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Several days have passed since Pencil’s elimination. Several more people were shocked that she had joined the game in the first place. Those first few days were wild and chaotic, with people piling question upon question on her. Some of the most common remarks were “I thought you were in the EXIT!” and “Do you know why people haven’t really been sent here?”
Pencil, of course, didn’t really think to answer any of these questions. She was well aware that the buzz would die down shortly after, and that nobody asking them actually liked her anyway, so they weren’t worth her time. The only people she wanted to see were Ice Cube and Needle.
Although Ice Cube was merely an alternate and Needle wasn’t even a FreeSmarter, they were all Pencil had and they were the only two people above everyone else in her eyes.
Her search efforts for the two yielded about as much as one would expect. She couldn’t find Needle anywhere even after asking around numerous times - the elimination space was so big that it would be impossible to find her on her own. Many eliminated contestants would answer along the lines of “I don’t know, she never even got sent here. Wait, she’s been eliminated?”
As for Ice Cube, it was clear that she was avoiding her. She didn’t even show up to the crowd that surrounded Pencil, let alone look in her direction in the following days. Pencil had heard fragments of whispered conversations from others about them, mainly talking about how Ice Cube had seemed a lot more angry and vengeful since Pencil got here.
Naturally, Pencil’s crusade stopped at an abrupt halt. She was so used to having things to do, running for her life, bossing people around, or all three at once. Now, all semblance of control had been swept out from under her feet… she felt lost. She had become the very thing that she would lead - a lost soul, waiting for something to do, instructions, anything.
She didn’t know how to relax, but she didn’t want to brood either. Really, she didn’t want to do that ever again.
…But she knew that she would fall into another negative thought spiral if she continued to have time on her hands. It does that to you, when you lose your hours at another time and all of a sudden they come back to attack you.
During the days that came and went, she would consistently pester at least one person every day, asking to join them in their various endeavours. Some would say yes, although her mood quickly soured as soon as the activity became boring, to which she left just as quickly as she came. When people said no to her (most notably Fries), she would stomp off in an angry huff and go and bother the entire community about it.
Pin was among one of the most peeved about Pencil’s arrival. She was one of the bystanders, only witnessing her return from afar.
She wasn’t particularly happy nor upset about her, but she planned on ignoring her up until Pencil started pestering everyone. That was when she started to actively avoid her, and she didn’t even feel bad about it since she swept up sour memories from BFDIA.
Pencil made Pin’s life very difficult. She would hear her voice everywhere she went, and her whines would echo off the walls and carry on in conversations that people had about her excessively. Whining.
She wouldn’t stop whining like a child (not even Grassy or Rocky would act like this. Pencil was on a level worse than a child) and it would drive her crazy. Nothing would ever satisfy her and she made it everybody else’s problem.
Worst of all, she never ever remembered Pencil being like this. During BFDIA she was only competitive and annoying, as expected from the leader of FreeSmart. The last time she saw her was during her elimination in BFB, from which she would never see her again until like 6 years later.
(Pin made a mental note to never get sent to the EXIT, since if it changed Pencil so drastically like this she couldn’t imagine what it would do to her psyche.)
She was happy that she could finally have peace after Pencil’s pestering died down. She didn’t know what she was doing now, and frankly she didn’t care. She was just lucky that she was never targeted by her, although she had had a few narrow scrapes.
After a long day of kicking at the door to the exit, Pin decided that she would relax by curling up in a blanket while reading a book of Yoyle biology she found lying around. It was a green hardback, with gold embellishment on all sides. The cover had that hard fabric texture, which Pin quite liked the feeling of. She decided that she would give the book back to whoever dropped it only once she had finished reading it.
Since the buildings in this area were upside down for some reason, it made it hard for Pin to find a suitable reading nook - but she settled on one that was near her nightstand. Finally satisfied, she wrapped the blanket around her entire body and succumbed to the soft fabric of both the book and the blanket. The epitome of comfort.
After some reading and a few facts later, Pin heard a knock on her door. She got up, setting the book down while keeping the blanket wrapped around her assuming it was one of her neighbours (Coiny would have just walked right in since they were roommates).
“Coming!” she yelled as she walked up to the door.
Only to open it to… the person that would make her eat her words.
