#though it would be funny if he saw babycorn again and was like God i fumbled

[hqmillioncorn]

Hope comes Knocking

Babycorn, Babycorn, Babycorn. Sphene had heard that name before. Only once.  During the first few days after Zoraal Ja’s arrival she had heard him talking to himself. Most of what he said was about where he had come from so Sphene was a little curious about it. She had tried her best to hide herself and listen in.  Of course most of what she heard made no sense to her. It was just names and places she didn’t know. What was she expecting? Something that did give her pause though was how Zoraal Ja wished he could have had one more chance with someone named Babycorn.  …Wasn’t that a vegetable? 

ffxiv write day 22 (free day): pinky promise

Dawntrail spoilers!!!

babycorn has some sort of existential crisis and decides to rope sphene into it in a way

After walking around Solution 9 for what felt like forever Babycorn had shyly asked if they could 

take a small break. The break came right after she had made a passing comment about how cool a motorcycle on display was. 

So the pause coincided pretty well with her resting and Butter running up to try and buy a motorcycle with the gil he had on hand. All while Lunya tried to convince him that buying it at full price wasn’t going to impress Babycorn at all. 

One of the only reasons Babycorn hesitated in asking if they could stop was because she hadn't wanted to interrupt Sphene’s tour. What if Babycorn made her mad? She really wanted to be Sphene’s friend.

After everything, Babycorn needed to feel like she had more than anger in her heart.

There were so many thoughts floating around her head that she hated coming from her own head. Back in Tuliyollal she had been scarily close to losing her temper and charging Zoraal Ja for what he had done to Gulool Ja Ja. 

She had been mad before, there was no doubt about that, but she’d never been so mad that her body started changing. 

Babycorn scratched at the bandages wrapped around her arms. After the attack Tuliyollal on had ended she had told everyone that she had injured herself and that Cherrypit had helped her wrap bandages on her arms. 

Cherrypit at the time had been confused why his sister was lying to their friends but Babycorn practically begged him to play along. 

How was she ever going to face her friends again when her arms were growing more mouths and eyes on them? 

Eyes on the palms of her hands were easy enough to hide at first but after what happened in Tuliyollal they started traveling upwards, burning her arms to a crisp as they did. Thankfully they didn’t hurt, just as Cherrypit’s arms didn’t hurt him. 

Maybe her and Cherrypit were more alike than she thought? That was her first guess. 

But then why had she sprouted horns and a tail too? Cherrypit wished he could always have those but could never get them to stay on him permanently. 

There were more pressing matters at hand however, and Babycorn’s journey of figuring out what exactly was wrong with her and her little brother would have to wait till later. Much later. 

Until then it would be just fine to not think about it. Out of sight, out of mind, as Babycorn once heard someone say. If she just hid away the parts of herself she didn’t want to think about, it would be just fine. 

Though her arms were able to hide just fine, and the horns were somewhere she couldn’t see, her tail was a whole other matter. Whenever Babycorn almost tripped over her own tail she felt like hiding under a rock and never coming out. 

Why was it so hard to be normal? All her entire life she had wanted nothing but that! 

Babycorn sighed and looked down at Cherrypit. He was sitting down next to her on the floor, playing with a small doll he had bought during the tour. It was a doll of Queen Sphene, complete with accessories that Cherrypit was too young to play with. Choking hazards and all. 

“Speen! It’s Speen!” Cherrypit waved the doll in the air before sticking it in his mouth. That meant he really liked it. 

Babycorn was so fixated on watching her brother play that she failed to notice someone sneaking up right behind her. 

“Hello? Excuse me?”

Babycorn screamed and leapt up in the air when she felt someone tap her shoulder. The urge to run away was almost overpowering but Babycorn had to be brave! For her little brother! “Who’s there?!” She ran to grab Cherrypit and hide him underneath her arm, sort of like a football. 

Cherrypit thought it was really funny. “Haha! Yaay!” He cheered, wiggling his arms and legs around.

Babycorn looked up, expecting to see something horrifying beyond belief, despite their current location. Instead she was almost face to face with the Queen of Reason herself. “O-Oh!” She put Cherrypit down on the floor and watched as he sat right down. “Hi Miss S-Sphene!” Babycorn nervously greeted her. 

