• Published 20th Feb 2023
  • 394 Views, 26 Comments

Pink Triangle - Briny Rivers



Wallflower thought her friendship with Aria was nothing short of perfect. Now, she realizes all of her feelings towards Aria are wrong—the bad, misguided, romantic kind.

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Chapter 6 - Burndt Jamb

Aria sat in front of her mirror, fumbling with her hair to put it up into her preferred style of big silly pigtails. She spritzed them with water and roughy brushed as much as she had to until her hair was perfect, now satisfied.

She admittedly didn’t care as much for her appearance as Adagio or even Sonata did, but it was still important to look better than everyone else who wasn’t them. A bit of eyeshadow here, very light mascara there, and that was all Aria needed. There was a fine line between looking too butch and too feminine, and Aria liked to run along it every day.

Despite the weather of the previous days, things were finally clearing up into sunnier days. Which meant Aria could wear her usual ensemble, somehow being more comfortable to her than the drab hoodie she had been wearing during the colder days.

Still, there was one thing missing. Opening her beside table, Aria rummaged through the back of the drawer to find it. An incredibly gaudy, incredibly expensive lavender perfume the other two sirens had bought for her one day.

It had been sitting in her drawer for ages now, yet she had been recently wearing it. It wasn’t like she was trying to impress anyone or was doing it for someone specific, she just..felt like it. There was no other reason. Not at all

Aria applied a few light puffs of the scent onto her body, satisfied with the very subtle smell of lavender now following her. If she were to put on too much, Adagio would surely catch on and bother her about it. Ugh.

She exited her room, walking down the stairs to the kitchen. Sitting at the table was Adagio, lazily dragging a brush through her tangled poof of hair, and Sonata, in the middle of combining all of their cereals into one single bowl with chocolate milk.

Aria rolled her eyes. They weren’t even dressed yet, still in their pajamas—which thankfully included clothes in Adagio’s case. “You two aren’t even ready? We gotta go. Like, right now.”

Adagio sighed, turning to face Aria while still trying to brush her hair. “Oh, try to relax for once, Aria. We still have time, and I promise you we don’t have to be so early every day.”

“Being on time isn’t the same as being early,” Aria retorted, moving to grab the brush from Adagio’s hand. Stepping behind her, she began to yank it through Adagio’s orange fluff to tame it.

“Wait—ow! Stop that—ow! Really, why are you in such an—ow—hurry?!” Adagio winced with each pull, her hands reaching behind her to try and wrestle the brush away.

“Because, you two woke up late again, and if you keep being so slow, we’ll actually be late this time. Like last time,” Aria answered, swatting away her hands and continuing to brush.

“Hey,” Sonata spoke up, a mix of sugar-frosted flakes and marshmallows spilling from her mouth, “why do you always like to be at school now? You used to skip, like, every other day or something. You said it was super duper boring!”

“It’s better than staying home with you two,” Aria grumbled back.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Adagio began, “you know you love to be with us, and this whole ‘school’ thing is simply something we do to pass the time further. Though, I’m guessing you’re more invested due to a..certain someone? Hmm?” She teased, smiling through the pain of her fluffy locks being harshly brushed.

“Shut. Up.” Aria snarled, giving one last rough brush that made Adagio yelp before putting the brush down. “That’s it. You two get in the van in five, or I’m leaving without you.”

“Well, no need to be so rude..”

“What?! That’s not faaaair!”


Aria slipped away from class before the bell had rung, just as lunch was about to begin. She had to see someone, or rather two someones before meeting up with Adagio and Sonata.

Wallflower wasn’t at school. And that was bothering her. Usually, she’d see her from afar a few times throughout the day. And she liked that. It was nice to see her best friend throughout the day before they met up for a while once school was over. But, for some reason, she was completely missing today.

But maybe she could find someone who knew where she was.

Aria trudged over to the stairs, the place she knew they would be. The only two people who could possibly tell her where Wallflower was. As she approached, she could already hear them. She hadn’t really interacted with them after their first real interaction all those weeks ago, but she could remember their voices.

“Yea..she hasn’t been answering any texts all day, Roseluck!”

“I’m sure she’s fine..she just, uh, might be busy?”

