Robert
*"It's odd..." The 14 year old thinks as she looks around her hospital room, just a few hours after she was taken in and hooked up for recovery*

*She's conscious and **Barely** Able to move, using her vines to try to help get her some water to help her recover along, fueling her plants that are throughout her body*
Milton
[tiff] She's surprisingly quiet. Easy to miss. Who would've thought?

Her arms and torso are covered in bandages, and she's leaning forward so her elbows are on her knees. Think of it like the sticker included in this message.

She jolts up hearing Penelope's voice, wincing and bringing a hand to her side as she does so. Looks like she's staying sitting. She drags the chair across the floor to be next to the bed, though.

"Er- hey! You're- up! Good. That's good." This is awkward already. She's been here for the past half hour, waiting. Feeling guilty, mostly.
Robert
*She looks over and notices tiff finally, but she quickly looks away in shame, but not from seeing her injuries, but from looking the winner in the eyes and having the knowledge that she would've been made fun of for trying to fight this brute while she's still so scrawny*

"Hello..."
Milton
Tiff frowns. "You- did *Really* Good. You should be proud of yourself. And I..." She grimaces. 


She's not going to make fun of Penelope. Penelope... She feels a sense of protectiveness, almost. She didn't give up. Ever. 

And that's good.

"..Went too far. I'm-" *Sorry.*

"I went way too far. You're *Really* Strong, actually. I bet you could take down another one of the students *Easy.* Just... One closer to your level. Like- a lot of promise. You have, I mean. A *Lot.* Potential. Yeah." She's trying her best.

"I mean, c'mon, I was on the verge of passing out! That was awesome! You gotta train more so we can do that again."
Robert
"On the verge isn't enough though... You were just able to keep tanking my hits like they were nothing, only towards the end where I used my vines a lot were where you started going down..."
*She sighs, but then immediately winces with the inhale. Doesn't change the fact that she's still disappointed in herself.*

"I guess I should've chosen someone on my level... But it just goes to show how useless I am in combat... My hits must have felt like you were getting hit by twigs..."

"And, before you try to say you're sorry again, there's nothing to be sorry for. I'm a Twink, you're like a 2 ton truck. I shouldn't have even thought about it..."

"It's more my fault than anything."
Milton
"Yeah, cause I'm *Trained.*" She laughs. "That's why I tanked em! I'm *Trained*." 

She doesn't like Penelope's talking bad about herself. Her hands ball into fists as her knee starts bobbing. It's not right. Penny did really good! 

"And seriously! You did serious damage! That wall? Bro. That was *Awful* To scale. I only did it cause the adrenaline." 

*2 ton truck.* Not entirely inaccurate. 

"Look. In a way, you still kinda won, I mean.. I could take out a normal person in one well placed hit- probably. Maybe. Yeah, no, yeah I could." Patting herself a little on the back there.
Robert
*She thinks over being trained by her while she talks about it... It would've been a better idea in the first place, but obviously I do need it just so my body doesn't snap over the tiniest hits*

*Even while she's turned away, you could see that smile creep across her face as she just listens to you try to figure out if you could one shot someone*
"I guess that wall idea was pretty good, are you okay from that, by the way? From any of that?"
Milton
The smile makes her grin as well, if a bit nervously. Her knee bobbing slows to a stop. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. I mean- serious damage- but we're all good now. *All* Good."She tries to reassure.

"And you'll be all good too. Soon. I hope. Uh. Yeah, yeah, you'll be all good." She really hopes that's not a bluff. Or untruthful. That would be unfortunate.
Robert
"I um... I always recover. I... I should be used to losing at this point, but it always stings... I know I would've lost, I had that overwhelming chance I would've lost, but I kept going anyway..." *She seems to be starting to just talk to nobody in particular. She seems like she won't care if you don't listen*
"At least you were able to get another win under your belt, even if it's just against a child who... W-Who really needs training..."
Milton
Aaaand her grin is gone. She can't feel good about this. There's no way she could. Sure, she can have mean qualities, but she's not *Cruel.* She just... Saw the weakness and... Lost it. She didn't want to.

"We both kinda need to learn our limits, I guess. Stubbornness. It's like accepting defeat is gonna make you worse but it... Eh. I dunno. I see defeats as opportunities to improve, but I still uh.. Struggle with knowing when to stop and... Stuff." Man emotions are hard. She's trying.

"You'll do better next time. And we'll do something smaller than an all out brawl. You'll be better in no time! I've been doin' physical training since I was like... 8? No- 8 was when I did karate. Well- does that count? Yeah? *The point is-*" She forces herself back on track. 

