1. A Soldier In Tree Town (1/2)

throwing stones at a glass moon.. flippy x flaky... darkangel91398

a/n: hey, reader audience people! this is my first htf fanfic so please pardon any ooc behaviors. also, some characters' personalities may be tweaked a little for the story since the characters are kind of being expanded upon and all (not as if all of them even had personalities *shot*). oh, and by the way, everyone is humanized so you won't find any woodland animal corpses in this story. however, you will find people corpses but hey, what can i say? it is happy tree friends. i'll keep the gore to a minimum though since i'm terrible about writing it if i decide to make this into chapters. i'm trying to stay as canon as possible (using the wikia and rewatching the episodes) while mixing in my own junk so keep that in mind. if anyone has any feedback, tell me!

chapter one: a soldier in tree town

flaky was not a big fan of gossip in any case. she realized this as she noticed the excited buzz in the bookshop's air, the hum that only accompanied some sort of tale being tossed about. the redhead was not very fond of having to endure rumors about how giggles may be cheating on cuddles or about how pop's son was growing to be a troublesome child or rumors about lumpy being mentally retarded. most rumors were slanderous and wide spread - as if they were a mighty oak's leaves that flittered about in the wind, landing dangerously in every direction in the three hundred and sixty degree spectrum until they were a thick coat of lies that plastered the roads and buildings, the pile-up thickening with every whispered

eath about affairs and deaths and supposed proposals. but it made sense in a way.

nothing exciting ever happened in the town and the town's citizens were trapped here, had been trapped, for a very long time with no real means of escaping the establishment. well, admittedly, there was death and sleep but those were temporary. in a sick way, the rumors seemed to be keeping the town alive and provided some sort of entertainment.

but not matter how much she abhorred tales that had been through one person's lips to a stranger's ears and spun in a cycle that only grew, flaky couldn't help listening to some of her coworkers muttered lowly to each other and she shuffled closer to them.

"h-hey, guys. what's going o-on?" flaky greeted cheerily, her voice as nervous as ever and her hand toying with her

acelet like she always did when she was anxious and in a social setting.

"shh! not so loud!" cuddles hissed firmly as he glanced around quickly before looking at the tiny girl and mumbling in a lower voice. "we're talking about the new guy. you know, the army man with the beret? speaking of which, flakes, i expect a beret from you for my birthday. they look cool as hell."

"cuddles, wait. she didn't work yesterday. she won't know about the newbie." petunia pointed out. "you missed him yesterday. no one's ever seen him around so we're guessing that he's new. i have to admit, he looked quite neat. his clothes were ironed and wrinkle-free, no stains anywhere.."

"w-wait, so what happened?" the redhead asked in confusion, her stuttering easing away as she grew more comfortable. she wished her friends would cease being so vague and just tell her who they were speaking about. "a new guy..?"

"yupyup. he was huge, dude! huge. like, he had to be eight foot something! and he was scary looking! i don't know if there was something wrong with his face but it was so intimidating!" cuddles exclaimed. "like... like he could see through my soul."

"that's a bit of an exaggeration." petunia sniffed, rolling her cerulean blue eyes at the melodramatic blond who merely shrugged off the look. "i mean, he was oddly tall and he was slightly intimidating but i don't think he really meant to be scary. it's not as if he was some kind of filthy, blood-covered, g-germ-infested, un-unsanitary killer.."

flaky nervously patted the blue-haired girl's shoulder as she began to shake and the redhead wondered if petunia would have another ocd-related meltdown like she had last week when a couple of muddy kids had tracked dirt and leaves all over the bookshop's tile floor. it made flaky nervous, thinking about her friend

eaking down over something she only imagined. after all, plenty of petunia's most

utal deaths stemmed from her ocd.

