#brah.

silence and awkwardness filled the office, within one of the deepest corners of the kingdom. the nurse and the sheriff sat. or, rather, syringeon sorted pills whilst toadster took notes on her testimony.

-

"so what was it like..?" asked toadster

"hm?"

"dating him, i mean." he cleared his throat slightly, lifting a fist to his mouth. syringeon tilted her head slightly. "oh.. well. i would tell, but i don't want to get carried off… ha." toadster let out a soft scoff at her conclusion. "nonsense, i've never seen you go TOO off-the-rails."

"are you sure?" the corners of her lips curled into a slight frown for a moment

"of course. it's good to let them emotions out sometimes." toadster slid her a reassuring grin, placing a cold hand on the back of her shoulder. syringeon's body instantly relaxed, lowering her shoulders and loosening the tension that had arched her back.

she began to recall her memories.

-

"hey!! syrge!!! over here!" yapped an energetic voice from afar. the mutant jerked her head around, gazing across the kingdom to find the source of such a sharp noise, though familiar, it still startled her. she huffed out a heavy breath and scouted the area. she had taken a moment to rest under the shade of a wooden platform, though footsteps creaked above her.

"awww.. i'm not THAT hard to follow, am i?" bittergiggle teased, peeking under the platform.

syringeon's eyes fluttered shut for a moment. she breathed out a soft sigh before answering. "sometimes, giggles."

her response gave him a little bit of a laugh. "get up here!! the view's great, i can almost see her majesty!" he pulled himself back fully onto the platform, awaiting syringeon's arrival up the stairs. she rolled her top shoulders and twisted her spine until she heard a satisfying 'pop'. she'd then scamper up the stairs to meet her playful lover.

"now that wasn't so hard was it~?" bittergiggle poked at her a bit, making her chuckle softly. "no.. not really." syringeon took her eyes off him for a second to take in the view he mentioined prior. "woah.. i suppose you're not wrong." crouching down slightly, she scanned the kingdom once more, this time from high ground. "this view is pretty… fascinating, for lack of a better term."

bittergiggle squatted down next to her, unable to resist the urge to lean against her just a little bit. she noticed this, and returned the gesture by wrapping one of her arms around him. he immediately flushed red.

"y'know… after everything, i'm glad fate mushed us together."

"what do you mean..?" syringeon met his gaze with an amused smirk.

"like dolls! how the kids would play house n' make the parents kiss, they'd put the dolls faces together." bittergiggle chortled at the mental image he brought upon himself. his laugh was a little contagious. "i.. i see what you mean, actually. i'm glad too."

bittergiggle eventually let his legs rest, shifting from a squatting position to fully sitting down. just so he could lean into her a little more without falling over…

the humming glow of the mushrooms had hypnotized the nurse, nearly lulling her to sleep, before bittergiggle poked her shoulder.

"hm…?" she swiveled her head to look at him.

he placed a hand on her lower forearm, blushing slightly as he caressed her with his thumb. she felt a slight chill scramble up her spine.

"…i love you too."

-

"…wow." the sheriff was bewildered.

"…oh! oh i got carried away didn't i-! i'm sorry!"

"don't sweat it, doc. i'm just… impressed you managed to describe all that in so much detail, and you didn't even cry." toadster lightened his tone, gazing down at his clipboard for a moment before meeting her eyes again. she took the seat next to him and sighed, rubbing her forehead slightly with her arm."i just don't understand… was i not enough?"

toadster lightly shook his head. "you were more than enough, i'm sure. he just… let his dreams consume him, i guess. i think you should be less hard on yourself syrge, it's not your fault he went rogue."

"…thank you. was that all you needed?"

toadster glanced back down at his notes. "eeyup. thank you so much for your time and patience, ma'am."