CHAPTER NINE

That night Kelpy was especially in a tizzy about something. It stopped poppy in the hallway, distressed, eyes going in two different directions. "Miss Foxx is here for tonights taping, and she's fuming that you weren't here sooner! Where were you, we haven't had time to do mic checks!"

"I was at a fan club meeting, doing some on-the-ground marketing. Tell her that, it'll satiate her." She enters the booth without looking, and before she can get to the desk she notices Foxx in the corner, leaning against the foam paneling. She's wearing the same deep purple power suit as when they first met, the shoulders accentuated in triangles. They look sharp. The whole Suit serves to show her frame, it's slim and coiled tight like a spring. Or a cobra.

"Good evening, rabbit."

"What are you doing in here, we're 5 minutes to air! And I'm a jackalope, thank you very much."

"Those usually have antlers, you just have those little stubs. To me, you're just another rabbit. Your shows gaining a lot of traction, and it's starting to make more and more sense to get you out of this beat up studio and over to WSUN. We can negotiate after tonights taping, in the morning."

Poppy backs up slowly, coming up against the door. In the corner of her eye she catches Kelpy on the other side of the glass making the sign of the cross. "How about we talk about this now? I can't do taping at night anymore, it's killing me. I wanna prerecord my episodes, maybe we do a live show on Fridays. This would give me more time in the day to-"

"To do appearances. I like how you think. I heard a tip that you were at a fan club meeting tonight, that's good legwork. Keep that up, go to as many meetings as you can, stay close to your community."

Poppy reaches for the door handle, gripping it tight as Foxx creeps closer and closer. "Is that a deal?"

She's crouching down slightly, like she's getting ready to pounce "I want to see how you do tonight, and in the morning I'll have something on paper for you. You're getting better at thisbusiness, rabbit."

"Speak for yourself!" And as Foxx lunges for her she swings right and pulls the door open. Foxx's dive sends her flying out into the studio, and with the booth door locked she can't get back in. She turns on the intercom and speaks to Kelpy and the fox in the studio. "What the hell was that!"

"It's ok, Poppy, I can handle her in here! f-f-foxes don't eat frogs! I think." Kelpy slumps down over the desk and starts adjusting settings. That wasn't an explanation, she had just been lunged at that by a predator, teeth bared. Is this how show business works? Sylvia sits in a corner, straightening out the new creases on her suit jacket. Is she still panting?

No matter, the show must go on, and it goes off without a hitch. She gets back to the house at 4am, and wakes both of them while trying to be as quiet as possible. She sleeps on the couch until 9, when she stirs awake to get to the studio to sign this new contract. 4 shows taped in one day, plus a 5th live show on Fridays. She also agrees to move to WSUN and record in their nicer studio. Foxx obliges her request to have Kelpy come along as an engineer, but its actual role is up for debate. This is great, Poppy finally gets her nights back! She can get a full nights sleep for the first time in months.

But then again, the fan club is expecting to see her again. She crashes out on the couch again and goes to their meeting in the night, not getting back until the wee hours of the morning again. Sleep in the day and work through the night is regrettably still Poppys role, but now with a full days work Monday and appearances as a guest on morning drive-time shows on Wednesdays and Fridays. After a week of this, Newton confronts her about her constantly coming and going, and in the nicest words possible asks her to leave. No worries, with her newly upped budget finding an apartment has gotten far easier, and she already has a place lined up. She grabs all of her stuff and moves out after many goodbyes. Hopefully she'll have the time to go to the store more often now. Somehow she doubts it.



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Just because she has a place picked out doesn't mean she can move in yet. It's gonna be another day before she gets the keys, and she doesn't really have anywhere to stay. She could go home, but then she'd have to deal with her family again. Low on options, she callsAmora, who immediately accepts the offer. What Poppy had expected was shrines to her on half of the walls, paintings of her with distorted features, typical crazy fan things. When she got there none of that was present, save for a photo from a press conference on her desk. The sheep seemingly kept a tidy apartment, with pastel colored walls and cushions everywhere. Poppy wishes she could live a life and carry an aesthetic this cozy, but she classed into 'weird trans girl chic' in high school and was hard pressed to leave it.

"This is all very nice, thank you again for letting me come over."

"Of course! I thought it was the least I could do after everything you've done for the club. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Glass of water wouldn't hurt." They both sat down on the couch, burying themselves in their own nests of cushions and plushies. Amora turns on the TV and by total chance a news story on Poppy's Radio Jamboree, which had recently been dolled up and given the new name "Midnight Radio One." Amora switches the channel to cooking, clearly embarrassed. Poppy had no idea the story was airing, it looked like a special feature. Hadn't she done a phone call with someone at a TV station? This must be what it was for.

"So, Poppy, how do you feel about being famous?"

"Well, there are worse things to be. Certainly better ones, too."

"How do you mean?"

Poppy takes a sip of her water, tasting the corrosion from the apartments pipes. "I don't get much sleep anymore. I'm happy I have today off, from the club and the show, but most days aren't this calm. I only carved out this time to focus on getting my living situation in order." She looks at Amora, serious look in her eyes. "You mentioned people relying on the show, how would they feel if I just, stopped?"

"Well, some of them would probably be ok. But others? Gosh, how do I say this, they're really... fragile? That's the best word for it. They've been through a lot, and one more chip may be the one that cracks them."

"But in catering to them, and everyone else, I'm sacrificing myself a little."

"Poppy, people need you. You've made yourself an important part of their lives, and quitting would leave a hole in the hearts of a lot of people. Not just the fragile ones, but all of your fans!" She scoots a little closer, and Poppy gets a whiff of some sort of perfume. "Stick around for us, for me? Please?"

"Well, alright. For now anyway." Amora leaned in for a kiss and Poppy doesn't lean away. The two of them slept in the same bed, though with a pillow between them to keep Amora from getting too handsy. The couch was uncomfortable anyway.



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