"hey, tunia, calm down. it's not like there's, i dunno, papers ripped up all over the floor with

oken glass and a puking drunk guy or something. it's all in your head, dude." cuddles sighed. he stuffed his hands in his pockets and sighed wistfully looking at some of the merchandise and decorations around the store. "man, i wish we could do the wibbly wobbly timey wimey thing right now. we'd be able to leave town and petunia would be able to get something prescribed for her ocd.."

flaky and petunia stared at the blond. cuddles was usually so childish and carefree that moments where he became a sober shadow of his previous self came as an earth-shattering shock, his hazel eyes that were normally so full of innocence and a child's magic almost haunted and hollow, his high-in-the-sky-nothing-can-go-wrong voice low and hushed as if he was attending a funeral for all eternity in his waking hours. he seemed paler somehow in those solemn moments and even the freckles that were usually splashed on his cheeks looked more like the side effects of some tropical sickness. flaky had the feeling petunia had the same feeling when she felt her friend shudder violently, no doubt picturing germs when cuddles' face changed a

uptly and he perked back up, grabbing flaky and hissing in her ear.

"dude, look over near the door and try to be casual about it! don't panic or anything if he looks over here!" cuddles instructed almost eagerly. "legit, just remain calm, 'kay?"

"s-sure..?" flaky agreed confusedly, nodding her head automatically.

"oh, no. my

eak time is over, guys." petunia grumbled under her

eath upon checking her cell phone. she quickly tied her royal blue hair back into a tight, neat ponytail and sighed."i'll be at the register if anything happens. unless it's something vile or life-threatening. then please warn me to leave." she shot a scrutinizing look over towards the cash register where a tired young mother juggled a drooling baby on her hip and a small grubby child who rubbed his or her hands all over the chocolate and gift cards offered at the paying area; she shuddered at the germs and slid on the gloves that she used for work before bidding her friends a farewell.

flaky watched petunia leave before she was elbowed by cuddles to look by the door. she elbowed him back and glanced over nervously, hoping the stranger wouldn't look over at her. she sighed in relief as

she noticed his back was towards her and she observed him carefully, trying to read his body language like she had been practicing since she first received her job. he seemed calm enough if not somewhat awkward and she figured that he was about six foot instead of the eight foot that cuddles had exaggerated about.

still, despite not being a giant, the man did stick out a lot in his army green fatigues and his beret that bore a little checkered orange patch. he looked like a cat trying to fit into a nest of mice and flaky wondered if he was really as scary-looking as cuddles said he was as the man tripped over his own feet and nearly landed on his face, the beret falling from his head and revealing lime green hair. she must have been staring at him a little too long though because suddenly, the soldier's head swiveled in her direction and her cheeks flushed

ight red in response to being caught in the act of spying on him. she looked away, pretending to scan the store, before she turned to cuddles.

"see? what did i tell ya?" cuddles boasted quietly, crossing his arms over his chest. the watch on his wrist beeped at him angrily and the blond panicked slightly. "i got to get over to the kids' section for story dress up time! catch you after work, 'kay, dude?"

flaky sighed, shaking her head with a small grin. cuddles had a habit of running late but he truly meant well. he always gave his best in whatever he did and for the most part, he was pretty good at remembering important things that he had to do. he honestly was the nicest guy she knew. after all, what man who preferred sports and rock-and-roll to books would take a job at the local book joint (on top of teaching kids how to skateboard) just so he could try to save up enough money for when his girlfriend wanted something or for when it was his friend's birthday? admittedly, flaky didn't know many men personally enough to know but somehow she just had the feeling that cuddles was a great guy.

the redhead glanced back over to where the strange soldier had been and felt a bit better once she realized he was no longer in his previous spot. she tied her long red hair back, frowning at the dandruff that snowed down onto the floor around her, and looked at the clock on the wall. she better start working now rather than later.

oooooooooooo

flaky waited expectantly as the afternoon stretched onwards, the sun lowering over the trees outside the store, her embarrassing moment with the stranger grown stale and forgotten after a few hours working. she loved working in the little cafe - interestingly nicknamed the meetcute- that was inside the bookstore. it worked well with her social anxiety since rarely anyone came into the little area to order anything to drink or eat and when people did, they were people she had gotten to know, people who always came at one particular time every single day, most of them very polite and kind and sweet who loved books as passionately as she did.

the regulars always sat in the same places every day amongst the drifters and flaky grew very comfortable knowing that nothing changed very much from day to day. she never had to talk to many people and when she had rude, a

asive patrons, the regulars usually defended her. in return, she would talk with many of them about books and about life, recommending what to read and informing them of what books were to be released, of which were to be put on clearance, when items that weren't books were discounted. it was a very relaxing way of working and flaky loved it.

now, she waited very patiently for one of her favorite regulars – an elderly woman named mrs. gottliebe who came from a different town a few miles away and acted very grandmotherly towards the timid redhead- to show up as she always did around this time. the little cafe area, closed off from the main store by a door decorated with a coffee cup, was almost empty and flaky couldn't wait to tell mrs. gottliebe about a mystery author she had stumbled upon when the girl had gone to a thrift shop the previous day.

the clock ticked and tocked on, the seconds turned away like pages of a book being skimmed. the petite girl frowned and sipped on a very sweet french vanilla coffee, accidentally burning her tongue. she wondered where mrs. gottliebe was and had just begun to doodle on a napkin when the door of the cafe opened.

