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“You are like, hereby, demoted to merely a bemb.”
Bubble sat still in the light of cold stars above the plains, contemplating everything that had happened today. She didn’t know what she was doing out here, all by herself, when all the other contestants had probably huddled up somewhere much cozier.
Today, the eighth contest of BFB, sucked. Bubble knew that much. She didn’t wanna be a downer though.. After all, it was her fault Iance almost lost the challenge… The only reason they didn’t lose was because Free Food decided to cheat.
That didn’t stop Bubble from feeling like trash, though.. First, demoted to bember.. Now, just a bemb? She felt pathetic, not only in the eyes of her own team, but as an overall person..
She had disappointed Match, unable to answer some simple questions from Donut.
Bubble felt a little stoic about it all at this point. She deserved to be out here by herself.
“Bubble, I should tell you.” A voice sounded behind her, catching her attention.
Hey, where did Fanny come from? She had scurried over here out of nowhere, Bubble hadn’t even heard her. The blue, air circulating girl looked as mad as she always was.
“Match got mad at you for not knowing those answers. But in truth, she didn’t know the answers herself! What a hypocrite!” Fanny growled.
Bubble contemplated this for a split second. She still thought highly of Match, and hearing Fanny speak down on her so openly was triggering a defense response in Bubble to defend her teammate.
It didn’t happen though. Maybe Bubble just didn’t want to start any trouble.
“Oh.. Thanks for telling me!” Bubble shared gratefully.
“I hate her!” Fanny scowled, proceeding to waddle forward and sit next to Bubble on the grass.
Truthfully, Bubble wanted to speak out against her teammate too, but her voice was just too small. She wanted to say “I hate Match!” as confidently as Fanny could, not necessarily because she really hated her, but because it would be very cathartic after all the stress that Match put onto Bubble, deserved or not.
“Hey, you okay?” Fanny muttered.
“Wuh-?” Bubble gasped. She hadn’t realized she was muttering under her breath..
“Uh-Y-yeah.. I’m fine.” Bubble sputtered out, chuckling awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head.
“Hey, I know what you’re thinking. If you have something you need to say or let out, let it out!! That’s what I do all the time.” Fanny offered, a hint of mischievousness playing in her voice.
“But.. I.. There’s nothing-!” Bubble insisted.
“You know what I also hate? I hate you. ”
“Well, okay.. Not like I already knew that, Fanny..”
“You know what I hate the most about you?” Fanny continued.
“Hey, I got it already! There’s no need-”
“I hate that you don’t have any guts! You don’t have a voice! All you do is wait to get picked on!”
Bubble did a double take.
“H-Hey! Weren’t you just saying a minute ago how Match was wrong to-”
“Yeah, I was. I still am! Match is a stupid, disrespectful, stereotypical immature teenager who only knows how to belittle others and is a massive bitch!” Fanny roared, breaking out into a pant by the end of her sentence.
Bubble was almost frightened by this sudden outburst from Fanny. She would usually snap back with anyone else and remind them not to use such disrespectful language, but this was Fanny.
“Fanny..!”
“There! I see it again! You want to speak back on something I said, huh? Go ahead and do it! Assert yourself, Bubble!” Fanny growled, sitting up and trudging closer to Bubble.
Bubble scooted away in the dirt, cowering as Fanny got closer. She was going to get popped, wasn’t she.. She was going to die, like always..
“W-Why are you so mean to me?!” Bubble wailed.
That seemed like enough to snap Fanny out of her rage-filled lesson. Fanny stopped in her tracks and sighed, her expression still unpleasant.
“
I’m just mad..
Because..
GRAH!!
When will you learn, Bubble? When will you learn that Match doesn’t even respect you?! Why do you respect
her
if it isn’t reciprocated?!” Fanny asked, utterly bewildered by the sentiment she was bringing up herself.
“Because it’s the right thing to do-!”
“Says who?! You?! Are you going to defend that position you’re standing on?!”
“You know, maybe I will-!”
“And there it is-! You’re finally standing up for yourself, but for the wrong reasons!! ” Fanny screamed into the night. She really needed a pillow to scream into right now, because Bubble was just setting her off.
“Why do you care anyway? You hate me.” Bubble pouted, crossing her arms and turning away from Fanny. Fanny let out a disgusted gasp.
“I.. I do care! Because you deserve better! ” Fanny stuttered, taking a seat on the ground once again.
