Clash Of Frost And Flame

Budoshi raised a brow and tilted his head forward slightly, silently giving Flambréra the ‘oh really’ treatment. “That you can make people happy, obviously?” He said, as if that was a fact of life that even a child would know.

“Yeah well too bad because it’s true. I enjoy hearing you talk.” Budoshi also poked his tongue out further, even going so far as to hold his hands open beside his ears, wiggling them around. “Ble^hh_hh^hh” Two could play such immature games!

Closing his eyes for a moment, Budoshi exhaled sharply. Flambréra was being really weird about this medallion business. Budoshi clicked his fingers at her to try and draw her attention from just staring at it. “Hey, hey, pay attention. We’re supposed to be solving its mystery, not using it as a mirror.” Even so Flambréra did give some clues as to if this thing was magical or not. Her behavior with it was strange first of all, but she also specified that Dahlia ‘woke up’ from a stationary statue form once she got her hands on this medallion— the marble otter warrior was definitely connected to it, that much was certain.

Budoshi tapped his chin in thought for a moment. He scoffed and rolled his eyes when Flambréra still remained possessive. “Seriously? You know I wouldn’t steal it. Why else would you show me it, let alone ask me for my opinion on it?” He pointed out, folding his arms.

“Exactly, that’s them! Awwwh, you do care~ Well aren’t you sweet.” Budoshi blew Flambréra a kiss without even thinking about the ramifications of the gesture. “Anyway, yeah. They’d like you too, I meant what I said.”

Speaking of meaning what he said, Flambréra still seemed to have trouble with almost anything Budoshi brought up that was positive about her outside of battle. “Someone I know once said that everyone deserves to be able to put their heart into something. So, that’s what I’m doing.”

“Like it or not, you’re my rock, I’m your paper, I got you covered.” Budoshi spoke confidently, it was part of his respect for her as his one true rival.

“Yeah, clearly insulting me is all you do even though it really isn’t.” The Tuffle continued to playfully tease Flambréra by exaggerating his goofy gesture by rolling his eyes around and sort of just dancing around by left and right in his seat, only to blow a raspberry at Flambréra at the end. “How about you be serious too huh, Flam?” He certainly saw her in a positive light, why else would he call her his one true rival to begin with, or even tolerate her presence?

“Don’t make me bring out a laser pointer, I’ll do it. Look at me, just let me get a closer look.” Budoshi furrowed his brow and motioned for Flambréra to hand over the medallion, staring into her eyes intensely— an uncommonly blunt expression from him. “I. Will. Give. It. Back.” He spoke with determined and clear conviction, and honestly sounded slightly annoyed that Flambréra wasn’t taking him seriously. “Do you want my thoughts and opinion on this thing or what? Then allow the chance for me to give that to you properly.”

Flambréra was also in denial that she cared about anything that Budoshi had ever said apparently, which while amusing was counterproductive. The Tuffle’s expression became smug when she snatched at thin air even though the idea of blowing a kiss was entirely symbolic. “Hey, you grabbed it so that it couldn’t go anywhere else~” Then she started punching her own hand while her face turned red. Thankfully Budoshi wasn’t drinking anything or else he may have shot it out of his nose in his now uproarious laughter— he almost fell out of his seat! “Pfhahahahaahaha holy fucking shit dude—” He wheezed, wiping a tear of joy from his eye. “You’re absolutely hilarious, for real, for real.” After calming down from his laughing fit, Budoshi sat back casually once more. “Yeah, yeah, ‘bullying’ let’s call a continued, fruitful rivalry built on mutual unspoken respect and kinship ‘bullying’.” He smiled and rolled his eyes. She sounded like she had been reading an older edition of A Real Rival’s Manual, maybe version three, if Budoshi had to guess.

“Yeah, I’m quoting you because what you said was worthwhile and valid advice.” Flambréra even went so far as to complain that it didn’t count because she was waking up from being knocked out when she said it. “Jeez, at least take some credit for that kind of thoughtful statement, why don’cha?” Budoshi frowned slightly. “You should really think about what you said. You deserve it too.”

