Flowers

The morning after his arrival to the strange place, Holden had hardly found his bearings, but hardly was better than nothing. There he sat on the couch in the living room, a half-empty cup of coffee placed on the table before him. In one hand he held his phone, swiping through a variety of webpages, eyes scanning the information he found. In his focus, the rest of the area fell away from his senses, his attention solely designated to the task at hand. 

"Hm?"

Holden turned his head as he felt a tap on his shoulder. The impact was gentle, almost too gentle, like the tapper worried that applying any more pressure would cause Holden to crumble. Nonetheless, his vision fell upon Natty, her curious expression signifying the obvious question that danced in her mind. She looked sleepy, a few eyebags taking residence under her visible eyes. Her green hair was messy, its wild threads quelled slightly by a fresh hair-tie. She had evidently woken just a few moments before.

"I'm just... looking some things up. That's all."

Holden glanced back at his phone screen, his search history a mashup of keywords all intended to figure out one thing; what is he, exactly? He'd been typing away for a while, treating his supernatural showcasings of the past as symptoms one might document to capture their diagnosis. Natty tapped his shoulder once more, hoping to secure his attention again. She gestured for his phone, and he reluctantly handed it to her. Opening the notes app, she typed down a message and displayed the screen to Holden.

"Miss Melony told me some things about you. You're searching, right? Trying to figure out what kind of hybrid you are?"

Remembering her ability to read lips, Holden responded.

"Something like that. But what it is, I'm still not sure. Me and Melony found out a thing or two about me, that I have some sort of ability to absorb things and make them my own, as vague as that sounds. Like this phone, I can uh... do this for example."

A bright light sourced from Holden's right eye shone into the room. He'd pulled the flashlight function from his phone and transmitted it into himself in some form. After a moment he disabled it, allowing his eye to return to normal. 

"Problem is, I don't really get what that has to do with any existent Cryptid type. What would I even call that? And even if I could track down some Cryptid from some mythology, I'd probably end up falling into a rabbit hole of thousands of similar creatures. It'd be like trying to diagnose a disease based on a cough and a runny nose. I just can't be certain is all."

Using his phone once more, Natty rapped away at the surface. Her eyes glimmered softly, an expression of hope and understanding prancing across them in the process.

"It's alright to not know for sure. You know, not figuring that sort of thing out isn't so uncommon. Many of us didn't really know our parents or where we came from. Myself included. Maybe taking small steps in the right direction like you are now will make things better. It can be hard to be in your position, but you know more today than you did yesterday, and the day before, right?"

With an unconvinced nod, Holden leaned forward and sipped from his coffee again. He looked at the strange girl whose face was half-covered by vegetation. Her words interested him, after all she offered a perspective he hadn't previously considered. Her and the others in this new world had similar problems? It wasn't outlandish that a family composed of creatures and half-humans wasn't conducive towards creating a lasting unit. 

"Is that the case? It makes sense, all things considered. Still…Natty, why are you here? I mean, it's not really my business or anything. You're probably just some person I'll end up knowing for a little bit and forgetting in the future someday. I don't know why I'm asking this, but what's the thing that brought you into this life? What's keeping you here? You seem comfortable with Melony, so is this... your weird form of happiness or whatever?"

Natty climbed over the couch and sat down next to Holden, stretching her arms back much to Holden's discomfort. 

"My happiness? Maybe. I didn't really have anywhere to go before this, though. You see, you ask me what's keeping me here, what brought me into this life. The answer is really just my existence."

"Your existence? What's that supposed to mean?

"You know, my existence. Just look at me. My introduction to this life was literally who I am. Your powers were hidden for a while, and for many people it's just like that. But for those of us who are born so obviously different, it was never possible for us to not know we were weird, it was never possible for us to blend in with the rest of the world. For people like me, someone like Melony is a saving grace. Someone to bring me in, to not judge me so harshly. For the first time in my life, I've been given this kind of consistency. So yeah, this is my happiness."

"Right, I guess you couldn't just hide who you are, huh? Unfortunate, I'd imagine that's led to some issues here and there. Can't really roll up and order some takeout with your appearance, no offense. Won't say it's all that bizarre to me, though. Least it isn't any more strange than everything else I've seen. I'm sitting in some weird dimension surrounded by vast purple oceans, and just the other week I watched Melony open her stomach to swallow some sort of water demon. You looking like some sort of forest guardian is just another thing on the list for me."

