looked kind of dazed, but not hurt in any really significant way. She failed to supress a giggle at how cute he looked all bunched up like that. "Would vous, like an 'and?" "Please." groaned Buster. She reached down and took his hand, and began pulling him up towards her. It was around about this time that her instincts kicked in, and the 'cute' she saw in him became 'attractive'. She yanked him upwards quickly, eliciting a squeak of surprise from him, and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Ooh, mon 'unky bleu bunny, come to ze Fifi.." "Eek!" cried Buster, squirming free of her grasp. He leaped away from her and bounded around the library, with her in hot persuit. Plucky blinked and looked up from his scribbles to see a blue and purple blur whizzing around in a circle. "PluckeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee!" "Uh oh." he said to himself, and got to his feet. "Mon dancer of desire! Mon rhythmic Romeo! Come to moi!" yelled Fifi as she chased Buster. Buster sprinted wildly away from her until he noticed Plucky standing by a door out of the library, and holding a large sign marked 'THIS WAY'. At his first opportunity he swerved towards Plucky and dove through the door, quickly followed by Plucky, who slammed the door behind him. "Mon 'unk! Mon bunny! Mon-- *CRASH*!" * * * * * * * * * * * * Buster panted as he looked back at the door, complete with skunkette-shaped indent. He glowered at Plucky, who simply shrugged. "Learning French would have helped you, if you'd actually gotten around to it." "Forget it. I've had enough of your ideas. I'm going to try a few of my own." "Like what?" "I dunno." "Well, you're gonna have to impress her, bud." "I know, I know.. I got it! I'll show her some of my..." * * * * * * * * * * * * "...cooking!" Buster held up the carrot cake proudly. "This baby took three and a half hours! It's perfect!" "Are you sure carrot cake is supposed to be black like that?" "I dunno." frowned Buster. Plucky prodded the cake, which didn't dent in any way. He looked it up and down, critically, sniffing it occasionally. "Is it supposed to smell like rubber?" "I dunno." "Is it supposed to make a noise when I press the middle of it?" Buster sighed. "Okay, okay, so it's not that great." He picked the cake and tossed it out the window. It landed on the sidewalk below, leaving a small dent in the concrete. "I hate to be the one to tell ya, bud, but 'not that great' doesn't really cover the cake." "It was that bad?" "It shoulda had a chemical biohazard bag around it." "Darn." "Well, are you ready to try another one of my ideas yet?" "No! I'd like to do it my own way, at least that way I don't get hurt!" Plucky shrugged. "Go for it, then. What's the plan, man?" "I dunno. Maybe a romantic note would help." * * * * * * * * * * * * "Uh, I don't think this fits in the realms of romance, Buster." said Plucky, shaking his head. "You reckon?" "Roses are red / Violets are blue / Pimples are pink / And so are you. I dunno about you, but that doesn't set my heart strings a-plunkin'." "Darn. It took me an hour to write that." "William Shakespeare you ain't." Buster sighed. Again. "Okay, okay. What's your big idea, then?" Plucky grinned. "Here's my proposal. Try to suspend your disbelief and imagine this." Buster arched an eyebrow. "You. Babs. Shirley. Me. Bowling alley. Bowling. Double date. Badda bing." said Plucky, slowly, outlining each point with an appropriate hand gesture. Buster's face slowly formed a smile. "I like it, I like it, I like it!" "I knew you would." said Plucky, grinning. "One problem." "What's that?" asked Plucky. "How are you going to get Shirley to go with you?" * * * * * * * * * * * * The foursome arrived at the bowling alley, Plucky dragging his heavy custom-made Ultra-Bowlerizer bowling ball behind him. "This was a great idea!" said Babs, grinning ear-to-ear. "I can't wait to kick some male egotistical butt in this game!" Shirley seemed slightly less enthusiastic, but followed along. Plucky grinned and nudged Buster, who jumped and frowned at him. The foursome made their way over to their assigned lane. "Okay," said Buster, sitting, "lane 12, this is us." The other three sat down and began stretching in silence. This silence was broken by Plucky. "How the HECK am I supposed to get this shoe on?" he said, stretching the shoe to its limits. His face flushed red as he strained to pull it on. His foot sprung out of the shoe with a *RRRRIP!*. "Uh oh," he said, "I broke it." He calmly tossed away the ripped shoe and its unripped counterpart. "Eeh, shoes are for wimps anyway." "I agree." said the other three in unison, and tossed away their shoes. "So," said Plucky, "what're the teams? Rabbits versus ducks--" "I am, like, *not* a duck." interrupted Shirley, looking threatening. "Uh, right," said Plucky, looking a little nervous, "Rabbits versus duck and loon, or boys versus girls?" "I like the rabbit team idea," said Buster, leaning toward Babs and grinning. Babs pushed him back. "Girls versus boys." she said, smiling sweetly. Buster looked over at Plucky, who shrugged. "Boys versus girls it is." Babs rubbed her palms together gleefully. "Eeeexcellent." Buster arched an eyebrow. Plucky shrugged again. * * * * * * * * * * * * "STEEEEEEEEE-RIKE!" shrieked Babs, jumping up into the air with glee. "Chew on THAT, blue boy!" She bounced back towards Shirley, who