Chapter 7 Friendship Woes

"And so then, she leaped off the roof…" Larry shook his head, closing his eyes as he focused on the image of Fiery Tempest leaving him all alone. "It was weird. I mean…" he hesitated, trying his best to figure out how to word this point. "We shared a genuine moment. We were bonding and all that stuff. And I don't like how it ended so… abruptly."

Wendy smiled as she picked up her eyeshadow brush and dabbed at her eyelid. "To be fair, good moments never do seem to last that long." She giggled. "Your birthday, for example; you spend the day celebrating, being placed on some sort of special pedestal for the day. And then… the day's over. You're no longer the birthday girl/boy, and everything goes back to normal."

Larry frowned. "Y… yeah." He shifted in his seat. "I get what you mean, but I don't know if that's a perfect metaphor." Wendy raised an eyebrow at him through the mirror. "You expect your birthday to end. You know exactly when it does, and you do your best to make good use of the time that you have because you know that it's going to end exactly when you expect it to. This?" Larry shook his head. "No. It ended way too quickly, and it just left me feeling unsatisfied."

Wendy snickered. "Well… get used to that feeling." She put her eyeshadow brush down and picked up her tube of mascara. "A lot of life involves you being unsatisfied. It's pretty much a guarantee."

A growl built up in Larry's throat, one that he had to use all his self-control to keep from coming out. "Well, it's a sucky guarantee! I don't like it! I don't like it one bit!" He paused for a second before sighing and sinking deeper into his seat. "I want… I want Fiery Tempest to be comfortable around me. I mean… I'm comfortable around her, that's for sure."

Wendy chortled. "Larry and Fiery, sitting in a tree…"

"Oh, shut up!" Larry sprung up from his seat. "That's not what's happening at all!" Wendy's laughs grew louder. "I'm serious!"

"Sure you are, buddy." She picked up a tube of ruby-red lipstick and began applying that.

All the while, Larry let out a huff. "I mean… I don't really see Fiery Tempest like that. Why would I? I don't know anything about her! I don't know her name, what she's like, or where she's from. The only thing I do know about her is the fact that she and her friends are going through some sort of rough patch."

Wendy blinked. While she didn't say anything, she did start to look a little uncertain, like she was questioning a lot of things. This wouldn't be the first time; when Larry had been explaining to her what Fiery Tempest had said about her personal life, Wendy had looked the exact same way that she did now. Larry hadn't really paid that look a second thought, thinking that it wasn't important in the grand scheme of things. But now, seeing it a second time…

"What's wrong?"

Wendy hesitated, with Larry studying her expression in the mirror. Her mouth was open as if she was right on the cusp of speaking her mind and saying what exactly was bothering her. The suspense that this moment caused pushed down on Larry, creating an experience that was right on the border of unbearable. It didn't help that the silence dragged on and on, and Wendy didn't seem any closer to finding the right words to express her thoughts and feelings.

Eventually, Wendy shook her head. "It's nothing." She put her lipstick down, and gave herself one last look in the mirror, before turning back to Larry. "How do I look?"

"You look fine," Larry said quickly. Wendy's eyebrow scrunched up, prompting Larry to add to his statement. "Of course, I'm clearly not the person you're trying to impress."

Wendy's features softened back up. She looked back into the mirror, studying the colors she had put on the various parts of her face. "Y… yeah." She cringed a little. "I just hope she's not going to think it's weird."

"She's your friend, Wendy. Even if she does think it's weird, she's not gonna bash you for it."

"I know, I know. I just…" She let out a shaky breath. "Man, my heart is racing right now…"

For the first time since he had sat down in his sister's room, Larry noticed that Wendy was sweating. She looked at herself in the mirror in ways she didn't normally, almost as if she wanted to reach through the glass and slap the girl on the other side. In fact, she ended up doing something similar; she slapped herself across the face multiple times. She muttered something under her breath, something that Larry wasn't able to catch completely. However, he did catch some of it, mostly the words "it'll be okay," and "stop worrying." And even though he wasn't one to get all mushy, gushy, and supportive, Larry knew that he couldn't just let Wendy stand around stewing in high-strung anxiety.

"Wendy, it's going to be okay. I know it will. Peppy is your friend. I know it's been a while since you've seen her, but that shouldn't make a difference. I'm positive she still likes you. I mean, Stormy still likes you, if the phone conversation you had with her is any indication." He smiled. "There's no reason to stress out about this."

Wendy turned away from the mirror, staring into Larry's face with wide-eyed surprise. She eventually smiled, laughing as though she had all her emotional baggage shaven off of her and thrown into the garbage.

"Since when are you so nice?"

Larry snickered. "Well, I can't be snarky and mean every second of the day. It gets boring after a while." He walked over to her. "Just… just be yourself around her. You don't have to put on any fancy acts. She likes you, Wen. Any problems you might have with her will get easily resolved."

Wendy's smile grew warmer. She patted her little brother on the shoulder, and her eyes shined with such a rare form of gratitude. As much as he wouldn't want to admit it, Larry liked seeing Wendy feeling this way. He really should be nice to people more often if this was the result.

"Thanks, Larry." She patted him once again. "I'm sure your problems with Fiery Tempest will get easily resolved too."

Larry let out a breath. "Well… that's the hope." He looked toward the door. "Come on; let's go they should be here shortly."

"Yes. But first…" Wendy reached into the drawer of her vanity table and pulled out a blonde wig. Larry watched her put this on, surprised by how much her face lit up when it was on her head. "Ah yeah, that is so much better."