“Hi… Pencil.” she says as nicely as she can, trying to hide the disdain that oozed through her words. Her face contorts into something that one would barely count as a smile.
“Hi, Pin! ” she beams with that stubbornly fake winning smile and grit teeth. “Sooo, what’s going on? Whatcha doing?”
Pencil immediately barges into the apartment with as much grace as a rabid bull.
“Wh- hey! I didn’t even invite you in, get out!” Pin follows her into the room, pointing at the door angrily.
“Oooh, what’s this?” Pencil picks up the book she was reading whilst completely ignoring her. She turns the book around in her hands, although not being very careful with it. “Since when did you like reading about Yoyle biology? You don’t really seem like the studious type at all!” She flipped through the book haphazardly.
“STOP IT, just- give me that!” Pin stomps up to her and wrenches the book out of her hands while staring her down, the very essence of death emanating from her eyes. “If you’re just gonna be here to bother me then get. Out.” She points at the door once more, not taking her eyes off of Pencil even once.
“Well gee, you could at least let me stay here for a while after I walked so far just to get here-”
“No. Out.” Pin stamped her leg on the floor, unmoving from her spot.
“Ugh, you’re so rude! We finally reunite after, what, 6 or 7 years give or take? And this is how you treat me?! Come on, I thought we already got over our grudges from BFDIA! I just want to start fresh with you, you know?” Pencil stepped closer to Pin, once again wearing that stupid mask of a smile on her face.
“I already did, but you’re making me want to regret that decision!” Her voice became strained as she tried to keep her yelling quiet so as to not disturb her neighbours.
“Ha! FINE, if that’s how you want to be. I see how it is. I guess I’ll just be… taking my leave now…” she faux staggered towards the door with a dramatic look of contempt, her one last move on Pin as an attempt to garner sympathy points.
“What. Is that supposed to make me feel bad for you? Scram.” Pin followed Pencil to the door, giving her one last glare before she shut the door in her face.
“OMPF, what did that EXIT place even do to her?” she mumbled to herself through an exasperated facepalm.
Pin woke up to a new day, with new burdens on her mind.
After that whole ordeal with Pencil yesterday, she couldn’t help but keep that in the back of her mind while she was reading. Most of all, why was she suddenly interested in talking to her specifically? Pencil was right, they did have a bit of bad blood during BFDIA, and even though eons have passed since then it’s not like her attitude towards Pencil really changed that much (she even didn’t think it could change, considering she’s barely had any interaction with her since then). It just simmered down to more of an ‘I don’t like you’, rather than a full on ‘I want you gone from this competition’.
Pin didn’t really… like the self she was back in those times. She was a completely different person, and she wants to put it all behind her. It still bothered her when Coiny brought that up during the block stacking challenge.
“And besides, when did you care if we cheated? You just like to win!”
“Excuse me?!”
“Well, it’s true, right? And it’s so cool!”
“...Look, you can’t just act like BFDIA didn’t happen-”
Pin shook herself out of that trance, not wanting to dredge up old memories in such an unsavoury way.
She looked at the other person in that memory sleeping in the bed beside her, snoring gently.
They were on much better terms again, which made her so happy. It made her feel like everything was right in the world, and she realised that friendship was all she needed.
She didn’t need to win.
She didn’t need a stupid farm.
It was just her and her team against the world, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“‘You compute, we both execute’, right?” she whispered in Coiny’s direction, but more so to herself. BFB was a nice time - although she was a little more anxious back then, she was a much better person than she was a season before. It was nice to think back to those times, when all 64 of them were back together.
Ah, the cakes she made too - she hadn’t baked much of anything in a while, but Pencil has got her reminiscing. So she supposed one good thing came out of that argument.
And, you know what… Pin had an idea. She should make a cake, or- a bunch of cakes, for everyone she lived with! That way she could dig up her baking skills whilst making people happy. She certainly knew that X and Coiny liked her cakes, although Coiny’s working sense of taste was… debatable at best (he ate dirt from the ground, for pin factory’s sake!).
Maybe making cakes for everyone would help her get over the sense of awkwardness that always seemed to loom about her. Despite getting attached to people rather easily nowadays (DPYA being a good example), she wasn’t that good at getting over the initial awkwardness stage. Cakes could probably convey a message better than she could.
And so, with a newfound sense of motivation, she sat up off her bed ready and raring to collect some quality ingredients for her new project.
