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♥Fluff Friday♥

I have long stretches of tedium while working, and I drew the twins. They're shaped liked potatoes (or kidney beans, but those sound gross) so I've been calling them the potato-twins. The comics are really dumb but they made me happy. :D My scanner is not working, so I had to take PHOTOS of these with a CRAPPY camera, thus I ask that you please excuse the spotty quality of the images.

This one is based on VERY RECENT EVENTS that may or may not have occurred in Paris. /ahem.

See if you can recognize which LJ users are in this one! :D

Annnnd a story! AND GUESS WHAT?! All of you have to deal with all the silly, corny puns because it's ~~~Fluff Friday~~~ >:3 Thank you to

toastieghostie for the beautiful banner (LOOK AT IT ) and the ridiculous title, which is perfect for my entire ridiculous Fluff Friday contribution!

Title: "Bee Mine"
Rating: G
Summary: Bill is not exactly a bee that the rest of the hive approves of, but he is a wonderful bee. Tom is a grumpy flower who does not get noticed by bees very often. It was meant to bee!

“I am a wonderful bee.”

This is something of which Bill had to remind himself every day. The queen had said so herself, the few times he had met her after his birth. Others tried to downplay her compliment, saying that she had so many children that anything exciting (like the oddity that was Bill) broke through the tedium of birthing hundreds of new children a day , but Bill knew it was true. He was a wonderful bee.

Part of this he knew was because he always found the best nectar, and brought back more than almost any other bee in the hive. Bill sometimes wondered if maybe that’s why the other bees didn’t like him, but that didn’t make much sense. The good of the hive was always the top priority and anything that helped was praised. And when Bill brought back especially good loads of nectar, he was more likely to be left alone.

So Bill was the first to leave in the morning, before light had even broke, to go searching for new, full flowers. It wasn’t hard – most flowers were quite delightful to be around and appreciated Bill’s efforts much more energetically than any bees at the hives.

“Oh, look at you, you little fuzzy thing, the sun isn’t even up!”

“I wasn’t expecting anyone to find me quite yet, I’m not exactly the biggest blossom around.”

“Oh, look at all the pollen sticking to you, what a dear! Go ahead, I have plenty of nectar ready for today.”

And so on. Part of it was that Bill did seem to have a good instinct for flowers that had the most nectar, even when they weren’t the showiest of all; in fact, that was a common mistake for which he looked down upon the other bees, because the showiest flowers were visited the most and had the least nectar. Bill understood better than the other bees that sometimes it was the less impressive creatures that were really the best in the end.

To clarify, Bill thought that he was a very impressive little bee. He was twice as fuzzy as other bees, and his lack of yellow stripes made him look very dramatic, he was sure. An all-black ball of fuzz: he definitely approved. But being different in a hive was probably not the greatest of ideas, not that Bill had a choice in the first place. He heard stories from older workers that when he had crawled out of his little cell in the honeycomb, three workers had scrambled over to try to remove the ‘problem’, but Bill had been too fast. Once he got away several times, they gave up, realizing that perhaps he wouldn’t be a complete burden upon the hive.

Still, Bill never really slept all that deeply, just in case.

And so, Bill woke first every morning and flew out right away, just a bare hint of blue glow to the horizon. He’d go to all of his best, most secret blossoms first because he couldn’t see that well in the dark, and bring back his first load of nectar by the time everyone else was waking up. Once it was light out, he’d go out to search for new blossoms, and when he found a huge bush or field of flowers, he’d go back to the hive and dance.

As with everything he did, the other bees did not like his dancing very much; they would buzz and flutter about, saying that his dancing was too bouncy, too twisty, too ridiculous, but Bill still felt very smug when they flew to his flowers anyway. His directions may be ridiculous, but they certainly followed them just fine and quite liked the nectar.

But what Bill loved most was when he had a really spectacular day for nectar, so much that that he had far surpassed what any other bee would bring in that day, and still had daylight left to go explore in a leisurely way. All bees explored – they had to, to find new, untouched flowers – but Bill always found the best things when he wasn’t stressed for nectar.

