microwave popcorn

1

for a while, one of flower's safe foods was microwave popcorn. they would eat it in the dark while watching a show. one piece at a time.

miku wasn't there anymore. her name always lit up the phone screen but it wasn't the same as having her in the same room, within arm's reach. she'd found a better company to work under. and flower was so happy that she got out, that she wasn't constantly being used as bait or as a threat.

when she first left, she would talk about how she'd get flower out too. she promised. but it came up less and less, and more time kept passing. not that they minded. knowing miku was okay was enough.

they were on their laptop at three AM, trying to finish the mastering for a song. they'd produced it on their own with the help of an old friend and a lot of computerized instruments, and it hurt their voice quite a bit to scream that much. but they couldn't think of any other way to get something out.

they created a brand-new email and a youtube channel, posted the finished song with its music video, and logged out of everything. it was called microwave popcorn. it was two minutes and forty-seven seconds long and full of distortion, but it felt good to make it. to channel everything they had to deal with into a song and scream to the world. even if they couldn't put their name on it.

and only moments after they'd logged out of everything and removed traces of the email, the door to their apartment opened and avanna came in.

"nice place you got here, flower," she called in a singsong voice. "why don't you come out so we can play a game?"

they didn't respond. they hid the laptop under the covers and crawled out of the bed, tiptoeing into their closet and trying to hide behind the clothes. leaving their phone out on the bedside table.

"where are you?" avanna was calling. they could hear her footsteps on the creaky old floor, getting closer to the bedroom. "are you asleep already? you must have been so tired after today."

flower covered their mouth, trying not to breathe out loud. they had called in sick to work so they could finish that song.

their phone started buzzing and they cursed in their head. the only person who would call this late would be miku, or maybe avanna. they hoped so hard that it was the latter.
the bedroom door opened and they heard the phone stop buzzing, then avanna's voice.

"hi there, little miku~ it's been such a long time. so good to hear your voice," she said in that same teasing tone. "where's flower? oh, i don't know. i'm looking for them myself. too bad you aren't here to help me." she laughed suddenly, tapping her foot against the floor. "don't sound so desperate. it's not like i'd hurt them that badly."

there was a very long pause. and then, another laugh from avanna. flower held their breath.

"you poor little thing. so helpless you can't save your dear friend," avanna whispered in a pitiful voice. she set the phone down and tiptoed over to the closet door, then knocked three times.

"we're not playing hide and seek tonight." she pulled the door open and grabbed flower by their hair, pulling them into the room. she was holding a bat in her other hand, and it swung through the air and hit flower in their shoulder. "we're going to play tag. and i get to be it." she let go of their hair and hit them again, and they stumbled to their feet and ran out of the room.

so it began. avanna chased them in circles, swinging out with her bat as they tried to dodge. she didn't seem to get tired and she just kept chasing them, even after she swung under their legs and sent them crashing to the floor. they just had to get up and keep running if they didn't want to get hurt.