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Yellow didn’t understand it. Earlier, when Flowery first introduced Asgore to his first cowboy act and he took the stage, both of them seemed so delighted in his work. Asgore was laughing and clapping, while Flowery watched with the same proud smile he always wore when their group did right. Now, every time he approached the fluffy lightener, he was always waved off with a rather sharp look. It was disheartening to say the least.
He wasn’t the only one who had to deal with this. Everyone in their family who had tried to speak with him so far got a similar response. Even poor Green was ignored. Yellow tried his best to comfort his family, but there was only so much he could do. Words weren’t exactly his specialty, and even if they were, their purpose was to make this world something for Asgore to enjoy. How were they supposed to do that if he barely glanced their way?
All of the flowers took it as them needing to be better. They had to be the best they could. If they did, they will be noticed, and Asgore would be happy, right? So that’s what Yellow was currently doing, as were many of the others.
He held his palm over his holster, his eyes uncharacteristically focused on the targets he had formed in front of him swirling around in slow circles. With a sharp inhale, he drew it as quickly as he could and shot them all down but one.
Dang it.
He ran a hand down his face with a quiet sigh. No wonder he’d been shooed off earlier. He was nowhere near the rootin-tootinest cowboy out there, no matter how much he tried.
…
Maybe he should take a break.
Yellow put his revolver away, and began to leave, the spurs on his boots jingling as he wandered out on the sandy path and towards the entrance to his room. He was planning on going to tend to his flowers, along with his beloved’s. It was something he did to get his thoughts in order, but he stopped when a figure walked into the hallway.
Blue, his aforementioned beloved, was going back to his room, the one which was located right beside Yellow’s. It was something that he held with a quiet pride that he got his place situated right next to the most gorgeous and talented being he’d ever known. Of course, the cowboy knew something was off about his darling, even in the brief moment that he saw him. He wasn’t gliding across the floor as he usually did, and his wings, something that meant so much to the flower, were dull and lowered.
Blue didn’t seem to notice him as he passed by. He looked lost in thought, his eyes remaining on the ground.
Yellow stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. He often found himself in this state, but not when it came to Blue. Maybe that was because when he was confused about something and the ballerino happened to be near, his brilliant Blue would explain everything with nothing short of patience and kindness. Nevertheless, Yellow never seen him look so… well, *blue* before. Gosh, he really wasn’t good at talking.
As quietly as a cowboy could, he followed behind him, all the while his clothes and knickknacks rustling. Still, Blue didn’t notice, something very uncharacteristic of him. He was often so observant of every little detail, but right now, he didn’t even notice the flower he loved so dearly following behind him. The two of them wandered all the way past their garden of gold and indigo to Blue’s stage where they finally stopped.
Blue stood there for a long moment, his eyes on the ground, his wings slowly lowering, then fading all together. A low sigh escaped his lips, and gently, he hopped up onto the stage and just… sat there, his legs crossed gracefully.
Yellow was shyly peaking around the corner, a worried frown drawn on his face. Everything Blue did was so perfect, even when he was upset. Still, of course, Yellow hated seeing him so down. He looked off to the side, trying to think of what to say or how to approach without startling-
“Yellow, dear, what are you doing?”
Yellow jumped slightly, his face turning a slight shade of orange, his gaze instantly lifting to see the smaller flower looking at him.
“O-oh! Howdy there, Blue! I didn’t mean t- I-I was just-“ he stammered uselessly for a few seconds, before deciding to just shut his trap. Golly, why must he always be so nervous around him?
Yellow took a moment to look at his partner, which didn’t seem to help him get his thoughts in order. Blue always had this sparkle in his eyes whenever he looked at the cowboy, but right now, it was a lot less vibrant. He had this frown on his face full of exhaustion. His shoulders, typically wound tight in perfect posture, were slumped in a silent sort of defeat.
Timidly, Yellow stepped forward, taking his hat off slowly and holding it in between his hands.
“I… noticed you were lookin’ mighty distressed so I thought I oughta come on by ‘n see what was troublin’ you so,” he explained, his taller form seeming so much smaller now as he fiddled with the brim of his hat.
Something in Blue’s expression softened when listening to the taller flower. He remained silent for a moment, before letting out a quiet exhale. He tilted his head slightly, motioning the cowboy over.
Yellow obliged, walking over to sit beside the ballerino, setting his hat off beside him on the hardwood stage.
“Thank you for checking on me, sweetheart, but I’ll be alright in a moment. I just need to catch my bearings, I suppose,” Blue responded, his thumbs fidgeting in his lap. Yellow’s frown grew.
Slowly, he reached out and took one of the dancer’s hands in his own, intertwining their fingers with gentle care and a sort of reverence only Yellow held towards Blue.
The flower’s breath caught slightly in response, before his hand weakly squeezed their palms together in turn.
“… would ya wanna talk ‘bout it?” Yellow asked him worriedly, lifting his gaze back up to Blue’s face. He couldn’t look away from it for long, after all.
