#<- ai amiga não querendo dar muito spoiler mas ela vai ter bastante desenvolvimento conforme eu for escrevendo mais

[pulim-v]

AJKSDHKJASHDKJA THANKS BESTIE?????? Honestly I'm really proud of this scene, it took a while to write and I like how it turned out, and receiving a compliment like that from someone as awesome as you means a lot <3<3<3<3

Okay I see no reason not to post this rn other than inactivity (and I can always tag people so eh)

Oh also relevant disclaimer this might be weird but the feathers on a bird's head are referred to as "hair" in fgcc. Don't ask me why idk either.

Fern's Crush: a Foggy Glasses and Corroded Copper Scene

"Via... we need to talk." Fern said, startling Via with her sudden appearance.

"What's up, Fern? Everything alright?" Octavia said, looking directly at Fern as she took note of his appearance.

Fern looked... messy. His hair was ruffled, her face feathers intensely ruffled, forehead glittering with sweat and chest quickly moving with his rapid breaths.

Fern took a step forward, entering Octavia's dorm room, and she directed him to the bed next to her. As she sat down, Octavia turned off her computer screen, took off her earphones, and directed her gaze to Fern again, waiting to see what she would say.

It took him a few moments, as he sat there silently, still seeming extremely nervous, but eventually he started talking:

"I... I think I have a crush on Spark. I don't know how long it's been, I just know the other day they hugged me and I started blushing and I can't stop thinking about them, and oh gosh what do I do, Via? Please help me, I don't know what having a crush is like, what if they reject me?"

"Oh," Octavia said, startled, "is that it? Like, just that?" She twirled a part of her hair with her finger, pondering on what she'd say to help.

"What do you mean "just that"? I'm freaking out over here!"

"Yeah, sorry about that", Octavia chuckled, "it's just that... can't you just confess to them? I get that it's new to you, but that just sounds like the best option".

"I don't know, it's complicated!" Fern started running his hands through his hair, exasperated "Like, what if they reject me? What if they don't want to talk to me ever again?"

"Okay, let's calm down a bit." Octavia said as she grabbed Fern's hands and pulled them down, placing them on Fern's lap. "Let's just try to imagine what could happen." She said, holding up a hand so she could count. "One: Spark doesn't reject you, everything turns out fine, and you two start dating. Two: Spark does reject you, you move on, you two remain as friends. Three: Spark does reject you and doesn't want to be friends, you move on, I give them a piece of my mind and you go back to being friends."

"It's not that simple," Fern scoffed. "you cant just force us to be friends like that!"

"Yeah, but Spark would have been a terrible person if they stopped being friends with you over this." Fern started to intervene, but Octavia held a finger out, asking him to wait until she was done talking. "Besides, it's better to actually ask them out than to pretend like you don't like them, that just sounds like a disaster waiting to happen"

"That's easy for you to say, Mrs. "I'm clearly in love with Dew but won't do anything about it"!" Fern almost shouted, getting up slightly from the bed.

Octavia felt her face getting warmer. She started to get nervous, so she reached out to her hair to start fidgeting with it, forgetting that it was untied. She took a few locks of hair in her hands and started messing with them, thinking of what to say. Meanwhile, Fern was still exasperated, but seemingly shrunk back into the bed.

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for" he said, looking away from his friend.

"Was it that obvious?" Octavia furrowed her eyebrows and bit her cheek, not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to calm her down.

Fern chuckled. "Via, you're the least expressive person I know, and your face still turns bright red whenever they talk to you"

Octavia's face started to get even warmer, at which point she buried it in her hands and averted Fern's gaze, looking at the black screen of her computer. She took note of her own reflection in it: her face had a bit of sweat in it, her hair was messier than usual, and even through the tinted screen her snout was visibly reddened. She slowly took a breath, turned back towards Fern, and replied:

"I don't know... that's different... it would be really awkward, I don't want to sacrifice the friendship we have."

"That's what I'm saying with regards to Spark! They're my crush, yeah, but they're also my first friend... I can't afford to mess it up with them." Fern said, her voice clearly strained.

"I... I don't know Fern, I think I understand what you mean a little bit more now. Gosh, I'm a real hypocrite, huh? I'm really sorry for that"

"No need to apologize, I'm just too pathetic to actually take your advice to heart," Fern chuckled and extended their arms, "can I..."

Octavia hugged Fern, running her large hands through his soft hair. She felt his hands grab her back, touching the thin fabric of the simple dress she was wearing. The two stayed in there for a few seconds, with Octavia feeling Fern's heartbeat slow down and his movements get subtler. At one point, she heard a chuckle.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing", Fern said, "it's just that now that I think of it, aren't we both just kinda... pathetic? It's stupid, we don't even have the guts to do something as simple as confessing a crush"

"Hey! Don't say that!" Octavia broke free from the hug, looking directly at Fern. She quickly let her gaze wander, though, contemplating his words. "Yeah... I guess we are..."

"Thanks for this, Via" Fern said, pulling her back into the hug and letting his head rest on her shoulder.

"No problem, Fern" Octavia said, lost in thought as she let her hand run through Fern's hair.