Clash Of Frost And Flame

“Whether it’s a date or not, I’m happy either way.” Of course he would be, as he would be spending time with Flambréra.

Budoshi clicked his fingers in an exaggerated manner after Flambréra mentioned that Dahlia was the one to beat the shit out of the raiders. “Awww ma^aaaaaan. That sucks, but it isn’t like they could’ve given you a challenge.” He said, proudly pointing to himself. “That’s my job.”

Raising a brow, Budoshi wondered why Flambréra was so caught up on following rules in any way, both in this context and outside of it. “Why does this matter to you so much? I just like that you live life on your own terms because nobody else’s work for you. It’s special, you know?” He gave a small satisfied smile after making his point.

“Nah, you’ve never once implied that I’m weak, that’s part of what I like about you.” It came with accepting Budoshi as who he was, understanding that he was a fighter over anything else ‘typically Tuffle’. “You set aside a lot to do what you did, I want you to know that I appreciate it— but it’s because you did it that you have nothing to worry about in regards to my safety, you were always gonna have my back. That’s why I’m not worried at all. Rock and paper, remember?” Once again, he was making a call-back to being each other’s rock and/or paper.

“Mmm, I dunno.” Budoshi examined his nails casually, as he leaned into Flambréra. “You seem more like a campfire right now, I think.” Soon afterward, the Zoan gave Budoshi a hearty shove, but he just flopped back towards her after that. “Pfft, relax, it’s a compliment.”

There was still some time to wait out, give or take, and either the two would have more to speak about, or maybe something else would happen? Well, nearby, just within view for them, there were a few people who seemed to be looking at them whilst talking to a pair of kids that almost couldn’t contain some sort of excitement.

Eventually, the two children would be ushered over by the adults that were minding them. The two didn’t look any older than about five, one was a teal-ish blue Axolotl Zoanthrope and the other was a Tuffle with pink hair and a lot of freckles, they shuffled over to Budoshi and Flambréra holding some miscellaneous items that looked like they were used for arts and crafts at first glance.

Budoshi sat up straight, curious as to what the kids were up to. “Uhh, hi!!” The younger Tuffle exclaimed, only for their shirt sleeve to be tugged on in panic by the Axolotl Zoan. “W-wait, I don’t know what I wanna ask yet...” The two kids whispered to each other and after a moment, Budoshi spoke up. “It’s okay, you don’t gotta rush anything. Can we help you?”

“Hmm, you know that space station near Earth we usually go to? We could meet there at some point. I’m generally pretty free, but I’ll be on Earth for a while if that helps.” They could always figure out some other details at a later time if need be as well. “There would be a few pretty funky planets just outside of Earth’s solar system, so we’d be spoiled for choice.”

Budoshi gave Flambréra a finger gun gesture and a click of his tongue to confirm that it was indeed his job to challenge her. “You know it.” Flambréra also seemed to understand what Budoshi was saying about the pair of them looking out for each other. Some might say she was being rude with her reaction but Budoshi knew better.

“Yuh-huh, yes you do.” Budoshi replied, he was being genuine but also a bit defiant in the face of her claim that she couldn’t possibly be a calm type of warm person. She was right about one thing though, Budoshi was pretty strange, but he made it work.

Both of the children gave some measure of excited wave, at first barely believing that they were in fact noticed. “Hi!!” The Tuffle kid returned a big grin and practically jumped up and down on the spot. The Axolotl kid on the other hand tried their best to look cool and grown up— or at least the best approximation that a child their age could manage. “H-hello! Do you have a minute? We um, didn’t want to bug you when you were talking.”

Budoshi smiled and waved away their concerns. “Don’t worry about it.” Flambréra also chimed in, pointing out the craft items that the kids were carrying. It made sense, and was quickly confirmed when the two kids looked between each other before shuffling closer. “Yeah!! Autographs! That’s the big word grown ups use for when super cool people put their names on stuff!” The excited Tuffle kid energetically dumped what they were holding onto the table. The Axolotl kid fiddled with their shirt collar nervously, hoping that their friend wasn’t going to cause a problem. “Y-yeah, autographs, w-we would like your autographs, f-from both of you.” They finally managed to say, looking between Budoshi and Flambréra.

“Ok, cool, cool.” Budoshi gave a thumbs up, where they would meet up was set pretty easily. “The others wanna check things out, and I’ve not been in ages. Plus, they’ve got some reputable martial arts to study.” There was also that one super cold mountain that some may say is one of the coldest places in all of creation aside from the vacuum of space. “Reckon you’d be free in a month or two?”

