Chapter Text
"If you keep scaring the birds away, we'll be out here until night falls! What did I tell you about keeping your distance?”
Wilson watched dismally as a few feathers slowly fluttered to the ground. While feathers were indeed useful, they weren’t the seeds that the two were supposed to be out collecting, which was proving to be a harder job than initially expected due to Maxwell’s imposing presence.
“I was standing directly next to you!”
Maxwell asserted.
“Yes, well, the difference is you cast a bigger shadow, you bloody skyscraper, so stand further back.”
Wilson continued along the path, keeping a close eye for any other birds landing in the area. Maxwell begrudgingly followed close behind, grumbling under his breath, offended by the previous statement.
The two had been paired up to go out and collect the seeds needed for the farm- which in turn would be used to grow more food in preparation for the upcoming Winter. The cold breeze of the season had already begun creeping its way upon their isolated area of the constant, which means they needed to hurry on and collect as many seeds as possible. The two accepted the job thinking it would be easy, just stalk around the forest and wait for birds to drop any seeds and they’d be done and dusted.
Though it seemed Maxwell was not turning out to be as good a pick for this mission- as Wilson was learning, even if they weren't getting the job done as fast as they hoped, Wilson did find himself enjoying Maxwell’s company and their consequential bickering far more entertaining than when he was paired with some of the others. Most of the time when Maxwell was paired with the other survivors, it led to extremely awkward silence and cutthroat tension thanks to Maxwell’s past status. Wilson seemed to be the only survivor that wasn’t bothered by it- not as much anyway.
Wilson trudged along, his eyes darting around and carefully examining his surroundings whilst Maxwell gracefully strode along just behind, his head held high.
After that, things luckily went swimmingly, a few more birds appeared and they were both able to keep enough distance to let them drop seeds before shooing them off.
They were out for hours walking along a singular dirt path, sometimes making small talk but remaining silent and focused for the most part. Slowly but surely the daylight trickled out, and an orange hue was cast over the world around them. Green mushrooms began to spring up from the ground and various animals retreated to the safety of their burrows.
“We should start heading back soon, but they’ll probably make us go out again tomorrow to get more seed,”
Wilson said whilst throwing together a torch.
“Fine by me, I rather enjoy the peace and quiet out here.”
Maxwell peered off into the distance, watching the sun slowly sink beneath the horizon. Sunsets are usually a beautiful and comforting sight, but in this place, all it carried was a sense of dread.
“Let's make sure not to scare off half the birds this time, yes?”
Wilson smirked.
They walked together silently for a while, enjoying the ambient sounds of the wind blowing through the trees and the rising sound of bugs chirping and humming as the night descended upon the forest. The peace was interrupted by Wilson suddenly stopping- his eye caught and instantly in awe of an unusual blooming flower just off the path. Its bright magenta spotted petals and vibrant green leaves sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the dull yellowish tones of the other autumn shrubbery.
Wilson’s curiosity was quick to overtake his sense of judgment and he walked off the path to approach the unusual plant.
“Where are you off to?”
Maxwell raised an eyebrow, watching as the scientist seemed to almost mindlessly wander towards the plant.
“Look at that- that flower, have you ever seen anything like it?”
Wilson didn’t even bother to face Maxwell as he spoke, he seemed entranced by the mysterious flora, his natural attraction to the unknown shining through.
Very carefully and cautiously, Wilson crouched down in front of the flower, pulling a small notebook from his pocket and flipping to an empty page. Maxwell watched on as he began furiously scribbling, his torch flickering flat on the ground next to him.
“Are you certain you should be getting that close to that thing? Nothing is as it seems in this place and I’ve never seen something like that before.”
Maxwell cautioned. This warning, however, only further indulged Wilson's curiosity;
"What do you mean you haven't seen it? That just makes this thing even more… alluring,"
Wilson stated. He quickly finished doodling an image of the plant before closing the book, the heavy slap of the pages was a satisfying sound. Slowly and steadily as he could muster, Wilson reached his hand out to touch the plant.
"Higgsbury! Did you not understand me? I've been down here the longest and even I know nothing of that flower, we have no idea how dangerous it could be!"
Maxwell exclaimed. He quickly walked off the path and started towards the scientist- if he had to he would drag him by the hair away from whatever that plant was.
"It could be dangerous but there are plenty of plants around here that help us too, who knows maybe this thing can be crafted into a far more powerful healing salve! Or- or some kind of sanity-related medicine!"