"oh, hey! i was wondering when you'd show!" flaky rejoiced quickly, not yet looking up from her doodle.

"aw, how nice of you to be expecting a stranger." a stranger's masculine voice replied amusedly.

"o-oh my god, i-i'm so s-sorry, i-i thought you were-were someone else, i-i didn't..!" she panicked, tears forming in her eyes as she grew more upset after looking up to see the soldier from earlier, her mind going at a thousand miles per hour and her anxiety kicking in upon remembering the incident. she let out a small cry and slid under the little area beneath the cash register, trembling and covering her scarlet cheeks with her hands, her little heart pounding.

"h-hey, there's no need to cry." the soldier piped up. "i-it's fine, miss. really. i promise!"

flaky didn't reply. instead, she let out a soft whimper and buried her face in the sleeves of her oversized thrift shop sweater. she pressed herself against the wall of the little alcove created by the counter, trying to curl up into a ball to feel safe and calm down again. she shivered vehemently with teary eyes and the soldier's footsteps approached her hiding spot.

"miss? can you come out please? i didn't mean to startle you or embarrass you or whatever the case." his husky voice coaxed. "it'd.. it'd be nice to meet you."

flaky didn't move. her anxieties and fear meet and mingled before merging into a devastating mental toll. she bit her lips, burrowing in the sweater once again, ignoring the kindly soldier. pearly tears rolled off of her rounded cheeks.

"don't make me come back there and get you." he sighed. "i will do it and i don't think that's the way i want our first formal meeting to go with me hauling you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes."

she let out another squeaking noise and tried calming down. flaky wished that she was more normal. that she didn't have social anxiety and a towers of fears looming over her like a guillotine. that she wouldn't cry so much when frightened or stressed. that she could just pop up and pretend to have pulled a prank – haha, got you good, huh? haha, you should have seen your face- and then introduced herself casually.

flaky was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the soldier jump over the the counter and land with a loud thud that only accompanies boots. she grew somewhat aware of him crouching in front of her, staring, but she didn't look up in any case until he had hesitantly shaken her.

he didn't say anything to her and she felt grateful since she didn't know what to say anyway. the green-haired man reluctantly moved his hand from her shoulder and awkwardly cleared his throat, the only thing she could tell about his face shadowed by the poor lighting was that it was a vi

ant red color for a reason flaky couldn't guess. he looked away from her.

"i-it's.." the soldier started. ".. it's okay to cry. i'll be right here, okay?"

"th-thank you." flaky murmured softly.

"flippy." he stated suddenly after a silence had fallen between them.

"e-excuse me?" she inquired, perplexed by the a

upt word.

"my name is, uh, flippy.." he coughed as he began blushing again. "it's nice to meet you, miss."

"i'm f-flaky. it's nice to m-meet you too." she smiled warmly. she wiped the drying tears from her face upon remembering that they were making strands of cherry red hair stick to her face.

flippy stuck out a gloved hand and she gently took it in her own. he had a very firm handshake which made flaky wonder if maybe he had been raised in an old-fashioned home where manners like calling a person miss, ma'am, and sir or having a strong handshake were important. he slowly released her hand.

"i'm sorry for embarrassing you, flaky." the soldier apologized.

"i-it was my fault. i should have looked up fr-from my drawing instead of assuming y-you were who i thought you were." the redhead countered with a shake of her head and a flurry of flakes dusting the floor.

"no. i shouldn't have tried making a joke about it." he insisted stubbornly. "i was acting like a jackass. so, i apologize."

flippy's manners made flaky think that he wouldn't have been the type of guy to curse or at least, not around people he didn't know very well. it mildly surprised her that he had called himself a jackass and in a way, she felt a little relaxed seeing him talk to her so casually. her anxiety melted away a bit as she felt safer and more comfortable around the green-clad man, an instant liking to this stranger whom she knew nothing about as if it was an instinct to enjoy his company.

