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It was the beginning of a wonderful mid-spring day, Wormwood thought.
Warm and sunny, yet especially humid after yesterday's thunderstorm.
The morning fog held up high in the air, and the grass and various other plants were dressed in a thin layer of dew.
They felt as content with today's weather as he did. The aforementioned rain was pleasant, yes, but too much of it caused way more harm than good to the vegetation.
(Especially with the added lighting, which often set his friends on fire.)
On the other hand, a nice ray of sunshine and thereby; chlorophyll from time to time could do them all well, at least until summer arrives and the heat becomes too unbearable.
Wormwood had to get the most of it all, while the climate and weather were still at least somewhat manageable.
That is why, before the sun reached its highest point, he decided to take a stroll through the deciduous forest and the nearby valley of flowers, perhaps chat up to some of his friends he'll see along the way.
He was genuinely curious about how their day was going, how exactly they were planning to prepare for the next season this year, and maybe…They'd tell him some interesting tales of wildlife and the hairies , how their life was going thus far, what adventures they've faced and so-on, since the last time he saw any of them was when the spring had only just begun.
He might've missed them a bit, they were mostly nice…(Maybe except the scary fire lady and the very hairy man with that dreadful axe.)
The hairies helped him get back on his feet after winter tried to take its claim on his life, they brought him warmth and delicious food, and let him wander off and go, when the unforgiving times were done and over with and he felt at full strength once again.
As if he was a healed up baby bird ready to ascend.
He smiled to himself fondly at the comparison.
Yes, he liked the hairies very much.
Although he wasn't sure right now was the best time to visit them, since the way to their home was blocked off by a giant mama goose-moose and her babies, he didn't want to disturb them again. The last time he tried that, it didn't turn out the best for him…
So instead, he listened to his friends talk, they talked about lots of different things.
Creatures, out of the ordinary occurrences, events and most of all, they talked amongst and about themselves.
The roses loved to talk about themselves the most, they were a bit judgy and liked to gossip, and yet, despite that, he felt the closest connection to them, than to any other plant friend of his.
(The mirroring flowers growing around his whole body could possibly have something to do with that.)
..What mattered was that they seemed to like him too.
He hoped at least.
Maybe they were sometimes a little jealous of how 'big and pretty' the rose on top of his own head was….
(Their words, not his.)
The roses were also the most talkative and social of all flowers, and knowing that there were dozens if not hundreds of them in the valley…
They were usually so, so loud …
He felt unsure about whether or not he should actually visit the fields, seeing as the other flowers liked talking too, if only slightly less.
It would be a huge party he was about to walk into…
Don't get him wrong, he loved talking to his friends, he adored and cherished each and every one of them very much, but sometimes it all dazed him a bit, considering how loud they could actually get…
His other , human friends couldn't relate, whenever he felt uncomfortable with the noise, they just stared at him, as if he was going crazy, which was admittedly a little upsetting to him, but he dared not to tell a soul.
.
.
That's when the words of the nearest rose peaked his interest, breaking him from his train of thoughts.
Apparently, there was something deep within that valley…Something that he might want to take a look at, the rose was pretty vague about what that something was, and when he tried to ask her friends for details, they only giggled and said:
"Go find out for yourself."
And so he did.
Surprisingly, as he walked through the tall grass, his friends were very quiet, too quiet.
If they said anything at all, it was in hushed whispers.
This confused him greatly, he almost never witnessed his friends acting this way, it was as if they were keeping something extremely important from him.
He did not like this at all…
…But he trusted his friends, he knew that if it was to be something truly dangerous, they would warn him, instead of keeping it to themselves.
.
.
He approached an area where the number of rose bushes expanded tremendously, this typically meant that the sounds coming from this area were, as much as he hated to admit…
Very obnoxious.
…This time, just like with the other flowers, it was dead silent.
Okay, now, he was becoming concerned.
The roses were never this quiet…
He warily approached the bushes, trying not to make a sound.
This 'something' must've lied just beyond those bushes.
Whatever it was, he wasn't sure he was going to like it…
He quietly pleaded with the roses once again, to explain to him what was going on, if he should be scared of what he might see, but the roses only giggled, although this time, relenting, they gave way and parted their leaves, just enough for him to see the other side.
