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As much as Brad tried to ignore everything happening, or move past it, he couldn't help but stay curious about what happened to him.
And not the plants. Well, they were a part of it - admittedly, he hadn't expected to show so many symptoms of the venomshank's effects. Obviously, that was because he stabbed himself with it, but he still didn't expect for it to be just as visceral as all the descriptions.
He was better than he was the first couple of weeks, of course. He wasn't lying in a hospital bed with an IV in his arm connected to a bag of saline for hydration, or panicking because he was losing blood after tearing out some of his flowers in a distressed frenzy, but he was still wildly uncomfortable with how he looked.
The flowers on his face were uncomfortably sensitive, kind of like eyelashes, and the leaves littering his body made him feel like some ruffian, even though they were a part of him now.
No amount of cutting or clipping or tearing out stopped them from growing back. And it sucked. Sometimes he couldn't help but just sob looking at the flowers that always grew back from the same wounds.
Why did the sword have to choose him of all people? ...Why? He knew it was probably due to his father's position as the sword guardian, but still... It confounded him. He could still remember its voice so clearly, beckoning to him. It started small, he just wanted to pull more pranks than usual, and then he became more rambunctious and mischeivous.
And that would have been fine by itself.
But from there it just became dangerous. He stopped trusting his own opinions and views. Then he got uncontrollable urges to hurt himself, physically and mentally, and then he lost interest in everything he loved. He didn't bother to play any of the games he usually spent hours on, and he didn't care to look in the direction of his gloop cards, or whatever they were called. He stopped talking to Kyoko and Red and Blue. The only thing that brought him any kind of fulfillment and joy was the sword, so he just... He just HAD to get it. He was nothing without the voices, and he wanted to hear them again.
He remembered the way he felt when he got it in his hands again.
He remembered the searing pain that came as a result of the sickening wave that washed over him, and his dad's horrified scream before everything went black.
...But he hated thinking about that.
He hated technically being cross-species. It was honestly the littler things that were more annoying - such as the slight anxiety at bees approaching and casually landing on his face. Could he even be pollinated? He hoped not, it felt very weird to imagine a part of him was in some hive somewhere. And when it wasn't the annoyance of bugs trying to eat him panicking him, it was the dread that maybe the plants would grow inside him and kill him from the inside out.
He didn't want to die. Not because he could only live once, but because it would be so, so unfair to everyone who had ever loved him. He didn't want to die because he knew it would upset his dad, and Kyoko, and Player, and maybe Red and Blue. He didn't say it often, but he really did care about them, and he didn't want them to waste their precious time grieving or being sad.
But hey! Player had told him the plants made him look cooler! And Kyoko agreed when he told her about the interaction, so maybe he shouldn't worry so much...
Then again, he missed all his favourite shirts that he couldn't wear anymore. He also wasn't very used to being so... Exposed, to put it lightly. It was weird that he could see his ribs so clearly, but his internal organs were still obscured by the vivid green.
Eh. He'd get used to it someday. Hopefully.
Currently, he was walking through Bizville with Player.
He didn't leave Turitopulis often - so why was he there?
Well, he asked Player what he looked like when he became a giant plant thing, and they asked him if he wanted to see it, which led him to believe they'd taken a photo or something.
They had not, and insisted that he could actually SEE it. They also warned he might not want to see himself in that state, but he assured them he did.
And so, they were walking past the airport, to a house near it.
Outside, they paused, before saying,
"Okay, so, when we walk inside, there's gonna be this guy who's going to ask us if we want to meditate. It takes around a minute. Anyway, when we start, hold my hand."
"...WH4T?"
"When we walk in-"
"N0N0N0, I G0T TH4T P4RT. I M34NT 4S 1N, WH4T D0 Y0U M34N A GUY 1S G0NN4 4SK US T0 M3D1T4T3?"
"I don't know why he's there or where he came from, I just know that it works."
