Chapter 42: What's the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?

Four days after the last chapter, Valentine's Day came. Arkcher, MK, PMM, and Aloysius were already in Hamsterdam, as were Cheesemaster, Cheese Woman, Kat, and Edna. Cheesemaster had finished his gift for MK, and was excited to give it to her. Cheese Woman was clinging tightly to Cheesemaster, and had her own plans to try and make him fall for her that night. And her handbag was stuffed with cards for everyone. It was still cold in Hamsterdam, so they were all in Winter clothes-Cheesemaster had bought a new coat and pants for Edna.

"Well, here we are. The same place we always party: Planet Horatio."
"Yea, aren't there any other places to go."
"Maybe you guys should go to Fried Dragon Palace/Al Gore's Chinese Restaurant," said Kat. She had stayed in the Port of Cheese for three more days and was no coming back home to Hamsterdam. The four of them went inside.
"This is the first time I've come here," said Edna, who was riding on Cheesemaster's shoulders. "You eat here, right?"
"Yea. But sometimes people perform, too. I think tonight it's Schimmislick singing, Who Are You doing magic tricks, Graf Von's ventriloquist act, and Roger might play Piano. I don't know, though."
"Sounds fun!" said Edna, excited. The four of them walk in, and Glowurm was the first to greet Kat.
"KAT! WHILE YOU WERE ON VACATION, I HAD TO WORK EVERY SHIFT!! WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU YOU'RE GONNA..." He screamed, leaning into her face. But then he looked at Edna, and profusely began to apologize.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know you had a child with you. I shouldn't yell in front of kids."
"It's alright. I'm OK." said Edna as they started walking in. Glowurm stopped Kat for a moment.
"I'm so cereal about that me being mad, you could eat me for breakfast."

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Cheesemaster went inside and saw MK with Arkcher over in a corner. He looked at the ground, with the present in his hands. A small, thin, square shaped object with pink wrapping paper with a white bow. He would have to wait until Arkcher left her alone, but if he saw him, he'd never leave her.
"What's wrong, Cheesemaster? You look really deep in thought. Are we going to sit down yet?"
Cheesemaster snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, nothing. I need to give this to Mushroom, but Arkcher might get angry if I just go over there. I'll need to make sure he gets up from their table if I want to..."
"There's your chance! They're both getting up."
"Oh!!!" He exclaimed, and he began to run, but he had to wait until they were out of eyesight. Once they were, he ran over to the table and place the present on the table on MK's side, and hurried away to see Cheese Woman.

Arkcher was the first to notice that the package was there. He looked at it, calmly, knowing whatever it was, was more than likely not as good as what he had for her.
"Oh, I wonder who this is from?" she said, as she slipped the bow off. Cheesemaster watched from a distance, while pretending to listen to Cheese Woman.
She slowly took off the paper and what was under was a jewel case with a generic label. It was a burned CD.

"Oh, someone burned a CD for me," she said, excitedly. "I wonder what songs they put onto it?" She said as she flipped it over. "Hey, look at all these pointless references!"

01. You're My Best Friend-Queen
02. Bein' Friends-Catherine Warwick
03. I'm not in Love-10cc
04. The Boys Are Too Refind-The Hush Sounds
05. Never Tear Us Apart-INXS
06. The Dynamo Of Volition-Jason Mraz
07. Hey Is That a Ninja Up There-Minus The Bear
08. Earthbound-Rodney Crowell
09. Geno-Dexys Midnight Runners
10. Never Gonna Give You Up-Rick Astley

"What the-" Said Arkcher, angry. "The Boys Are Too Refined"? Is that supposed to talk about me?!"
MK laughed. "Oh, nothing. I'm sure whoever made this for me was kidding." She looked back at the track list. "With song titles like 'Geno' and 'Hey Is That a Ninja Up There, there's really only one person who could have made this for me."

