[PRP] It's Not So Bad (Poeias & Wander)

[purplerosesbeauty]

when: Early nighttime
where: The swamp
what: The after-effects of Poe's hive-bound adventure is being felt pretty hard by him and his friends.

 

[purplerosesbeauty]

Poe's body ached. It was still painful and bloodied and his scars were fresh. He was healing though, and he was glad for it. It has only been a few nights since he got back, and after a bit of... intensive care, he was doing much better. It still hurt, but at least he could leave and do... something. He was eager to see the moon again, maybe visit some friends.

Would they even still recognize him? He hardly recognized himself, with his eyes exposed to the brightness of everything, his horns gone, new scars, a new leg. He clenched his fists, and pulled his jacket around his body tighter. He felt wound up and tight, like a coiled spring was inside of him, waiting to burst.

At one of the hivestem trees, he paused. Wander... she must have been worried sick while he was gone, right? She was probably alone in her hive, and he could visit her and let her know he was alright. It would be nice! He climbed up, carefully, feeling the odd weight of his new mechanical leg creaking beneath him. He pushed against her door, more aggressively when it didn't immediately yield. He needed to get in and see her, now that he could. The door opened when he applied force to it, and he stumbled in. "Wander!" he called, a bit too loud, too anxiously.

Gl!tch~

and here my son breaks into a girl's hive because he's weird

 

[Gl!tch~]

Another magic show tape delivery came in the previous night, so after doing some chores, Wander was intent on giving as many a watch as she could before sunrise. She was excited to have a night in! Maybe if they were really good she could show them to Cynril. That would be nice. And maybe she could talk about it with Poe, whenever he was around again. If he was interested...sometimes she wasn't sure. But she didn't want to think about that! She could worry later, darn it!

Resolute, she curled up in a comfy pillow nest and pressed play on her VCR. Abby messed around with the TV antenna in the meantime. Abby liked doing that, especially when Wander watched live shows, but right now the lusus was expelling some energy harmlessly. Tapes didn't need a signal. Very comforting.

Wander soon contemplated a snack. Maybe popcorn or some carrots, or-

She heard her hive door open with a soft bang. Her pumpbiscuit jumped in her throat. Wander then heard her name. Was that...?

Still very nervous, she shakily went into the next block, arms wrapped around a large pillow as if it could protect her from any malicious intruders.

"W-who...w...w-what..."

She saw a greenblood in her hive, having forced the door open. Wild hair in their face, almost looking like a swamp monster. Very startling! She couldn't help but cry out.

She did calm herself though. This was definitely a troll. Who? Did call her name, right...?

The clothing style was very familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"W-w-who are y-you a-a-and w...what do you w-want?" Then, as a quiet afterthought, "I-it's not nice t-to break...into p-people's h-hives..."

purplerosesbeauty

 

[purplerosesbeauty]

Poe paused, startled by Wander's yelp. Well, she was definitely home then, at least, and he didn't enter her hive while she was out. She didn't recognize him though, like he thought might be the case, because of how different he felt he seemed. He put his metal hand on his head, and groaned a little. He was so stupid to do this, he suddenly thought. And embarrassed when he looked back at the door and realized he literally broke into her hive. What was wrong with him?

"It's Poeias," he said quietly. He probably looked as bad as he felt, wild hair, bandages, wounds. "I... just wanted to see you. Aha, did you know, I can do that literally now? Like with my whole lookstubs, just see things?" He laughed, and then rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, sorry about your door, I just... I don't know. I'm not thinking very clearly," he said.

"A lot of things happened."

Gl!tch~

what up i have eyes now

 

[Gl!tch~]

"P...P-" It all clicked the moment he said his name. Wander's face went a little orange at how mortified she was. There were clues and she didn't notice them! But...his face! No horns in the way! Very disorienting to look at. Unexpected. Different. But still embarrassing that she didn't figure it out!

She had so many questions even before he finished rambling. Wander started snapping some sparks. "Ah..." The orangeblood couldn't help but stare as he talked. She blinked. He could see.......

Wander took a few steps over to him, and halted. Snapping had turned to hand-wringing. But she had to see. So she reached up. Wander realized hadn't thought about how tall he had been growing, at least compared to her size. He had grown. Wander pushed the hair out of his eyes.

purplerosesbeauty

 

[purplerosesbeauty]

He waited while Wander took slow, agonizingly slow, steps toward him. The sparks at her fingers caught his attention. How bright they seemed in the relative darkness... Had her sparks always been so pretty? She pushed his hair out of the way. He had almost forgotten about that, and had let his hair continue to block some of his vision, to veil himself from the utter brightness of it all.

But when she did, he could see her. Plainly, unobscured, entirely. Standing right in front of him. He could look right into her wide staring eyes, if he wanted. He could glance around instead, avoiding eye contact. It felt a bit overwhelming, but he was glad for it. He could see his friend.

Poe held her wrist gently, and put his hand on hers with intent to comfort her. "Um, you can probably see my face too, which is very weird, for, the both of us probably. The scars and cuts are new though, I wasn't just hiding those behind my horns or something!" he clarified necessarily, with a smile. He was quiet a moment.

"I'm glad you're here."

Gl!tch~

 

[Gl!tch~]

He had eyes. Poeias Claudy, after all this time, had actual-factual eyestalks. He could look at her. And he had a nose! A full face! Poe's hands went on hers, but Wander wanted to touch his cheeks. So she slipped her hand away, and started papping at his face with both hands. Wander let out a soft "Ahhh...."

She ran her fingers over the cuts. "T-these are...?" New. "P-Poe..."

