Twisted-Wonderland: Our Precious Treasure (Part 2)

(107) TMotDS: Wish I Could Be Part of Your World!

Deuce woke up when the sun had just risen, coloring the horizon with beautiful purple and orange. The bed underneath him wasn't as comfy as the bed back in the dorm. Where is he? He tried to sit up, but he felt something was holding his hand down.

Or someone to be exact.

A very-familiar ginger was sitting on a plastic chair, one arm folded on the bed as he rested head on top his it while his other was holding Deuce's. What is he doing here? Looking around, he finally recognized his surroundings. He was in the infirmary where most of the beds were occupied. How did he get here again?

Looking back to the ginger, Deuce felt slightly guilty that he had to wake up the boy from his slumber, but he needed some answer. "Ace." He tried to call, poking the ginger's cheek. "Ace. Wake up."

The ginger scrunched his eyes before blinking to awakening. Realizing that his friend had sat up on the bed, Ace's red eyes immediately widened. "Deuce!" He shot up from his seat, bringing himself closer to Deuce. "You're awake!"

"Y-Yeah." Obviously taken back the sudden invasion of personal space, Deuce put a hand on Ace's chest to push him back slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I..." Blinking, Deuce noticed how Ace's cheek suddenly became redder. The ginger cleared his throat before sitting back at his seat, not really looking at Deuce. "Y-You were unconscious for nearly a day. I-I'm just here to make sure you don't die in your sleep."

Deuce frowned. "Ace. I'm not dying."

Ace snapped his head toward him, looking slightly angry. "You almost did!" he shouted. "Azul took you magic and..."

Ace looked down at his hand which was still holding onto Deuce. Oh. Now, he remembered. The feeling when your whole magic was suddenly ripped away from you. The sensation of disconnection from your surroundings. It felt like he was floating in the void as his life flickered in and out.

Deuce's other hand moved, putting it on top of Ace's, making the ginger looked up to him. "I didn't mean to make you worry," Deuce said, thumb caressing the back of Ace's hand.

Ace let out a teary chuckled. "You're an idiot you know that."

"Hey..." Deuce pouted.

Ace laughed again. He smiled at him. Deuce didn't understand why his heart beating faster every time he saw that smile. "Good to have you back, buddy."

Deuce sighed but then smiled. "Glad to be back, partner."

-----

Grim sneezed from the cloud of flour that appeared before him. "Barret! Don't just throw flour in front of my face!"

Barret stuck his tongue out. "I'm doing exactly what the recipe is telling me to!"

"What recipe?!" Grim screamed back. "All we need is to flour the surface!"

Jonah rolled his eyes. "Guys, come on. We only have one oven here," he said. "We have to finish those sugar cookies first before moving to the shortcake."

Barret and Grim glared at each other but begrudgingly followed the order. Jonah sighed in relief. Glancing to his arm watch, he let out a curse when it was already past ten in the morning. Looking at Soo, he was doing fine with the preparation of the decoration and the strawberries, way better than Barret and Grim who kept showing off their cookie cuts. Jonah himself couldn't really do much with one hand. Sure, his prosthetic arm is very high-tech but without its complete parts, it missed some feature, mostly that required handheld.

He stopped stirring, making Lou who was holding the bowl of shortcake batter looked up to him. Jonah bit the inside of his mouth. Looking at the stump on his right wrist, the guilt set in his chest once again. Will Senior Ashengrotto be okay? He knew he still has the twins, but will they be fine all on their own? He wanted to go see them but would Senior Jade and Floyd let him go and see the boss, after everything he had done to him?