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It was still bright out as they were walking back to the office to give their photo to Gold Ingot, the photo that Slipper had carefully placed on her back, secure in her fluff. Genius. It was sure to not get damaged there. Plus, they finished the challenge pretty early, so they'd definitely get there in time.
Basketball trailed close behind her, dragging his feet through the blades of grass. He wasn't exactly paying attention to his surroundings, not even to what was in front of him, which is how he ended up bumping into Slipper when she stopped abruptly near the bottom of the waterfall.
"AGH-.. Oi! Why'd you stop?" He stepped back, watching her turn to him.
"Because something around here-" She paused and gagged dramatically, "Smells like shit."
Basketball rolled their eyes at her, "And? What, is it bothering your delicate nose so much?" They scoffed sarcastically, "Clearly you've never slept in the same room as Chainsaw"
"The bar is set very low for him" She sighed, "What's bothering me is that I think said smell is coming from YOU"
Basketball blinked at the accusation as Slipper gestured to him. Sure, Basketball was lazy but that didn't mean he didn't clean himself up, so he was a little offended at the accusation. Though... he did notice a faint bad odor following him ever since Slipper made him get in that rubbish bin so- HEY this was her fault for making him get in there.
"Well don't blame me!" Basketball retorted, "You were the one who forced me into that rubbish bin!"
Slipper paused and turned slightly to hide the smirk on her face, which became a snicker, which became a laugh when she noticed Basketball getting offended.
"What are you laughing at?!" Basketball scowled.
"You already know-" Slipper replied between giggles, "I mean, calling a dumpster a "rubbish bin", when you say things like that I remember your silly accent!"
Basketball's expression remained unimpressed until Slipper calmed down from laughing, "And I thought you were the mature one of us three..." They rolled their eyes.
“Did you?” Slipper exhaled a smaller laugh at that and mockingly consoled him, "Don't worry, it's adorable when you usually talk"
Basketball's expression remained unchanged but his brain lagged behind a little as he heard it, "Keep it together dude, this is Slipper" they told themself.
"Whatever," He shrugged, "Anyway can we go give this to Gold Ingot already? My legs are killing me." He walked past Slipper who didn't follow him. Basketball paused and looked at her behind him, "Don't worry Slipper the great I'll bathe quickly when we get back." He smiled sarcastically.
Just as he started walking again, expecting Slipper to follow, he felt Slipper push him sideways with a stronger force than he thought was possible.
“AGH- WHAT THE-”
They stumbled back and fell into the pond where water collected at the bottom of the waterfall, landing with a splash - not really a splash, more of a plop in the water.
Oh yeah, basketballs float in water.
“Hm,” Slipper hummed to herself “Forgot that you were full of air.”
She watched Basketball float on the water on his back for a moment before he adjusted and kicked his legs to make himself float upright, looking annoyed as ever. Drops of water splattered as he kicked and Slipper backed away cautiously.
“Now why'd you do THAT for?!” Basketball huffed.
“Chill out, now you stay right there, understand?” She insisted with a demanding tone, “I'll be right back.”
Though as she turned, of course Basketball didn't intend on listening and attempted to climb out of the water. They stumbled forward and bumped into Slipper who immediately shoved them back in the water, harsher than before.
“GET YOUR STINKY HANDS OFF ME” Slipper turned to him, “I mean- feet, whatever- STAY”
“NO”
“STAY”
“NO”
“Oh my GOD! BASKETBABE LET ME DO SOMETHING NICE FOR ONCE.”
…
Basketball paused for a moment, startled, before scowling and resting on his back in the water “Fineee….” He whined.
Basketball just looked up at the sky as he listened to Slipper turn and walk away, muttering “whiny baby” under her breath. They almost yelled an insult back but rolled his eyes instead. They listened to Slipper's footsteps becoming quieter and quieter until he couldn't hear them anymore.
“Good, she's gone, get up.” Basketball thought, but he didn't get up.
“She's gone. Get up.” Didn't get up.
“Get up.” Didn't get up.
“Fuck.” He kicked at the water uselessly “Pull yourself together.”