Wander stepped back. Cut up face, horns gone, and light reflecting off his leg- oh no. Like his prosthetic arm?

"Poe....P-P-P-Poe...w-..." So many things were sliced and sliced off and even though he could see there was still bad things and she didn't-

"W-what did...w...what..." Her hands went up to her face. She started to sniffle. What had happened to her good friend Poe?!

purplerosesbeauty

 

[purplerosesbeauty]

Her hands, so gentle across the hurt parts of his body, made him wince slightly. "Ah..."" Her voice stuttered and Poe felt his pumpbiscuit falter and skip a beat each time. He hadn't meant to make her cry. Didn't he promise to do better for her and not let her down?

Poe reached out and held her shoulders gently. "Wander, I'm okay now," he whispered. "The horns... um, well I did that one myself so it wasn't as bad as losing my leg or getting mauled a little," he said, trying to keep an even smile. He had to be mature and supportive for her, like a good older friend should be. "It'll be better for me in the long run too! Being able to see means I won't get hurt as much in the future, and also, I will get to see your shows! I'm really excited about that!"

Gl!tch~

glip you're killing me

 

[Gl!tch~]

Tears burned her eyes while they were squeezed shut behind her hands. He had gotten hurt and lost parts of his body and she didn't recognize him and it all made her feel so so bad. Her breathing hitched.

She didn't visibly react any when Poe touched her. But she also didn't break down sobbing while he spoke. Just more sniffles. A little time passed after the spiel. Quiet and full of thinking.

Poe was so positive about it. He was hurt, but it was healed. He was well enough to see her. And he took off his horns himself...? That...that changed things.

Maybe, as much as it probably hurt, it wasn't so bad right now after all. Right now. That's what she had to focus on. Finally, her hands dragged down her face a bit, at least enough for her to make eye contact.

"R-r-really?" Her voice was muffled, mouth covered by her palms now.

purplerosesbeauty

 

[purplerosesbeauty]

He watched her carefully. It was... a weird sensation. The small, subtle things people did that he never noticed before. The heave of a chest that did a strange breath, they way her hands curled up and pressed against her face, the flush of color when she cried, strange, minute expressions in her eyes he couldn't place. What did they mean? What was she thinking about? When he relied more heavily on his hearing, he would have missed all of that and not thought a second more about it. It was almost overwhelming.

"Really," he said firmly, closing his eyes for a second. He believed it too, not just saying something to make her feel better. He would never lie to her if he could help it. "I'm doing better now. It's not so bad, really, though it was a little scary at the time... What's important is I'm here, and I'm okay." He reached up to touch her head, his non-robotic limb resting softly on her hair, between her horns. "I'm not going anywhere."

Gl!tch~

she's a very very pitiable babyyyy and poe wants to keep her safe forever

 

[Gl!tch~]

He confirmed what she was thinking. So it was okay. Still hard to not think about losing horns and limbs and stuff, but he said it was only a 'little' scary. She had to trust him on it. Poe was always good, so she was gonna try. Even so, she still was feeling a whole lot of emotions. And she felt like she'd become a fidgeting wreck if she didn't do this.

The orangeblood pushed herself into him, and wrapped her arms around Poe's waist for a tight hug. Wander buried her face in his chest. "I-if you d-did, I-I-I'd go f-f-find you."

purplerosesbeauty

*Appears behind your feelings and stabs them*

 

[purplerosesbeauty]

Poe took in a breath sharply and eased into the hug. He put his arms around Wander and held her tightly against him. He could feel the tears pricking his own eyes and he nodded. "Wander..." he rested his chin on her head. "I'm glad you're my friend."

What would he do without his friends? Even now he hadn't realized how badly he needed this, the pressure on his skin and body making him feel real. He was so afraid of letting people down, and worried what would happen if he let them get hurt. Worried if he didn't come back. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand. "Th-thank you..."

Gl!tch~

ahh sorry they're gettin short

 

[Gl!tch~]

"Y-yeah...I-I'm glad...t-to h...have you a-as a f-f-friend too..." And he was okay. And she would notice if he was gone a while from now on, like a better friend than not realizing. Just in case...

She held on for a little longer. Then, after time felt like it had completely stopped, Wander pulled back. "U-um. S-since you c-can s-see...a-and you're h-here...any...w-way...d-d-do...d-do you wanna w-watch t-tapes with me?"

purplerosesbeauty

:3a

 

[purplerosesbeauty]

He stayed there quietly, holding on to her. There wasn't much to say, but he was so thankful to have her. When she finally pulled away, he blinked and looked at her curiously.

Poe grinned widely at her request. "Is that what you were doing, before I so rudely barged in here and, aha, whoops, scared you? Aha, wow yeah, okay. Yeah! I mean, I would love to watch with you! What kind of tapes are they, magic shows?" He was excited to have this opportunity now. He could have fun and engage in other troll's interests in a way he couldn't before. Like he said, it was better this way...

Gl!tch~

we can start winding down/wrapping up or w/e if you want P:

 

[Gl!tch~]

"Yeah..." Wander felt sheepish, being pinned so easily. Maybe it was obvious. Maybe it was a good obvious? She didn't know. She didn't want to think about it. And then, suddenly, she started deflating as she started realizing some things. "B-but i-if you don't...um...like th-them...I-I have other ones..." She had been really looking forward to her new set, though.

Wander went quiet.

"Gosh, I h-hope you...l-like them..." She couldn't help but fidget. Poe could see, and now he could judge. That was a lot of pressure, actually, that she didn't expect to deal with.

purplerosesbeauty

Whoops