In Bloom

Goodbye

"I'll talk to him, mom."

"Thank you Sen-Sen. Maybe if you try enough he will listen. You two were always so close growing up."

"I know."

After a moment of exchanging their goodbyes, Sen pressed the end call button with a click.

Beta wasn't even invited? No wonder his brother just wanted to get away from them at this point. Senpai knew all too well how he sometimes gets into depressive episodes, losing all interest in everything and everyone. It had to have been one of those episodes, he knew well that Beta and Alpha didn't get along all too much, but they were still family!

It made Senpai's blood boil, he was especially mad at Alpha now for pulling something like that. Groaning in frustration, he was about to call his older brother to ask about this issue, but he luckily stopped himself in his tracks.

No, he couldn't call him right now. He'd definitely say something bad and get uninvited himself as well - he wouldn't expect anything less from Alpha. Besides, he was probably drowning in so much work and organizations that he wouldn't pick up anyway.

Senpai decided it would be best to rest for tonight and clear his head. Tomorrow he would talk to Beta, even if he wanted to or not. Maybe he'd hug him, but that's still a big maybe.
———

Beta woke up with a groan, hiding his face deep inside his pillow as the sunlight made contact with his tired eyelids.

Wait, sunlight? He clearly remembers closing the curtains the other day, and he even more clearly remembers not to have touched them since then.

"Rise and shine, Beta." was the first thing he heard before he opened his eyes. Next to his window sat Fred in his pot, his two little tendrils pulling the curtains away. Honestly, Beta thought he looked really cute like this, there was something about his tiny arms that seemed adorable.

"Morning, Fred." Beta groaned out, memories of yesterday reappearing in his head. He shouldn't have snapped at his friend like he did, nor should he have just stormed off. Fred didn't seem affected, the plant wiggled momentarily, retracting back his tendrils.

"While I am aware that your mental state has been gradually declining, I will have to ask something of you Beta. Something that you might not like to talk about."

Said human raised himself into a sitting position as he rubbed his eyes. "Ugh, sure, whatever. I think I know what it's about already... Just, how late is it?"

Fred glanced over to his laptop; "12:23 PM."

All he received in response was a groan before Beta stood up completely, gently picking him up and placing him down on his bed instead. Beta flopped back onto the mattress, staring holes into the ceiling.

"Just get it over with, what do you want to know?"

"As you might have guessed, it is about one of your diary entries. The writing did end up giving me a lot of needed background information on you, and while most of it remained clear and straightforward - one failed to enlighten me."

"You're talking about the shower thing huh?" Fred's body nodded in agreement causing Beta to suck in a sharp breath; "I never told anyone about that."

"Yes, you already disclosed that in the entry. Will you change that fact now?"

Beta remained silent for a few minutes while Fred refused to push him further. Whatever happens next will only be his human's decision. A sudden reply tore the demon out of his thoughts;

"Yeah, I-I probably should."

"Take your time." Fred hummed in acceptance.

"It all just happened out of nowhere," Beta explained, his throat feeling tight for no reason; "I don't even know w-why it happened. I don't know what I did. I was getting changed after gym class, I-I already showered and everything. When suddenly-"