Dahlia's eyes pry themselves open, the morning light waking her up in a hospital bed, an unfamiliar ceiling sitting above her. She licked her lips, and with a sigh and a shove, she sat herself up. Dahlia took a deep breath, looking beside her to spot Emma, who was sleeping in a nearby chair, looking more than haggard, her hair a complete mess. Dahlia stared for a minute or two before breaking into a smile. "Emma."
Emma knit her brow, eyes shut tight, slowly waking up from her slumbering state. Bleary-eyed, she looked at Dahlia. "Dahlia?"
"You look tired..."
Emma blinked. "Y-Yeah... I kinda am." Emma rolled her injured shoulder. "I-It's been uh... long few days..."
"You stayed here with me."
"Of course I did... I-I wouldn't uh... leave ya like that." Emma chuckled, scratching her head. "My Uncle actually saw you earlier for the first time..." She paused. "He visited me since I wouldn't leave the hospital and all that jazz."
"O-Oh! I've never had the chance to meet your Uncle. What's he like?"
"An asshole, you don't gotta worry about him."
Dahlia chuckled. "Alright, then I won't." After a moment, Dahlia's smile dropped. "You look worse for wear."
"I've just been worried sick... plus... uh... I think I made some real bad decisions back there that may have cost some people some shit... y'know?"
"H-Honestly... It's all kind of a blur to me. What happened?"
"That cat guy, Aoderiin-- the one Meliana brought. He lost an eye from that whole thing. You probably can remember that Tymera lost an arm."
Dahlia nodded. "Y-Yeah... I... I definitely remember that."
"She can't afford a new one, or-- y'know, the regeneration stuff... shit's expensive, but the worst part is, they couldn't even find a way to reattach it anyway. Where that bitch had hit Tymera around the shoulder, it just blew the joint clean off-- it was practically impossible to reform back to normal. Like... they could regrow the shoulder itself, but everything else wouldn't have attached like how they would've wanted it to-- specifically the arm itself. It's a dead arm after all."
"That's..." Dahlia looked down at herself. "Is Qicy okay?"
"Uh... she's surprisingly good? No permanent injuries or anything, and y'know, she's back to bein' her optimistic self. It's only been a couple of days since the whole event, and she's right as rain."
"Really now..." Dahlia giggled before faltering into a frown once more. "You don't seem to be doing very well, though."
"I've just been... uh... waiting."
"You didn't have to."
"But I wanted to."
Dahlia couldn't help but regain her smile, becoming slightly flushed, her ears twitching for a moment. She forced her ears down, struggling to say anything else as she stared at Emma.
Emma reached into her pockets, grabbed a hair tie, and tied up her hair. "How are ya feeling?"
Dahlia nodded. "I'm good, better now..."
Emma cocked a brow, wondering what she meant by that statement. "Well, I'm glad... uh... I'm... thrilled you're awake. I-- That was the worst I've seen ya get, I think. I-It scared the shit out of me, I-I almost cried cause I thought I was gonna lose ya." A beat. "I-I have no idea what I would've done if you..." Emma bit down on her lower lip before shaking her head.
Dahlia stared for a moment before opening her arms for Emma.
Emma looked for a while, almost a full minute, before standing up and embracing Dahlia, encapsulating herself in her warmth. Dahlia wrapped herself around Emma, burying her face in the crook of her neck, lifting her to her own lap.
Emma is sitting there for a moment, face buried into Dahlia's chest. "Dahlia..." Her voice somewhat muffled, she spoke up. "I... I think I like you a lot more than I thought..."
"I could say the same..."
"N-No..." Emma pulled back, looking Dahlia in the eyes. "I... think..." Emma's face soured, eyes glossy. "I-I dunno... I..."
Dahlia blinked, a light flush slowly appearing on her cheeks. "What are you thinking?"
