╔════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ 🥡 REN’S CANON ADDENDUM 🥡 ║ ARTHUR-VERSE · SEASON 4.5 ║ SUBSTITUTIONS MAY (NOT) BE SERVED ╚════════════════════════════════════╝ EPISODE 5: Do I Still Belong Here? ──────────────────────── 📧 FROM: REN 📧 TO: JUSTIN 📎 RE: DO I STILL BELONG HERE? Justin, I could see Bart on the curb after Harley went back inside, trying to let egg rolls, beer, and sheer speedster appetite prove he was okay. Then Arthur comes down in lightning because of course he does, and Bart somehow ends up even messier: soy sauce on the shirt, egg roll in hand, trying to look normal for the one person he still badly wants to be normal for. That stain is doing a lot. It is funny, yes, but it is also Bart’s whole emotional state made visible: sticky, embarrassed, impossible to hide, and still held anyway. Arthur said “You’re not my Bart” at the end of Season 4, but here his actions start answering what his mouth broke. He sees Bart, does not buy the fake-fine act, hugs him hard, apologizes, and gives Bart one small, dangerous maybe: maybe he still belongs here. —Ren ──────────────────────── 🥠 FORTUNE ATTACHED TO RECEIPT 🥠 “Your name is yours when you answer to it.” Lucky Numbers: 42 · 13 · 31 · 24 ============================================= [verse 1: gang vocals and lead vocalist] Harley said, “Eat,” and called it a wrap, left me on the curb with a bag in my lap. Egg rolls, sauce packets, three beers in view, I smiled like, Harley, what did you do? —Three whole beers! Cheers! The first beer hissed; I went too quick, burped, “Oh yeah,” and called that fixed-fixed. [Chorus] I’m still me, I’m still hungry, don’t know why the world feels funny. I can bite, I can laugh, I can say I’m fine, but I’m bad at that. I got food, I got beer, I got food, I got beer, but do I still belong… here? [verse 2: gang vocals and lead vocalist] The block went dark; the clouds got rude, my brain said, “Storm.” My mouth said, “Food.” I got real busy with the egg roll stack, Duck sauce! Soy sauce! Curbside snack attack! One squeeze too hard; the sauce went wild, my shirt got murdered takeout-style. Lightning dropped down way too bright, like the sky said, “Cool. Let’s ruin your night.” I jumped so bad the packet splat! shirt crime scene got a second act. [Chorus] I’m still me, I’m still hungry, don’t know why the world feels funny. I can bite, I can laugh, I can say I’m fine, but I’m bad at that. Why do I, still feel weird, I got food, I got beer, but do I still belong… here? [bridge: piano ostinato, sing, sung] Arthur stepped out where lightning split the night, Gold scar, teal scrubs, cosmic coat burning bright. I tried to look all neat. The stain said: take a seat. And then Arthur said, “Bart, are you okay?” real low, I said, “Yeah, dude, got free food, so, you know.” Totally fine, no sweat. My face said: nah, bad bet. Arthur caught my whole free-food act, then hugged me before I could react. He said, “Bart, I’m sorry.” My dumb eyes went blurry. Arthur was trying; I could feel it there, so I hugged back with sauce stuck everywhere. My ribs said: way too tight. My heart said: all right. I felt him trying in the way he held, He kept huggin’… and my dumb wall fell. [Final Chorus] I’m still me, I’m still hungry, don’t know why the world feels funny. I can bite, I can laugh, Said I’m fine, but he didn’t buy that. I got you, I got food, I got beer, I got food, I got beer, and maybe I still belong here! [outro: piano ostinato] Arthur breaks the hug, then points, and walks to the takeout joint. Oh no. Oh cool. Oh no. This is nice. This is bad. I got an egg roll in hand, and a soy-sauce pack, Arthur’s headed in… to make the counter crack.
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