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"And ManePear, just like he's done time and time again, left me to die."
Flame was trapped, in a hole, with the law hovering above him. Wemmbu didn't even know where he was, only that he was taking a weak long trip to meet up with Swight with the promise of teaching him ways to fight, though in self defense rather than to kill.
That had obviously taken a turn for the worse, as after finding his brother, the law had found both of them. Mane had gotten away, and left him behind. Left him to die, get taken.
Flame wants to be mad, wants to scream, to yell, maybe cry once he gets home. That's really an if, but he can't find it in himself to be mad, he had whole heartedly expected the leave. It always happens. He always left, then had the audacity to call himself an only child.
"You're just a lonely little guy." Lonely. The word echoed in his head, and boy did it have plenty of time to do so. The whole walk to the compound, he tested the word on his tongue, not entirely enjoying it. Sure, he wasn't around many people, didn't have the best reputation, yeah, but he had Wemmbu and the rest of the family.
The family that didn't know where he was, nor would ever. He said he didn't know when he'd be back, claiming training with Swight might have him for a bit. No way for word to get out, no way to get saved, no one there for him. Lonely. He was lonely.
After what felt like an hour of trying to ignore his cellmate, he heard something other than their shrill voice.
Footsteps, then a whisper.
"Flame?"
His breath caught, there was absolutely no way.
"Mane?" He whispered back, pressing himself against the wall.
"Get away from the wall, I'm getting you out of here." A hiss of TNT sounded from behind the door, so Flame did as told, backing against the bars while the explosion removed the wall.
"Why-" He paused, finding words for a long moment. "Why'd you come back?"
Mane shook his head while tossing a shulker his way. "We get you out now, and talk later. Hurry."
Flame hesitated, but an uncharacteristically panicked shout to "hurry the hell up" from Mane dragged him back.
The escape was rough, but fun. Killing Law members was something Flame never found himself hesitating with, especially after today's shit show. Spear after spear, hit after hit, and fighting alongside his brother again. Things felt nice again.
Mane laughed as the last fell from his spear. "Did you SEE that?" He laughed again, pointing to the quickly fading body.
"Yeah, that was sick." He offered a fist for a fist bump, which was enthusiastically returned.
"Do you see all this loot?" Mane exclaimed, taking more from the now despawned bodies. Flame raised a brow behind his mask. Was it really just for the loot? Mane could've killed them all himself, there was absolutely no reason to take Flame out of prison if he wanted the loot, but he kept quiet, and they continued on their way.
The cart ride was nice, gave them more time to catch up and talk about nothing and everything. Then they surfaced, and the second horn went off.
"You ready bro?" Mane laughed, watching the approaching hoard of Law members.
"Yeah, just like old times." Flame couldn't help but smile as he pulled three pots from his belt.
And then they were off.
Cart after cart, spears through bodies, pits and swords and everything in between. Together, again.
The battle was admittedly rocky the second another spear wielder began flying, though Mane was quick to swoop in (literally) and kill them before they became any more of a problem.
Reloading and firing his crossbow became an easy rhythm he found himself getting lost in, placing carts and rails quickly becoming a second nature.
Mane was holding his own, meaning Flame had all the time and space he needed to do his own attacks, which was nice. Someone to have his back, and someone being able to rely on him felt good again.
Numbers dwindled quickly, Mane's spear making quick work of clumps, and Flame's cart doing plenty of splash damage.
And before he knew it, he and Mane finished the last person, together. Mane laughed, again, as the last person hit the floor. They did that, together. Him and Mane, as a duo.
They went through loot piles, though it didn't last half as long as before. Flame already filled his shulkers to the brim, as did Mane. The vault was still enticing, and before long, Flame found himself getting his long deserved talk.
"Hey, Flame?" Mane called. His head was buried in a chest as he pulled out some pots, which muffled his voice a bit.
"Yeah?" Flame inched closer, then sat himself on one of the Enderchests Mane had tossed
"I know I was a little bit harsh on you," He started, voice unusually soft "but I just wanna let you know, no matter how far away we are 10 million blocks apart, or right here, no matter what, you're always my little brother bro." His voice hitched once he finished speaking, and a comforting quiet fell over the both of them. It should've felt more awkward, considering the hundreds they just killed and the time apart, but it felt oddly right.
"You're my brother too, of course." He offered a genuine smile, something toothy that caught on his fangs. His scar of his eye stretched at odd angles from the way his mouth curved, but none of that mattered at the moment.
Mane stood up, then made his way to stand in front of Flame. "If you ever need anything, I'm here. Never say you have no friends again, a brother is always a friend. Always."
Flame could tell he was starting to cry by the way his voice remained unsteady throughout the entire thing, along with the way he scrunched his eyes under the blindfold. Crying in them sucked horribly, especially because they would soak up the tears and remain damp throughout the day.
Flame sat and counted the second for Mane to give up on the whole tough guy act, they were brothers for fucks sake, though he didn't count long. Mane ripped the fabric from his face, then held his arms open for a hug.
Flame complied, standing from his enderchest to return the gesture. “Took five seconds for you to drop the tough guy stuff. New record?” He teased quietly, leaning further into the embrace.
“Shut up.” He demanded quietly. Mane held him tighter as a sob echoed into the vault room. “I’m so sorry I left you, dude.”
