Life of a Little Red Porcupine Ch. 3
By Flaky Ciel
(Notes: Thanks everybody for the reviews and input! This chapter ends a little sad, just to warn you, but it'll get better in the end. I just hope I do well and the story turns out okay.)
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Flaky woke up with Flippy's arm around her while she was cuddling against him. She smiled and nuzzled against his chest, happily. They'd been together almost a week by then, and she was loving every moment of it. Flippy groggily woke up after her, and hugged her tighter to him. "Good morning, Flaky." He said, happily.
"Good morning." She responded, happily. They kissed and Flippy crawled out of bed, stretching. He went around and picked her up off the bed, carrying her despite the fact that she had got her cast off the day before. They were both practically walking on air for the past few days, basking in each other's affection. He set her down at the table and made sure she was comfy before getting breakfast ready. After they ate the two decided to relax on the couch in the living room, keeping each other company.
Flippy smiled, resting his head on top of hers. "I'm so lucky to have you…" He said.
"We're lucky to have each other." Flaky corrected. He chuckled a little bit.
"Yeah…" The bear agreed. They exchanged glances again. "You're so cute." He added, blushing. Flaky blushed deeper.
"Th-thanks, Flippy…" She said, "But I'm not really…"
He tilted his head, a little shocked, "Of course you are. Why would you say that?"
Flaky looked down, "Because… I'm just not. I mean, I have bad hair and bad dandruff... Plus people tell me all the time they can't tell if I'm a boy or girl…"
"Oh, don't be silly, Flaky." He told her, hugging and rocking her a little. "You're being too down on yourself. You look cute to me."
"Y-you really think so..?" She asked, shyly. He nodded and she smiled and hugged him tighter. "Th-thanks, Flippy…" She said. She'd always been a little concerned about her appearance, but if Flippy said she was cute it was good enough for her.
Flippy thought for a moment. "Flaky, would it make you feel better if we tried to do something about your dandruff?"
"Y-yeah, it would." She said, a little surprised. "My mom used t-to help my put shampoo in my quills, but I can't do it by m-myself…"
"Well, I could always help you with that then."
"Are you sure..?" She hesitated.
"Of course I'm sure. Come on, let's get a bath ready."
It was only moments later when Flippy had got the tub full and managed to get Flaky into it. She just watched him, anxiously as he went through his cabinets looking for a suitable shampoo. "You know, if we manage to get you cured of that dandruff your name isn't going to make much sense." He joked.
"W-well… my real name is R-Ruby…" She stammered.
"Aww, that's a pretty name." Flippy told her. She blushed at the compliment when he finally found what he was looking for. "Aha, this should do the trick." He said. "If not we can pick some stronger stuff up at the store later." Flippy poured some of the gel onto her head and the quills on her back, and then stopped, trying to think of how to actually was her quills without sticking himself with her admittedly ill-kept hair.
Flaky noticed his hesitation, but she wasn't exactly sure either. Flippy shrugged and started trying to lather the shampoo, instantly starting to wince in pain. Flaky just lowered her head, and gingerly started working on the top of her head, which was really the only part she could reach. A few moments went by with Flippy cringing and saying "Ow" every few seconds. Finally he couldn't take any more, since the shampoo was seeping onto his puncture wounds. "I'm sorry, Flaky…" He said, taking his hands away from her, which were covered in suds which were slowly turning red. "I just don't know how to do it."
Flaky sighed when he went to the sink to rinse his hands. "I'm so sorry, Flippy…" She said, tearfully.
"It's not your fault." He told her. "We'll figure it out somehow…" Flaky rinsed herself off, not seeing any point in trying it anymore. The tub was already full of loose flakes from her hair, and she'd get more by the end of the day anyway. Flippy splashed some water on his face, realizing the puncture marks in his hands were more serious than the thought. He shook his head and looked up, finding he had splashed blood on his face too.
"F-Flippy..?" The porcupine called, noticing his transfixion on his reflection. His eye twitched a little staring at his slightly bloodied face, until finally his other self started showing. Flaky gasped in horror and sunk down in the water as low as she could, already starting to tear up. Flippy whirled in her direction, laughing deviously to himself. She screamed as he grabbed her shoulders and shoved her underwater, chuckling manically. He pulled her back out after a few seconds and between coughs she yelled, "Flippy!" before he dunked her back down.