Unsurely, he peeped through the small gap, to see what exactly all this ruckus was about.
And–
Oh
(Image done by me WaokeVale)
Ohh…
The scenery in front of him was that of a bizarre dream. Or…A fairytale?
(Was that what the hairy children talked on and on about?)
The rosey bushes uncovered a small glade, surrounded by numerous plants of all kinds, as well as hundreds, if not thousands of flowers.
There were even plenty of beehives, of which residents were flying around, in a soothing, rhythmic fashion.
The sun, now, being fully set into the sky, cast a mystifying glow, framing beautifully that, what truly caught the plantling's eye.
There, amidst the glade, sat a sightly creature. It wasn't a beast nor a hairy, it quite resembled him a bit, but at the same time not at all.
They wore a gown of moss and flowers while adorning a crown of the same sort.
Their real skin escaped in countless patches in between the greenery.
It appeared to be a faded shade of red, which seemed to practically shine below the sunlight.
Even their posture, contradicting his own, was much straighter and by far more elegant.
Yet their most prominent feature was definitely their eyes, which were bright, electric blue, outlined by a plethora of darkness.
They resembled "two nebulas lost in the endless abyss of space".
Not that Wormwood knew what exactly was or what a nebula would look like, but that's what the hairy scientist had told him once.
It only came to his mind, because that's the closest description that could maybe match the look of those eyes.
They made this being appear so lost, as if they were contemplating something deep and incomprehensible, at least to Wormwood.
They also had a core, just like him! But theirs was blue, the exact same shade as their pretty eyes..
.
Meanwhile, the bees and the butterflies casually encircled them, pollinating the flowers exhibited atop their head.
The insects even rested on their shoulders or legs every once in a while.
It only made the creature seem so much more surreal…
Wormwood would likely think it was all but another painted statue if it wasn't for the fact that they held up a pretty fuzzy bee in their left hand, and used the other to keep gently scratching it on the head.
The bee didn't seem to mind the gesture either, as it nuzzled further into their hand with the occasional satisfied buzzing sound.
.
.
He concluded…That with just their appearance, this creature was...perfect.
Very strange, but so, so pretty and mysterious-looking…
(That's what the hairies liked about one another, he remembered.)
The roses around him giggled again, oh, they must've known all along…
While the scenery presented before him was just too peaceful and pleasant not to look at.
He couldn't keep his eyes away if he tried...
He stared at them for what felt like an eternity and beyond, but in reality, it was probably around a quarter of an hour.
He didn't even notice how the bees started floating his way more frequently over the course of passing minutes, specifically, towards the rose on top of his head, that stood out above all the others, drawing the insects' attention.
This, however, did not go unnoticed by the odd creature, as they suddenly stopped rejoicing in the sunshine and dropped the bee they were holding.
Then their head snapped in his direction. An unnatural, swift movement.
Wormwood went rigid.
They were staring right at him, of that, he was aware.
Despite the many leaves and thorns covering most of the peephole, their eyes were locked directly with his own.
They stood up.
(This gave way more emphasis on how unearthly they moved.)
And in the midst of it all, they startled all the nearby critters back to their homes.
They didn't seem bothered by that at all.
But oh, it did perturb Wormwood a bit, enough for him to promptly back away from the bushes, making ample noise.
Even if the creature somehow didn't see him..
(which was very unlikely, considering how their eyes practically bore into his skull just a second ago.)
–They definitely knew where he was now.
Additionally, on this certain day, nature was apparently not on his side, because a root caused him to trip up, trapping itself around his foot.
(That mean root!)
His fall caused a lot of friction, the roses shamelessly made the rustle more noticeable than it should've been.\
(They must've planned for this to happen!)
Did they really want him to die?
Sure, the creature acted docile thus far, but by this point, after many many encounters that ended less to his favor…He was frankly a little scared.
Clank clank
–Was all he heard as he desperately tried to free himself from the root's grasp. It persisted.
The clanking noise grew louder, closer, as did the rustling of leaves and branches.
Once he did manage to untangle himself from the pesky root, the last of the hedge's sprigs had parted, and the peculiar being emerged.
