Ari and Eve walk down the street; Ari carefully holding the cake and Eve holding the cake slicer. “Okay, we’re looking for a hill… wait, I think I see it!” Ari starts to run in the direction of the hill but she trips over a rock and falls over, dropping the cake in the process. Luckily, the cake fell on its bottom so no harm was done. “Crap! That could have been really bad!”

“Eevee!” Eve looks like she could faint.

“You’re right, you’re right… gotta go slow…” Ari picks the cake up off the ground and carefully holds it as they make their way to the base of the hill.

“Okay, only a little bit more to go!” Ari is determined to get the cake to Dulse intact. 

Ari and Eve start walking up the hill, the trees surrounding them passing them by. They’re almost to the top of the hill when they hear a loud explosion coming from the top of the hill. Ari and Eve look at each other, worried, then they start running up the remainder of the hill.

Finally reaching their destination, Ari and Eve lay their eyes on the laboratory Nurse Joy told them about. ~It’s pretty small.~ Ari thinks. ~Kinda like a glorified shed.~ Ari then notices smoke coming from it.

“Oh no!” Ari drops the cake and runs to the lab. She opens the door and smoke escapes. “Dulse! Where are you? Are you okay?” Ari waves her hand in front of her face trying to keep the smoke away. “Dulse!”

Suddenly Ari feels something grab her arms and guides her backwards. Next thing she knows, she’s back outside and Dulse is right in front of her.

“Another failed experiment.” He says.

Dulse looks down at Ari and he tilts his head to the side, giving her a confused look. “Ari? I thought that was you. What are you doing here?”

“More important question! What the hell happened here!?”

“Oh, that? Nothing much, just mixed the wrong chemicals, that’s all.” Dulse looks like it’s no big deal.

“‘That’s all.’!? Dulse, that looks way more serious than ‘that’s all’. I mean look at you!” Ari gestures to the dust and soot all over Dulse’s face and clothes.

Dulse looks down. “Oh, this? It’s nothing.” He wipes his clothes with his hands a bit. “Now.” Dulse looks at Ari, “How did you find me?”

“O-oh… Nurse Joy told me about your lab down the street and up the hill.”

“Uh-huh… last time I told her personal information… Anyway, why are you here? Is there a reason why you needed to see me?” Dulse looks down at Ari with an intense look.

“Oh right! I brought you-” Ari stops talking and realizes what she’s done. “Oh no!!!” Ari runs over to the smashed cake laying on the ground at the tippy top of the hill. “The cake…”

“Cake?” Dulse walks up behind Ari and looks down at the messed up cake all over the ground.

“Yeah… a cake… for you… but… it’s…” Ari’s eyes start to water. “It’s ruined now…” Ari looks up at Dulse, tears in her eyes.

Dulse backs up a bit, shocked by Ari’s sudden tears. “Woah, no need to cry! B-but uh… a cake… for me? Why?”

Ari replies sobbing. “B-because… you… saved me the other day! And you helped me win that prize! I wanted to thank you! And now… now it’s all messed up…” Tears are streaming down her face.

Dulse is unsure what to do. ~She’s crying… what should I do…~ He puts his hand on his neck and speaks. “It’s fine, ya know. No big deal.”

Ari keeps crying.

“H-hey…” Dulse kneels down. “I mean it, it’s fine.” Dulse puts his hand on Ari’s back.

Ari looks up at Dulse, tears still falling. “But how can I thank you now?” 

“Well… there’s no need to thank me, really.” Dulse tries to give Ari a half smile.

Ari stares at Dulse for a long moment, then she starts crying again.

“Okay, okay! Ummm… lemme see… I-I know, the lab! You can clean the lab!”

“What?” Ari suddenly stops crying and she tilts her head to the side.

Dulse stumbles. “Y-you don’t have to! It’s just an idea!” He looks down to the ground, kinda embarrassed. “It’s just with the explosion, the lab is probably a mess now, so…”

“Sure!” Ari grabs Dulse’s hands and cups them in hers. “I’d love to help!” She’s stopped crying and there’s now a sparkle in her eyes.

Dulse, stunned, says. “O-okay.”

Ari stands up and grabs Dulse’s hand to help him up. Ari, Dulse, and Eve make their way into the lab; now that the smoke is finally cleared out they can see the damage. And, wow, is it messy.

“This… this may take a while… sure you’re up for it?” Dulse asks.

“We’ve got this! Don’t worry! Just work on your little projects and we’ll take care of this, right Eve!?” Ari puts her hand on her arm with determination. 

“Eevee!” Eve makes the same gesture. 

“Okay… if you say so.” Dulse lets out a small laugh.

Ari and Eve get to work taking care of the mess. Sweeping, dusting, clearing off surfaces, and throwing broken glass away. After about 2 hours, the lab is looking as good as new.

“Woah, I think it’s cleaner than when it was first built…” Dulse is shocked.

“Well, cleaning is one of our specialties, right Eve?”

“Eevee!” Eve agrees.

Their enthusiasm makes Dulse smile.

Ari looks at her phone and notices the time. “Woah, it’s gotten late! We should get going!”

“I see.” Dulse responds. “If you’ve gotta go then you gotta go.”

“Yeah… but hey… is it alright if we come visit you from time to time? I’d love to see what you do here!” Ari looks at Dulse with intent. 

Dulse, thrown off by Ari’s expression, responds with, “Sure, that’s fine.”

Ari’s eyes light up and she gives Dulse a thankful smile. She then waves Dulse goodbye as she heads out the door and Dulse waves back.