Learning To Swim
Chapter Two: The Talk Part Two
Thank you to everyone who read and commented on the first chapter, and to my returning readers from Taking The Plunge. I really appreciate everyone who is reading, and I love hearing what you think of my stories.
Hater has done his best to tell Peepers some of what he and Wander have been up to. Now it's Wander's turn to confide in Sylvia. Hopefully there will be a little less yelling.
Bit of a jump back in this chapter. Wander and Sylvia are having their talk shortly after leaving the fair.
Lord Hater was the greatest in the galaxy. Truly. Wander felt like he'd known that for a long time.
Oh, not for any of the reasons he claimed to be the greatest. Not for his army or the planets he conquered. Not for the way he frightened folks and forced them to obey him. And not for his lightning powers, although they were all cool and flashy. No, instead it was because of all the little parts of the skeleton lord that he tried to keep hidden. It was because of Hater's sensitivity that made him feel things so strongly and the creativity he showed when he made up dances to himself or spun a story. It showed in Hater's protective nature that came out occasionally, when he actually let himself feel for his subordinates and help them. It was there in the kindness and care he showed to Captain Tim, and the delight he had when playing with the arachnamorph. Wander saw it in the enthusiasm that lit up Hater's face whenever he was exploring or talking about something he was interested in. It was in the way he held himself when he thought no one was watching, when he could unwind and just be himself. And it appeared in his face whenever Wander could surprise a smile out of the skeleton lord, every time Hater had gotten distracted and forgotten that Wander was supposed to be his enemy, when he was caught up in their games and activities, and whenever he was genuinely enjoying himself.
And Wander had noticed that Hater didn't exactly know just how great he really was. He had a lot of insecurities that made it hard for him to truly express himself or to relax and just have fun. In fact, he often acted like he couldn't have fun unless he was hurting others or putting them down. He thought he needed to make others hurt to make himself feel good, and pull himself up by pushing others down. He didn't get to enjoy a lot of things he genuinely wanted to do because he was worried about his reputation or about other people judging him, and he always tried to project an image of himself he felt others would admire or be intimidated by, rather than showing them who he really was. He was always trying to get people to fear him, as though he'd decided that was the only way to get respect and attention, and his rules for his conquered planets were all very telling, demanding that they watch his T.V. show, read his book and become fans of his band. And he was so desperately lonely. He was always pushing others away even when he needed their support and company. It was almost as though he'd forgotten how to reach out to others and let them in. It made Wander's heart ache inside his furry chest to think about.
But when Hater was motivated; when he truly set himself to accomplishing something, he was just amazing, and Wander was always blown away by the result. Those were the times that filled him with admiration for his friend. He hoped that someday Hater would see how great he truly was, and then he would finally be happy and loved and supported by those around him.
And then he wouldn't need that villain mask anymore.
It had been a long road, but Wander felt like Hater was starting to take the first steps down the right path, and it would only be a matter of time before he ended up in the right place.
He'd tried to support Hater through it all; give him a friend to listen to him and be there for him through everything. Someone who wouldn't judge him and who'd be by his side the whole way, even when Hater hadn't wanted him there. Even when Hater had been violently opposed to having him there. Wander hadn't minded. He hadn't wanted to force Hater to change, but he wanted to be there to help him when he was ready to. That was what friends did, after all.
He'd been delighted in the days after the destruction ceremony when Hater had finally stopped trying to destroy him and actually started to enjoy their time together. He'd felt a little bad when he saw how uncomfortable and nervous Hater was, but he'd figured that would fade away once the skeleton got used to being friends with him. But even then, Wander would never have predicted what happened at the fair. He still felt like he was floating every time he thought about it, and little giggles kept rising up from inside him like bubbles bursting with glee. It still felt like a dream, but he'd never had a dream that realistic before.
Besides, whenever he glanced over at Sylvia and saw her concerned face, he was reminded that it hadn't just taken place inside his head. (The Sylvia in his head had been throwing confetti all night.)
"So, buddy." Sylvia's voice was neutral, but with that energy to it which meant business. "Can't help but notice you haven't said anything. You gonna finally tell me what happened back there?"
Her crisp voice jolted Wander out of his meandering thoughts and he smiled sheepishly at his friend.
"Sorry, Syl. I didn' mean ta keep you waitin'. Ya wanted to know what Hater an' me were doin', right?"
"Yes, I do." They were sitting side-by-side on the far side of the planet from the fair, looking out at the endless stars. It was pretty late in the evening now, but Sylvia had insisted on hearing the story before they turned in. Not that Wander minded. He was bursting to talk about everything, even if it did feel like his thoughts were all tumbled up in his head still. He hadn't really had time to sort through them and put them in any kind of order yet.
