Chapter 7: After the Party
Well, the party went on for a while. They had cake, played some more games, talked for a little bit, and even shared a few laughs. Flippy was relieved that his evil doppleganger didn't make an appearance. Well, to anyone else besides him, anyway. Oddly enough, after they had cake, Fliqpy didn't even speak to Flippy. Which, again, was relieving for the lime green Tree Friend. After the reconciliation with Flaky, he was in no mood to deal with his evil side's bullcrap.
"Goodbye, everyone! Thanks for coming!" the aforementioned porcupine called to her guests.
"Thanks for having me!" Cuddles called back
"Yeah, it was fun!" Lumpy agreed.
"Baa-bye, Flaky." Lammy bleated, "See you on Wednesday for our annual poker match!"
Flaky smiled and re-entered her house where a few people still were.
"Well, we better get back home, sweetie." Daisy told her daughter.
"Yes, but it was fun seeing you again, Flaky." Dwight agreed.
Flaky smiled wider and gave her family hugs and kisses goodbye. She hugged Damien especially hard since he wouldn't be nearby for a few years.
"Have a safe trip, Damien. I love you." she said.
"I love you too, sis. Take care of yourself, okay?" the orange porcupine replied.
Flaky nodded and gave him one last hug.
Giggles, who was still there, stood beside her friend and watched the birthday girl's family drive away.
"So… how was your birthday, Flaky?" the pink girl asked.
"It was the best one ever. Sure there were some things here and there that weren't planned out and there were one or two little issues. But on the whole, it was amazing. I'm glad all my friends were here; and my family as well." she answered.
"Well I for one am very proud of you." Giggles continued.
"For what? " Flaky asked.
"For mending your relationship," she said, locking her fingers together, "it's only a matter of time now."
"Time 'till what?"
"Till you guys get together, of course!"
Flaky's face turned magenta at those words.
"HUH?! Y-y-y-you're still going on about t-this?! I told you! Flippy is j-j-just my f-f-friend!" the red girl stammered.
"And you're still going about that?! Come on, Flaky!" Giggles retorted, grabbing her by her shoulders. "Wake up and smell the pheromones!"
"What does that even mean?!"
"It means stop denying your feelings, for crap's sake! And before you lie and say you're not denying anything, think about these things: Think about the day you first met Flippy, think about what he did for you, think about the words he said to you, think about everything you did for him, think about everything you said to him, think about what you-Ah, screw it! Just think about every moment you two have shared and think about how you felt during all of them!"
Flaky's big eyes widened and she gasped lightly. She did just what Giggles instructed. She didn't plan to, though. It just happened. Just like with anything else in this village, it just… happened. The memories flooded through her mind one by one. Each one filling her with many shapeless emotions and indescribable feelings. Had it really been 16 years since that day? That day when two ordinary critters formed an unlikely friendship...
At the end of it all, the first thing that came to her mind was the veteran bear's pleasant smile and laugh directed towards her. Flaky blinked her large, black eyes and placed her hand to her heart space which felt light, airy, and warm at the same time. Tears prickled in the corners of her eyes and dripped delicately down her face.
"Oh my word…" the birthday girl whispered.
Giggles nodded and smiled with half-lidded eyes.
"I… I love… I love….. Flippy!"
She had done it…. She admitted her feelings that she held for the bear. Though it would've been more appropriate if he had heard it…
Still, she wasn't denying it anymore. She loved him. She truly, truly did. She loved his voice, she loved his kindness, she loved his laugh, she loved his perkiness, and hell, she'd be lying if she said he wasn't handsome! And even if there was still the issue of his PTSD and Fliqpy's constant killing sprees, she didn't care anymore.
Love is an odd thing… It can give you newfound courage and abilities. And right now it was blocking out Flaky's denial and second thoughts. She loves Flippy and that's enough… And Flippy loves her. Even though she didn't know he felt the same way, she had a pretty good feeling that she wouldn't get rejected if she were to confess. She wouldn't do it now, though. It was too soon and she would need time to gather herself up again.
Giggles was about to say something but was interrupted when Flippy walked up to her and Flaky.
"Hey, girls. I just wanted to say goodbye to you." the lime green bear said.