~~~
After some careful rumination and lots of hurrying and asking around, Pin finally gathered all of the ingredients she needed in a nice tote bag slung around her shoulder. Her agenda today was a chocolate honey cake, complete with a recipe she found she quite liked. It was tall, and had many chocolate layers with whipped cream in between, complete with dollops of it on top with cocoa powder sprinkled on the entire cake. The icing on the cake (wink!) though, was the honey that would be served in a cup on the side, allowing whoever was eating it to generously pour it on top.
Simply thinking about it was enough to make her salivate, which only spurred her determination to bake the best cake she can.
Her legs moved on their own, directing her to the community kitchen that all the residents shared. It was large enough for everyone, but it’s not like many people were using it at any given time so Pin didn’t think she would be bothering anyone by doing this.
She strutted into the kitchen like she owned the place, the tote bag swinging right beside her. Although she stopped walking so fast after she realised that she could be damaging the ingredients that way.
The only people in the kitchen at the moment were Teardrop, Eraser, and Fries.
Teardrop and Eraser were ‘talking’ as they normally do (obviously it was more like a one sided conversation - Eraser would ramble on about meaningless things while Teardrop gestured to show she was listening while looking in a cabinet for something). Meanwhile, Fries was in the other corner of the room waiting for his coffee to steep.
The three of them didn’t really notice her, so she took this as a good sign. She waltzed over to the main kitchen island where she would be cooking. It was completely decked out with all the appliances and tools that she would need for quality baking! She was rather impressed by the arsenal of baking supplies Two managed to keep back here.
People would come and go as she prepared her ingredients on the countertop. Fries’ coffee had finished steeping, and he was now drinking on the table paying sparse attention to her activities. Eraser had gone off to try to pry the exit door in the elimination space open once again, to Teardrop’s exasperation. Teardrop watched Pin bake for a bit, exchanging greetings before she went off to go and do her own thing.
And then… she walked in. Of course she did, just as Pin was starting to feel better. It would be one thing if Pencil was just passing through, but no. She stopped at the smell of chocolate.
“Ooooh, Pin, you’re making chocolate?” She jogged up to the counter with stars in her eyes. “Oh my tree, I love chocolate! I don’t think I’ve talked about that enough, but I really really love chocolate!” Pencil jumped on the spot while she kept her hands on the countertop, which was now dusty because of the cake flour she was using.
“Aaand I’m out of here. Good luck Pin.” Fries surmised monotonously, taking the mug out of the kitchen and leaving them together without a second thought. Pin watched him walk out in despair, but it’s not like she could blame him.
“Wait, can I help you! I’m probably really good at baking. I dunno, I’ll figure it out as I go but you could use my help!” Pencil trotted and halted beside Pin, getting in the way.
Pin, trying to keep her cool, asked Pencil if she could “get out of my way?”
“What? Why, I wanna help you bake! I can’t help you from the other sides, that’s too far away.” Pencil grumbled, sticking stubbornly to her own spot.
Pin took a deep inhale… and an exhale. “I don’t want to bake with anyone else today, okay? Can you please get out of the way so I can move better?” She already sounded like she was on her wits’ end.
“Hmph! I bet FreeSmart would bake with me. They would do a lot of things I tell them to, you know! They’re not like you, you’re stubborn and hard to work with.” Pencil turned away with crossed arms.
“From what I gather, Ice Cube has been angry at you since BFB because FreeSmart was way too unhealthy and toxic for her. Can’t say I don’t agree…” she muttered that last part under baited breath.
“Yeah- well she’s just confused. FreeSmart will band back together soon, and we’ll be unstoppable in the faces of people like you. ” She turned around to point at her again in an accusatory way.
“Ghh- FreeSmart, FreeSmart, is that all you ever talk about? You always get that messed up team to do things for you because you can’t even do anything your self. ” Pin looked up from the contents of her mixture just to spare a glance at Pencil.
“Excuse you! I can do plenty of things by myself! I think your issue is that you don’t value people enough, remember when you literally left Coiny hanging just to win a challenge? He dug to the centre of the Earth for you, didn’t he?”
Wow. That was a jab that she didn’t have to make.
“ That is all in the past. I don’t want to think about that anymore! You’re only talking to me because all of your friends hate you now!” Pin raised her voice in increments, jabbing the wooden spoon with the chocolate mixture at her.
