Chapter Text
After the actual, prophesied apocalypse occurred during project week, it was rather nice of the school to give everyone an extra two weeks holiday. Alphys had called it “extra time to work on projects,” but Berdly knew only two people in the school who STILL needed to finish their project.
“Come on Nerdly! You’re supposed to be good at flying! Jump further than Kris already so I don’t owe that dumbass five dollars!”
Which is why Berdly was currently standing in front of a Torii gate, getting ready to launch himself across the violet-tinted cliffs of the Flower Kingdom, to be crowned the King of Projectiles. Berdly crouched, it was just him, Kris, and the betting pool; Kris also promised to double the pool, and have second place pay for lunch.
They don’t have that kind of money. Thought Berdly, stretching their legs. Its like ye olden days, back when I only had one summer job, and Kris was (and still is) unemployed… thought Berdly, stretching his leg as he got ready to submit his final attempt to beat Kris’ monstrous one hundred and eighty meter leap (as assumed by the gulf between cliffs being one hundred meters). Berdly needed to hype himself up more.
“On the honor of Susie’s five dollars, I shall answer the cry of my anatomy, and soar past this challenge put before me!” Berdly stood back up and closed his eyes, splaying his wing over his chest plate “with a 99% confidence interval, I will beat my rival in this glorious competition! I-“
“DUDE GO!” Susie yelled from the cliffside near the shop. Next to her sat Noelle, Ralsei, and Kris, all also waiting for Berdly to complete his jump. Grinning sheepishly, Berdly got into a runner’s stance, scouter reflecting the sunset as he focused.
“He’s serious about this one!” Said Ralsei, watching Berdly with a certain smugness. His ten dollar bet on Kris wouldn’t fail him now.
“Serious about winning or serious about posturing?” Said Kris, more bemused than annoyed by Berdly’s persistence.
“Both! He’s got this in the bag!” Said Noelle cheerfully, having placed her bet on Berdly. “If he doesn’t, then I’ll order everything on the menu, fahaha!” Berdly shivered in place, he knew he couldn’t disappoint now. Not when he was gonna buy the Dragon Blazers ll remake part 5.1 next week! Berdly darted off, talons clacking against the cliffs as he approached the Torii gate.
Get ready for the gear shift! Thought Berdly, talon digging into the ground as he crossed the Torri gate. Berdly braced.
THOOM
The sudden acceleration launched Berdly forward, but the grip of his talons kept him on the ground (unlike the first attempt vs Ralsei), Berdly picked up speed. His jog turning into a magically empowered sprint as the horizon to his blurred, the violet horizon smearing toegher, forming a tunnel to the sheer drop of the cliff before him. Berdly grit his teeth as his legs pounded against the sandy dirt.
keep your strides long Berdly remembered the advice Noelle gave him fifty meters from the sheer drop. He grit his teeth and kept sprinting
Just jump correcrly! That’s what I did! Susie said, Berdly calculated the trajectory of his jump mentally as he approached the cliffside. Twenty five meters remained, and Berdly had only picked up speed.
Im not gonna lose here, Kris! You’re paying for Susie and Noelle’s date! Berdly was now ten meters from the cliffside, stride still long as he prepared to leap. Off in the distance he saw a crude marker drawn in the dirt (a picture of Kris flipping a sobbing Berdly off), and his brows knitted together.
The last steps are what is really important here, so make sure you get it right! Noelle’s advice rang through his head as he dropped, lowering his center of gravity with a grunt. One long step, followed by one short step, and Berdly yelled as he launched himself into the air.
“HAH! Witness your demise, Kris!” Berdly did not fly, that would be cheating, but with how far he jumped he might as well have been soaring. Kris closed their eyes and smiled softly as Noelle and Susie cheered loudly, they were calmer about their loss than Ralsei, who was currently biting his nails. Ralsei turned to Kris.
“Kris! I'm about to lose all my money, Kris! Why did you let me do something so stupid?!?” Ralsei shook Kris by the shoulders, worried dearly for the fate of all ten of his dollars. Kris’ smile grew wider
“Gambling’s bad man. You shouldn’t do it. Why would you let me talk you into that?” Kris said with a shit eating grin. Ralsei’s mouth warped into an annoyed, pencil thin line as they struggled to find words . Berdly continued soaring through the sky, his trajectory easily projected to beat Kris’ record by leaps and bounds, Ralsei had let go of Kris, and stared despondent at Berdly flying like a missile across the horizon. Kris had a small smile on their face as they leaned over, resting their head on his shoulder. Ralsei huffed indignantly, before running a hand through Kris' hair.
