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"You worried about me?"
"You bro? Never."
At the end of the world, the two of them sat together.
Flame knows it isn't truly the end, but stuck in the middle of a blizzard, next to a flaming pile of his own research station, and with Wemmbu of all people?
It certainly was the end of his world.
There's no one left except the two of them. The rest were killed, taken over, falsely accused and murdered, or burned to death when they were destroying the station. He doesn't know which one is the worst way to go out, but he thinks that, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter.
All they have is each other now. The two who, somehow, never once yelled at each other despite it all. Flame's almost surprised how much Wemmbu backed him up on everything, but dare he say he could almost appreciate that?
Because, depsite being known for having a little rivarly on the station, they… they knew when to shut up.
It wasn't worth the energy to fight over anything as small as who's better at what when it was life or death.
Guess that didn't matter anymore, when they know they're about to die. Excruciating slow, painful, and close to boring with no company but Wemmbu. Not that his company is boring, it never was, but he gets to think it just this once.
He doesn't even know if Wemmbu is Wemmbu. What if he isn't? What if exploding the station to the Void and back in a last ditch effort to destroy all of them wasn't enough? Sure, he can potentionally shove Wemmbu into the burning blaze, hear his pained screams despite the roar louder than anything else, but…
Stars, it would certainly be horrible to die alone.
And—no matter what he wants to tell himself—Flame doesn't want to be alone. After Lomedy- he couldn't even think about it before he squeezes his eyes shut and shoves his hands into them. He remembers Lomedy's screams, his begs that he wasn't one of them before Spoke tied him to a chair and burned him alive.
He wasn't one, either. Not yet, at least.
Maybe if Spoke didn't do that, Lomedy would be sat here with him instead of Wemmbu. Maybe it would be the three of them, or four knowing Egg. It coudl've been more, if they didn't save the dog, or take back that weird combined body, or really thought about their actions in the first place.
There's a million what-if's, and all it leads it back too is Flame and Wemmbu sitting under a metal structure in a blizzard with nothing but each other and fire for company.
Wemmbu, who's taking a swig of a drink Flame isn't even paying attention to, sighs next to him.
"You know bro, out of everyone, I thought it would've been Egg out here with me."
"With how attached by the hip you guys were? Yeah bro, it would've been him, you, and me."
"You? Nah man, just Egg and I."
"Sure," and Flame drops that topic there as he grabs the bottle from Wemmbu's hand and takes his own sip. It burns, going down, but it warms his insides as more snow falls atop the broken roof above them. "You one of them, Wemmbu?"
"Nah, not me. You?"
"Nah," For a second, neither of them talks. They simply share the bottle between them a few times before it somehow ends up back in Flame's hands with only a couple sips left. "Never."
It was almost peaceful, despite the cold, despite the thunder of the fire still blazing next to them. Just the two of them, sharing a drink like old times, and no one around to bother them. For… for the rest of their lives.
It's lonely out here.
"How am I supposed to believe that?"
"The same way 'm supposed to trust you, bro. Could try the blood test-"
"No point now, is there? We're going to die in this cold, Flame." One would expect the words to be harsh, Flame knows he was, but there's nothing but resignation and something akin to relief. He's not wrong for that, for being relieved to die of hypothermia.
Anything is better than being one of those things.
Flame quiets. He hands the bottle back to the other and licks his freezing lips. He remembers the original blood test, the proof that it wasn't him—or Wemmbu—despite being tied to that chair, despite everyone thinking it was him of all people.
He would never. He'd never let himself be taken by them. He was Flame dammit, best helicopter pilot in all of the world and world champion fighter. Nothing would take him without a fight, nothing.
He- he wouldn't let himself be taken.
Is he still human?
"You worried about me?"
"N-no, never." Flame hates that he stutters there, blinks away the small amount of snow on his lashes and brings his hands up to try to warm his arms. And for a moment less than a second, when he looks over at Wemmbu, he figures it out. "Just thinking 'bout myself bro, that's all."
"Sure you aren't missing Lomedy?"
He looks away.
It's answer enough.
"I'll see him again soon, bro, doesn't matter if I miss him or not."
It's Wemmbu's turn to look away.
Another silence falls over them as Flame shivers, and for a brief moment, it hurts. They wreck his body and no matter how hard he tries to hide them, he can't. His fingers are turning an odd shade of purple, knows his lips are the same with how he keeps needing to lick them to feel any sort of warmth. Soon, he knows, a wave of overwhelming heat will hit him, and he'll wish he was burning alive like Lomedy and the others.
Soon, not even long enough to see the sun rise, he'll see the moon for one last time, and see Lomedy's face for the first.
"I miss Egg."
Flame doesn't say anything to that, not for a long moment. He doesn't need too, with how the admittance seemed to have come without a thought if Wemmbu's startled face says anything about it. Wemmbu's lips are as purple as his hair, can see his sharp inhale and exhale in the air, and the small
His jaw hurts, he thinks. His throat, too, but he can't tell if that's from overwhelming grief, cold, or the amount of yelling he did inside the station.
"You'll see him soon."
"That a threat?" Wemmbu looks at him for the first time in a while, the bottle long since discarded as they make eye contact.
"It's the truth," and Flame holds the contact, his teeth grits together in a way that woud be painful if he could feel any more pain. "We both know it. You said it yourself."
"Sounds like you want me dead faster, dude."
"And die alone? Nah bro, rather I die first."
"And leave me alone? Crazy dude, absolutely crazy."
"Whatever," he stares for a moment longer before his head falls back against the metal structure they've found themselves under. "Anything's better than being one of those."
"Worried that I am?"
"Never," and it's the most confident Flame has sounded in hours. "I know you are."
"How's that?"
"You're not shivering." He relaxes despite everything. There's no point in being scared anymore, in doing much else but lay back and accept anything that may happen. "Haven't been for a while."
"Right on the head, Flame," Wemmbu tilts his head as he reaches a hand out for Flame to grab. It's changed now, something less human, more Thing, more gross and grotesque and no one in their right mind would ever take it.
"'M not grabbing your weird hand, bro."
"Yeah, you will."
Flame rolls his eyes and takes his hand. "Why am I holding your hand, bro?"
"I dunno, you tell me."
"Whatever," and his eyes slip shut as he tightens his grip on it.
It's peaceful with his eyes shut. The fire seems to disapepar into the background, the light burning his eyes despite it, and Wemmbu's soft chuckle could almost get lost in the Void of nothingness that is Flame's mind.
He's surprised that even a mimic of Wemmbu would still miss Egg, but that's not his business. He knows his own would miss Lomedy, can feel it in his soul because Lomedy was his best friend. It'd be suspicious if his mimic didn't, but it's not like he'd ever know.
He's still human.
Flame has to be.
There's no other reason for wanting some sort of physical comfort at the end of the world.
"When did they get you?"
"Ah," Wemmbu shrugs and stretches his neck. "Doesn't matter though, does it? I'll still die out here with you. I'm human now, aren't I?"
"Human enough to die?"
"Human enough to die."
"Huh," Flame smiles as he cracks open an eye. He sees the other smile back, his lips cracked and bleeding. "Me too, bro, me too."