Instead of replying, she ate the mixture that was on the spoon instead - just. Licked it clean.
“What the- WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Pin yelled in her face, irritated that Pencil just didn’t have a reaction at all. In fact, she had a more thoughtful expression on her face instead, like she was really thinking about the taste.
“Mm, this actually tastes kinda good. Can I have more? Or does it have eggs in it already?” she asked, already reaching for the bowl. Pin slapped her hand away and Pencil flinched as a result. “Wow, okay. You’re snappy today, aren’t you?”
“How many times do I need to tell you to LEAVE? GO! SHOO! SCRAM SCRAM!!” She ushered the taller girl with her hand and the spoon, though Pencil was absolutely not having it.
“No! I’m bored and you’re the only person doing something interesting. Come on, let me just help out for a while!”
“Yeah, right. Aren’t the others trying to kick down the door or something? Go join them, since that seems to be all you’re good for.” Pin tried to get back to her baking, although it had turned quite resentful.
“What is your problem?! I’m just trying to be nice to you and you’re being hostile for no reason, and you’re blaming it on me? You know, that really says more about yourself than it does for m-”
“Can you just. Let it go? I get that you’re alone now, nobody wants to talk to you but doesn’t mean you need to go and pester everyone everyday. Even if they were friends with you they wouldn’t worship you like your stupid team would. I’ve already moved on, why can’t you?”
“Do you think Coiny’s moved on yet?”
Pin stopped her baking in its tracks, not ready to handle much more for much longer. Green ooze coagulated on her face, and she held her fists so tightly she swore that she was going to draw blood.
“Stop. Bringing. That. Up. You are just insecure that nobody likes you anymore, and I know that but you don’t have to force those onto me. That’s all you ever do with FreeSmart and that’s all you’ve ever done.”
Pin took a threatening step closer. “You had 5 people devoted to you, bending to your will and you lost every single one? That’s more pathetic than me in BFDIA.” she spat in her face, making sure she really heard what she had to say.
“And get this- you only lost them because you made them hate you by how inherently manipulative you are! And you just think that everyone is gonna do the same thing because your shrinking brain can only see one outcome.”
Pencil paused for a second. It was hard to come up with things to say after Pin just attacked her at the very core like that. Who does she think she is? Who do they think they are, just leaving her in the dust like that?
“I didn’t… manipulate them necessarily, they were my fellow alliance members. Of course alliance members would do anything to help each other win! And some of that help involves… stepping up and being a leader…” Her wording was very cautious, as if she was stepping on a glass bridge with no idea where to walk next.
“See? You’re not even sure yourself. First, you make everyone hate you and then you make people pick up the pieces for you? I told you you can’t even do anything yourself. You’re even worse than Grassy and Rocky and they’re like- children children! At least they don’t whine loud enough you can hear it through 3 layers of blankets and a locked door!”
“Aha… okay, enough with the uh. Attacks, Pin.” Pencil backed away slowly while Pin just continued to intrude.
“No, I’m not gonna be done anytime soon. At least failing to confront people can be added to the list-”
Out of the corner of her eye, for a split second before she could process it was a fist that pummelled into her face. Pin’s eyes were tearing up, rendering her practically blind and shaking to boot.
“Oh, you’re going to pay, ” Pin growled, standing up from keeling over. Through blurry tears she saw her with a fighting stance ready, although her eyes made it seem like she was out of it - like she hadn’t processed what she had done before she did it.
Oh well. It was all the same to her right now.
Pin lunged at Pencil, completely ready to punch, grab, pull on her, do something. Pencil easily blocked both of her arms, being the taller one in this fight.
Pin struggled against the turgid force of Pencil’s arms. They were both incredibly strong, and when you pit them against each other it leaves them in some sort of neutral state, cancelling each other out.
If I can’t win, you’re going down with me.
Pencil used her arms to tug Pin onto the main countertop that the baking was happening on, deliberately crashing her back onto its edge and sending a jolt up her spine.
“OW- STOP IT!” Pin kicked and kneed her everywhere she could, but it was no use. They were now at an impasse, neither of them willing to let go.
