Feisty Flower Bud (A Smile For Me Fanfic)
Putunia Mollar is the town’s greatest hero (self-proclaimed). She throws hands with big bad villains in the name of JUSTICE! But when the evil in her life is a bit too close to home, she finds sympathy at the side of a highly punchable, highly bonkers, and highly soft green menace.
(It happens once in a blue moon. A video game strikes just the right chord in me to write some fanfic. Smile For Me is one such blue moon creation. Take my bubbling found family angst and fluff before I explode beyond my ruptured appendix five years ago.) (Highly recommend you look at the wiki page for Putunia before reading. I’m expanding with my own headcanon into her family life for the purpose of this story.)
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“KA-POW!”
“KA-KICK!”
It wasn’t as exciting to fight a pillow back home. But with the Habitat closed down, Putunia had no other place to train for her inevitable upcoming battles with all the world’s superest of supervillains.
“KA-WHOOSH!”
“KA-PUNCH!”
“KA-BOOOOM!”
“SHUT THE HELL UP!” A female voice that rivaled hers in volume interrupted her. She sealed her lips immediately, going rigid. Luckily, there was no sound of footsteps on stairs. Spared an earful, or more.
“Ka-blaaam,” she whispered, knocking the pillow with her gloveless fist gently. She held it there, and ran her tongue across her teeth, feeling the space where a tooth once was.
She was lucky, in hindsight—it was a baby tooth, and she could feel the little spike of the permanent one already poking out. And she knew it wasn’t intentional. It was just late, and her mom was exhausted from another long day of work, and hadn’t expected to be playfully pounced by the eager child at the top of the stairwell. Still, the following shove and tumble down the stairs was painful. Even the way her mom picked her up, apologizing profusely in a rare hushed tone, felt as hollow as the space in her gums.
This happened often. A thrown glass, or three. A brief yank of her hair. A raised hand. A small bruise or scrape she could claim as her battle scar from fighting baddies. A “CLEAN UP THE SODA CAN MESS YOU MADE DOWN HERE!” Or “KEEP YOUR DAMN HANDS TO YOURSELF.”
Followed by:
“Hecks, I’m sorry, Putunia. Long day.”
Putunia didn’t mind noise anymore. In fact, she’d adopted the powerful ability to project her own vocals. But it wasn’t always nice to be spoken to like that from bigger people—especially those with a fiery, paper-thin temper like her mom.
She didn’t ever expect things to change. She just missed going to the Habitat to have a break from the shouting and other things.
Which is why it was so unusual when she heard a knock on her door while her mom was working the weekend shift.
She pushed a chair up to the door, and climbed up to peak out.
She recognized her comrade immediately.
“HEY FLOWER POWER!” She opened up the door with a big smile. Flower Kid smiled back; their teeth were extraordinary white, almost to the point of looking fake or like they were replacing what was there before. But that didn’t make their smile any less warm and inviting as its always been when they come and visit her.
“WADDUP?” Putunia asked. She remembered they didn’t talk. “COME TO SEE ME?”
A nod.
“WANNA COME IN?”
A shake of the head.
“WANT ME TO GO WITH YA?”
A nod.
“KAY!” Putunia almost darted out before pausing. “WAIT. MY DUTY IS TO STAY HOME. I HAVE TO COOK FOR MOM TONIGHT.”
Flower Kid dropped the smile and shook their head.
“WHAT?”
Flower Kid just held out their hand. Putunia tentatively took it.
The rest of the day happened quickly. Something about an investigation, based on information her floral friend had gleaned from Putunia’s home life in their visits, and having to stay at Flower Kid’s family house for a while as she had no immediate relatives. Putunia didn’t mind, it was like having a sleepover every night with plenty of superhero movies to watch, but she was confused what was happening.
But she was even more confused the day she and her short-term guardian went to the town park, and began approaching a villain.
A big, verdant, smiley one.
“GREEN MENACE!” Putunia put up her fists in time with Flower Kid grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back. “SO WE MEET FOR OUR FATED BATTLE!”
Habit lost his smile for a moment. “No punching, plez.”
That was like telling a fish not to swim. But Flower Kid was persistent in holding Putunia still.
“DID YOU FIGHT HIM ALREADY?”
A nod.
“DID YOU BEAT HIM UP?”
No response before a shake of the head.
“SO I SHOULD BEAT HIM UP FOR YA!”
A shake of the head again and gentle but firm tug.
Putunia looked between them.
“WHY IS THE ENEMY HERE, FLOWER POWER?!”
“I’m here to halp out!” Habit explained brightly. “Flower Child has asked me to sit on you, because your a babey. I will watch u while they’re off being a busy-bee making everyone happy, happy!”
“I WILL NOT FORM AN ALLIANCE WITH A VILLAIN!”
But it was no use. Her loyal floral comrade gave her a light pat on the head before ushering her over and leaving her alone on the field of battle.
