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Laughter echoed through the woods, light and mirthful and full of joy and love for one another. Leaves crunched underfoot, legs stepping over roots and fallen branches.
“I swear, he would have shoved me off of Puffball’s head if he could!” Gelatin chirped, needing to take twice as many steps to keep up with the two taller girls beside him.
“Hey, I would have done the same,” Lollipop shrugged, one hand on her hips. “Seriously. Shoving your whole team off?”
“What can I say, I don’t like tight spaces,” He said nonchalantly, a smug look on his face.
“What do you think about this, Flower?” The purple treat asked, reaching over Gelatin’s head to gently shove the other woman’s shoulder.
Flower blinked in mild surprise, looking over at her with her eyes wide. It took her a moment to come back from where she’d obviously zoned out.
“I can’t say I was any better, honestly,” Flower admitted, rubbing the back of her neck.
The three remaining Newbie Alliance members walked through the trees, chatting about everything and nothing. Gelatin had gotten a burst of energy suddenly, and needed to get it out; Flower and Lollipop just decided to follow. Ever since BFB’s finale, the three had been nearly inseparable, bonded over being part of the same alliance— even if Flower herself wasn’t immediately accepted.
Not only that, but they were especially bonded over the fact they were business partners. Gelatin and Flower, mostly, but Lollipop would help out every now and then in helping with finances, being a business manager herself. And lately, they leaned on each other after Teardrop’s sudden departure.
“…In any case, sales have been on the up and up.” Lollipop said, her arms crossed, her plastic white stick puffed out slightly in a show of pride.
“You’re so good at marketing, Lolli—“
SNAP!
All three let out a yelp at the sound, leaves flying up from the ground, and suddenly it was dark and Gelatin could feel his sides pressed up against his slender friends. He squirmed slightly. Surprised and confused and bewildered.
“What just happened?! Where— where are we??” Flower panicked, squirming again. He could feel her foot press into the sideof his knee and they buckled a little, causing him to nearly fall, his heart lurching.
Lollipop groaned, her voice muffled by— something. He didn’t know. He couldn’t see.
“Ugh… This is probably one of Blocky’s dumb pranks,” Lollipop said, shifting. Her arm brushed against his foot and he became acutely are of her round head squishing against his side.
His hands pressed against a hard plane in front of him and he pushed, his palms hurting from the pressure. He turned slightly, as far as he could comfortably, and reached his hand behind him, pressing against another hard plane. Then above.
“Ack- Gelatin, that’s my face!” Flower grunted, her voice muffled from where he pressed his palm into her cheek.
“Oh— Sorry, sorry-“ He apologized, his voice immediately strained. He brought his hand in front of him again, pushing against the wall.
“What do we do?” Flower asked, sounding nervous as she shifted some more, releasing the pressure from against his knee. But he could still feel her chest against his side. Tight. Awful. He could hear her heartbeat.
“He’ll probably let us out soon,” Lollipop said calmly, as if they weren’t trapped.
Gelatin could feel his breaths starting to come in sharp gasps. He felt like he couldn’t breathe already, his eyes flicking around the enclosed space. It was pitch black, but his pupils were starting to adjust to the lack of light. He could see Lollipop from the corner of his eyes, pressed in an awkward position with the back of her head against him, her face pressed against the wall in front of her. He couldn’t see where her legs and arms were, but he could tell she was sitting.
Flower hovered above him, her head pressed against the top of the box they were enclosed in, her back against the wall. Her hands pressed against it, her legs shaking around where his own legs were, struggling to hold the awkward, taxing position. Her chest was right against his side, squishing him.
His heart raced in his chest, becoming more and more acutely aware of his predicament. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to center himself but he couldn’t— he- he couldn’t focus, he felt like he was being suffocated.
The world spun, and in a panic, he began to slam his hands against the wall in front of him.
“Gelatin?-“ Flower asked, concern etched in her tone.
He didn’t hear her. Or maybe he did, he just— he didn’t respond. He had to get out of there. The walls were closing in.
Gelatin’s breathing turned to quick pants, ragged and uneven and heavy. He slammed his hands against the wall harder, more aggressively, panicked. his mind buzzed with fear, like he was going to be crushed, smushed like a bug.
“Gelatin, what are you doing? That isn’t going to do us any good!” Lollipop shouted, grabbing his arm.
