Work Text:
“You're still selfish!” Book declared angrily as she, Pencil and Fanny held on to the blue steed for dear life. “I thought maybe you'd have changed or gotten better, but you're even worse than before! It's always 'me, me, me' with you!”
“Then let ME be a WE, and join my alliance already!” Pencil rebutted. The words didn't feel like her own, nor did her body in the next moment. She lunged for Book, who grabbed her wrists, and they made a desperate struggle to force each other off.
“I will NEVER be in an alliance with you EVER AGAIN, Pencil!” Book yelled.
“Why? Why not?” Pencil asked desperately.
“Because—augh! You wanna know why, Pencil?” Book snapped. “Because I HATE YOU!”
That statement was like a sonic boom, hard to believe but undeniable in its impact. Pencil's ears rung. She hardly even registered her leg swinging forward, or her forcing Book to the horse's back.
“Eh—you—you hate me?”
“You don't listen to me, Pencil! I know how it feels to get obsessive, and you have to learn to just let others live!” Book told her. “I gave Ice Cube the distance she needed! Why can't you give me the distance I need?” She pushed up on Pencil's wrists to try and get herself on her feet.
“Because you're all I have here!” Pencil said, pushing Book back down. There was a tangible pause, before she continued. “Book, it's just that Match is who knows where, Needle's already gone, I have no idea where Ruby and Bubble are, Ice Cube hates me, and now you do too! It's not fair!” Her mouth ran on its own, as she wildly gestured around. “I just want things to go back to the way they were… I was trapped in Four for years! YEARS! And this is how I'm welcomed back?!”
Book pushed her down. “You nearly destroyed the universe, Pencil,” she ranted, “for your own selfishness! You didn't come back asking to be friends; you wanted an alliance to get you further in the game! That's all you want! That's all you've ever wanted! And I won't be used like that! So no, I will NOT work with you! I will NOT join your alliance! And I will NOT be your friend!!!!”
Pencil couldn't think of anything to say. Her head hurt. Her heartbeat drowned every other noise out. Her mouth refused to move, her limbs refused to move, her mind refused to focus on anything but the fury of the dictionary standing above her. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what she did to earn it, couldn't remember anything that fell along the lines of what she was saying.
Nothing felt at all right. Then…
“Pencil! Hey, Pencil!” The sudden intrusion of Ruby's voice broke the haze of the dream. “Wanna start a video diary?” The starry green sky opened itself up to her as consciousness returned.
Pencil rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the back of a too-heavy arm. “Wwwha…?” she mumbled, having not quite processed Ruby's words.
“I said, do you wanna start a video diary?” Ruby clarified.
“That sounds like a great idea, Ruby…” she muttered. Catching sight of Book nearby, her stomach twisted in a knot. She knew none of that actually happened, but she still felt a little bad about the dream.
“What happened?” Ice Cube asked after a moment of silence. Pencil didn't have an answer.
“Can I just… hold you a sec, Book?” Pencil asked, clutching her arms.
“Huh? Okay.” Book said. She floated over and wrapped her arms around Pencil, who didn't hesitate for even a moment to return the gesture. “Did you have one of those weird dreams again?”
Pencil gave a little hum of affirmation. “We were fighting… You said you hated me. That you didn't want to be friends anymore. I just… don't know, Book.”
“Well, just know that's all just a dream, okay?” Book said. “Unless something drastic happens, I'm not leaving this crew anytime soon, okay?”
“...Okay,” Pencil said. Everything was okay. She had her alliance by her side…
…at least for now. The weird feeling that something drastic would happen in the future wouldn't leave her. And if it did… tree, if it did. Images of her dreams flashed through her head.
All that stuff was possible, and certainly more. And that scared her. She had to be sure that wouldn't happen.