Chapter Text
Flame knew the way to school from the hospital like the back of his hand; he’d always passed the hospital on the way home.
He is left walking this cruel path once again. It feels almost mocking to make this walk alone after leaving his brother at the hospital. But Mane wanted him to go. Who is he to deny his brother’s wish?
Here he is now, walking a path he’s been on so many times before.
Flame honestly doesn’t want to hang out with Lomedy right. It’s nothing personal, never anything personal against Lomedy, he just doesn’t think he could handle doing something so… Simple—something mundane—after having to go back into the world alone.
He isn’t alone, right?
Flame quickly disregards those thoughts. They will only harm him more.
Walking along the sidewalk, he watches the world work. Birds chirp. Flowers bloom. Bees pollenating the flowers; the simple things. He wishes everything could be simple, be a fantasy he made up as a child.
As he walks through, he passes a beach. He momentarily pauses, watching how the waves seem to gently graze the shoreline. The sand glimmers in the daylight, the shells on the surface decorating the scene. He remembers Mane taught him how to swim there.
That day is familiar.
Flame was scared to go in the water—he’d always hated getting his fur wet. He sat on that same shore on a sunset-colored towel, pouting and whining, as Mane tried to coax him into the water. Eventually his brother got annoyed, manually grabbing water, and splashing it onto Flame. His fur got soaked.
He remembers being upset, but reluctantly agreeing to enter the water. It was cold. He didn’t like that cold.
It took over an hour for Mane to convince Flame to go out deep enough to where he could actually teach him to swim. Flame hated every second he was being instructed, though he did enjoy pissing his brother off.
He was around 7 back then. They never really went swimming again after that.
Maybe after this is all over they can go swimming again.
Flame shakes himself out of his mind, realizing he’s been staring for far too long. He needs to get to the school’s garden before Lomedy calls again. He knows the unicorn is probably getting more concerned the longer he is forced to wait.
Forcing his thoughts to still, Flame continues walking. He walks away from the beach, away from the things he knows, away from Mane. A small sigh escapes his lips as he redirects his gaze to the ground.
He takes a left instead of a right.
That will make the trek there longer, but Flame doesn’t care. He would have walked an extra hundred miles if it meant avoiding that road.
As he walks down a darkened alleyway, he keeps his guard up. You truly never know the dangers within your city until left fighting them off. Flame isn’t in the mood for a fight, for the first time ever.
His steps are slower than normal, making sure he knows exactly what is located around him. Flame can feel his ears naturally fan out, trying to take in every little noise that could go off around him. A grimy alley is the last place you want to end up in a fight, anything could happen when you aren’t in view of the public.
Fights in alleys are a lot more fun, but that’s where the cheaters hide. They hide behind the darkness and the fact that you can easily escape alleys, simply hiding a murder within seconds.
Flame is cruel, but he isn’t that cruel.
He isn’t willing to subject someone to death in a horrible place like this. A place where their life—their honor—is forgotten. He couldn’t stain an alleyway in blood then walk away like it’s nothing.
Pretty much every fight he takes is in the open for that reason. He knows how strong he is. He knows he’s capable of doing those things. The difference between him and, say, Wemmbu: Wemmbu is willing to do whatever it takes to win, even if it discards his honor.
Flame isn’t.
Flame will never discard his honor over one fight. He will never force himself to have an advantage by bringing a knife to a fist fight. That is why he isn’t like most people. He can be as desperate as he’ll ever be, but he will never taint his honor for the results of one fight to be positive.
He steps out of the alley, being surrounded by light again. The school building is in his sights now.
The walk to the front of it, then a right to go to the garden, is lost to him being stuck in his head. Flame is now standing in front of the greenhouse—the one Lomedy repaired as a freshmen before starting the gardening club. There’s one problem: He doesn’t see Lomedy.
Well—he didn’t.
Flame flinches and turns quickly as fast footsteps approach, then crash into him. The weight being launched at him almost ends in the duo ending on the ground.