Flaky blushed at the sight of Flippy and then she approached him. He blushed along with her.
"Flaky?" he spoke up.
"Okay… Just, have a safe trip home okay?" she replied, "And Flippy?"
He tilted his head.
"I'm really sorry… I know you said I don't have to be, but I am. I'm sorry I lost touch with you. Really I am."
Flippy made a small noise and then chuckled softly.
"And I'll say it again, I forgive you."
He tousled her quills with his soft hand yet again.
"Let's promise never to lose touch again?" Flaky suggested once the older Tree Friend had stopped rubbing her head.
"Heh, like I'd ever want to lose touch with my oldest friend." he teased, lightly booping her nose.
Flaky blushed and tried to hide her smile from him. But she failed and Flippy saw. He couldn't contain himself anymore and gave her another strong, powerful hug. Only this time, she immediately returned it with zero hesitations. All the while inhaling his scent. He smelled of flowers and an un-nameable smell she had smelled at the library several times.
Of course he smelled that way. He and Petunia had grown flowers in his backyard in the past, and he did work at the library.
After they hugged enough, he gave her one last smile and head pat before walking past her.
"Nice to see you again, Giggles." he told the pink chipmunk, giving her a quick hug as well.
"And thanks for convincing Flaky to let me stay." he whispered into her ear.
"You're welcome," she whispered back.
Flaky watched Flippy walk down the path leading away from her house and towards his own. She smiled and sighed in a twitterpated tone. And Giggles noticed it too, so, she gave Flaky a knowing smirk along with an elbow nudge.
"Hmm?~" she hummed smugly.
"W-What?" Flaky asked.
"Oh, nothing…" Giggles lied in a sing-song voice.
The pink chipmunk then stole a glance at her watch and saw the time.
"Oh, my stars; I have to get home! My mom was expecting me to be home 15 minutes ago." she exclaimed, straightening her bow.
"Ah, sorry for keeping you here longer." Flaky mumbled apologetically.
"Don't be, it was my choice and fault, not yours. Besides, it's no big deal, really." Giggles assured her friend in red.
"Then why did you make it sound like it was?"
"Oh, well, it is. For my mom anyway."
"How is Gigi, by the way?"
"Mm, she's good. I wanted her to come along, but she was busy with work."
"Ah, that's okay. But tell her I said hi, okay?"
Giggles nodded and gave her friend a quick hug goodbye before skipping away merrily.
Flaky chuckled and sighed contentedly. She had had a good birthday at last. And not only that; she had realized her hidden feelings for Flippy. Now, that isn't to say that she isn't scared of Fliqpy anymore. Quite the opposite, actually. She was still terrified of him beyond all belief. At the same time though, she pitied him. She only wished he could feel how everyone else feels. Or FEEL at all! Maybe then she and Flippy wouldn't have any obstacles between their love.
'Oh, well…' Flaky thought as she went back into her house. 'I guess it can't be helped. No one's love is perfect, I guess.'
Meanwhile…
Flippy was smiling like a complete doofus and humming "Crazy in Love" while bounce-walking down the path towards his house. He was happy and thrilled that he had Flaky back. It was only a matter of time, he thought.
"Just a matter of time…" he said out loud.
"Time 'till what? Time 'till you finally grow a pair and realize that you've been such a pansy this whole time?" a deep voice cut into his trance.
Flippy stopped in his tracks and looked beside him. He saw a transparent Fliqpy floating beside him. He was on his back with his arms behind his head, legs criss-crossed, and his facial expression appeared to be smug and annoyed at the same time.
"Well, well, well… Hello, Fliqpy." Flippy greeted his alter-ego rather cheerfully.
Since he was out on his own, unless you count Fliqpy which he, himself, didn't, he didn't need to talk to him telepathically this time around.
"How are you this fine evening?" Flippy continued as he proceeded to walk down the path again, Fliqpy floating along with him.
"Tsh, I'm pissed off. And why the hell are you being so nice and pleasant towards me? Usually you're saying fun things like "I hate you." or "Get out of my life, the war is over and I don't need you!" or "Shut up and leave me alone, you sick bastard." And now you're acting like we're old friends or some shit. What the hell is with that?"