Budoshi nodded in response to Flambréra shaking her head. “Yuh-huh.” He very much believed that she could be the coziest person ever if she just gave it a shot. “Eh, worth it. I can risk a few burns for you.” He could always just keep a Senzu bean on hand or use his own ice powers to help out.

The two kids looked rather relieved and all the more excited between them when Flambréra and Budoshi were nice to them. When asked if they were sure about wanting autographs from both of the fighters, the kids nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m Ramba!!” The Tuffle kid exclaimed proudly, snapping her fingers. In doing so, it seemed as though there was a spark between their fingers. Anyone that was inexperienced or inattentive could guess this was an expression of a fire elementalist, but since Flambréra and Budoshi had experience they would both know it was something else— it was light.

“I’m Sherbie.” The Axolotl kid politely responded, putting their hands together. In doing so, it seemed as though there was a siphoning of heat between their hands. In this case, someone that had no idea what was going on may even think it was an expression of an ice elementalist, but with the training both Budoshi and Flambréra had, they would be able to figure out the truth— it was darkness.

Budoshi was quite impressed, and looked to Flambréra, pleasantly surprised with what he saw from the children. Did they have training from a young age or were their affinities present since birth like with Budoshi and Flambréra? Something to maybe ask in a moment. “Well alright, Ramba, Sherbie, what would you like us to sign?”

“Awesome, then it’s settled!” Budoshi smiled, and while he could in some way agree that waiting that long would be boring, he had his own things to do— he was going to get stronger for one thing, and show Flambréra even more of his skill in time.

As far as ‘being cozy’ was concerned, Budoshi simply shrugged. He felt no shame from what Flambréra was saying. In his opinion, her saying this sort of thing in some way proved that fire and ice had the capacity to be more than what people expected. “So you admit that my presence is comforting?” The Tuffle couldn’t resist calling her out either, of course.

Ramba’s eyes lit up, quite literally, there was a sparkle of her light elemental powers in her eyes! “Huh? Impressive? But I just introduced myself... Wait, that means you think I’m cool! Nice!” She twirled on the spot. Sherbie on the other hand tilted his head, wondering what his friend was talking about. The Axolotl Zoan’s shadow mirrored this action, but in the opposite direction. “Training? What for? Ramba always shines when she gets excited.” Sherbie explained, after which his Tuffle friend then realized what Flambréra had actually meant. “Hahah, oh, that? I could always do that, ever since I was born I could shine! At least that’s what my parents say.” Ramba backflipped over to Sherbie’s side and energetically shook him by the shoulder. “When Sherbie gets super focused, even the shadows around him help him do what he wants to do, its pretty sick!” Ramba smiled, a literal glowing smile as she rushed back over to the stuff on the table. “Heheh, yeah, I could do that ever since I was a baby, I think.” Sherbie bashfully scratched the back of his head while his own shadow did a silly little victory pose.

“So you’re both born with these powers? That’s awesome! I was born with my power too.” Budoshi explained, conjuring a Ki infused ice cube in one of his hands which spun around until it turned into snow that disappeared in mid-air. “I wanna train this power too, yeah, but it’s only ever fun if it’s with Sherbie.” Ramba said, since Flambréra asked if they had any training. “Yeah, I feel the same. Ramba helps me a lot when I wanna figure things out.” Sherbie nodded.

“Well obviously.” Budoshi poked Flambréra back. “Maybe they have more than just this stuff too, did ya ever think of that?” He teased in return.

Ramba pouted somewhat at Sherbie. “I told you we should have brought the shirts too!” Sherbie put up his hands defensively. “Okay, okay, sheesh, we can go get them in a second.”

In any case, they had some stuff there that could be signed all the same. “Well, um...” Sherbie moved closer, pointing out some items in the small pile. “This is my first belt from a martial arts school a cousin of mine helped run.” Sherbie held up a raggedy looking white fabric belt. “I-if you guys could sign it and uhm...” Sherbie twiddled his thumbs, and Ramba cut in almost immediately, understanding what her friend wanted to actually say. “Write something cool about where a journey begins!” Sherbie nodded energetically after hearing this.

Moments later, Ramba picked up a large painter’s brush, it looked worn with time but it also seemed very well cared for. “This is my favorite brush that I use for painting. It used to be my great grandma’s, and she taught me everything I know about painting... Hmm. What do I want on it..?” Unfortunately, Ramba seemed to struggle with what she wanted written on it. Sherbie figured this out pretty quickly, and spoke up. “Oh, I know, something about creativity needing courage?” Ramba had a light-bulb moment and smiled. “Yeah, something like that!”

