Taking The Plunge

Chapter Seven: The Proposal

Disclaimer: No galaxy can be said to own Wander. He travels through them all.

Woo! Chapter seven already! This story is so much fun to write, and apparently impossible to stop writing. It keeps getting me in a headlock every time I try to do other things. Including sleep sometimes, apparently.

And, why yes, all of my chapter titles for this story are innuendoes. Thank you so much for noticing. Wink!

Thank you to everyone reading the story. Thanks especially to those giving me feedback. It makes me so happy!

Without further delay, here we go!

Hater stood by the big eye windows at the front of the skull-ship, watching the approaching planet. He hadn't seen Wander for several days, not since that awkward breakfast in his private dining room. They had been traveling ever since. They were halfway across the galaxy now and all set to conquer the small blue and green world below him. This would be his first conquest after everything that had happened. He needed this to start climbing back to the top of the villain leader board.

According to Peepers, the inhabitants of Trasselonia were little winged lizard creatures that lived in treehouses. His commander was confident they wouldn't put up much of a fight. Hater wasn't worried about that. As he stood looking out of the windows at the planet below, hands clasped tightly behind his back, he told himself he wasn't worried about anything.

The last two days had been quiet, but long. Hater had taken to spending a lot of time alone in his room, playing video games or fiddling with his guitar collection with only Captain Tim for company. He normally liked to spend his off-hours by himself so he wasn't annoyed by scurrying Watchdogs and Peepers' incessant chatter, but this time it wasn't a pleasant kind of isolation, but more a retreat. When he was forced to be elsewhere in the ship, he found his mind wandering frequently. He had barely listened to Peepers' briefing this morning, not that that was anything new.

To tell the truth, at least inside his head, Hater felt caught in a bit of a limbo, floating in uncertainty between what had happened and what was going to happen, almost smothered in strange feelings and annoying thoughts he couldn't dismiss. Now they were all set to start conquering again, and he couldn't explain the dread he felt swirling through the spaces of his bones. Well, he supposed, he could explain part of it.

He might run into Wander on this planet.

Logically, Hater knew that Wander couldn't be on every planet he tried to conquer. It was a big galaxy and the nomad spent his time traveling constantly. He really could be anywhere. Still, Wander consistently seemed to beat the odds to show up wherever Hater was, just when it was most bothersome. His unfortunate timing seemed as much a part of the scruffy weirdo as his hat and banjo, and just as annoying.

Hater still hadn't decided how he should act if Wander was down there. Not for lack of trying either. The little fuzzy pest had hardly left his thoughts for the past two days. It seemed like everything he did now reminded him of Wander.

When he sat in his dining hall to eat his meals, his gaze would trail over the big empty room to where Wander had sat beside him on the table, and he caught himself wondering how the food would taste if Wander had cooked it instead of his commander. When he tried to distract himself by organizing the tools in his torture room, he remembered Wander giving him suggestions to make his doomsday special. Even when he snuggled up in his bed at night, he thought of Wander's weight as he sat beside the overlord on the bed. He remembered the wanderer holding his hand and those little, shy smiles he kept giving him that made his rips ache.

Wander had finally found a way to ruin Hater's life without him even being here. Wasn't that just typical.

Now, Wander was even ruining this for him. Hater normally enjoyed the moments before a conquest began. He would look down on the scurrying citizens, oblivious and happy, and anticipate the destruction his army was about to unleash. He would imagine the fear and despair that would overcome them when they learned it was the Lord Hater who had set his sights on their world. But now, he was all tied up in anxiety and stress, and all he could think about was Wander. Again.

Peepers had no idea; that was one thing Hater was thankful for. His third in command hadn't brought up what had happened at the destruction ceremony again and seemed content to move on and let things return to normal. He'd dismissed everything that had happened as yet another Wander related disaster. Hater was sure that Peepers knew he was distracted, and could tell that he wasn't sleeping well, and the watchdog had expressed concern several times, but Hater had shrugged him off. He didn't want to talk to Peepers about this. He just wanted it to stop. He wanted to enjoy being a galactic dictator without the scruffy nomad poking at his thoughts during every hour of the day. He'd hoped it would have gotten better over the last couple of days, but if anything, he felt more distracted now than he had before.