Habit smiled again at the tiny person, thinking of ways he might entertain her. He recalled Putunia being full of spunk during the time she spent at his Habitat. How she managed to figure out he was…somewhat unsavory at the time was a mystery. But he was better now. Flower Kid leaving this smaller kid with him proved that he had earned their trust. “Lots of time for fun-funsies together! We culd…go splishy splash in the lake, or go pet the horsies at the farm. Or make sock puppets!”
Putunia stood up on tiptoe and pouted, trying to look intimidating.
“YOUSE A BADDIE!” She declared after a moment of searching his face. “BIG GREEN BADDIE! I DON’T PLAY WITH BADDIES! I FIGHT BADDIES! WE’RE GONNA FIGHT IN A DESTINED BATTLE! BUT…NOT WITHOUT MY HERO GEAR!”
And Putunia was immediately bolting through the park.
“Oh dear. :-(” Habit helplessly watched her vanish into distant bushes. Being a babysitter sure was harder than it sounded, and it definitely didn’t involve sitting. Flower Kid would be very upset if he lost her. But he was unsure how to keep her still. It was much harder to make people do what he wanted out of his Habitat, in a much bigger world that wasn’t his own to rule. Even if Flower Kid had coached him on not always getting what he wanted, it didn’t make it any easier.
Luckily, Putunia hadn’t gone too far. He found her rummaging around in a pile of dead leaves.
And then, a great idea struck him, as they always did. Habit may have been ‘eccentric’ in his thought processes, but he was very clever.
He crouched next to her in the leaf pile.
“Lemme halp you,” he offered. “What r we looking for?”
Putunia leapt away a moment, narrowing her eyes at him warily. He smiled in what he hoped was an inviting, not creepy way.
“…MASK,” she finally told him. “AND A CAPE. AND A PUNCHING GLOVE.”
“Punching iz mean. :-/”
“PUNCHING IS HOW YOU BEAT BADDIES!”
Habit entertained her by searching with her through the leaf pile. The search was fruitless after a few minutes, so she sprung up and headed off to another part of the park, Habit doing his best to keep up.
She didn’t seem to have much luck in finding her items, no matter how far and wide she searched. Another idea struck Habit. He was full of good ones today!
As she dug around in a sand pit, he carefully removed the cloth around his neck and placed it on her shoulders. “Is that cape-ish enuff?”
“HM…I ACCEPT IT!” Putunia concluded after a moment, doing a little twirl to test its movement in motion. “BUT I STILL NEED MY OTHER THINGS.”
The search took them past a park vending machine. Putunia insisted they stop and get sodas, even when Habit told her it was “bad for teef” and that he “didn’t like the bubbly tummy feeling”. But he gave in and got them; she was so eager, and he wanted her to smile.
They eventually found an old paper bag to work as a mask, smelling faintly of apples. Not perfect, but with eyeholes punched out, it was better than nothing.
“TA-DA!” Putunia stood up proudly on the park bench they were resting on. “I AM THE MASKED DRIVER JR! I AM AMAZING!”
“U are! :-)” Habit encouraged, giving a polite clap.
“THE BADDIES TREMBLE IN MY PRESENCE!”
Habit tilted his head. “Putunia?”
“YES, MENACE?”
“Fiting the baddies makes you habby, right?”
“YES!” She plopped back down and slid off the bench to admire the park in her heroic glory.
“What makes a baddie a baddie?”
“OH! UH. WELL, A BADDIE IS SOMEONE WHO HURTS PEOPLE! AND SCARES PEOPLE!”
“I sea…” Habit looked down at his empty soda can a moment. Two things he had done before, even if he wanted to do it for the greater good in his mind.
Putunia went on in her tirade of justice.
“THEY LOOK SCARY! AND THEY TELL YOU TO GO TO BED ON TIME! AND THEY YELL AT YOU! AND BREAK GLASSES! AND PUSH YOU DOWN STAIRS! AND—“ Putunia stopped herself immediately.
No, that couldn’t be right.
Her mom was her family. Her only family. Family weren’t baddies. Family weren’t baddies, right? Family weren’t baddies…
She thought about everything that happened, and Flower Child taking her away, and her missing tooth, and felt sick to her stomach.
Habit noticed her distress (and rather troubling examples of what baddies do—he is sure he never did those things, because his office had an elevator, not stairs, and he gave the kid Habiticians plastic cutlery to prevent breakage) and frowned. “R u okay…?”
Putunia nodded in fierce denial. “Y-YEAH! I AM! BECAUSE…B-BECAUSE...” She pointed at him defiantly. “BECAUSE THE ONLY BADDIE HERE IS YOU! GREEN MENACE! YOU HURT FLOWER POWER. YOU MAKE PEOPLE SAD. YOU HAVE A BADDIE ACCENT AND YOU HAVE SCARY TEETH. I DON’T GOTTA FACE ANYONE ELSE BUT YOU! L-LET’S FIGHT…!!”
And so began their fated battle.
She went in bare-fisted (a true heroic feat) and launched an impressive flurry of tiny punches into the green menace’s…knees? Ankles? He was so tall it was hard to tell.
