Righteous Indignation - RF! Welcome Home

Chapter 28 - Bloodline

Okay. So according to Jeremy, before you threw him in the grinder, a man named Walther snuck into the factory, some fucking way, and gave him some hard hallucinogens to put in Walden's coffee. Either this is one hell of a coincidence or his brother just tried to put him out of commission.

You didn't like that too much.

"Hey? Mr. Darling?" You called, but quieted very quickly seeing as how Wally had fallen back asleep. Awww.

"Neighbor," Poppy whispered, "I've been studying the chemicals in the coffee, and-"

"Illegal hallucinogens? Yes, I know. Jeremy told me everything." You interrupted her, and she nodded.

It just confused you. Did they not have a good relationship? Why risk getting brutally killed? Did he not know Walden ran the factory? Nevermind. You're going to get to the bottom of this. For once, you're happy, and Walden is happy. Together. You're not going to let some rogue family member take that. They can fuck all the way off.

But it still made you wonder. Why? Why does everything come together so beautifully, just for destruction to loom right after? You sat down in one of the Infirmary's chairs, and Poppy looked over at your angered and miserable idling.

"Sprout, are you okay?" She asked you. "I had a feeling you were down as soon as you came back." How did she read you so easy?

"Not really. Don't tell anyone, but recently... erm... Walden and I became something of an item." You glanced at the closed doors of the Infirmary, paranoid. Poppy gasped, covering her mouth.

"I knew it! I knew there was something going on." She exclaimed in a stage whisper, keeping her voice low.

"And now, with how he's been drugged and there's some dude with his brother's name poisoning him with hallucinogens, it's scary. I was so happy with him, and now there's danger. I don't know if I should take this as a sign or what, Poppy." You sighed, still nervous that someone was listening.

"Oh, baby," She said empathetically, leaning down to hug you. "I know it's tough, seeing someone you love so out of it. When I saw you after the incident in the lab, I was heartbroken. But I held hope you would be okay. That's the one thing nobody can take from you, my dear. Your glow." She paused, and tears pricked in the corners of your eyes.

"What do you mean, my glow?"

"Everyone has that special light they put out. Their hope, their knowledge that it'll only get better. Their determination to make things better. To improve.
Some glow less bright than others, some people's hope fails them. When Ophelia passed, I saw no glow in Walden's eyes at all. It broke my heart. But now whenever I speak to him, that glow is back." She spoke softly to you, and you felt tears rolling down your face.

"And we both know why." Poppy told you, and you sobbed in her arms, the comfort giving you a safe space to cry.

"Sprout, listen. When I look at you, your glow has only gotten stronger by the day. No matter what has happened to you, you've kept fighting. When you lost your eye, you bounced right back. You clawed for life when you were greyscaling. All I could think whenever I saw how determined you were to live happily, was 'that's my sprout.' I'm so proud of you for being so strong, Neighbor." She finished speaking, pulling away from the hug to place her hands on your shoulders.

"I've been trying so hard. I don't want to lose him, I don't want to lose myself." You vented, your voice cracking.

"I know. But I also know that with how happy you two have made each other, that to separate you two would be as difficult as splitting an atom." Poppy reassured you, and for a moment, you could see the glow she was talking about. That hope, that determination to make things better.

Maybe that's why she worked in the Infirmary. To make things better.

"Thank you, Poppy."

"No problem, Neighbor."

She let go of you to continue trying to figure out what exactly the effects are of what Wally was drugged with. You looked over to the once peacefully sleeping puppet with wide eyes as you realized his were half open, looking regretful.

"Wally! I- I mean, Mr. Darling! H-how long have you been up for?" You asked him nervously, quickly drying your eyes with your sleeve.

"Neighbor, come here, please." You looked at him with utter shock as you stood up, crouching down to where you were at eye level with him in his hospital bed. You felt awful, how much had he heard? He sat up, looking away from you.
"I had no idea you felt that way. I'm sorry."

"No, no, Walden. Do not apologize. You have done nothing wrong. I'm just scared of losing you."

He chuckled bitterly.

"The fear is mutual." The two of you made eye contact for a moment. Then he pulled you in for a hug, and, taken aback, it required a few seconds to process before you reciprocated the embrace. You sighed, peaceful in remembering exactly why you cared so much.

His kindness.