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Well, let's look at the bright side.
Rocky couldn't barf on him anymore. The sky was beautiful, always, since there was no light pollution. He couldn't cause any light pollution, since he no longer created light. He could finally take time to himself. He didn't have to worry about being extinguished, thanks to the fact he was metal. Plus, this thing was so shoddily made, there was nothing really stopping him from stepping out and just walking somewhere else, if not for the fact he had nowhere to walk to.
Yeah, those are all cool. Those are nice. This was fine.
It wasn't like he was completely unused to being alone, especially in the cold, and the dark, with his only real form of protection (his own body) being completely taken out of the picture. It wasn't like he had gone from everyone's favorite to everyone's least favorite within just a few weeks, and that wasn't messing with his head at all. It's not like how he was perceived was extremely important to him or anything.
Yeah, totally not.
Rocky was no help. Sure, the little guy didn't vomit on him anymore, which was nice, but now Rocky just kinda sat there for hours on end, looking at him with big innocent eyes like he had no idea what was going on.
Okay, maybe Rocky saw one too many breakdowns or whatever. It wasn't like Rocky was going to tell anyone. The only person Rocky ever spoke to was Pencil, and he didn't seem to want to change that anytime soon. Rocky was the only person he could talk to now, so of course Rocky was going to see him when he was... Emotional.
Because he had the right to be emotional! He had lost the new season, and all his friends, and all possible contacts, and his island, so he had also lost everything he had worked for, just like-
There was a nail.
Firey's grey eyes focused on the thin metal that was sticking out of one of the wood frames. It was sharp, unrusted, and you could easily hurt yourself with it. It was too high up for Rocky to get to, but he could have easily bonked his head on it.
It wouldn't have hurt him if he was normal, but it might have hurt him now. He didn't know. He'd rather not find out.
"Which team made this? Didn't W.O.A.H. Bunch win this contest?" To be honest, he thought Coiny and his gang would have done better than this. The (usually a) flame looked down at the living stone next to his feet, slowly raising his hand up to pinch the end of the nail between his forefinger and thumb. The stone made the closest to a shrugging motion he could, still smiling emptily.
Super helpful, thanks Rocky.
"If I was normal, I'd melt this down and make it so no one could hurt themself on it. Or, um, I don't know. Completely remake this place, probably." He climbed up onto one of the 'support' beams, hands grabbing at the wood. He climbed up, using the nail as an extra grip for his foot. "I've never built anything like this before, but I'm pretty sure building a box that can hold people isn't that hard."
Rocky just looked up at him. It was starting to get dark, which was fine, because Firey wasn't bothered by the sudden unnatural darkness at all. Nope. The fact that his constant aura of light was now gone didn't bother him at all.
He looked away from the rock and up to the stars. It was safer there. "It's just going to be us for a while, ya know? So we gotta stick together. We have to watch out for each other. Can't be going crazy like that Flower did, right?"
He laughed, but it didn't feel right. Whenever he laughed, his flames brightened, and he'd get warmer, but now it only felt like he was being choked, a little bit. It cut his laughter off early.
Rocky didn't say anything.
"I, I mean really. I don't know how you stayed here for so long, alone! It's so quiet, and, and..."
His eyes shifted to stare in front of him. The shadow of the 'shelter' stretched out far in front of him, reaching the plains and the bushes and the what was that
It was just his shadow. He just, he wasn't used to it, what with the 'always creating light' thing. That was just his shadow, and Rocky's, and nothing else. There was nothing else.
There was no one else out here, even if he secretly hoped there would be.
"...She wouldn't have followed us all the way out here, right?"
Yeah, of course, no, his mind was thinking about the other lemon leaf. The one that had tormented everyone a few months ago. Yeah. Well, that was a worry too, considering he didn't really want to die, and that one wasn't nearly as nice as-
"...Leafy's dead."
Rocky didn't make any noise. No hum, didn't even really breathe. He was barely even there, if Firey was going to be honest with himself. He was alive, yes, but he was hardly more than just... Rocky. He was just kind of there.
This was fine, then. This was just Firey, really. This was just Firey, and no one else. There was no one else out there, no one else here, no one except Firey and his thoughts and that was going to have to be okay.
So what if he went back to a comforting thought? Rocky wasn't going to judge him. He can talk to Rocky. Just a little bit. "Someone will have to recover her. I would, if I knew where exactly we were. I don't like the idea of Leafy being gone forever."
Rocky was asleep, probably. Good. "I wonder what Leafy was going. How Leafy handled this. Probably well, right? I mean, they're... Well, they don't have the same... I..."
There was something moving in the shadows again, and Firey could not for the life of him tell what it was. Maybe it was some object-eating predator. Maybe it was that red leaf, come to finish the job.
Maybe it was Leafy. That was a comforting thought. He liked that idea, that Leafy was still secretly with him, just staying in the dark. Couldn't scare Rocky, after all.
That must be it. It was Leafy. It was just Leafy, his friend, because Leafy must have known he was gone and maybe Leafy came back from the dead just to meet with Firey again because she just didn't know when to stay away, could they?
"You're losing it, Firey."
Maybe his own voice scared him. Maybe he was just lying to himself. Maybe he was going to go to sleep tonight and never wake up, maybe Rocky was going to wake up and never wonder where he had gone. Maybe whoever poor soul got sent here next was going to question 'where did Firey go?' and maybe Rocky wasn't going to say anything.
Maybe they wouldn't question anything. Maybe they'd just assume he left.
Maybe they forgot about him already.
The sun had almost entirely set, now, and Firey hadn't moved an inch from his perch. The shadows were long, and dark, and if anything was approaching them, Firey wasn't going to be able to see or hear anything coming.
Maybe Leafy wasn't out there, maybe Leafy was dead and was never coming back, maybe no one was ever going to come back. Maybe there was a terrible accident and everyone in the entire world is dead except Firey and Rocky. Maybe there was a terrible accident and Firey was alone in hell with Rocky. Maybe this wasn't even Rocky, maybe Rocky was gone or he was talking to himself and maybe
Sleep did not come easy to the flame, that night. Nor the might after, or the night after. Later, much later past the events of BFDIA, Firey would mention his night terrors, but he'd never mention when they first started. Much, much later than that, he'd end up alone in the dark with much better company than Rocky. Later that night, once the camera was off, he'd wake up begging and pleading, and his boatmate would have to do their best to soothe the flare's worries. This happened for many, many nights.
"I'm sorry," he'd plead as he gripped at his head, breaths heated and dark. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize what I was doing. Please don't leave me alone. Get me out. Please, get me out." He'd sob, a blanket wrapped around his body.
"Shh, I'm here. You're not there anymore. You're safe." The leaf would curl around him, speak so softly, and eventually the words would get through to him. "You're safe. You're safe. You're safe."
He never spoke about it after it happened, and his partner never questioned it. It was just one of the things they got used to, something that came with him after it was all over.
But those days were far away, and those nights even further, and Firey didn't have anyone tonight.