Burning Ice & Freezing Fire

Blame!?

"...It's not your fault, Robbie..."

"It's not?! Then why do I feel so awful!?" the felf digs his fingers into his scalp and pulls at his already tousled hair "Steph, if it wasn't for me, none of this had happened! Nine wouldn't even have come here! And then he couldn't​ have done whatever he did to Sportacus now!"

"If I understood your explanations earlier correct, Sportacus wouldn't even ever have come here, if it wasn't for you, Robbie," the girl looks up from Sportacus, lying unconsciously and shallowly breathing in the purple bed, and to the other man, pacing in front of it.

A few minutes ago, Robbie looked into the main part of the lair and asked for somebody to bring him the fluffy blanket from his chair and some of the great cloth he uses to craft new disguises. The pink girl already feared the worst and entered the small bedroom just a little time later, carrying the needed supplies, meeting a quite drained felf, and a pale looking hero with closed eyes, in his arms. Together, they carefully wrapped the freezing elf up in the warming blanket and cloth and Robbie shortly told her what happened...

"...If I only knew what Nine did to him..." the felf carefully sits down on the bed again and gently cups the hero's cold cheek.

"You said that you could sense that it got something to do with the crystal... But if you feel better down here..."

"...then why doesn't he... I wish I'd knew, Stephanie..." Robbie can't hold back a tear anymore and shaking brushes his fingers over the hero's new scar, his voice breaking "...Maybe...I was wrong... Maybe it's not Nine who's responsible for this... Maybe I am..."

"Robbie..."

"Look at this scar, Steph! Does this look like anything somebody does to the person he loves most?!" the felf can't keep his voice from shaking with anger at himself and stands up again, clenching his hands into fists.

"That's barely more than a scratch," remarks the girl in an attempt to soothe him "I got some scars from playing and scraping my legs during this as well..."

"But we're not playing, Stephanie!" Robbie turns back and looks at her clearly desperate now "That's a magic scar! I hurt Sportacus badly last night and although I sealed it and kept his life energy from leaking out even further, God knows what damage I caused inside of him with this!" he buries his face in his hands, actually sobbing now "No matter what you two said and tried to convince me of. Nine is right! I'm a danger! For everybody here, but especially for Sportacus!"

"Robbie..."

"No! I know you mean well, Steph, but..."

"No, Robbie! It's Sportacus, he..."

"...Robbie..."

"Sportacus!" the felf is next to his boyfriend at once, taking his hand in his own, searching his gaze, his voice trembling "Sportacus, hey..."

"...Robbie..." mumbles the hero weakly and swallows hard "...Nine... Knows...about us... He...wanted me to...believe you're...manipulating me, but I...never believed him... I..." a tear runs down the elf's cheek and his voice breaks "Robbie, I love you. Please, don't... Don't leave me!"

Both of the hero's friends wince in pure shock when the other suddenly starts sobbing.

"I'm such a bad hero! And my name is stupid and I...picked it myself and..."

Robbie bows down and seals the shaking lips with his own, trying to appear calm and at the same time not to blush, since Stephanie is watching them. It's an instinct, nothing more. But just like a few days ago with him, it works with the hero now as well. He falls silent and relaxes the tiniest bit into the kiss that lasts for long minutes...

Finally, when Robbie pulls back to breathe in, he glances at Stephanie who's just smiling broadly, but happily at them, and then back at the hero who actually calmed down a little, and is just staring at the felf with still teary, fearful eyes.

"...So..." Robbie lovingly cups Sportacus' cheek, gently wiping the tears away, a very small, soft, encouraging smile on his lips "...Now you tell me what this...Asni did to you..."