“I dunno..do you, uhm, think she—”

“No! She..she wouldn’t. She told us she’d..let us know next time. And call us, or something..”

Aria’s patience had worn thin by now, turning the corner into the stairs where they sat. Roseluck immediately yelped and recoiled as she appeared, but Ditzy was unfazed. In fact, she was smiling.

“Oh, hi Aria! What’re you—”

“Shut,” Aria interrupted, a grimace on her face due to instinct. She quickly frowned at her own reaction, retracting her interruption. “Sorry. That was, uh..mean. I guess..”

“It’s ohkay!” Ditzy cheerily replied, not at all phased by her sudden rudeness. Roseluck, on the other hand, was still recoiled away and disengaging herself from the conversation.

“Uh,” Aria began, trying to recover from the slightly awkward start to the conversation, “do you know where Wallflower is? I mean, it’s not super important that I know or anything, I was just wondering where that dweeb is..”

Ditzy frowned, her mood souring as she seemed to remember Wallflower’s absence. “No..we’ve been trying to call and text her and stuff, but she hasn’t been answering..we’re actually kind of worried, but it should be fine! Right, Roseluck?”

Roseluck didn’t respond.

“Weeell,” Ditzy continued, “I’m super very sure she’s—“

“Don’t you know where she lives or something?” Aria interrupted.

“Oh! Well, we kinda do, buuut..” Ditzy looked over to Roseluck as if she was asking for permission, only to be quickly shushed as Roseluck practically lunged forward to her to stop her from speaking.

“No!” Roseluck exclaimed, “we, uh, shouldn’t do that, because..Wallflower trusted us not to tell anyone where she lives, because we’re her friends.

“Yeah? I’m her friend too, so just tell me since you already know,” Aria spat, clearly getting annoyed now. It was imperative that she knew, how else would she know Wallflower was okay—err, if she wasn’t just skipping school. Without her. That would have been really lame of her.

“Well, she doesn’t like people showing up to her house,” Roseluck retorted, “s-so, you should, uh..respect..” she trailed off, backing down as Aria’s expression was bordering on angry.

“..Uhm,” Ditzy spoke up, “I’m sure Wallflower won’t mind, since she’s really close with Aria! And I think I trust her!”

Roseluck was visibly distraught, immediately trying to say something to stop Ditzy. “W-Wait, are you sure Wallflower would—“

“Uhhmmm..” Ditzy squinted, looking at something on her phone, “ohkay! Here’s her address, just..uhm..if she doesn’t want you there, you shouldn’t stay. Aaand..don’t say anything when you see what it’s like. It makes her feel bad..” Ditzy instructed as she showed the address to Aria.

“Uh-huh. Yea. Got it.” Aria committed the address to memory, immediately turning to leave schoool early once she had it in her mind.

“..Thanks for the help,” she quickly added, hurriedly walking off after.

“You’re welcooome!” Ditzy exclaimed after her, Aria already nearly out the doors of the school at that point.

Aria got into the drivers seat of the van, pulling out from the school parking lot and driving straight to the address Ditzy had shown her. She knew most of the streets around Canterlot, thanks to being the one to drive her fellow sirens everywhere.

Skipping the entire day of school was fine, it was a special occasion. Surely, she’d be back to pick up Adagio and Sonata.

She just had to know if Wallflower was fine.


The van came to a stop as Aria pulled up to the address, parking just along the street. It was some weird human tradition not to park in someone’s driveway, right?

Regardless, she made it. Wallflower’s house. At least, she was told it was her house. Did anyone even live here? The neighborhood was quite a ways away from CHS, in the poorer part of town. Nothing like the glitzy very-upper-middle-class home the sirens claimed as their stomping grounds. Each house looked old and worn, practically slumping under their own weight.

This house in particular was one of the worse looking ones, foliage growing all around and over it. If Aria squinted her eyes, the second floor looked like it was about to fall apart under the roof.

“..Whatever.”

If Wallflower lived here, she wasn’t going to judge. Ditzy told her not to do that, right? She wasn’t really listening at the time.

Stepping out of the van, Aria walked along the shoddy concrete path that led to the patio. Several potted plants crowded along the floor of the patio, looking surprisingly lush and healthy compared to the dirty and rotting floorboards that comprised the patio floor. Maybe Wallflower really did live here.