“He’s a bird, why would you bet against a bird in a jumping competition?”
“He lost the first two times!” Ralsei hissed, hand still gently combing through Kris’ locks .
“Yeah because he’s a nerd.” Said Kris, Ralsei’s gritted their teeth, and sighed, resolving to witness the results of the group’s impromptu tournament. Ralsei’s eyebrow raised as they watched Berdly soar.
Berdly had not lost elevation nor speed since he looked away, in fact, he’s jumped so far he’s about to… Ralsei would not get to finish this thought before something unfortunate occurred.
“WITNESS THE COMPLETE OBLITERATION OF YOUR PUNY RECORD, KRIS, I HAVE CONQ- WAIT SH”
WHUMP
Berdly squawked indignantly as he crashed into the wall overlooking the impromptu landing zone, a great plume of dust erupting from his impact. Noelle and Ralsei stared in shock while Susie and Kris doubled over laughing.
“Berdly?! Berdly are you ok?!” Yelled Ralsei
“He’s doing srnk doing haah doing great Ralsei! Look!” Susie choked at her sentence before falling back down, tears streaming down her face
“Wait! Look!” Noelle pointed to Berdly’s ungracefully tumbling body, and the audience for Berdly’s descent went wild as Berdly fell backwards towards 180 meters.
“Falling doesn’t hurt here, so I'm fine!” Thought Berdly, tumbling backwards as he braced for impact. Suddenly Berdly’s dazed expression sharpened in fear as a cold reality, colder than wind chill set in as he fell towards Kris’ marker in the dirt: There was now a very real chance Berdly could fail to beat Kris’ record.
NOT LIKE THIS!” Yelled Berdly, trying to reorient his body to a viable position for landing fruitlessly, panic inhibiting his movement. Wings splayed, legs kicked, yet Berdly could not find orientation as he fell faster and faster to the ground
.
“LIKE THIS. EXACTLY LIKE THIS!” Yelled Ralsei, hopping up with a sudden fire in his eyes. “I should see if he’s ok afterward…” muttered Ralsei, off handily, before focusing on the trajectory of Berdly’s fall.
“BERDLY! BERDLY YOU DOOFUS ENGAGE YOUR CORE AND STICK YOUR LEGS OUT! YOU CAN STILL WIN THIS!” Noelle, who at this point had been assured of her bet, was now hopping up and down. Berdly tumbled through the air ungracefully, face fret with worry as he attempted to stabilize. Susie stood up, furious.
“BERDLY YOU IDIOT IF YOU MESS THIS UP FOR NOELLE I’LL KICK YOUR ASS SO HARD IT’LL FLY OUT YOUR BEAK!”
Berdly, miraculously inspired, managed to orient themselves feet down, they braced as the ground races to meet him. Kris shot their fist up.
“BERDLY! KEEP YOUR LEGS STRAIGHT! IT’LL HELP Y- MMMPH” Kris’ bad advice was covered by Noelle’s hand swiftly.
“BEND YOUR KNEES!”
Achieving a suitable form inches from the ground, Berdly landed gracefully, holding the position long for his jump to be valid, before collapsing forward in a heap; his chest plate rising and falling rapidly as he calmed down from the adrenaline. After seconds of huffing and puffing, Berdly hopped up with ecstasy, dramatically walking over to Kris’ marker, and flashing a smug smile to Kris.
“WHAT’D I TELL YOU, MY RIVAL? I HAVE CRUSHED YOUR RECORD UTTERLY WITH MY PROWESS!” Berdly pointed to the smudge in the dirt, the perimeter exactly half a meter in front of Kris’ landing. Kris sighed dramatically as Berdly jogged up to the cliffside above the landing zone. They kissed Ralsei’s cheek before sitting up straight, and leaned over the cliff, resting their chin on their palm.
“Wowwww. A bird beat a human in a long jump competition? They must be so proud.”
“I am! Now Susie and Noelle’s money is safe from bad faith actors! My triumph benefits the majority!” Berdly yelled, running up stairs.
“Majority of your ego. If we ran a Bo3 in Token Sixth you’d lose all three and spend the next three hours complaining about hellsweeps.”
“Ah, you see Kris. If we huff we longjumped a Bo3 in Token Sixth, I would beat you handily!” Berdly said, reaching the top of the stairs.
“That’s not even a joke…” Muttered a dejected Ralsei, standing up and walking off to mourn the heavy loss; the levity brought by Kris’ affection could only do so much, move mountains and seal darkness it could, but
It couldn’t bring my money back.. thought Ralsei, staring at the sunset.
