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“—In the Garden, because she keeps trying to steal the… Yellow? Yellow…? Are you even listening to me?”
Seth took a deep breath in before they groaned, pinching the bridge of their nose firmly. As they did they couldn't help but falter momentarily— still trying to wrap their head around going from photosynthesis one day to watching Aqua manically gulping down big mouthfuls of air the next— stern glare narrowing onto the taller flower in front of them.
Yellow.
Seth almost felt bad for him, they really did, but part of them was relieved that they for once weren't stranded as the bouquet-babysitter of the group. Analysing and picking apart every miniscule detail of the golden flower's antsy demeanor, their harsh gaze began to soften, beginning to advance closer like a predator closing in on its prey. Yellow shook his head from side to side profusely with a nervous grin,
“I-I— Darn— S-Sorry, Seth… I jus’ don't think I'm fit out for this here business is all!”
Seth ushered the cowboy as he began to stammer— having already anticipated his cowardly rebuttal— and instead continued to pile up item after item into his already overflowing arms. It wasn't like they could go back now, besides, they'd have to be an absolute lunatic to willingly sign themself up for such an undesirable role.
Which they had done, many, many times before.
Seth was above such frivolities, regardless of whether or not it was something they necessarily took joy in doing, and their time was much better spent on doing something worthwhile like academics. Or, in their case, being called out specifically by Flowery himself. It was an opportunity like no other, and they absolutely weren't willing to put their reputation on the line for another one of Aqua's little games.
“It doesn't matter,” Seth's words were brutal but the ugly truth that Yellow needed to hear, “I need you to do this. Everybody else is busy, and I'm not taking them along with me.”
Yellow furrowed his brows at the purple flower as he stared down at them, nearly caving in under the weight of everything Seth had piled up high in his arms. He took a quick glance over it all— books, ribbons, some toys— wanting nothing more than to drop everything and run off to Blue or Green.
Yellow's eyes darted off to the side, trying his best to support the pile that felt heavier and heavier with each and every second, “But Seth—!” The purple flower coolly intercepted Yellow's second rebuttal, holding a finger up in the air, “No buts. I don't want to hear it. You're the only person who can do this, and anyway, they asked for you specifically.”
Deciding to finally address the elephant in the room, Yellow cautiously glanced down, finally taking notice of the two smaller flowers; Aqua and Orange. He nervously grinned at the two before his eyes hesitantly rose back to Seth, head sinking down into his shoulders. “...You… Uh… Y’really want a criminell like me t'do it? I don't want’a be a bad influence here ‘fer them…”
Aqua began to giggle madly, “Criminal, criminal! Uee Hee Hee! Let's play jail again! Ooo, can we, Seth, can we?!”
“Well…” Seth paused momentarily before shooting a smug grin up at Yellow, “If you're a ‘criminell’, then just think of this as your punishment.”
Aqua and Orange had gone back to bickering with one another, which was Seth's cue to take their leave, and as they turned on their heel they whispered over to Yellow, “...Good luck, Anyway.”
Yellow could feel his breathing hitch as his chest began to grow tight, shaking his head side to side while he watched the two smaller flowers play around. His palms were growing sweaty as he continued struggling to support the pile. He couldn't be a babysitter, he was a criminal! How would Blue ever be able to forgive him if he ended up influencing the two most easily swayed flowers into becoming outlaws like himself?!
It was only when a small hand tugged at his trousers that he had finally broken free from his spiral of self-doubt, his eyes sheepishly meeting Aqua's. The shorter flower pointed up at him, tilting her head to the side playfully, “Uuu… Why don't you put that stuff down? Then we can play, play!”
The taller flower blinked a few times as he was taken aback before shaking his head with a pitiful sigh, “But I haft'er hold all this. It's my punishment!” Aqua giggled, trying to reach up and grab any item that was hanging low enough to be in her reach, “Uuu… But Seth said this is your punishment… So it still counts!”
“Oh… Really? You think'n so? Well darn my socks, ain't that so!” In an instant he had put down everything that Seth had stranded him with onto the floor of the prison room, letting out a sigh of relief as a large weight was finally off his back (metaphorically and physically). Aqua watched him in awe the entire time, spinning around with glee, “Yay, Jail, Jail! Now we can play Jail!!”