Aria stepped up to the front door, staring at it for a moment. Why was she nervous? There was no need to be nervous. At all. Wait, did Wallflower have parents? That was a human thing, right? Not immediately being abandoned by your parents at birth?

Whatever.

All Aria needed to do was knock, and she’d get to see Wallflower—err, possibly get to know where she’d been for the whole day.

She wasn’t a wuss. She just knocked.

Nothing. Was she supposed to knock again or something? Wasn’t the first knock enough? Maybe Adagio was right, humans really are weird.

Aria was about to knock, her hand stopping as she heard footsteps from behind the door. The footsteps stopped, a series of muffled clicks replacing them. They must have been locks.

Suddenly, the door opened slightly. The door guard was preventing it from opening completely. In the crack of the door, a figure stood there and stared Aria down.

“..What is it.” Judging by how deep and gravely the voice was, it must have been a man.

“Uhh..” Aria’s mind blanked for a second. She sort of expected Wallflower to be the one to open the door, who was this? “..is Wallflower here?”

“Who’s asking?” The man immediately asked. Before Aria could even answer, he immediately tried to shut the door.

Aria didn’t let him, shoving her shoulder against the door and pushing it as far back as the door guard would allow her. “Her friend. Is she in here or what? Quit trying to lock me out!”

“Her friend..?”

“Yea, we’re friends, is she he—“

The door suddenly jerked forward and completely closed, catching Aria while her guard was down for second. For a second, she contemplated kicking the door down—which would have been a pretty bad idea and probably would upset Wallflower. Instead, the door opened. Without any kicking.

“Well, why didnt you just say so!” The man exclaimed, grinning.

The first thing Aria noticed about him was his height, being taller than her even in her boots. And she was pretty tall without wearing them! Wallflower not inheriting his height made Aria question their relation, yet his hair immediately confirmed it. Green and messily chopped short. He did have a mustache, though, which made him look awfully similar to a walrus.

Wallflower didn’t have a walrus mustache. Maybe they weren’t related.

“Don’t just stand there, come on in!” He stepped away from the door to let Aria in, seemingly trusting her to close it behind her as he walked off to the kitchen.

The house was dimly lit, dusty, and overall looked just. The only light was coming from the television and a light in the kitchen where the man was.

“We don’t get many visitors, so I wasn’t real sure who you were. I think Wally shoos people away if they come here, which is a real shame! Yknow—oh, wow, where are my manners?” He turned to face Aria once again, offering a gaunt hand for her to shake. “I’m Wallflower’s uncle, Pinecone. But you can just call me Pine.”

“..I’m Aria.” She shook his hand, remembering the traditional human greeting and doing her part in the ritual. He felt like he was just skin and bones.

“It’s real sweet for you to show up, probably wondering where she is, huh?” Pine went on, rummaging through the cabinets of the kitchen, “poor girl got sick, I think it must’ve been when it was rainin’ a few weeks ago. Gosh, I couldn’t pick her up since I was at work, but if I knew she’d get sick I woulda came for her. When she gets sick, she gets real sick, y’know?”

“Uh-huh,” Aria idly responded. “..you’re Wallflower’s uncle?”

“Yup. She mention me? I know she doesn’t really like to talk about her home life here, ah..well, it’s complicated. Y'know?”

Before Aria could say anything else, Pine turned around and put a mug full of something in her hands. The smell immediately wafted up into her nose, her face promptly scrunching at how it smelled. “Eugh..what is this and why am I holding it?”

Pine simply smiled and turned her around to face the stairs, ushering her up. “Tea for Wallflower. Why don’t you go say hi while you take it up for her? I bet she’ll be real happy to see you!”

“—What? Uh..alright.”

Aria would have instinctively said no—she hated doing things for other people when Adagio asked her for plenty at home—but she wanted to see Wallflower anyways. This was as good of an excuse as any.

Walking up the stairs, Aria made her way down the hallway and to the only closed door..


Sick.

Sick, sick, sick.

Wallflower wanted to die.

Warm phlegm coalesced in her throat as she tried to swallow it down, lest she had to sit up and spit it out into the little garbage bin next to her. It felt like she was seldom breathing life. Mostly death.