Flame nodded. “I know. You always act like, distant when you don’t know what to do. That’s what you were doing. I know you didn’t mean it. I missed you too.”
Mane rubbed his back lightly, then began swaying back and forth. Flame laughed quietly. “You’re like a mom bro, always swaying when you hug people and you like, hold like the back of their heads.”
On instinct, Mane began rubbing his thumb over the nape of Flame’s neck. “Yeah. That’s what I get for raising you. Now be quiet and let me enjoy having a brother back bro.”
-
Flame and Mane had stayed in the embrace until Mane stopped crying, and decided he was done with the ‘sappy stuff’. “Okay, where’s your base. I’m tired of mine out in the middle of nowhere.”
There was a pause, far too long to be normal. Mane dug a finger into Flame’s stomach, getting a yelp out of him. “Okay! Sorry! I kinda live with Wemmbu, and uh, I know you guys don’t have the best history.”
The air is more tense than it needs to be. Mane nodded. “Are you two friends?” Without the blindfold, Mane is terrifying. Flame hesitates before nodding. “Then I’m okay with it, I guess. We have stuff to work out but like, if you wanna shoot him a message that’d be awesome. I need somewhere to be.”
Imperial Flame (<flame named this -Wemmbu)
FlameFrags, Wemmbu
You whisper to Wemmbu: okay. So. Don’t mace me in my sleep.
You whisper to Wemmbu: but. I may have found my brother
You whisper to Wemmbu: and we may be on better terms
You whisper to Wemmbu: and he may need a spot to stay. And you have the only home.
Wemmbu whispers to you: are you being for real
Wemmbu whispers to you: do you know how long ive wanted to talk to him for
Wemmbu whispers to you: can we meet at your old base
You whisper to Wemmbu: Yeah, on the way over.
-
Wemmbu’s freaking out. His hands had started shaking ever since Flame messaged him about Mane, and now he’s freaking out while waiting for them at Flame’s mesa base. He’s been pacing, yelling into pillows, and trying to sit the entire time of waiting, and he’s about to go crazy. Flame should be here by now, should be bringing Mane and Wemmbu would be able to tell Mane that he’s different, he’s better.
His thoughts are cut off by the door opening. Flame walks in and Mane is trailing behind, laughing at something Flame had probably said. “Wemmbu!” Flame smiles. He greets him with a wave, then steps aside for Mane to see him.
Wemmbu doesn’t move, doesn’t dare breathe. Something about him was wrong, and he’ll be damned if he messes up again. Makes himself worthless for yet another time, and falls into being a nobody. He can’t do that again, he just can’t. Can’t let himself be useless, not to Manepear, not to anyone.
Flame notices something's wrong, and steps forward. “Hey, bro, you good..?”
Wemmbu’s eyes are suddenly shining with hardly contained tears, then he looks up to Flame. He takes a big breath, then nods. “No, just- give me a second.” He blinks harshly a few times, waiting until his tears clear before speaking again. “Okay, yeah. Hello, Mane.” He holds out his hand as an offering for a handshake. Mane smiles, then steps forward to take his hand.
“Hi, Wemmbu. Nice to see you again.” He watches Wemmbu’s lip waver, then feels the other player's hand shake.
“Yeah. Listen, I’m so-”
“Absolutely not. I don’t want to hear a single apology come from either of you. I’m sorry, it’s my fault I shut people out. I don’t know how to deal with myself when I make mistakes, I push too much and I shut people out when I struggle. My fault, I’m sorry, you have nothing to prove to me, if anything, I have to show you that I deserve to be one of the people you can call a friend.” Mane blinks, then nods. He takes a few deep breathes, mostly jokingly due to the fact he had spoken so much.
Wemmbu crying at his words isn’t too much of a shock to him or Flame, he’s let walls down and let himself feel things, and turns out, once he treats himself like a human, he cries a lot more than anyone would assume. Mane panics. Never has he seen Wemmbu cry, nor break down at all. The Wemmbu he knew still had every wall known to man up, and refused to let himself feel things. It's a little jarring as he opens his arms in a silent question.
“Yeah, yeah.” Mane hums, inching forward to hug Wemmbu. The demon melts into his arms, leaning forward to rest his forehead on Mane’s shoulder. “I got you, I’m sorry you thought it was your fault. It never was.”
Wemmbu only cries harder once Mane tells him that, to the point that Flame feels like he should get involved. So he does. A second pair of arms wrap around his side, and Wemmbu knows he never thought such a thing would happen to him. He pushes, he yells, he gets mad and does whatever he can to keep the people he cares about safe, and if that means he hides himself, so be it. Flame’s never asked that of him, never told him “you’re too loud,” never said “can you try to act like you care?” Never pushed, just learned. Learned how to help, and learned how to deal with everything that Wemmbu couldn’t on his own.
Mane tried too, when he was around. Figured out Wemmbu would need alone time after long days, learned that sometimes a small word of encouragement could result in three more hours of long, hard practice. Learned a small touch was the difference between a good and bad day.
Wemmbu didn’t entirely learn with him, though it's obvious he’s ready to. Ready to try again, to listen and watch all the small things no one else sees. So as they all stood in the middle of Flame’s old, abandoned base, all one big mess of arms, Mane thinks that things can change. That maybe they can be okay again, and he can let himself believe that this time. Thinks that things will be better, because he knows Wemmbu’s ready, and Flame’s always been waiting.