Yellow held a hand up to the back of his head as he ran his fingers through his short spiky hair, beginning to chuckle, “...So… Y’all are wanting to play criminell, huh?” Aqua could barely hold back all of her excitement inside such a small body like hers, instead nodding madly, head bobbing like a novelty toy inside a moving car. Yellow smirked, tipping down his cowboy hat to the manic little flower, “Well, gosh, why'dn't y'all say so sooner?”
Seeing how hyper Aqua had grown was building Yellow's confidence back up brick by brick, and every doubt he had previously had been shot down.
Except…
“...Huh. Wait a durn minute.”
He thought back to Seth's words.
“...Wasn't there supposed to be two o'ya?”
Scratching his head again, his eyes began to narrow, though panic hadn't begun to set in him just yet. Just stay rational, Yellow.
“Uhh… Orange? Where'd'n y'go?”
Aqua's head tilted to the side again as she simply shrugged, having been too caught up in the excitement. “Uuu… I don't know… I didn't see her!”
Just stay rational, Yellow.
“H-Hah… D-Darn… This big ol’ jail room… Always gettin’ folks lost!” Kneeling down to make himself on Aqua's level, he held a hand out to her, resting it onto the girl's small shoulder. Part of him was scared that she'd bite him— given her wildly unpredictable nature— but thankfully she seemed tired out. “...Well, don't'n you worry, m'kay? I'll jus’ have a look'n out for her. You stay here.” The little flower pouted, “But I wanna play! I wanna play! Can I play jail?! Pleaseee!!” Getting back up to his feet, Yellow shook his head slightly in disbelief, letting out another chuckle. “...Well darn my socks. Y'think ya can really handle it?” Aqua nodded so fast, this time it was a miracle that her head didn't go flying off. “Haha. Well, gosh, how could I go ‘n say no to that?”
Holding a golden hand out for her to grab and take hold of, Yellow walked Aqua over to one of the large empty prison cells, still chuckling over how passionate she seemed. “Yay, jail time, jail time!! Uee Hee Hee!! Now lock it, lock ittt!!” Well, Yellow couldn't deny her from such happiness, so he took off one of the keys which dangled from his belt and cautiously locked the door. Part of him was scared that she'd end up spinning so fast she'd bang right into the bars, but it was nothing that a little of Green's cooking couldn't fix up right away.
“...Right… Now what…”
Yellow held a hand up to his chin as he tried a process of elimination for any suspect hiding spots present in the room. Well…
He knew that the prison cells were empty, since he had just walked Aqua right into one.
There was no way that Orange could've hid herself in the moss— she was small but not that small.
So that only left…
“...Sniff… Sniff…”
Yellow's head turned around the second that he heard what sounded like crying, spinning on his heel so fast he almost toppled right over.
Of course!
Making his way cautiously over to the large pile in the middle of the room, he couldn't help but notice how it seemed to almost quiver and shake, as if some sort of miniature volcano was inside and ready to erupt at any second.
Kneeling down, he gingerly reached out to the culmination of various items, feeling the sweat bead down his forehead. Come on, Yellow, you can do this.
“...Orange? What're y'doing inside all this?” His voice was low as he spoke as to not draw attention to the scene, hoping more than anything for Aqua to stay blissfully unaware.
“...Go AWAY!” A high voice squealed, instantly recognisable and without a doubt belonging to the small rodent of a flower.
“...Hey, Hey. Don't'n't you worry, m'kay? Jus’... Come on.” Trying to coax Orange out of her hiding spot, he reached out further, attempting to pat her on the back. She was sitting inside of the pile, faced away from Yellow, trembling.
And the second his fingertips were able to make contact…
“G-Gh— Ah—!”
Yellow nearly fell backwards, jumping as Orange had struck out against him in her fury. He tried his best not to let it show, but a primal fear was beginning to build up in his body.
But…
One good look at who it was up against him quickly disarmed that terror.
Hyperventilating, Orange began to shake viscerally with fury, “Just go AWAY!!! I don't NEED a babysitter!!! I'm JUST AS IMPORTANT AS ALL OF YOU!!!” The words erupted out of her violently, like a never ending river of lava destroying everything in its path. Upon closer inspection, it actually looked like there were tears welling up in her tiny little eyes. Baring her teeth at Yellow, she sprung up, fists up high to prove that she was ready to hit him at any moment.