high-foured her. "Like, nice bowling!" Plucky marked the X on the score sheet, and looked slowly over at Buster. Buster sat, staring at the pins, his face red and his teeth grating. "Strike, huh?" he said, fuming, "Another strike, huh? Think you can beat me at this, huh, Miss Pink? Is that what you think? You're gonna start thinking otherwise reeeeeeal soon!" Babs merely grinned at him. "Cool your jets, bud," whispered Plucky, nudging Buster, "this ain't helping your chances.." Buster whirled around and glared daggers at him. Plucky shrunk back meekly in his chair. "Although she might like healthy competition.." he squeaked. "Hey!" shouted someone in the next lane, "Would you guys stop *shouting*? It's disrupting my game!" Buster held up a bowling ball, "I'll disrupt something else if ya don't shaddup!" The shouter glared at Buster, but quietened down and attempted to carry on his game. Buster stepped up to the lane and swung his ball around and around and around and around and around, generating a gale of wind that knocked down several pins on other people's lanes. "Hey!" shouted several people. Finally, Buster released the ball, which rocketed down the lane. It completely missed the pins, but passed the sound barrier whilst it was over them. The sonic boom shook the lane, knocking the pins down. "YEAH!" yelled Buster, jumping up and down, "Beat THAT, babe!" It was now Babs' turn for teethgrinding. She jumped out of her seat and grabbed a ball. She ran up to the lane, her arm swinging wildly in circles. Buster's eyes widened as he watched her arm become a pink blur. Suddenly, the pins all shattered. A second or so later, Babs let go of the ball, which seemed to vanish. She whirled around to face Buster. "HA! Sound barrier nothing! I broke the light barrier! Ha ha to you! Ha! My ball travelled through TIME! Ha! Oh, by the way," she said, sauntering up to him. She grabbed his ear and thrust her face into it. "STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-RIIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!!" Buster jumped a foot into the air and landed, dazed. He hopped back up to his feet and jabbed his finger into Babs' shoulder. "Oh yeah?" he said. "Yeah!" she replied. "Oh yeah?" he argued. "*Yeah*!" she retorted. "Oh YEAH?" he snapped. "Uh, excuse me," interrupted Plucky, walking up to Buster, "but it's my turn to bowl now." "Siddown!" said Buster and Babs, in unison. "Would you two SHUT UP?!" shouted a few other annoyed bowlers. "Stay out of this!" shouted Buster and Babs, again in unison. Outside, Fowlmouth and Furrball leaned against a lamppost slurping on popsicles. Fowlmouth blinked as he heard an agitated 'Oh ***YEAH***?' from inside the bowling alley. "What da @#%#$ was dat dadgum noise?" Furrball shrugged and slurped on his popsicle. Fowlmouth shrugged too, and went back to his own popsicle. A moment later, the building started to shake and tremble. Both Fowlmouth and Furrball backed hurriedly away from the building as it shook more violently. Cracks began to form in the building, and all of a sudden it collapsed into a dusty heap. "What da ^$#^$??" exclaimed Fowlmouth. The dust slowly cleared, leaving a pile of concrete and a few dazed toons laying in it. They came to, and all started shouting angrily at Buster and Babs. Buster came to, groggily, and looked around. Babs was stirring next to him. He shook her shoulder. "I hope you're happy now," he said, "we shook down the building." "Whaddaya mean, 'I hope you're happy'! You started it!" "Did not!" "Did too!" "Did not!" "Can you two just make up and STOP ARGUING?!" yelled a distant bowler, "I'm getting fed up of hearing it!" "Yeah!" yelled a few other bowlers. Plucky emerged from the pile of rubble, covered in dust and coughing. Buster and Babs looked at him, and failed to supress a laugh. "I can't believe I did all that to impress you." said Buster, in the midst of a laughing fit. Babs stopped laughing, and looked at him. "You did all that to impress me? The working out? The bowling?" Buster blushed. "Yeah." "Why?" "Well," Buster mumbled, "'cause I kinda, uh, y'know, like you and stuff.." Babs broke out laughing, loudly. Buster looked hurt. "Does this mean..?" he began. "Oh, geez! Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for you to say that?" Buster blinked. "I've been waiting for that for so long it's not even funny, blue boy! For cryin' out loud, why didn't you just ASK?" Buster blushed a bit more, and batted at a nearby bit of debris. "It was kinda embarrassing.." "More embarrassing than knocking down a bowling alley?" Buster looked at her, and started laughing again. "No, I guess not." There was a pause, then Babs crossed her arms. "Well?" "Well what?" "Are you going to ask, or just sit there all night?" Buster blushed again. "Babs, do you wanna, y'know, uh, go out?" Babs smiled. "Of course I do! I'd love to! You're a great guy, Buster!" Buster grinned. "But, heaven help you," Babs continued, "you just ain't that bright." The various bowlers around started applauding, for the couple as much as the peace and quiet. Plucky stared on, his beak open. The thought of all his hard work going down the drain and Buster and Babs getting together anyway was too much for him, and he passed out. Buster watched him fall back, and laughed. "Y'know, Plucky," he said, "sometimes the simple solutions are the best." THE END