Kris hid their smile as Berdly finished climbing the stairs, out of breath and haggered, but still immeasurably proud of himself. Kris shrugged, trying to ignore Ralsei sadly handing over money to Susie and Noelle. Kris snatched Berdly off his cloud nine by grabbing his wing, and pointing up toward the castle.
“Before you say anything stupid, how about we get some food, and you can brag allll you want after we’re finished eating. Deal?”
“Deal.” Berdly shook Kris’ hand, before walking off toward the Castle with Kris, a shoving match between the two broke out within five steps. Ralsei sulked behind them, looking at his empty wallet. “That bird… of all the times…” Ralsei said, watching as the ten bucks were exiled from his wallet.
“Of all the times to get me a paycheck, he did it while my awesome ass girlfriend is here!” Ralsei’s expression turned annoyed as Susie beamed down at him, her hand clapped him on the shoulder. The hand that was holding his money.
“C’mon Ralsei, I’ll get you something to drink up there too!”
“Thanks Susie… I’ll never gamble again!” Ralsei’s said, expression resolute as he trailed after Berdly and Kris. Susie and Noelle began walking back toward Flower Castle slowly, hand in hand. Noelle sighed.
“Faha… Susie, do you think Berdly would’ve stuck the landing without my advice?”
“Hell no.”
Noelle chuckled. “He would’ve been back in the hospital! I thought he hated that place after last week!”
“Maybe he likes the food?”
“Fahaha Susie!”
“Come on!” Said Susie, pulling Noelle into a bridal carry, and hastening her steps. Noelle blushed deeply as Susie held her. “The food here is great, but it’ll taste even better now that it’s free!”
--———————————————————————
It dawned on Seth, as they laid down to page through their notebook, that they would not revert to being a flower the next time they closed their eyes; the pages flipped faster, Seth’s lips curled into a small smile.
goodness, I still have eyes! I still have teeth! I still have my long hair and glasses and knowledge! I'm Seth now and forever! They were alive, as they had confirmed with the rest of the flowers after a tearful reunion. The game of telephone from Ralsei, to a recovering Flowerly, to them had been poor, but whatever contributions they had made during that fateful day had clearly been enough to keep the fountains open for the foreseeable future. Seth smiled wider, flipping through their notes wildly until they turned to a blank page.
I’ll fill this page out one day. Seth thought to themselves with giddy I’ll fill this book out one day!
Suddenly, Seth stood up dramatically, eyes fixed on the setting violet sun as inspiration coursed through them, and pointed to the sky with resolve in their eyes.
“I now have been given a new lease on my pursuit of knowledge! I’ll learn more than I thought I could! I’ll become a leading mind on the nature of both light and dark worlds! I’ll-“
“Hey Seth!”
Seth choked on their spit, dropping their notebook as they whipped around, before looking down and seeing the second shortest flower before them, smiling mischievously.
“A-Aqua! Why didn’t you knock?!” Seth said, reaching down to grab their notebook, Aqua bounced in place. “I did! I did! You were just staring off into space!” Aqua began to dance around Seth, who grew dizzy. “Spacey! Spacey! Spacey!”
“Right! Alright Aqua I got it.” Seth grabbed Aqua by the shoulders to hold her in place. Aqua’s perpetual smile dropped as she thought for a moment.
“What were you thinking about? Was it something fun?”
“Yeah. It was really fun, Aqua.” Seth embraced Aqua, closing their eyes.
“Im happy to see you again.” Said Seth
“Im happy to see you too! But you didn’t tell me the fun stuff you were thinking about?”
Seth smiled with confidence, releasing Aqua to push up their glasses
“Its simple! I’ll become the leading mind on both of worlds! I’ll learn more than I could ever dream of!”
”You can’t lead with your mind, silly! It’s stuck inside your head!” Aqua began pointing in a random direction, “you have to lead with your hands!” Aqua began poking Seth with one arm, while pointing in random directions with her other., “Go! Go! Go! Im leading! Seth you have to be led by me!” Seth groaned in annoyance.
“Aqua! Its metaphor!”
“But I haven’t met someone named four?” Aqua raised her hand to her mouth in confusuon, before bouncing in place “haha! What a silly name! Four! Four! Four! Fou-“ Seth grabbed Aqua by the shoulders before she could start jumping around again. Aqua looked at them with confusion, still attempting to jump in place as Seth’s hold on her slipped.
“shoot. Think of something, quick!” Thought Seth
“Why don’t we go to the cafe, and grab some food? I’ll pay..? Seth said, cringing as they felt the lightness of their wallet through their pocket.
