They could never refuse each other anything, which was a weird dynamic for Fire and Water to have. Even they knew it, but it never stopped them. Further and further down the rabbit hole of destructive desires; it was a spiral of bad decisions and it was inevitable it would end up like this.
Water was laughing, a panicked sort of laughter. Fire was just sitting there, trying to take in this information neither of them had even known was possible.
“A freak of nature?”
“A mistake?”
“Whatever it is... it’s our child.”
“What the hell do we tell them.”
--
This started out being for Comfort, but I couldn't make it fit so I had to finish it when we drabbled Consequences. It makes me grin.
This incarnation of Fire and Water get along way better than I would have expected. And then this happened! There are a few other drabbles with these incarnations, but I'm too lazy to find them, so you'll have to hunt them down yourself.
Is this what drowning feels like?
Or maybe it’s the reverse of drowning. My lungs won’t fill with anything, not air not water not anything I CAN’T BREATHE.
How can she do it? How does she breathe way up here where the earth has only the loosest hold on her? I’m going to fly out into empty space if emptier space than this actually exists and I’m going to reverse-drown in the nothingness I CAN’T BREATHE.
I’ve never understood why anyone could be afraid of water, they all love air so much and now I know why.
I CAN’T BREATHE.
--
The all-caps is on purpose, as is the lack of punctuation. I asked a friend which elemental to use, intending to, uh, drown them. She gave me Air, and suddenly instead of being about Air drowning, it became about Water suffocating. That was super cool.
She expected Air to make a move, but she didn’t expect them to gang up on her. Fire grabbed her around the waist and pinned one arm behind her back. Water sat on her ankles so she couldn’t kick them away. Air snatched her wrist and yanked up the sleeve before she could wrench away. She heard Fire suck in a breath at her ear, seeing the neat rows of parallel lines crawling their way up her arms like zebra stripes. Air traced a finger over the scars. She flinched.
“Why?” Air whispered.
“To make maple syrup,” she answered bitterly.
--
Mash-up of elementals plus an actual experience with a zebra-striped person.
I enjoy that Earth is never named even though it's in third person limited. And her dark joke at the end made me smile.
Searing heat on my face, smoke in my lungs, clawing my way up – out –
I must have woken up because it’s dark but I still can’t breathe and I hear screaming. Something comes at me from one side and picks me up and then my head is underwater and someone’s saying “BREATHE, DAMN YOU” and the screaming stopped.
I take in great gulps of water until I stop sobbing but I’m still shaking. Someone lets my head up – Fire? He pushes dripping hair out of my eyes, pulls me to his chest to keep me warm. “Breathe,” he orders again.
--
More elementals. :3 I like the Fire/Water interaction, and the way the scene totally isn't complete. And going from breathing water to breathing air is pretty awesome as well.
“You want me to do what?” She stares at me in terror.
“Stay underwater ten minutes.”
“But…but…”
I trip her and force her under the water. She thrashes about frantically, but I refuse to let her up. She thought she could show up with her blue tattoos and her fancy illusions and I’d fall in love with her. She didn’t think I’d test her. Water elementals don’t drown. She will.
She’s almost stopped struggling. But she doesn’t deserve to die. I drag her out, lay her on the bank, and walk away.
Maybe she’s learned something about lying to elementals.
--
Corby has rage and bad luck in his relationships, and I needed to work on his world a little bit. This was an interesting result.
I think it's cute that he's so angry and vengeful, but at the same time has a pretty squishy heart and takes pity on people he recognizes as desperate. He sees something of himself in them, I think.