Why oh why was her immune system so pathetic? A little bit of rain and she was absolutely wrecked, confined and quarantined in her room and stuck in bed. Okay, sure, it was more than just a little bit of rain, but still!

Her nose was congested. Her voice sounded awful. Her stomach kept making weird noises. It was awful. Her uncle was encouraging her to eat something, but she could barely make it through half of an orange before her upset stomach decided it was full and forbade her from eating anything else without resistance in the form of rumbling and a sensation of being bloated.

On top of her being sick, she felt terrible! Her mood was already bad waking up, but it was thoroughly trashed upon her throwing up in the toilet shortly after getting out of bed. Another one of her awful mood swings, timed at a terrible moment.

But worst of all? She couldn’t go to school and see Aria.

Sure, they could text, but..

Wallflower..didn’t feel like it.

It was the same reason she wasn’t replying to the texts from Roseluck and Ditzy. She just..couldn’t will herself to do it. She felt absolutely awful for it, yes. Especially because she was ignoring Aria. But was there really a point? Surely, knowing she was okay didn’t matter too much to any of them. Why would she matter that much to Aria?

Wallflower was being an ass for not responding to any texts for no reason other than ‘being sad,’ but it’s not like it affected Aria or anyone else. Right? There was no way she was that important to—

Wallflower’s soul nearly escaped her as she jumped up in reaction to the door opening. Her uncle was making a point not to come into close contact with her to avoid getting sick, so who was at the door?

“A-Aria?” Wallflower could hardly believe it. Aria was there, giant pigtails and all, in her room. “W-What are you doing here? How did..you find my house? Why are..you here?”

“You weren’t answering your phone. So, I interrogated your friends and got your address. Can’t get rid of me that easily.” Aria stated, a toothy smile now on her face. “Coulda just told me you were sick. Though, you’re usually all over me, so I had to know why you were being all silent. Oh, uh, here’s some tea.” Aria outstretched her arms, beginning to walk over to Wallflower in her bed.

“Wait!” Wallflower exclaimed, sitting up properly, “I, uh..I smell. Bad. Let me..take care of that first.” She then promptly stood up from bed, her legs wobbling as she did so. The air around her felt cold, but her body was burning up. Stumbling past Aria, Wallflower went towards the bathroom.

“..You smell like how you usually smell!” Aria called out after her.

In the bathroom, Wallflower splashed water in her face to try and feel freshened up. She looked into the mirror, grimacing at the sight of her face. Her hair was uncombed, a tangled mess. The dark circles around her eyes looked terrible. She looked dead! But there was no maneuvering around this. Aria was in her house. Uninvited, but she’d stay if she wanted. Which she probably did.

No time to waste. Hopefully, Aria didn’t see her as the ugly disheveled cat that she looked like right now.

Wallflower stepped back into her room, moaning in slight despair as she prepared herself to look like absolute death in front of Aria. “Hey, sorr—”

Aria had Wallflower’s phone in her hands, a hand on her hip as she looked at the notifications on the screen. She turned over to Wallflower, a frown on her face. “You were totally ignoring my texts. I thought you loved texting me.”

Wallflower groaned. That’s what she was worried about. “Look, um..I know it makes no sense at all, but..I just. I couldn’t get myself to do it,” she explained, “I feel awful! A-And, I can barely force myself to talk to you right now, because I sound awful too! I just..I feel so shit. I really, really wanted to text you back, but I just couldn’t get myself to do it. And..I’m sorry. I figured you didn’t really even care, anyways..”

Aria rolled her eyes, setting Wallflower’s phone down. “I care enough to track your house down and come visit you. You had me worried, idiot. Your friends were talking like you could’ve done something horrible. What’s up with that?”

“..oh, they did?” Wallflower sighed, now rubbing at her arms with a frown. “I knew they’d get worried about that..uh, look. I’m really, really, really sorry. I..I really care about you as a friend, Aria! I’m sorry for..kinda ghosting you..”

“It’s fine,” Aria simply stated. “Now I know you aren’t dead or something. Plus, I’m here with you now. You being sick doesn’t really affect the fact I’m with you right now,” she said, all the while approaching Wallflower. Once she was close enough, she pulled Wallflower into..

A hug.

“Don’t get me all worried like that again, you dweeb..”

“..you aren’t mad at me for sorta ghosting you completely?”