“Yay! Lets go lets go!” Aqua said, scampering off Seth followed behind at a distance
“WAIT!” Seth said between huffs, but Aqua sped off as a cyan blur. Seth distantly heard the door to the cafe swing, they were two floors above Aqua. They groaned in exasperation as they followed Aqua’s trail. “AQUA! WAIT UP!” Seth continued their pursuit of Aqua, jogging at a moderate pace down the hall to catch the hyperactive flower.
“please please PLEASE don’t do anything foolish PLEASE”
“Hey Bluebird! Can you pay for my soda?”
“Wuh…” the Fun Gang was chuckling to themselves as Aqua accosted Berdly. Berdly looked over at the group annoyed, before his expression softened as he turned to face the weird cyan child. “It's like dealing with kids at the library! You can make them laugh, you always do!” Berdly addressed the child before him.
“Sure! I’ll get you a drink! What do you want?”
Aqua spun around Berdly laughing.
“All of them! All of them!” Said Aqua joyously. Berdly’s face dropped.
“Now wait just a second, young lady! Berdly briefly looked back as Noelle was stifling a laugh, he turned away when he saw the elation in Ralsei’s eyes at his current predicament. Berdly mentally frowned. I didn’t come here to put my smarts to baby sitting! Berdly thought as the child kept bouncing up and down in excitement but… its not like Im awful at it. Berdly dropped on a knee to Aqua’s level, staring into all three of her eyes.
“Huh?” Berdly’s face dropped for a second, before he regained composure, unfortunately, Aqua found his flabbergasted expression funny.
“Huh wuh? Huh! Huh! Wuh?” Aqua giggled, before Berdly’s expression recomposed into something that might be resemble authoritative to a child.
“I might be the second wealthiest of our group, but I am not made of dollars, coins, and cash!” Berdly raised their feather as Aqua stared up at Berdly’s feather. “Please pick your three favorites, and then pick between those three so I can pay for that on- HEY!.” Aqua tried to grab a feather off Berdly’s wing, Berdly barely pulling his wing back in time from Aqua’s grasping hand. Aqua frowned. “Why can’t I have a feather? My sibling loves these?”
“Because its rude to pluck someone’s feathers!” Berdly put their wing to his forehead and closed his eyes in annoyance. “How would you feel if I stol- wait who likes my feathers?” Berdly tried to get an answer, but Aqua had already plopped down in the chair to think about her order.
who here likes my feathers??? I haven’t even been here??? Berdly looked over at the Fun Gang table in suspicion. Kris shrugged their shoulders, they were clearly trying not to laugh. Berdly stared them down for a second with a raised eyebrow, before Berdly could return to the rapidly refilling line, or think about his mystery admirer Aqua waved him down. Berdly turned to Aqua once more.
“Hey bluebird, what’s your nameeee?” Aqua trailed off as she put her hands in her palms, bored.
“My name is Berdly, little one, and Im the second smartest student of Hometown thanks to my friends!” Aqua laughed as Berdly posed, pointing over to the Fun Gang. Aqua’s expression brightened considerably. She bounced out of her seat and jumped over to the Fun Gang.
“FRIENDS! FRIENDS!” She jumped on the trio’s head, before stopping on Kris’ head. “You brought new friends! The bluebird is funny!”
“He is.” Kris said, smirking.
“Hey! It's not my fault I'm naturally gifted at everything I do.” Berdly said, preening.
“Naturally gifted at putting your foot in your mouth!” Before Berdly could defend his honor from Susie, Aqua looked at Berdly, a big smile partnered with a flash of recognition in her eyes.
“Ooooh I know about you! Seth has a massive, sappy cr-“
Seth, breathless and haggard, threw open the door.
“Oh wow. I didn’t know humans experienced hallucinations when fatigued. I’ll have to jot that down soon.” Said Seth to no one in particular, listing forward like the sinking ships they had studied today.
That was Berdly, and he was looking at them! He was…
“better than everything Kris told them. He looks really soft and handsome. I sure hope my mind keeps this hallucination running for longer.” Seth leaned forward, bracing against the door frame and blushing.
Berdly looked over at the violet individual who entered the room with squinted eyes and an expression caught between annoyance and curiosity. The individual’s eyes (hidden behind the glare of their glasses) had not looked away for a minute now, drooling and panting heavily while bracing themselves on the door.
“I need to buy them a soda! They look thirsty!” Berdly thought, walking over to them. Kris, Susie, and Ralsei stared with varying levels of mortification.
“Right. Right of course” thought Ralsei, eyes glued to the pair at the door.
“Oh wow” Kris said, bracing for the trainwreck about to occur.
