Chapter Text
Nobody in the Flower Kingdom really thought about having children before. It just wasn't something anybody thought was necessary to wonder once they became more living, plus they already have three of them, why need anymore?
None of the adult flowers ever had it cross their minds either. Flowery had too many duties to have one of his own, Green had practically adopted Orange and what was the point of having one of their own, Pink physically couldn't reproduce, and Blue & Yellow…
Well. Truth be told, Blue has wondered about it before, but eventually thought it impossible, both because they could possibly be incompatible species and that they… might not be the greatest of parents. No matter how much it aches his heart to think but truthfully he worries about how the child would be raised, his mind swirling with woes and negativity before he put it on a high shelf never to think about it again.
So he never brought up the possibility to Yellow.
He didn't think he'd need to. It was so unlikely after all!
… right?
————
Yellow noticed something was off while dressing himself for the day, that morning he desperately just wanted to stay in bed and sleep in, he's unsure exactly why but Blue had urged him to do what his body wanted. A part of Yellow worried he was ill, but when he awoke again he shrugged it off as him not sleeping properly the night beforehand. He was busy putting on his rustic cowboy attire, however before he could put his hat on, his eyes landed on something strange…
A flower.
A tiny little flower sprouting in his hair. It didn't look like any of the flowers Blue had, nor any that were found around the castle, so he thankfully didn't have a moment worrying he had committed a crime. He curiously reached for it, attempting to pull it out to examine it better, but instead he hissed in pain. The flower was dug into his skin, a permanent part of his body now, but why? How?? It puzzled Yellow immensely, he needed to ask somebody else about it, he pondered about who before remembering exactly who would (probably) (hopefully) know what's happening.
So he placed his hat on and left his bedroom rushing to the punishment room, this time not to use for himself but instead to find Seth! They had been helping work on new devices (they said something about renovating the place to be less “dangerous” which Yellow didn't understand). He poked around the place for a good minute before finally finding them hunched over their favorite purple notebook scribbling something down, Yellow was about to holler for them before remembering that time when they told him not to bother them while they were busy so instead he just decided to stand nearby and politely wait until they were done.
Seth felt unnerved, sensing somebody close by, they took a quick glance around before turning their head slightly upwards to be met with Yellow's smile.
“Howdy Seth!”
Seth jolted, letting out a small screech while hopping a bit away from Yellow before letting out an annoyed huff.
“Y-Yellow!! Don't.. Don't scare me like that again!!”
“But I thought ya' told me nawt ta' bother ya' when yew were workin'!”
“I meant- ugh- whatever, what do you need? And if it's about any type of torture devices-”
“Oh no no! It ain't ‘bout dat! I was just wonderin'.. Uh, is it.. Normal fer humans to grow flowers on ‘em?”
Seth blinked. “... What?”
Yellow bent down, angling his hat so Seth could look at the flower in his hair, pointing at it. “Right ‘dere! I’ves got a lil flower… and it ain't a normal one!”
Seth titled their head back and forth, squinting in confusion, they reached to tug at the sprout which led to Yellow yelping slightly catching the other flower off guard. They quickly recomposed themself leaning back slightly, rubbing their chin letting out a soft “hmm” in thought.
“Well this definitely isn't a human thing!! Humans don't grow flowers on themselves!” They took another glance at the little sprout. “But this doesn't look normal for us either…”
Yellow whined. “Awh shucks… S-Shoulds I be worried?? A-Am I dyin'?? Oh I ain't ready to die!!!”
“C-Calm down!!” Seth awkwardly patted Yellow’s head. “I'm.. I'm sure it's nothing deadly!! H-Hey it's probably nothing at all! It'll probably.. Fall off on its own in the next couple of days so don't worry about it!”
The cowboy kept his body slack for a moment before bouncing back up with his usual energy, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Awh shucks yer right!! I should go worryin' ‘bout nothin'!!”
“Y-Yeah… just uh.. Next time maybe go to Flowery instead. He would probably know more about this type of stuff.”
Yellow tipped his hat at Seth. “I'll keep ‘dat in mind, thanks fer da' help!”
And so, Yellow went about his day. The little flower was crammed into the back of his mind over shadowed by the cowboys usual thoughts of justice and paranoia of accidentally being a criminal, thankfully today nothing caused him to particularly spiral too harshly. Even at night he failed to talk to Blue about it, in fact he passed out strangely quick for the cowboy usual he would toss and turn relentlessly at night. A part of Blue worried but tried to convince himself that surely Yellow was just exhausted from doing a lot that day.
However as the days passed Yellow found himself getting more and more… off. He began getting more sluggish, unable to keep up with his usual routines, lacking energy to do almost anything, not even to punish himself for being unable to enact justice, he spent most of his days desiring to lay in bed despite how much it made him feel oddly uncomfortable & unsafe. He also felt so hungry, his gluttony was almost bottomless with how much he'd beg Green for something to eat, he previously only really ate three meals a day but now he was constantly craving different snacks and extra meals, sometimes he'd even sneak some food out of worry of overworking Green, he found some way to justify it in his hazed brain.