Flippy shrugged his shoulders and jumped over a puddle.
"Dunno, I guess I'm just happy, is all." he added.
"Well, can you stop? It's making me sick." Fliqpy gagged.
"Stop what? Being happy or being nice towards you?" Flippy asked.
"Both! When you're happy and laughing like a girl, it makes my my fuckin' teeth hurt. And it's not natural for you to be nice to me. All this nicey niceness and happy sappiness is rotting my entire existence."
"So you're saying if I continue to be happy and nice to you, you'll fade away and stop existing?"
"In your dreams, Casanova…"
"Okay, first of all, you exist even in my dreams. Second, while the lovey-dovey part is true about me, I only have one girl I love like that and that's Flaky."
"If that's true, then why did you go on a date with the whore?"
"Huh? You mean Giggles?"
"Same difference."
"Firstly, don't call her a whore, secondly, I only did that to make myself feel better about Flaky. Because I thought she'd never wanna be with me. And the entire time I was on that date, I was trying imagine it was Flaky instead. And besides, Giggles can never keep a partner, because she truly loves someone else. She dates so many other people because she's afraid to tell her real crush that she loves her. We basically do the same things when it comes to the ones we love."
Fliqpy groaned and tried not to vomit.
"Love, schmove. It's all sissy stuff. … So then it's perfect for you!"
Well, Fliqpy had expected his good half to say something along the lines of, "I'm not a sissy!" and then he could have an argument with him for personal amusement. But Flippy never replied…
This upset him greatly.
He looked over at Flippy who was still wearing that dumb, cheesy grin. And his eyes were still shifted upwards at the sky. He was so twitterpated that there were practical toon hearts floating around his head.
Fliqpy tried numerous times to get his attention, but nothing worked. The evil bear was getting angrier and angrier by the minute. Finally, he figured out how to get his good half's attention. He smirked and chuckled darkly.
Flippy was still humming when he suddenly felt a sharp pain go through his wrist. He yelped and stopped in his tracks again. When he turned around to see what was going on, he saw Fliqpy digging his nails into his own wrist, making it leak blood. Transparent blood. Some of their senses were connected, so, if one of them got hurt, the other could feel that pain in their shared subconscious.
Flippy glared at his alter-ego and growled.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" he snapped.
"You wouldn't listen to me when I was trying to get your attention. I was talking to you!" Fliqpy answered.
"Um, I would hardly call "trying to start a fight with me for your own amusement" talking."
"Ugh, whatever…"
Flippy sighed and looked at Fliqpy's transparent wrist. It was still bleeding. He continued to stare at it until Fliqpy noticed he was doing so.
"What the hell are you looking at?" he sneered.
"Doesn't that hurt?" Flippy asked, pointing to the wound.
Fliqpy said nothing. He looked down at his wrist and then back up at Flippy. He did that a few times before ripping some cloth off of his own sleeve and wrapping it around his wrist.
"Tsh, why do you even care?" he said at last.
"Dunno," the green bear replied to the other one, "I guess it was just… Nevermind."
Fliqpy watched his good side curiously before shaking his head and regaining his persona.
"Ugh, you're such a pansy… Just keep going."
Flippy sighed.
"I'll only keep walking because I want to. Not because you told me to." he added to the sigh.
True to his word, he continued on the path leading to his house.
Later…
Flippy had arrived home and decided to get to bed. He was rather exhausted after all that partying. He removed his beret and coat and put them in a safe place. He opened his drawers and picked out a pair of pajamas.
"Why do you even bother to put PJ's on when you don't even have anything to cover up in the first place?" Fliqpy asked, floating on his back with his arms behind his head and his legs crossed.
"Because I feel uncomfortable sleeping without some kind of clothing on me." the good doppleganger answered as he pulled the green top on first. "Besides, these are really soft and comfortable for sleeping in."
He pulled the bottoms on as well and smoothed out his dark, lime green hair. He chuckled at how the bangs flawlessly swung as he strummed his fingers across them. He climbed into his bed and snuggled his legs under the covers. He looked on the side of his bed where there was a picture of him and Flaky standing side-by-side. Only they were grown-ups in this one. It was taken shortly after he came back from the war, so, he was still covered in bandages.