Was this how you were supposed to greet royalty? A ton of her other friends were royalty too! Had she been saying hi to them wrong all along and they were just too nice to say anything?! Maybe she should just die.

Sphene, unaware of Babycorn’s current inner conflict, continued to speak with her. “Babycorn was it?”  

“T-That’s me…” Babycorn answered her. At the same time she was shivering and shaking like a small dog. 

Sphene knelt down to try and be on the same level as Babycorn. “Are you feeling any better? I know you said you were tired.” It was easy to tell, considering how far Babycorn had fallen behind in the group. 

“I’m fine! I’m feeling fine!” That wasn’t entirely a lie. Babycorn had needed to stop and catch her breath for a few minutes, but now she was feeling a lot better! Aside from the feelings that she was turning into an irredeemable monster but surely those would go away on their own. 

Sphene sighed in relief. “That’s good. I was worried my tour had harmed you.” She stood back up looking away from Babycorn. There was no way Babycorn could have seen the guilt ridden look on Sphene’s face. “The last thing I would want to do is harm you or your friends.”

At the mention of friends, Babycorn felt a tug. A burning question that had been bothering her ever since they first stepped into Solution 9.  

“Um…Sphene? We’re friends? Right?” 

Sphene looked almost shocked to hear what Babycorn had asked her. “Of course!” As if there was any question about it! In Sphene’s opinion anyone would look at them and think they’re friends of course! “Despite our short time together I think of you as a dear friend. My only wish is that you think of me as a friend as well.”

Hearing Sphene tell her that felt like a weight had been lifted from Babycorn’s heart.

 But at the same time, there was this odd feeling of obligation. “And friends tell each other everything…” 

“Hmm?” Sphene hadn’t quite heard what Babycorn had said. “What was that?” 

Babycorn took a deep breath. From what she learned about friends over the years was that trust was a big part of it. Even so she still wasn’t quite sure what it really meant. Of course now that she thought about it–maybe it had something to do with keeping secrets. 

And Babycorn had quite a big secret. A bit of a life threatening one considering past events. 

If Sphene was going to be her friend then she would have to trust her. Just like all the others were saying before, to make sure that Sphene didn’t have any ulterior motives. 

“Miss Sphene? Can I tell you a secret?” 

The very second that Sphene gave her the okay–Babycorn told her everything she could think of. About Starsingers, about what happened to her and Cherrypit when they were younger and how they had grown up. At first Babycorn was worried that telling Sphene everything would take much longer than it would.

But as it turned out, explaining to someone you had infinite power inside you coupled with the ability to change the world’s fate and bend it to your will was pretty simple actually. 

“...And my name is Chelinka Starsinger!” Babycorn explained at last, “But everyone just calls me Babycorn!” 

Sphene was speechless. To think that the universe entrusted that much power to just two people was unbelievable. If not a little unnerving considering the two people that had it. Neither Babycorn and Cherrypit were exactly poster children for makers of good decisions. That much was clear even in the short time they had known each other. 

“Chelinka Starsinger…” Sphene repeated Babycorn’s true name to herself. No wonder Babycorn considered her powers a secret. If other people knew about it there was no telling what kind of things she would be forced to do. 

Sphene’s gaze grew dark, whispering under her breath. “Had I that power I could…” 

“But it’s a secret so you can’t tell anyone! Okay?” Babycorn reminded her. Not that she thought Sphene needed reminding. Someone as nice as her must have a lot of friends and secrets all over her kingdom! It was only natural. 

“My lips are sealed!” 

Babycorn had no idea what that meant but it sounded reassuring. Even so, there was one way she could make sure that her starsinger secret wouldn’t spread. Not unless Babycorn wanted it to. Babycorn held out her hand, sticking her pinky out.  “Can we pinky promise on it?” 

At first Babycorn was worried that because her and Sphene were from different worlds she would have to explain what a pinky promise was. Thankfully Sphene copied her hand movements exactly. “I would gladly.” She nodded. 

Babycorn beamed, smiling wide. “Then it’s a pinky promise!” 

“It’s a promise! Chelinka.”