“Awww~ so I’m your rock and you’re my paper that has me covered too?” Budoshi smiled, it was partly to tease Flambréra but also to let her know what was actually meant with the statement, even though she probably figured that out herself.

“Yeah right, well I’m not feeling very insulted then.” Was she ever really all that insulting to him before? Thinking back on it, he didn’t remember truly being offended by her jabs and banter. Annoyed at best, if anything.

“Oho, we’ll see how you feel when I use one in the future then!” Budoshi raised a brow and gave a slightly smug expression. He did own a laser pointer, to be fair, it just wasn’t on his person right now. “Jeez, fine.” Budoshi snickered, before handstanding on the table and backflipping over to sit beside Flambréra, a perfect ten-outta-ten landing! “It isn’t like you to be so possessive, but whatever, compromise.” Budoshi shrugged, reaching for the medallion that he now considered suspicious.

“I saw, but now you’ve got symbolic kissy stains all over your hands don’cha?” He said, grinning all the same. “I was paying attention, and I see how red your face is even more up close now.” Budoshi pointed this out plainly, choosing not to make a joke about it this time. “If you didn’t see it in at least a similar way, you wouldn’t be here. Plain and simple.”

“Lecture? Pfft, yeah sure. I don’t even have a whiteboard or a hologram presentation for that, doofus. I’m making a point—” Budoshi’s expression once again becomes rather stern. “— you’re far more than what you think you are.” Definitely not something he was going to give up on either.

“Hm? Oh that? I basically told her that I fancied you, she didn’t get it but it isn’t like she has to.” Budoshi said plainly and without a single shred of shame. Unfortunately for Flambréra, the topic she brought up was the exact same one that she was trying to move away from! If she didn’t see it the same way, that was perfectly fine, but Budoshi figured out by now that Flambréra also had some difficulty believing what she was being told. “Everyone deserves to be able to put their heart into something. It should be pretty obvious what that is for me.”

Budoshi just kept smiling, and as Flambréra continued to flounder somewhat, his smile became all the more mischievous. He didn’t even need to say anything, Flambréra was doing everything on her own! “Your duality is really something, you know.” Budoshi chuckled. “You’re really something.”

Tapping the table idly as he watched people go on by, Budoshi quickly poked his tongue out at Flambréra when she said he wouldn’t possibly dare to use a laser pointer on her. “You know I’d dare.” He would, he absolutely would, to be fair.

Budoshi didn’t think that he could raise his brow even further, but he managed when Flambréra tried to assert that she wasn’t possessive. “yeah, you aren’t normally.” He rolled his eyes, he could grill her on this later, for now he would take the compromise. Budoshi reached out to touch the medallion finally, bracing himself for the unexpected.

“Hahaha, do you still believe in cooties or something?” Budoshi gently punched Flambréra in the upper arm after she violently and comically ‘wiped away’ the concept of ‘kissy stains’. Budoshi playfully also bared his teeth at her afterward but couldn’t keep a straight face doing it. “Pfft, heehhehaha, it is though, pink still isn’t red, dummy.”

It took Flambréra a while to process what she had been told, and Budoshi just freely relaxed next to her as she tried to weasel her way around being direct with her own thoughts. She did eventually find something while Budoshi moved to say something else. To his surprise or even delight, Flambréra referred to something that he had thought about earlier; A Real Rival’s Manual. But not just any copy, it was the version that he guessed in jest to himself. “Oh wow, A Real Rival’s Manual version three?” He showed interest moreso in the presence of the book over what she was saying about it. Budoshi examined its condition. It was tattered, maybe a few burn marks as well, but it was amazingly well cared for otherwise. “It certainly explains a lot, but that isn’t the one I run with. I quite like version seven, personally. There’s a lot of cool stuff in it. I can show you it sometime if you want?” Budoshi said conversationally, snickering a little after Flambréra gently slapped his face with her hands.

“Anyway, I’m no stranger to breaking some rules, especially if it means I can be me as I really am.” Budoshi noticed that Flambréra was seemingly amused, probably because she was going to tease him, but she should know him well enough by now and he might not even care if she did.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, weather girl?” Budoshi gave a smug expression while still smiling as Flambréra folded her arms. She probably already knew why he was smiling like that, at least that was Budoshi’s guess.

