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The sound of a swift slash could be heard soaring through the air as Seele lowered her scythe, wiping her forehead of sweat.
“Phew, and that takes care of that!”
Turning around, Seele looked at Stelle, who had just lowered her bat. “You doing good back there?”
Pointing a thumbs up towards her way, Stelle took in a deep breath as she glanced up, peering up into the sky.
The Underworld was no stranger to Fragmentum appearing, since they had been present for multiple Amber Era’s with no signs of stopping. Despite the Astral Express crew’s best effort to seal the Stellaron on Jarilo-VI, the Fragmentum had continued to appear.
While this irked Seele to no end, it wasn’t like she could do anything about it. Seele partially devoted her time to clearing up the Fragmentum when they appeared, that way Wildfire would have less on their plate. Even though the situation wasn’t ideal from the start, it was one way she could sharpen her scythe both mentally and physically.
But why had the Trailblazer come to help her? It shouldn’t be that much of a concern to her, after all, she was the one who had sacrificed herself to stop it in the first place. If anything, Seele had thought Stelle should take a long rest from that whole event.
These thoughts pondered Seele’s brain but she didn’t like to think about it much, or really, much at all. All she knew was that Stelle was an excellent fighter just like her, and could carry her own in battle. If anything, Seele was just glad that she had some company with her tonight, even if she wasn’t actively thinking that.
“Let’s head back so we can rest for now,” said Seele, pointing her head towards Natasha's clinic.
Nodding, Stelle quickly ran to where Seele was as the two set off to the clinic.
The way to the clinic wasn’t that long from where they had started, but Seele still found herself distracted by her thoughts, constantly glancing over at Stelle.
I’ll take another look at her, just to make sure she looks well.
Was there a spot of dust on her face? I’d better take a look again.
Is it me or is there something warm in this air? I wonder if Stelle can feel it too…
As Seele went for another peek at Stelle, she noticed that those bright yellow eyes weren’t staring at the path ahead anymore. Instead, they were looking right back at her, shining a bright light around her heart. Before she had realized it, the two of them stopped walking in order to continue gazing at each other.
The moment was only brief, but it felt like ages before there was any passage of time. Waiting for Stelle to break away from their locked-on eyes, Seele dug her boots into the ground, letting it be known that she wouldn’t be the one losing first. However, to Seele’s dismay, those relentless eyes of Stelle would keep staring at her with no change in expression. The only thing that did change was the temperature around the two, as Seele’s whole body heated up from continuing to look at her. Stelle had exactly the kind of eyes that could warm you up by gazing into them, she thought. And as much as she hated to admit it, she didn’t want to break away from those eyes that looked only at her. But how could she find a better way to say it out loud?
Thump, thump, thump.
Gulping, Seele was almost certain at this point that Stelle could hear her own heartbeat pounding out, desperately wanting to escape from the situation. Tilting her head to some degree, Stelle’s face gave a look of questioning, signaling a breakthrough from the staredown between them.
Sighing from relief, Seele shook her head as she started to walk ahead of Stelle. Pacing quickly forward, Seele could hear a voice calling back for her.
“What is it?” Seele asked, her fixed expression looking back at Stelle.
Signaling for Seele to come back, she rushed over, slightly annoyed that she had to retread the place she just ran from.
Placing her right hand on her hip, a concerned look surfaced on Seele. “Okay, what is it that you actually need?”
“Your leg,” said Stelle, pointing down at Seele’s knee.
“Hm? What about it?”
Crouching to ground level, Stelle pointed to a blood red spot on Seele’s left leg. “You’ve got a cut here.”
Squinting downwards, Seele felt a whiff of pain as she now noticed the cut on her leg. It was about the length of her thumb, but it seemed to only be surface-level deep.
Damn, must’ve been from the Fragmentum.
“Something like that isn’t really important, you know. You get used to a few bumps and bruises just from all the rocks alone here,” Seele asserted.
Upon a closer examination of the wound, Stelle shook her head. “Still, it’s not good to leave something like this untreated.”
Crossing her arms, Seele disapproved at the thought of that. “That’s… not how things work here in the Underworld. You have to move on in life. Things don’t wait for you just because you’re struggling a little.”
Seeing that Stelle had started to frown from that, Seele lowered her expression as she thought of another way to look at the situation.
“Either way, we’re heading back to Nat. So it’s only a bit before we’ll be patched up, alright?”