"UH, 0K. TRUST1NG Y0U 0N TH4T P4RT. 4ND WHY D0 I H4V3 T0 H0LD Y0UR H4ND?"
"Well, either that or you focus on the moment you did you know what with the venomshank, and I didn't really think you'd want to think about that..."
"I R34LLY D0N'T."
"Okay, let's go."
Player nonchalantly opened the door and waltzed in, so Brad followed.
The Guru was indeed sitting there.
"Hello young one... Young ones. I see you've brought a friend of yours."
"...H1."
"Calm down."
"OK4Y..."
The Guru continued talking.
"I sense distress within your souls... Please, come sit with me. I'll help you find inner peace..."
Brad looked at Player in slight bewilderment, and they nodded in response.
" I sense you've been fighting your inner demons for a while now... Tell me, young ones... Please describe to me exactly what bothers you... Fill in the blank for me... 'I feel...'"
"C0NFUS3D."
"Toxic."
"Close your eyes, and relax. Face your inner demons, young ones... Or else, they might haunt you forever... Mhmmm..."
They closed their eyes, and when Player gently put their hand over his, he gave it to them.
He decided to actually try to calm down, just focusing on... Whatever he was feeling. It was something, goodness it was something - he just didn't really know what it was.
"...Open your eyes."
He did so, and immediately jolted up and looked around, accidentally yanking Player in the process.
"WH3R3 4R3 W3?!- WHY IS IT P1NK H3R3. WH4T?-"
"Ow- uh, Nirvana. I don't know why it's pink, it just is."
His eyes eventually landed on, well, the bubonic plant he'd turned into post-stabbing.
"...W04H."
Player stood up, letting go of him. He didn't realise he missed the warmth until it was gone.
"Thoughts?"
"I W4SN'T 3XP3CT1NG T0 B3 S0... B1G? SURPR1S3D MY B0DY C0ULD H4NDL3 TH4T."
"We can take a closer look, if you want. He won't attack unless you draw a weapon."
"WH4T H4PP3N3D T0 MY L3GS?"
"No clue."
The bubonic plant slightly cocked its head to the side seeing Brad, and leaned forward slightly, causing him to back up a little bit. It mirrored his movement.
"S0 TH1S IS WHY... -H0W'D Y0U F1ND TH1S PL4C3?"
"Uhh, just exploring, pretty much."
"I M34NT, H3R3."
"The Guru, that guy, showed me."
"...D03S H3 KN0W M3?"
"No, uh- this place sort of mirrors the consciousness of whoever is in it. It's because I saw you like this, that that version of you is here."
"...HUH."
"Yeah... It's nice to see that you're better now, though."
"HEH, ...TH4NKS. I'M H4PPY I'M N0T L1K3 TH4T R1GHT N0W T00."
"Tell me when you want to go back, alright?"
"0K4Y."
They stayed for a while. Brad walked around the place a couple times, even clambering up the parts of land around Bubonic Plant. But after that while passed, they went back to the carpet, sat down, and closed their eyes, knowing when they'd open them again they'd be back in Bizville.
"...I'M K1ND 0F SURPR1S3D TH4T 3V3N W0RK3D."
"What? Don't trust me?"
They meant it jokingly, slightly nudging him.
"PFFT, W0ULD Y0U B3L13V3 M3 IF I T0LD Y0U TH3R3 W4S A GURU GUY WH0 C4N SH0W M3 P4ST V3RS10NS 0F Y0U?"
"Sure."
"T0TALLY."
They flew back and walked to Turitopulis after that, talking the whole way home, about random topics. When they got to the big big tree, it was late already, so they decided to end the hangout there.
"H3Y, B3F0R3 Y0U G0?"
"Yuh huh?"
"C4LL M3 TH3 N3XT T1M3 Y0U TRY T0 G3T 0N3 0F TH0S3 FR34KY SW0RDS."
"Okay, okay- and you call me the next time you wanna see whatever!"
"4LR1GHT."