“Those nerds are gonna embarrass themselves
thought Susie”, slumping down into her seat to avoid the second-hand embarrassment
“I'm sorry, Susie is that the Berdly knockoff?” Said Noelle, waiting for confirmation as Susie slumped further in her seat. Susie nodded shallowly.
“I hope he pays for both of our sodas!” thought Aqua, kicking her feet under the table. Berdly put his wing on the doorframe, Seth shrank in on themselves.
“Hello! I noticed you looked as tired as I do after a particularly stressful day of cramming before exams. Do you want me to pay for a drink?” Seth’s blush was luminescent, they staggered in place, falling forward.
“HOW IS HE SO FORWARD???” Thought Seth, practicalling falling over themselves near Berdly.
“They’re overheating! I need to hydrate them, pronto!” Thought Berdly, now moving with purpose.
“Hold on! You look like you need to take a seat! Here, allow me to assist another academic!” Berdly took their hand, catching their fall and leading them over to a separate table. Pulling out a seat for them to sit down in, Berdly assisted Seth down into the chair. Seth was hiding their face behind their notebook to maintain any semblance of composure. They were audibly huffing now.
“So, what would a fellow genius love to drink?”
“You… think I'm smart?” Said Seth, a crooked smile forming across their face
“Of course! I read some of your notes!” Berdly realized, although Seth had left their notebook facing him, that was probably overstepping boundaries. Seth blushed, picking up their notebook and hiding their face behind it. Berdly’s mind went into overdrive.
“This scholar is still red in the face! They must be heavily suffering from brain cramps! Darn it, Berdly! Wrap up this convo and get them some water!”
“Ah! Forgive me! Let me get you some water!” Berdly tried to ignore how he could feel Seth staring at him through the holes of their notebook, “even if they had really pretty eyes”, Berdly thought, before focusing. “Is water good?”
“Yes.” Seth said, still hiding behind their notebook, before remembering their promise to Aqua. “Wa-wait! I’ll pay! Aqua needs a drink.” They moved to stand, before Berdly swiftly turned around and placed a wing on their shoulder. Seth shivered at the contact.
They are very, very, VERY soft. Wait, he's saying something? Seth thought, trying to control their breath and listen. If the dream is ending here, I'm at least happy it got this far…
“…I cannot allow a fair scholar, deprived of valuable H Two Oh, and according to the Cyan Child over there, monetary value, to pay for drinks! I will cover both of your beverages, fret not!” Seth continued staring a hole through Berdly as they marched off to get in line before the counter.
“ok I think they have an interest in me, but maybe its just like. As friends ya know? Like you can blush near friends and strangers? That’s normal? They ran pretty far…” the line was moving pretty slow, Berdly raised a wing to his chin and contemplated. “A test then! I give them a refreshment, and if they still blush that beautiful violent hue, and still stare at me with those handsome eyes, I’ll for sure know they swoon for me!.” Berdly reached the front of the line, just in time to avoid seeing Seth glare at Kris and Susie, who were making kiss noises at them while pointing at Berdly. Kris wrapped their arms around themselves, and continued making kissy noises; something so funny to Susie, she was banging the table to try and stop herself from laughing.
Seth projected two letters at the Fun Gang’s table, the letters bouncing off Kris' shield and onto the table.
“SHUT” “UP”
“Oh wow! My little sibling has a crush! How amazing is that?” Aqua bounced up from her seat, and jumped onto a lamp. Ralsei’s grin fell into an expression of contempt as the lamp disappeared.
“It's amazing! It's amazing! They’re sooooo in love!” Aqua said with a dopey smile on her face. Seth seethed as Susie elbow-butted Flowerly’s ribs, causing the golden flower to cough loudly.
“Yeah, look at those two nerds fall in lo- wait when did you get here????”
“Sorry to keep you waiting!” Ralsei’s eyebrow twitched as he looked to his side to see Flowerly carrying Aqua on his shoulder.
“oh joy” thought Ralsei, before sighing.
“Flowerly. Spare Seth some dignity, and quiet down?” Said Ralsei, trying to look annoyed.
“You’re no fun Raly! If I’d known how much a stick in the mud you were, I would’ve told Kris how you felt before-“
“That is quite enough.” Said Ralsei, hiding their blush behind a scarf. Kris held his hand under the table, and leaned toward Ralsei.
“Its ok. I already knew!”
“How? I didn’t tell you until-“
“Oh no you did.” Kris couldn’t hide their shit eating grin, Ralsei’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. "'Don't worry, I know all about it, Flowerly told me!”