Now Sylvia swung her neck around, bringing her face close to Wander's so he could see her sober expression.
"You really worried me tonight, Wander. I didn't know where you'd gone. I wasn't even sure you'd come to this planet until I did some detective work, and then I couldn't find either of you at fair. I didn't even know whether you'd gone to the diner at first. Then I saw Hater back behind those trees and I thought…I didn't know what to think," she finished. "And you were acting so weird. You still kind of are." She looked at him levelly. "What were you doing hiding back there? And if old bonehead wasn't trying to hurt you, than what was he doing?"
Wander twiddled his thumbs for a moment as he collected his thoughts. He was sorry he'd worried Sylvia again. He really should have let her know he was changing the plan. He supposed he'd gotten carried away again planning something fun for Hater and him to do together. He really would have to try to keep his friend more informed in the future. At the same time though, he could still feel tiny trills of joy careening around inside him. They didn't seem to be subsiding, and he had to tamp down on his smile so that Sylvia would know he was answering her seriously.
"Well, we weren't exactly hidin', leastways not on purpose," he started. "I think Hater wanted a break from the crowds. He really opened up tonight, ya know? He even played some games with me an' we had so much fun! But I think it was all takin' a toll on him a li'l. He's not used to spendin' time with other folks. Sooooo, when we stopped fer a bite ta eat, he picked a table off in the corner ta give himself a break." Wander pause for a moment, giving Sylvia a glance to make sure she was with him so far. She looked a little confused, but she gave him an encouraging nod when he looked her way and Wander pushed himself to continue.
"I'm real proud of him fer comin' out tonight," he said thoughtfully. "I know it was tough for him ta leave his own head." In both senses of the word. "So, we were sittin' there, enjoyin' the ambiance, ya saw how nice the place was, but then we sort of got interrupted." Wander paused again, trying to sort through the events of the evening. He didn't want to leave out anything important. He knew Sylvia would be a little surprised about what had happened between him and Hater, and he wanted to make sure she understood, even if he wasn't certain he did yet.
"What kind of interruption was it?"
Good old Sylvia, helping him stay on track as usual.
"Well, there were these little 'uns, an' I guess they were havin' some kinda disagreement. They came runnin' out an' knocked us over an' well, I s'pose that's what got it started, unless it was already somethin' he was thinkin' about…."
Wander trailed off at that thought. How long had Hater been feeling this way? Now that he thought about it, Hater had seemed a little skittish around him ever since the destruction ceremony; a little shy and uncertain, and even embarrassed. Wander had just figured it was because the friendship thing was new to the skeleton lord and he wasn't sure how to act, but maybe there'd been more to it then that.
Hater had kissed him. Wander's face felt warm again as that thought trickled through him. It had been the last thing he'd expected. Hater had always been pretty clear that he liked the ladies, and Wander had realized long ago that he'd only ever be a friend to the overlord. And that had been fine! Really! Wander had wanted to be what Hater needed, and Hater clearly needed a friend. He was so lonely all the time. And Wander loved being Hater's friend, even when the overlord was trying to destroy him. And it had been even better over the past week. They'd had fun together and gotten to know more about one another and it had been really nice. Wander had always had fun with Hater, but now Hater was having fun with him too. It was all he'd wanted.
Well, maybe he had always enjoyed hugging Hater just a little more than he did when he hugged his other friends, and maybe the overlord stayed in his head a little longer after their encounters, but that was okay too. He'd long ago resigned himself to keeping those thoughts in his head. He'd be the friend Hater needed. His buddy didn't need to know about anything else.
Even now, he could hardly believe the kiss had happened, or the fact that he was pretty sure Hater had been going to do it again before Sylvia and Mr. Peepers had arrived.
Sylvia!
Wander looked sheepishly over at his friend. He was supposed to be telling her what had happened. It seemed like Hater hadn't really wanted him to, but Wander couldn't lie to his friend. He was sure Hatey would understand.
Staring up at Sylvia's eyes, Wander was surprised to see concern there rather than impatience over his stalling. Right, she was probably still worried about him.
"What got started?" Sylvia prompted again when he looked her way. Wander hugged his knees as that giddy feeling swept over him again. He breathed in and out to steady himself. Those giggles really didn't seem to be going anywhere.
"Tell ya the truth, I wasn't really expectin' anything like it, an' 'm not sure he was either," he managed after a moment. "An' I think it might've been his first time doin' anything like that. He seemed a little embarrassed, which you saw." He gave a deep, contented sigh, hugging his arms close around himself. "I still can't quite believe it. I really didn't think we'd ever…" He trailed off again, sudden heat growing in his cheeks, causing his fur to prickle.
