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There they were again.
When Basketball stepped out of her hotel room, she was greeted by a bundle of flowers on her doorstep; golden petals in the shape of stars were contrasted by a silky blue ribbon tying them together by the stems.
For weeks now, the flowers were what started her day. She didn’t know where they came from or who was giving them to her, but no matter what she did with them, they were back at her door the very next morning.
At first, she kept them, setting them down in a vase by the window, but she soon ran out of places to put them and resorted to giving them away instead. That didn’t make the problem any better. Worst of all, nobody had given her any ideas of who the secret admirer leaving her flowers could be. So, here she was, stuck, staring in defeat at the gift that had yet again been left for her.
Those she’d sent the flowers off to reported them dying within the span of a day, but strangely, the ones that Basketball had kept seemed to flourish even more under her care. No matter where she put them, how she treated them, they remained fresh, while the others complained to her with shriveled-up bouquets in their hands.
She decided she would just leave them on her desk for the time being so she could work out the other strange occurrences appearing throughout her day. The flowers weren’t where the confusion ended; in fact, they were only a small part of it.
“Morning, Snowball,” she said when she passed him in the hall, stopping when she noticed the aforementioned Snowball stumbling weakly and clutching his head. “Uhm.. are you okay?”
He muttered something under his breath and turned to her. “You cursed me.”
“I don’t curse people, Snowball.”
“Oh yeah? Then why-” Snowball tried to take a threatening step towards her, but wobbled, instead opting to lean against the wall. “Ugh. Why has literally everything been beating me up this morning?” He continued to rub a dented spot on his head to emphasize his point. “I can’t go anywhere without-”
One of the light fixtures on the wall fell and shattered on that same spot.
“Ow!” He cried. “-Getting hurt!”
“I told you I don’t know why this stuff keeps happening!” Basketball shouted despite the fact that she had begun carefully picking glass shards out of him.
It was happening to everybody who crossed her path. Even those who gave the smallest jabs at her would face the wrath of whatever otherworldly power that was put in her possession, scaling from events of small, instant karma to having their whole day ruined. At first Basketball found it a bit satisfying, seeing certain people who were unnecessarily rude have some comeuppance for once, but it became a lot less satisfying when it happened to practically everyone who dared to test her.
People had started to become almost scared of her, wondering what she would (unwillingly) unleash upon them if they irritated her.
..Well, people who weren’t Snowball. Snowball learned the hard way.
“Look, I’m sorry I shoved you last night. Can we be done here?” He huffed.
Basketball rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t all you did.”
“It was!”
Another light swung in place, threatening to fall. Almost like a warning.
“Fine.” Snowball crossed his arms. “I’m also sorry that I called you stupid and called you weak and called you armless and called you stupid,” when it swung again, he flinched, and quickly added, “And that I broke your wrench! I’ll get you a new one or something.”
The light went still.
“Thanks, Snowball. I’m sorry about, uh.. this.” Basketball helped him stand straight. “Hope your day gets better!” She offered a smile before continuing down the hall, hearing a quiet and bitter “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” from behind her.
People moved out of her way and shot her nervous glances when they noticed her, and it stung a bit. She was used to being a part of it all, a familiar face among her fellow contestants, but now ‘good luck’ had started to push her away from almost everybody she knew.
Almost everybody.
Her walk took her to the first floor of the hotel, the air full of warmth and chatter. Those who were inside were sitting and talking, and she could see many others running and playing in the grasslands. There was a certain somebody Basketball was scanning the room for, but the faint sound of a ringing bell and a mechanical voice drew her right to that someone’s position.
“Store’s open!”
Standing at the front counter of Stuff for Your Self was Robot Flower, and Basketball was quick to approach her.
“Hello, Robot Flower.” Basketball said with mock challenge, leaning against the wall just beside the store. “Funny seeing you here.”
The two of them had decided that a bit of friendly competition wouldn’t hurt, now that they were on seperate teams. Besides, they still tried to spend as much time as they could with each other, to make up for the time they’d lost when Robot Flower wasn’t.. herself.
Robot Flower scoffed and crossed her arms, turning away. “Hello, Basketball.”
The way she said it made Basketball’s heart stop for a moment.
But she quickly shook herself off and returned the warmth the two of them held underneath their playful rivalry. “How’ve you been? I’m sure it’s nice to be running the place again.”
“It sure is!” Robot Flower looked back at her. “People were really excited to see I was back open! Turns out it being out of commission was a whole thing,” she paused, her proud voice lowering into something akin to nervousness. “I.. didn’t know people liked my store so much.”
