#its been so long since i posted my writing (or at least it feells like it) and i keep finding things to apologize about

[dinsfire24]

Amanita hummed happily to themself, gathering flowers into their arms. Why were they gathering flowers? Well, they had to give them to someone. They couldn't remember who, so they figured they'd better just give some flowers to everyone they could find. And everybody liked flowers, right?

A pair of voices sliced through the air. Ah, there were their first targets! Listening carefully, they recognized the voices as Caity and... and...

They saw the red-and-black clown come around the corner. Right, Clown. They picked out a rose and a sunflower, then darted up to the pair. "Hey!"

Clown stopped, his shoulders hunching. "Oh... Hi, Amanita," he said flatly.

Caity, meanwhile, smiled at them. "Hey, Nita! Whatcha got there?"

"I was... I picked flowers." They held the sunflower out to Caity first.

She accepted it happily, tucking it into her hair and telling them, "It's so pretty! Thank you."

Clown tried to slip away, but they quickly handed him the rose. "Don't..." They paused. "For you too."

"Ah." He shoved it into his inventory. "I like black roses better."

Caity shot him a look. Maybe confused? Amanita was confused too, but they started to realize something as he walked away.

They turned to Caity, frowning. "Why does Clown- Why does he hate me? Did I do... or, well- forget something?"

She hesitated. "I don't know... I mean, I don't think he hates you. I dunno why he would. But I don't know him very well."

"Hmmm." Amanita looked down at the bouquet in their hands. "Okay. Bye."

Then they walked away, collecting flowers as they went and thinking of a plan.

Someone who knew Clown better. They tried to remember people they'd seen him with. They thought he didn't have many friends. Maddie? Was she his friend? Or was it Kab...?

Well, they could see Kab right now. She was in a house. Probably her house, actually. They looked down at their bundle of flowers. She liked blue, right? She was wearing blue. This blue bell-shaped flower would be good.

With flower in hand, focusing on the thing they had to ask Kab, they walked up to the door and knocked.

"Oh, shit- Be there in a second," Kab called, and Amanita heard the sounds of several things being knocked over. Or shoved into a chest. Or both. They covered their ears to dull the noise.

Once it had ended, Kab opened the door. "Oh, hi, lil' buddy!" She grinned. "You've got a flower for me?"

They nodded, tossing it to her. "It's- I'm trying to... Uh..." Oh, the one thing they had come to ask. "Shit."

Kab snickered. "Aren't you, like, ten? Oh, you probably learned that from me... Pyro's gonna be pissed."

Amanita tilted their head. "But... Not important," they decided abruptly. "I remember. Why does... Yeah, why does Clown hate me?"

She stiffened angrily. "How am I supposed to know? Probably 'cause he's a stupid asshole," she snapped. "Don't- Just don't worry about him, okay? His opinion doesn't matter."

"Oh." They drooped slightly. "But he keeps... avoiding me. You weren't the- I was wrong."

"What's that supposed to-" Kab stopped herself, taking a deep breath. Her voice was strained, but calmer when she asked, "Wrong about what, lil' buddy?"

"I wanted- I thought you were his friend," Amanita explained. "Well, it kind of... I mixed you up. With, uh, Maddie?"

"Ah." Her expression darkened. "Right. Maddie is his friend! Yes, right, of course she is," Kab spat.

...She was definitely angry at them. But they weren't sure why. "Do you... Kab, do you hate Clown?"

"I do. I really do. I hate his smug fuckin' face and his stupid words and the way he's taking away my-" Again, she stopped herself. This time, she didn't start talking again until she'd turned around and went back to what she was doing before Amanita had come over.

They were almost going to leave when she quietly said, "You should stay away from him, Amanita. Maybe it's better if he doesn't like you. I don't... I don't want to know what he could do to you."

Some strange feeling congealed in their gut. Were they angry, too? "I'm... sorry. For asking," they told her flatly.

Kab's head snapped towards them. "Lil' buddy, wait-"

They ignored her, shoving their way out the door and running into the field.

There were a couple of people nearby. Pyro and Rae. They didn't think they'd given them flowers yet. But suddenly, they didn't even want to give out flowers any more. They just wanted to go lay down for a while.