“Most importantly, Match doesn’t deserve you! She treats you like total trash and puts you on the spotlight when she doesn’t even know what she’s doing herself! It’s a totally corrupt environment for your team! She’s the reason why you almost lost! NOT YOU! ” Fanny insisted.
Bubble didn’t respond. Her back was faced towards Fanny. All of that only warranted a small sigh from her. Fanny wanted to scream at her again but decided otherwise. This wasn’t working.
“Whatever. You don’t have to listen to me. You can go back to your stupid team tomorrow and they’ll continue to be terrible to you. Not my problem.” Fanny muttered.
Truthfully, it was her problem. Partially, at least. She didn’t run all the way into the middle of the grass fields to talk to Bubble for nothing. Something had to come out of this conversation, whether that be Bubble gaining a little more nerve or completely losing it on Fanny.
Fanny would prefer that. Then Bubble would finally learn to stand up for herself in the face of peer pressure.
The silence was starting to bother her. God, what was going to get Bubble to listen to her?
“Bubble. Do you know why I’m doing this? Not only because I hate the piss out of Match and the entirety of your team, but that you’ve been good to me. I have to repay that somehow.”
Bubble seemed to stir a little at that. She slowly turned around and faced Fanny, clearly conflicted and concerned.
“W-What did I do?” Bubble asked, her voice quivering a tiny bit.
“You.. Stood up for me. Even if it was for a brief moment. Remember, in the first contest? When Lightning was told to zap me..? You didn’t let that happen. Until your corrupt leaders came around and deprived you of a useless rank that you were told was valuable. In truth, they manipulated you to do something you didn’t want to!” Fanny growled, kicking the grass in front of her.
Bubble frustrated her more than anything, it was stupid. Fanny couldn’t stand to see that face upset. Yet, if she tried to help, nothing seemed to change. Was it Fanny’s fault?
Bubble was a joyous, pretty girl who shouldn’t be controlled by her stupid friends who should’ve been left in sixth grade.
That was what frustrated Fanny the most. The fact that Bubble deserved better and just wouldn’t take that into perspective.
“I.. I guess.. You’re right, Fanny.. I’m sorry..” Bubble admitted, twiddling her fingers.
Fanny seemed to have a tiny panic attack when Bubble finally admitted it.
“I’m right? HELL YEAH, I’M RIGHT! Say it, Bubble.”
“You’re right..”
“LOUDER!”
“You’re right!!”
“ FUCK YEAH! NOW. Say: I deserve better.”
Bubble looked around cautiously, as if she expected someone was listening to her, watching her every move. She scooted closer to Fanny.
“I deserve better.” Bubble muttered quietly.
“RAHHH, LOUDER!! LIKE YOU MEAN IT!” Fanny yelled, like she was a military general rallying her troops during training.
“I DESERVE BETTER!” Bubble managed, albeit cowering a little as Fanny encouraged her.
Fanny sighed, but a smile played on her mouth.
“Good enough. You should do that more often.” Fanny scoffed.
“Do what-?” Bubble panted, still a little adrenaline pumped by what just went on a few seconds ago.
“Yell!” Fanny chuckled, her expression triumphant.
Bubble’s face scrunched up, unsure about that.
“I don’t even sound that good though...” Bubble muttered.
“You sound awesome! I can actually hear your voice when you speak up!” Fanny cheered, scooting closer to Bubble and whispering into her ear, “You should talk more. I like hearing from you. Honestly, no one’s opinion here matters in the slightest except for yours.”
Bubble couldn’t help but smile more. Now, Fanny was being kinda nice… That was.. So out of character.
“Thanks, Fanny.. I really do want Match to start treating me like a friend again.. Same with Pencil, but she’s gone.. And I miss her, even though she didn’t treat me like a friend..” Bubble frowned again, thinking about her dumb alliance..
Fanny stayed silent for a few moments.
“You know what, I get it. At the end of the day, they’re still your friends. Even if they suck. Just promise me you’ll stand up for yourself, okay? Otherwise I’ll have to march over there and beat the fire out of Match.” Fanny threatened.
Bubble thought she was joking for a moment..
“Alright, Alright! I will, Fanny.. Goish, what are you, my mum?” Bubble chuckled, starting to kick her legs up and down on the grass as they talked.
“I might as well be, considering how much I have to baby you! ” Fanny bickered, clearly finding that sentiment endearing.