Once he found a crumbling building, though it was so gargantuan to him that he was mostly just guessing. It had a garden gone wild, roses and weeds creeping around each other and arguing endlessly. Roses argued like no other flower out there – only the hardiest of weeds could really stand them. Bill quite liked them both.

Bill also found many small ponds, which he quite liked – the animals at the pond wouldn’t eat him for his sting, but also weren’t so scared of him that they would shy away. Bill had met many a decent frog and fish from his exploring.

And it was during one of these bouts of exploration that he found Tom. He certainly hadn’t been looking for Tom though. Bill had been chasing a butterfly with very sparkly wings (he wondered if maybe he could get some of that iridescence for his own black fuzz) and as the butterfly had turned a corner, Bill had flown into a shrub. A grumpy shrub.

“Oof!” Bill fluttered his wings as he clung to a leaf on a stem, trying to re-orient himself. “I’m sorry!” Any bee would be embarrassed to have flown into something.

“Yeah, yeah, sure you’re sorry. Aren’t houseflies supposed to be able to fly?” Bill caught the irritated communication from the slight trembling of the plant, himself aghast at the plant’s words.

“I’m not a housefly, you stupid shrub, I’m a bee! And I apologized.” Bill was always polite, at first, but ages of living in a hive where he was despised had taught him to stand up for himself too. The plant seemed to shake a little indignantly at that.

“And I’m not a shrub, I’m a flower! And you look like a stupid housefly, and fly like one too!” It wasn’t very easy for flowers to be angry, or express it anyway, but a strong breeze blew at just the right time and Tom’s entire self, from root to stem to leaves all swayed ominously, almost throwing Bill off. Once the breeze died down, Bill flew off the leaf to take a better look at this shrub named Tom.

What he saw made Bill fly in loops for a few seconds, buzzing in surprise; Tom was indeed a flower, but a green flower. No wonder Bill hadn’t seen him – bees really needed the colours and stripes that almost glowed to see flowers easily, but Tom’s green colour made him blend in with everything else. But now that Bill could see him, Tom was really a lovely flower. So many full, healthy petals and a sturdy stem that would surely hold throughout winter, where other flowers wilted and became bulbs or even less.

Bill flew right up onto the flower petals itself, and Bill’s instinct was correct; all other bees and birds all missed Tom because of his strange green colour, and he was carrying a ridiculous amount of nectar. But he still seemed irritated, and Bill didn’t want to make Tom’s nectar go sour with embarrassment.

“You are a flower, and a really nice one! I’m sorry I didn’t notice you before, the green makes it difficult.” The words came out as a friendly flutter and buzz of his wings as he walked all over Tom’s petals. “What’s your name?”

“Tom.” A pause. “Oh sure, and you’ll take some nectar and go and that’ll be that.” Bill had never met a flower this grumpy, but then again, he’d also never met a green flower either. And then he buzzed happily.

“Nope! I will only take some pollen – I don’t need any nectar.” And he took the silence on Tom’s part as surprise and flew off with his pollen. He would definitely come by tomorrow. Only he knew about this green flower!

***

The next day, Bill was flying so fast, back and forth between flowers and the hive, he almost became dizzy. He wanted to bring in enough nectar that no one would notice that he would be gone for the rest of the day, but he wanted to go find his green flower – Tom – again.

However, he wanted to greet Tom properly, and the only way to really please a flower is to both take away some of their pollen and to bring them some new pollen at some point; it was the whole reason flowers were so helpful to bees. But Bill didn’t know of any other green flowers, so he searched around for a flower that was at least shaped like Tom.

He found a few, all shades of white and pink and everything in between. He only spent enough time to register their surprise that he didn’t bother with any nectar before he flew off in the direction he knew Tom would be.

Or where he thought Tom would be. He knew it would be difficult to find the green flower again, but he flew in circles for what felt like ages until-

“Oof!” Until Bill flew right into Tom, again. Once he righted himself, he did have the grace to be sheepish. “Uhh, I’m sorry…” Bill turned around several times, dropping off the pollen from the other flowers.

“You came back.” Flowers weren’t very expressive at all, but Bill took that as some surprise again.