Slipper had this aura that just demanded attention and authority. Even if Basketball thought she was being ridiculous, they felt that they just needed to listen to her.
Even so, she was right. He smelt like shit.
Meanwhile, Slipper opened the door to the girl's cabin. Empty, thank goodness. She walked over to her bed and tossed the camera and their picture on her pillow. She reached under her bed for her soap bottles, the ones she used to wash her fluff, and placed them in her back.
“...What on earth has gotten into me”
Okay so maybe she'd use her stuff on Basketball but just this once because it was an emergency situation. He did STINK. Besides, it'd be funny for him to smell like her for the rest of the day. Very funny, and nice maybe, but mostly funny. It's not like she LIKED the idea.
“Fuck I should go back before they run away”
So she did. Slipper walked back, half expecting to find an empty pond. However, she was (pleasantly) surprised to see that wasn't the case.
Basketball was peacefully floating on his back in the water with his eyes closed. Slipper approached and looked above him.
She was planning on telling him to get up immediately, but she paused for a moment. She was trying to figure out whether Basketball was awake or not. Suddenly she was noticing how calm he looked when he was asleep, the usual scowl was gone, now there was.. nothing, that was kind of nice. They looked kind of nice. Maybe that's why they were asleep all the time. Stupid habit, stupid face, but Slipper wouldn't mind looking at it a little longer.
Then Basketball opened an eye, “Are you gonna stop looming over me any time soon?”
“AHH”
The suddenness startled Slipper who kicked his face in response.
“FUCK” Basketball yelped, “Jesus can you STOP doing that???”
Slipper just blinked and lowered her leg, “Okay that one was an accident I swear.” She muttered quickly, “Anyway come here.”
Slipper pulled Basketball closer to her without warning, careful not to get her body wet. She held their head to stop them from moving so much and squeezed a light amount on his head before tossing the bottle on the ground. Aggressively, she started rubbing the soap into the rubber of Basketball's skin.
“And before you ask,” Slipper insisted, “I'm not helping you, I'm helping us. You're seen with me so often I can't have you smelling gross.”
“Wow, so very generous of you, love”
“Shut up.”
“What is this anyway? Unicorn flavour?”
“Shut up.”
“Aww does this mean I'm special to you”
Slipper kicked him again after that one, dunking his head into the water. When he came back up he coughed on the water and blew a raspberry at her.
“STOP THAT.” Basketball yelled.
“STOP BEING ANNOYING.” Slipper yelled back.
“I'll show you annoying.”
He pulled one leg out of the water and grabbed Slipper's leg before dragging her into the water with him. Slipper let out a high pitched yelp that was muffled by the water before she resurfaced, looking.. less than pleased. Her mascara smudged all over her face and her fluff - her fluff, was RUINED. All because of a certain ball.
Despite the warning expression Slipper gave him, Basketball burst out laughing almost immediately.
“Ah- I- ohmydays HahAHA DON'T- don't kill me don't kill me I HAD to-” Basketball regretted their decision the MOMENT he actually noticed Slipper's face. She was WAYY more than irritated.
“For the record you look prettier when-”
“BASKETBALL I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU”
Slipper tackled Basketball. Water droplets went everywhere and both of them probably looked ridiculous right about now. Slipper could kick him but he was a little slippery with the water and soap on his body so it was hard to get a grip on him. Basketball tried to kick back at her with his legs but ended up splashing water in her face which annoyed her more.
Eventually, somehow, Slipper got a hold of him, “ARE YOU INSANE?! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES TO WASH ALL THIS?!!” She yelled, out of breath, then she paused, “What… what did you say before?”
“What, like 3 minutes ago?” Basketball raised an eyebrow, “Just that you look prettier when you're wet”
…
“I didn't think of how that sounded”
“PFFT-”
“NO I MEANT-”
“YOU FREAK” Slipper laughed out loud suddenly, somewhat easing the tension despite the embarrassment.
“Oh- ugh, whatever,” Slipper rolled her eyes and let go of him, pushing him off, “I don't know why I decided to do this anyway.”