“You know what?” Bubble asked, her eyebrows folding as she pointed at Fanny’s face, “You asked me to talk more.. How about you.. Smile more?” Bubble giggled.
As soon as she said that, Fanny’s mischievous smile faltered a little as her eyes darted away from Bubble’s.
“You always look so angry! Right now is one of those times I get to see a happy Fanny!” Bubble continued. After a split second’s examination on Fanny’s face, she noticed her air moving friend was blushing. Her cheeks were a light pink!
“Well, it’s really hard to smile when I hate everything around me! ” Fanny growled, growing self conscious as she knew her face was getting hot.
“ Wait a second! Does that mean you don’t hate me??” Bubble asked, getting giddy like a kid on their birthday.
“I HATE EVERYTHING!” Fanny burst out, her entire body shaking from the impact of her voice. Bubble’s smile faded and her expression remained neutral as an awkward silence captured the two women.
“Except you, Bubble. You’re the only thing I like.” Fanny muttered, her face flaring up in heat again. God, that felt horrible. She only said that because Bubble seemed upset after her previous statement.. Even though she wasn’t.
Bubble was just.. Testing something out.
“See! You don’t hate me!” Bubble cheered, placing her hands onto her own cheeks like she was adoring a little kitty cat.
“SHUT UP!!” Fanny retorted, gritting her teeth.
“Why don’t you wanna admit that??” Bubble asked, genuinely curious.
“BECAUSE-! B..Because…” Fanny muttered. She seemed really pouty now. But in a cute way!
A cute way.
“Awww.. Someone’s upset!!”
“NO.”
“What’s wrong, Fanny?”
“SHUT UP!!”
“You’re just looking a little-”
Fanny finally had enough. Bubble wasn’t expecting it, but Fanny simply stood up and started walking away. Just like that. Apparently Fanny didn’t like the teasing bullshit of any sort and wouldn’t stay around to hear it..
Bubble’s cheeky little smile wore off immediately as Fanny left.
“W-Wait! Fanny?” Bubble called out, getting onto her feet.
“WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” Fanny growled, spinning around and facing Bubble.
“Why are you leaving?” Bubble asked, looking apologetic.
“You clearly just like seeing me suffer! So, I’ll go! BYE!” Fanny shouted, spinning back around and stepping forward, only to be picked up by Bubble from her midsection.
“Wuh-”
“Fanny, I’m sorry! You could’ve just say you didn’t like it..” Bubble muttered.
“Was that not OBVIOUS?! ” Fanny scowled, wiggling her legs around, “PUT ME DOWN!!”
“But.. What did I do?” Bubble asked, putting her friend down.
She really needed to know. Fanny was her close friend, she never wanted her to feel uncomfortable..
Fanny’s scowl surprisingly faded as she was put down. The girl refused to look Bubble in the eye.
“Y-You know what you’re doing, Bubble..”
“No, really!” Bubble insisted, kneeling down to try to meet Fanny’s eyes. Fanny actually looked a little sad now.. although she was definitely trying not to show it. Seeing Fanny upset made Bubble feel icky inside..
“. Bubble.. You’re.. You make me feel weird.” Fanny muttered, kicking over some dirt, “And I hate you for taking advantage of that for a few stupid giggles! ” Fanny gloomed.
Bubble paused, her eyes flickering across Fanny’s pouty expression. What was Fanny telling her?
That pinkness on her blades.. The stuttering.. making her feel “weird..” not being hated?
What?
Oh…
“Fanny…” Bubble cooed, “Are you saying..?”
“Saying what?? All I said was true! You’re taking advantage of me! ”
“No.. You said I make you feel weird..?”
“Well, way to avoid the accusation, but yes! You make me feel gross! ” Fanny growled
“So... You like me?” Bubble conclude, her voice soft as her hand drifted to caress Fanny’s cheek.
Fanny was stunned. When Bubble’s hand reached her face, Fanny’s expression turned wistful for just a moment.. Before she gritted her teeth once again like the little ball of rage that she was.
“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Fanny glowered, scooting away. She immediately felt worse upon doing it, one reason being that Bubble frowned again. The other reason being that she missed Bubble’s touch alrea-
Shut up.
“I’m sorry, Fanny… Whatever you’re feeling, I didn’t mean to embarrass you for it or anything.. I thought it was fun!” Bubble admitted, twiddling her fingers.
