Chapter Text
Book was...a little afraid, frankly. This stranger—she should really be calling her Needle. It was her name, after all.
Needle was frankly a little scary, but Book wanted to give her a chance. Despite how forward the girl kind of is, she supposes that she had a reason. Though, Book did wish that someone else was with her, like Taggy, or Ice Cube, maybe Pencil. Though, it might also be a good thing that Pencil isn’t here.
Book took a step back from the other girl. She looked a little down, which made sense enough. Sure, it wasn’t her that had her pages written in, but she did come to Book looking for a friend. They still can be! Maybe not best friends—Book doesn’t have one yet, and she doesn’t want to pick between her friends—but they can be friends again.
“Ok, so, I don’t know you, but you know me. What’s something we could do to solve that?” She asked.
“We could do something like hanging out? What would you wanna do?”
“We could try Goikys and Dragon?”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“It’s a board game, though, it’s kind of long.”
Needle gave her a look. “Kind of?”
“It took my team about 38 weeks to finish a campaign.”
“That might be too long.”
“Yeah, that’s fair. What else could we do?”
The both of them looked around for a bit. They were in one of the many hallways of the hotel, which didn’t really provide many ideas of things to do. To solve this, Needle grabbed Book’s hand and pulled her towards the stairs. They walk down in silence to the lobby. Book awkwardly tries to pull her hand away—this was still a stranger to her—but Needle had a pretty strong grip on her. It was sort of uncomfortable, but oddly familiar. She can’t really remember the last time someone held her hand.
To be fair, most of the people she hangs out with are arm-less, so she can’t exactly hold their hands. Something about Needle was just nice, though. Maybe they really did know each other.
But why—more like how—did Book forget her, though? How did the blue scribbles in her pages get there to cover her up?
…
Perhaps it’d be too rude to be suspicious of Needle just because she’s blue. She’d have to judge every other blue contestant, like Fanny, or Ice Cube, maybe Pen. Too many people.
Maybe Pen would be a valid suspicion. Though, he was more of an indigo color, not blue. Marker was the wrong color completely. Pencil was a regular no. 2 pencil, so she couldn’t have made blue marks. Who else could, or would—
“Hey, what if we took a bunch of photos?” Needle spoke up. Book shook her head, coming out of her latest thought spiral, and noticed the girl was holding a camera. It was a little dented, and the lens had a small scratch in it. The ruins of Robot Flower’s shop was right there, so she likely grabbed it from there.
“Does the camera work?” She asked. The other responded by taking a photo of Book right on the spot. The camera clicked, and after a few seconds, a photo printed out. It came out relatively okay, despite the scratch. It wasn’t a keeper or anything, but it’s proof that it worked!
“Hey, it does! What should we do with it?”
“We should take it with us, but I still don’t really know what to do.”
“What are you two do-ing? And why is this blue ob-ject here? Did they eat that one mush-room that Fries did?”
In some point during the two’s discussion, Pin had walked downstairs. It didn’t sound like she recognized Needle either, so Book wasn’t alone here.
“That’s Needle, and we’re trying to figure out things to do.”
“And the sec-ond quest-ion?” She had an inquisitive look to her face. This was the most interested Book has seen Pin in a while, which means almost nothing, considering they weren’t really friends. Though, they were on friendly terms, so Book could work with that. That wasn’t the focus for today, however.
Book took a second to remember the second question before hestiently answering, “Um, yes?”
“Why?” Needle looked like she was about to start sweating.
“Uh, Pin! Do you have any ideas of things to do?” Book quickly asked. Sure, it was slightly suspicious, but Needle likely didn’t want to share her reason of being blue. If she did eat some Noctiluca Yoylean, then she probably had her own reason. It could be embarrassing as well. She was entirely within reason to not answer.
“I don’t know. Have you tri-ed go-ing to the beach?”
“Do you mean the canal?”
“It’s beach en-ough. There is al-so the A-twos-ment Park.”
