Clear Blue (also on Amino somewhere...)

Crush

Month 10, Day 18 (Crush)

It took them all a long time, but Viridian has finally gotten used to all of them. Their shell was fully cracked.

It seemed like an insignificant observation, but it was a painful one when Cobalt noticed a certain conversation happen earlier today.

There was this young woman that he's noticed coming around at around 3 PM, during Viridian's shift inside the shop instead of inside the greenhouse. She was always there without fail, and she always left when Viridian has to go back in the greenhouse. He also noticed that she always took some bashful side-glances in Viridian's direction, and he immediately identified said glances as a sign of a crush. Cobalt knows that Cider hung out around her a lot since he was the one who recommended the Asiatic Lily-type to the girl, and was normally the one to talk to her if she ever needed advice.

When he asked about her that day, Cider chuckled with mirth.

"Her name's Caramel- silly, I know," And this came from a man who was literally named after a sparkling drink served in parties. "She's a rather shy bean, I mean- just look at how jittery she was when she left the shop earlier! Geez, even Viridian wasn't that shy when they first came in..."

Cobalt nodded. "Right and... speaking of Viridian?"

Cider just outright laughed after that statement. "Speaking of Viridian, this girl's got a serious crush on them! I think Viridian knows, but that's just a hunch considering how straight their face is most of the time..."

He couldn't hear anymore, any more words that came out of Cider after all that were just a massive blur for Cobalt. He didn't know why he couldn't process any more of what his friend was saying, but he excused himself soon after, returning to his office with every intention of distracting himself from hat he's just learned. He didn't know what distraction he'd use- maybe he'd hack into a system, write an essay, play a game- it didn't matter, he just needed to take his mind off of the fact that someone had a crush on Viridian.

He didn't get why it bothered him so much that someone fancied Viridian, it just did. It stung somehow, and he was mad at himself for it.

When Cobalt finally sat down in his office, he slapped himself in the face. Of course, it just had to be, and he was stupid for not realizing it earlier. Maybe it just came from years of not having any sort of attraction to anybody, but it was still just that. Suddenly all of the familiar feelings of boyhood came rushing back at him, and he buried his palm harder into his face.

He had a crush on Viridian, and now there's someone out there who felt the same.

Shutting the door behind him, he hoped that this was just a fleeting feeling that he'll get over in... hopefully under four months.