“Flame!” Lomedy exclaims, a hint of relief tainting the words of his name.
He can’t help the small, almost sad smile that goes onto his lips. He wraps his arms around Lomedy in return, “Hi, Lomedy.” Flame says, voice breathless. What can he say, Lomedy did give him a bit of a startle; Being alone at school after hours is kind of begging for some sort of danger to get to you.
As Lomedy pulls away, grinning, Flame brushes himself off. “Let me guess,” he starts with a fond sigh, “We’re heading to the garden?”
Lomedy nods with a sheepish grin, awkwardly laughing, “Ahah.. How’d you know?”
Flame stares at Lomedy with a knowing look, his ear twitching. The duo rarely hangs out anywhere else, especially when they’re meeting up at the school. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two pieces together.
“Okay, yeah.” Lomedy sighs defeatedly. He softly laughs as he turns to walk towards the garden. His tail flicks, beckoning Flame to follow behind him.
The walk to the garden is almost silent. Occasionally, Lomedy will break the silence with small talk. Flame will give a brief answer, then it goes quiet again. Lomedy knew something was up, that was the entire point of the hangout. Flame wasn’t even the one who agreed to the hangout! Mane answered for him, and it’s pretty clear that he was going to deny the idea originally.
Lomedy finds Mane answering for him weird, but the fact that Mane wanted him to go even weirder. Mane and Flame haven’t been seen in a week, and the first time Flame is back, Mane is still gone. Lomedy would believe he was sick if it weren’t for the fact that Mane was gone too.
Flame is quiet—he has been all day. Lomedy is normally used to the quiet he brings, but today it’s different. His temper was shorter, he wasn’t paying attention, and whenever he did talk, his mind was clearly not in the conversation. There was something wrong, yet Lomedy didn’t know what.
He wanted to be there for Flame. He wanted to help his friend.
He didn’t want Flame to end up like his old friend.
But Flame got pulled from school before he could have a serious conversation. He resorted to this. Hopefully he can at least get something out of this.
Once in the garden, Lomedy led him to the strawberry plants. Kneeling down, he began to carefully collect ones that were ripe into a basket. Flame copied his movements, clearly forcing his hands to be gentle on the plant.
It is quiet, the two working to pick the berries off the vines.
“So.” Lomedy says, looking up briefly at Flame. Flame looks up from where he was picking, doing a small head tilt.
“So?” He echoes, a hint of confusion clear in his voice. Lomedy sighs. Flame could be so dense sometimes when it comes to more vulnerable topics. Sometimes he wonders if the tiger is faking his confusion to put the talk off longer.
“What have you actually been up to?”
Flame’s ear flicks, his tail stilling behind him. He is frozen for a moment, before his hands continue to automatically pick. It’s a routine. Pick, place, pick, place. He doesn’t know how to talk about this. He trusts Lomedy, but does he trust him enough?
What would he think of Mane?
What would he think of Flame for letting it happen?
He would say he’s careless. Say that he shouldn’t have done that. Maybe even leave. Flame can’t take that loss. He can’t take hearing the words he’s been repeating in his head all day from someone who he cares about.
So he doesn’t say it.
“I told you, I’ve been sick.” Flame says, his voice tight. It’s a stupid lie; both of them clearly know that wasn’t what happened.
“I know you’re lying to me. Why are you lying?” Lomedy says, frustration creeping into his tone.
Flame’s tail flicks, a sign of annoyance. He doesn’t want Lomedy to push. He doesn’t want Lomedy to know. It isn’t his business, so it shouldn’t be treated that way.
He knows Lomedy is doing this because he cares, but perhaps it is coming from the wrong place. Flame knows about Lomedy’s old friend and knows he saw him in Flame.
“I’m not. I was sick.” Flame dismisses again.
Lomedy’s ears flatten just a fraction. Then he sighs. He can’t force Flame to talk if he isn’t going to. He knows pushing is wrong.
“Then where has Mane been?” Lomedy realized that was the wrong question the second it came up. Flame froze and his ears dropped, his tail doing a small lash behind him.