A few repetitions later Flippy was almost ready to drown her until he brought her back up, Flaky wailing like a scared child. "P-p-please! F-Flippy, d-don't!" She bawled. Something inside him snapped, and his twisted eyes started tearing up a bit.
"F-Flaky…" He choked in his deep voice. She slowly opened one eye, still breathing hard, to see him hug her closer to him. "Oh, God… Flaky… I-I didn't mean to…" He sputtered, his voice going back to normal in mid-sentence. She just hugged him and cried, softly.
"It's okay, Flippy…" She said. "I know you didn't mean it…" They were both pretty shaken by the event. That was the first time he'd lost it since they were together, and Flippy was horrified by the fact that his other self really could hurt her. Without saying much they got Flaky out of the tub and dried off,
Flippy still felt horrible, "I'm sorry, Flaky…" He told her again.
She just looked up, shyly, and said, "Don't worry, I'll still love you no matter what." Flippy smiled, slightly comforted, but he was still trying to think of a way to keep his other self from hurting her. "Besides, you stopped before actually k-killing me. That's a good sign, r-right?" She added.
"Yeah…" He sighed, seeing a good point. They shared another loving glance before it was interrupted by a knock at the door to the rhythm of "Shave and a Haircut." They looked at the door and then each other.
"I-I'll get that." Flaky offered. Flippy nodded and she went over to the door, cracking it open like she normally did.
"Flaky!" Cuddles yelled, gleefully. She laughed nervously and opened the door the rest of the way. "I heard you've been here all week! What gives?"
"W-well…" She started, "I've been living here with Flippy for a while. We're… together now." Cuddles stared at her vacantly for a moment.
"You mean you two… are lovers?" He asked, dumbfounded. Flaky blushed and nodded. Cuddles couldn't believe someone as timid as Flaky fell for someone as obviously unstable as Flippy. "B-but, HOW!?" He asked.
"I'm not sure… I-I just love him is all…" She defended.
"But he's a loony! If you set him off he'll kill you as soon as look at you! You should know, he's killed you plenty of times!" Cuddles blathered, flabbergasted. Flaky's eyes narrowed, shocking Cuddles into backing up.
"Shut up, Cuddles!" She yelled at him, hurt. "He's a sweet, caring guy and I don't care what you say about him!" Cuddles was actually shocked that he got Flaky to yell. That was the first time he'd ever seen her do that.
"Sorry, dude…" He apologized, "I'm just… I don't know, I guess I'm worried for you is all. I mean, it seems dangerous…" Flaky looked down, a little embarrassed for getting so worked up.
"Well, d-dangerous or not, I still love him, and he takes good care of me. If you're my friend, you'd be happy for me that I found someone who loves me like he does…"
Cuddles's expression softened and he put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course I'm happy for you. I guess I'm just a little shocked is all. We've been worried about you, anyway… Did you wanna go play with us at the park?" She looked back up, a little excited and worried at the same time.
"I-I dunno…" She said, uncertainly. Flippy walked up behind her, having been listening in the whole time.
"Go ahead, Flaky. It's been a while, hasn't it? You go ahead and I'll catch you in a few minutes, okay?" Flippy said, pretending not to be aggravated by Cuddles's words. Flaky nodded and Cuddles snagged her and headed off at a full run, dragging her along with him. Flippy sighed and walked back inside.
What was eating at him was that Cuddles really was right. He was dangerous to be close to. He dragged himself in front of the mirror and swallowed down a few aspirins. He looked into his mirror, focusing on his reflection, as if trying to summon his alter ego. It worked, though, as the horrific image of his dark side appeared. "Why would you do this to me!?" He hollered at it, instantly, his eyes tearing up. "Why would you try to hurt her!?"
"There's no room for love on the battlefield." It replied, snidely. "It's all about survival. We need to survive. Kill or be killed! You know that's how it worked!"
"There is no war anymore! The fighting's over!" Flippy snapped.
"The war's never over!" It defended. "There's always a fight for survival! It will ALWAYS boil down to this simple fact: If you don't kill, you'll be killed! HAHAHA!"
Flippy grabbed his head, frustrated, "God damn you! Can't you see I don't need to kill anymore!? That I don't need YOU!?"