Blue’s expression only seemed to crumple further. He rested his head against the taller flower’s shoulder, shutting his eyes as a tremble ran through him. He seemed to be trying so hard to keep himself composed. It pulled at Yellow’s heartstrings, if he even had those.
“It’s… quite foolish, really,” Blue dismissed, his voice sounding smaller than before.
Yellow shook his head. “Nonsense. It ain’t foolish, that’s for darn certain,” he said with a quiet sort of certainty.
“I haven’t even told you what’s bothering me yet, dearest. How do you know I’m not just-… oh, I don’t know… being dramatic?” he asked, lifting his gaze up which held an insecurity Yellow has never seen in him before.
“Well…” Yellow went silent for a moment, his brow furrowed in thought, before deciding how to best phrase his words and continuing. “I ain’t never seen ya like this, Blue. Whatever’s on that purdy noggin’ of your’s gots to be important. It’s important ‘nough to have you all in a tizzy, ‘n it’s important to me cause *y’re* important to me, y’hear?”
Blue was quiet for a while, before another sigh left him. He nuzzled further into Yellow’s shoulder, shutting his eyes once more and nodding in response. Yellow turned so their bodies were facing each other further. He took Blue’s other hand in his so both of them were occupied and clasping one another’s.
“Tell me what’s on your mind, darlin’…”
Blue swallowed hard. Goodness, Yellow always knew just what to do to get him to open up. It would almost be considered frustrating if he didn’t love the cowboy so.
“It’s just Asgore, my love,” he lifts his head off Yellow’s shoulder, turning away with a small shrug. “He didn’t like my performance. It just… got me in my head, I suppose.”
Yellow’s eyes widened instantly as a stunned ‘what?’ escaped his lips before he could stop it. Didn’t- didn’t like Blue’s performance? Everyone loved Blue’s shows, they were the best things in this gosh forsaken castle-! Well, second place to Blue himself, of course. How could-
A quiet sniffle escaped Blue. Yellow’s mind stopped dead in its tracks. Was he- no, nonono, he wasn’t crying, was he? He- he didn’t mean to make him cry! Blue pulled one of his hands away, swiping at his eyes with a shuddering breath, the other tightening around Yellow’s as if asking him silently not to leave.
“I-I’m sorry, my love, I never wanted you to see me like this,” Blue admits brokenly, his inhales catching weakly in his chest.
Yellow’s eyes were as wide as saucers now, yet as soft as snowfall.
“Oh, star shine,” he gasped, reaching out with his now free hand to cup Blue’s cheek, his thumb carefully rubbing away one tear after another. Blue leaned into Yellow’s warm palm with a quiet sob.
Yellow’s heart stopped at the sound.
“H-hey now-“
“I-I tried so hard- I did every step right and he just-”
The cowboy shushed him sweetly, his arms moving on their own to draw the dancer closer, pulling him against his chest. Blue’s wings burst out of his back on instinct as he broke into silent sobs against Yellow’s chest, his hands clinging to the back of his jacket. Yellow rested his head on top of Blue’s, smoothing his wings back down in careful strokes against his spine until they faded away all together. It would just waste his energy.
“It’s alright, darlin’, dontchu cry now,” he soothed, ignoring the faintest wobble in his voice. The taller flower was already a sensitive soul; seeing the one he loved more than anything in such a state put him to the edge of tears.
“I just don’t know what to do,” Blue cried quietly against corn scented fabric. “I don’t know how to be better. I-I’ve done so many routines, each more complex than the last, and I’ve memorized them all step by step. I don’t mean to complain. I can feel the strain in my petals, yet nothing seems to be enough. It’s never enough. Worst of all, I’m putting my struggles onto you when you have so much weight on your shoulders. You push yourself to the edge for anyone you meet and carry everyone’s weight as if it were your own. You are as sweet as the skies above and I- -hic- I hate that I’m causing you harm by being such a mess.”
Blue had covered his face with both of his hands now, his body curling in on himself as he wept.
“-hic- I’m so sorry, sunlight…”
…
Yellow knelt down as far as his lanky body could go, taking away the ballerina’s hand’s from his face so their eye’s met. He pressed their forehead’s together, cradling Blue’s hands as if they held the world. They were Yellow’s world. *He* was Yellow’s world.
“Listen to me, Blue,” he whispered, “I don’t know what boss man said to ya, but I know he ain’t ever meant to cause ya any harm. I think he’s jus’… ‘in his head’, alright? I-I reckon if he weren’t, he’d be jus’ as slack-jawed ‘s I am whenever I watch you do those fancy jigs o’ yours.”
Blue lifted his misty gaze up to Yellow. The cowboy tilted his head to the side, a small, understanding smile coming across his face. “I see you, bluebell. I see how hard y’re workin’, a-an’ I hope you know that. I know I got two left feet, an’ this might not mean much comin’ from someone who ain’t all too graceful, but I know dancin’ is risky bidness. With all those twists an’ new finagled moves you do, you got every right to be feelin’ all sorts with how Gorey’s been treatin’ you, but dontchu go beatin’ yourself up now, y’hear? Y’re good enough. Y’re downright perfect an’ anybody with half a mind would say the same.”