She started to climb out of the water. Basketball raised an eyebrow, “Your soap it's.. it's right there, you could just wash up your fluff now.” They gestured to the soap bottle on the ground.
“Hmm?” Slipper hummed, “No, not now, it takes me ages anyway.”
“How do you wash your fluff when it's on your back anyway?”
“That's why it takes me ages, genius.”
Basketball blinked. He didn't really consider that before. Well now he just felt weird. Not guilty, he didn't usually feel guilty, just weird, which made him say something weird.
“I could… wash it for you if you wanted.”
Slipper scoffed at that, not turning around. She didn’t think he was being serious about that, just another sarcastic quip. Though, she noticed that he wasn’t moving, just looking at her, then looking away when he made eye contact with her.
Slipper stopped moving in the water and turned to him “You’re being serious?” She asked skeptically.
“If I wasn’t I’m sure you could tell,” They replied, “Plus I… I guess it’s kind of my fault…”
Slipper blinked in confusion before a smile, half gentle, half mocking, grew on her face. Basketball noticed immediately.
“Don't look at me like that…”
“Can’t help it,” She breathed a laugh, “It’s kind of funny to hear you being nice.”
They scoffed back, “It was funny seeing you be nice a few minutes ago”
She rolled her eyes at him, more playfully than irritated now. Slipper stepped out of the water for a moment to grab the soap bottle on the ground and threw it on her back before walking into the water again. When she got near Basketball, she turned around so her fluff, now soaked, was facing Basketball. Basketball froze in place for a moment, looking anywhere but at her despite the fact that they were the one who proposed this.
"So?" Slipper raised an eyebrow, "You have my permission, in fact, your majesty, commands you" She said sarcastically, referencing Basketball's earlier remark.
Basketball just rolled their eyes at her, already regretting calling her that. He reached for the soap on her back, feeling Slipper's fluff. It felt odd, flat, when it was wet, not that Basketball ever got to touch it when it was dry. Though a part of him wished he could've touched it just once. It always looked so soft and fluffy, no wonder Slipper took pride in it.
He squeezed a bit of the soap out of the bottle, he wasn't exactly sure how much Slipper usually used, but it looked like enough. Basketball started lathering it into her fluff, not perfectly, they couldn't reach some parts of her body without practically climbing over her. They were surprisingly gentle considering how aggressively Slipper rubbed the soap into his rubber, but to be fair, he didn't exactly want Slipper getting mad at him again.
At first, Slipper was quiet, neither of them said anything. Then suddenly Slipper sighed in contentment, catching Basketball off guard. She sounded calm for once, not annoyed, not even smug, just calm.
"Yeah... that feels nice" Slipper sighed softly, tilting her head a little.
Basketball wasn't sure whether that made things more or less awkward, but he didn't reply, looking away from Slipper's body for a moment before snapping out of it. Truth be told, her voice was pretty, really pretty when she was relaxed. It did something to Basketball that made them feel stupidly warm. They didn't respond and paused for a moment until Slipper turned around, startling him.
"What? You tired already?" Slipper scoffed.
"Pfft- no.." Basketball tried to smile sarcastically, but ended up looking stupid and looked away quickly when Slipper raised an eyebrow at him in suspicion.
"Uhm... Okay?" Slipper replied, puzzled by how unbasketball Basketball was acting.
Basketball, desperate to change the subject quickly, gestured to her back, "Hey- there's still soap in your fluff"
"Oh, right" Slipper noticed. She used her legs to try and splash some water onto her back but ended up kicking water onto Basketball's face.
"OI" Basketball closed their eyes in reflex before blinking them open to see Slipper smirking at them again. Basketball rolled their eyes and breathed a short laugh in response before kicking their legs to splash even more water back at Slipper. Slipper recoiled, but the smirk on her face turned into a little laugh.
"Heyy- not so much!"
"Oh, not so much!!" Basketball mocked, "I still need to rise you off!"