Suddenly, Stelle began to rummage through her jacket as if gears in her head started to turn.
“...What are you looking for now?” asked Seele, puzzled by Stelle’s determination to find something in her jacket. Could it even hold that much in the first place?
A sparkle emitted from Stelle’s eyes as she took out a roll of white fabric, stitched together for a stronger design. “Found it.”
Grabbing onto Seele’s leg, Stelle held it in place as she began to unwind the fabric, hovering it over the cut. “Stay still for me, okay?”
“W-what are you doing there?” stammered Seele, who could feel Stelle’s cold hands touch her leg.
Once again, it was like time had frozen for the two. As Stelle’s gentle fingers maneuvered the gauze around Seele’s wound, she could feel some of the heat from her body fading away. Stelle’s fingers felt cool to the touch, and even though she was wearing those gloves of hers, Seele could still feel how soft her fingertips were on her bare leg.
Tearing off the excess piece of fabric, Stelle carefully wrapped the remaining roll back into her jacket as she stood up to face Seele again. “Feeling better now?”
Shaking her leg in all directions, Seele couldn’t feel much of a difference compared to before. However, the fabric did protect her from the pains of the wind, meaning that she could at least move with comfort until they reached the clinic.
“Yeah,” nodded Seele. “It feels a lot better now, thanks. But where did you learn to do something like that?”
Grinning, Stelle crossed her arms in complete confidence as she looked away. “I picked up a thing or two from helping Natasha.”
“Really now,” remarked Seele, surprised at Stelle’s competence to patch a wound like that. “You pick up on things pretty fast then.”
Admiring her own skill, Seele couldn’t help but be amused at Stelle posing around like she had just won the Boulder Town Super League. Before she could get too ahead of herself, Seele pointed at the direction of the clinic, containing Stelle’s excitement before they set off on the path again.
“Thanks for the help again, Stelle,” said Seele, relieved to have finally made it to their destination.
“No problem,” replied Stelle, waving a short goodbye before taking off.
Standing there by herself, Seele felt the cold air hit her skin again. All of the warmth she felt was replaced by a sharp stinging sensation. While unpleasant, there wasn’t much that could change that sudden feeling.
“You’re back awfully early, Seele,” a friendly voice rang out.
Turning around, Seele saw no other than Natasha facing her, holding her arms close to her chest.
“I had some help with the Fragmentum today, that’s all,” stated Seele.
Raising her brow, Natasha looked at Seele concerningly. “You had help today? Was it Stelle again?”
“Yeah, it was. How’d you know?”
Breathing out a sigh, Natasha’s demeanor seemed to have relaxed itself. “I had hoped it was her. She’s been coming to help a lot more recently, not just during your patrols for the Fragmentum but with other things in the Underworld.”
Confused, Seele raised her hand up to her chin, pondering why Stelle would keep appearing in the Underworld. She didn’t mind the help at all, but it was beyond her imagination on why she kept doing so. With that many visits, it was possible that she really did manage to learn a thing or two from Natasha.
“Are you okay Seele? You look a bit… intense.” asked Natasha as she started to rearrange some medical supplies.
“Huh? I’m doing fine, Nat. Stelle’s just been on my mind for a while now.”
“...A while you say?” commented Natasha who started chuckling to herself.
Unamused at Natasha’s response, Seele’s expression quickly turned sour. “What’s so funny?”
“I don’t really see you think this much about something, or rather, someone at all,” Natasha remarked.
Flustered at the thought of that, Seele began to go off on a tangent. “It’s not my fault Nat, I just keep getting weird feelings around her… My body starts to get all heated, I can’t stop looking at her when she’s around, and my heart can’t stop beating for the life of me.”
Natasha’s endless stream of quiet laughter bemused Seele as she turned once again to face her. “Seele, it sounds to me like you really enjoy Stelle’s company.”
“Of course I do,” affirmed Seele, peeved at her own emotions. “She’s a good help to everyone down here.”
The sounds of medical supplies moving around diminished as Natasha focused on Seele, ceasing her flow of laughter. “Not like that, Seele. I’m talking about an even stronger kind of appreciation.”
“...”
At a loss for words, Seele took a moment to think upon Natasha’s words.