“You know, you’re so strong. You’re so different from the others. That’s why I wanted to talk to you so much yesterday and today. It’s so sad that your potential is being wasted on something like baking… even if it is chocolate flavoured.” Pencil managed to get out as she was trying to keep pushing against Pin.
“Are you seriously trying to honey trap me right now?! I’m not going to fall for your tricks, Pencil. I thought you were smarter than this.”
Both of their pushing strengths got weaker and weaker, neither of them wanting to hold up the energy anymore.
“Huh? How come you’re not pushing back anymore?” Pencil said in that classic honeyed tone.
“You’re not pushing back either, moron. ” Pin hissed, her voice was as shaky as her hands.
Being pushed against a countertop by someone way taller than her, and Pencil, nonetheless, made her feel strange. The only person she could really imagine doing this to her was Coiny and even then she was slightly taller than him. Also, it grossed her out to think about. Mostly.
But it made her remember that people worshipped her for a reason- because gosh, was she fiery and intimidating. She was like a siren, luring people in with her magnetic personality and them falling under her spell, her control. That meant it wasn’t really her fault that she was always kind of attracted to her.
Pin always found it odd that she never saw sirens being mentioned in any of her Yoyle biology books when there was a living breathing one right in front of her.
Pencil kept on licking her lips too, was she gonna kill her with a bite? Or maybe she was just tasting the chocolate from earlier, or maybe her lips were just dry.
She wished she knew what to say to her, but she just… didn’t. She couldn’t say a word. She was too angry and speechless to be able to come up with anything comprehensible to say. She just wanted to tear her throat out right here and right now.
But she did the closest thing to that, which was grabbing on her throat and squeezing just tight enough to make it harder for her to breathe. Pencil’s hands stiffened up in front of her in an attempt to obey her natural instincts.
“You haven’t fallen for my tricks, huh? Then why do you keep looking at my lips?” Pencil groaned out with a strained demeanour, although different from the type of strained Pin had been yesterday.
“Don’t act like you care about that.”
At this point, neither of them were pushing against each other and they were now just holding hands. They were both very warm and toasty.
“Gosh, do you ever shut up? You always have something to nitpick about.” Pencil rolled her eyes at that remark.
“Hah! What are you gonna do, make me?” Pin challenged, inviting Pencil in for the kill.
And she did exactly that. They kissed, and roughly too, for about 30 seconds as Pin’s hands went to her waist and Pencil’s hands went to her shoulders. It was hard, it was explosive, and only in the span of 30 seconds.
They parted as quickly as they started, Pin being - frankly, incredulous even though she reciprocated the kiss just as equally.
“Why- why did you do that?” she asked neutrally.
“I told you you’re strong, you just have something about you that I can’t find anywhere else.” She sang that last part in a slightly sing-songy voice.
“What I’m trying to say is, you’re special Pin. Plus, who doesn’t appreciate a little lesbian situationship from time to time? It’s been a while since I had one of those.” She gripped onto Pin’s hands slightly tighter, waiting to see if she would do the same.
She refused to reciprocate, and she punctuated it with “I don’t. I’m not even lesbian.”
“Eh, you’re close enough. Why’d you kiss me back if you hate me so much?” she changed the subject too quickly for Pin’s tastes.
“Because… you’re…” she trailed off, not knowing how to put the next words.
“What? Jealous of me? Is it cus I’m hot? Because that’s not the first time I’ve been called that.” Pencil quirked an eyebrow with a smirk.
“Tch. You wish. Although, what else am I supposed to say…” she looked away disappointedly.
“Hm, that’s funny because I’ve always been quite jealous of you. You’ve always dominated the game, and you can be ruthless while looking cool. What’s not to love?” Pencil said fondly, trying to play it off as flirtatious but letting a little of authenticity sneak through.
“Ugh, you don’t need to tell me things I already know. Though, don’t forget I’m not the same person I was in BFDIA. Don’t get that impression of me in your head ever again.” she pointed a finger at Pencil’s chest.
“And that applies to you too. If you keep harassing people I’ll actually throw you off the nearest building. Haven’t you ever tried, oh I don’t know, talking to people? ”
“I. Have been talking to them, they just get really scared of me for no reason.” Pencil remarked whilst inching closer not so sneakily.
“What the heck. And to think that you have an IQ of 130.”
“You better believe it…”
They embraced again, and so did their lips… they would figure this out later, but- they had priorities.