And the worst part about all of it, the part that kept Hater floating in that awful uncertainty, was that he still didn't want to kill the little pest.

Even now, even when he was short of sleep and tormented by memories of the fuzzy orange nuisance, thoughts of what would have happened if he hadn't saved Wander during the destruction ceremony gave him a sick feeling inside.

Forcing his thoughts out of their endless loop, he turned to where his commander was busily typing at the control panel, eye focused intently on the multiple view screens in front of him.

"Well Peepers," he demanded, letting some of his frustrations out in an angry growl. "When are we going to conquer these pathetic losers?"

"Uh, right away, sir!" Peepers turned to give his lord his full attention. "Just calculating the landing!"

"Well hurry up," Hater said dismissively, turning back to the windows. "Wanna get some conquering done today already," he muttered to himself, but loud enough so that Peepers could tell he was still annoyed. He heard his commander typing for another few seconds, then the skull-ship lowered ominously, casting its shadow over the greenery below. The tongue rolled out and Hater watched as soldiers began marching out to the sudden panic of the aliens below.

Peepers left his station with a salute, heading to the mouth to take command of the soldiers as he always did. Hater usually let them wreak havoc for a little while before he emerged himself, triumphant and gloating over the victory.

And that was when Wander would usually show up to play a game or sing a stupid song and ruin everything.

Hater peered down through the windows, the lamentations of the inhabitants coming to him faintly from below. He grimaced. This wasn't working. Where seeing the destruction his army was causing would usually make him feel powerful and in control, instead he just felt more anxious, the spaces between his ribs seeming to clench as he watched. He'd really hoped that once the conquering began it would make him feel better. It used to be his go-to when he needed a pick-me-up; to watch the pathetic aliens crumble under the heels of his army, to know he was the cause of their terror and despair. When had everything been turned around so much that he couldn't even enjoy the little things anymore?

Soon he was going to have to go out there as well, throw his weight around, gloat and listen as Peepers read out his list of demands and laws for the citizens. And suddenly he didn't want to. He just wanted to go back to his room and not come out again until everything was over.

He almost wished Wander Would show up. At least then he could stop waiting for him.

When the skull-ship lowered overhead, Wander was counting bottle caps. The trasselonians had a great love for everything shiny and colourful and tented to stud the insides of their tree homes with coloured pebbles, bits of glass, coins or anything else they could find. They did a lot of trading of their abundant natural resources for the little trinkets, although they were careful to only trade away renewable items, and not to damage their beautiful little world.

The trasselonian Wander and Sylvia were currently visiting had a fondness for bottle caps, and wanted to wallpaper the entire inside of her tree with them. She had been saving them for a long time for this purpose, and Wander was helping her to arrange them in patterns depending on colour and size. Sylvia had been helping as well, but she had trouble fitting in the room comfortably and had eventually gone on a walk to stretch her back out. She had promised to rustle up some grub for them all on her way back.

Wander paused in his organizing as a shadow fell over them, windows darkening. He poked his head out of the window and saw the skull-ship's tongue unrolling onto the branching root systems that covered the ground, Watchdogs marching down it like a trail of industrious ants.

Cautioning his companion to stay inside, he ducked through the door and scrambled along the branching boardwalks, heading for the unrolled tongue. Once Sylvia noticed the destruction, she should be able to handle the invading watchdogs. Wander would like to greet everyone as well, but he felt like he should really go and talk to Hater first. He wanted to know how the skeleton lord was doing after their breakfast a couple of days ago. Hater liked to make an entrance, so he would probably be inside the ship for at least couple of minutes.