It glared at him, offended by the idea. "You NEED me! If it weren't for ME, we'd be DEAD! And there was no coming back on that battlefield. You were to weak, too spineless to do what needed to be done! I saved us, and now you dare to tell me you don't need me anymore? Grateful bastard, aren't you?"
"Yeah, you saved me…" Flippy admitted, "But now you're taking everything from me!"
"What, love? HA! A soldier like us doesn't need love. The only thing that matters is surviving, and making sure that the enemy doesn't! And anyone who's a threat to our survival is an enemy."
"Leave me alone!" He screamed, starting to cry. "You're nothing! You're just in my head, so leave me be!"
"I AM you!" It yelled back, "I'm the only reason we're still alive! I'm all that is in you that had the balls to realize that it's either kill or be killed." Flippy broke down, sobbing. His reflection leaned forward, talking down to him, "You'll never get rid of me. I've become a part of you forever. We have a symbiotic relationship, you and I. You keep us housed, and I keep us alive."
"Why do you have to kill everyone!?"
"Because it needs to be done!" It bellowed, "And I enjoy every minute of it! And why shouldn't I? If I had to kill to keep us alive, I might as well enjoy it, hahaha!"
"Stop it! I can't take it, you can't hurt Flaky anymore!" He half-begged.
His reflection grinned evilly, "Oh, but I can. And I will. She's a threat to us. She's making you even softer than you already are, you unicorn-lovin' pussy! I won't let that happen. Ever." Flaky stood up and ran to his bedroom, going through his drawers and finally removing an army pistol from its contents. He ran back to the bathroom, threatening to shoot himself. "Oh, what? You're gonna kill yourself? What would that do? You'll just come back, along with me!"
Flippy dropped the gun, bursting into tears. "Why!? If you want us to survive so badly, why can't I have anyone!?"
"You have me. That's all you need." It told him, firmly. "You'll always have me. And if she means that much to you, you'd best keep me the hell away from her. She may keep loving you, no matter what I do to her, but I guarantee you she'll wish she'd stay dead! Mwahahahaha!"
Flippy collapsed onto the sink, crying. "I wish you had just let me die…" He sobbed.
"You don't mean that." It corrected him.
It was almost an hour later when Flaky got back with a black eye, but surprisingly otherwise unharmed. "Flippy? Are you okay?" She called. "You never showed up at the park…" She went into the bedroom to see him staring at his gun, his eyes red from crying. "F-Flippy..? Wh-what's the matter?" She ran over to him to hug him but he stopped her in mid-step.
"Flaky… I'm sorry…" He said, woefully.
"F-For what?" She asked.
"We… can't be together. You have to go home." He said, sternly, but unsuccessfully masking the sorrow in his voice. Flaky realized he was worried about his other self.
"B-but Flippy!" She protested, starting to tear up. "H-he can't kill me forever… I-I'd come back, and I'd still love you…"
"Flaky I can't do this. I just… I just can't…" He mourned. She started walking towards him again, but he suddenly pointed his gun at her, menacingly. But his eyes retained their black hue. "Flaky… I mean this… It's over…" She started tearing up more.
"B-but… I love you… and… y-you love me, r-right?" She asked, her legs shaking. Flippy stared at her eyes a moment before looking away.
"I can't…" He told her, coldly. She felt her heart shatter. Tears started flowing but she didn't make any noise. She just backed away from him, slowly. "Just… please, go home…" She backed out his front door and stared at it a few moments. Her legs didn't want to move even after he had closed the door on her.
She only stood for a moment more before she finally burst into a complete crying fit. She turned and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, back to her home. She bolted herself in, collapsing onto her bed, and sobbing uncontrollably, crying harder than she ever had since she had lost her parents. She curled up and cried herself to sleep, her thoughts dominated by memories of how much she thought they had loved each other.
Flippy sat back down on his bed and put his gun away, picking up the stuffed bear Flaky had left behind. He was crying hard now, too. He looked up at the bathroom mirror and stomped towards it, sobbing. His evil reflection leered at him. "I… I hate you… so much…" He said, crying and seething with rage.
"Hate. There's an emotion appropriate for a first-class soldier like us." It said, cruelly. It started laughing at him, with its evil and manic laugh. He raised his fist and smashed it into the mirror, shattering it. He dropped to the ground and covered his head, crying mournfully.