Liiiittle Worm

My fate was... not good. Not good at all.

In fact, it was about as bad a fate as a worm can get. 

I got stomped on. Repeatedly. 

Thankfully - or regretfully, depending on your perspective- they wouldn't let me die. I'm not sure what they did, but I do know that it hurt. It hurt a lot. 

Now I'm sitting here, nursing my bruised, beaten body and swearing up and down never to interact with the female species again. That last encounter has made it blindingly obvious that they're the dregs of society. The reason for all the bad in the world. If they weren't necessary for reproduction, they would definitely be extinct-

"Hey, Little Worm. How are you." I'm interrupted from my murderous internal dialogue by the most disinterested, lackluster 'how are you' I've ever had the displeasure of hearing. 

And it came from Seeque. 

I utter a curse and fall off of my bed in my haste to put distance between myself and the horrid creature with a lion's mane...? "What happened to your hair?" The words slip out against my will as I glare at her from behind the bed.

She looks like she's looking at an idiot. And she is, but that's still not a very nice way to look at someone. "I don't know what daddy sees in you. You're not good at slapstick humor at all." She tosses her hair, which is in a brushed ponytail that was resting on her shoulder. "My hair? What, you think I walk around with a lion's mane all the time? Hah." She sits in the seat next to the bed and rubs some invisible wrinkles out of her shirt and pants. "I only wear my hair like that when I think I'm going to end up in a fight." 

"You don't think I'm going to fight you?" No, you idiot. That's not the question you were supposed to ask. You're supposed to ask what the heck she's doing here in my hospital room.

"I'm not going to laugh at you, so you're not going to be gaining any powers." She tosses her hair again, this time dismissively.

"What, you don't think I can beat you without the power of laughter?" Really? Are you even going to pretend to ask the question you're supposed to ask?

She scoffs, and I feel the tiniest bit of power enter my body. "In short? No. You have no chance against me. I, like my father, always keep a stockpile of laughter power hidden away. Don't think that I need that to beat you, though. Nah, I could beat you to a pulp without using any power." She winks. "Just like I did last night."

I stand up awkwardly, having determined that she's probably not going to attack me. But I keep the bed in between us, just in case. "Why are you here?" I don't have anything to say about last night, and doubt I ever will. 

She sneers. "Daddy is making me apologize to the weak Little Worm of an apprentice he has." 

Her dad has the most twisted sense of humor I've ever witnessed on two worlds. And I rarely see the joke until it's too late. I wonder what the joke is this time? I mean, it's obviously me, but how is it me? The Jester isn't the type of person to have people do anything unless it's for the betterment of the kingdom... or he finds it funny. And this situation definitely falls into the latter category. 

I dread finding out how, exactly, it falls there.

"Great. Both of our days are ruined. You can go now." I make a shooing motion at her, but she doesn't even look at me. 

"I'm also supposed to do something else." 

"That's fine. You don't have to. I'll tell your dad that you did everything he wanted you to, now go on back to being a bane to human kind." 

"Hey, I'm not a bane to human kind. That's my uncle. And I will not stand for being compared to my uncle." She glares at me.

I sigh. "You don't know?" She frowns, and I shake my head with a sad expression. "She really doesn't know, does she?" I'm talking to myself now. 

"Know what?" I can feel the murderous aura leaking from her. 

"It's a shame." I say, and she stands up with murder in her eyes.

"Tell me. Now." 

I let out a fake laugh. "You and your uncle are compared to each other more than anyone or anything I can think of. Why, just yesterday me and my friend were talking about just how similar you two are. In looks, in attitudes, in mannerisms... it's really eerie."

She has a skeptical look marring her features now. "You're lying. There's no way you have a friend." 

She knows me so well, does she? "At least for me it's a choice thing." I look at her pointedly.

She scoffs again, and I get a bit more power. "You saw my friends last night."

I raise an eyebrow. "Riiight... and tell me: who paid for the drinks and meals?"  Her expression says I've struck a chord. "And who has to do all the reaching out to these so called 'friends'?" Another chord. "And who gets turned down more often than not... unless something expensive is involved, and you happen to be the one paying for it?" At this point, I'm playing a sad, lonely song with all these chords. 

"You're a sad, lonely creep, Little Worm. I hope you know that." I'm surprised to see a tear in the corner of her eye. 

Great. Now I feel bad. And not because of the derogatory names she's labeled me with. No, I feel bad for making her feel bad. I mean, c'mon! How was I supposed to know my guesses would be spot on? 

Ugh.

"Oh, trust me- my mother and my salamander told me everyday back on earth." The words slip out of my mouth, against my will, as per the usual. 

Something I would never expect happens... she... yeah, she's actually doing it. She... laughs?