Wander skidded to a stop, bending to help a group of trasselonians who had been trapped by a falling branch. He braced himself to take a little of the weight so the small creatures could pull themselves free.

He'd been thinking about Hater a lot since he'd last seen him. He was excited he'd get to see the overlord again so soon. He wasn't exactly sure what to expect after last time. Hater might be a little unsure about the change in their relationship and fall back on trying to destroy the nomad, and that was okay if he did. Wander had waited for Hater before, and he could again if that was what his friend needed. But he couldn't help hoping that Hater was finally starting to move past that a little.

That was part of why he wanted to talk to the overlord while he was still on the ship. He didn't want Hater to feel pressured to act a certain way because there were others around.

Inhabitants freed, Wander gave them a quick hat tip and a smile, and headed off once more.

He had to get to the ship quickly. There was one more thing he needed to do before he went to talk to Hater.

Well, time for him to get out there, he supposed. Hater turned away from the windows, heading towards the door and the elevator down to the mouth. If he didn't leave soon, Peepers would be all set to announce him, and it would be really awkward if he was late for his own intimidating introduction. It would undermine his reputation with the conquered ruler. Then Peepers would get frustrated and lecture him about the villain leaderboard again.

The overlord sighed as he reached for the button, activating the elevator. His restless sleep the night before left him feeling slightly droopy and he found himself wishing he'd thought to get Peepers to make him some coffee while they were on rout to the planet. He'd have to remember to get an early night tonight, though he wasn't sure it would help given the restlessness he'd been feeling lately.

There was a ding as the elevator doors started to slide open, and Hater took an automatic step forward before freezing, one sneaker suspended in the air.

"Hiya, Hater!"

The overlord let out a slightly strangled sound and had to fight the urge to backpedal. Apparently even when he was expecting the pest, Wander still managed to surprise him.

The orange traveler was standing in the elevator, grin lighting up his face. He was carrying two steaming mugs. He stepped smartly out of the elevator, set the mugs on a nearby table and caught Hater's arm as if to steady him.

Hater threw off the furry hands, moving back a pace and crossing his arms defensively.

"What are you doing here," he demanded, but was alarmed to hear his voice break into a squeak partway through and the question came out much less menacing than he wanted it to.

"Just stoppin' by." Wander didn't seem perturbed by Hater's dismay; when was he ever? "I wanted to see how you were doin', Hater. Mr. Peepers and the watchdogs looked a little busy, what with this whole invasion thing yer doing, so I thought I'd pop in an' see if ya had a minute to chat. I brought hot choc-olate." Wander said the last in a sing-song warble. He had retrieved the mugs from where he'd placed them and now held one up invitingly, wiggling it a little so the mini marshmallows bobbed inside.

Hater rolled his eyes, a displeased glare settling naturally over his face. Coco actually sounded kind of nice, not that he'd ever say so. Instead, he pinned Wander with the glare, trying to stare him down.

"You saw I was conquering the planet and didn't assume that I'd be busy too?" he growled.

"We-ell..." Wander drew the word out slowly. He was still offering the mug of coco to Hater, extending it further every now and then as though he thought the overlord hadn't seen it. "I noticed Sylvia was headin' that way, an' I figured they'd be busy for a while. Coco?" The mug was very close to Hater's face now. Wander wiggled it again. "It's got rainbow marshmallows!" he sang.

Hater snatched the mug. A little coco slopped out and the skeleton watched coldly as Wander dug a mop out of his hat and swiped it over the affected floor.

Hater turned away, refusing to acknowledge the nomad any more for the moment. He walked back into the observation deck and over to one of the eye windows. Looking down, he could see battalions of watchdogs attempting to rally before being sent flying by the zbornak's powerful blows. He really shouldn't be surprised.

It was frustrating to see his army reduced to punching bags yet again, and yet Hater couldn't help feeling slightly relieved. He had been dreading going through that usual rigmarole today. The idea that he'd rather stay here and drink coco with Wander of all people was disturbing so Hater pushed that thought to the back of his mind and resolutely ignored it.