"Hi, MK!" shouted Cheesemaster, and he and Edna ran over to her. "Do you like my CD? I made it especially for you."
"I love it!" She said, ecstatic. "You had songs that describe how you feel and songs to help me know who sent it."
Arkcher got up and glared at him. "Was track Four supposed to reference me?!"
"Mmmmmmaybe."
Arkcher banged his fist on the table, and MK gave him a look that told him to calm down.
"But Arkcher, the first track is for you. The second one was for Mushroom because she's my close friend, but not my best one, and because she likes EarthBound."
Arkcher suddenly calmed down a bit.
"Look on the track list closely," He said, pointing. "There's an asterisk by Tracks 1 and 4.  At the bottom it says the ones marked are for Arkcher."
"Oh, I see it now," said MK. Arkcher looked for himself and calmed down a lot more. "So you're not mad that I was being paranoid?"
"Nah, I was over it a long time ago," He said, smiling. "I was never angry about it."
Arkcher started to choke up. "Seriously?"
"I'm so cereal, you could eat me for breakfast, though I ask you don't."
"Hey, don't steal my phrase!" said Glowurm, who snuck up behind Cheesemaster. He was clinging to Woodstock.
"Oh, Hey, Lola." said MK to Woodstock. sHe groaned and said, "Well, it's better than all the "Three Days of Peace and Music" jokes I usually get. Or the ones asking me if I'm friends with a beagle."
Glowurm then spoke as Cheesemaster and Edna sat down. "What do you guys want to eat? Drink?"
Cheesemaster took Edna and placed him on his lap so he could reach the table. "I think we should get a kid's meal for Edna," He suggested.
"Alright, one Hoops's Story. What else?"
"I think I'll have the Blue Note Award," said MK.
"I'll share with her," said Arkcher. "But can I have a Glowing Milkshake? No alcohol please."
"I'll just have a soda," said MK.
"Could I have a glass of water?" Said Cheesemaster.
"Alright, I'll get those for you as soon as possible."
Arkcher looked around after Glowurm and Woodstock left. "I wonder where dad is?"

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Like he had been at Hamsterking's birthday party, Aloysius was outside the restaurant, at the same private table, with Solrai. It was cold, but he had given his coat to Solrai anyhow.
"Aloysius, you look so cold. You really should take your coat back, or at least, let's go inside."
"N-No," he said, shivering. "I-I'm fine..."
"No, you're not. Come on, let's go inside, please?"
"If you insist."
The two of them got up and locked arms as they both walked inside. As they walked in, they ran into Roger, who still had a cigarette in his mouth.
"Hey, old man," he said. "I see you got yourself a girlfriend."
"Uh, yes! I...guess that'd be one way to put it."
Roger took a drag on his cigarette and blew the smoke in the other direction, making a long, thin cloud. "That's real nice. Wish my kind of lady would walk up to me one day."
It was then that the Magician, Who Are You? Who Am I?, walked up behind him. Roger turned his head and looked at her. And he smiled, for the second time in the period that Aloysius had known him.
"Hey, Magical Trevor," He said sarcastically. "I was just talkin' about how I hoped my kind of chick would walk up to me. Never thought it'd be a street performer with a thing for DIY." He blew some smoke in her face. She brushed it away and an even bigger smile broke across her face. She took her hands and put them on his shoulders, and he leaned his head back by hers. "At least it wasn't Cutie Puppet."
He put the cigarette back in his mouth. "Yea, I guess so." He looked over at where Aloysius had been. He was gone, as was Solrai. "Awww, the fine-dressed inventor and his little girlfriend are gone."

Turns out that the Fine-dressed inventor, and his girlfriend, were sitting in a far corner of the room, on the exact opposite end that Arkcher was. They had both ordered hot tea  and Aloysius was planning on taking her somewhere...but he didn't know where. There weren't a whole lot of places to go in Hamsterdam. If it wasn't so cold, it would have been a good night to perhaps go explore the town and maybe go by one of the canals that are apparently there.

"Solrai, do you maybe want to go to one of the canals? It may be cold, but there's no clouds. We can go look at the stars."
"I'd rather look at them from the warm observatory of your mansion."
Aloysius said nothing for a few moments.
"Could...could you give me a tour of the mansion, perhaps?" She said softly.
Aloysius choked a little but eventually swallowed his drink. "Of course, given my son allows it. I'm still amazed at how fast air travel is here."
"Yes, it's really advanced, isn't it?" Laughed Solrai.
"I may want to research it sometime," He said, as they both got up.
"Now, to find my son," Said Aloysius, looking around.