“Yes. I am the best bee in our hive, and I’m probably the only one who could’ve found you again, so of course I came back!” Well, Bill only had a bit of grace; the sheepishness turned into smugness quite quickly. Bill fluttered his wings to try to fluff up his fuzz.

“Well, you are the only bee who’s ever stopped by before…” Tom’s whole plant trembled minutely, a kind of trembling that only bees and butterflies could really feel, and Bill felt bad for the little flower. Right then, he decided he was going to visit Tom, the only green flower ever, every single day.

And Bill did. Sometimes Tom was very grumpy, calling Bill a housefly and telling him to go find something gross to bother, but Bill never did. Bill also never took any of Tom’s nectar, just kept leaving and returning with pollen. The only exception to this was one very rainy day, when no bee dared to leave the hive. Bill hated days like those because the bees got bored and buzzed about him, trying to prod at his fuzz with their stingers.

The next day was barely drizzling, and Bill broke his routine because he wanted to see Tom first. The day before the rainstorm, Tom had been delighted to ask Bill a dozen questions about other flowers, bees, ponds, even flying - though his opinion of moving around all the time was very low. He was quite happy to stay right where he was.

“Tom! Tom!” Though Tom couldn’t answer very well over a distance, it at least gave him some warning before Bill flew right into his blossom with a thud.

“Bill! Are you okay? I thought you…you wouldn’t…” The flower didn’t seem very sure of what he thought at all, and Bill just buzzed and snuggled right in the part of Tom with the most pollen.

“I’m okay, it’s difficult to fly when it rains so hard.” Tom seemed confused by this, because rain was the absolute best thing ever to him, but if It was difficult for the stupid housefly, then that was fine.

“When you go back today, don’t take just pollen, okay?” The flower shook with an odd mix of stern grumpiness and embarrassment, and Bill wasn’t even sure what he was talking about until he caught a whiff of something sweet. He fluttered with surprise.

“Really, nectar? But…” But Bill didn’t want to share Tom’s nectar with anyone! It was a very unusual feeling for a bee; even with his frequent harassment, Bill almost never felt better than when he dropped nectar into the hive. Until he found a special green flower, that is. And he told Tom so (Bee’s were not very shy creatures). “Then everyone will take it instead. I don’t want them to take it.” Tom trembled in agreement, but Bill couldn’t think of a solution before it was time to fly back.

And it was on his flight back as Bill realized exactly what he could do. But it was crazy! But he could do it, and not worry about sharing nectar, and he wouldn’t have to be harassed or be away from Tom during rainstorms.

Bill could barely sleep that night from his excitement, still buzzing lightly as he dozed.

***

The next morning Bill skipped his routine again, though he did fly out before the sun rose. He flew in loops and circles and buzzed happily past his regular flowers, all the way to Tom. This time, he didn’t give Tom his usual warning; he just crash-landed straight into his fluffy, pollen-filled center. The whole flower swayed with the impact and Bill buzzed loudly in delight.

“Stupid housefly, what are you doing?” Bill only buzzed a little more, the name uttered by the plant with fondness rather than irritation – mostly, anyway.

“I figured out how I don’t have to share your nectar.” Bill finally stopped buzzing, because Tom might say no. Bill was proposing something very radical; flowers didn’t take radical change very well, and Tom especially didn’t like any change.

“Well, don’t be dumb, what is it?” Even Tom seemed a bit excited, petals trembling. Bill lifted his wings up to reveal the small bits of wax stuck to his back legs.

“I could…I could build a few honeycomb, right on your stem? And then I can stay here, maybe…maybe even for winter?” Winters didn’t get very cold around Bill’s hive, but they certainly got rainier, and a rainy winter meant not seeing Tom very often. Bill liked Tom about a hundred times more than he did the nicest bees in the hive.

Tom was quiet for a long time, which he did sometimes because flowers took their time when they were thinking (except for roses, who managed to argue even when they were thinking). Bill ended up doing a dance, pretending he was giving Tom directions to the pond, to entertain himself.

“Yes. You better build honeycomb here, because you can be a really stupid housefly and no one will come near a green flower, so you’ll be safe.” Bill flew circles around the brilliantly full petals of Tom’s, so happy he couldn’t keep still. Even from a distance, he could hear Tom’s grumpy-flower version of laughter.