Wilson ignored Maxwell's warnings, he reached out and pinched one of the bright magenta petals- then he snapped it off. Maxwell braced himself for some kind of horrifying creature to arise from the ground or for the flower itself to misshape into some kind of nightmare, but nothing seemed to be happening.
The scientist closely examined the petal before opening his notebook back up and placing it between the pages for safekeeping.
"See? Don't be so finicky, it's more important to know if this could be of any use, isn't it?"
Wilson's intentions were well and clear but the sly smile on his face served only to frustrate Maxwell, who had only been looking out for him after all.
Wilson picked up his torch, but just as he was about to stand the flower sprung out of the ground, aimed for his face- then sprayed a fine, powdery cloud of strange magenta-colored spores, which encircled his head and quickly entered his nose and mouth.
He jumped backward with a yelp, dropping his torch and accidentally setting the strange flower ablaze- it screeched and wailed before succumbing to the ember and shriveling up into a thin black skeletal-like remain.
Maxwell ran over to Wilson, pulling him up onto two feet as he violently coughed and spluttered, fighting to get the foreign substance out of his lungs. Maxwell could only watch, panicking and uncertain of what to do, only able to slap Wilson on the back a few times as he continued trying to cough up the plant's spores.
After a solid few minutes, Wilson calmed down, he was still panting and red-faced but he was no longer choking at least.
“Bollocks- are you alright?”
Maxwell wrapped his arms around Wilson, trying to keep him steady and upright. He coughed a little more into Maxwell’s chest before settling down fully, silently catching his breath while still pressed against the taller man.
After a few moments of silence, Wilson pushed himself away, his cheeks flushed a rosy red. He peered solemnly over at the pile of ash that remained of the flower, clumped together right next to the handle of his torch.
“That… scared the bloody hell outta’ me.”
Wilson chuckled, brushing the excess spores off of his clothes. He sighed heavily and picked up the half-burnt remains of the torch, quickly fashioning a new one from the scraps of wood. Then he bent down and scooped up the plant's ashes into a small salve.
"What a shame… I would've liked to study it further."
He let out a few more small coughs. Maxwell frowned at him, the scientist’s carelessness had never frustrated him more than now. Still, he couldn’t pass the opportunity to tease;
“I hope this means from this point forward you’ll actually heed my warning about strange plants next time?”
Maxwell pinched Wilson’s chin and turned his head, smirking down at him. Wilson’s face went red, he quickly swatted Maxwell’s hands away;
“Bugger off...”
They both walked back to the path, the sun was just barely visible above the horizon at this point so they wasted no time going on about what just happened and sped along the path back home.
The heavy wooden door to the main cabin quarters swung open with a loud creak to announce their return. The Librarian sat waiting patiently for them, looking up from her book and frowning as they approached.
“You’re finally back! Why were you out so late, have you no respect for the rules?”
Wickerbottom scolded.
Wilson and Maxwell just glanced awkwardly at each other, Wickerbottom raised an eyebrow at them, tapping her finger impatiently on the table.
“We didn’t plan on staying out that late, but we came across something.”
Wilson opened his notebook and showed Wickerbottom the crude sketch of the plant, including the only remaining evidence it existed, which fluttered out onto the table.
Wickerbottom picked up the petal and held it right up to her face, studying it carefully- partly intrigued, but mostly confused. After all, separated from the strange plant itself, a pink petal wasn’t so peculiar, or useful.
“Where did this come from?”
She set it back down on the table.
“We still don’t really know, and that petal is all that’s left of it.”
Wilson put it back on the page and shut the notebook with a loud thud, a cloud of slightly pink dust escaping into the air;
“All that’s left…? What happened?”
Maxwell stepped forward, placing a hand on Wilson’s shoulder and pulling him closer- his cheeks flushed once again.
“It… ‘attacked’ Wilson, sprayed him with some kind of spores, it was accidentally set on fire in the panic.”
“Spores? What happened, are you both alright?”
Wickerbottom dropped her book, stood up, and rushed around the table to Wilson, she placed a hand against his forehead, though feeling for heat may be unreliable with outside factors. She peered around for a few more moments, while Wilson awkwardly watched on.
“Temperature is a little high, but other than that… you seem fine.”
She let out a sigh of relief.
“It was probably nothing, just a harmless scare tactic to ward off predators.”
Wilson took the seed bag off of his shoulders and set it down on the table;
“Anyhow, we got the seed, I’d say there’s around 50 or so in there, we’ll probably have to go out for more tomorrow right?”
Before anyone could respond, the door was swung open and Warly came rushing in, hurrying over to the table;
“Oh good, I heard you were finally back.”