Basketball couldn’t help but smile at that. “Of course people like your store! It’s got all the good stuff!”
She stood to the side as said people stepped up to the counter, proving her point. Her gaze drifted back to the hall. Occasionally, when things got too cluttered, Basketball and others would donate their old or unwanted belongings to Stuff for Your Self for selling. She’d offered her abundance of flowers to others before, but the outcome was the same for all of them: dead and wilted. She didn’t want to burden Robot Flower with the mess either, but maybe they could figure something else out.
“Hey, uh,” she started when Robot Flower’s customers walked off with their purchase. “Do you think if we dried those flowers you’d be able to profit off of them? Or, I dunno.. repurposed them into fertilizer?” She heaved a sigh. “I really need to put them to use, since I doubt they’re gonna stop showing up.”
“I guess we could, but.. aren’t they gifts?” Robot Flower inquired.
“Gifts from somebody who can’t take a hint..” Basketball responded sarcastically. “..and who has way too many flowers. I don’t think they care what I do with them.”
“It’d be good for my online store..” Robot flower said, trailing off until she seemed to realize something. “Oh- speaking of which- can you help me with something later?”
“Sure. What’s up?” Basketball asked.
“My sign,” she pointed to said sign hanging right above them. “I want to sell it. Can you help me get it off the wall? It’s bolted in.”
“..You want to.. sell your sign?”
Robot Flower hesitated. “..Well.. not actually. I just need more things to list there. Oh- I could also use some of these!”
She began rummaging through one of the many stashes of items she kept behind the counter – Basketball winced at the complete lack of organization, but bit her tongue.
“I wish I could, but Snowball broke my wrench,” sarcasm still laced her voice. “One of his ‘you’re all stupid weaklings! grrr!’ moments. You know how it is.”
An “Uh-huh,” rose from Robot Flower as she continued to dig through the pile, before she stopped, lifting something out and staring at it with.. well, she didn’t exactly express, but Basketball knew how to read her. She seemed surprised. “Oh, woah.”
“What? What is it?”
“Is this a good replacement?” Robot Flower set a wrench - in perfect condition, resembling her old one almost exactly - down on the counter.
“..Yeah. Yeah, that’s perfect!” Basketball reached for it, but stopped, remembering where she was. “Uh.. shoot. How much do I owe you?”
Robot Flower slid it towards her. “On the house. Honestly, I didn’t even know I had this.. consider it my advance payment for helping.”
Basketball would’ve accepted that as it was if it didn’t bring her to the next strange occurance.
Anything, anything she lost would suddenly turn up again without her having to look far, let alone look at all. At first, she would wonder if it had always been there - things didn’t just appear and disappear out of thin air, right? - but if she asked someone to hide an item of hers on purpose, the same phenomenon would occur. She would turn around, and whatever she was missing would be right there, like it was never moved to begin with.
While it wasn’t harmful, definitely not by the same means as her other spurs of luck, it was.. unsettling. It was as if somebody had gone and left them there, and it didn’t just stop at lost items, she was even able to somehow manifest little things that she wanted without even thinking about it. She’d give an offhanded complaint about how they were out of her favorite snack, only to find one left, her favorite flavor, carefully tucked away in the corner of the fridge, or she’d wish for clear skies and watch as every cloud immediately drifted when she stepped outside.
“Uh, Basketball?”
Robot Flower’s voice broke her out of her thoughts.
“Right!” Basketball took the wrench. “Yeah, thanks, I’ll stop by later, uh- I’m gonna get some air, okay?”
“Oh. Okay! See you later!” Robot Flower waved at her before being approached by another customer and snapping back into action.
The rest of her day as she left the hotel continued in its new normal, but Basketball couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, even outside of the oddities, a crawling unease that followed her around wherever she went. Nothing had been the same since the storm.
Of course, nobody listened to her when she tried to tell them why, and nobody had been listening when she tried to explain all of the things that were happening to her. Nobody listened before when she tried to tell them what was wrong with Robot Flower, or now, about how sudden and uncontrollable the oddities were, or how eerily otherworldly the flowers were, or even the flecks of blue she saw in the corner of her eye. Because nobody ever listened to Basketball.
And she didn’t know what to make of the ‘ new normal .’ It didn’t feel normal, especially not with everything that was going on. Them.. the flowers, the karma, and the luck, it was all so confusing, and she wondered if there would ever be an end in sight to the madness, or if the external forces tampering with her life would only continue to gain in power the more time she spent trying to get answers.