Now standing just a couple of feet away from him.
They didn't look too happy to see him, in fact, when they saw him, their features momentarily morphed into a scowl, but it faded as quickly as it appeared, so he wasn't sure whether or not it was actually there in the first place.
And while they were rather small in stature, in his position, they basically towered over him.
They didn't attack him or indicated they were going to, they only observed him in silence, analyzing his every move and awaiting what he was about to do.
Whilst he didn't move at all, he just stared right back at them.
.
.
It seemed as if for some time, everything around them had stopped, no sound was to be heard except for the soft whirring and turning of something small and metallic, which was coming from inside the creature's chest.
But the almost-silence didn't last that long, when the creature's right eye began to twitch, they clearly expected some kind of response, anything, at all, that he didn't know how to deliver.
It annoyed them to no end.
.
Finally, they lost their patience and spoke.
-"WHY WERE YOU STALKING ME? WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE BY DOING THIS, PLANT BEAST?"
Their voice was one of a kind.
Strange and synthesized, but not unpleasant at all, albeit currently on a harsher note, which was fair, who would've liked being watched without their knowledge, or consent.
Wormwood was just about ready to respond, try and explain himself to the best of his abilities with his limited use of English.
Maybe they would understand…He didn't really mean to "stalk" them…
But then he spotted their right arm.
It looked battered…Dozens, if not hundreds of thin, razor-sharp needles were sticking out in abundant places around their arm, sneaking up from their hand, almost reaching their shoulder pad.
Some even lodged themselves quite deeply in between their joint rings.
It looked very uncomfortable…He knew how his rose friends could be, but sheesh…
Unbeknownst to Wormwood, he made a grimace at the sight, which only infuriated the creature more, they didn't care where he was looking specifically, what mattered was that a scornful look was sent in their general vicinity.
They didn't even seem to notice their injury, at first, only focusing on him, which was odd…
Didn't it hurt?
They were just about ready to say something else, (probably mean-spirited) but he cut them off before they could begin.
-"You're hurt…"
Wormwood then pointed towards their hand.
They stopped for a moment, processing what he had just said, then, it seemed his words finally dawned on them and their eyes widened.
They instinctively looked towards their hand, and sure enough, it was covered in thorns.
-"OH…"
They could definitely feel the pain now.
They tried clutching their arm with their unscathed one for support, but it only made the sting worse, so they retracted it back, wincing a bit too.
Wormwood felt bad for them, but he couldn't understand…Why would they cross the rose hedge like that if they knew it would hurt them?
So he got up, predictably, it only made the creature flinch away and take on a fighting stance, but it didn't look quite right.
It reminded him of a scared, wild animal.
He stopped moving all-together to not scare them any further.
. . .
He slowly raised his hands, a sign of peace.
This did not calm the other by much, they were still clearly trying to suppress the pain from their injured limb.
-"I'm not…going to hurt you, just want to help.."
Wormwood reassured, smiling sheepishly.
(Or what he thought at least, would count as sheepish.)
The creature glared at him with obvious distrust but said no word of protest.
Carefully, he took a step closer.
They didn't pounce at him or try to run away again, so he took it as his chance to go on.
.
.
After many baby steps, he had found himself face to face with the creature.
Well sorta...
For they were even smaller up close.
From this angle, he could also take a better look at the state of their arm, and honestly, it looked even worse.
He decided he had to fix this, the thorns would have to let them go.
He offered them his hand, but they quickly recoiled, as if it was made of acid.
When he tried to reach for their injured arm, they slapped his hand away with their still functional one.
-"DON'T TOUCH ME!"
They audibly shrieked.
-"But I need to! To fix your hand! Please!"
Wormwood reasoned, surely by this point they should know he was only trying to help them!
(Did he really look that scary..?
Of course, of course, he did…)
-"I won't hurt you, promise. Please, trust me? Maybe?"
The creature made a face.
Shoot, did he say something wrong? Hairy language was so hard…
Seeing how distressed the freak looked with their unfortunate state…Should they..?
No , they couldn't just trust some random plant amalgamation…Why would they trust anyone at all in the first place?
After all…
-"Did I say something wrong?"