These changes didn't go unnoticed, gossip filled the Flower Castle from its inhabitants about Yellow's strange condition, some speculated that he was gravely ill, some thought he had been replaced by a doppelganger, some feared he'd been possessed. These rumors spread around from Floradinn to Shi to Shinobeetle before eventually landing on the ears of the Flowers themselves.
Many of them tried to quell these rumors but not even they had any idea what was wrong with the golden cowboy, Flowery told everyone it's best not to gossip about people, Seth tried to logically explain something they didn't understand, Aqua & Orange added fuel to the fire in their own ways, Green just shrugged when asked, Pink acted like she didn't care when in reality she was just as invested as anybody else.
Blue however decided to get down to understand what was wrong, after one of his practice sessions went to confront him about it, a part of Blue mentally smacked himself for not noticing that something was off sooner, Yellow wasn't usually good at hiding his secrets but there's a first for everything.
Walking through the hallway where the Flowers bedrooms stayed, he stood in front of the half blue half yellow door. They originally had separate rooms but when the two kept staying in the other's room for whatever excuses they could come up with their rooms were merged together. He took a deep breath to keep his thoughts in order before carefully knocking in case Yellow was indecent, when Yellow didn't shout at him he opened the door.
Poking his head inside he was quickly caught off guard by the fact their bed was… empty? He fully entered looking around and spotted where everything had went, a fort made out of a bunch of sheets perched up with random sticks in the corner, inside was Yellow who was fussing about with an absurd amount of pillows (where he got those pillows was a mystery) and their two blankets, it looked oddly like a nest a bird would own.
Blue was careful while approaching the fort, trying his best not to startle the other too badly. He took note of Yellow’s messy appearance, his hair misplaced with his hat lopsided on his head, his jacket & gloves were gone with his sleeves rolled up which made Blue notice the large amount of tiny little flowers across his arms and top of hand, covering the usual body hair and freckles that adorn his skin.
The dancer plopped down on the ground, not too far but also not too close, he cleared his throat to get the other's attention leading to Yellow jumping his hat flying in the air for a moment before it landed back down even more lopsided than before. Yellow creened to look back with a frightened expression before heavily softening seeing it was just Blue.
“Oh Blue!! Sorry I- didn't see ya there!!” Yellow beamed, but something about his smile was odd, a tad askewed making Blue worry more than he already was.
“Yellow dearest… I have something I must discuss with you…”
“Uhm.. Sure.. What’cha need?”
Blue paused for a moment, cracking an eye open for a moment to get a better look at the man in front of him just to make sure that was actually his Yellow. Because his Yellow would've flown into the beginning of a spiral, worrying about even the idea of upsetting Blue and trying to figure out exactly what he had done to cause the other to be worried, however right now Yellow was stagnant looking at him with his cute big eyes like they were in the middle of their usual conversations.
“You've been… odd. Recently. I do not indulge in gossip of any kind, however I cannot help but overhear conversations. I have heard you've been tired daily and hunger constantly. Are they… true at all?”
Yellow paused this time, the gears in his head turning before finally clicking to be his usual yellowy self, at least a little bit.
“O-OH- erm… w-well I ‘pose I have been…” Yellow glanced down with a guilty expression. “I just… don't know what's wrong with me! I tried I really did ta' be ma usual self but I just- couldn't!! No matter how much I sleep I feels all sleepy and no matter how much I eat ‘m still all hungry…” the cowboy pouted with a small huff.
Blue hummed. “How strange… there must be some reason for your ailments…” his eyes traced over the small clumped up flowers on Yellow again. “... Dearest, how long have you had those?”
Tilting his head for a moment before he looked where Blue was, Yellow blinked a few times before responding. “Uhm.. I'unno. ‘Bout… A month I think? Theys were just in ma hair first then they started spreadin'.”
The dancer nodded, humming in thought for a moment tapping his chin.
“Surely somebody must know what this could possibly entail…” he mumbled to himself, watching as Yellow slowly returned to making his little fort, Blue mused on it for a moment before deciding that Flowery would likely be the most knowledgeable about their biology, he always just seemed to know the strangest of things.
Before he left though he had two other thoughts…
“Yellow dearest, why are you making…” he paused for a moment before gesturing to the fort. “This? Was our bed not enough.”
“I'unno…” Yellow mumbled as he refluffed a pillow. “Bed didn't feel right… this does though… safer…”
Blue tilted his head, opening his mouth to ask what he meant but decided to not question it too much. He repositioned himself again letting Yellow continue what he was doing for a few more moments before asking his final question.
“Why didn't you… Come to me about all this?”
Yellow froze, his back turned to Blue as he sat there in his fort. After a moment Blue reached out, a hand carefully touching Yellow's shoulder, his body quivered for a moment before…
He bursted into tears.
“I DON'T KNOW-HOUH-HOUHHHHH…” Yellow bawled, catching his lover off guard. “MAH HEADS BEEN ALL FUZZY AND FUNNY AND I'UNNO HOW TO FIX ITTTTT..”
