The sick tent

I just wanna talk to him

Wormwood practically rolled inside his tent, the conversation was getting too uncomfy, even by their low standards. They never liked inspections, it only reminded them of how much of a freak of nature they were, even by constant standards which, from what they have heard from

their friends, is also very low. They were told by Maxwell and Warly that they were probably different by this constant standards, but due to their origin hailing from another constant, and in that constant they would seem normal. They let them believe that and sometimes tried believing that myth, however the truth always came back to haunt them, whether it be through intrusive thoughts, small clips of memory from their old constant, to nightmares. It was always flashes of the stares that the twirlies always gave them. The whispers, the hurried walking they got used to it. They really never want that to happen again, they never wanted to be alone like that.

But what if they became their lonesome once more? What would happen if they didn't be useful anymore, if due to this... stupid blight they become just a drain on resources. They knew that resources were tight, after all it was spring. The hell that was known as summer was coming up, which in all honesty made them a resource drain already with his flammable nature, so if they couldn't get more stuff they would be just that, a resource drain, a freeloader. They wouldn't like them anymore, maybe even abandon them. There was always a chance they could be alone this summer. It used to be a small chance but now the chances of abandonment were probably just growing, any second someone could just burst in and-

someone touched Wormwood's shoulder, he jolted up in surprise. It was Wx.

"MINION, WHY ARE YOU ACTING SO STRANGE?"

Wormwood opened their mouth to speak but then promptly had it covered up.

"AND I'M NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT NOW, BUT ALL WEEK. IS IT ABOUT THE BLIGHT?"

Wormwood nodded, after all it was still half true, and half true was good enough for Wormwood.

"LISTEN YOUR GONNA BE FINE, STOP OVERREACTING"

This was nice, Wormwood admitted that it was nice to have someone come over and try to comfort them, however something was eating away at his arm and hurt like hell, so it was kinda hard to feel comforted, also Wormwood knew Wx didn't comfort people much so it made sense for them to struggle. Though it was quite odd, they never seemed to do stuff like this with the other survivors, so why him?

"YOUR- YOUR'e gonna be fine, i promise...

...WELL THAT WAS NOT CONVINCING. After all Wx did probably talk with Wickerbottom afterwards about the blight so they understood it a little more than Wormwood. So if they are nervous then this blight is probably not gonna be easy, well Wormwood already knew that firsthand, just, they kinda wanted an easy answer to the problem and have the blight fixed without much pain, however that was not gonna happen because blight just sucks honestly.

Wx reached out to touch the infected hand which then Wormwood retracted the hand.

"Sorry metal friend, but hand still hurty! Leaves still delicate!"

Wx then retracted the hand, understanding what Wormwood had meant. Then decided on patting Wormwood on the back. This felt comforting to Wormwood. They had seen the other survivors do stuff like this, however it was rarely done to Wormwood, which was understood, for he was still new coming to the camp about a year ago. Still they did wanna see why they did it so much. Wormwood now understood why. It felt amazing. Wormwood started to purr, they couldn't help it! It just... happened, like hiccuping or yawning. Wx just stared at them, taken aback by the noise. Wormwood did know that they were not... famous for having the best sounding voice, but Wx should be used to it by now. Plus they could stop patting him, then he would stop. But they didn't, they just kept patting. It was peaceful for once.

Wx then pat Wormwood's head and left leaving Wormwood in a comforted yet confused state.

Why did Wx come comfort them? Why did they pat them, and not stop? Why were they nervous for them? that seems to be out of character for them. Is it that bad? Should Wormwood be scared?