He asked. His rumbly voice seemed to crack a bit, as if he was deliberately trying not to sound too upset.
Pathetic.
Perhaps pathetic enough to be deemed harmless…
They sighed, a long, exasperated sigh.
-"FINE…BUT IF YOU LIE AND TRY TO DO ANYTHING ELSE TO ME, I'LL SNAP YOUR FRAGILE NECK."
Anyone rational would probably backtrack with their willingness to help, likely leaving them here to rust.
Especially after their last statement…
This creature, however, was not so bright, that or he was just very, very stubborn.
-"Okay. Hand, please?"
They reluctantly extended their hand, and despite their best efforts, it still trembled a bit.
( Curse their paranoia… )
….Regardless of how honed and threatening the thorns surrounding his body looked, the creature himself seemed rather cordial and radiant to a repulsive extent.
But the thorny vines unveiled soft moss and leaves beneath.
As for his touch, it was very gentle…
He tried his best not to accidentally trace over any of the punctures on their hand and thereby cause them pain.
No one has ever been this…Benign with them. Not that they ever let anyone anywhere near them, more so to actually touch them…
And yet, here they were, letting a stranger. A monster, treat a measly injury of theirs.
(When did they stoop so low…?)
Still, somehow, when he scooped their hand into the two of his own, no thorn got in his way, what was even more baffling was what he did next.
He leaned down, so close to their hand. Too close. WAY TOO CLOSE–!
And then, he whispered some inaudible gibberish.
(Thankfully he wasn't actually going to– No, NO NO! Why would they even think of that ?! Disgusting…They felt disgusted for even imagining that scenario. )
Then, somehow…As if commanded solely through his touch, the thorns loosened and fell right off, and painfully so.
They hissed and let out a noise of discomfort, but before they could even begin to complain, the pain gradually subsided and not long after, fully dissapeared, all, while flowers began growing out from the wounded spots on their hand.
Soon, they felt nothing of the previous injury, with their hand now adorning plentiful small, yellow flowers (possibly buttercups?) and a bigger, red one planted directly on their palm, which closely resembled an Earth's carnation.
They fell silent, examining their hand throughout, turning it over at least a couple dozen times.
Sure enough, not a single fracture was left, only the small floral specs embedded in their place.
Maybe a long time ago, such a thing would cause them anger, offense, or disgust, but presently, it was just another accessory nature had provided them...Or rather, the creature representing it, standing tall in front of them.
A distant feeling of gratitude crept its way inside their core.
-"I... APPRECIATE YOUR HELP..." They muttered, in a faint, leveled tone.
The Plantling flashed them a ragged smile.
They distinctly felt their chassis warm up as the flowers surrounding their frame came to full bloom.
-"It's Wormwood" He then exclaimed, pointing to himself like it wasn't obvious enough.
-"OH." Was the simple answer they gave him.
They contemplated whether or not they should share their name with him, considering he appeared to be completely innocuous…And especially useful with his healing ability…
They eventually relented.
-"MY ASSIGNED CODE READS WX-78"
Wormwood tilted his head and quirked a nonexistent brow.
-"Huh... Funny name."
WX immediately glowered at him, regaining their indignation.
-"ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF ME? DO YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR WHOLE BODY INTACT?! WHAT KIND OF NAME IS WORMWOOD ANYWAY!?"
They could never stop with the mockery and threats, it was much easier to keep everyone at bay, rather than take whatever he was going to say next.
But Wormwood only looked muddled, then quickly shook his head and hands.
A sign of defeat.
-"No, no no! I'm not trying to– I mean...New name! Different name! Uh...Not bad! Good!"
He desperately tried to explain.
After the statement, they slightly calmed down, if only by a bit.
-"WELL, THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD PHRASE IT BETTER IF YOU WISH TO STAY WITHIN MY AREA OF MERCY."
The Plantling frowned and looked down, his face resembling shame.
-"I don't know If can...Don't speak well...Human words..."
They slowly proceeded to nod in understanding.
That made sense, his English was ear-shattering-ly awful at best, but in his defense, he was a sentient combination of rose, polypody and a pleasant-looking crimson gem, which all in itself didn't help in making him any more humanoid.