Ralsei’s expression turned stormy, before Kris abated the tempest by kissing him on the cheek, to which Kris then flashed Noelle a shit eating smirk. Noelle grabbed Susie, fumbled with her head, and managed to kiss her cheek in response. Kris politely clapped at the display.
Flowerly snapped his fingers to get everyone's attention to the drama before them. “Boys and girls, look!” Berdly finally reached the front of the line, Seth was still frozen in their seat as Green scribbled on a sign. Berdly smiled.
“Good evening, fine owner of this cafe! What should I ge-“ Berdly read
(They like you). Berdly visibly flinched, eyes shooting off towards a Seth still hiding behind their book, before looking back at the cafe owner. He nervously chuckled. “Of course they do! My friends value me greatly! I am a friend to all who pursue knowledge. Now if you have any recommendations for academics” Berdly placed his wing on the counter “I’ll gladly hear them.”
Green’s small smile dissipated. They brought out another sign, their previously neutral expression now a moderate smile. Berdly heard someone fumble a book behind them.
(They have a crush on you. The violet one). Berdly looked back and saw Seth hiding behind their book, visible steam rising from it. In their haste to retreat from Berdly’s attention, they had accidentally flipped their notebook around to confirm the sign: it was a picture of this individual and Berdly embracing each other.
if I stay still, maybe. MAYBE. MAYBE he can’t see it? His vision is based on motion! Like his ancestors! rationalized a panicking Seth. How is that of the 500 pages I have currently filled, it lands on the ONE page with such indulgences????
“oh. They put them up to this.” thought Berdly.
Fun Gang, who had been watching this entire thing in disbelief, saw the gears turn in Berdly’s head.
“no way”
“no way he’s that dense”
“is he a dumbass”
“HOW???? HOW DO YOU ASSUME THAT I-?? AND THEN SEE THIS AN-???? WHAT???? WHAT?????!”
Berdly paid for two drinks, and Green gave him Aqua and Seth’s favorite drinks alongside what Berdly thought was a very high quality orange napkin. Berdly walked across the cafe slowly. The crowd stared at the two as Yellow and Blue walked in, blissfully unaware of the situation. Blue looked at the growing crowd with a raised eyebrow, before following their stares toward Berdly, holding two cups of soda, and Seth, attempting to merge their head with a book. Berdly passed Seth, and Blue sighed, placing his palm under his chin in concern.
“Oh dear, Seth finally found their one and only. I wish I had prepared them better…” said
“Oh shucks, they just got back in the saddle too.” Said Yellow, putting an arm around Blue. Seth’s head stayed in their book as Berdly approached the crowd.
“… Here’s the drink for Aqua…” Berdly said, handing her the soda. Before the soda could reach Aqua, the napkin sprung to life, racing along Berdly’s arm before leaping to Flowerly’s shoulder to point him, bandana flowing dramatically in the wind.
“YO-“
Orange! Not so loud, said Flowerly firmly, patting them on the head. She growled, before turning back to Berdly
was that napkin a mouse this entire time thought a very fatigued Berdly.
“you idiot! You better go talk to Seth or I’ll knock you out!” Said Orange, fuming atop Flowerly’s shoulder. Berdly faced the floor.
if I just stand still, I’ll eventually become a plant again, and I’ll never remember this happened. In fact, this dream can end now! Im good! Im sorry for dreaming, I’ll-
The clack of a soda can ripped Seth from reality, Berdly stated into the distance, eyes sparkling, with a faint blush.
“My violet scholar…”
Seth gulped
“I never realized you had feelings for me.” Seth’s mouth gaped as Berdly continued monologuing.
“It is only natural that intellectual sisyphuses band together in romance. Our boulders only grow heavier.” Berdly reached over to Seth’s notebook, bringing it down to look at their face. Berdly blushed
“they’re… I don’t think Ive seen anything this beautiful, even in my animes” thought Berdly
“oh wow oh wow oh wow oh wow” thought Seth.
“B-but is it not better, if Sisyphus had someone else to shoulder his god-given burden alongside him?”
Berdly leaned forward “I want you to be my player 2, in this boulder pushing of rigorous academia! Not as some follower, or accessibility mode for children!” Berdly took their hand into his wing, and smiled softly “but as an equal, so that we may better each other, as iron sharpens iron.”
Flowerly stared, mouth agape.
there is no way that worked thought Noelle, looking over at a distraught Susie. Kris stared at the ceiling in horror.
“Every confession of love comes from a vulnerable soul… but I find maybe I should have guided Seth toward… a more active role in this conversation” whispered Blue to Flowerly, who lowered his hand to not laugh. Blue craned to follow him
“Preferably, to overwhelm the bird into silence.” Flowerly gasped into his hand to avoid laughing aloud.