“No, I am.” Aria calmly stated. The hug got a little tighter. In a threatening way. “You’re in no position to ghost me like that, you dummy. I’m too cool to be worried about you, even if you’re my best friend.”

Aria soon let go, leaving Wallflower without arms around her. Wallflower was blushing, the realization that it was their first real and proper hug dawning on her. Their first hug! A real, proper sign of affection! Sure, it wasn’t quite a ‘I love you Wallflower, let’s date and get married,’ but it was something!

Wait, those thoughts were wrong. She couldn’t just think of Aria like that. Aria was her best friend, not an object of her affection. She was more than that, she was a living magic shark girl! Reducing her as just something to date and marry wasn’t very nice..even if she had a huge crush on her.

The fact Wallflower even had that kind of thought regarding Aria deflated her. Suddenly, the effects of her sickness hit her all over again. Her head began to ache, her legs felt weak, her skin felt cold, her entire body felt dizzy. She needed to lie down.

Groaning, she stumbled back over to bed and crawled back inside. “I-I’m, uh, really sorry you have to see me..like this. I probably look awful..” Wallflower mumbled, settling back under her blankets. Looking over to her nightstand, she saw how Aria had laid the mug of tea there. Might as well chug it down now.

“You look fine,” Aria responded, taking a seat at the foot of Wallflower’s bed, “I’m just glad you aren’t dead. You wont…die from this, right?” For that brief moment, it sounded like Aria was actually, genuinely worried. Aria, truthfully worried over little ole Wallflower? It wasn’t something Wallflower could believe.

It hardly crossed her mind as she raised the mug to her lips, raising it and letting the vaguely honey-flavored remedial tea fill her mouth. It tasted icky and was way too thick as a tea, but it did make her feel..slightly better. She could only manage a few sips before putting the mug back in her lap for a moment.

“What, die? No, I don’t..think so. Are you, umm..” Wallflower hung on her words, not sure if she should ask, “..that worried about me? Thinking I might die?”

Aria scowled, quickly looking away. “No,” she quickly blurted, “..a little bit.”

“..why? It’s just, uh..a little cold. I mean, it feels worse than that, but..that’s what I get for staying out in the rain with you,” Wallflower spoke. Aria was still looking away. “..have you ever gotten sick?”

“Nah,” Aria began. She leaned back, letting herself flop down on her back onto the bed. “Sirens don’t get sick. I don’t know too much about it, but Adagio does. Something about our species evolving to have a damn good immune system to protect our vocal cords.”

“Well, uh..I definitely won’t die anytime soon! That doesn’t really happen with colds and stuff..so, you’re stuck with me for a while longer!”

“That makes it sound like I don’t enjoy spending time with you,” Aria promptly retorted.

Wallflower paused. “..u-uh, you..uh, you mean..you..”

“Yeah,” Aria interrupted, “believe it or not, after all these months, I think you’re a pretty great person, Wallflower. And I do like spending time with you. Do I have to spell it out for you? I like you.”

“..a-as in..”

Aria’s cheeks reddened, ever so faintly. It was hard to notice on her pink skin. But Wallflower noticed. “As in, best friends. Now say it back, that we’re best friends.”

Wallflower hid her dopey, dumb smile behind her mug as she took a sip. It was still on her lips as she put the mug back down. “Well, uh..if you really mean it, then..we’re best friends! That’s okay, right? Well, of course it’s okay, you’re making me say it back, uh..”

Aria shifted on the bed as Wallflower rambled on, crawling from her spot below Wallflower’s feet to being right beside Wallflower on the bed. “I hate not having a pillow, so I’m stealing this spot. Move over, dweeb.”

“O-Oh, alright,” Wallflower easily surrendered her spot in the middle of the bed, scooting over to the left side where she was near her nightstand. Aria took the side where she was cornered by Wallflower and the wall.

Just the two of them. Lying beside each other in bed.

For a moment, they simply basked in their mutual presence and laid there. The silence was only occasionally broken by Wallflower’s sniffles.

“..Hey, uh, Wallflower,” Aria spoke up, acting as casual as possible.

“Yeah?” Wallflower immediately turned to face Aria, seeing only the side of her face as Aria looked straight up to the ceiling.