And that was that.

***

It took a while to build up the few honeycomb – Bill built some extra pockets to store honey and to help keep him warm and dry, but in his center cell, a little patch of Tom’s stem stuck through so that Bill and Tom could still talk, even when Bill was hidden inside.

The chilly winter seasons came upon them and Tom’s blossom curled in on itself, dropping seeds everywhere but the stalk and roots remained sturdy. Throughout the winter, they talked about everything and Tom must’ve called Bill stupid a hundred times, though he seemed very impressed by everything Bill knew nonetheless.

In the spring, while Bill was helping Tom’s new blossom to unfurl from its tight early-spring confines (though his help was mostly commentary about how other flowers seemed to blossom, much to Tom’s ire) he flew a circle around the surrounding meadow, and received the shock of his life.

He flew a dozen circles until he came back and told Tom what he had found.

There were green flowers, everywhere.

----

All of you are my beta; tell me if you find any typos in the story? I probably missed some in my rush to get it posted. :3

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Awwwww. :D Bill made lots and lots of Tom flower babies. :D

Yes, yes he did.

I had difficulties when writing this when it came to the science portion, like, should I mention that Bill is technically a girl, and Tom's technically got both male and female genitalia? (The answer is NO, I DON'T CARE.)

And I had to be SO careful not to accidentally make some naughty innuendo about Bill licking up Tom's sweet, sweet nectar XD.

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Tom is a GRUMPY flower.

LOL. I was trying to avoid any crazy innuendos, but they came so easily with nectar and honey and stalk and stem and OHLAWD.

That is SO you looking at Tom's cornrows mischievously. Next time you'll be admiring his shiny forehead too.

Yayayayay, I'm so glad it made someone else happy tooooo <3

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LOL THAT MEME.

Don't have a stroke bb, I need your photo references to get the sly smile accurate XD

Give me a second to get this out of my system. SDJFLALEAOIDFKHASKJDHFWEJAODJFKLAJSDKLJFAKLJDLKJWAUKEIJFAS. CUTEST. FANFICTION. I. HAVE. EVER. READ. A;SJDL;JKJDIOUADIJKJSD.

Ok, back to normal now, Chelsea. -Deep breath- Your Bumblebill was the cutest little thing. His dancing and oddity was adorrrable and I love how you made him different. And Flower!Tom was wonderful<3 I loooove how Bill built his own honeycomb on Tom. Gah, this was brillliant. *3*

I love you. Like, a lot.

Yaaaaay! I was wondering if it would get your response, or more like a "WTF, bee/flower, you perv!" XD

It's probably the fluffiest thing I'll ever write too!

I accept your love and reciprocate it with flailing, flutterclapping, and squealing. :D :D

Squawk. <3. This was exaccctly what I needed after my relatively crappy day. I'm about to reread it because I'm a dork <33333

YOU SHOULD WRITE A FLUFFY SEQUEL. WITH BABY DEER GEORG AND...FISHSTAV. OR SOMETHING.

-Flails and flutterclaps and squeals with-

What are you talking about, Georg was the butterfly Bill was chasing!

(Gustav is the tree Georg hung his chrysalis on!)

>:3

awwwww that story is awesome! I really adore your characterizations and it just made me super happy to read <3

Also, the potato drawings are brilliant LOL

Haha, it's probably the most pointless story ever, but it's fluff, so I have fulfilled my duties. >____>

(I'm really glad it made you happy though!)

OH LORD. They're potatoes because it seemed like a -really good idea- after an hour of staring at the front door to our store in boredom.

picturing Bill the Bee dancing made me laugh hysterically :)

Fluff doesn't have to have a point. It is fluff and that IS the point <3

Awww, this was so adorable! So perfect for fluff friday. <333

Haha, and I feel so sinister as I post this because hidden on my hard drive is some of the angstiest stuff ever. >:)

And I hope to read it one day. :)

OMFG

BILL'S "NEW LOOK"

I HAVE TEARS

ALSO I WOULD LIKE TO BE FEATURED IN A POTATO COMIC NEXT KTHX

LOL. It was too fun to draw Joop-potatoBill. Just, so gross. SO GROSS.