He turned away again to find Wander beside him.

"Soooo?" The orange head tilted, Wander eyeing the overlord, with a sideways smile. "How is it?"

Hater had almost forgotten the mug in his hand. He felt like he'd be perfectly within his rights to dash the wretched thing to the floor so Wander would have to clean that up too. Instead, he took a small sip. It was delicious, of course.

Wander's smile widened if possible. He pulled himself up onto the control panel, sitting on the edge away from the buttons, and took a drink from his own mug. Hater didn't sit down, but he did relax the set of his shoulders, just a bit.

"Ya know, Hater, I'm real glad we ran into ya here."

Hater grunted in response, still radiating displeasure. Then he felt that maybe he should say something. He was tired of the nomad constantly steering these strange conversations. He took another slow drink of his hot chocolate, glancing over at Wander who was looking out of the window at the scene below.

"What are you even doing on this planet anyway?" he asked gruffly. Wander paused for a moment, seemingly surprised. Then his smile softened slightly. He looked down at his mug almost shyly for a moment before his eyes found Haters', smile back to Wander levels of manic joy.

"Well, Syl an' me were travelin' nearby," he started, orange fingers tapping on the handle of his mug. "An' we heard about this de-lightful li'l custom where the folks hereabouts have a tradin' festival an they play games an' dance an' jus' generally celebrate another year a' prosperity an' success. So, we came here fer the festival an' it was amazin'!" He paused for breath and it was only then that Hater realized he'd let Wander talk for far too long without an interruption. He struggled for something suitably disparaging to say.

"So, you've just been dancing and playing stupid games for two days then?"

"Exactly!" Wander took an enthusiastic gulp of his coco. "An' we found some folks who needed help 'round town. Nothin' too big. Though there'll prob'ly be some tidyin' to take care of tonight." He looked down at the destruction below them, and for the first time his smile lessened slightly.

Hater snorted, annoyed that Wander had referred to the havoc his army had caused so mildly. Then his thoughts ground to a halt and he shot a glance at the nomad. The destruction bothered Wander. The gently wilting smile and the slight heaviness in those big eyes was proof enough. It probably always bothered him when the overlord invaded a planet, especially because of his obsessive need to help everyone he came across. Logically Hater knew that. But he didn't usually see that hurt on the nomad's face and it was easy to forget that Wander was even capable of being bothered by Hater. And even now, when he could tell that the fear and pain below was hurting him, Wander didn't resent Hater for the pain he caused, or even seem to blame him for it. There was no accusation in his eyes, just sadness.

That thought gave Hater a strange feeling in his chest, an emptiness in the space behind his ribs. That face felt wrong on the normally ecstatic nutjob. It made him want to say something to take that look off of Wander's face so it would stop bothering him. He snorted, the unknown emotion showing itself as frustration.

"Yeah, well, you and your zbornak will probably 'fix' everything anyway. You always do." He didn't look at Wander after speaking, instead choosing to take another savage gulp from his mug. He heard the smile in the nomad's voice anyway.

"S'pose we will. Thanks, Hater."

"Whatever," Hater snarled. The weirdness of the conversation was starting to get to him. Why was it suddenly so easy to stand next to Wander like this. Only half a week ago he was trying his hardest to maim the little fuzzball. He couldn't stand the thought of Wander even existing, and just seeing the nomad filled him with rage. Now his presence was almost…normal. Hater didn't understand it. It was like some switch had been flipped in his brain and Wander had become, well, tolerable, he supposed.

"This has been really nice," Wander said softly. "Sittin' here with you, I mean." He looked down again to where the fighting had mostly stopped. Sylvia was dusting her hands off and most of the watchdogs were lying about in bruised piles. "Wish I didn't have to leave so soon."

"It's been…" Hater wet his suddenly dry mouth. "Something, I guess." Nice wasn't exactly the term he would use, but other adjectives failed him at the moment.