“..You’ll be fine to come back to school soon, right?” Aria asked, not yet looking at Wallflower. “..cuz, I don’t really want to have to keep coming all this way. To see you.”

“Well, uh, I think so..” Wallflower said, the lack of certainty in her voice visibly irking Aria. She could see Aria’s brow furrow, just a little bit. “Y-You don’t have to come here every day that I’m sick, though..I won’t ghost you anymore, I swear!”

“Nah, it’s not that,” Aria deflected, “I’ll keep coming over if I have to. ‘Til you’re better to come around to school like normal.”

Wallflower smiled. It was probably best not to poke at Aria to see why she was so adamant. Besides, it was nice to silently accept it. Aria cared about her. Aria cared..about her!!

Before silence could set in between them again, Aria spoke once more. “Ditzy and Roseluck mentioned you..doing something. Or, I guess, how you could’ve done something. Since you were ghosting them, too. What’s up with that?”

Wallflower frowned deeply, both at the idea her only other two friends worried about her that badly and how Aria now vaguely knew about it.

“U-Uh,” she stuttered, “I-I..don’t really want to talk about that. Not..right now, at least. I’m sorry. I-It’s just..not something I want to..remember. And..I don’t want to make you worried, or anything.”

Aria raised a brow. “So it’s something bad, then?”

Wallflower sighed. “..yeah, kind of. But, you don’t have to worry! I-I..well, you don’t know what it is, but..I wouldn’t do it again.” Her hand inched closer to Aria’s. “Not with you being my friend.”

“Good,” Aria resolutely responded. “..I..” she began, her mouth forming an expression that was something between a grimace and a smile. “I..tease you sometimes. A lot. A few times. But..it’s all. Y’know. For fun. I really..appreciate you, Wallflower. And I’m..s-s…sorry..if it’s ever made you..feel bad. Or something.”

Wallflower quickly nodded. “Y-Yea, I know! I know..I-I like it, too, so..y’know, you don’t have to stop being yourself like that. You can be mean, cuz..it’s sort of one of the things I like. About you. You’re mean, but..in a good way.”

“Being mean to you is good?”

“W-Well, it’s..more complicated. Uh..” Wallflower paused, trying to come up with a way to phrase it properly.

Suddenly, Aria’s hand moved over hers. To be on top of hers. Like they were holding hands. Holding each other's hands.

Wallflower steadied, taking a deep breath. She hardly registered it, but Aria was looking at her now. Their eyes met. “What I mean, is..a-a lot of people have been mean to me. And..I’ve felt alone, a lot. Even with friends..”

“..yeah?”

“Yeah..but. The thing is..you’re not like that. You don’t make me feel like that! Uhm..I guess what I mean is, I’ve felt alone almost the entire time I’ve been alive. But you make me feel like we’ve been best friends for years. You never let me spend a day by myself.”

Aria visibly struggled to hold back a smile. “..good. I’m glad—uh, I’m..it’s good. That I make you..feel that way. I guess. Right?”

“Yes!” Wallflower exclaimed, quickly giving a little nod. “It’s really good, I swear! And..you don’t have to worry. About..if I die. Or anything. Because..I’ll try not to, as long as we’re friends.”

Aria’s hand suddenly felt heavy on top of hers. And tight.

“Good,” Aria restated. “Good. That’s..good.”

“Yeah,” Wallflower quickly agreed, “..it’s really good.”

They returned to looking up at the ceiling. Their hands didn’t move away from each other.

“..want me to play some music?” Wallflower asked.

“Is it the dumb dweeby rock stuff you like?”

“..yeah..”

“Go for it.”

Author's Note:

Four months! That was a long, long time for me to spend writing this. It's not even that big of a chapter.. Anyways, who was counting? God, I hope someone was waiting for this This chapter mostly took forever because I took a little break to write my other story involving Wallflower, Apple Trees, which I encourage you to read if you like the idea of Wallflower x Applejack. But now I'll be getting back into the groove of writing for this, my OTP!

You could probably consider this the end of "Act 1," so to speak. I'm thinking the next chapter will abandon this little sickness arc and move onto furthering Aria and Wallflower's relationship. Possibly. Maybe. Read the next chapter when it's out, I promise to not spend an entire season of weather to write it!