Clash Of Frost And Flame

“True, and real. It’d have to be someone built like their muscles had muscles.” Or if they were made of rocks, perhaps even if it was just really well made armor that offered exceptional defences while also allowing decent mobility. Someone around her size did make sense too, though it only narrowed down the search parameters by a slight amount. While Saiyans were on average pretty tall, that didn’t exclude other people from also matching that height.

Since his focus was drawn towards the random phenomenon of energy, Budoshi was also able to see it happen for Flambéra— it was in her eyes, a strange spark, but not of Ki. At least that’s what he thought, as it certainly didn’t feel like it was Ki in his own brief experience just now. It was almost as if the sparks reacted in some way. It got the gears in Budoshi’s brain turning, and they always turned fast when he found something truly interesting to him. “Hm...”

He was still mulling it over even when Flambréra spoke up again, she was frustrated, understandably so, since Budoshi knew her quite well he knew this was a deep frustration— not one easily overcome. He could relate to it himself, and Flambréra of all people was most likely to know this which was probably part of why she didn’t immediately immolate him on the spot. She knew he wasn’t talking shit or anything, but it didn’t stop her from feeling the way she did.

Like Flambréra, Budoshi soon finished his food. However, when she started to stand up, he did as well, but he did so quite suddenly. “Do whatever I want, huh? I guess I'm going with you for a bit.” She did say he could do whatever he wanted, so she absolutely walked right into this one. Totally not on purpose though, obviously. “I noticed something also, there was a moment there just before— I felt sparks. It wasn’t Ki, it was a reaction from our elements. I’m sure you noticed that too. I don’t know how to explain it exactly, but I think there is something more to it, more to us. Looks like there was another reason that I was right to bet my life on us.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said, the sparks mean something here.” Budoshi confirmed. Flambréra wasn’t denying it even, she simply questioned what he was going on about. “I’m absolutely certain of it.” To him it was no mere coincidence, and it was something that he felt needed attention, or at least some sort of acknowledgement.

What Flambréra said on it at first actually caused Budoshi to tap his chin in deep thought. Then, he gave a big sparkling grin with excitement in his eyes. “That— exactly, that must be part of it.” The fact that she even gave off a purr at all, even if it was to tease him lent some credibility to the claim. The spark was caused in a more emotional moment that both of their powers reacted to, and the topic at the time was related to how much they cared for each other. “It makes sense, it hasn’t ever come up before.”

Budoshi took a moment to think back on how the phenomenon felt, examining and going through the moment multiple times very quickly in his brain. “Let’s see... Hmm. It wasn’t frost. It wasn’t flame either. But it was the same thing.” One thing about the feeling was consistent through each cycle of thought. Something came just before the burst of ice, a thrum of power that had a different ‘flavor’ to it. A quick zap, high energy... “That clash. It was... Electric.” He fell silent for a moment as he walked, flexing one of his hands into a fist a few times. “Hey,” Gazing over to Flambréra, there was the slightest tick of that same spark in his eyes— but it wasn’t as pronounced, a bit hard to see in the moment if Flambréra wasn’t already looking at Budoshi. “I think we both might have more than one affinity.”

“I’ll get to that in a second, just lemme brain it out, even a genius needs their time to think if it matters so much to them.” Probably one of the only sort of Tuffle-adjacent ‘sayings’ that Budoshi even really cared for— which was sensible, it was a generalized phrase that could really just be applied to anything at all.

“Look, I think it’s stupid to think how we feel doesn’t have some effect on our abilities. It’s a fact of elementalists, some of the most basic stuff.” Good feelings, bad feelings, complex ones, it didn’t matter so long as they were powerful. “Strong emotional responses, whatever they are. They are the key. The reaction hasn’t come up before because it’s usually just one of us experiencing a strong set of emotions, not both of us at the exact same time over the exact same thing.” To say he was getting boundlessly excited over this discovery even if it came from collective frustration would be an understatement— in the wake of that moment there was more... Energy to him. Yes, he was usually quite energetic but this was very different.

Similarly to Flambréra, sometimes Budoshi wished he could show the inner workings of his thoughts to someone else. Maybe pestering Prophos over learning telepathy would finally be worth it outside of just bugging the Shinjin for fun.

One little spark could be all it took, in Budoshi’s opinion. Without even missing a beat, he responded to Flambréra’s moment of disbelief. “Yes. I reckon so.” As for why it hadn’t shown up until now, he already gave part of his hypothesis. “I’m sure you’ve fought spellcasters or people that can momentarily replicate several elements; I can say that I have, but it doesn’t hit like this did in the moment.”