“Ugh...” Budoshi rolled his eyes. It was getting progressively annoying hearing Flambréra act so bizarrely stuck up. It wasn’t like her at all, usually it was about something she did not something she had. Whatever this medallion was, the Tuffle was already suspicious about it. He persisted through the increasing heat that it put out, he was used to Flambréra hurling flames at him for years, so he could manage this too. A projection came, visions of a place Budoshi had never seen before, he focused on all of what was shown to remember as many details as he could. Dahlia was among these images, as she was now, and as a complete statue.

Eventually things became blurred together and vague until one last crystal clear image. Compared to what came before, Budoshi could have sworn that this image wasn’t coming from the medallion, but through it somehow? What he saw unnerved him, even pissed him off in a fierce and intense way. He meant it when he said that he bet his life on himself and Flambréra. Even so, for reasons that he had no way to rationalize, Budoshi couldn’t place as to why he was feeling like it wasn’t a threat... It felt like a warning. Now that was confusing. If Flambréra wasn’t seeing what he saw, then something definitely wasn’t right here. Budoshi narrowed his eyes and let go of the medallion, icing his hand for a moment with his own powers. “Well, it’s definitely connected to Dahlia, I saw an overgrown place on some planet I’ve never seen before, among other things.” It was best to move on from that for now, Budoshi had to think on all of this new information.

“Is too.” Budoshi nodded sagely while Flambréra’s face became even more red at his teasing. “You believe in cooties when I’m involved, but don’t otherwise?” Budoshi stroked his chin and gave Flambréra a quizzical look. “Now what do you mean by that?”

“Nah, it’s not for me.” Budoshi continued examining Flambréra’s RRM V3, taking great care with the book, treating it with respect that only an experienced librarian would— almost as if Budoshi was one at some point. “This thing is a relic, but you’ve taken really good care of it, that’s awesome!” Budoshi gave Flambréra a thumbs up as the book disappeared. “Suit yourself, more for me.” He shrugged when she turned down his offer to show her his preferred version.

The Tuffle casually touched the finger that Flambréra pointed at him with one of his own. “Ahuh, I’m so distracted that I won our match in the tournament just now.” Budoshi scoffed playfully. “Truth is, I’m more motivated than ever to clash frost and flame with you when I think about it.” He spoke casually as she tried to tease him. Seconds later, Flambréra near enough hit the roof out of surprise at the sudden reappearance of Dahlia. Budoshi let out a wheeze having registered what Dahlia had said, which turned into laughter after Flambréra reacted with a yowling screech.

Budoshi coughed and cleared his throat, calming himself down. “Yeah, I touched the medallion, rest assured, it wasn’t some random person.” This at least double-triple-quadruple confirmed that Dahlia was connected in some way with the medallion. Budoshi just let the other two chat quickly. Unfortunately for Flambréra, Budoshi had now set his mind on something; figuring out that medallion, whether the Zoan allowed him to or not.

Speaking of her though, she almost completely turned red, and looked like she had almost jumped out of her own skin. “Hey, you good?”

“You’ve never seen a firestorm, huh?” Budoshi inquired, a little serious but mostly joking. Sometimes jokes flew over Flambréra’s head anyway.

“Looks like nothing has been there for ages at this point. How’d you manage to even get there?” Probably to find something legendary to fight, if Budoshi had to guess. “I don’t know what you saw, but what I saw was you as a statue similar to Dahlia, and it wasn’t in a good way.” Budoshi’s expression was probably as serious as it had ever gotten in Flambréra’s presence as something from deep within flickered in his eyes for a fraction of a second. “I can tell you one thing; what I saw will not become reality. Something isn’t right. So, you watch yourself around this thing, and you look out for Dahlia, got it?” One thing was for sure, he wasn’t playing any games with this sort of thing, especially with his rival.

When it came to things that weren’t threatening to the safety of those he cared about, Budoshi was as he always was; peppy and energetic if not a little bit cheeky. “Nuh uh, you meant something more than that. You can’t fool me.” He said, comically wiggling a finger at Flambréra.