Habit did nothing to stop her. He just carefully pulled the paper bag off her head so she could see better, and stared down at her.
Her efforts became slower as her frustration increased, and finally she dropped both of her fists, panting heavily. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“N-NO...” She managed a strangely loud whisper, voice hoarse, inhaling sharply to stop anything dribbly and gross from coming out of her nose. “I-I DON’T WANNA…”
Putunia was sad. Habit had another idea. It was something Flower Kid had taught him to do. A kinder method to scrub away frowning faces.
The green man got off the bench and crouched, and wrapped his arms around her. But it wasn’t a violent constriction or attempt to yank her away, like she was used to. Just a gentle hug, as if she was as delicate as a flower, while she sniffled into his coat.
Her voice got the quietest it’s ever been.
“I don’t wanna hurt anymore.”
“I know. Me neether.”
Putunia sobbed for a while. Habit didn’t talk, just lightly touched her hair or rubbed her back or did whatever he could remember Flower Kid doing for him on bad days.
As she calmed down, Habit took his coat sleeve and wiped away her tears.
“Kno wut Flower Child taught me?”
“W-WHAT…?”
“Sometimes frownies and tears are o-kay. They can just mean that u are asking for halp from people who love u.”
“I’M NOT CRYING,” Putunia said adamantly, wiping her eyes. “I AM TOUGH.”
“Your tough,” Habit agreed softly. “You are the toughest.”
Putunia stared at the ground. Did she win the fight? She wasn’t sure.
Habit spoke up for her.
“Ur right. I’m…not that good. Flower Child, now they’re good. They’re sweet. I am not so sweet. I have bean so very sour. I have been a big baddie, a mena-ce. But, I’m trying to du better. I learned people aren’t meant to be cracked like eggs. The only cracking they should be doing is cracking smiles.”
He stood carefully, and lifted her up onto the bench with him. He let his speech flow a bit more like the others in town. It didn’t come naturally to him, and he still struggled with it, but he tried his best. “I never got to be happy when I grew up. I want you to grow and be happy and smile like I never could. If that means being a hero, u should be a hero. And if that means punching bad people, maybe u should. But you should sometimes give them something nice, too, if they seem rlly sad.”
Putunia looked up at him. “IS…IS MOM SAD? WOULD…WOULD MOM NOT BE MEAN IF I GAVE HER SOMETHING NICE?”
Habit thought about his parents. He held her a little tighter. “Sometimes…sometimes baddies are the ppl that are supposed to love you. And maybe they’re sad, but…little ones aren’t supposed to be hurt becuz of it.”
“WHAT SHOULD I DO…?”
“Let grown-ups handle it. You’ll be safe and snug and sound no matter what. And if your dream is to be a hero, you’ll be the greatest hero there ever wuz.” It was the best answer he had. He didn’t know what the future held for little Putunia. But if he had any say at all, he wouldn’t let history repeat itself and make a tiny, punchy, sad villain out of the kid in his lap.
Putunia was unusually quiet for a few moments. And then:
“…GREEN MENACE?”
“Hm-hm?”
“MAYBE YOU’RE NOT A MENACE NO MORE.” She considered her words. “DO YOU WANNA BE CALLED SOMETHING ELSE?”
“Oh! Like…Dr. Habit?” Habit wasn’t a dentist anymore but didn’t really have any other names for himself, outside of his first name, which just made him think about mean people making fun of him anyways.
“NO. LIKE…GREEN HERO!”
“Hero?! Wowzie…! Am I worthee?” Truthfully, he always wanted to be a hero. Everyone’s hero. But Flower Kid got that title. They sure made people happier than he did. He used to hate them for it, but nowadays, he understood. They were really great.
“YOU ARE TO ME!”
Her energy was vibrant and blue and sparkly. Habit smiled with all his teeth showing, from genuine joy.
Putunia didn’t even notice. She just gave a little yawn.
“Feeling woozish? Is it beddy-bye time for Putunia?”
“MMMMmmm…no…I aM aWAKE…” Putunia protested, although her desire to rest after feeling all those emotions was catching up fast. Habit retrieved the ‘cape’ from her shoulders to put back around his neck, and pulled his coat around her like a blanket.
“Have naps. Flower Child will be bac soonish.”
And they were. They never truly left, and kept an eye on everything from afar—to say they were proud of Habit was a vast understatement. The sight of the two on the bench made their heart feel very warm indeed.
“Look, Flower Child!” Habit said with much pride of his own as they approached. “I successfully sat on the babey!”
Flower Kid gave an encouraging nod, and held out their arms to take Putunia from him.
Habit looked down at the sleeping girl. She was a tiny, bright, eager flower, just like his lily. He wanted her to grow big and strong and happy. He smiled, kissed her forehead, and carefully handed her off to Flower Kid.
“Take gud care of her?”
Flower Kid nodded with a warm smile.
Putunia shifted in her sleep and joined the two in smiles, prepared to bring her blazing spirit to wherever she ended up, and whomever she ended up with.
In the meantime, she was happy to be surrounded by her heroes.
END