The faintest blush appeared on Blue’s face at Yellow’s words, as did the small upward curve of his lips despite his tears. “You flatter me so, my love,” he murmured.
A large, dopey grin formed in response to getting the slightest positive reaction from his lover. He briefly nuzzled their noses together in a teasing sort of way. “I speak nothin’ but the truth, sir, an’ you know it.”
Blue chuckled, returning the gentle affections, despite how silly it seemed. He pulled himself together a little with a sniffle and a rub at his eyes, his body tucked comfortably against the cowboy’s.
“I know… thank you, daffodil. I needed this.”
“O’course,” he replied, resting his cheek on Blue’s sky colored locks. “A good ol’ fashion cry don’t harm no one, an’ you deserve as much love ‘n patience as you give others.”
… Blue nods with a thoughtful hum. It might be time for him to learn that. Whenever any of the flower’s needed advice, Blue was the first their family turned to for answers, but he was still learning, just like all of them. That’s just a part of being ‘human’, he supposed.
“You must promise me you’ll do the same for yourself, Yellow,” Blue said after a moment.
Despite being taken aback by the request, the taller flower nodded. “Cross my heart.”
Blue nods again.
Everything was peacefully silent for a long while, the two of them practically attached at the hip. Blue’s head remained its position on Yellow’s shoulder with the cowboy resting his cheek on top. He had one lanky arm draped around the ballerino’s waist, keeping him close, while in turn, Blue was holding his free hand and drawing circles into the back of his palm with his thumb.
“Darling?”
“Mm?” the cowboy hummed in acknowledgment. It seemed Yellow had begun to drift off within the first five minutes of quiet they had together.
“I… I think I’m alright with not being enough for Asgore.”
Yellow peaked his eyes open and looked down at Blue. “Oh? Whyzzat?”
“If I’m right, he’s treated everyone like how he treated me, even you, my dear. I see how hard *you* practice, how you look whenever you come back to your room after trying to speak with him, how hard you are on yourself. If he doesn’t think what I do is worth his attention, yours I know for certain is, yet he treats you all the same.”
Yellow perked up at this, a shy smile coming across his face as he sat up straighter and looked away. “Aw, shucks, I don’t know ‘bout that now. Y’re shows ‘re much nicer than lil’ ol’ me...”
Blue smiled softly at this with a low hum of approval. He loved seeing his Yellow like this, it was just the cutest thing. He scooted closer.
“You are right in what you said, Yellow. Asgore must be in his head if he’s treating us like this. You come to all my shows and clap louder than anyone in the audience. You see how hard I work and make what I do more fun than I could’ve ever dreamed. So, I’ve come to the conclusion that as long as I mean this much to you, the one who I love most, I don’t believe I care what anyone else thinks about me.”
Yellow was tearing up now with a wobbly smile. He leaned back, covering his face with his hat, a move he often made when he was unbelievably flustered, which happened quite a lot when it comes to Blue.
“Bless y’re heart, Blue… you got me all misty eyed now. What am I t’ do with you when ya get me all bashful like…?”
The ballerino gently tilted the rim of Yellow’s hat up so he could get a better look. He was practically orange with how much he was blushing.
“Mm… preferably kiss me.”
“Oh, I-I couldn’t-“
“And why’s that, my love?” Blue was still smiling, and leaning in closer now. Yellow was trembling now, his eyes looking anywhere but Blue.
“C-cause it ain’t right! M’ supposed t-t’ sweep ya off y’re feet an’ the like! I ain’t never heard of a flustered cowboy before!” he rambled, ignoring the fact the dancer’s face was mere centimeters away from his now.
A pause
“Not-not that I don’t wanna kiss ya! O-o’ course I do!”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I jus’- it- we- y’re-“
Blue closed the gap quietly with a soft peck on his lips. Yellow gasped and let out a startled squeak, but after a moment, he melted in turn. The kiss lingered for a moment more, before Blue pulled away. Yellow’s hat fell over his face.
“You always have me swept off my feet, my dearest,” Blue hummed, tilting the hat back up, “and I think I prefer my cowboy flustered.”
Yellow was silent for a long moment before he burst out into giddy laughter, tilting his hat back over his face to hide the furious blush that still remained.
“Y’ got me plum tickled, Blue,” Yellow giggled, peaking a sparkling eye out at the flower beside him. Goodness, he was adorable. Blue pulled him close, pressing his lips against the cowboy’s cheek, earning him another delighted sound and lanky arms to be wrapped around him once again.
“My stars, darlin’, I think Imma pass out if ya’ keep doin’ that!” Yellow exclaims through his chuckles. Blue continued to press playful kisses to every spot he could reach. He had even started laughing as well, which only made the cowboy even more of a mess.
When he finally slowed down, and things settled once more, Yellow pressed his lips against Blue’s forehead with a dopey smile.
“I love ya’…”
“I love you too, my heart.”
…
“Blue?”
“Yes?”
“… I think y’re the only one whose eyes matters t’ me too.”