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Powder is curled up in her bed, buried in her thin blankets with her face pressed into her pillows.
Ekko is supposed to come over today, so they can finish their new project they've been working on the past few days, a brand new fort; but she doesn't think she's up for it; which really sucks because it's Ekko, and she always wants to see him and hang out with him! but her stomach hurts a lot this morning, and her chest feels fuzzy inside, like somebody shook up a can of soda and shoved it underneath her ribs. She feels bad for hoping Benzo needs him for work and that he won't show up, but when Vander comes knocking softly on the door, she knows it's because Ekko's upstairs waiting for her.
"Ekko's here, powder." She doesn't turn around in her bed to look at him.
"Yea, I know." The floorboards creak when he walks over, stands by the bed. "You goin' up?"
She shrugs from her bundle, even thinking about going up there to see him makes her stomach hurt more. "I don't think I want to hang out today. Can you tell him to go home?"
If anything tells Vander somethings up with his youngest daughter, her not wanting to hang out with Ekko, her best friend, speaks volumes.
"Alright;" he starts, moving now to sit on the edge of her bed; the weight of him makes the bed groan. "You want to tell me what's going on?" She doesn't say anything, instead pulling her blanket over her head with a mumble.
"Did Ekko say something?" She shakes her head but forgets he can't see her now so she mutters a singular "No.." Vander sighs, wracking his brain for the possibilities.
"Did Mylo say something?" another soft 'No'. Silence follows for a few moments before he opens his mouth to ask another question, but she's pulling the blanket from her head. It was getting way too stuffy under there; her hair sticks out in different directions now.
"I just.. don't feel good." His heart sinks. They don't have the medicine nor the money right now to tend to her properly if she truly is sick. "What's bothering you, Powder?"
He leans over to rest the back of his hand against her forehead, thankful when it doesn't feel warm, though her cheeks are red and flushed. "I dunno'... My stomach hurts and my chest feels funny."
There's a set of feet tumbling down the staircase and Ekko comes peeking in, concerned with the lack of his friends' appearance.
"Powder? What're you doing? We're supposed to finish building our fort-" He stops when he sees Vander tending to her, and concern paints itself on his face. "Are you okay, powder?"
Oh no; not him!
She really doesn't want to see him! She can already tell she's feeling worse and she ducks back under the blanket before Ekko even reaches her bedside.
"No, I'm sick, we can't play today." Vander looks at Ekko, who looks deeply disappointed; "Head upstairs, Ekko; I'll be right there." All Ekko can do is nod, dejected, before climbing back up the stairs.
When Vander is sure the kids' gone, he turns back to Powder. It doesn't make that much longer until the gears in his head are turning, and the slightest smile turns at the corner of his mouth. Vander was her age once; he knows exactly why she's 'sick'. "When did you start feeling like this, Powder?" She kicks her feet out of the blanket, and her head once again reappears.
"I dunno'.. it started a few days ago, when I was.. hanging out with Ekko. We were just getting stuff for our new fort since the other one fell apart and I just got a really bad stomachache. It hasn't gone away. I musta' got it from Ekko because I always feel worse when he's around so he's probably sick too.."
Vander can't hold back his loud laughter, which makes Powder scrunch her face up, slightly annoyed "Why are you laughing? What's so funny?" She's dying! and sick! with some unknown disease and he's laughing?! She sits up, pulling her knees to her chest and crossing her arms over them so she can rest her chin against her forearms. Vander collects himself, sitting closer as he wraps an arm around her small shoulders.
"Okay;" he starts, as he looks down at her, trying his best to figure out how to word what he's going to say. "So sometimes, when we spend a lot of our time with somebody we really care about, like a friend, we start to like-like them. Meaning that we start to develop feelings for them." He sees her face scrunch up again, this time in confusion rather than annoyance. "Feelings? What feelings?"
He gives her shoulder a squeeze. "The kind of feelings that that make you feel that different kind of sick that you've been feeling." Her brows furrow, like she's trying to fit the pieces together but is still missing a few to complete the puzzle, so Vander continues. "Your stomachache? That funny feeling deep inside your chest?" She nods, waiting; "You have a crush, Powder; on Ekko."
And oh what Vander wouldn't give to be able to photograph the look on her face right now as it cycles rapidly between realization, shock, and a very brief disgust before settling on being absolutely mortified. "A what!?" She jumps to her feet so fast she forgets Vi's bed is above hers and swiftly smacks her head on the underside of the frame. Vander's shoulders shake heavily with his laughter, while Powder falls back onto her mattress to cradle her head, still trying to process what he's just told her.
She's heard about Claggor and Mylo having 'crushes', all from conversations she'd eavesdropped on; about how Claggor would want to hold their hands, talking about how pretty they were, or Mylo ranting on and on about wanting to kiss them. She and Ekko held hands all the time, but wanting to kiss- She slaps a hand over her mouth. She feels like she's going to actually be sick and puke out all the gross feelings onto her bed.
"How do I make them go away?" She clings to Vanders behemoth forearm, pleading. "They're icky and gross and I don't want them anymore!"