“We could go to both. What do you think, Needle?” Book asked. Needle looked a bit hesitant at the mention of the A-twos-ment Park, but to be fair, a lot of people are. It’s not exactly the most trustworthy amusement park, and some people still don’t fully trust Two. The park was also a huge safety hazard, and—
“Well, I was plan-ing on go-ing to the beach soon with Fan-ny.”
“We could go with—“
“No.”
“Oh, well we’ll just go to the A-twos-ment Park while you’re at the canal.”
“I was joke-ing! Of course, you two can come with!” Pin waved her hand, motioning to follow along. The other two followed after Pin towards the Goiky Canal.
Once they had arrived, Fanny was there, waiting for Pin. Pin excitedly ran over to her. “What is up, my fellow Death P.A.C.T-er!”
“I hate being called that.” Fanny quipped back. Pin simply nudged her, brushing off the comment. She did rarely take anything too personally nowadays. Her friendliness with Fanny was just a little strange, though, Book never got to know Fanny. Maybe there was something good about her.
“Why did you bring other people?”
“Oh, they were look-ing for some-thing to do, so I in-vit-ed them to come with me to-day.”
Fanny gives Pin a stare, before glaring at the other two. For some reason, Needle shrank a little under her gaze.
“Why is that object blue? I hate blue objects.”
“Aren’t you blue?” Needle asked. Technically, all of them were, except for Pin.
“I’m cerulean, not that ugly cornflower shade.” She yelled out that last part. Maybe Pin was fooling herself about there being something nice about Fanny.
Regardless, she steps in front of the object, “Wo-ah, calm down, Fan-ny. Nee-dle just has a new sha-de. What’s wrong with that?”
“It’s disgusting, but if you’re fine with her being around.” She walked off immediately. Pin was about to follow her again, but Book grabbed her arm.
“Are you sure we’re fine here?”
“Oh, yeah! Fan-ny is just like that to every-one.” She gave her a smile, which did provide a little comfort. She still didn’t know if she should be around Fanny, but she trusted Pin enough, so her and Needle are probably fine. Worst case, they just leave and go to the A-twos-ment Park a little early, so no harm in sticking around here for a little bit.
The three of them followed after Fanny, who was sitting near the water. Pin decided to run right in.
“Book! Nee-dle! You should join me!”
“Um, I don’t want to ruin my pages, sorry, Pin!”
“I’ll join you!” Uh oh, Book’s nightmare: being stuck with Fanny.
Well, that’s not really true, but she did hope that someone else would stay with her, even if it was Needle. Despite her wishes, she was now sat next to the other girl while the other two were playing in the water.
Welp, Book was doomed.
“So, you’re friends with Pin?” What a great first question. That’ll go over perfectly with Fanny, surely. She face palmed herself internally.
“We’re teammates. She’s a little controlling, and I hate controlling people.”
“But you still agreed to come to the canal.”
Fanny started kicking at the sand. “Well, Tree and Black Hole convienced me to. They were supposed to come with, but got caught up with Marker in something.”
“What about Gaty?”
“Off with Two, doing whatever. I hate them.” Ok, who doesn’t Fanny hate?
The two continued to sit there in silence. Book really didn’t know how to talk to Fanny. She didn’t really know how to talk to anyone, honestly. Instead, she decided to watch Pin and Needle, and fiddle with the camera a little bit. It was quite tactile.
The others were just playing in the water. Nothing that special, but they looked happy. Pin had a nice smile on her face, and Needle looked really pretty while happy.
Wait, pretty? Oh paper, what’s wrong with her?
She really was though.
“Are you friends with that other person?”
“Her name is Needle.”
“Never seen her before. I hate new people.”
“She’s actually kind of nice, when she’s not in your face trying to remind you who she is.”
The both of them paused, and Book went back to fiddling with the camera. She decided to point the thing towards the duo.
Click
Fanny sighed while a photo printed out of the camera.