“H’well Im sure ol’ Seth can spin this here conver’ back in their favor!” Seth’s glasses reflected the light as they contemplated, the confident expression Berdly wore melting. He chuckled nervously. Pink, who had just arrived, stared at the scene, before shouting words of encouragement.
“Go for it Seth! Mew!”
“What?! Pink that guy’s awf-“
“I… never got your nam-“ Berdly chuckled sheepishly, before looking at Seth’s eyes again. *They still haven’t blinked,* thought Berdly, staring into Seth’s eyes “When I look at you, I don’t want to blink either.”
“Seth. I, Seth, want you.”
Yellow’s hat flew off his head with such force it left a crater in the ceiling, who held up a sign that read (GASP), which scared Pink into jumping towards Blue. Blue swooned into Yellow’s arms, his arm accidentally hit a gobsmacked Orange, who stumbled into a confused Aqua, who’s deft catch of Orange startled Flowerly, who then bumped into Ralsei, causing Ralsei to grasp Kris’ hand hard, Kris’ foot then shot out and hit Susie, who did not move at all. Seth audibly choked on their drink.
“Violet researcher?! Are you ok?!”
“Ho hack Hold o hack HOLD ON! I didn’t finish my sentence!” Seth turned to the crowd, indignant.
The crowd, now including Pink and Green, situated themselves.
“…Do I have to do this in front of everyone?”
“Yeah… I think us intellects would be more comfortable” Berdly dropped the act and earnestly pleaded with his eyes. “alone?”
“Just pretend we aren’t here” said Flowerly, leaning forward. Berdly rolled his eyes, before taking Seth’s hand again.
“What do you wish of me, my beautiful flower?”
Seth giggled
“I… I want you to kiss me?”
Berdly kissed Seth’s hand
“Ah, but it's a bit early for full on kisses, isn’t it? I know enemies more intimately than I know you, beautiful stranger. Yet, I could only hope they’d wish to lock lips after defeating me!” Berdly preened, the only one impressed was Seth, who hung onto every word.
“If I defeat you in a duel, would you let me kiss you.” Said Seth, unblinking. Berdly chuckled nervously, looking over to the whispering crowd, Kris has the widest grin they’ve ever seen them smile as the crowd fell silent. Berdly turned around slowly.
“…Yes! In fact if-“
“Deal.”
“Wait! But I couldn’t possibly harm someone as handsome as you! I’d rend myself to pieces before I do so!”
Somehow, this phrase seemed to activate the crowd, who formed a circle around the two instantly. Both nerds stared at each other with fear.
“He’s right, my poor younger sibling couldn’t possibly put up a fair fight against a warrior of legend.” Flowerly placed a hand on Seth’s head, ruffling their hair. “They wouldn’t get a chance! Let me train them to be worthy of your might, Berdly.”
“Oh yeah? Well my n-nerd’s so weak that I bet your nerd could knock ‘em over in seconds flat! They’d get that kiss before I could brush my teeth!” Ralsei said, getting on his tippy toes to put Berdly in a headlock.
“H-hey!” Berdly squawked.
Flowerly chuckled “Ralsei that doesn’t work if you’re also a nerd.”
“You’re right, they’re DOUBLE NERDS!” Said Ralsei, said with such volume even Flowerly couldn’t help but be impressed.
“Faha yeah! He’s been soooo busy studying. I bet he’s forgotten how to swing a halberd! We’ll train him to be as optimal for Seth as they can be!” Noelle said, smiling like a jackal
“Hey come on! This isn’t necessary!” said Seth, snapping out of the daze they’d been in for the last twenty minutes or so.
“Duel’s a duel partner, and Im ‘fraid this here duel is enshrined in dual law!” Said Yellow, dramatically revealing two, hastily scribbled legal documents from under his hat, one for each combatant. Blue chuckled.
“Blu hu hu. Love must be refined, while young love is adorable, truly, such passions must be tempered before they collide again. Wouldn’t you agree, Mr.Butterfly?” Blue raised his finger to show a very important opinion, Mr.Butterfly’s wings opened to reveal a thumbs-up. “Looks like he’s in agreement. Splendid.”
“Kris tell them to cut it out!” Said Berdly, trying in vein to wrestle Ralsei over him. Kris shrugged
“I don’t know man, you could use this time to touch grass. Really appreciate nature, like the flower in front of you.”
“KRIS!” Said Berdly, blushing.
“Don’t know why your ungrateful dumbass is yelling anything but “thank you!” at Kris. They hooked you up, Nerdly!” Said Susie, smiling wickedly.