Seele appreciated a lot of things in her life, and she always made sure to carry that in her heart. Whatever spilled from there was always true, even if it wasn’t spun in the best way. But she couldn’t manage any words to describe how she truly felt being around Stelle. If Natasha said that it was an even larger sense of appreciation than normal, wouldn’t she be practically bursting with nothing but praise for Stelle? Or frantically waiting for her next appearance?
It can’t be this complicated. She knew better than to get stuck on words that could never be said, and to move on with things that couldn’t work.
Still, she couldn’t find herself moving away from thinking about Stelle anytime soon. And if Natasha was right, she’d have to confront these feelings of hers sooner or later.
“I… I think I know what I have to do, Nat,” said Seele, already stepping towards the clinic’s exit.
Even though it couldn’t be seen from Seele’s view, Natasha smiled at the thought. “Good. Remember Seele, we can’t always—”
“Control our emotions, but we can control what we do in response to them. I know, I know.”
“I was going to say we can’t always know when we’re ready for change but, I’m glad you picked up on some things I’ve said. Good luck, Seele.”
Waving a hand back to Natasha, Seele was nearly out the door before she turned her head back, mumbling a simple thanks as she stepped out to find Stelle.
Resting on top of a rooftop in Rivet Town, Seele was patiently waiting for Stelle to appear. After a brief exchange over text, she had managed to get Stelle to agree on meeting her up here. The only concern of hers was if Stelle could actually find which building she was resting on.
“Seele?” called out a familiar voice from behind.
Pushing herself up from the ground, Seele turned around and recognized none other besides that loose, short gray hair approaching her.
“Oh, it is you,” murmured Stelle, as she went to sit next to Seele. “What’s up?”
Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Seele knew that she was going to struggle on what was going to happen. However, she also felt that it was now or never for her to get her feelings across. Absorbed in the clear sky and the empty streets, Seele managed to stumble upon the first set of words she could think of.
“Say, Stelle… I’ve been wondering, why do you keep helping out down here? Isn’t there plenty for you to do in the Overworld?” asked Seele, turning her head entirely to Stelle.
“I come here because I can. No matter how you see it, help is needed everywhere in Belobog. Is there a problem with that?”
“No, of course not. I’m just surprised that you weren’t assigned some sort of duty by Bronya to help us here. Honestly, I’ve only seen you a bunch during my patrols.”
Averting her eyes downwards to the town below them, Stelle’s boots started to clack against each other. “Is that what you wanted to ask me about? You could’ve just messaged me this, you know.”
The dry scent of nothing loomed over the two as Seele thought for a while on how to continue the conversation from there.
“I prefer things face-to-face, especially if it's for something important,” muttered Seele, who’s face began to grow beet red.
“So, what’s the important thing then?” Stelle asked, returning her eyes back to Seele’s glistening purple hair.
Inhaling a deep breath, Seele began to recall her conversation earlier with Natasha. If she couldn’t get the right words out, at the very least, she could try her best to express them. As her ears turned into a color warmer than the scarf tied on her arm, she managed to release those unsaid words of hers.
“I’ve been struggling on how to say it for a while now but… I don’t think I can keep it to myself anymore.
“Stelle, I… I really admire you.”
Nodding, Stelle continued to stare into the fixed gaze of the unchanging night. “I admire you too, Seele.”
Shaking her head, Seele knew things wouldn’t be that easy, not with Stelle’s brains for anything socially. “Not like that… It’s the other kind of admiration, the kind that’s bigger than normal…”
Clutching onto her heart that she proudly wore, Seele turned to face Stelle one more time, as she found herself trapped in those deep, amber eyes.
“Seele? Is everything alright?” asked Stelle, who was concerned at Seele’s fierce gaze at her.
Unable to turn away from Stelle’s cozy eyes, those same eyes that she could find herself lost in for ages, Stelle had found her mouth moving on its own.
“I... I love you, Stelle.”
And just like that, a burning silence flitted into the air as they sat there, taking in what Seele considered her worst opportunity at having her friend recognize her feelings. The sharpness of her words echoed in her mind as she realized how she could finally convery those feelings of hers.
“All this time I’ve been here in the Underworld doing my own thing with Wildfire. You get used to certain types of people coming and going after a while. But after you showed up and helped us reconnect with the rest of Belobog, I realized I still had a lot to learn about other people. One of those being how fast my heart could even beat around someone. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was going to explode or not from it but, I knew it always came from you.”
