AN: More of that Worm KHR Fusion which has been officially named Creme Brûlée by reader suggestion. Thanks go out ot my beta reader @Functionality.
{}{}{}{} Taylor
My eyes opened to an unfamiliar ceiling, a pressure in my bladder, and an empty chasm in my stomach.
For an instant Dad's death replayed itself behind my eyes. With everything I had I wrenched my thoughts away and went looking for a bathroom. I couldn't let myself think about that now. If I did I would breakdown… and I wasn't really sure I'd be able to put myself back together if that happened.
I had no one, and nothing. The world was full of people who used crazy fire magic and I was one of them. Nothing made sense and if I let myself stop moving…
I was hungry, starving. I really needed to eat.
Wandering down the hall I found a kitchen. It wasn't fully stocked, but there were a bunch of essentials so…
I guess I would cook. Yes, I'd cook enough to fill myself up and more for the girls that let me sleep in their guest room, as a thank you.
{}{}{}{} Aisha
Our crummy hideout at its best might smell like pizza and sweat. So, waking up to the smell off eggs and… was that hot dog, or sausage I was smelling? But more than that there were flames in the air. Sky Flames, calling out, inviting me closer. Making the dump we lived in feel warm, and safe.
Wandering down the hall and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes I was greeted with the sight of Taylor working over the stove. Orange flames seemed to drip off her hands and over the pan and food.
"The hell?"
What was she doing burning Flames like that right after waking up from a two day crash? Did she want to send herself right back to sleep?
"Yo, Tay."
The girl turned to look at me with black eyes flecked with orange. She wasn't going full burn right now. That's good, but she really needed to stop throwing Flames like that or she was going to kill herself.
"Girl you gotta stop using your Flames. You were out for two day's last time. If you don't get them under control you're going right back to dreamland. That ain't healthy."
Tay looked down at her hands and then back at me before turning back to the cooking with almost frantic movements.
"I, I don't know if I can stop… If I stop, I'm going to remember, if I remember I'm going to fall apart. I have to keep it together. I can't-"
Aaaah, shit.
Walking over I turned off the burner and pried the pan out of her hands. She tried to argue, but I just pushed her away from the stove before giving the taller girl a hug. For a minute she just sort of trembled in place. Then she gripped me for dear life and started bawling her eyes out. She was still leaking a little bit of Sky Flame, but it was a
lot less.
Maybe Sky's just always leak a little Flame? Or maybe that's just Sky's that don't have guardians… fuck it, ask Lisa later. Comfort Sky now.
{}{}{}{}
Lisa had wandered in a few minutes after Tay started crying, helped me get her to eat, and then we put her back to bed to rest some more.
Now? Now the two of us were eating the leftovers and trying not to moan like hookers.
"This doesn't even make sense! It's eggs, diced up hotdogs, and toast. It shouldn't taste this good!" I said before stuffing another bite in my mouth.
"You said she was using her Flames?" Lisa asked between bites.
"Yeah, but why would that matter?"
"Harmony, Aisha. At a guess she
made the flavors work together better."
"… It tastes like home." I muttered. "Like, it's nothing like my Mom's shit cooking, but it makes me feel like when I was little and Brian made coco or…" Well, that was the only example that really came to mind.
"… Sky Flames... Harmony. There's a reason everyone wants to find a Sky to bond with." Lisa shot a look toward the spare bedroom.
"And this isn't even a bond. This is just a bit of her Flames." I said before savoring another bite. "Think we could sell this to the gangs? If I had money, I'd pay out the ass for this."
Lisa gave me a look.
"Why are you thinking about money when we have a chance to bond with a Sky?" She hissed.
"I'm sorry, weren't you the one insisting we not get our hopes up? Something, something, bonding with a Sky's a pipe dream? And don't we need a whole bunch of money to skip town?"
"Ok, yes, I said all that, and it's still true, but that was before I knew the Sky was our age! And, you know, not affiliated with anyone that might want to kill us!" Lisa waved her fork in the air. "We might actually have a shot at Harmony if there aren't any major personality clashes."
"And if we can make a small fortune and skip town, we can work on that somewhere safer?" I half asked and half pointed out.