"I'm 17, you're 14, I've been doin' this for a while, you haven't. But I bet you could get as good as me by the time you're my age. Just gotta work for it!"
Robert
*She looks back to Tiff, a small smile on her face from hearing her words and hearing her trying to be so something other than the tough bull girl*

"If you'd like, when I recover, we can try to do some actual training next time instead of *Just* Sparing. I have a feeling that you feel really bad about putting me into this state..."
Milton
She grins widely. Woooo!!!!

"Yeah! That's great! We'll start small, build your muscle! And if you're really serious, I can help with like- diets n' stuff. It'll take some work but you'll be great in no time!"
Robert
*She'd chuckle a bit from seeing that smile, knowing that would've made her happy before responding*
"I don't think anything dietary will be necessary, photosynthesis always feeds me well enough, haha. But, I'm totally down to build some muscle!"
Milton
"Huh? How does it feed you- Nevermind." She's just pulling a blank. Being dumb. You know. The usual. She's glad Penelope doesn't hate her or anything. That would SUCK.

"Do you eat meat? Protein is really helpful and stuff." She eats meat! A lot! It's... Probably nearing unhealthy but it's fine-
Robert
*I move my shirt from my shoulder to show the thick vine, maybe even root that is very much piercing my body and making itself at home there*

"This, this is what's photosynthesizing and feeding me. And I do eat meat on occasion, not too often though"

*It's definitely unhealthy how little meat I eat, but it might just be that I'm not a fan of meat in general*
Milton
Tiff jolts a little at that. "Oh shhhhh..." She stops herself before cussing, clearing her throat. "..Wicked." 

She has so many questions.
Does it hurt?
Is it normal?
Is it dangerous?
But she can't really ask them. She scratches the back of her neck and looks away. 

"That's- *Cool.*" She can't stop herself from asking at least one question. "Does it- you know- *Hurt*?" 

Does it move? Does it, like, have a brain of it's own? So many questions...
Robert
*In her (off screen) interactions with others who've seen it, she knows the pattern all too well, something along the lines of "Does it hurt? Are they able to be removed? What does it feel like?" Etc etc.

Her expression says it all though, the same expression that Tiff would most likely give to someone else if they asked about her features. Or about her parents*

"No, it doesn't hurt, no, I can't feel them anymore, they've basically just become another part of my body, if they get removed they would just grow back, they haven't been dangerous to me for years, and it's just a concequence of my powers. Does that answer all your questions?'
Milton
"Uh-" She looks at her, then away, embarrassed. She should have known that would be the answer. Good. Good. Cool. Fun.

"That's- cool. So you weren't like, born with your parah... Para..." She can't remember the word, and waves it off because clearly it's not a big deal anyways. "Your powers." 

She was born with her abilities, not in their full forms but were *There.* She never considered that some people weren't born with theirs. That they had to encounter them over time.
Robert
"I was not, quite literally just showed up one day crashing through the window. Although that would've been a doubly painful birth if I was, hehe. I'm assuming you were? You seem like the type to have been born with yours."
Milton
"Yeah, I was! My horns grew in and stuff, obviously, but it wasn't something that changed like- more than... Dunno.. *Puberty?*" Is that right? Maybe her ox traits were just- weird puberty?

Yeah, seems accurate. She's probably right. She's usually right.



She chews the side of her cheek for a moment. 

"D'ya think it tried to find you? Like- from the beginning?"
Robert
*She thinks for a minute... She's never really considered that to be an option...*

"I... Don't think so? I have no clue what it's deal was... I know it's sentient at the least, or at least partly so."

*Her vines happen to move a bit on their own as she says this, slowly seeming to continue on their path that they've already set*

"Stuff like that will occasionally happen, I've been known to grow a rose randomly from the vines from time to time..."
Milton
"That's cool!" It is cool, but... She's not really able to process the information that well. 

"Uh- hey. Want anything? Like- candy or something? I have some cash on me, I could pick something up for us." She stands, but do to her slouch she's 6' and not 6'2 like normal. Still very tall. 

"Plus I need to make it up to you annnd what better way than chocolate?" She grins.
Robert
*To basically nobody's surprise, the child can't help but smile and accept the offer*

"Sure! I-I might still be stuck here in bed for a while still though..." *She adds, a bit sad*

*She can tell that she is starting to overload tiff with information and words, kinda toning it down for now*
Milton
Tiff ruffles Penelope's hair, mostly gently. It won't do any damage, but it also may not be entirely pleasant.

"You'll be fiiine. You heal fast. Hey. I'll be back. I'll get us some uhhh... Hersheys..? Cookies and cream?" That's her favorite flavor and she will fight for it.
Robert
*She'd giggle a bit and shrink down a bit when you'd ruffle her hair but she does flinch a bit and hold her ribs*

"Cookies and cream, all day cookies and cream. Especially with ice cream. Best flavor hands down next to vanilla ice cream."
Milton
[[wanna end interration or time skip to after candy grabbing?]]

[[immm gonna end it for now i think this is a good spot wooo they share candy!]]