"Woah, buddy, back it up!" Sylvia leant over again, resting a hand reassuringly on his shoulder. "You're not making any sense. Tell me what actually happened. Anyone would think Hater'd kissed you or something the way you're going on." The zbornak's voice was incredulous, and Wander was pretty sure she meant it as a joke, but he couldn't stop the slow smile from spreading across his face until it wrapped around him from ear to ear. Sylvia froze for a moment, eyes staring, and then she was waving her hands in front of her face, backing up slightly. "No, no, no, no, no! That's ridiculous. There's no way Hater would…that!"
"I know, right!?" Wander hugged himself tighter. He felt as though he might burst with joy at any moment. "Can you believe it?"
"No. No, I can't believe it." Sylvia leaned close again, hands on both of his shoulders so he had to meet her gaze. "Seriously, buddy, what happened?"
"Exactly what you said!" It was hard to talk with his grin this wide, but Wander couldn't seem to control it. It just kept happening all on its own. "First I hugged him, an' then he kissed me, and it was amazing!" He beamed up at Sylvia, trying to share his happiness with her. He knew this was a little unexpected, but he was really hoping she would be able to see things from his perspective. She still looked a little stunned, so Wander hastened to provide some more context. "I really didn't think he liked me that way, but I ain't complainin'!"
Sylvia seemed about to say something, but she paused, blinking at him. Her mouth kept opening and closing, but no noise came out.
Well, maybe it would take a little while for Sylvia to get comfortable with the idea. Wander knew she still thought of Hater as an enemy, and she hadn't even really gotten used to the idea that he and Wander were friends yet. She had still been worried about him when he went to meet up with Hater last time.
Meanwhile, Wander would answer any other questions she had as best he could. He had a feeling it would be a while before they got to bed, but that was okay. He didn't think he could sleep for a while in any case.
Sylvia blinked at Wander. She felt a sudden sense of vertigo sweep over her. Wander wouldn't lie to her, she knew that. Especially not about something like this, yet her mind refused to process the information it had been given. She opened her mouth to say something a couple of times, but found herself closing it again.
She didn't know what explanation she'd been expecting for the odd scene she'd walked in on, but it hadn't been this. Wander's description of the evening had been a little hard to follow, but once she'd understood what he was saying, it seemed harder to accept than all the half-formed ideas her own mind had supplied. She had to try to make sense of the events, to figure out what was actually going on here. There had to be more to it than what had been said. She tried to sort through the information in her mind, to put it into some kind of order she could understand.
It was one thing for Wander to have a crush on Hater. She could kind of accept that. She'd never really thought about it before, but it did make a certain type of sense. Her little buddy was friendly with everyone, but with Hater, well, he certainly seemed overly fixated on the skeleton lord to the point that sometimes she had to practically drag him away. He was always over the moon after 'visiting' the overlord, even when Hater had spent most of the visit trying to kill him. Sylvia was always having to rescue him from the skull-ship, and half the time she wasn't sure whether he'd been captured or he'd gone there on his own. Then there were all the times when Wander had kind of seemed like he was flirting with Hater, and how hands-on he got with the skeleton sometimes.
In any case, Wander's feelings were pretty clear at this point. Sylvia just had to glance his way to see how overwhelmingly happy he was after what had happened. She didn't really understand wanting to spend any amount of time with the big galactic crybaby, but she supposed she could accept that Wander did, right from their very first encounter with the overlord.
And she could maybe, eventually, come to terms with the idea that Hater didn't want to kill Wander any more. He'd certainly been a little less zappy tonight, based both on what she'd heard from the vendors at the fair, and from the brief scene she'd witnessed at the diner. There had certainly been something going on between them, from Hater's glowing green cheekbones to Wander's dazed look and ruffled fur. She hadn't known what to make of it at the time, and she still found herself hesitant to accept Wander's account of what had happened, though she had to grudgingly accept that there probably had been a kiss, whether it had happened exactly the way Wander had said or not.
In any case, one thing Sylvia knew from experience was how persuasive Wander could be, how relentlessly happy and cheerful and friendly he was. He would be your friend even while you were trying to capture or kill him, and he didn't give up until you were friends with him back. And she'd seen a fair few people won over by Wander, including more than one terrifying, carnivorous immensepede. So, she supposed Hater might eventually come around, although she hadn't been entirely convinced it had happened yet. She felt like she still needed a little more evidence on that front, even with Wander's assurances and what she'd seen earlier.