"T-This is... I... t-this feels weird to say... I... I'm doing too much, I... we've only--"
"I want to hear it..." Dahlia's voice lowered to a gentle whisper; her words lingered in Emma's head. "I-I think I-I want to hear it."
"I... like you a lot... I think." Emma averted her gaze to the wall beside them. Her face was going completely red.
"Those aren't the words you were going to use," Dahlia smirked.
"Gods damnit."
"I think I love you." Emma looked almost pained, forcing the words out.
Dahlia had a proud expression on her face, looking down at Emma in an almost condescending fashion.
"Sh-Shut the fuck up." Emma paused. "I-I don't know if it's really love, or if it's a passing thing, but I know that what I feel is genuine... I..."
Dahlia rubbed her face against Emma's. "I like you a lot, too."
"Why...?"
"Because you always try so hard. Even at your lowest, you still go out of your way to do a good thing. You don't lose yourself, even though you probably think you should a lot of the time, right? I also think you're cute..."
"You think I'm cute?" Emma made an expression that could only be described as confusion mixed with slight disgust, as it was the most absurd thing anyone had ever said to her in her life.
"There are a lot of things I think are cute that you do."
Emma clicked her tongue.
"What do you like about me?"
"You're reasonable. You're good. You're friendly. You've helped me get out of my shell a little bit... you've helped me a lot now that I think about it. You're also my type."
Dahlia chuckled. "Am I?" Dahlia spoke straight into Emma's ear, making her flinch.
"There are more reasons b-but... I've never been able to articulate my emotions effectively... I-it's why you always talk more durin' shit like this."
"I'm glad you think that way, I suppose, not sure how impressive I actually am though."
"I..." Emma sighed. "I-I'm just gonna accept that we're terrible and looking at what we're good at and what we aren't good at." Emma straightened herself on top of Dahlia's lap, lightly cupping her chin to meet her gaze before kissing Dahlia. Emma pulled back after the kiss, both looking each other in the eyes for a moment. "Shit..." Emma closed in again, interlocking her lips with Dahlia's.
Dahlia's hand slid up Emma's waist, and both of them became increasingly immersed in each other's physical touch.
With a knock, immediately, in a panic, they push each other off one another, Emma falling straight onto the floor as Dahlia accidentally knocks her head into her hospital bed. With a mighty smack against the cold vinyl floor below, the door opened, Tierre, Emma's Uncle, opening the door to find her writhing on the floor, the wind completely knocked out of her.
His eyes glide over to Dahlia, who is clutching their head in agony.
He blinked. "I got you somethin', Emer, but..." He nodded, immediately understanding the situation. "I... I feel like I've interrupted somethin'."
Catching her breath, Emma stands up. "N-No! Y-You didn't! Did ya need somethin', Unc?"
"Food, dumbass." He shoved the food straight into Emma's chest. "It's fuckin' uh... barbecue. They got some short rib, fried chicken, wings, brisket-- a bunch of protein."
"The hell? You tryin' to bulk me?"
"Nah, I just figured yer girlfriend over there would've liked it."
"I..." Emma was about to say something in protest before stopping. She turned to Dahlia. "Hungry?" She held up the bag.
Dahlia was already hovering over both of them. "D-Definitely, uh..." Her mouth watered, but she didn't know whether to react to the fact that she was essentially face to face with their lover's guardian, or to grab the food as quickly as she could and throw it down her gullet.
Tierre looked up at Dahlia, a brow raised. "Shit..." He put a hand out.
Dahlia blinked.
"Shake."
"Oh!" Dahlia gripped his hand, and for a moment, both of their forearms flexed, both of them immediately, as if instinctual, put as much pressure as possible into their handshake. Typically, Dahlia wouldn't fall for such frivolous provocation, but she met Tierre with equal strength, a smirk on her face.
"That's what I like to see. Treat Emma well, okay?"
Emma sighed.
Dahlia nodded. "Of course!"
"If you don't, imma beat your ass."
