Trigger warning: Talk of pageants, comparing yourself to other people, not feeling validated, putting beauty over everything else, and someone calling themselves an idiot in a non-joking way.
Pud'n was walking into his office building. Despite his personality and despite how much he loves animals, he landed himself an office job because it was stable and despite his good luck charms, he didn't know whether or not it would be stable. It was too much trust to put in good luck charms, as he said.
He walked in, said hello to the secretary, and went onto the elevator to get to his office level. After a few minutes, somebody walked in, somebody he never saw before. This girl's name happened to be Mindy.
Now the reason why Mindy was up there was very different from the reason why Pud'n was there. While Pud'n was there to work, Mindy was there to take pictures around the office. Despite not working there, her dad was the head of the corporation, so she got allowed access since she had him wrapped around her finger, even when she grew up to be 20.
Mindy looked up at him, and after looking at him, she tried to subtly scoot away from him, to the edge of the elevator. It wasn't him specifically, she's not scared of people but...weary of...well everyone really. She doesn't want to be objectified unintentionally, and she has been by men and women.
Pud'n, being the extrovert it is, he still decided to talk to her, or at least try to.
"So...tell me a bit about yourself."
Mindy wasn't going to talk to him, since she still kinda thought he was a gross nerd, but she didn't want it to be awkward so she responded.
"W-Well uh...I have 50 thousand followers on my Instagram..." She pulled out her phone and showed it to him for 'proof'. He stared blankly at her for a moment before responding.
"I mean about you."
"Oh erm..." She didn't really know what to say, since people usually asked her out or about her looks, not about the real her. "Well, I used to be in the pageants..."
"The ones that objectify the people involved and the ones that teach young boys and girls that beauty is everything, well maybe not teach, but that's what they 'gain' from the experience of being in them at all?"
She bit the inside of her cheek as she looked down at the ground. Nobody had said that to her before, nobody understood what she was going through. He was the first and only one but, because of the welling up in her throat, she didn't want to respond.
Pud'n noticed her expression and asked, "Are you ok..?"
"..." She stayed quiet for a few moments before choking out "I-I'm fine.."
"Look...you don't have to talk about it but you can talk to me if you want to..." He said genuinely meaning it.
That's when she could it in no longer, she started crying. Not a lot, but enough to make her embarrass her as she cried.
Pud'n looked over to her and hugged her. "It'll be ok..."
She smiled, hugging him back. Though they had only conversed for a short amount of time, he was the only one who understood what she went through. She was merely smiling until her heart began to ache in his arms. She thought it was the worry of being seen with a nerd, but he was more than a nerd to her now, and she knew it at that moment. However, as a way to not think about the possibility of that, she stood by the thought process she had.
It's just because he's a nerd...right?
Nonetheless, she got off of him awkwardly, still smiling. They stood there for a moment or two until Pud'n spoke up again.
"So...why are you here?"
"Oh um...my dad owns the company and allows me here to take pictures..."
He gasped. "Oh! That must be nice...but can you tell him that I should be allowed to have my luck charms at work?"
She nodded as her smile grew more. Wow, he didn't even want to make me feel better just for the company...huh... This also made her heart pound more, but that got her thinking: Why did he want to help her? I mean he had no obligation to, they had never been friends, and heck she was mean to him as a kid on more than one occasion.
"Pud'n..."
"Yea?"
"Why do you want to help me?"
He thought about it for a moment. "Mindy I just want to see you happy."
"But we don't know each other..." She looked away. "Plus...I was mean to you."
"It's in the past now and we can get to know each other if you'd like."
She looked down, blushing lightly. "I-I'd like that..."
"Great so do you wanna maybe go out for coffee tomorrow at 7?"
She nodded, smiling. "Thanks..."
"You're welcome, I'll see you then ok?"
She nodded again.
Then there were a few minutes of awkward silence until the elevator door actually opened. At this point, they both walked out of the elevator, Mindy taking pictures and Pud'n going to his cubicle to do some work.
The next morning at 7, they both met up at a nearby coffee shop. Mindy walked in there, seeing Pud'n and sitting beside him. They both got their coffee shortly after.