Seth blushed, Berdly’s focus zeroed in on their face.
“I know this is against the spirit of the current situation, but Seth you look very pretty right now.” Said Berdly, Flowerly and Ralsei turned to look at Berdly as the crowd fell silent.
“Even with my hair messed up?” Said Seth, Flowerly stopped ruffling their hair.
“Yeah, you look simply splendid. Like the violet sunset.” Ralsei loosened their chokehold a little bit as the crowd oooed and awwwed for a second. The shared thought between the two nerds being Im glad they are supportive, but this is rather patronizing
The bullying had let up for a second, before a squeaky voice emanated from atop Green’s hat.
“You dumb chibi! If you didn’t drop off Aqua’s soda first and have that awful flirting, you’d have been off the hook, but now you’re both gonna learn the hard way!” Said Orange, wearing a malicious grin. Green nodded sagely.
“YEAH!” Said the crowd in unison, Aqua danced in place and sang, Noelle and Blue helping her keep rhythm by clapping.
she’s on beat, she’s never on beat… thought Seth in despair
“Haha! Seth is gonna kiss Berdly after killing him!~” sang Aqua. Noelle clapped with less enthusiasm.
“AY!” Said the Flowers
“Haha! Seth is gonna kiss Berdly after beating him!” Sang the Fun Gang in refrain.
“HEY, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON MY SIDE!” Squawked Berdly indignantly as the impromtu football chant continued, reaching its fever pitch as Mew Mew picked Aqua up and spun her around in celebration, a great “AY!” Ringing through the cafe. Seth and Berdly were mortified.
“Damn right! You better blow that loser’s mind, Seth! You better not lose to such a dork!” Said Mew Mew, her voice overjoyed at the idea. “Love is like war, mew! Its only a crime if you lose, mew!” Said Pink, excitement in her voice apparent.
“Alright!” Said Flowerly, releasing Seth, gently pushing them toward the middle of the circle. “I’ll go make an arena for our lovers, a- Ralsei let go of Berdly.”
“Oh! Sorry!” Ralsei released Berdly gently, before pushing Berdly toward the middle of the circle. Flowerly cleared his throat.
“Arena up top, we train our suitors for a week, and then they show each other their resolve.” Flowerly said, smirking. “Now, does our Seth have anything to say to their hero?”
“…”
“Come on, Berdly, you got something to say!” Said Noelle
“Tonight was really nice… may the best genius win!” Said Berdly, smirking. The crowd whooped in delight. Seth pushed up their glasses, before closing the distance on Berdly, who could not step back.
“you’re really cute from the distance, even when you’re resolving to beat my ass…” thought Berdly.
Seth smirked, they poked Berdly’s chestplate
I want to bury my face in your feathers
“Im getting that kiss, Berdly.” Said Seth, with the most confidence they’d had all night.
HACK
Berdly choked on his spit, before he attempted to his a giddy grin behind an angry frown.
“Y-you villain! Employing such tricks on me! Have you no honor?!” Berdly cried.
Seth backed up, smugly smiling as they began to walk away
“No victory won through honor couldn’t be won through tactical might, but Im afraid honor has limits cunning does not.” Seth said, lenses gleaming.
Seth began to walk away, the crowd hollering, before Berdly walked up and seized their hand.
“WAIT!” The crowd fell silent, Seth stammered out a “wuh?” As their mind spent all remaining energy on memorizing the texture of Berdly's feathers
Berdly dropped to one knee
this! This is what they do in cultures to show! Oh my goodness? So soon??? He’s so forward!
tink
Berdly quickly pecked his beak against Seth’s hand in chaste imitation kiss, Seth gasped. The crowd went ballistic, but Seth could only focus on Berdly looking up at them.
“Let this kiss of honor, restore you to a noble path.” Berdly closed his eyes. “On my honor as a student, and as a gamer, I shall beat you with honor” Berdly’s eyes snapped open “or not at all!” Berdly stood up, before returning to the Fun Gang, but Seth could see the hesitance in his steps.
“Take care, my new rival. I will show you why I revered for my gaming talent!” Kris coughed as Noelle tried to hide her grin.
“… Thank you for paying for the drinks.” Said Seth lamely, as the groups departed to sleep.
“Why the circle? Im sure I could have” Berdly said lamely “convinced him to kiss me on that date anyway!” Said Seth, “you just got in my way” said both, indignantly.
“It's simple!” Said Ralsei “I want you to grow as a person,” said Flowerly, affectionately ruffling Seth’s hair, “and we want your first kiss to be special!” Said both, with great smiles on their face.