Phobia
I own nothing. Try to guess what each type of phobia means! Dare you to WITHOUT looking them up!
For Ch. 1- Phonophobia- irrational fear of loud noises
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Chapter 2: Entomophobia
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He had nothing against the insect. In fact, he would proudly die to protect him. They were comrades, brothers, even.
But the fact remained that every time he heard that tell tale 'crick!' of Mantis's legs scuttling along the floor, his teeth would grind in fear. Of what? He wasn't totally sure, but he was damn scared!
He had voiced this, jokingly, to the bug. That was, more or less, the reason his left leg was in a cast and he was confined to his room.
Of course, Viper had lovingly jumped in for him, every intention of decapitating her insect brother until the injured warrior had told her it was his fault for provoking him. She had been annoyed at the cruel response of the bug, but had left him alone in favor of helping her friend return to his room.
So, Po laid there, wincing occasionally as Viper offered him chamomile tea and spoke softly to him.
"We're all afraid of something, Po. You know about me and noise," she giggled, and Po sighed warmly, glancing at the hole in his door. The storm had been several weeks ago, but he didn't have the heart to seal the hole up. That, and it was Viper's escape route whenever there was a storm.
"I know, but I was hoping that maybe, if I told him, y'know, he'd, I don't know, help. I swear I wasn't trying to insult him!" Po defended, hissing in pain as his leg throbbed again.
"Oh, Po, I know you didn't mean it. Mantis has always been a little too sensitive. Now stop moving or your leg will never heal!" she shouted, lightly smacking the panda on his head.
Po smiled at his girlfriend, warmth spreading across her face as she wondered what perverted things he could be thinking.
Her fears were quelled when he murmured, "Y'know, Viper, you're the best person I've ever met. You're nice, funny, strong, and cute. How does a wonderful girl like you end up with a lazy fatso of a boyfriend like me?"
Her face contorted in a mixture between embarrassment and sorrow as she replied, "Po, you're not lazy, and I like how you look. You're cute, not fat. And you're the Dragon Warrior! How could I not like you?"
Po sighed, stroking the side of his girlfriend's face as he whispered, "Love you, baby girl."
"Po, you are going to listen to me," commanded Viper, laying her tail on the side of his monochromatic face. "You are a wonderful, beautiful, kind, gentle person and if Mantis can't see that, it's his own loss. I love you, Po, and whether you know it or not, you are beautiful, because of everything you do and everything you won't. You wouldn't give up when all the rest of us had. You thought I was pretty even when I was so sure I wasn't. You, not Mantis, talked me down from the rafters, and I love you, Po. I just wish there was a way to show you how much I love you."
Po sighed at the mention of the rafters. The poor reptile had a terrible month after he had come to the Palace, from failed attempts to get him to notice her, to news of the death of all her beloved relatives in a massive fire at a family reunion she was supposed to be at, but the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back was when, during practice up at the Pool of Sacred Tears, she had fallen into the water and her lilies, the ones her grandfather had given her, were lost to the bottom of the pool.
She had been so devastated that she had raced off, Master Shifu telling them to let her go. It seemed like a good idea at the time, however, when they returned to the Palace that evening, they found Viper coiled in the rafters of the training Hall, rope tying her neck to the long beam.
Tigress had told her it would just prove that she was weak, and that if she did it, Tigress would follow her. Viper had smiled sadly and replied that she knew Tigress wouldn't do that.
Monkey had said that she had other options. They could get her new flowers, the finest in China. She had told him it was a sweet thought, but it wouldn't be the same.
Mantis had said that he'd build her the most perfect flowers ever made if only she would come down. She had smiled and thanked him, but made no sign that she was coming down safely.
Crane had told her he would give her anything she could possibly want. He didn't want to lose his best friend. She told him he would find another.
Master Shifu had told her that she didn't have to feel bad for living through the fire. She couldn't have known. He had told her that if she did it, the only thing she would accomplish was to hurt her family. He had told her that he saw her, all of the Five, as his children and that he could not bear to lose another child. She had sniffled and promised that they would meet again.
Then, finally, Po walked forward. He didn't tell her to come down. He didn't offer her extravagant gifts. He didn't even cry.
"I'm not gonna stop you, I just want to talk, just once, 'kay?" he spoke as though they were having tea instead of waiting for one to jump to her end.
She nodded.
"I just want to know, maybe, in the next life, if you'd be open for a dinner together? I'll buy," Po offered with absolute seriousness in his voice.
The others had stared as the reptile giggled, "I'd like that."
Po smiled as he spoke, voice clean of tears and crisp as a fall leaf, "I love you."
Her eyes became the size of dinner plates as she questioned, "Why? I'm not pretty or anything like that. What could you possibly see in me?"
"Your nose," he answered, continuing as she made no move to either help or hinder him. "It's got to be the cutest nose I've ever seen. I can tell what mood you're in just by watching it. When you're angry, it crinkles upward, and when you're happy it widens. You've got such an expressive nose. It's beautiful. I love you."
Tears in her eyes, Viper asked, "Do you want me to jump, Po?"
He smiled, and answered with another question, "Do you?"
She shook her head.
"Then don't."
And she had removed the noose from her thin neck and leapt down to wrap herself around the panda as her friends, her family, crowded around her, thanking the gods, thanking Po, and promising to be better people and a better family.
Po was brought out of his reverie when a small nose nuzzled his cheek in a warm sign of affection.
He turned his face and cupped her cheek in a worn hand, purring, "You already have, babe. You didn't jump."
Viper smiled against his hand and sighed, "Well, good. And besides, I think you're cute when you scream."
Po took offense at this and whined, "I do not scream. Mantis just startled me!"