So there’s something up with Mane? That’s weird.
“That’s none of your business.” Flame spits out, his ear flicking.
Lomedy sighs. This entire interaction is just building more concern in him. He can’t force Flame to open up, even if he wants him to. He can accept when he has lost in something, and he knows he pushed a bit too far.
“Fine.” Lomedy says, his voice softening, “Just.. Please tell me if you need anything. I worry about you.”
Flame takes a breath, pausing his picking to relax for a moment. He knows Lomedy is worried. He knows that. He knows the unicorn doesn’t mean to push, he knows he shouldn’t get short with him. He just.. Needs to calm down.
“I will, Loms.” He finally says, his tone losing its aggression.
Lomedy offers a sad smile and a nod, knowing this is the best he will get. He allows silence to overtake them while they finish the picking.
Time passes and neither of them keep track, but eventually the sun starts to set. After the last berry is picked, and the plants are tended to, they can relax. That’s all the chores for the day. Lomedy sets the basket down in a stand made for storing produce.
“Thanks for the help.” Lomedy says with a smile, the tension gone now.
“Anytime, I had fun.” Flame responds with a small smile. It isn’t much, but it’s progress.
It’s getting dark. Being out late isn’t the safest. The duo begins to walk to the school gates as Flame prepares to leave. Once at the gates, Flame turns.
“Bye, Lomedy. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He says, offering a wave. Lomedy looks at him thoughtfully for a moment, then steps next to Flame. Since Flame is feeling down, he thinks it would be rude to make him walk all the way home by himself.
“Let me walk you home.” Lomedy says, tone firm. He won’t accept no for an answer.
Flame blinks, his ear twitching, “You don’t have to—”
“Ah-ah.” Lomedy immediately denies, “I’m doing it.”
If Lomedy wants to, he isn’t going to deny his friend. With a small sigh, he nods and begins to walk home, Lomedy by his side.
The walk home isn’t silent. Lomedy makes conversation, even if it is mostly one-sided. Lomedy talks and Flame listens, occasionally contributing to what he talks about. When they reach the road Flame used to take home, he turns left instead of going straight.
Lomedy watches him walk, puzzled, but doesn’t comment on it.
Lomedy follows Flame home, acting as a distraction. Seeing Flame smile made him a bit more confident that what he was doing was working. The walk to Flame’s house was longer with the different path, but Lomedy didn’t mind.
Once at Flame’s house, the tiger immediately unlocked the door. Lomedy paused again. Normally Mane unlocks the door for Flame when he knows the other is out. Is he not home?
The front door opens and Flame steps inside, turning around to face Lomedy.
“Thank you for bringing me home, I had fun today.” Flame says with a genuine smile.
“Of course. Is Mane not home?” Lomedy asks, peeking inside.
Flame stays silent for a moment before sighing and shaking his head, “No. He’s out.”
Lomedy knows that is the most honest response he’ll get tonight, so he accepts it. Lomedy nods and looks at Flame.
“Alright. I’m gonna head out then. Goodnight, Flame!” He says with a smile, waving as he turns and begins his own walk home.
Flame sighs as Lomedy turns, “Goodnight, Lomedy.”
Once Lomedy is out of sight, he turns around and shuts the door. Flame doesn’t bother to prepare dinner; his appetite is gone.
He’s worried, but he doesn’t want others to worry. He doesn’t want to hear what they have to say about his situation. Walking down the halls of the house, he felt cold. It feels empty when there is no brother to share it with, no family by his side. Sure, he likes independence, but his brother was always an exception.
Flame pushes those thoughts aside and walks into his bedroom, reminding himself that Mane was fine. He talked to him that day. It’s just a little bit before he can come back.
Laying down into his bed, sleep came easy for once. He knew his brother was alright. He was awake and he wouldn’t want Flame fussing over him. He didn’t attempt to fight sleep as the exhaustion washed over him from this past week.
Flame shut his eyes, and allowed himself to dream.