Natty sat for a moment, stewing over Holden's words. Without warning, she feverishly tapped upon the glass, another message sprawled across the screen for Holden to witness. 

"Forest guardian huh? That's weirdly a lot less hurtful than the other things I've been called. You wouldn't expect hybrids to look at me with disgust, right? You'd likely assume they'd accept me for being in a similar boat with them, we're incapable of publicly showing our true selves after all. Even then, there's a difference between us. They can fit in, so long as they keep their paranormal side a secret. No matter what I do, I'll never appear regular. Even among those who don't fit in, I especially don't fit it. Even though all hybrids feel similar things as I do, like their self-hatred at the fact they're unaccepted among humanity, they often refuse to look towards our similarities when interacting with people like me. After all this time, I wish I were different, but at least now I can more easily embrace who I am. Miss Melony wouldn't let me sulk for a moment after all, she'd bother me and make me say five nice things about myself for every harsh, self-doubtful thought I had."

The flowers that adorned Natty's face became more vibrant as she spoke, reaching a climax as she talked about Melony's impact on her life. Nonetheless, Holden grew agitated at her speech. 

"What the Hell is the point of this, exactly? Congratulations on being comfortable here, but that's not exactly useful to me. You never knew what it was like to have normalcy, and I'm sure that came with its own set of issues. I have known normalcy, and I had it snatched from me. I can't hope to return to what I once had, everything beyond here is unknown, and I alone have to walk my own path. No amount of strange women whispering sweet nothings into my ear will grant me what I want. Everyone wants to know who they are, but nobody has the same road to walk down in pursuit of that. So it's cool that you're just... sunshine and rainbows about your place in the world. Just know that has nothing to do with me."

"I know, I wouldn't expect me to have the key to your locked door. I was just saying, Holden. Our paths aren't identical, but they're both terribly difficult, I'm sure. All I mean is, you've already come this far, as have I. Whether the roadblocks ahead get harder or easier to climb over, I think you'll climb over them just fine. Miss Melony believes in you, and if she does, then so do I. She has good judgment, even if it's a little hard to see that all the time. For your goals, there's no better place to be than here. Though some of us like Jackson and Carrie don't show it well, they do care. They just have their own issues and personalities. You'll get along just fine, I promise."

"Yeah... if you insist. Is that all you came to tell me? To be hopeful, and that others believe in me? Hope and belief aren't strategies. I can't wish my parents back, nor wish to understand myself as I want to. That manifestation bullshit is a fairy tale. I'm sure you came from a place of good intentions, but I'll be fine without being beaten over the head with pleasant platitudes."

Natty hesitated for a moment, the coloration of her flowers diminishing slightly. 

"Just think about it, okay? I wouldn't ask you to buy in all at once. It took me a while to buy in myself, that I was worthwhile and that others really did care. You're a stubborn guy, right? Not just to me, but yourself. So it's only a matter of time before you push through whatever barriers stand between you and your happiness. That isn't my prediction. That's something I know. I think you know it too."

For a moment, there was silence.

"Is that all, Natty? I'm sure we both have things to do..."

"Just one more thing," she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Earlier, you said that I was just another thing on the list, right? You said eventually you'd forget me. That I'm nothing special?"

"Something like that, yeah."

At that, Natty's flowers slowly began to reinvigorate, her delight expressed through the brilliant greens and yellows which decorated her face.

"Thank you. I mean it. Thank you so much."

"For what?"

"For thinking of me that way. As just as standard as everything else, relatively speaking. It means a lot, actually"

Unexpectedly, she placed the phone back into Holden's hands and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him warmly. Holden grunted in objection, but otherwise didn't refuse her embrace. He turned his head away, slowly pushing her back after a time. Natty nodded her head in understanding before letting go. With a slight wave of her hand, she exited the room, and the aroma which entered Holden's nose made her reason apparent; breakfast was ready. 

"What a nuisance," Holden grumbled before tucking his phone away and standing up. Stretching his arms, he swiped his coffee mug up from the table to take with him. Before he could move, he glanced down and realized Pepper had been sleeping at his feet. With a gentle nudge, she woke up and smacked her lips in exhaustion. 

Holden would need all the breakfast he could get, as he was sure the day would take a toll on him. An entire morning and afternoon spent with one strange individual was enough to tire him, let alone a multitude of them. Even still, he made his way forward, tucking his unpleasant thoughts away as best he could. It was the start of a new day, and he hardly figured it was worthwhile to consider it trash before it even began.