Flambréra was so sure that it wasn’t a big deal since they hadn’t replicated it. “How can you know that if we haven’t tried to yet? Silly Flam, we won’t know for sure unless we make this a continued investigation too!.”

“That’s the thing, they absolutely could.” Their powers having a reaction to strong emotions wasn’t foreign to either Budoshi or Flambréra, but it was probably due to different reasons— they both learned and dealt with the challenges differently. “Anything strong enough can contribute, I would say.” The key with this current scenario however, was slightly different— it was about timing from what Budoshi could tell. “I wouldn’t say that it is the only way this additional affinity could work, no.” At the very least, not for long. Maybe it needed a nudge to fully emerge. “What it might need is the cause to awaken.” The concept of awakening a new power or strength was always a fun concept to Budoshi, but this was beyond anything he had ever thought of before in his mind.

“Hah! See? I knew you wanted to figure it out too.” Maybe it was just to shut him up or something, but that was fine, Budoshi could work with that too. In any case, Flambréra seemed into at least giving it a shot. “Oh, well if two sparks don't provide a definitive answer, a moment without them doesn’t either. This is something that needs more experimentation, further investigation, study, time, training.” Budoshi began to grin as he almost vibrated with excitement, that energetic attitude from earlier becoming more pronounced.

Replicating the exact conditions wouldn’t be beneficial in Budoshi’s opinion; he didn’t think frustration was going to be something that would fit this experiment, it was just the moment of discovery. Besides, anyone willing to learn would do so with multiple methods. Without warning, Budoshi reached out for Flambréra’s hand and tried to take hold of it. “Replicate it, okay.” Budoshi winked. “You asked for it.” Throwing caution into the wind, he then tried to hop up, and give Flambréra a kiss on the cheek.

“Yeah.” Budoshi responded confidently. Evidently he would say as much as many times as he needed to for Flambréra to take him seriously or believe him even the slightest bit.

Budoshi shrugged. “I dunno, I think it’s pretty simple in some aspects. It makes sense to be a little confused about something so new and sudden— I kind of am as well— I’m just more excited to figure it out.” He cared little for the whims of the universe though, Budoshi just always did as Budoshi does; that was what made him him and not someone else.

“Uh-huh. It’s a big discovery.” Budoshi waggled his finger at Flambréra in a comically exaggerated manner. “We’ll see who proves what.”

Once more, the reaction had occurred, as soon as Budoshi managed to kiss Flambréra on the cheek, several things happened for him in tandem with what went on with her. Budoshi’s eyes flashed a different colour entirely— yellow to green, then back to normal. Several lightning bolt shaped streaks of colour flashed through his hair from the roots to the tips as well. Small bits of ice had formed on his face and over his hands in thin layers, but they were different, energized— electrified. Budoshi also saw how Flambréra reacted, and what he saw emboldened him as he gently squeezed her hand. “Boundless energy, the purr not unlike thunder to herald lightning, fur empowered with flaming electric energy— It’s for fuckin’ real baby!! Dual affinity confirmed!!”

Budoshi was ecstatic, in awe of something so sudden and probably looked quite silly to anyone without context, but the Tuffle didn’t give a shit about anyone else’s opinion all too often, and he especially didn’t give a shit now outside of whatever Flambréra herself had to say.

Watching further reactions take place, such as the energized volcanic smoke puff and Flambréra’s hair frizzing and curling out with a lightning bolt through it was well, Budoshi pretty much danced on the spot.

“Yeah!! A second one that’s the same!” Budoshi confirmed enthusiastically. He was just happy about the discovery, but he also wanted to make sure Flambréra, while understandably flabbergasted, was not lost and without some sort of anchor despite being surprised.

“Why not both!?” Budoshi grinned, sparks bouncing around his eyes. The Tuffle let out a laugh when Flambréra playfully punched him, to which he immediately responded by doing the exact same thing. “Good news! Your hair is always amazing.” He really got far more excitable during this, didn’t he? “What part of any of this is normal? I don’t think much of it is!” With a smile, Budoshi took some time to just enjoy the moment before eventually letting go of Flambréra’s hand. “Heh, alright. I think they’ll be here soon to come find me, and we’ve probably exhausted Dahlia’s patience by now, right?”