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A soft breath escaped Lorainne’s lips as she blew into the square bubble wand she held, a few cubic bubbles forming from it and flying up to the skies above her. She watched them float up, up, up until she couldn’t quite see them anymore.
The Stargara-Bloompuff found herself blowing a few more, before her red orbs moved back to look at the sands she sat on. Her passive face soon had a soft frown on it, and she sighed very quietly. A hand was put to her right cheek as she moved her other hand to draw in the sand.
“Lori?”
A voice calling one of her nicknames had Lorainne sitting up and turning to look to her side. The person she saw was very tall, with blue hair, purple and pink eyes, fair skin and blue feathered wings on her back, wrist, ankles and her long tail was there. She wore a pink, white and lavender dress with rainbow pom poms on the skirt ends, buttons of pink and lavender, white socks, white gloves, blue beaded bracelets, and pink and purple ballet slippers.
Her long lavender tail had a pink star shaped charm hanging from it, and the glass, heart-shaped balloon on the end held a white swan plushie in it. Navy blue cotton drifted in the balloon and from her winged ears. A silver tiara sat atop her head.
Lorainne blinked in surprise. “Bianca,” she questioned with a quirked brow. “I thought you were hanging out with Tanner and Bitsy today.”
The ballerina Amorapuff chuckled with a hand to her chest. “Well, Tanner and Bitsy are over at the ice cream shop near the end of the boardwalk behind you. I thought I saw you out here, so I figured I would say hello.” Bianca tilted her head in curiosity, blinking those big pink and purple eyes of hers. “Speaking of which, what are you doing out here by yourself? You’re usually not the type to do that.”
Lorraine averted her gaze, her red orbs falling back down to look at her soap bubble bottle. “I… I don’t really know why, to be truthful. I woke up and wasn’t feeling too well this morning. So, I came out here after leaving home to clear my head. It feels pretty jumbled and full of thoughts right now, too full, honestly.”
Bianca clasped her hands and listened as her Stargara-Bloompuff friend sighed softly. “Do you know what kind of thoughts it’s full of,” she asked, her voice as gentle as an autumn breeze.
“Not exactly. I’ve been trying to not stress out over things, but I think there’s so many things I’ve been trying to keep track of to not worry about… it worries me more, I guess I would say?”
The swan Amorapuff nodded, moving to sit on her knees next to Lorainne. “What kind of things are you worried about?”
“Some of the things going on with the nurses at work, mostly. A lot of them are spreading rumors about some of the newer girl nurses, and it makes me feel like… like I need to say something.” Lorainne's red eyes were half closed as she moved her gaze back to her soap bubbles bottle. “Like, the new nurses are really sweet, really good with my patients, but the older nurses are being really… catty and mean about them. I really don’t appreciate that, but I’ve been scared to tell them anything.”
Bianca’s eyes widened a bit. “How come?”
Lorainne took her bubble wand after dipping it in the soap, before blowing into it and watching more bubbles form. The swan Amorapuff watched in sync with her.
“...I’m afraid,” came Lorainne’s answer, ever so softly.
“You’re afraid, dear?”
“I’m afraid that those nurses are gonna start some rumors about me, Bianca. I’ve met zombies nicer than those gossip girlies, and frankly, they’ve got a lot of nerve, starting rumors when I see how they treat some of the other doctors’ patients. And it makes me angrier because I work with kids! If I say something, I feel like they could start rumors about how I treat the kids I see and–and… I’m just…”
Lorainne bowed her head as she clutched onto the pink bubble wand like it was her lifeline. Her other hand was scraping in the sand below her. The Stargara-Bloompuff let out a growl of frustration. “How can you… do the right thing when you’re scared? When you’re afraid of what that’ll do to you?”
Bianca watched her friend and furrowed her brows. She knew Lorainne wasn’t one to get frustrated like this, especially considering she was a pediatrician and was known for being able to help kids people deemed as, “problem children.” Bianca knew her friend wasn’t one to stand for injustice, but this really seemed to be striking a nerve she wasn’t talking about.
The Amorapuff could see her friend starting to breathe a little harder, and she carefully moved reached a hand to her, making sure Lorainne could see it before she placed it on the Stargara-Bloompuff’s shoulder. “Lori, I know you don’t like to see people mistreat anyone, especially for drama or rumors. What has you afraid of these girls?”
Lorainne's face fell for a moment. She saw Bianca as someone like a sister to her, and as much as she was afraid to say why, she knew Bianca wouldn’t tell anyone. “Because… my aunt used to do something like that to me. When I would do things she didn’t like me to do, or didn’t want me to do as a kid, she would make up shit about me to the other parents and families. That was one of the reasons I didn’t have a lot of friends as a kid in Aermerea.”
Bianca tilted her head. “What would she say?”
“She’d… tell people I was violent, volatile, mean, pretty much anything so it would make her seem like an angel and a good person despite how poorly she treated me. She wanted people to think I was a misbehaving child that she was basically stuck with… but… I never asked for that. I never asked for my mom to get into trouble with the law and leave me with my aunt.”
Bianca nodded softly once the rose Bloomgara stopped speaking and she looked down at the sand in thought. There were a few moments where the only sounds were the nearby bustle of the boardwalk, the small splashes of the sea, and the birds above their heads.
When Lorainne finally looked back at Bianca, the ballerina Amorapuff had a very understanding look on her face, and she even seemed to be smiling.
“Lori,” she started. “You’re a lovely person. You have a very big heart, you care a lot about people, and I know how you are with kids, especially kids who’ve been through similar experiences. You’re someone who feels so deeply for others, it hurts you.”
Bianca carefully placed her hand on top of Lorainne’s and watched those red eyes meet her pink and purple ones.
“You don’t like for people to do unkind things for unkind reasons, but I also know you’re pretty brave. I’ve seen how you fight to protect kids in situations that aren’t the best. I’ve seen you and how brave you can be. You shouldn’t have to stand down and be afraid because of this. You’re braver than you believe.”
Lorainne's expression brightened within a moment, and a smile formed ever so slowly. She suddenly chuckled. “Bianca, how do you always know what to say to make someone feel better?”
Bianca giggled softly. “I’ve seen a lot in my time here. If I can help you, that’s what I hope I can do.”
The Bloomgara grinned. “Thank you, Bianca. That helps a lot. I… I think I’ll go talk to the clinic manager tomorrow, make sure I get all the little notes I’ve taken about what I’ve been hearing to her. I’m glad I wrote it all down now.”
“I’m glad I could help, Lori.” A small noise caught her ear, and the swan Amorapuff turned her head to look over her shoulder. “Well, Tanner and Bitsy are waiting for me. Seems like they finished their ice cream already.” She got to her feet and turned to walk away… only to look back down at her friend. “Lori?”
“Yes?”
“Would you like to join us? We were going to go to the village shop for things for dinner tonight, then go back to our house.”
“I’d love to.”
Lorainne got to her feet, capping her bubbles and stowing them back in her inventory as she took one of Bianca’s hands in hers and followed her to the boardwalk.