"you're not going to let me take the blame, are you?" she sighed. she crossed her arms.

"nope." he grinned boyishly. "or at least, not until you come out from under the table. i'll drag you out if i have to, miss."

"you wouldn't." she rolled her rose-red eyes. "i doubt you would anyway."

"is that a challenge?" he teased. "i'm pretty sure i can lift you up."

"i-i never said you couldn't. i just said you would actually drag me out of here." she corrected playfully.

"i'm taking it as a dare now." he announced with a casual tossing of his hand in the air for good measure. "i'm being serious, so you might want to come out now."

flaky stared back at the green-haired man almost rebelliously and he sighed, turning away from her, before looking back at her with a dazzling smile made the redhead's cheeks flush a

ight red. flippy snaked an arm around her and extracted her from under the counter as if he was rescuing a drowning kitten. flaky nervously clung to the army man, trembling, burrowing her face against his

oad chest, as he lifted her in the air. her feet couldn't touch the ground and her grip tightened. god, did she hate heights..

his

eath hitched audibly and flaky wondered for a minute if maybe she was too heavy for him. she was a little chubby, but only a little. despite her clumsy love for sports, she had a little bit of pudge that, while not very noticeable or troublesome, wouldn't leave no matter how hard she tried to rid herself of it. she had stopped caring about a little bit of baby fat since it didn't hurt her health or anything but now she was worried that flippy might have thrown his back out while lifting her. the girl gingerly tugged on his jacket to get his attention after he had frozen, his arms wrapped around her tightly.

"a-are you okay, f-flippy?" flaky pleaded quietly with a bubbling fear boiling in the back of her mind.

"hmm? oh! yeah, yeah, i'm fine. j-just a bit.. distracted, i guess." flippy stammered quickly. he threw in a lazy shrug and then frowned. "why do you ask?"

flaky swallowed hard and open her mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by someone walking in through the meetcute's door. both the tiny redhead and the towering soldier directed their attention to it. the red-eyed girl felt an immense wave of gratitude wash over her as she looked over at her ocd-riddled friend who stared back with a wide-eyed stare and only then did flaky realized why petunia was staring so intensely.

"f-flippy, you n-need to put m-me down." flaky reminded the soldier in embarrassment, her cheeks dusted crimson red.

"oh, yeah. sorry, flaky. guess i got distracted again." flippy laughed nervously. he placed the girl on the floor in front of him and waved at petunia awkwardly before rubbing the back of his neck.

"p-petunia, this is f-flippy. flippy, this is my fr-friend and coworker, petunia." the redhead explained with a gesture.

"nice meeting you." petunia said politely, still gazing at them with a look flaky couldn't read.

"the pleasure is all mine." the soldier saluted nonchalantly.

"sorry to interrupt, but i came to tell flaky that it's time to her shift is over so cuddles is waiting for her in front of the store.." she responded.

"i-i completely forgot that i-i wasn't working overtime! jeez!" flaky realized suddenly and petunia laughed at her.

"you're welcome. we need to talk later so text me later, okay? bye, flaky. and nice meeting you, flippy." the blue-haired girl smiled as she turned and walked out the door.

"i'd better get going.." flaky said ruefully once her friend had left. she looked up at the green-haired man and bit her lip, actually looking at him for the first time and feeling a tad intimidated upon seeing how attractive he really was.

"well, the least i could do is walk you out." flippy remarked. "and... maybe i could, um, well.. if it's not too much to ask.. get your number?"

"m-my number?" she repeated in surprise.

"yeah.. i-i figured that since i was thinking about moving h-here, that i might get your number. make friends. the regular moving trials." he explained. "plus i really feel bad for making you upset, so i figure i owe you a coffee or something."

"that reminds me! i n-never got your order!" she stressed after jotting her number down and handing it to the boy. "i can make i-it quickly if you want!"

"flaky, it's fine! i only came in out of curiosity." he revealed. "i heard that there was a little coffee shop area so i did some investigating. i was just going to get to know the staff anyway. and for the record, i'm glad i met you."