"Eh?"
"This goes for you as well, Emma. She's way too good for you."
"Asshole! I know that!" Emma crossed over to a small table in the room, placing the food down. "Fuck, that smells super good actually..." She commented as she pried the bag open with her hands.
Tierre looked up at Dahlia. "Sorry for interrupting you two."
"W-Wait, uh... w-we weren't..." Dahlia stumbled over her words as he left, staying almost as deadpan as he came in. "What a guy, huh?"
"You're tellin' me?" Emma snickered.
Emma set down a chair and sat down at the small table mentioned before, opening the bag for both of them.
Dahlia immediately began digging in, taking a rib and biting into it as hard as she could, snapping the bone in half. Emma's eyes widen, the sound of Dahlia chewing filling the room as she reduces it to pieces within her jaw.
"Gods, you can just do that?"
"Hm?" Dahlia's ears flick curiously. "O-Oh! Yes, I have strong jaws and I'm able to digest bone. Got a strong stomach!" She laughed.
"Crazy... super impressive."
"I have to eat a lot more compared to the average person, so--" Dahlia shrugged. "It is how it is."
"I'd love to be able to just... y'know, completely eradicate a bone and shit, y'know?"
"Why?"
Emma paused, thinking for a moment. "I dunno, I just think it'd be cool." A beat, "Also, it's kinda scary just thinkin' you could easily break my bones if you wanted to."
"A lot of people can in the right circumstances." Dahlia chuckled.
"I'm aware, but like... isn't it like... way easier for you?"
No response, just a smile from Dahlia.
Scary... Emma continued eating, tearing through a box of baked mac & cheese. "Fuck, so good. Where the hell did Tierre get this?" Emma mumbled.
A beat.
"Oh yeah, Dahlia, you have a new scar."
"Hm? I do?"
Emma pointed to the side of her neck, sliding up to her jaw, then to the upper half of her cheek. "Around there."
Dahlia felt the scar against her fingertips, and as expected, a new one was there.
"Qicy also has a scar on her neck now, too." Emma pointed right beneath the jugular vein, a little to the left. "Right there."
"I'm glad she came out okay."
"I'm glad that I managed to get to her in time..." Emma grimaced at the thought.
***
"Yo, how is Aoderiin doing?" Tymera asked, a smile on her face. Where her arm was is a large bandage tied to various parts of her body, where only the shoulder remained. "I heard he got hit pretty hard in the head."
Meliana shook her head. "You should be more concerned about yourself, Ty." Meliana motioned to her arm, hands shaking. "S-Shit." She went to grab those same hands, tucking them into her pockets.
Tymera's expression became somber, averting her gaze before quickly looking back to Meliana with a smile. "I still got one arm left! I'm not completely out of the game yet!" She laughed.
"You clearly aren't alright..." Meliana's expression soured.
Her jovial expression slowly dropped, looking over her stump of a shoulder. Tymera blinked slowly at her wound before bringing her sights to the window beside her, looking out to the sky outside. "I can keep going..." The facade that she had previously had dropped, her expression souring in sympathy to Meliana, white knuckling the blanket on her hospital bed. "Y-You know what's funny? I-I..." She chuckled. "I-I tried reaching out to you with my left arm just now... b-but..." A hand cupped the stump, lips pressed together as tears welled up in her eyes. "Crap... I-I can't believe it isn't a dream... I-I feel sick."
Meliana jumped onto the bed, wrapping her arms around Tymera. "I-I'm so sorry... I..." She whined.
"I-It isn't your fault..." Tymera choked back tears, her only available hand wrapping around Meliana's body, palm resting on the base of her tail. "I-I..." Tymera couldn't hold it in anymore, wailing into the crook of Meliana's shoulder, "I-It hurts! I-It stings so bad!"
All Meliana could do was hold her friend in her arms, attempting to comfort her the best she could, unable to hold back her own tears in turn.