OKAY. You will be in a potato comic XD <3333 I didn't do it initially because drawing lace is SO DIFFICULT.

I haven't read the story yet; I just want to comment on the comic strip.

ROFLOL! I want these onigiri twins! BAD!

:O You're right! I didn't even realize that they looked like onigiri. XD I bet I could totally sew up some onigiri-twin-plushies hey?

OMG...soft onigiri twin plushies...filled with those sand-grain polistyrene thingys...all floppy and soft and squishy....eeeee!

Throughout this entire story, I was a fluttery, squealing mess of happy XD *squeals just a little more* Bill is the most wonderful bee that ever buzzed!

Awwwwwwwww, Tom should never be afraid of Ghostie! :o XD

Yay! I always try to imagine the worst case scenario whenever I do anything, and in this case I wondered that perhaps this story could've gone either way; lots of cute squeeing and such, or everyone could've been like "WTF bee/flower? Is there a word for that, YOU PERV?".

Tom is the biggest wuss in my mind. Or he wants to snuggle with Bill. (Or both? Probably both.)

Oh no no, bees are so cute anyway, and you just can't go wrong with an extra fluffy, all black Bill bee!

Tom definitely is the biggest wuss, I can see it. That's just so sad for Ghostie, though! Although I doubt she would mind being the catalyst for twin snuggles ;)

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

this fic is too cute i can't even handle it

Too bad, your icon + that gif have done it for me. DONE IT. I feel like you have beat me for cuteness XD

Eek, the twin blobs are even more precious than I imagined. =D I love the way you drew their expressions. And eee! ^-^ That is totally the face I would make at twin love. =D *reaches for the cute ghost, too!*

Bill is such a self-confident little bee. <3 I love your characterization of both Bill the bee and Tom the flower. They're so in character, which seems like it should not be possible for flowers and bees. Bill even dances! I love the whimsical world you've built here, with all the flo9wers and their personalities. It reminds me of a very sweet children's book. ^-^

I drew you as a tomato jelly :D (I refuse to call it an aspic! D: )

You know Tom totally warmed up to the Ghost once he got over his wuss-nature XD

You read my mind! As I was writing this, I was thinking how much I'd love to paint illustrations to make it a children's book. Perhaps that'll be a project for when I have a vacation? :D ?

(I'm so so so glad you like it. Your opinion means so much to me! <333)

Tomato jelly! ^__^ This fits me well, and the old adage that you are what you eat. I can eat a whole box of cherry tomatoes in a day. =O

Ooh, I was thinking of illustrations too! That would be so absolutely precious! =D *squee fists!*

Potato twins are love.

And and and... cutest. bee/flower. interaction. ever.

:D Yay, I'm glad the potato-twins are okay ^-^

...how many bee/flower interaction fics have you read for comparison? XD I'm kidding, <3333 you.

I LOVE EVERYTHING IN THIS POST. I CAN'T EVEN

I was at dinner and I kept trying to read this post, because it delighted me so much! Bill as the most awesome bee ever, but you also insert these little connections with real-life, the bees trying to "take care of the problem," Bill being too fast for them. Go Bill, fighting for your life and all the delicious nectar!

I just loved that Bill's solution was to build a honeycomb ON Tom. And he and Tom made lots of pretty green Tomi-babies. And TOM THE GRUMPY FLOWER.

This was so beautifully inventive and made me smile so, so hard. <3333333 Thank you!

I did feel very conflicted at where to draw the line between "scientifically possible" and "complete and utter whimsy". For instance, should I write Bill as a female and Tom as intersex? XD But then I said, "Screw it! I don't have to explain shit!" and just wrote what I felt like, and had fun pondering chlorophyll-filled flower petals and the evolutionary benefits of being extra-fuzzy (more pollen carrying power!).