-"I COULD, PERHAPS…TEACH YOU THE PROPER WAY TO SPEAK ENGLISH, IF YOU WANT TO, THAT IS, AS A RECOMPENSE FOR...THIS."
Suggesting at their hand.
Hopefully, he would take this as a bargain, they loathed being in debt to an organic…
Wormwood's head shot up, his eyes shining bright yellow, reflecting the still very present sunbeams overhead.
After barely a moment of consideration, he grinned and wildly nodded, then, he– WHAT ON EARTH?!
Without any warning, he wrapped his arms around their waist and pulled them closer, all but a distorted squeak escaping them during the whole ordeal.
-"WH- LET ME GO! YOU FILTHY– I NEVER AGREED TO THIS! GET OFF ME!!! I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS!!!! AGHHHHH!!!!!!"
They screeched, trying desperately to free themself from this horrendous prison they had found themself in, but the plantling's embrace was shockingly impervious, and it seemed he didn't even take their threats seriously!
More so, this creature, instead of letting them go, decided to nestle his vile face against the crown of their head.
A strange purring sound could be heard escaping his hollow inside.
They froze.
Their systems rapidly began overheating.
-"ERROR: DOES NOT COMPUTE; DOES NOT COMPUTE, MISSING COMPONENT; CAN'T PROCESS–ERROR: ERROR CAN'T PROCEED CAN'T PROCESS– SHUT DOwN InITiated....."
.
Not long after, Wormwood noticed how they went completely limp in his arms.
He carefully pulled them away, fearing that he might've actually done something wrong.
He shook them by their shoulders lightly, so as to not anger them, if they turned out to still be awake.
Nothing.
Feeling bolder, he shook them again, slightly more aggressive this time.
Still nothing.
They weren't moving at all, and they were much warmer than a few minutes ago.
Almost too hot to the touch.
Wormwood panicked.
Cold.
All they could feel was coldness spreading from their chest, seeping into their entire body.
It was nearly Freezing.
They shivered, subconsciously pressing further into the...soft bedding below them.
This was strange. They felt strange .
They attempted to open their eyes but the world was irregulated, blurry and much too vivid.
All they could make out so far were the few shiny spots and a moving green and red shape, being not too far in proximity from themself, to their growing discomfort.
They begrudgingly decided to do the human thing and rubbed their hands against their eyelids.
Perhaps this would work?
Oddly enough, it did, and their eyes began to readjust.
What was previously just a couple of ugly colors turned out to be… him .
The Plantling, he was real, not a figment of their imagination whatsoever.
This realization alone, and the fact that barely a foot separated them from him, (specifically, his face), provoked them to utter an ear-piercing shriek, which, as expected, frightened all the critters from around the valley, including the ones in the forest up north.
The desperate flapping of wings, the rustling of branches and grass, the stronger gusts of wind, the Plantling's yelp of surprise, the ticking and whirring of their inner workings…
They could hear it all at once, it felt like their aural faculty was about to explode, which only caused the evident headache they've sensed, to expand.
It was too overwhelming.
During their entire existence as a machine, they never experienced headaches before…Not that they can remember.
Then again, they never spontaneously overheated outside of summer either…
Something was very, very wrong with them…
The plant-like creature, what was his name again? Woodward? Worner? Wor...Worm... Wormwood! That must've been it.
–Wormwood stared at them with great concern, then, he attempted to push them down, back onto the soft bedding...Which turned out to be a neatly piled up flower bed.
They grasped his hand and roughly yanked it away from their chest.
(They could've sworn they heard something snap.)
-"DON'T YOU DARE DO THAT AGAIN!!"
WX warned, their voice changing pitches at least several times with each following word.
…However, Wormwood seemed rather unfazed by their brutality, although, instead of touching them directly, he settled on picking up whatever fell off their chest when they shot up, bare minutes ago.
It was a thermal stone, an icy cold thermal stone at that.
This explained the freezing coldness they felt before..
. . .
There was a short, almost peaceful quiet between the two of them…
Then they both spoke at the same time.
-"You need to put it back--"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?"
-"huh..?" | -"WHAT?"
They fell silent again.
Wormwood raised his hand as if asking for permission to speak.