"I mean, ideally yeah. But if we try to sell Sky Flame enhanced food every Flame active in the city is going to find us, including the snake. And the only ones I'd trust not to fight us on principle are the mercenaries, and they're out of town on a job anyway."
Ok point. It was a good idea, just not one we could act on right now without a whole mess of trouble landing on us.
"Yo, is Sky girl awake?" Alec asked as he wandered into the room.
"Not anymore, she was up long enough to make some food and eat, then she passed out again." Lisa answered.
Alec wilted. Not much, but I'd known him long enough to catch it. Honestly between his Dad doing a number on him, and the whole Rain tranquility thing he was legit the most apathetic fucker I'd ever met. Pretty cool, yeah, but did not give a shit about
anything. The Sky getting that much of a reaction out of him was huge.
Glancing down at my plate, I considered how full I felt, then I sighed and handed him what was left. The sacrifices I make for my friends. Never mind that I felt stuffed. I wanted more of that feeling.
Alec raised an eyebrow but accepted the plate. He practically melted with the first bite.
"Is this what I think it is?" He asked.
"Yep, Sky Flame infused food." Lisa answered.
"Holy fuck, we
need to keep her." Alec said before digging into what little was left.
"The hell are you all doing up?" Brain asked as he staggered in after Alec. "It's five thirty. Normally I can't get any of you up before ten."
"Taylor woke up. Turns out Sky cooking is better than crack even with garbage ingredients." I answered.
"You save me any?" Brian asked looking curious.
Alec shoveled the last bit into his mouth and shook his head. Brian glared. Lisa laughed and slid her plate across the table.
"Here, Brian. It's just a couple bites but…"
Not being an idiot Brian jumped on it before Alec could try to claim it.
"Damn." Brian muttered after he finished. "Kind of glad Bitch decided to spend the night at her shelter. She'd have insisted on giving some to her dogs."
"Ok, this is awesome and I'm as hopeful as the rest of you, but we need a plan." Lisa said as she rubbed her hands together. "Yes, we found a Sky and there's a chance at least some of us might bond with her."
Lisa licked her lips. Not in a sexy way. It was a nervous 'god please just once let me be that lucky' sort of thing.
"But we still need enough cash to get out of town and someplace to go once we have it."
Brian tapped a hand against his thigh then spoke up.
"What if we've been overthinking this? We've been focusing on finding a place to settle, but every city you've gotten info on is claimed or contested, and isn't too friendly with outsiders. So, what if we don't go to a city?"
"Uh, Bro? Don't know if you've been paying attention or not, but we do smash and grabs, sneaky info stealing shit, burglaries, and pickpocketing. Most of that works best in a city because it gives us lots of targets."
"And it makes squatting in dumps like this simpler." Alec added.
"Yeah, I know. Just bear with me for a second. If we ride the dogs or steal a van we could be out of the city and into a town on the other half of the state in a day or two. Find a warehouse, or a cave, or a fucking barn. Doesn't really matter what, just something out of the way. We steal enough food to last a few months and see how things shake out with the girl, then go from there."
No one really said anything. It was an option. Not one anyone liked, but it would keep us alive if nothing else. No one really said anything one way or another. We all just sort of mumbled or grumbled.
"Look, just, just think about it." Brain said before glaring at his now empty plate.
{}{}{}{} three hours later
"
And now bringing you the latest news from the Brockton Bay crime report." The radio blared.
"Lower east side played host to one of the strangest fights I've reported on in quite some time folks. Nine men armed with military hardware were mauled to death by dogs. On the other side of this fight more than twenty dogs, and one teenage girl, were killed by an absurd amount of automatic rifle fire. Witnesses report at least ten more men with guns fleeing the scene. So far police have, wait for it, no suspects, and no idea what motivated this craziness. So, business as usual from Brockton Bay's finest folks. And now your five day weath-"
Lisa reached out and shut off the radio with trembling fingers.
"You guys, pack whatever you can. Aisha, can you please pack my clothes while I go steal a van?" She said quietly.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll pack for you. Brian, you ever pick out a destination?" I tried to keep it steady, but my voice was shaking.
"No, I only had the idea last night. We can figure it out once we get the hell out of the city."
No one disagreed. This was officially too hot for us. The cranky Cloud girl had been a real bitch, but she had been part of the gang, and now… Fuck. Now we had to make sure we didn't go out the same way.
