Evil Is Pink (bxb)

Chapter 23

The car Tendril decided to steal had no roof. This was by choice, of course. Tendril, like him, seemed to like having the wind blow into his face. A shiny purple tendril protruded from his arm and had thinned itself into the ignition keyhole.

The ride back had been mostly silent. No surprises there as Tendril was a quiet person in general, and Sticks found the scenery to be mesmerizing. Even as they crossed into no-man's lands, where the most interesting bits of eye candy to be seen were scattered bits of dried grass and nettles.

"Hey...Tendril?"

"...What?"

Sticks tapped on the hard plastic of the windowsill. "I...I just wanted to say thanks. For...uh, you know...Everything."

The engine gasped and spurted suddenly. Excellent timing. Tendril slowed the car down, perhaps worried that the car was dying on them, figuring that the car would have an easier time jogging steadily as opposed to dashing across the tarmac at full speed.

"...Yea." Tendril responded, a little awkwardly. "You're welcome."

Sticks tapped on the windowsill again with an uncomfortable rhythm. He pressed his lips together in contemplation...and then spoke:

"...Why though...?"

"Hm?"

"I mean...you know...Back at the prison..." Sticks swallowed, feeling a familiar blush of shame creep along his neck. "You looked like you wanted to kill me...You could have left me there after Gorgo crushed me..."

"...I could've, yea."

"So...why save me?"

"I didn't." Tendril said flatly. He kept his eyes on the road, his expression at a complete neutral. "...If you want to thank someone, thank Ballsy." He paused. "And Pimickie. And Rackus. They saved you. They saved the both of us. And I don't take their sacrifices trivially. Do you?"

"O-Of course not!"

"Good." He made a turn. The car swerved softly to the left. "Then you better make sure you don't forget, Sticks. For them."

Sticks felt himself cringing. He bit down on his lip, remembering what Tendril had told him when he first opened his eyes at Jacque's house. About how Pimickie had bought them time to escape while he was knocked out because of his injury from Gorgo. If he had...only realized sooner what his father was—who he truly was...Then he never would've allowed himself to have been crushed like that. His stupidity killed her. He killed her.

"You know..." Sticks mumbled, smiling purely out of furtive shame, "...Now that I really think about it, the Doctor never really gave me a name. Fish Sticks just sort of stuck with him for a while...I guess..."

"Then you should give yourself a new one."

"Yea...maybe I should..."

That's when Tendril gave him a quick glance. His lips remained thin and pressed, but Sticks could see the smile in his narrow eyes. "How about Red?" He paused. "For your red hair."

The suggestion made Sticks a little giddy. "A little literal, don't you think?"

Tendril shrugged. "Whatever. Just thinking out loud."

"Hmm..." The pink boy hummed. He ran through the files in his mind, collecting all the names he remembered from books and videos and shows, and posters..."There's Stilton... Davis... Mark... uhm... Garick, Solomin, Freddy..." He swallowed. "Rackus...Pimickie..."

Tendril turned his head. He was scowling, but it wasn't unfriendly. "I know what you're thinking," he said. "It's understandable. Cute even, that you want to honor them. But, you should pick something that feels like you." Tendril stated coolly. "Something that is you, not taken from someone else."

Sticks sank into his seat. The memory of his deceased friends pricked at the corners of his eyes. A teardrop formed, but didn't fall. "...What's your name?"

Tendril seemed surprised. His eyebrows raised. Then finally, the name came out of him like a sigh.

"...Jun."

Sticks recognized that he didn't sound very happy divulging this information, which made him lower his head.

"Sorry..."

"No need to be. It's just been a while."

Sticks paused. "...So is Tendril a name you gave yourself?"

"...No. Media gave it to me." Tendril tapped his finger along the edge of the steering wheel thoughtfully. "But it became mine. I wouldn't change it if I had a choice."

Sticks nodded silently. Memories of his father flashed through his mind unconsciously, and the suddenness of it felt like a punch in the gut. But the slideshow soon calmed into simple lapping waves of images. Cold to touch, but not hurtful. Who was he, really? His father might have created him, but...

Then Sticks perked up.

"...What about Axel? For axolotl...?"

Axel watched as Tendril's lips curved into a soft smile.

"I think that's perfect."