Budoshi considered what the two had said, and started to formulate an idea on not just what to write, but how to write it since they were given some very unique and also sentimental items. “Okay, I think I’ve got an idea of what to do. Could I get a look at the brush first?” Ramba nodded and handed the brush over to Budoshi for him to inspect. Sherbie offered the old martial arts belt to Flambréra in the meantime. “H-here, if you needa get a look too.”

Budoshi found himself trying with all of his willpower to stifle another giggling fit. “You straight up said so though. Pfhehehe—” The Tuffle cleared his throat and tried to do an accurate vocal impression of Flambréra. “You're so cozy it makes you look stupid” Budoshi raised his hands slightly, tilted his head and raised his brows as if to make a point. “That’s what you said. You said that. Just now.” Yes, she said he looked stupid for it, but she still said it. “Which meaaaans~ You totally think I fit the bill in some way.”

Ramba and Sherbie were in awe of how easily Flambréra and Budoshi could use their powers, and only got even more excited when the older two encouraged them. Both Ramba and Sherbie looked like they were already envisioning what they could do with training. Even the mere thought alone seemed to have sparked something as the sheen of Ramba’s hair began to visibly glow and even Sherbie’s own shadow somehow became more dense. “Yeah! Only the best for my best friend!” Ramba asserted, giving Sherbie an enthusiastic slap on the back. “Huh? Nuh-uh! What if I do even better for my best friend!” The both of them started laughing at each other— in a sense they were very much showing a rivalry, ready to uplift each other at a moment’s notice.

Having been given the brush, Budoshi handled it with utmost care, looking at it from various different angles— he even went so far as to activate his special vision enhancing Ki-Goggles technique just to get a better look at the woodwork. Budoshi honed in on the widest part of the brush “I think I can engrave something here. Do you have a spare piece of wood or anything so I can show you an example?” Ramba nodded and gave Budoshi a spare wooden block. “Awesome, thanks.” Budoshi held the wooden block in his hands and willed his power of cryokinesis in conjunction with his Ki to flow over the wooden block. In a few seconds he had magically carved the phrase ‘To create is to be strong, to be strong is to create’ in an easily legible cursive font; and the result looked like stained glass of cool blue colours. “How’s that?” Ramba stood there, her jaw dropped. “That’s amazing! That’s such a cool effect! How did you do it? Can my shining power of light do it too?” True to the inquisitive spirit of a Tuffle, Ramba bombarded Budoshi with questions.

Sherbie waited patiently for Flambréra, but he did notice that she seemed a little bit nervous. Since Budoshi asked Ramba for a spare piece of wood, it would make sense for Sherbie to offer a spare bit of thick cloth from the pile of craft items. “You can try something on this first, if you want. Take your time too, miss Flambréra.” He said, bowing slightly, thinking of what she could do if she was having trouble getting an idea. “You could try something with ash and charcoal, that seems fun!”

“Did so, dummy.” Budoshi grinned, though when she flattened her ears back he waved a hand. “Relax, it’s the best impression I can make since we don’t have identical vocal chords.” As for looking stupid, or really anything else, Budoshi chose not to comment; he already made his point earlier on fire and ice being more than the basics that people assume and he didn’t expect Flambréra to understand immediately or anything.

Sherbie gasped, he was being too formal? No way, that was super dorky, and he didn’t want to look uncool in front of these two— that would be a disaster! “Oh, uh, yeah, Flam, ^ye^ah, y^e_ah.” He tried his best to look cool, even going so far as to create a set of sunglasses made of shadowy energy as he struck a pose with his arms folded.

Both Ramba and Sherbie looked disappointed that Flambréra suddenly had to go, but they weren’t about to be rude, they were raised better than that. Budoshi had a feeling that the fiery feline didn’t actually need to go to the bathroom, but he chose to be silent about it. Instead, he took a look at what Sherbie wanted signed, wanting to find a suitable way to sign it yet also leave room for Flambréra like he did with Ramba’s art brush. In this case he signed one side of the martial arts belt with ‘it takes more than sinew, it comes down to what’s in you’ in a similar way to what he did for Ramba.

Flambréra took long enough that the folks minding Ramba and Sherbie had to hurry things along and ask them to eventually leave. While collecting their things, Ramba and Sherbie looked around to see if Flambréra would come back. Budoshi gave the two a thumbs up. “I can’t speak for her or anything, but you know that you could always ask her next time you see her, right?” The two kids seemed like they were fans, so naturally they would want to be at events that Budoshi and Flambréra were participating in. “She’s a lot warmer of a person than she thinks she is. You can even tell her I said that, she’ll fight me over it.” Budoshi chuckled, as did Ramba and Sherbie before they waved and were on their way elsewhere.

This left Budoshi to his own devices for a bit, so he just waited for Flambréra to return.