"So..." She started, trying to start a conversation. "How did you know all that stuff about me?"
He looked at her, confused. "What stuff?"
"Y'know...the stuff about pageants..."
"Oh...I just kinda guessed since I know some men and women are affected by that kind of stuff..."
She giggled awkwardly. "Well, you were spot on!"
"...I'm sorry for you..."
She smiled, trying to keep the conversation from going depressing. And because she didn't want to talk about it, well in public at least. She could trust him to tell him. "Don't be sorry! That's in the past now..."
"If you say so..."
"But...I just wanna say sorry for all the mean stuff I did as a kid to you...you're not that much of a nerd."
He smiled. "Well that's good to know, but as I said it's in the past now. We can actually get to know each other."
"Well, how's your family?"
"Well my mom and dad are wolves so I have to feed them meat..."
She laughed, thinking it was a joke until she saw he wasn't laughing. "Oh, you're being serious..."
He nodded. "It's alright, I get that a lot. So how about yours?"
"They're alright...my dad makes a lot of money...my mom lives with him..."
"Oh, you have your own place?"
She nodded. "Maybe you could come over today...i-if you want to..." She smiled nervously.
He blushed slightly but smiled. "Of course I want to..."
"Right now?"
He nodded. "Sure..."
So they both walked to her apartment building.
Pud'n walked in, looking around. "It looks great."
"You don't have to just say that." She giggled, walking in behind him.
"No I'm being serious...anyways why'd you want me to come over?"
"Well...you know how you said I could talk to you?"
He sat down on the couch. "Yea?"
"Well..." She sat down next to him. "I kinda wanna tell you somethin'..."
"I'm all ears."
She still shivered a little, she wanted to but she was nervous since she never really opened up to anybody before. Nobody would listen to her before.
"Well it all started when I was a little kid...my mom would put me in pageants...and since I was never encouraged to get good grades since my mom and dad would just pay me to pass, I was kinda an airhead..." She giggled awkwardly. "Well, I guess I still am but still...and I didn't notice it at the time, but I was always thinking about my looks, ever since I was little. And my mom...well she didn't say anything to help me...so I was always comparing myself to other girls, especially as I grew up into a teenager. Ever since then...I guess..." She sighed, trying not to cry. "I-I've felt hollow...like I don't have a personality because I was always putting my efforts into being more pretty...but if I lost my beauty...who would I be...?" She bit her lip, choking on her own insecurities. "N-Nobody..."
Pud'n looked at her, hugging her again. "You are a somebody, Mindy. You're your own you."
"B-But I have as a personality as I do brains! Zero!"
"Hey, I'm sure you got a noggin up in there..." He rubbed her back.
"I-I never learned how to do anything past long division...I'm an idiot Pud'n..."
He grew silent for a second, contemplating. "So?"
"That's a bad thing!"
"What matters is that you're a good person...which you are...plus I can help you."
She looked up at him, teary-eyed. "R-Really...?"
He nodded.
"Thank you thank you!" She hugged him back.
"Heh, no problem...."
Through her happy joy crying, unknowingly out loud, she said "I-I love you..."
"..." He blushed bright red. "Y-You do?"
She looked up at him confused as if she didn't register what she just said. Until it hit her, causing her to blush and put her hands in her face, mumbling: "M-Maybe..."
"Well, maybe I love you too..."
She smiled. "Good...well m-maybe I love you because you treat me with respect...but why do you maybe love me?"
"Because silly, I can sense you're a good person..."
"How? I was awful-"
"Ah! Was when you were, what? 8 years old?" He giggled. "Nobody stays the exact same from that time until the time you're 20."
"Oh...I guess you're right..." She yawned. "Do you...wanna stay over?"
"Yes, please. I can sleep on the couch if you'd like."
"Aww, such a gentleman...but no you can sleep with me."
"Well, you're the boss, ma'am..."
She giggled, leading him to her bed. They didn't really cuddle or anything, they just slept together. And now, Mindy had a boyfriend who would actually care for the person inside.
The end