Grasping onto Stelle’s hand, she gently placed it over her chest. As embarrassed as she was to place her hand there, Seele knew that this was the time to commit to everything she had felt.
“Even now, you can probably hear it still beating, as if it’s screaming to be let out. And I want it to be let out too. That’s why I had to talk it over with you like this, and not through some generic messages.”
Hearing no response to her words, Seele finally decided to take a peek at the look on Stelle’s face, as she saw what looked to be a mixture of red and alertness.
“I know it sounds like some silly dream but, I’d like to have that with you Stelle. Being someone I can share everything with. Especially this weird, but pleasant feeling right now,” said Seele, continuing to look right at the only one her eyes longed for.
“I’m amazed you kept all this buried within,” replied Stelle, as her red-hot face continued to burn at the sight of Seele.
Gripping onto Stelle’s hand tightly, Seele’s face began to harden. “I only kept this hidden because I was… scared.”
Wide-eyed at Seele’s words, Stelle found a new sort of appreciation for Seele’s tough attitude towards life.
“I didn’t know you could be afraid of things.”
“Well I’m not exactly afraid, it’s more like… I know you’re here to help everyone but eventually you’ll have to leave, won’t you?”
Nodding her head slightly, Stelle could feel Seele’s grip on her hand loosen.
“At first I wasn’t bothered by this feeling, but it kept eating at me. What happens when I don’t get to see you again? Will all that warmth I felt just disappear because I was a coward?
“…I knew that if I didn’t say anything at all, I’d end up regretting it more than if I didn’t. That’s what I learned from seeing you over and over again.”
Twisting her hand to fill every crevice of Seele’s hand, Stelle held on tightly. “I’m not going anywhere for a long while. None of us on the Astral Express crew are, at least.”
“H-huh?” stammered Seele, as a confused look swept across her face.
“We took a group vote and we all decided it would be better if we stuck around a bit longer to help everyone. That was always the plan but, we think that extra time spent here would result in better results for the people. Plus, Himeko and Mr. Yang can finally take a look around Belobog for themselves,” explained Stelle.
“So, you aren’t leaving soon?” inquired Seele.
Smiling back at her, Stelle squeezed the two hands together between her and Seele. “Not at all. We’ll be stationed here for a long while.”
With an echo of silence, Seele decided she would once again try to get her words out right. “In that case, how do you feel about it? You know, between us?”
Using her other hand to reach for the lower half of Seele’s face, Stelle tilted her chin up as she leaned closer to her. “I would want nothing less with you, Seele.”
Flushed with red, any attempt Seele made to respond to that verbally was met with emptiness as her mouth gasped for anything she could say, that familiar sensation of being speechless taking over her throat.
“I’ll be right here with you, no matter where our journeys go,” continued Stelle, as she pushed her hand against Seele's heart. “Even if you can’t admit you want that out loud, I’ll always be here for you.”
Swallowing a large breath of nothing, Seele realized she had no way of escaping the attentive stare of Stelle, who started to let go of the wrapped hands between the two. At the same time, Stelle shuffled herself closer to Seele, to the point where their shoulders made direct contact with each other. Being this confined to someone usually made Seele uneasy, but with Stelle, she didn’t have a single ounce of feeling bothered by this physical tension. In fact, a connection this close washed over all her fighting spirit, for the tranquility of the moment couldn’t be disturbed by anything even if an Aeon or anyone else had tried.
Shortly after their shoulders had linked up, Stelle’s arm could be felt wrapping itself around Seele. The arm that surrounded her didn’t help to extinguish any of the scorching sensations she felt when Stelle pushed her closer to her body, where it was more comfortable to rest her head on the same shoulder that enveloped her than hold back from it.
Gently rubbing Seele’s shoulder up and down with her hand, Stelle turned her head to let it lightly rest on top of Seele’s. “I do happen to know a place where you can liberate yourself of all those feelings, if you’re still interested.”
“Sure,” said Seele, folding her hands together as she soaked in the warmth of Stelle’s embrace. “But can we stay like this for a bit longer?
Removing her head off of Seele, Stelle continued to look down as she smiled back at her lover. “Of course. We can stay like this as long as you want.”
Churning out a small sound of acknowledgement, Seele continued to make herself more comfortable in the arms of Stelle by leaning her entire weight on her.
“One more thing,” blurted Stelle.
“What’s that?” asked Seele, turning her head upwards to see a tender smile above her.
“I love you too.”