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There was a flash of movement.
And then there was a crack.
And then the pain came.
Green collided with the ground, hitting it rough. His sunglasses fell and clattered to the ground, all while he clutched the newly formed (aching) crack split down his face. The grasshopper groaned as he held it, barely even hearing what Second was shouting at him.
Second just hit him.
“What the fuck is your problem?!” He sounded so angry. The words were yelled out between heavy and the bee sounded almost panicked (it’s normal to panic in a prank).
Green didn’t respond. He was too busy clawing at the crack in his chitin. “That hurt—“ he hissed, and now he had to make an awkward cut during his video. Now some people are gonna think he’s faking. He pushed himself to sit up, to which he could see everyone’s expressions.
Nobody found it funny. Why didn’t they find it funny?
He couldn’t see Blue’s face. Yellow was sitting next to them, one hand holding their’s, and her face was angled at Green and glaring at her. She still had some broken off barbs from the spikes stuck in the fur around her neck.
“Oh— I’m sorry if it hurt. I’m so sorry if me HITTING you hurt you,” Second hissed, sarcasm and malice thick in his words.
Green blinked, a little taken by surprise they were reacting like this.
Red had climbed out of the bramble trap, plenty of barbs still stuck to his wings and body. He looked just as mad at Second, but after a huff, he clearly decided that Green wasn’t worth it, and moved to Blue to comfort. There were a few barbs stuck in the firefly’s waist, right where her scar was.
But it was just a thorn, it’s not like it was bad.
“It was just for a video,” Green mumbled, the pain finally dying down enough for him to pull his hands away. He winced as he felt a thin line of blood run down his face.
Second scoffed. He’s rarely seen him this furious before. All his fur was spiked up and it made him look so much bigger. “That’s good to know. Not like we genuinely wanted to hang out with you after you’ve been acting so weird. It’s good to know that us being worried about you is nothing but a joke,” Second finished it off by crossing his arms and looking away.
Green paused.
“…why would you be worried about me?”
Second didn’t respond. His eyes drifted to Blue, before he sighed. “I don’t want to do this right now,” he mumbled.
This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. Why aren’t they just brushing it off, Green always brushed it off. It’s what they’re supposed to do, so why are they acting like he just fucking killed someone.
Green grabbed his glasses and put them back on, hoping they concealed the crack at least. Then he reached for his camera. He flicked off the recording.
“At least I know how to take a fucking joke,” he bitterly mumbled. It was funny when they did it to him. It was funny when he was getting swarmed and his work he spent so much time on was getting destroyed. But it wasn’t funny when something happened to them. Noted.
There was a brief expression of that anger again, but Second just sighed and turned around. “Don't come home tonight. Just… don’t.”
For a moment, Green thought Second sounded almost hurt. Green looked to the others, hoping one of them would back them up, but Yellow and Red were just glaring at him. Red redirected his attention to the firefly, who was struggling to stand up.
“What am I supposed to do then?” Green hissed, it was easier to get angry than it was to get hurt. But it did hurt. He didn’t like seeing his friends genuinely upset at him—
Yellow threw some berries at him. “We’re in the Golden Hills, find an inn.”
Green stared as the berries rolled over to him. It was enough to stay for a few nights. Even longer if he skipped a few meals, which shouldn’t be too big an issue. He’s already gotten into that habit by mistake and he’s gotten used to that slight hunger. He looked back up at Yellow, waiting for her to say she was kidding.
They wouldn’t actually throw him out for this, right? They didn’t actually hate him? (A small part of him was begging for them not to hate him. He couldn’t afford losing them. They weren’t just his friends but his family.)
“Don’t come back until you’ve thrown out that stupid camera,” Yellow said as she looked away, using an arm to help Blue up.
The four of them began walking away, Second leading them and Red and Yellow helping Blue walk. Green still held the camera close.
He didn’t want to give it up. He liked looking through comments and talking to his fans, it felt so fucking needed after the disaster of the concert. To actually have someone treat him seriously and say they liked what he made. To not treat his passion at a competition.
He looked back at his friends walking away.
They were the ones at the concert. They chose not to help him. They chose to treat it like nothing serious. Like it— and by extension, Green— was just a joke.
He turned around. He’d get an inn at the Ant Kingdom and go to the library and edit and upload the next video. He’d make it great, and the comments would call him great, and the awful feeling would leave since he had his audience. He didn’t need anything else.
All he needs is this camera. All he felt around his friends was desperate now, but when using the camera he felt fulfilled. And now he could focus on it full time. No distractions, which meant more videos, more love.
All he needs is the audience.