(That's what hairies had to do when they wanted to say something, right?)
WX-78 shrugged, letting him.
(Good! He was right!)
He offered them the thermal stone, the cold emanating from the thing, making them both shiver.
-"You need to put it back, you were very hot and unmoving! It was scary."
WX scoffed.
-"I'LL LET YOU YOU KNOW, THAT ALL MY SYSTEMS ARE CURRENTLY IN OPTIMAL CONDITION, THEREFORE I DON'T NEED YOUR USELESS COLD ROCK, AND UNLESS YOU ATTEMPT TO ASSAULT ME AGAIN, THEY WILL STAY FUNCTIONAL."
Wormwood dropped the aforementioned rock, looking somewhat hurt by the allegation.
-"But I only hugged you! I thought that…Oh..I didn't…didn't mean...I'm sorry. So sorry…"
He curled up in on himself, feeling painful pangs of guilt, aching within the inside of the crimson gem adorning his chest.
(How could he have known?)
WX suddenly felt dumbfounded, they didn't really know what to do, they obviously didn't want the creature to start weeping so close to their frame, it might've been overgrown and mostly overtaken by nature, but it didn't mean the mechanical parts still weren't negatively affected by H20 or any other liquid of approximate structure.
-"STOP IT, IF YOU'RE GOING TO CRY, AT LEAST DO IT SOMEWHERE ELSE, YOU'RE GOING TO DAMAGE MY CHASSIS WITH YOUR AWFUL EYE WATER."
Wormwood deadpanned at them, then simply nodded and started getting up.
He was really about to walk away…
Something inside them must've malfunctioned then and there. There was no other explanation for…
-"WAIT–"
They grabbed him by the arm and tugged him back down before he could leave, this time with less force, but enough urgency.
-"I DIDN'T SPECIFICALLY TELL YOU TO GO, IT WAS JUST A MERE SUGGESTION… I WASN'T ACTUALLY PLANNING ON MAKING YOU LEAVE…SO DON'T."
Wormwood looked baffled, but he obeyed and stayed nonetheless.
.
.
Neither really knew what to say from then on.
Once again, they found themselves wordlessly sitting on the grass, as the day steadily came to its end.
The sky turned various shades of orange, pink and violet, while the clouds took on more bizarre-looking shapes.
As for the ones just outside the horizon…They took a much darker, grimmer tone.
The air felt thick and stuffy, just like it always did before a huge thunderstorm.
This didn't help at all with how awkward the atmosphere had felt.
Wormwood was afraid that whatever he was going to say, the crea– WX would twist and turn against him.
While WX felt utterly humiliated, with how they acted prior.
They felt as if speaking at all would only make it worse.
Then the robot randomly glimpsed at the thermal stone, sitting a couple of feet away from them.
The ground beneath it appeared frozen.
It still gave out a dim, bluish glow, although it wasn't nearly bright enough to stop the approaching darkness, unlike the one heated by a natural flame…
(Speaking of…They should probably start looking for supplies to make a torch…And fast at that.)
–But instead of focusing on what was important, WX resolved to repeat their previous question.
(Although with some internal struggle this time.)
-"..WHERE DID YOU GET THAT..?"
This brought back the plantling's attention and he glanced at what the other was pointing at.
-"This..?"
He asked nervously.
He knew exactly what they meant.
Either way, WX looked at him, as if he was the dumbest creature alive.
-"NO, THE DANDELION PLANTED NEXT TO IT, OF COURSE I MEANT THE THERMAL STONE."
-"Oh…Right…Um..Yes.."
He couldn't look them in the eye, it was difficult to admit he would do such a thing …
Their expression went blank.
…Then, a small, barely perceptible smirk started creeping around their features.
-"YOU DID MAKE IT YOURSELF, RIGHT? IT HAS QUITE A COMPLEX RECIPE …I DIDN'T THINK YOU WERE CAPABLE OF SUCH A THING. I MUST ADMIT, I'M QUITE IMP–"
Wormwood couldn't lie to them, he violently shook his head and finally turned to face the automaton.
He looked ashamed and frankly repelled as it dawned on him more.
-"No! No...I'm sorry, I–...I stole it from the hairies..!"