And on the same very evening, she finally got them.
On her desk, in place of the flowers she’d found that morning, was a note, written in cursive lettering and signed off with a blue star rather than a name. It took her a moment to process what she was seeing before she read it.
“Want to find me?”
Basketball moved in closer, trying to get her eyes to adjust, but when she blinked them, the message changed.
“Meet me on the roof.”
What?
Basketball blinked again, and when it remained the same, she picked it up and stared at it closely. She recognized that handwriting. She recognized that star. It was all familiar, too familiar, cold dread crept up on her upon the realization.. and yet, she still set the note back down and started toward the elevator.
The ride up to the roof was agonizingly slow, as if time had dragged to a crawl. She found herself anxiously pacing in circles; she had no idea what to expect when she stepped out. Or, maybe she did, and she just didn’t believe it.
The elevator doors began to slide open. She breathed in..
“Hello again, Basketball!”
..And then received what was possibly the worst scare of her life.
Standing just on the other side of the doors, smiling, clearly having been waiting expectantly for her, was One, the biggest oddity of them all. She was more than just a strange occurrence; she was a driving force of evil, and her shadow continued to loom over Basketball after their deal, a shadow darker than the storm clouds she’d brought in to wreak havoc on the contest, but nowhere near as dark as her heart.
Basketball remembered their first meeting. She remembered following them into the darkness just as she had on this night, and she remembered how they’d whisked her away to their dimension mere moments later.
Deja vu hit her hard.
“..You!” Basketball gasped, her voice shaking with a mixture of fear, anger, and confusion, all of which were battling within her the longer she remained in place.
But One only kept smiling, that dead, off-putting smile. “Me.”
“What do you want?” Basketball asked, voice still trembling and raised to a high pitch, but One’s soft laugh cut her off. She leaned against the open elevator doorway that Basketball desperately wished would close.
“Just a little talk! That’s all,” they answered, friendly as ever, as if she were a close familiar. Noticing her tense, they added, “Don’t worry! Nothing formal, I promise. I know you’re.. hm.. distrusting of me , but I really wouldn’t lie to you!”
“A talk about what? Our- our deal?” Her tone slowly shifted from panic to skepticality.
“No, no! I have yet to put you to use, and when that day comes, I’d rather not look over our agreement on the hotel roof of all places. I really just wanted to catch up!”
Basketball narrowed her eyes at One.
“..Catch up,” she echoed, unamused. “It’s not like I’m your friend.”
“Sure you are! We had such a lovely conversation last time, wouldn’t you agree?”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“Alright, alright,” they kicked a foot up dismissively. “I admit I might’ve not had the best first impression..” But then their uncanny cheer returned, like it never left. “But now that our silly little deal is out of the way, we can forget about all that! Now.. how have you been?”
She took a glance at the elevator control panel, but she knew the buttons were just as useless as they were before. One was essentially holding her hostage yet again.
“I’ve been.. fine,” she could only answer at last, not convinced by One’s pleasantries. “What’s this really about?”
“Ugh. You can be so impatient.” One groaned. “ But I suppose that’s another thing we have in common. Fine. I’ll cut to the chase. There’s something I want to ask of you.”
No was what Basketball almost said, but she stopped herself, instead choosing a cautious “Go on..?” to use as a response.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed that things have been going a bit different for you lately.” One started for the open roof, and Basketball hesitantly followed, feeling the wind rush against her as she left the elevator. She took careful steps, being sure not to linger too close to the edge, just in case One got any ideas..
One glanced back at Basketball, and she gave them a careful nod. “Good! I figured you’d pick up on it, you’re so observant. How are you liking it, now that things are finally going your way?”
“..Why are you asking?”
“Answer my question.”
Basketball slowed to a halt soon after One stopped in her tracks. “I’m not,” she deadpanned, “You’re behind all of this, aren’t you?”
One only laughed and returned to striding across the roof. “Maybe!”
“Why are you doing this? I signed your stupid contract, stop trying to interfere with my life!” Basketball demanded.
“And I really appreciated that.” One said with mock kindness as she settled on the edge. “I just thought I’d find a way to let you know.” Then she patted the spot next to her with her foot. “Come. Sit.”
Basketball didn’t move any closer.
“Or not,” mock kindness shifted into barely-disguised disappointment. “Doesn’t matter to me, really.”
Another glance back at the elevator. Even if she could theoretically escape to warn the others, would anybody even listen to her? Would anybody even care about the ‘evil number’ that wanted to, what, give her flowers and chat with her on the roof? Would anybody even understand?