Somehow this situation became some sort of immature fight, both splashing water at each others faces and trying not to laugh. Since both were armless objects, neither could gain the upper hand (get it??) so the scene looked more like a cute little playfight. Eventually, all the soap in Slipper's fluff rinsed off and both just remained floating, out of breath. Basketball shifted a little to face Slipper, both of them failing at fighting their smiles.
"Who knew you could get involved in something like that,"
"No way you're talking, never seen you acting so childish!"
"Oh come on, you know i wouldn't be caught dead acting like that with you."
Slipper actually giggled at that, "Me neither to be fair."
Basketball finally let himself giggle too, his head tilted slightly towards Slipper and their legs brushed in the water. Slipper just watched him with a silly surge of fondness. Towards the situation? Towards Basketball? She couldn't tell.
Slipper suddenly froze as she looked up and saw two figures walking towards the pond, one yellow, one blue.
Basketball noticed her expression and paused, "What? D'you see a ghost?"
"Hey remember how you were saying that you wouldn't want to be caught dead doing this, and then I agreed?" She asked, still watching the figures approach.
"What? like a few seconds ago? No I don't remem- AGH" Their sarcastic quip was cut off as Slipper suddenly shoved them under the water with her, attempting to keep them held down with her weight.
They were about to push her off so they could resurface but she shoved her knee in front of their mouth and gave them a glare. That's when Basketball noticed two slightly blurry figures standing above the water. Undeniably Ukulele and Bubblewrap. They both remained extremely still as they waited for the muffled voices to pass.
"Hm, I could've sworn I saw someone here..." Ukulele looked around the pond, but luckily not down.
"What was that, Ukulele?" Bubblewrap asked, redirecting Ukulele's attention immediately.
"Oh, It's nothing, Bubblewrap!" Ukulele shrugged, "Now lets go find that cute little butterfly we saw!"
A small "Mhm!" could be heard before the sounds of their footsteps on the grass started receding. The two held their breaths a little longer before they quickly resurfaced, unable to hold out underwater any longer, they coughed and breathed for air as they resurfaced.
"Thank GOD they're gone." Basketball groaned, "I can't deal with any more lesbians today..."
"Excuse me?"
"I said you didn't have to put your knee in my face."
Slipper groaned and rolled her eyes at them, "Whatever, sorry."
She finally slipped out of the water, Basketball followed, the water dripping from their bodies formed a trail that followed them as they left the pond. Basketball felt himself step on something, he moved his foot and saw Slipper's soap bottle, must've thrown it on on the ground while they were fighting. Hopefully Bubblewrap or Ukulele didn't see it. He picked it up with his mouth.
"Oi, Slipper," They called out to her, slightly muffled, "Your thing."
Slipper looked almost offended, "First of all, gross..." She squinted at them, "Second of all, it's yours."
"Hm?" Basketball raised an eyebrow with the bottle still in his mouth, "You can just clean it y'know."
"I know I know." She nodded, "But it's like half empty anyway, and I feel like you could use it."
"Hey!" Basketball dropped the bottle, "I usually smell decent, and I don't need to be smelling like you"
Slipper scoffed, "Oh, come on, it'd be cute."
"Can you like, stop saying that"
"Aw you're adorable when you're annoyed."
"Piss off." Basketball squinted their eyes at her, their slight blush subtle enough to be invisible.
"Whatever, we should probably go give the picture to Gold Ingot."
"Yeah.. wait where is that thing anyway? You didn't drop it in the water did you??"
"Relax, it's on my bed," Slipper turned to them, "Seems like you are worried about going UFE"
"Shush." He kicked the soap bottle on the ground, watching it roll towards Slipper.
"If you really don't want it I could give it to someone else with taste." She offered.
Basketball, for some reason, got a little defensive at that, opening and closing his mouth as if he wanted to say something. He just sighed and picked up the bottle, "It's fine I'll be your dumpster."
Slipper giggled at that, "Alright, 'rubbish bin' is fine, don't get all insecure." She rolled her eyes, before beginning to walk, "Now hurry up, i need to blow dry my fluff before it frizzes up."
"Right behind you, your majesty." They replied, following beside her.
"By the way, Basketball,"
"What?"
"Never get my fluff wet again."