Fanny sniffled softly, wanting to apologize to Bubble but never finding the courage to.
“…It’s okay.” Fanny grumbled dryly.
“I really am-!”
“I know, it’s just.. I feel so out of control sometimes! I HATE IT!! I hate when I can’t get my point across..”
Bubble scratched her chin.
“Why don’t you just.. Let it out? Like you told me earlier..? If you have something to say, just say it.”
Fanny was about to argue but bit her lip and contained herself.
“..I.. do like you. In the grossest ways that I HATE!” Fanny admitted, her face glazed with pink.
Bubble resisted a small chuckle out of concern that Fanny would think she was making fun of her, only letting out a tender smile.
“Why do you hate it?”
“Why don’t YOU?! ”
“Because.. I don’t really mind! Plus, you’re kind of cute! I might like you too!” Bubble giggled.
“Wuh- Huh?? ” Fanny sputtered, unable to be angry anymore as her mind was overloaded.
“You’re a really good friend, you know that? Even if you’re.. brutally honest about everything..”
“Eh- G- Buh- D.. I HATE YOU AND YOUR STUPID CUTE FACE!!” Fanny screamed.
Bubble couldn’t contain a small chuckle.
“ STOP LAUGHING!!”
“Hey!! Fanny, stop screaming! I’m only laughing because it’s cute! You scream so much but I know you’re just being loud for no reason!”
“I AM VERY ANGRY!!” Fanny shouted, before her voice was muffled as Bubble wrapped her arms around her and gave her a hug. Not too tight though, otherwise Bubble would risk popping herself.
And then, Fanny would have to go ask Four to revive her.. Which she would gladly do. She wasn’t scared of the algebralien.. Plus, it was Bubble! Anyway, Fanny completely froze up in Bubble’s embrace, not daring to move an inch so as to not pop her friend.
Bubble was so cut- Stupid! She could get popped! Fanny was surprised she wasn’t dead already!
Fanny’s gaze drifted all over Bubble’s twinkly face, unknowingly admiring her until her gaze drifted down to Bubble’s lips. Immediately, Fanny’s brain short circuited and she turned her entire body in Bubble’s grip as an attempt to look away. Now her cheek was squished up against Bubble’s, though..
“I hate you..” Fanny mumbled as she curled up in Bubble’s embrace, “This is all involuntary.. Grr..” Fanny protested as she tried to get comfortable.
“Sure it is, Fanny..” Bubble smiled. She finally let go of Fanny after that, to which the fan heaved a sigh, “Hey…”
“What? You wanted to stay like that?” Bubble asked, slightly amused.
Fanny was definitely blushing again. She scooted up against Bubble, their sides pressed together. Bubble didn’t mind, Fanny was pretty warm now that she was all flustered..
“Aww..”
“Shut up.”
“Fine!”
“..I was kidding.”
“..You’re warm.”
“Ugh!”
The blue pair fell into a small silence. As they quieted down, they could hear the subtle buzz of night around them once again. No Four screeching, nothing loud.. Just.. peaceful. Crickets. The rustling of trees. The scuffling of leaves across the cool dirt.
There weren’t a lot of these moments nowadays..
One of the two women was looking to take advantage of that.
Fanny turned slightly to get a good look at Bubble. She looked like she was about to drift off. Damn, that was really cute.. Fanny just wanted to pinch her cheeks with her nonexistent hands..
WHAT? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?? OR.. THINK?!
Fanny scooted closer to Bubble as her eyes fixated on her mouth again.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING.
“Hey Bubble.” Fanny whispered.
“Wuh?” Bubble jolted awake, only for her to register that Fanny was kissing her. Lips on lips. It was the quickest thing ever, in reality, but Bubble felt like she got to savor it for an hour.
Fanny’s eyes were closed shut, but her eyebrows were folding in furiously. It was so many sensations coming in at the same time, her brain had to slow everything down a ton just to process the incoming emotions.
Shock. Lots of shock.. But also, joy. Lots of joy.
Then, she was gone. She was already scampering away like the little bugger she was. Fanny was as, if not, more embarrassed than Bubble because of that. It felt really good to kiss Bubble, but she also just wanted to crumple up into a tiny black hole.
“Hey! Fanny, come back!” Bubble called out as she got onto her feet and started running off to catch Fanny.
What a bunch of.. Dumb lesbians.