In the end, I'm actually quite pleased with it. And my goal was to make you smile at some point, so I'm feeling very accomplished right now <3

this whole post is so amazing I don't even words O_O

MARRY ME? :P

You don't even words, do you? Well, that's okay, I don't words either. ;)

YES. I've seen your pictures, you are the most adorable person ever, and we shall indeed marry. AND THEN YOU CAN MAKE ME GIFS AND I'LL MAKE YOU POTATOES. Twu wuv, as I see it. <333

I AM SO HAPPY ;O;

Omg *_* I am so so so glad you wrote this, it's perfect lol. Really gorgeously done!

Haha, oh dear, I don't quite believe your statement about perfection, but I am blushing at the idea of you liking it. Thank you for taking time out to read it! I can't imagine how busy you are <3

I really liked it - I was tickled with the idea when you first commented but I've been awful at keeping on top of my inbox to reply to things. I'm so glad you wrote it, because it really is wonderfully done.

Waaa! I finally read the story and...and...and...how could a field of green flowers bring tears to my eyes? How??????
*sniffle snorts*

Such a snuggly little fic :)

And the bio geek in me squirmed all kinds of happy at the little bee dance references (heheheh tush shaking Bill).

Probably has something to do with the idea that even a sad, lonely green flower like Tom can win at life and have a Bill of his own? :D :D?

(I like it too, but that's not very modest or graceful of me >_>)

Ohhh, another bio geek! You have no idea how long I spent pondering what kind of mutations would cause green flowers or fuzzy-Bills, and how long it would take one bee to develop enough beeswax to build honeycomb. Half the fun of writing this was trying to figure out what could actually be real XD

These are all so wonderful! I especially like the first comic -- Tom's expression when he has difficulty keeping firm is absolutely marvellous! I think Bill is a bit evil, though. But I guess I should have known that. *g*

And <333 a bee/flower story! It's so wonderful! My heart breaks for Bill because he's so quick and helpful and ridiculous and yet the others don't love him the way everyone should love Bill. But then Bill seems to love himself quite a lot, so maybe that's okay. *g* Don't get me wrong; I love that he loves himself!

I must admit I thought this would have made a great smut fic too. >_> Would Bill tasting Tom's nectar be like a blowjob? Never mind...

Bill is not ~evil~...nooo, he just knows exactly what will break his twin's will to withhold candy. And credit cards. And that's not EVIL, just knowledge XD

OH GOD. There were so many places I had to re-write sentences because they just sounded so dirty; it turns out the word 'nectar' sounds dirty in most contexts. Also, I kept wanting to talk about "shafts" (OF THE FLOWER!) and "stamens" and "petals" and it all just sounded like I should be winking and nudging whomever was reading it.

NO SMUT FOR YOU. XD

*SQUISH*

Your drawings are so cute omg *U* Potato twiiiiins. 8DDD Joop!potato!Bill made me lol for real omg. Why are you so amazing *flails at*

Ooh a Jelly *O* And cuddly potato!twins ^___^ Your Jelly face is strangely very accurate.

GAH this is the cutest post that was ever cute, I swear.

*flaildie*

Yayaya, squishes! And I am very squishable, so this is good.

Your praise has me log-rolling all over the place. Your flailing > 10 Joop!potato!Bills XD

Hee, and I think it's funny because you and Jelly are the queens of cute! *goes to write angsty*

awwww! potato!bill looks simultaneously enchanted with and embarrassed by my candy self! (as he should be!)

and the potato twins kind of remind me of tarepanda XD

He is definitely enchanted, but not embarrassed; he is busy wondering how long he can make his skittles last so he can be together foreeeever with his skittles. :3

Ohhhhawwww, I haven't seen tarepanda in ages. I bet that's what one of the twins looks like when the other is gone for a long while and he's all confused about how to function properly. <333

*sigh* I'm really stupid, I was pretty sure I left a comment on this entry too but it seems I may have forgotten.

The potato twins are adorable and remind me of those rubber balloons with googly eyes and yarn hair filled with sand (?) that you can squeeze and mold into various shapes. I lol'd and potato!joop and his fake tan, too.

I'm also really impressed at how you managed to put Tom's grandpa personality and Bill's into a flower and a bee. Very cute story.

There are some fascinating deadlines on this article however I don’t know if I see all of them middle to heart. There is some validity but I will take maintain opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we want extra! Added to FeedBurner as nicely http://onesmilefact.blogspot.com/

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