Work Text:
BWUMOP!
as her head collided with an unknown thing or person, she fell to the ground on her back. her empty eyes wandered towards the cluttered stars dotted throughout the nighttime sky.
a familiar object then dawned over, her angry eyes clouded her view of everything else.
"hey! watch where you're going!" plasma ball shouted, ukulele didn't reply. it felt like the yellow instrument was off in her own little world.
plasma ball raised her eyebrow, "uhhh, hello?? earth to ukulele!" ukulele blinked, and then picked herself up, quickly putting on a backwards and forced smile.
"ahh sorry pb! I kinda uh…spaced out for a sec? yea! sorry again!" she quickly ran away…only to trip over a rock after a few steps.
oh god. she needed to get out of here. now.
her body, her mind, everything was just telling her to get up and just go. she wasn't- her mind wasn't in the right place to deal with people.
however no matter how much she pleaded with herself mentally, she just couldn't move. her face stayed slightly implanted in the ground.
she was tired, she hadn't been well sleeping recently. must've overexerted herself.
while the yellow instrument was caught up in her own thoughts, the girl with the eye patch made her way over to the other girl.
plasma ball was still caught up herself with losing caramel cube, but she couldn't just leave ukulele like…this.
"do…you need help?" she asked, crouching down nearly to her level. the other girl hesitated, but slowly put her thumb up.
"alright, but you're gonna need to flip over so I can help you stand, at least." ukulele lazily flopped herself onto her back.
pb noticed how hollow her eyes looked, as she extended her and hoisted up the other object, who looked away.
"so uh…why?" ukulele asked, plasma ball gave her a confused look.
"oh uh- why help, i mean," her tone deepened, her defenses were starting to go down no matter how much she wanted to raise them back up again.
self isolation was a habit of hers, she thought nobody would be out at this time of night, but apparently not.
"you looked like a mess," plasma ball chuckled. ukulele felt as if she should've been mad, her eyebrows furrowed a bit before she let out a snort.
plasma ball smiled at her, she was glad she could at least help someone, even if it was only making them smile. speaking of which…
"so uhh, is there anything wrong?" she barely knew ukulele as is, but this definitely wasn't like the cheery optimistic girl she'd been hearing about.
she wanted to be useful to someone. at least once.
"...yea. been thinkin bout', uh….her," ukulele muttered, "slippers been well, helping me try n…get over her."
her speech was disoriented and she was clearly very vulnerable but-
"...wait, SLIPPER? what's she been saying to you?!" the words slipped out of pb's mouth like venom, but she didn't care. whatever that pink brat had in mind it couldn't be good.
"nono don't get the wrong idea!!" ukulele put her hands up defensively, "she's been helping!! …i think."
plasma ball put a hand on her hip, "really now. do you think she has anything good in mind for you?! she literally launched knight helmet into the sky earlier!"
"i know i know! i just…she's right- about somethings. I need to be more assertive and look out for myself. since she's…not around anymore," ukulele sighed, she'd been avoiding the whole 'thinking about this' aspect of this whole thing. but it was still coming right back to her.
"you…really miss bubblewrap, don't you?"
ukulele let out a dry laugh, "how could I not? she's so…perfect it's-"
"alright alright don't go on a sappy ramble in front of me," the girl with the eye patch cut her off. the yellow instrument began to sulk a bit, as pb's expression softened.
"sorry. i uhh, understand though. really, especially since caramel cube is gone now," plasma ball admitted, looking away. she wasn't…used to being vulnerable. even with caramel cube she was never vulnerable!
at least not on purpose.
it was new territory, she'd have to be as careful.
"oh yea, she got uhm, out today i remember," ukulele replied, defeaning silence filled the air.
"...im sorry," the yellow instrument uttered out. she was guilty, guilt filled her heart, she was questioning almost everything.
plasma ball blinked, "it's not me you should be apologizing to. plus, it's like- a game. it's your choice whether or not you continue on this path."
"i'm not much better anyways," she continued. ukulele felt like her throat closed off, blocking out any words she wanted to say.
"but- no that's not-" she was stumbling over her words, "thats not true! i mean- you're better than chainsaw! you'd do anything to protect the people you…care about," ukulele stopped.
oh. that's why she was feeling so horrible.
"i mean- with bubblewrap i- barely did anything for her…i never defended her when I should've i just- i'..." tears began streaming down her face.
god, she was pathetic. she wished bubblewrap was here. but she wasn't.
plasma ball jumped a bit, "hey hey! wait a minute! don't-" she paused, remembering a time she and caramel cube had before.
sitting under a tree together, just talking, she didn't know about what exactly, but the topic suddenly turned to their families.
"what about your mom?" the cube asked, plasma ball paused right in the middle of a laugh.
memories came back, little to none but the ones that were there stung. they really stung.
a wet salty liquid suddenly dropped onto her hand.
great.
she quickly tried to stop herself from crying, a silent panic attack erupting her. caramel cube shouldnt see this!
caramel cube couldn't see this.
the smaller girl quickly put her hands on plasma ball's side and hugged her close.
"it's okay, you can let it out." her voice was so soft and gentle, it made her feel so…appreciated.
after plasma ball finished her meltdown, "why didn't you…stop me from crying?" she asked.
"it's not good to hold in tears, and it's alright to be sad," cc replied, giving a warm smile.
the smaller girl put her hand ontop of plasma ball's, "i hope you know that."
thinking about that memory made her chest feel warm. however now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
she took a deep breath, and tightly hugged ukulele as she cried. the yellow instrument didn't question it. sobbing into the other girl, she needed this.
ukulele finally calmed down after a few minutes, and took a deep breath, "thank you."
plasma ball's eyes widened before letting out a scoff, "it doesn't really matter but- you're welcome i guess."
ukulele let out a light laugh, "im…still really confused about this all, but it helped to let it out."
"want me to walk you back?" pb offered, only realizing how stupid the offer was after she made it.
"no, i'm okay. thank you though," ukulele politely declined, making her way back to gold ingots apartment. but turned around last minute.
"i'll….see you around?"
"yea. see ya."
ukulele made her departure. plasma ball stood there for a second, staring up the stars.
that girl was…interesting. to say the least. but not in a bad way. maybe they could be closer?
but then, she also got to thinking about caramel cube. god she missed her.
but it was okay. she'd definitely see her again.
…hopefully.
deep down, she knew she wasn't sure when "again" exactly was.