His breath hitched in his throat and he yanked his arm from her grip, his jaw clenched. His feet scrambled against the ground and he stumbled and fell onto Flower’s leg. She yelped as she fell too, her legs giving way, her body landing on top of his. The world shattered.
A scream of terror ripped from Gelatin’s throat, raw and pure. He scrambled, shoving Flower off of himself as best as he could, his elbow slamming against the wall behind him. He couldn’t get far enough, he couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. His chest felt tight.
“What is?—“ Lollipop started.
“Hey, hey! Gelatin, calm down, what’s— what’s going on?” Flower asked tentatively. She’d never seen or heard him so terrified before.
“It’s— there’s n-not- enough room in here—“ Gelatin muttered, his hands feeling the walls again, trying to find a way to break the walls.
“I can’t— I can’t breathe- I can’t- Th-there’s no air- There’s no—“ He stammered between gasps, scrambling, scrabbling at the surfaces enclosing him. His eyes burned and blurred with tears unshed, his voice breaking and breathless.
“Get me out of here!” He cried, slamming his fists hard against the wall. If hurt his hands, but not as much as his restricted chest hurt. He could barely breathe, could barely take a deep breath.
Lollipop found herself growing increasingly more uncomfortable by the display of emotions. She didn’t know what to do— She had never seen him this distressed, not even in the year or so they spent competing together. She’d never been good at comforting others.
Her eyes flicked to Flower, or at least what she could make out as Flower.
“Gelatin,” Flower spoke, shifting to get a little closer to him, “Hey, you’re- you’re safe, Jelly man. Look- look at me,” She tried, hesitantly reaching out.
He shook his head and fell onto his back, kicking the wall with even stronger force than before. The whole box shook with every kick, the strength behind each one growing stronger and stronger.
Flower flinched at every thud, every crack of his foot hitting the, what sounded like, metal walls, every bang as it reverberated.
“Gelatin, stop!” She shouted, and he did, taking in a shaky breath of air through his teeth.
His mind was reeling, loud and unsteady and unrelenting, panic and fear rocketing through him. His chest hurt at this point, tears streaming down his green face, causing soggy streaks to form in the jello of his body. He scrambled back up and curled in on himself, squeezing his eyes shut, his hands gripping his head. No matter what position he was in, he could always feel something pressed against him, Flower’s leg, her petal, Lollipop’s arm, lolli’s head, the plastic of her stick. He hated it, he hated every moment, jolting away from every touch until he was a cowering ball on the ground, struggling breathe, struggling to focus, his eyes glazed over, swirling freight. The world spun— until it didn’t.
He heard it. The crack of a twig, the careful steps of someone trying to sneak up, fallen leaves crunching.
“Hahaha, finally someone fell for my trap!” A deep voice. Muffled by the metal, proud, but inexplicably familiar. Blocky.
Without thinking, Gelatin shot to his feet, accidentally elbowing Lollipop in the face as he did, and slammed his fist hard against the metal wall. He winced only slightly at the sound of his bones crunching at the impact, pain reverberating through his nerve endings but he didn’t care.
“LET ME OUT OF HERE!” Gelatin demanded, his voice hoarse, cracking, angry yet panicked. He sounded and felt like a cornered animal, trapped in a cage.
Blocky seemed to yelp and stagger before muttering something. The box fell away, and Gelatin took a deep breath of air.
Gelatin fell forward with the wall, staggering forward before falling to his knees. He wheezed and coughed and struggled, his lungs burning for air yet his chest still felt restricted. His hand slapped over his beating heart and his fingers dug into the malleable sugary jello of his own body, sending a dull pain through him but he ignored it. The feeling was grounding.
“Gelatin!” Flower cried, rushing to him after falling on her back. He knelt down in front of him, but didn’t touch, her hands held up.
“Hey— You’re safe! You’re out. We’re outside, okay? There’s— there’s no walls. You’re okay, you’re safe. I’m here. We’re here.” She comforted, speaking way too fast.
She held her hand out to him, offering a soft smile.
He stared for a moment, his breathing quick and labored and heaving, his eyes hazy and unfocused. He blinked, trying to focus in on her features— but he couldn’t. Yet still, he reached forward and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly. His hand trembled against hers, his fingers twitching as he held onto her like his life depended on it.