Warly snatched the seed pack and slung it over his shoulders, everyone watched, still slightly startled by his sudden entrance.
“Don’t stay out so damn late next time, alright? I hate having to plant seeds in the dark!”
No one got a chance to respond or even wave goodbye before he left, taking all of Wilson and Maxwell’s hard work with him without so much as a thank you. Wickerbottom pat them both on the shoulders;
“Ah well, Winter’s approach makes everyone nervous, Warly didn't mean it personally, I assure you.”
Maxwell and Wilson just glanced awkwardly at each other.
Wickerbottom grabbed her book;
“Well… I’m off to bed, and I suggest you both do the same, try to get up early and get back early this time, ey?”
She pushed in her chair, gave a quick wave over the shoulder, and then exited the main cabin.
Wilson sighed heavily;
“Guess that’s goodnight then, see you tomorrow…”
He slipped his notebook back into his pocket and walked outside the cabin. The lanterns illuminating his path flickered weakly, not being replenished nearly as much to conserve energy. Wilson noticed a tall, spindly shadow following him close behind, along with the sound of footsteps. He turned back, looking up at Maxwell quite vexed with his hands on his hips;
“Isn’t your cabin the other way?”
Wilson pressed;
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave you alone after you were dosed with what could very well be poison, I just want to keep an eye on you.”
Maxwell reasoned.
“What? Keep an eye on me? Do you want me to shuffle to the side so you can hop right in bed next to me?”
Wilson scoffed, rolling his eyes and trying to continue making his way to his cabin… a tight grip on his wrist stopped him in his tracks. He turned to snap at Maxwell, but the look of honest concern in the tall man's eyes made him hesitate.
“Don’t be stubborn, Higgsbury, and no- I’ll just sit on a chair off to the side… If you start choking again or if you throw up and suffocate on your own vomit and it could’ve been prevented… I don’t think I could forgive that.”
Wilson's face went red and his eyes widened;
"Alright then…but I do warn you, the only chairs we have around here are wooden ones with no cushions, I can't imagine that would be comfortable for an extended period."
He pulled his wrist away.
Wilson took a single step before he turned to Maxwell again, with his brow furrowed;
"And stop calling me Higgsbury."
The warm air from the day quickly escaped from the confines of Wilson’s cabin as he opened the door. A very dim lantern lay on his bedside table, flickering like a barely beating heart. Wilson walked over to it and quickly revived the dying flame, properly illuminating his cabin and allowing for a more relaxing aura to settle in.
Wilson set his notebook down on his desk, walked over to his bed, and sat down to unbutton his vest. Maxwell grabbed the chair from beside the desk and dragged it across the floorboards only a few feet from Wilson’s bed, where he sat himself down, albeit quite uncomfortably due to how freakishly long his legs were compared to the height of the chair.
“Seriously… you don’t need to do this, I’m feeling perfectly fine, you should be getting some proper sleep too.”
Wilson tossed his vest onto the floor before leaning down to remove his shoes. Maxwell sighed;
“How many times are you going to make me remind you not to be stubborn?”
Wilson just shrugged in response and climbed into bed, settling under the covers turned away from Maxwell. There was an awkward silence for a good few moments, nothing but the sound of the wind outside and Maxwell shuffling around in the chair trying to get comfortable.
“Dim the light, would ya’.”
Wilson grumbled, shoving his face into the pillow.
Maxwell leaned towards the lamp on Wilson’s bedside and dimmed the flame until the room was just barely short of pitch black- as long as it was enough to keep a certain someone from creeping in, it was enough. Wilson relaxed quickly, all the walking around and sneaking seemed to have tired him out more than he initially thought, and even when under Maxwell’s piercing gaze he managed to doze off before the minutes even hit the double-digits.
Exhaustion hadn’t only affected Wilson, though. Maxwell found himself struggling to keep his eyes open, especially in the dimmed light. He tried his best to persevere, telling himself he needed to be ready if Wilson was to start suddenly foaming at the mouth in his sleep. He tried obsessing over thoughts in his head, humming to himself, quietly tapping his foot, but they all failed eventually and Maxwell fell asleep in the chair. Not only was Wilson’s health a worry if he were to fall asleep, but his own too. Maxwell knew if he were to succumb to his exhaustion in that chair he’d wake up with a mangled spine and a sore neck that would last for days.
An hour after they had both fallen asleep, Warly had quietly entered the cabin and left Wilson’s seed pack by the door, smiling at the sight of Maxwell hunched over in the chair- snoring whilst Wilson drooled all over his pillow. He chuckled to himself, closed the door, and left.