"Uh… dare I ask…?"

"Well, I liked having hair when we got turned into humans. It was so cute, and it made me look so pretty! I kind of miss it, so…"

Larry slowly nodded. "Um… I see." He turned his attention back. "Anyway… let's get going."

…

About half an hour later, Wendy and Larry waited near the castle doors. Larry didn't really need to do this, all things considered. Peppy wasn't his friend. Heck, he didn't even really know her that will to begin with. Sure, it sucked that she felt like a third wheel when it came to hanging out with Stormy and Lilac, but as horrible as this sounds, Larry wasn't particularly emotionally invested in her plight. Sure, that was an awful thing to say, but again, he barely knew her! And honestly, Larry wasn't even one hundred percent sure why he was staying with Wendy.

Okay, that wasn't entirely true. Larry wanted to be there for his older sister. Yes yes, that was corny to say, but given how Wendy's nerves were acting up at this particular moment, he figured it was necessary. He was going to be an emotional anchor for her, and he was going to be there in case her anxiety reached too high levels.

So, they waited. Every once in a while, Wendy pulled out her phone to see how close Peppy actually was. Even with that, it seemed like her impatience was building up. Heck, Larry himself was growing really impatient, as he wondered what could possibly be holding this girl up. Right as he was about to do the classic impatience move and start groaning in some of the lowest, most annoying ways possible, Lemmy came riding by on his circus ball.

"Hello, beautiful people!" He did a flip, balancing on his left hand as he tried to maintain his balance on the ball. "What might you be doing on this lovely day?"

Wendy hesitated, squirming so much that it ignited Larry's own nerves. "Just… just waiting for Peppy to come by."

"Ooh, cool!" Lemmy flipped into the air, spinning around about three times before landing back on his beloved ball. "That sounds like it'll be fun."

Wendy played around with a lock of hair from her wig. "Y… yeah."

Lemmy blinked. He looked ready to ask what was bothering Wendy, but Larry answered before he had a chance. "Wendy's a little apprehensive about this, given how it's been a while since she saw Peppy."

"Oh. I see." Lemmy giggled as he rolled up to Wendy and took hold of her hand in his. "Well, I'm sure things will go by smoothly. There's no need to stress about this, Wendy."

Wendy blinked before chuckling a little. "Larry told me the exact same thing a little while ago."

"Well then, I guess that's all the confirmation you need to know it's sound advice!" Larry said. Wendy stuck her tongue out at him and looked back at the door, noticeably looking a smidge less anxious about this whole meeting. Just a smidge.

"Ooh!" Lemmy exclaimed. "I just had a thought!" He bounced a little on his ball; not too high that he rose into the air, but definitely high enough for his excitement to be noticeable. "Maybe I could show Peppy my new superhero comic!"

Larry blinked before snorting. "Are you talking about Moo Man?"

"Yep!" Lemmy exclaimed without missing a beat. "It's the perfect thing to do! I mean, who doesn't love Moo Man?"

Larry and Wendy exchanged a look, all while the former was having trouble deciding if he wanted to laugh or roll his eyes. "Well… considering that it's a pretty… out there idea…"

"Oh, I know it's 'out there,' but what does that have to do with anything? I think the fact that it's such an out-of-the-box premise makes it unique! It gives it its own brand of charm." Lemmy laughed. "And I think the comedy would really enhance the drama that I want to include in the stories."

Larry raised an eyebrow. "Really? Drama? For Moo Man?"

"Yep!" Lemmy was beaming at this point. "I want to have Moo Man go through this sort of existential crisis. After all, he's the only intelligent cow to ever exist! He's on a whole different level from the cows he used to grow up with! And now, he has to…"

"Stop stop stop!" Larry said. He looked Lemmy right in the eye, not knowing whether he should laugh or cringe. "Do you even hear yourself? Don't you realize how stupid of an idea that is!"

These words didn't have the effect on Lemmy Larry was expecting. Instead of cringing and coiling back, he just chuckled and did another flip on his circus ball. "There's no such thing as bad ideas. Only bad execution."

Larry snorted. "Right." He looked at Wendy, who looked just as taken aback by this whole thing as he felt. However, he didn't really know what else there was to say, especially since Lemmy was pretty dead set on making this bizarre premise for a comic become a reality. So, he just stayed silent, keeping his eyes entirely on the door.

A good thing too, as no less than five minutes after he did, the doors opened. The hammer bro guards pushed the doors apart, and in walked Peppy Pequena. She had her orange hair done up in a high ponytail, and her eyes sparkled with delight when he saw Wendy.

"Wendy!"

"Peppy!" Wendy exclaimed. She rushed forward and gave her friend a hug, one that Larry noticed was extra squeezy than some of Wendy's other hugs. She looked like she never wanted to let go.

"Oh, I missed you so much, Wen!" Peppy pulled back. "Nice wig!"

"Thanks! I'm glad you like it!" Wendy curled a strand of her hair back before gesturing for Peppy to come in. "Well, don't just stand there! There's so much we have to do!"

"Right." The two girls walked into the castle with the doors closing behind them. Larry and Lemmy watched them, with Larry not knowing for certain what the best thing to do was. Thankfully, Wendy turned toward Larry before she vanished out of sight.

"Well, come on, guys! No reason to stand there when you can participate in the activities I've set up!"

Larry and Lemmy both let out a breath before following after Wendy and Peppy.