“There you go. Can you breathe with me? Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 1 second, and then exhale for 4 seconds. Okay? Can you do that?” Flower said, her voice softening, lowered, trying to comfort him.
Lollipop watched the exchange, standing up from where she had fallen from her side. She rubbed her cheek as she did, the side of her face throbbing where Gelatin had jammed his elbow into it.
She couldn’t be mad though. Not after the fear she saw in his eyes, the sobs which wracked his form. She felt bad, if anything. Bad that she didn’t know how to comfort him, not like Flower could. She’d have to learn how to be more empathetic. Perhaps Flower could help with that.
“What’s up with him?” Blocky asked quietly, not exactly sounding like he truly cared. He gestured vaguely at Gelatin.
Lollipop glared at the shorter object, before slapping him upside the head.
“Get rid of these traps, Blocky.” She demanded.
“What?! But they’re funny!” Blocky protested, wincing as he rubbed the back of his head.
“What part of that looks funny?” She asked, gesturing at Gelatin as he slowly came down from his panic attack, his free hand running through the grass.
“…I mean-“ Blocky started.
Lollipop grabbed him by the shoulder suddenly, her grip hard and intense. She leaned down, her voice dangerously low.
“Blocky,” She uttered, “You’re best friends with Pen, yes? And if I’m not mistaken, he had anxiety too, right? How would he feel if I told him you thought a panic attack was funny?” She grit her teeth, her grip on his shoulder tightening.
Blocky’s smile faded into a deep, frightened frown, his brows furrowed. He swallowed harshly.
“O…okay, fine. Jeeze.” He agreed in a barely audible mutter, moving away as soon as she released his shoulder. He trudged further into the forest, presumably to disarm his other traps.
She turned her attention back to her friends, finding that Gelatin was finally breathing normally again.
Carefully, Lollipop approached the two sitting in the grass, her arms crossed across her chest.
“What was that all about?” She asked, trying to sound as non-judgmental as possible. Though she wasn’t doing a very good job at it.
“Lolli,” Flower complained. She didn’t say much, but her disapproving tone said it all.
“No, it’s— it’s okay,” Gelatin said reassuringly, squeezing Flower’s hand softly. He sounded tired, his voice unusually hoarse and deep from his earlier screaming and hyperventilating. His throat was dry and rough, and he cleared his throat a little.
Flower frowned.
“I, uh…” He started, “I have claustrophobia, I guess,” He explained slowly, rubbing the back of his head.
Lollipop and Flower’s expressions both softened at his words. They shared a wordless, understanding glance.
“Is that why you would shove them off of PB’s head?” Flower guessed, squeezing his hand softly.
Gelatin nodded, looking down.
“I didn’t know it then. I think my 15 year old self just didn’t know how to put it into words.”
Flower frowned even further at his words. She wasn’t sure what to say to him, even now. So instead, she opened her free arm, offering a hug. He didn’t hesitate. He scrambled forward a little, letting go of her hand to wrap his arms around her slender form, burrying his face between her lower two petals. Flower gently rested her chin on the top of his head, wrapping her arms around him too.
After a few minutes, Lollipop sat down beside them too.
“We won’t have to worry about those happening again,” Lollipop said matter-of-factly as she plopped down in the grass, “I taught him a lesson.”
Gelatin chuckled softly at her, turning his head so he can look up at her.
“Thanks, Lolli.” He said, smiling warmly at his friend, gratitude shining within his eyes.
She couldn’t help but smile back.
“Okay!” Flower suddenly blurted, picking Gelatin up, “Why don’t we head back to the campsite and we start up the bonfire early!” She suggested, “And by we I mean Taco.”
Gelatin laughed, and Lollipop chuckled.
“Yeah, I’m down!” He chirped, “I could use a nap after… all of that.” Gelatin admitted, rubbing his arm a little.
“Let’s get going then,” Lollipop said, standing and then scooping Gelatin into her arms with a soft “hup!” The smalled object giggled and curled in on himself as she held him, the three of them walking back down the path.
“You should carry me like this more often!”
“Don’t push your luck, jelly man,” Lollipop replied with a teasing lilt to her voice, glaring down at him.
The three laughed again, and everything was okay again. At least, on the surface. They knew— Gelatin knew— that something had irrevocably changed between the three, now that they had seen Gelatin in such a vulnerable state for the first time.
He just had to hope they wouldn’t look deeper.