2. By Fallout Boy (1/2)

throwing stones at a glass moon

pairing: flippy x flaky

a/n: holy hell in a handbasket, it's good to be back. sorry for the hiatus, everyone. over the past few years, i've been fairly busy - i've moved a lot, i spent time in the mental hospital for some issues (and no stereotypes please. mental hospitals aren't that bad. no one is a homicidal maniac), i've had three cousins born, i switched over to tumblr to work on my original characters and to roleplay for a while but i'm going to be making a new one soon to tie into my fanfics since i'm tired of my current one. things are better now. i'm better now. i want to formally apologise and thank everyone for everything. you guys are amazing and i love the feedback i've gotten. you're just rad. i don't think i would be back if it wasn't for you guys. your support and love, despite the time, has been critical in my decision to come back. it astounds me that you cared that much about a fic to continue to comment, to message… and i can't appreciate it enough. oh, by the way, if ya'll ever wanna talk or follow my tumblr, hit me up. i love making friends. without further ado, here's the new chapter. i know the personalities may not be perfectly the same but it's been a long time so try to give advice if you think things are radically different. i also changed the age of the characters so flippy being referred to as a teen is now inaccurate. i will be editing that sometime. forgive me - i'm not quite back into the swing of things. happy tree friends belongs to mondo and not me, of course.

chapter two: i'm really awkward but you're super sweet so please don't think i'm a creep by fallout boy

flippy's eyes met hers with an almost feral bewilderment and flaky was violently caught off guard. his stare was enough to cow even a lion but she fought the urge to flinch away from him. in the moment, she could have sworn the lime green of his eyes had spilled over into a yellow. it was a peculiar sight and her grip on the man tightened slightly. however, before she could get a closer look, cuddles had impatiently latched onto the arm furthest away from flippy and had started toting flaky away. she felt the jacket slip from her hand as the blond began to drag her along.

"i don't know what sort of thing is going on here but i do know that my girlfriend will absolutely kill me if i happen to arrive late and i refuse to die today," cuddles declared in an overly dramatic tone, unaware entirely of the redhead's sudden fascination with the soldier's eyes, "so ya'll better get in the bunny mobile before it's too late."

"i can walk on my own, you know," flaky mumbled, looking at flippy as if asking for help. there wasn't any from him; he merely gave her a shrug and a somewhat lopsided grin. "aren't you forgetting someone anyway?"

cuddles paused for a moment, mid-stride, to look back at flippy and then back at flaky. after a few moments, he sighed and solemnly dropped his head. "... unfortunately, i cannot drag flippy. he could probably

eak me over his leg and then dropkick a tree before wrestling a bear. i'm a lot of things, but superman is definitely not one of them. soulja boy, you're going to have to actually walk. my customary dragging has a weight limit." "you callin' me fat, cuddles?" flippy asked light-heartedly, crossing his arms over his chest. "i happen to be rather hurt."

"what?... no, no, no! i didn't mean you were fat; i just… you're just… l-look, you're like super tall and you look super strong and, and… did you know muscle is heavier than fat? you look like you've got a lot of muscle and i… i don't think i can move you," the blond babbled in a panic. flaky looked at the two and wondered if she should step in yet but waited, partially as a way of letting the two get a better feel for each other. "you're like the terminator and i'm like… a noodle. a weak, limpy noodle. not even decent, hearty noodle. a thin,

eakable noodle. noodles can't move arnold schwarzenegger, dude."

"... they could if he wanted to eat the noodles," flippy pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone.

"... please do not eat me," cuddles said.

"just relax. i'm only pulling your leg. i know you're not calling me fat."

"i need my legs."

"not if you replace them with robotic prosthetics."

"they'd be cold!"

"not as cold as my heart."

"anyway…! we have to get going. please. now," cuddles said, pretending flippy's last comment hadn't been said, as he continued dragging flaky.

"that reminds me. cuddles, i thought you named your car the bumblebee," flaky commented.

"oh, yeah… i had to change it because it turns out i hate bees," he replied casually, waving his free hand.

"did bees ever really do anything wrong though?" flippy interjected, following behind the two, making a face at flaky who crinkled her nose in response.