He sniffled as he continued to sob, wiping his tears with his sleeves, Blue carefully pulled Yellow towards him in an attempt of comfort rubbing circles in his back.
“I ain't been able to.. *sniffle* think straight fer weeks!! I-I- *sniffle* i try so ‘ard but it just makes it- *sniffle* it WORSE! I just- mah brain didn't even think ‘bout goin' ta yew- or- *sniffle* or anybody! I’unno….”
Yellow's body shook as he sobbed, Blue rocked him back and forth to soothe him.
“Oh my honeybee…” Blue cooed. “Do not weep, it is normal for thoughts to not weave properly, their threads fraying at the ends causing us not to think logically, it is only human…” He brushed Yellow's hair with his fingers, softly humming.
Yellow sniffled, hicked, and sobbed. It took a while for him to relax enough where Blue could let go, but the dancer didn't mind, he enjoyed comforting his darling Yellow while he was upset. Eventually though Yellow leaned back, wiping his remaining tears away.
“M'sorry…”
“Do not apologize for your emotions dearest, they are natural.” Blue interlocked their hands. “Do not sorrow over this anymore okay? We are addressing it now… we cannot change the past, just accept the future.”
Yellow nodded a bit absently. Blue decided that maybe he just needed a moment, he did look exhausted.
“How about you lay down..? Rest your already weary head… I'll go figure out what's ailing you okay?”
Yellow once again absently nodded at Blue's words, his hand slowly yet anxiously left his lover's grasp, shuffling away to lay down curling up akin to a cat against the pillows and pulling the blanket over him. Blue leaned down to leave a kiss on Yellow's forehead before standing and leaving their room.
Blue went out searching for Flowery, the man was always off doing something new so it's a mystery where he'd be next, but he was also just a mystery in general. Surely if Blue just poked around enough he'd either find him or he'd find Blue. He checked around his and Yellow's area but there was so signs, then he checked the cafe where everyone else was playing some sort of game he quickly left to make sure he didn't get sucked in and distracted, then he rose to the top of the castle his wings fluttering in the sky as he searched around, while the air was calm it didn't help quell his nerves.
“What are you doing all the way up here Blue?”
Blue turned to where Flowery's voice was, he was in a laid back sitting position, the wind keeping him slightly bobbing up and down in the air. He had his usual smirk with one eyebrow cocked upwards.
“Flowery, there you are, I have been searching everywhere for you…”
“Oh really?” Flowery floated closer to him, shifting to be in a more standing position. “What do you need your ole friend Flowery for?”
“Well… You know that Yellow has been… odd, correct?”
“Wow Blue, didn't know you of all people would indulge in gossip.”
Blue paused, staring at Flowery for a moment before continuing. “...You see I confronted him about this and… his condition seems stranger than I could imagine and.. I believe you might know what's wrong…”
Flowery let out a long hum pretending to think about it for a moment before nodding. “Alright! Lead the way!”
The dancer waved for the other to follow which he did, making their way back down from the top of the castle to their bedrooms. Blue knocked on the door again before the two entered, Flowery looked around the room confused, getting even more puzzled seeing Yellow hiding inside a fort. He opened his mouth to speak before Blue put a finger to his lips, shushing him before he could.
The two approached Yellow, Blue plopped back down on the floor and Flowery squatted following him. Blue gently shook Yellow, the flower cracked his eyes open before closing his eyes again with a small whine, Blue sighed pulling Yellow into his lap pulling his arm so Flowery could see.
“See here, he has these little flowers all over him…”
Flowery leaned in to get a better look, he carefully touched them, they felt like normal petals just a tad more fleshy. He tugged on them out of curiosity causing Yellow to whine, Blue shot him a glare which made Flowery chuckle nervously.
He took a few more moments to look at Yellow’s condition before pulling a book out of literally nowhere, it was a book titled “The Biology of Flowerners”, he thumbed through it before settling on a page reading through it, his eyes widened as he read it again and again and again making Blue nervous.
“Is.. Everything okay..?” Blue tried to look at the book but Flowery angled it so he couldn't. “Flowery if something is wrong you must say so! Mr. Butterfly is worried!”
“It's uh- nothing bad! Just uhm… hm..” Flowery bit his lip nervously, fidgeting with the edge of the page before finally closing it with a sigh. “Okay! So! This is.. Hard to explain but Yellow he… sprouted.”
“Sprouted… ?”
Flowery tapped his finger against the book, giving a nervous expression. “This is a little awkward but… basically… he's uh, what humans call pregnant- so congrats you two! You're having a baby!”
Blue stared, trying to see if Flowery was trying to play some terrible joke but all he got was a nervous look. He gestured towards the book and it was handed to him, he looked at the page and similarly read it once twice thrice, his head spinning and twirling around in shock. Blue and Flowery locked eyes again, both in shock and surprise.
Suddenly Blue felt Yellow shifting below him, his body having a light shiver to it, he sat up with his hat over his eyes casting a shadow. They both looked at him, Yellow stayed silent for a long while before he finally did something, lifting his head to show his distressed expression-
“I'M WHAT!?”