“Seriously, why is she that shade of blue?”
“Are you really judging her based on her appearance.” Book took out the picture and put it inside one of her pages. Maybe she should keep this camera and start taking photos of her friends.
“She just has the same blue as a certain number I hate.”
“What? Four?”
“No, One. I hate her and her deals.”
Huh, that’s strange. “I’ve never met a One.”
Book would think she’d remember meeting an Algebralien like One, considering how memorable the others have been, but she has nothing. Oh well, she likely has just never met them.
“Well, her and Needle are the same shade of blue.” That did sound sort of suspicious, and Book still didn’t know who wrote those scribbles in her pages. Now that there’s another blue person, they could be the answer.
…
Nah, Book would know if someone wrote in her pages. They’d be way too close for comfort. Considering that Needle hasn’t done anything malicious yet either, One was probably harmless. “It probably isn’t anything important.”
“Whatever.” Fanny chose to stay silent after that.
After a few minutes, Book got bored of the silence. She was also still curious as to why Fanny was here if she didn’t like Pin. Another question couldn’t really hurt her.
“Why did you really come out here?”
“Why are you hanging out with a stranger?” That was a valid question. Needle still very much was a stranger to her, but...
“Because I want to get to know her”
“That’s why I’m out here.”
Huh, maybe she and Fanny weren’t so different inside. Why she hated everything, Book definitely didn’t understand, but maybe it was some sort of defense. She could understand that, considering how standoff-ish she herself has become.
Wow, she could learn something from Fanny.
The two conversed some more until the sharper objects came out of the water. Pin looked really excited about something, and was basically dragging Needle over with her.
“Fan-ny! Are you com-ing with us to the A-twos-ment Park? The ro-de-o is to-night!” A rodeo? That’s why Pin wanted to go to the park? Book didn’t even know that there was a rodeo there.
Welp, she’s already signed herself and Needle up for this.
“I hate rodeos, but we can do something else next time.”
“Yay! I will hold you to that, Fan-ny!” Pin gave her a hug that Fanny begrugenly accepted. Book laughed a little at the sight. She guessed it was taking everything in her to not say she hated hugs, which was sweet of her.
After Pin and Needle had dried off, and Fanny had decided to go back to the hotel, the now trio started walking towards the A-twos-ment Park. Book walked a little behind them, distracted at first by the view. The canal was really pretty. When she looked back at the other two though, she noticed that they were holding hands, and conversing. Something in Book’s pages twisted ever so slightly. Surely, it was fine. They were allowed to be friends, and friends could hold hands. Even if something told her that it should be her holding Needle’s hand, it was just a silly thought. It didn’t mean anything.
Soon, the trio had arrived at the A-twos-ment Park. Pin had let go of Needle’s hand to immediately ran over to the barn, with the other two girls following. Whatever was twisted inside of Book had fixed itself, but it was still a strange feeling.
“Let’s go! I want to go see the ro-de-o!”
“Since when did this get here?” Needle asked.
“There were some renovations done recently.”
“Huh, I never saw Two do that.”
“Shush! The show is start-ing!” She shushed the others and took a seat. They shrugged and took a seat with her. The tent had some people, some that Book could recognize, and many that she couldn’t. She guesses that rodeo was a popular event. Why exactly provoking an animal and fighting against it would be something that someone wanted to do, she had no idea. It didn’t sound like a fun idea to fight against the animal that was supporting you. Doing anything else on the animal sounds just as bad. There was some respect that she had for those people. She certainly never could ride a bull or horse herself.
The lights in the tent dimmed, and the show began. The crowd cheered—Pin screaming loudly beside them as well—as the first rider came out without an animal beside them. On the other side, there was a horse without a saddle. Bareback riding was Book’s guess, though she didn’t really have much interest in the event. It was sort of loud, and not really fun. She wasn’t one for big, energetic events. She’d be happy sitting under a tree and reading, well, herself. She loved Pin—as a friend, of course—but she wasn’t really cut out for this kind of stuff.