"you stay out of this, flippy fresh." cuddles released his captive to search for the right key as he approached his lemon yellow beetle. "bees did everything wrong. trust me. i know people who know things."

"bees really just remind me of flowers and maybe butterflies," flaky remarked, waiting closely to the car. she kept a careful eye on the street nervously. she hoped that nutty hadn't gotten a car; the last time he had driven, he had been a 'complete menace' in petunia's words. she had to admit that it was probably a biased account on the simple terms that nutty had killed petunia that day from his driving.

"oh, do you like butterflies?" flippy asked, stepping next to her, seemingly pleased with the mention of the insect.

"she just likes nature in general. but, i'm just saying, butterflies are the actual worst," cuddles interrupted, unlocking the car, "hop in, losers, we're going home.".

she was caught off guard when flippy grabbed the door handle first before she could,

ushing against her slightly, and opened the door in a fluid movement. he gesticulated for her to get into the car first and she shyly nodded in appreciation before crawling into the car. the car door made a soft thud as i t closed behind flippy. even as she buckled her seatbelt, being alone with him in the backseat made her extremely aware of how little the space between them was.

"hey, flippy, aren't you gonna be a little cramped back there?" cuddles asked, looking back at the backseat, as he readjusted his mirror, "you could always ride up front if you want to. it might be more comfortable."

"it's fine. i'd rather be back here anyway," the soldier replied. he stole a small glance at flaky, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by the woman. "i appreciate it though."

flaky felt her face grow red the minute she felt him look away from her and her mind immediately began to churn up a thousand thoughts at once. why had he looked at her? was she the reason he would rather be back here? she supposed it made sense, but what was the logic behind that reason? didn't he like cuddles? they seemed to get along fairly well despite cuddles's awestruck and eager to please attitude though she knew very well it was because cuddles disliked conflict and had seemed to have his sights set on making the new arrival his friend.

that didn't seem at all to be the reason, she logically concluded, as she temporarily reemerged from her thoughts. the pleasant sound of the two men discussing the merits of music fused with whatever song cuddles was playing enveloped her, the atmosphere inviting and friendly. the two spoke as though flippy had always lived here and they hadn't just met today.

the latter half of her previous thought wedged itself in her head and flaky couldn't help but clandestinely wonder if she had made a mistake, being reckless this one time. sure, flippy seemed sweet and he certainly seemed harmless. sure, he didn't set off any red flags on any level at all and sure, they clicked right away as if they had always been together.

however, flaky didn't know him well obviously. she didn't know what he was capable of and it would be naive - or maybe, idiotic- to think that a soldier, a man who had been to war and had probably been another cog in the murder machine, didn't know how to kill. flippy's charming and cordial personality could just be a ruse to lure in unsuspecting victims. it wouldn't seem too far off; he was certainly likeable and an admittedly attractive man which would benefit whatever nefarious thing he could be planning.

flaky was scaring herself and she tried to turn off her mind by focusing on something else. her sight fell on the man next to her as he rolled a hand loosely after she had seen nothing of interest outside the window; the cloudy sky and the same trees she had always known couldn't stir up the same curiosity that flippy could and they would have made her fall asleep. granted, she personally wouldn't have chosen the subject making her anxious to try to remedy said anxiety but she knew that if she stared at cuddles, he would have commented on it. she watched flippy talk animatedly to cuddles about a band, hands actively moving about.

flaky could just barely make out the semblance of his accent amongst his words. she wondered where he was from anyway. the accent was too subtle to even try to pin down a location, but she had a feeling that his previous home was probably a lot better than happy tree town. personally, she would have traded spots with him in an instant. tree town was a mistake and a horrid one at that; anywhere else in the world would be a vast improvement over the dead-end town.

it amused her to hear cuddles's high voice in contrast with flippy's lower one. maybe it was because flaky was used to cuddles, but flippy seemed a lot more mature and he sounded like he was older. in his defense, cuddles was not the epitome of manliness as lifty and shifty were very glad to point out (and subsequently use as an insult); the blond just had a very young sounding voice like a teenager's. it wasn't as if he sounded like a child despite his attitude and outlook on life being childish at times though.

"flaky?" flippy's voice cut through her thoughts and she jumped a bit when he waved his hand to catch her attention. "cuddles, she's alive. we didn't