But then…
She began to cry. And cry. And cry.
What started off as a slight sniffle holding her back and downplaying her importance led to the whole waterworks, eventually laying back down on the floor in defeat. Yellow tried his best to shield her out of view from Aqua (who was having far too much fun playing ‘Jail’ to even care) yet kept a safe distance from the tiny little flower.
…
A few minutes of silence passed through the room as Yellow allowed Orange to regain her composure, patiently waiting kneeled over until she felt ready to speak again. The silence was beginning to grow unbearable as Yellow grew antsier and antsier, fidgeting around with the buckle of his belt in the meantime.
…
“...I-I'm just as good as all of YOU! I'm IMPORTANT too!! So why do you all treat me like I'm so INCOMPETENT?!”
Yellow's eyes wandered off to the side as he tried to string together an honest answer that would do her justice.
“...I…”
Then, he simply shrugged his shoulders.
“...I don't know.”
Orange sat in the middle of the pile dumbfounded, before echoing, “...You DON'T KNOW?!”
Yellow shook his head sincerely, eyes still unable to meet hers.
“...Sorry. I don't know. Simple’s that.”
A lump began to form in the back of his throat but he swallowed it down, and when he did, his eyes were finally able to meet the fiery eyes of wrath that belonged to Orange. “...Jus’... Think we go easier on the litl’uns. But that don't make y'weak.” He held a hand up to his chest, “Darn, I don't think yer weak.”
Orange's eyes were wide. Not in fear, not in anger, but in shock. Biting her tongue back, she continued to listen, dumbfounded.
“...You're probably one of the strongest here, y'hear? Hell, I'm a criminell, Seth's better with their words, and Flowery er… Fakes all his strength.”
What was he even getting at?
“...I don't treat y’like yer incompetent. I treat y’like yer one of us, just more fragile. M'kay?”
Normally that ‘fragile’ comment would've set something off inside of Orange, like lighting a fuse inside of a ticking time bomb, but this time it felt different. She felt conflicted. All of her time inside the dark world being belittled by Flowery and Seth— no— all of her time in the real world, being babied by Asgore for being so small, having to get cared for differently than the rest since her stem was so weak and fragile…
Finally, her first meaningful conversation.
It was almost too much to handle…
Suddenly, she was encapsulated under a cloak of pure darkness, letting out a small squeak of surprise (which she would deny profusely if questioned about later) before yelling out, “H-HEY! YELLOW! What did you DO?!”
All she could hear was his chuckling as she eventually managed to claw her way out of the cave of darkness, but when she finally reared her head again she was just left even more baffled.
“...What?”
Looking around cautiously, her eyes met the taller flower, until eventually she realised what he had cloaked her with.
His own hat.
“...W-Why did you…?”
Yellow ran a hand through his spikey hair once more, chuckling, “...Jus’ thought y'looked like ya needed it was all. It suits ya, anyway.” Orange fully escaped from underneath the large hat and shot Yellow a genuine smile for what felt like the first time, “...Thanks.”
Being so nice to someone else felt… awkward, much less to Yellow of all people. Part of her felt a primal fear for making herself so vulnerable, as if she could get attacked at any minute for letting her guard down.
Yellow could sense that something was still wrong, so he reached his hand out again, giving her a pat on the head with just one finger. “...D'worry ‘bout it,” his grin grew wider as it formed at the ends of his mouth, “...’N fact, I think you'd make a pretty darn good Justice, if I say so myself.”
The little flower stared up at him in awe, for the first time feeling at peace, “...Really? I've uhm…” Her eyes darted off to the side, trying to battle against the voice inside of her head which was telling her more than anything to just run away and ditch the conversation.
But BRAVERY always makes it out in the end as the winner.
“...I wanna be strong. I wanna be strong and fight to protect what I care about!! But I always get uhm… Kind of caught up…” Yellow nodded along as she spoke, relieved that he had finally managed to defuse the bomb in the room. “...How do you do it? All the JUSTICE stuff… I wanna be strong like you, too…!”
Yellow grew flustered as he shook his head, bashfully glancing off to the ivy covered wall, “W-Well— I— D-Darn my socks—! Thank'n'you, I er… Well, I can teach'n you, m'kay?”
Orange's eyes lit up as she squeaked, “Really??”
Yellow nodded confidently, “...Yes ma'am! Really!”