Oh well, she was ready to sit here and see if something exciting happened. The first rider made it the full 8 seconds and a little extra, which was impressive enough. As the next rider got on, Book pulled out her camera to capture what happens. Very quickly, the object went flying.
Click
Soon after the flung rider had gotten up from the mud and gave a glare to the horse, another rider came out. She put her camera away. Something nudged her hand. Book looked over at Pin, but she was focused on the show. Then she turned to Needle, and the two made eye contact. Something about her just drew her in. Needle leaned towards her, getting awfully close.
She whispered to Book, “You wanna get out of here?”
Book gulped before nodding her head. The other girl then grabbed her hand—ink was rushing through Book’s ears—and as soon as the newest rider had been thrown off of the horse and the audience booed, the two of them fought through the crowd to leave.
At some point during the rush, Book had let go of Needle. She was getting pushed back into the crowd, quickly losing sight of Needle and her blue glow. She was looking towards the exit with a bit of fear. Was she just dragged along for nothing? Was she simply fodder? Sure, she didn’t mind hanging out with Pin, but she thought that Needle and her were just starting to become friends. She thought that she could trust the other and—
Her hand was grabbed again, and she soon saw a bright light.
…
“Book? You can uncover your eyes, now.”
“Oh, right, sorry.” She sheepishly removed her hands from her face. The light that she saw turned out to be the sun going down.
The two of them were outside now. They could hear the crowd from inside, but it was much more faint and nice. This was nice. Them being here, together, was nice.
Book took in a deep breath. “What should we do now?”
They looked around for a bit until one of them pointed out the Ferris wheel. There surprisingly wasn’t that long of a line. Probably because of the rodeo. Book wonders how popular that actually was in Goiky. It was enough for the Ferris wheel to have one cabin left open. The two quickly got in and the ride started up.
As they started to rise up, the sun came down from the sky. The bright and ever so familiar orange started to fade from the sky, leaving the clouds a pinkish-red. A similar pinkish-red was starting to form on Book’s cover. This was a decently romantic scene, even if they started out as strangers just this morning. She felt like she knew Needle. At least they were friendly, which was just what Book wanted. And she knew Book pretty well, enough to tell that she didn’t really wanna be at that show. She was sweet, and caring, and the way that she was looking at her was adorable even.
Wait.
‘Oh my word, she’s staring at me, and blushing?’ She thought to herself.
The two were hopelessly staring at each other. The faint rose-colored light bounced off the both of them beautifully, giving Needle a little shine. She moved a little closer to Book. Her smile looked almost ethereal. Book doesn’t know how she could have ever forgotten a smile like that.
She opened her mouth, but Needle stopped her. She pointed to the windows, where some of the stars started to appear. The two of them got up from their seats and moved to the other side. There weren’t too many just yet, but what was out there was just as pretty as the girl next to Book. She could stare at them for hours, but she chose to look at Needle instead.
Sure, they were beautiful, but they were there every night. This was her first night with Needle, though, and she was going to dedicate this to her new memories.
Click
Needle looked over at her and laughed. Within her laughter, there’s something too beautiful to be documented, more precious than the universe.
She hoped that the other girl would look at her the same way that she looked at the stars.
One kept looking at Pencil with complete adoration. At first, it was disturbing, and uncomfortable, but over time, she started to find it cute.
No, she didn’t. She was still a strong and fear-inducing leader!
...Honestly, who was she fooling with that? Certainly not herself.
Currently, the two were star gazing. All day, One had kept Pencil in her pocket dimension. They—more so One—were planning what to do next. She had some ideas, but she wasn’t sharing. Instead, whenever Pencil had asked her a question, she’d just respond with “Don’t worry, dear! You’ll see soon enough!”
Her enthusiasm was sickening. Alas, this was what Pencil has signed up for. She did doom herself after all, because under her disgust for One’s joy, she was secretly excited for what she had planned.