Basketball wanted to understand. She wanted to understand why One had decided to host another interaction with her. She wanted to understand the flowers and the dumb luck and the sickly flutter in her chest that arose at the idea of there being an intent behind the enigmatic approach to the gifts. She stood there, ready to continue interrogating One, before they took to it first.
“Tell me,” they fixed their gaze to the dimming sky that ever-so-slowly began to shimmer with stars. “Is there a reason why you don’t appreciate my gifts? I don’t have to give them to you, y’know.”
“You seriously expect me to trust you? To- to just- blindly accept the fact that you’re hurting my friends?” She accused.
One whipped around in offense. “Hurting your friends? I’ve done no such thing.”
“Snowball has a head injury.”
“That’s his own fault!” They scoffed, “I’m not responsible for Two’s busted hotel lights. And anyways, last time I checked, you guys were merely teammates, colleagues, not anywhere near friends status. I don’t think he applies.”
“It doesn’t matter! You clearly don’t know me at all if you-”
“I know you plenty, Basketball.”
The two of them exchanged the same spiteful glare they had upon the rising tension of their deal, one waiting for the other to speak, to bite, or perhaps to shake and crumble to their will.
“I know that you’re tired of nothing going right for you. I know that you want people who wrong you – ugh.. and your friends – to get what they deserve every once in a while. I know that the missing tools and parts that stunt your work must be so irritating for you.” One mused, feet swinging idly off the edge as if she were describing her knowledge on a subject as casual as stargazing. “And I know that you love flowers, isn’t that right?”
Basketball flinched at what sounded like a distasteful jab alongside the uneasy shiver she felt at hearing One relay her feelings back to her. “Okay..” She struggled to shake it off as she spoke. “..I.. appreciate the thought.. but I don’t want any of this.”
Clearly that wasn’t the answer One wanted. She groaned and resumed gazing at the sky, kicking her feet a bit more aggressively now as if to alleviate tension. Basketball, as carefully and quietly as she could, took a step back, and when One didn’t stir, she took another. It was a mistake to follow One outside, she thought, a mistake to entertain the thought that they meant anything sincere. But as she moved to take a third step–
“I grew those flowers myself, you know.” One muttered, suddenly halting all movement.
Basketball went still, too. “Huh?”
“I grew them,” she repeated, her words rising in a bitterness so subtle Basketball was sure only she could notice it. “Every single flower I’ve given you comes straight from my dimension, and I tend to them. My garden provides only the best, in fact.”
If Basketball was sane, she’d continue creating distance. If she knew what was good for her, she’d run. Instead, she approached the ledge One was perched on. She only vaguely remembered the garden they spoke of, as she’d noticed the faintest trace of golden blooms on the glitching screen they’d taunted her with during their first exchange.
Their first exchange. It ran through her head again – what was One trying to achieve in being friendly now, after Basketball had already seen her painted in her true colors?
Why?
“The flowers..” Basketball looked at the sky, too; the dimming, deep blue reminded her eerily of the sky she’d seen from One’s room. “I get all the other stuff.. kind of. But- why is getting me flowers so important to you?”
For once, One was quiet.
“I mean, it’s not like you have feelings for me. Are you just.. finding a new way to entertain yourself?”
Still, silence.
Basketball looked back at her. “One? Hello?”
One then sighed as if their (metaphorical) hand had been forced. “If you must know..” They patted the spot with their foot again. “Sit, will you?”
She inevitably found herself settled beside them, unconsciously copying the way their legs swung and the way they leaned to make out the shapes of constellations illuminating the early night. She couldn’t help but notice how warm their body was in proximity to hers.
They opened their mouth to speak.
“I’ve watched all of the little romances budding within the competition, and I thought that they were all so very cute, so very.. gross,” an obvious disgust laced her voice as she uttered the mere thought, “ Honestly, I didn’t see the appeal of falling in love!” A pause. One’s gaze fell steadily onto Basketball, a sight much more melting now that the two of them were at eye level. “..Until I met you, that is.”
Basketball listened until she was stunned silent, until all of the pieces slotted together like that of a puzzle’s, until she noticed something other than malice burning in the reflective depths of their alien eyes.
Of course . Only One would do something like this.
One went on, “I heard flowers are the perfect gift, but I couldn’t just get you one bouquet! No, you should have a lot more than that. And while I definitely don’t have the.. desirable.. amount of power, I know it’s within my ability to do special favors for my special person, so I threw a bit of good luck into the mix, just for you!”