-"YOU…YOU STOLE IT FROM THE HUMANS…?"
WX asked for confirmation if that was what he meant.
Momentarily, no emotion was present in their voice.
-"Yes! I didn't mean to! But when I got to their home, they weren't there! I was scared you were dying! So I took it from them! Agh! What have I done?! They probably–"
Before he could ramble on, trying to process what exactly he had done just a couple of hours ago, a soft sound made him come to a halt.
It looked like it was coming from the automaton.
…It steadily grew louder and not long after, WX was clutching their stomach, laughing.
Huh?
-"HA– I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS! YOU…YOU REALLY DID STOLE A VALUABLE ASSET FROM THESE HIDEOUS APES, AND NOW…ONE–HAHA WILL HAVE TO SUFFER THROUGH…THE SUMMER HEAT! HAHAHA! OH MY GOD...PERHAPS I'VE WRONGFULLY JUDGED YOU, PLANTLING, YOU MAY HAVE SOME GUTS AFTER ALL!"
Then they just kept laughing and wheezing, as if him committing a larceny was the funniest thing in the world.
This confused him greatly.
They liked him being mean to others? But they didn't like him being mean to them…
This creature was very, very strange…
And yet…
For some reason, he felt a smile sneak onto his own face too.
Pretty soon he found himself laughing alongside them, he didn't even know why he was laughing, nothing he did felt genuinely amusing to him, their laughter was just that contagious.
It was incredibly Intoxicating
.
.
What ultimately stopped their lighthearted moment, were the shadows which slowly crept in from the corner of their eyes.
The sky, by then, presented itself in dark purple and crimson hues.
They were barely minutes away from complete darkness.
WX stood up immediately, any signs of amusement long gone from their face, even though they couldn't fully hide their fear.
They completely lost track of time…How could this have happened? It never did before…
-"It's getting dark…Should we..?"
Wormwood began–
He earned a smack to the face from the bot, which surprisingly wasn't all that harsh.
-"THIS IS FOR MAKING ME LOSE TRACK OF TIME, YOU FIEND!"
They stepped away and hastily beckoned him over with their right hand.
He just stared at them, unsure how to proceed.
-"WELL..? YOU HAVE TO HURRY UP IF DON'T INTEND TO GET DEVOURED BY THE NIGHT ENTITY."
They then extended their hand toward him, although their head was facing the other way for some reason.
Against his better judgment, Wormwood took their gesture as permission to hold their hand.
For once he stood up, he immediately reached for their previously damaged arm, intertwining it with his own.
The tangle of prickly vines enveloping it wrapped itself around the robot's.
The automaton went rigid for merely a second, they were trying to comprehend how one creature could be this bold and foolish at the same time.
–Anyhow, they didn't have the time to get angry right now, if they survived the night , they would take out their frustrations on the Plantling the next day.
…But Wormwood saw the twitch in their eyes, their evident frown…This reaction reminded him that…
His normal impulses were actually harmful to them. Right…?
He backtracked, attempting to let go of their hand before another incident from before occured, yet their own grip only tightened.
He stared at them, his eyes wide.
They harshly exhaled and hastened their pace, pulling him along with them.
-"...IT'S BEST NOT TO LOSE SIGHT OF ONE ANOTHER, ESPECIALLY WITH HOW LIMITED IT WILL BECOME IN THE DARK, SO FOR NOW...I'LL ALLOW IT… BUT AS SOON AS THE MORNING COMES, YOU'RE FORBIDDEN FROM TOUCHING ME IN ANY WAY EVER AGAIN, ARE WE CLEAR?!"
Wormwood smiled.
-"Clear as day!"
This did not reassure them whatsoever..
Nevertheless, they quite easily managed to find plenty of sticks and a heap of grass around the valley, just before the final specs of light escaped them.
The two spent the rest of that day walking underneath the stars, even the blaze of their torch couldn't quite obscure their glow.
…Who would've known these tiny lights could be so pretty if seen with certain companionship.
Wormwood thinks, despite the few hitches here and there, this day turned out to be one of the best and well spent he's ever had.
Yes, he thinks, he'd gladly relive it anytime.