Sure, it does sound like bad things would happen to the contestants, but in exchange for FreeSmart, she could risk the entire world for them. She wasn’t sure if they’d do the same for her, but that’s why she was the leader! She had to take charge for all of them. Surely, they’d understand once One went through with her plan.
They had to, right?
“Whatcha thinking about?” One suddenly asked beside her. Right, star gazing, even though a certain someone was looking more at her than the actual sky. Pencil had suggested a break at some point from all the planning and plotting that the number was doing. They were actually a little hesitant to take a break, but some lazy puppy dog eyes from Pencil later and here they were. They couldn’t go near any place that T—they would be, so they’re near a cliff-side that might be a little close to their amusement park, but even that place was pretty desolate, so Pencil assumed no one would find them here. Who even goes to amusement parks willingly?
One gave Pencil a little push. That’s right, they asked her something.
“What if your plan doesn’t work?”
“Of course it will! I have everything under control, my nova.” She gave her a wink and by some strange force that Pencil will blame One for, she blushed.
She’s horrible. This plan wasn’t going to work. Even if it did, FreeSmart wouldn’t want her like this. Book likely already hates her, and something was wrong with Needle—which was Pencil’s fault too—Bubble has hated her since they were on his dumb show, and if Book hates her, then Ice Cube would too. It’s all useless. This deal with One wouldn’t save her team, and now she’s trapped herself with this creepy Algebralien.
She drove them apart. Everything was her fault.
She’s never going to see her team again.
She deserves that. She shouldn’t have good things.
“Pence Pence?”
One wasn’t a good thing, therefore she was exactly what Pencil deserves.
“Do you wanna get out of here, my dear?”
This was right where she should be.
“Do you want to go see Book?
“She hates me.”
“No, she doesn’t.” Why does it sound like One cares about her? That’s disgusting.
“You can’t say that.” She retorted. They really couldn’t. They didn’t know Book like she did. They may have made mistakes similar to her, but they don’t know her like she does.
“You don’t know for sure that she does.”
“I don’t want to—”
“Um, Pencil?”
Wasn’t there some phrase about how if you called the devil’s name that they’d appear?
…
Wait, who even was the devil here?
“Good to see you two again!” One had called out to the duo that had appeared in front of them. What did she mean by again? Have they already met before? What would Book have been desperate enough for that? Worse yet, what did Needle do with One?
“Um, who are you?” Book gave the number a glare. Maybe she didn’t make a deal with them, then? It was still a weird thing to say.
“Oh, I just helped you one time when you were lost.”
“Right...Pencil, are you staying with them?” Why was Book talking to her? She doesn’t deserve to talk to her after this.
“For a little bit, yeah.” Pencil wanted to curl up into a ball.
“Do you wanna walk back with me and Needle?” She was smiling at her and—you don’t deserve this, Pencil!
“N—”
“You should, Pence Pence! I’ll talk to you later, dear.” Oh no, no, no, why was One pushing her to do this? Wasn’t she supposed to suffer? Why would One leave her to die at her old team’s hands?
Unless, she believed Pencil could bring them together. She had to, that has to be it! She said that FreeSmart couldn’t come back without Pencil leading them, so she’s trying to help Pencil! That’s it!
She gets up from the ground and hesitently waves goodbye to One. A part of her hoped that they had a plan for her.
No one is going to help you, Pencil. You have to bring them together yourself!
That...might not be true. She looked back at the number one more time. She had a strange look in her eyes, but pretty soon she disappeared. The now trio started walking back to the hotel.
Only now did Pencil notice how blue Needle was.
That’s pretty weird, but she probably ate those mushrooms that Fries did that one time. Yeah. Surely, it’s not related to whatever deal she might’ve made with One, or Pencil’s own deal. She could ask One later, anyways. They were likely going to see her again soon, considering their last deal. She could handle that, though.
Everything was going to be fine again. Just like the old days.