Notes: argh, Tip is so hard to write! I normally write with Oh as the narrative, can you tell? It's hard to write him from an outside point of view, urgh… And! And! Next update won't come before someone answers this! Selfish Tip or selfless Tip, that is the question! I won't tell you the outcome, but will Tip be selfish- or selfless?
Tip couldn't fall asleep. It wasn't that she didn't want to! Of course she wanted to fall asleep, get a little break, you know? A break from the pain, from the sorrow.
But… no.
She was tired, exhausted even, but she still couldn't fall asleep.
So obviously, she was doing something sensible, like reading a book or cleaning her room. She was definitely not watching her best friend sleep. No. Nope. Not at all.
She sighed and placed her face in her hands, drawing a shaky breath of despair. He looked so peaceful. Did Boovs dream? If they did, Tip didn't think Oh was doing it now. Every now and then his skin would flash blue, he'd whimper, and then calm down again. Did that count as dreaming? Or was it just feelings?
How did this happen? When had it happened? Why was she causing it, or making it worse? Why would it become even worse if she stayed away? Was this all her fault? Could she actually blame someone? Did this happen to other Boovs? Was it true that she couldn't stop it, hinder it, or slow it down? Well, Oh hadn't turned green, so he couldn't be lying, right?
Tip sighed again. Oh had refused to answer all of these questions when she had asked.
Her eyes drifted from his peaceful, sleeping face to his right arm. The sickness had taken over the whole thing now. It was a network of cracks, almost like a spider web. The difference was that it was possible to remove a spider web. This? Not so much. It had reached his shoulder. Already, Oh had said in surprise/shock/fear/sadness. She wasn't quite sure which one it was, and his skin refused to give it away.
Though he'd refused to answer a lot of her questions, there was one he did answer. Will it go straight for your heart?
His answer was vague, though, and she couldn't get that much from it. It depends. It didn't seem like it was moving towards his heart, and Tip wasn't sure if she was happy or sad at the fact.
For a short moment, the sleeping Boov's skin flashed pink. Another crack and a wince from Oh. The pink color disappeared again. It was obvious that it was painful for him, and the more cracks, the more painful it was.
Was she selfish to hope that it would take his heart last? Probably.
But at this rate, he would die in a few days if the sickness went straight for his heart. If not, it might take a week, perhaps two if they were… lucky? Unlucky?
Tip's lip started to quiver, and she began crying silently. Desperately.
When the first rays of sunshine forced themselves into the room, her eyes finally closed and she succumbed to sleep.
Oh held a speech later that day, in the Boov Mothership. It was broadcasted over all of Earth to all residing Boovs, as well as to all Boovphones out there. There were many tears among the Boovs when her friend neared the end of it.
He seemed so serene when he spoke; as if he couldn't care less whether he lived or died, even though his skin was dark, dark blue. But Tip knew him, almost better than he knew himself –almost, mind you, almost- and she could tell that he was upset. Incredibly upset, and sad, and horrified.
And- and scared. He was scared.
But it wasn't the same kind of fear as the one he'd felt when they started their adventure together. No. This was… different, much rawer, so much more forceful, it was a fear that ate up all hope and light and happiness inside.
The speech was in Boovspeak, and Tip wasn't sure if she was relieved or not. She wasn't sure what to make out of all the Boovs throwing glances in her direction either, but no one said anything and she didn't dare ask Oh.
"Oh."
The Boov turned around to face her with a sad expression.
"Is this normal for Boovs? To crack up and die?"
That's right, Tip, yes, ignore your emotions, yes, good, good, make it seem like you don't care-
Oh looked down with a frown. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it again. "…no," he finally said. "It is not." He looked up at her again.
"How normal is it, then? What causes it? Why does it happen?"
He swallowed hard. "I will be sparing you the details," he said quietly, and hurried away, leaving a frustrated Tip in his wake.
"That little-" She took a deep breath. "Alright. Okay. You can do this. Now, where is Kyle?"
"Kyle!" Tip called, and the Boov officer gave her a mild look of surprise.
"Gratuity, what are you doing here?"
"I've told you, it's Tip," Tip said. "But that's not it. What causes the cracks? Why does it happen?"
Kyle widened his eyes in surprise. "He hasn't told you?" She shook her head silently. "That stupid bastard," Kyle muttered. "If he hasn't told you then I can't either."
Tip groaned and pulled her hair. She had to know this. If nothing else, she had to know. She couldn't walk around for the rest of her life, not knowing why Oh had died. "At least not the details," Kyle stated, and Tip let go of her hair.
"Tell me."
Kyle took a deep breath. "Boov are neutral creatures," he began. "Too happy or too… sad-ish feelings will have consequences. We can be… trained, to have these emotions –all of the raw emotions, do not put them under an umbrella-, if we feel them often and in small dozes we can take it fairly well. However, if you're incredibly happy or incredibly sad very suddenly, aka if you feel more than you're able to, then…" he trailed of and swallowed heavily.
"Oh no," Tip whispered, and felt the tears well up again. "Seriously?" Kyle nodded. "He's dying because he's happy…"
Kyle, again, bobbed his head sadly. "I'm afraid so, Gratuity."
She fell to her knees and hugged him tight. Kyle was too startled to react. "Thank you, Kyle," Tip said when she released him. "Is there- is there any way to stop this from happening?"
"It depends on the feeling," Kyle said. "Some of the…" He gestured a bit with his hands while he searched for the word. "…rawer emotions are close to impossible to stop if they have first begun. An umuzwa will never heal."
Tip frowned and tapped her chin as she thought. "He said… he said that I'm causing it… and that it would become worse if I stayed away from him…"
Kyle looked on with pain evident in his eyes, as if it physically hurt him to know the truth and not be able to tell her.
"Captain JLo is a very happy Boov," Kyle chimed in. "Always has been, always will be. His tolerance for happiness is much higher than most Boovs. I don't know about his sadness tolerance, though."
"It's high," Tip said absentmindedly. "It must be. He's had a difficult childhood. Which means that he tolerates a lot of both. I must make him really, really happy…" Did it make her a horrible person if she felt flattered at that? Like, really, really flattered? I mean, she was blushing while she said it. "And the thought of me leaving him must be worse than his childhood if it would make it worse than if I stayed…" There was a pause, and then a determined spark lit up in her eyes. Tip looked up sharply, meeting Kyle's gaze. "What are the raw emotions a Boov can feel?"
He answered immediately to her cold tone. "Sorrow, fear, joy, anger, love-"
Tip's eyes widened and she interrupted him by drawing a sharp breath and saying "Oh my god," flatly. New tears filled her eyes. Again. "Oh my god."
Kyle seemed even more pained. "What?" he forced out through clenched teeth, desperate to be able to tell her.
"He loves me-!" There was a pause, and then Tip screamed in despair. Loudly.
Halfway through it twisted into a sob. "He loves me…"