A moment passed where no words came to Basketball’s mind.
“..You’re saying..” Basketball began, slowly, shakily, the weight of One’s affectionate declaration hanging heavy between them. “..That you’re in love with me.”
Her mind was in a whirlwind. One. One. One had feelings for her. Did she have feelings for One? No. Definitely not. Neither did One, no – this was just the usual incident of them toying with her out of nothing more than a want for amusement.
Even if their feelings were real and true, she couldn’t dare reciprocate.
She could never allow herself to fall for a person like them .
(Even if her heart fluttered at the thought.)
“Well, I definitely wouldn’t do all this for anybody.” One laughed, that soft hum-laugh she did. “Gosh, Basketball, who do you take me for?”
“You can’t be serious.” Basketball shook her head, perhaps in a failed attempt to shake the thoughts like she had the shuddering sensation. “You’re not serious. You’re lying! That’s all you do!”
One rolled her eyes. “That’s not true. I’m very honest. I’m being as honest as I possibly can right now!”
“No. No. No you aren’t.” Basketball shifted away. “I- I don’t believe you.”
The sky had become noticeably darker, the sun having fully set and left dotting stars in its wake.
“I expected as much. Always the untrustworthy type..” One noted her change in position and mimicked such, choosing to kick a leg over the other rather than idly swing.
She gritted her teeth. “Stop. Stop it.”
“ Stop what? You wanted answers, didn’t you?” One became teasing, taunting, mocking akin to the way Basketball remembered her being before. “You’re very obvious , and yet.. so inconsistent. Do you even know what you want to hear?”
Why, why, why? The simple, yet desperate word looped over and over among her rampant thoughts: why, why?
“..Why me?”
She’d spoken unconsciously.
One hummed. “Why not you?”
“Why me?” Basketball echoed, louder. “It’s power you want, right? Control, destruction, whatever sick motive you have.” Lightning cracked in her mind; she pulled her knees close. “And I barely know you besides what I’ve seen you do .. The storm- that- that contract-” She breathed in, steadying. “You are selfish, and I’m sure you only see all of us as signatures.. So why, why are you still so determined to get to.. me?”
One returned to silence, but not out of reluctance or hesitation – rather, it looked like she was carefully considering Basketball, calculating, or patiently waiting for any other aimless rambles to leave her. When Basketball gave her nothing, a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and she gently, yet firmly used her glowing force to tilt Basketball up.
“I have my reasons,” they said, slowly drawing her in. “One of them being how adorable it is to see you get riled up like that. Another, well.. you’re observant. You’re just like me!”
Basketball struggled. “I’m nothing like you!”
“Persistent, too..”
“Shut up.”
“All of your little traits, from your determination to your.. sickening.. amount of empathy.. I always find myself so endeared.” One’s voice grew soft and silky, melting, capable of knocking her off her feet if she weren’t lucky enough to already be seated. “Is it so wrong to love that? To love you?”
“You don’t love me,” she drew away, as far as their magic would allow her to. “You just.. want me.”
One only brought her near. “Can’t I have you, then?”
Basketball felt suffocated. She wasn’t sure whether the temperature had risen to a scorching heat or dropped to a freezing cold, nor did she know for certain why the sensation of being taken by the face made her grow so sedated . The burning want in One’s eyes clashed with what she was sure was unreadability in hers, the more their gazes were forced to meet.
“..You have my signature..” Basketball answered at last. “..And that’s all that matters.”
One’s disappointment had become so evident it was practically radiating off of them.
“Fine,” they growled, releasing her and instead becoming the one to shift away. “You’re right. We made a deal! That means I’ll see you soon regardless,” then they leaned back, feigning apathy. “You’re welcome to leave.”
Basketball didn’t have to be told twice. She rose to her feet, steadily, minding her balance, then took the same cautionary steps back, then turned and made haste for the elevator.
“One more thing, though?” Basketball heard One call from behind her.
She stopped without turning around. “What?”
“Do take care of the flowers. The others can be so irresponsible with them.”
Hesitance. She thought of the wilted petals that were returned to her after she failed to give them away. She thought of One in her ‘garden,’ admiring the golden, starry blooms that grew around her feet. She thought of the same blooms that grew in her hotel room, bathing in the gentle sunlight from the window.
“..Yeah.” Basketball nodded, even knowing One couldn’t see it. “Okay.”
She continued walking, not daring to look anywhere else until she’d reached the safety of the elevator.
When she did, she took one last glance to the open roof.
But One was nowhere to be found.