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Hornet walks up the stairs leading to Pures' room. She attempts to quietly open their door, but fails miserably as the door makes a loud *CRREEEAAAKKK!*. The sound was enough to wake up any normal bug, but Pure wasn’t a normal bug, as they were still dead asleep.
“Pure?”
After a few seconds, Pure lifts their head up and stares at Hornet. They clearly try to give the most passive “Go away, I don’t feel like existing right now.” stare they can.
Hornet stammers, “Um, Ghost is about to go get some food with one of their friends. They wanted to know if you want to come with.”
Truth be told, Pure would much rather just stay in the house and sleep the entire day, but they still choose to consider it. It’s been a while since they’ve done anything that involves interacting with bugs outside of their home, and while they don’t mind, they can tell Hornet is somewhat concerned. Hornet also seems to enjoy when they’re more expressive, and what better way to show expression than talking to others? They’d still rather stay in bed, but making Hornet proud is also quite appealing…
(“I’ll do it for you, Hornet!”) They decide.
They give Hornet a small, still visibly tired nod. “Alright, I’ll tell Ghost. Be ready in 15 minutes.” Hornet says.
“Hey, Brumm should be here in 5 minutes, I’ll meet you by the Stag Station.” Ghost says.
Pure stares at them for a few seconds, while Ghost awkwardly stares back.
Ghost mutters a quiet “Uhh… take your time.” before walking out the door.
Pure doesn’t want to go outside just yet. It’s a cold day, and they don’t feel like waiting in the awkward silence. Of course, being alone inside your house can also get pretty quiet, but it’s a type of quiet that’s comforting rather than the awkward type that comes with being silent in a group. With nothing else to do, they opt to stare at the ceiling for the remaining few minutes. They slouch down in their chair and face the roof.
… That was a nice, admittedly awkward 5 minutes. They slowly stand up from their chair and leave the house, heading towards the Stag Station.
As they descend down the elevator, they see Ghost waiting on the bench.
Ghost notices Pure walking over, and greets them with a “Hey!”, signalling them to sit down.
Pure sits down next to Ghost, and attempts to pass the time by staring at the the ceiling again. Maybe this would’ve worked, if it weren’t for Ghost trying to strike up conversation.
“Thanks for coming Pure, I know this isn’t exactly within your comfort zone. Don’t worry, we’re just going out to get some food. We’ll be back within 30 minutes to an hour.” They say.
Pure takes a second, then nods. Ghost has this strange way of calming them down, even when they didn’t think they needed to be calmed in the first place. However, they knew from the somewhat tense silence that the comfort was about to fade.
“... So, um, how’v-”
Fortunately for Pure, they wouldn’t have to handle the pressure of having to answer that question, as they heard the Stag get closer and closer, before finally arriving at the station with Brumm.
Ghost stands up from the bench to go greet Brumm. “Hey Brumm! Glad you could make it.” They shout.
Brumm climbs down from the Stag Beetle and shakes Ghosts hand. “Greetings, Ghost. I trust that you’ve been well?”
Ghost rubs the back of their neck. “Well, theres been a lot going on lately. We’re managing, though!”
Brumm looks over at Pure. They can tell that he’s a little surprised by their appearance. They don’t mind though - after all, despite the fact that they’ve been able to walk for weeks now, they hardly look like they’ve recovered from any sort of injury at all.
“I presume this is your sibling?” Brumm asks.
“Yeah, that’s Pure. They said they’ll be coming with us today.” Ghost answers.
“Pleasure to meet you, Pure.” Brumm reaches out his hand for a handshake. Pure hesitates, glancing at Ghost. Ghost gives them a reassuring double thumbs up. Pure hesitantly shakes Brumms hand.
(“I did it…”) They think to themself. (“I did it! Yes!”)
The handshake ends (“Aw…”) and Ghost looks at Brumm. “So, uh, where are we going?”
“Ghost, we decided that YOU were choosing where we go for lunch this week. Remember?” Brumm responds.
“Hey - we just said I’m SUPPOSED to do it, not that I actually would.”
Pure finds themself chucking at the interaction. (“Cute.”), they think to themself.
Brumm sighs. “You know what? I heard Lemm opened up a Donut place in the middle of the City of Tears. Lets just go there.”
Pure thinks nothing of the idea (ironically), until they realize something.
(“Wait, isn't that the place with the...”) The Memorial.
Pure mutters a whining noise, but thankfully nobody hears it.
They arrive in the City of Tears. Ghost and Brumm strike up some conversation, but Pure doesn’t really pay attention, aside from when they’re prompted to answer a question, in which they give the most non-verbal response possible.
(“I should learn sign language.”) they think to themself.
And just as they feared, the Donut Place is a few yards away from the Memorial to The Hollow Knight. Pure and Ghost try their best not to acknowledge it, and Brumm attempts to hide the little interest he has.
The bell rings as they open the door to the Donut Place. They group notices as the cashier looks over at them. “Hello, welcome to Dunkin’ Donuts, give me your order or politely fuck off.” Lemm says.
Ghost looks at the menu with a childish light in their eyes. “Ohh shit- they got donuts here!”
Lemm and Brumm give Ghost a confused stare. Brumm leans closer to Ghost and whispers “This is a donut place. Please don’t get us kicked out.”
Ghost looks at the menu. “Can I have a fuckin, uhhh, Chocolate Frosted donut?”
Brumm adds to the order, saying “I’ll just get a Glazed Donut.”
Pure points to the Hashbrowns on the menu.
It appears that Lemm only just noticed the Pure Vessels presence, as he stares at them in shock for a few seconds. It looks like he’s about to ask some questions, presumably about Hallownests past or the Temple of the Black Egg, but Ghost gives him an incredibly aggressive stare before he can ask any questions.
“Uhh… will you be getting anything to drink?” Lemm sheepishly asks.
Pure just shakes their head, but Brumm and Ghost look at the Drink-Fridge-Whatever thing. Ghost grabs a Doctor Pepper, and Brumm tries to get a Fanta. He only tried though, because Ghost immediately slapped it into the trash can before Pure could see it. Brumm grabs a water bottle instead.
The trio arrives back at the Stag Station in Dirtmouth with their bags. Ghost and Brumm are striking up conversation again, but this time Pure is paying slightly more attention. They eat their food at the bench, and Pure shares some hash browns with The Old Stag.
Brumm stands up from the bench. “Well, it’s about time for me to go. Me and master are on a business trip to the Crystal Peak. Something about recruiting new Troupe members, I think.”
Ghost waves. “Alright Brumm, have a safe trip. When will you be back?”
“Meh, about a month or so. Not sure.”
“Alright, see you later.”
Pure mutters a very quiet “... Goodbye.” as the Stag Station runs off into the tunnels.