Chuckling, he kissed his index and middle finger then touched the picture where Flaky was.
"Goodnight, Flakes. I love you so much, and happy birthday." he whispered.
"Ugh, just shut up, you twitterpated wussy." Fliqpy groaned, taking a spot beside him on the bed.
The evil bear hugged his knees to his chest and put his head down so his face wasn't visible.
"Why should I? I'm happy and content."
"Because of that girl?"
"Yep,"
"And you love her with all your heart?"
"Yes… why?"
"Just making sure for next time."
"Next time? What do you mean, 'next time'?"
Fliqpy just grinned slyly and darkly.
"Next time you flip out and she's around, I'm not gonna knock you out in our subconscious. I'm gonna let you witness the process of how I'm gonna torture her!"
Flippy flinched slightly and glared at his alter-ego.
"Hm, what should I do? I know! I'll kidnap her and cuff her to the bottom of a bed and electrocute her like I did to you during our 'battle', then I'll cut her stomach open and pull out her organs. Starting with the heart, of course. So that way I can cut it in half. Oh, how 'heart-breaking' ey, Flippy?"
The aforementioned Tree Friend scoffed.
"Yeah, like I'm gonna let you do that."
"I know you will," Fliqpy continued to jeer, "Not willingly, of course, but still. You'll just fail to stop me like always."
"No I won't!" Flippy asserted. "Because I'm growing stronger from the love of my friends! Flaky, too!"
"You really think so?"
Fliqpy raised his eyebrows curiously.
"I know so! I can feel it and see it."
"Then you should for the novocaine to wear off, because you're clearly numb, and you should visit a proctologist to see if you can have your head removed from your own ass, because you're clearly blind."
Flippy stared at his alter-ego for a moment before chuckling lightly.
"Novocaine… Such a good song. I should've gone to see Fall Out Boy when they were here. I heard they died, though. But of course, they came back to life. I only hope that didn't scare them too much. I want them to come back another time."
Fliqpy had a quizzical expression on his twisted face. Flippy smirked in victory.
"Heh, whatsamatta? Surprise that what you said didn't affect me this time?" the latter teased.
Fliqpy didn't respond.
"I told ya; I'm getting stronger and more resistant! You won't win against me this time, Fliqpy." Flippy continued to cheer.
Fliqpy didn't want to admit it, but he was actually growing a bit nervous at this point. Usually, Flippy would snap after he insulted him. But this time, he went on a completely different topic. That NEVER happened before! Was he really becoming resistant?
'No! He's weak, and he'll always be weak!' the evil bear told himself, hoping Flippy didn't hear it.
Well, if he did, then he probably didn't care because he spoke nothing of it. He only looked over at the clock on his wall and yawned.
"Well, it's late, I better get some sleep." he told himself before turning to his doppleganger and saying, "And not that it really matters to me, but you should get some sleep, too."
"Why?" Fliqpy asked.
"Because you look like shit," Flippy replied, laying down and covering up.
"Just like always…"
Fliqpy's face flushed in anger and his yellow eyes shrunk.
"Oh, fuck you, Flippy!" he snapped.
Flippy chuckled playfully in victory and then sighed happily. He quickly drifted off to sleep and started snoring his adorable snore.
Fliqpy didn't lay down and sleep. He simply growled lowly and glared at the sleeping bear beside him. How dare he say such things to him? How dare he not react the way he wanted him to react? How dare he be immune to his mind games?
How. Dare. He.
"Tsh! This is merely an inconvenience. So enjoy this while you can, Flippy." Fliqpy cursed, clenching his fists, "Because it's not gonna last. I'll win against you just like always. I'll hold victory in front of you, just within your reach, and then snatch it away before you can grasp it. And soon, I'll take control of you permanently… Your friends lives will be mine to claim whenever I desire. And that includes your little "girlfriend". Just you wait…"
Fliqpy's lips curved into a smirk which then transitioned into an evil smile which soon molded into an even scarier one with his sharp, inhuman teeth.
Just… you… wait…
Done! I actually wanted to finish the whole story before posting it. It was a pain, but it was also worth it.
Shadow: Good job, Em! Now make sure you update your other stories too!
I will, I promise!
R&R!