The idea that Hater might like Wander though…that just seemed like a bridge too far. How did you go from wanting to torture somebody to wanting to kiss them, all over the course of one week? It seemed impossible. And she could definitely imagine Wander misinterpreting something Hater had done and acting on it. The little nomad easily saw the best in others; too easily sometimes.
Wander was so happy he was nearly vibrating in place. The giddy joy steaming off of him was practically giving her a headache. She didn't want to dampen that dazzling smile, but she needed to clarify a few things and figure out what had actually happened.
"Wander, buddy," she started, pulling him close so her nose almost touched his. "It's not like I don't believe you or anything, but…really? Hater kissed you? On purpose?" Wander nodded so fast his face blurred briefly. Sylvia frowned. That wasn't particularly helpful. "But do you think maybe you might have read a little too much into things?" she offered as gently as she could. "I mean, this is Lord Hater we're talking about."
"No, Syl, you gotta believe me." Wander's giant smile shrank a little finally, but it wasn't from doubt. He moved even closer, wrapping his arms around Sylvia's neck so he was looking up at her in the starlight. "I know you like to be a doubty-doubterson, an' I know sometimes you're right an' ya need to real me in a little, but ya weren't there with us tonight. Hater was hurtin', and I didn't know why, so I figured the leas' I could do was give him a big ol' hug an' try to comfort him a little. An' it actually seemed ta be workin' a bit. He didn't even push me away." Wander paused briefly, smile softening. He gave Sylvia's neck a little extra squeeze. "An' then he kissed me. He seemed a li'l shy about it afterward but, well, I kinda think he wanted ta do it again." His grin spread wide again as he looked hopefully up at her.
For what seemed like far too often lately, Sylvia found herself unsure what to say. Wander was sure about this; really sure. And he was right; Sylvia hadn't seen much of what had happened tonight, though not for lack of trying. It looked like she was going to have to take Wander's word for everything, much as the thought of Hater locking lips with her little buddy bothered her. It bothered her a lot, actually, and not just because she couldn't imagine it happening.
Sylvia did not like Hater. The way she looked at it, he was pretty much a spoiled brat who beat up on others to make himself feel big, like a lot of the other planetary conquerors they ran into. And even if she found out that he actually did like Wander, she wasn't sure she could accept that.
She didn't trust Hater, she didn't like Hater, and she'd seen precious little evidence of him turning over a new leaf. Gob, he was probably out there right now planning to conquer another planet.
Wander was still smiling up at her, and she felt her face soften unwillingly at that smile, just as it always did. What was it about her buddy that he could always make her smile, even when she was feeling this bothered and confused?
"Okay, Wander. I'll take your word for it. I just want to make sure you're not going to get hurt." She gave him a squeeze back, enjoying the closeness. Zbornaks didn't do a lot of hugging, and Sylvia hadn't really been a touchy-feely kind of person before she met Wander. Then again, she'd been a lot of things she wasn't proud of before meeting Wander.
"Thanks, Sylvia," Wander murmured into her neck. She could feel his smile against her skin, the happiness radiating out of every part of him.
Oh, buddy. Why do you always have to cause chaos wherever you go, and bring me along for the ride.
At least that ride was usually pretty fun.
Bottom line was, this was going to take a while for her to get used to, but she was always going to support Wander. She'd just have to take this thing one day at a time for now. And they'd still have to be careful, even if Hater had really kissed Wander, and really meant it. He and Peepers were still villains. It wasn't like they'd even called for a cease-fire or retired their bounty on Wander. At any rate, the next time Wander went off to meet with Hater, Sylvia knew that she was tagging along, no matter what. She needed answers, preferably from a slightly different perspective, much as she loved her buddy.
She was going to talk to Hater. She'd hear what he had to say, and the ladies would help her provide him with some incentives if he didn't want to talk. She would find out the truth of this, one way or another.
And if this turned out to be some trick to mess with her little buddy's emotions or break his heart, she would take Hater apart, and he wouldn't be getting back together again. She promised herself that.
Hater and Wander both agree he's the greatest. Just for different reasons.
I hope you enjoyed Wander's explanation of the evening. He's very happy right now. I also hope Sylvia's reaction was believable. She's always going to be there for Wander, but I think this whole thing is moving a little too fast for her, especially since she's been hearing about most of it second hand and hasn't actually seen any changes in Hater herself.
Apologies for the shorter chapter this time. The next scene really has to be the start of the next chapter. We will be going back to Hater and Peepers and we will be seeing my take on another episode from early in season 2.
Next update is probably for Never Hurts To Help, but we'll see. I am working on an update for Anniversary as well.
See you soon!