"Sure has." There was a bit of a laugh in Wander's voice, but it didn't sound mocking. It almost sounded nervous. And that was a little weird as well. Wander never seemed nervous around him, even when the overlord was inches from destroying him. Wander paused and Hater found his gaze drawn back to the little alien. He'd placed his empty mug on the instrument panel and was twiddling his thumbs together. "We should do it again sometime," Wander said after a moment. His smile was smaller now, eyes almost solemn, but with a hopeful light peaking through.

Hater felt off balance again, almost trapped in Wander's eyes. He should be angry at the very idea. He should laugh in Wander's face and tell the nomad that if he never saw him again it would be too soon. But, somehow, he couldn't do it. He didn't want to do it. Still not ready to deal with that, Hater settled on a complaint.

"You'll show up again no matter what I say," he accused, daring Wander to disagree.

"I'm sure we'll run into each other again," Wander said amiably, completely avoiding Hater's point. "But I thought, I don't know, we could make it official." His smile was brighter again now and Hater felt like he'd been backed into a corner. Wander didn't speak again, just continued smiling as he waited for an answer.

The overlord felt his own fingers tapping on his mug in distraction and stilled them with a conscious effort. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, words refusing to form.

"Fine," Hater said at last, practically forcing the word out through gritted teeth. He took a deep breath, refusing to look the little pest in the eye. "I will allow you to come back and visit me, provided you don't do anything too annoying." That at least left him some wiggle room if he didn't want to deal with the fuzzy nuisance.

"Gosh, Hater, that sounds swell!" Wander gushed. And Hater knew he meant it, despite the invitation being less than genial. "How's Friday work for you?"

"Friday?" Just like that, Hater was lost again.

"Yeah!" Wander bounced a little where he sat, coming dangerously close to a big red button on the control panel. "I could head on over an' we could do somethin' together."

Hater almost felt like he was drowning in this conversation. His ribcage felt painfully tight and he knew his cheek bones were heating up. He could only hope Wander hadn't noticed. It was with desperation for this whole thing to finally be over that he managed to choke out an answer.

"Fine!" He sputtered. "Just go, already. Isn't your violent bodyguard down there waiting for you or something?"

Wander didn't answer. He sat there for a moment, eyes wide, moist pools, as his smile stretching to nearly blinding level. Then he suddenly flung himself from his seat and Hater felt those familiar arms wrap tight around his waste. Hater froze for a second at the contact.

"Get off of me!" he screamed when he found his voice, horrified to find his face heating up even more. Wander gave him one more squeeze, then complied.

"Sorry, sorry," he said with another little laugh. "I know I get a li'l carried away. I was jus' excited. I can't wait! See you soon, Hater!"

The mortified overlord watched as Wander skipped to the elevator, giving a final little wave as the doors closed on him. He had no idea what had happened.

A few minutes passed as Hater stood, stuck starting at the now closed elevator doors. Now that the nomad was gone, his brain seemed to start working again and he sat down weakly in a padded chair. Oh Grop! He had just invited Wander over to the skull-ship this coming Friday. Why in all the galaxy had he done that? It was like the little alien had him under some kind of magic spell which…wasn't possible, right? That wasn't something Wander could do. It probably wasn't something he could do. Hater groaned, dropping the mug he still held so it smashed on the polished floor. He dropped his head into his hands. What was he going to do now? How could he possibly explain this, to himself let alone anyone else. And, even worse…

What was he going to tell Peepers?

Hater's having a rough time this story, isn't he? Poor guy's really confused.

And yes, Wander was on this planet as well. Why would he be anywhere else? We didn't get much from Wander's point of view this chapter. We will probably get some more insight into his thoughts next time. And poor Sylvia and Peepers got sidelined again. Apologies for that. They should get some more page time next chapter as well.

I will be getting pretty busy starting next week, so my updating pace will likely slow down, but I will keep going. These stories are my happy place and I have so much more to share.

See you soon!