“Because you follow literally any rules yourself? Come on, out of anyone I know, you follow the least amount of rules.” Budoshi winked. “S’kinda hot, actually.” As for his own rival guidebook, he just shrugged in an exaggerated and comical manner. “You’ll never know what’s in it unless you read it, but you said you didn’t want to, so... That’s on you.”

Budoshi raised a brow at Flambréra’s complaining, as he also understood the situation with context clues. “And? I’m not questioning anyone else’s input, the point is I paid attention and didn’t screw around.” As far as Dahlia’s intent was concerned, Budoshi had already gotten over it, this situation was a lot more complex than that. “I’d thank you, but you’d hate it. So you know what, thank you actually~” Budoshi grinned. He was being silly, yet genuine at the same time.

As quickly as the statue warrior had shown back up again, she was on her way elsewhere. Budoshi caught the look she gave him, and he wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it. He kind of expected more of a reaction from her in a way. Still, Budoshi didn’t feel threatened for some reason, but he didn’t really have time to think about it, it would be something for later.

Budoshi snorted when Flambréra punched him, only to punch her back in the same way. “Yeah, you’re fine, got it.” She didn’t even bother to scoot over or anything, so clearly it wasn’t as big of an issue as she was making it out to be. Budoshi leaned back in his seat and casually placed his hands behind his head. “Don’t make me quote you again, because I will.” He began, looking upward. “Fire and ice aren’t as simple as people make them out to be, there’s more to both than the first thing someone thinks of. Who cares who’s what, be it calm or explosive. We’re having fun, Flam, that’s what matters.” Regarding finding anyone else attractive, Budoshi made a noise of indifference. “Nah. Even if there was anyone, they’d be mid compared to you— hey!” Budoshi suddenly whipped around, looking directly at Flambréra with a mischievous and proud grin. “You did understand what I was saying!”

“You’d be surprised, I’ve been to a lot of strange planets.” Budoshi responded, respectfully not ragging on Flambréra’s past. He was sure that she knew many weird things were out there. “I could show you one day.”

Budoshi blinked slowly as he once again gave Flambréra a ‘no really’ expression. Of course she flew there, he knew that much. “So by chance, then?” Seemed like it, and it was unlikely that the raiders found anything of worth.

Flambréra seemed to play off what Budoshi saw, and as she did so, the air around the Tuffle would become incredibly cold in a matter of seconds, and somehow his already very stern and serious expression just became even more fierce. Exhaling a small snowy breath as he looked Flambréra directly in the eyes, he grabbed at the scruff of her shirt, trying to pull her face closer to his as he leaned further towards her. “I am not fucking around, Flambréra. Promise me that you’ll be careful.”

Though when it came to following rules, Flambréra was quick to say that she did follow rules... Well, some of them, at least. Rival’s rules, she called them, and honestly they got her this far, didn’t they? “I know what I like, sue me.” Budoshi shrugged. “Of course I want to show you the book I’ve got, dummy, I want to share something I find cool with you. Is that a crime now or something?”

Watching Flambréra get annoyed over his safety, Budoshi felt as though he truly had nothing to worry about in the moment, or even now. Dahlia certainly would have tried to kill him if she wanted to, but as strong as she was, Budoshi wasn’t some weakling. “You know, you’re the one that’s still cut up about it... You can relax you know, I’m not dead. You wouldn’t let it happen anyway.”

Budoshi sat comfortably exactly where he was next to Flambréra, not budging even a bit. “Nah, this is better.” In the end, Flambréra didn’t fully understand what Budoshi meant with fire and ice being more than what one first expected of them. “Nnnnoot what I meant. Think broader and try again, Flam.” Budoshi said, attempting to be encouraging rather than disparaging.

Flambréra seemed to think that he was joking whenever this sort of thing came up. Budoshi supposed he could understand why she thought that way— she wasn’t exactly treated well by others in the past. “Seriously? I’d be a pretty shit friend let alone a rival if I was toying with you like that. Anyone that jokes about that sort of stuff is a mega piece of garbage.”