Work Text:
Water was… a bit intimidating, to put it mildly. They were definitely nice, at least to Graecie, but he made Legs nervous.
Graecie was talking about something she, Sausage, and Bubbles had found in (near?) the sewers, and he was trying to follow the flow of her story, but he kept getting lost. She did talk quite fast, and he always took a moment to properly process information, so it wasn't really anyone's fault.
"Uh, thank you," Water nodded once Graecie finished.
"You're welcome," she smiled.
"You're welcome," Legs parroted.
Why did you do that?
Water looked at him, their gaze narrowed slightly. "You didn't do anything.'
Shoot.
He's right.
Shit— uh.
Get out. Get out get out get out—
"Oh, actually—uh, Leg's did a really cool thing-" Graecie started, looking over at him, her light brown eyes flickering between reassuring and concerned. "C'mon, show 'em–"
"Uh—no, no, no It's uh—It's fine, it's fine, they're right— " he stumbled over the words, heat rushing to his face as Graecie continued, her own words running together. "You're right— uh, it's just a habit— Like, I'm just— no, no, no, it's okay— you're right, no, I'm sorry—" he continued taking steps back before fully turning around and going back down the path where he and Graecie had previously gone, leaving her and Water.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
What the hell was that?! Thank you?? For what?
He continued to speed walk up the path towards the academy as static filled his ears.
You really need to shut up sometimes.
Why thank you of all things? You weren't even in the conversation! You were doing fine not saying anything at all.
This is why you listen, not talk.
Why did you open your mouth?
Legs felt a sharp tug in his gut and looked up from where his gaze had been trained on the ground in front of him, just before the academy steps.
His knife was floating again, beginning to slowly spin around him, gaining momentum.
Oh no.
No, no, no, no, no.
Not again.
It was already bad the first time—Graecie had gotten hurt, and they had been in the middle of nowhere.
Why was this happening again?
"-ey, Legs, wait up!" he heard Graecie's voice come into earshot from down the path, and he immediately staggered away. His heart was hammering against his ribs, air coming in short breaths.
Not again.
Not again.
Not again.
"Legs? What's going on?"
"Just- back up, Graecie." he managed to gasp out, the knives spinning around him in a blur. His vision clouded around the edges, and he felt tremors shoot through his legs.
He was so tired.
"Legs, it's okay-" she started, and he could hear her footsteps in the grass, coming closer, and he stepped back, his legs buckling beneath him.
He didn't remember hitting the ground.
———————————————————————
Everything felt so… warm.
Legs couldn't properly explain it. Sleep didn't feel warm, it didn't really feel like anything.
But this did. He liked it. It was a comforting feeling, and he didn't want it to stop.
He didn't remember the last time he felt this comfortable.
He blinked his eyes open after a moment, squinting at the light from above. It wasn't midday anymore, but it was still quite bright out.
"Legs? Oh, blessed bells, you're awake!"
His vision cleared after a moment, and he saw Graecie above him, the late afternoon light highlighting her features.
She looked positively angelic.
Legs rubbed the side of his face, blinking a few more times. "…How long has it been?"
Graecie looked up at the sky. "An hour or two? It really wasn't that long, but longer than you're usually out. Do you think it was because of your powers?"
He really didn't want to think about his powers right now.
"Maybe?" he began to sit up, and Graecie leaned back slightly, giving him space to sit.
His head had been in Graecie's lap.
Legs turned slightly, angling himself to face her. "You didn't have to stay here, I would've been fine."
She shook her head. "Why would I do that? That'd be rude. The Shepherdess never leaves anyone behind, and neither do I. Besides, it's a nice day out."
He nodded slowly, his gaze flickering over her before stopping.
There was a thin red line on her arm, just below her elbow. The skin around it was a bit puffy and pink, but it wasn't actively bleeding.
His brows furrowed. "Are you okay?"
Graecie waved it off. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just a scratch. Ooh, do you want to see what I made?"
Before Legs could question further, she turned around and grabbed something out of the tall grass, her bells jingling as she did so, before holding it out to him.
It was a flower crown. The same blue flowers that Graecie had given him were woven together with soft white blooms—ones he also recognized.
He gave Graecie those ones.
He supposed all of them grew abundant in the area.
He paused before taking it from her. "This is beautiful, Graecie. Thank you."
She grinned back at him, something that sent small flutters through his heart. "Oh, blessed bells! I have one, too," she pulled out a second flower crown that was near-identical, putting it atop her hair.
Legs stared at her.
She was beautiful.
The afternoon light cast a warm hue on her face, almost causing her light brown eyes to sparkle. A few petals from the flowers had shed, lingering in strands of her white hair.
He shook his head slightly after a moment, setting his own flower crown on his head. It was light atop his head, an almost unnoticable weight.
Graecie smiled at him. "The blue suits you. Like your hair!"
…It suited her, too.