So Much To Lose

Ch. 7 Compromise

It was hard to ignore Lightbulb rummaging around her house and Taco scrounged through drawers in her desk to try and find what little paper she had left. Unfortunately her makeshift lodging was far from waterproof, unsuitable to keeping anything that could be destroyed by water for long periods of time.

It took a few minutes, but under piles of half-dried sticky notes and wax seal materials Taco managed to find some cardstock that seemed nice enough. Notebook paper had proven itself an easy victim to waterlogging so when she started mailing Pickle she'd had to find stiffer stuff.

Admittedly Taco preferred it, even without lines her handwriting was precise enough to make blank pages work as letters, plus she felt it a bit more professional overall.

It was part of her brand overall she supposed, to appeal to her more pragmatic side when interacting with others after season one. It was easier to lean into for her than more emotional matters.

She supposed that was why Mic had trouble putting trust in her, and in that way Taco guessed she couldn't blame her.

Materials in hand Taco closed the drawer, turning back around to Lightbulb, who was now fiddling with the small lamp next to her bed.

The bright object seemed completely out of it, absentmindedly turning the lamp on and off as Taco stared at her. Eventually Taco cleared her throat, and Lightbulb glanced her way in surprise.

"Sorry Tac, spaced out there for a second, so what are we doing for this message o' yours."

Taco sighed "Well for one, please don't call me that, Secondly I've got some-"

"How about T & Co.? I tested that one earlier and didn't really get a reaction but I think it works!"

"It's a four letter name, you really don't have to shorten it." Lightbulb pouted in response, but didn't push any further.

"I was hoping if I could write an apology, you could deliver it without the hotel noticing. Mic seemed to want to keep things... low key, I suppose, in terms of what went down."

"I guess I can do that, but are we really doing a letter?" Lightbulb asked, continuing before Taco could reply, "I mean, I get that it's probably easier for you because of how smart ya are and all but emotional junk can be... messy. Sometimes words on paper don't mean anything if you can't feel them," Lightbulb elaborated.

"In other words... It's not always what you say but how you say it."

"And what do you expect me to do? I'm certainly not walking in there to deliver a heartfelt apology myself, this is the closest I can get to meaning it."

"Well then you're extra wrong becauseeeeee," Lightbulb reached out to give Taco a light boop, met with a scoff from the smaller object "Feeling doesn't mean speaking, it just means openness and, forgive me for the bold assumption, you seem to struggle with that, little miss."

"I'm disgusted by your continued use of nicknames for me yet frightened by your increasingly accurate emotional reads," Taco said deadpan, "Regardless I still think my method will work just fine."

"Well then how are you writing it?"

"... I wasn't planning anything different from how I'd message Pickle, why?"

"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. Doesn't the fact that Pickle never read any of those tell you anything about them? He didn't think you meant it, based on how you presented yourself. You can't apologize for how you hurt someone and try to save face at the same time, it just does-"

Taco cut Lightbulb off, "He never read any of them?"

Her voice was quiet, uncharacteristically so. Without knowing who it came from Lightbulb would have described the voice as meek, or perhaps somber.