Forgotten childhood memories

He got to his feet and she thought that would be it. He would just go now and she would be alone again. But then he spoke and her jaw trembled as she listened to him. They had prayed for her? What a weird thing to do. She scraped her gadget with her fingernail, looking at it. The mention of the boat made her look up with vulnerable eyes. So that was why she hadnt been able to find it. She looked at his hand, sobbing, though she was also fighting it, almost choking on them if she had to. But eventually she reached up and grabbed his hand. She didnt want to be here alone anymore. He however had one thing wrong in all he had said. She had never cared if she was hungry or dirty. She just wanted someone to care. Her sobs got worse and eventually she bawled, crying her heart out.

He hugged her close and it helped her cry it out rather fast. She couldnt help it, she just needed to feel that someone, anyone cared enough and a hug was her equivalent of showing it. She calmed down after a while, only making small sobs here and there, drying her face off in her sleeve. She had tears and a bit of drooling going on but she was so aware of it that she could remove it with her sleeves rather quick. She followed his lead out of the little house and out of The Blocks. She remembered South, but not this empty and seemingly ridden of life. Sure some people still seemed to live here and go on with their daily life but it was not like it had been when she was a kid.
Dexter let her in and she looked around for a bit, thinking it didnt look too different from the old one. Like it was almost some attempt at a replica. She hummed as he mentioned unfinished business, nodding as he gave the directions for Eugene’s room. Her heart felt a little heavy as she went to the door. She opened it carefully, seeing him lay there, he looked so different and yet the same. At least she could recognize his features. She carefully went over to sit down next to the bed, placing her chin on the mattress as she looked at him like she had when they were kids. How she would wait till he looked just to make a silly face at him and see that tired smile he could make. She looked to his hand moving her own over to poke his fingers like she did back then to wake him up. She usually warned him as well while she did it. “Careful… bed bugs love sausages and your fingers look just like them!” She whispered to herself in a lighter tone to sound like her kid self as she grabbed his index in a pinching grip, though she wasnt hurting him, no she couldnt hurt him.

He looked at her and somehow he was just so pretty. She had thought so when they were kids too but now they were older. His whisper made her scoff, looking down as she felt her cheeks turn red with the happy feeling inside of her. He touched her hair and it felt nice until he pulled at her bangs making her chuckle with a soft ow leaving her lips. “That or your medication is doing a pretty good job.” She joked, looking at him again. Wow, he was handsome. She had seen a few handsome guys, but none like him. The others were rougher in the features, his was delicate and nice, fitting him perfectly.
He touched her hand and she let him, though when he pulled at her she worried. “I’m not as light as I look.” She said but he was adamant and she gave in. She hugged herself close to him, drawing in a deep breath of content. He said he missed her and she hummed, moving away to look up at him. “Your dad said you were dying. Why would you do that? You promised.” She reminded him, her eyes turning a little sad. Her own breath had a slight rasp to it, like a faint whistle noise whenever she was pushing out the last bit of air. It wasnt too noticeable at this point, only with a good ear.

She didnt really trust doctors so him living past what they had predicted only made her think of them as liars. And she really didnt like liars at all. He coughed and she frowned a little worried. Though as he pressed his head to her chest, she didnt quite understand why. But she let him listen either way. “If we’re both dead, then this shouldnt hurt.” She said, pinching his chest lightly but also enough for him to feel it. She chuckled and shook her head. No they werent dead. She would know.
He cupped her face and she looked at him, frowning a little as he began apologizing. She looked away and sighed. “You can make it up to me by showing me the boat. Has Captain Bottles been allowed to venture out on new adventures?” She asked, looking around but not moving her head too much if he still held it. And if he did, she would lean in towards one of his hands. The contact felt quite nice.

“But has he been on one?” She asked with her brow raised like she needed to know that he at least once had gotten to feel the waters around his boat since she saved him from sewer water. They had gone out a few times after, but it wasnt often it had rained enough for the boat to go along. She grabbed the boat and came back, lying down next to him, chuckling as they werent so small as they had been as kids. Before she had been able to lie next to him and still have some space, now they were almost shoulder to shoulder. She however didnt mind. She looked on as he showed her the upgrades, frowning a little surprised at how well he had taken care of it. “The weight is important so it doesnt just tip over.”  She said like she was reminding herself.
She turned her eyes to him, looking at his face for a bit, leaning her head onto his shoulder. “I’m glad you’re back.” She said truthfully. There werent people who had been as kind as him. She had looked. And she had looked long. Then she remembered, reaching down to her pocket, pulling out the prism, showing that she still had it. Then she frowned as she seemed to remember something. “Oh shit… I’ve forgotten something super important in my hideout.” She groaned, grabbing the homemade inhaler that she used to clear her lungs from the lingering chemicals. It wasnt a permanent solution but it felt like it helped.

She chuckled softly as he explained that the boat had indeed been out. That made her happy to hear. The mention of the first venture made her scoff. “I scraped my knee on that fall.” She said, pulling up her loose pants leg to show a scar on her knee that did look old and shrunken. “But you didnt notice laying in that tub.” She chuckled, shaking the pants back in place with her leg, before she remembered the prism.
But thinking about all the colours it could make made her remember what she had left behind without a thought. His plea made her frown a bit. He took her hand and it was like they were kids again. “But I will have to leave…” she argued softly.
They werent just kids anymore. She couldnt just stay over all the time and leech off him and his father’s hospitality. She sighed, leaning in to connect their foreheads, closing her eyes. “I want to whistle but it’s not just something to be made. It’s a power source. And I spent many months on trying to get it.” She said, looking at him as their foreheads were still touching. “I would be sad if I lost it. And your home is here. While mine’s…. Still in The Blocks.” She said. It was the sad reality.

The least she could do was come back. At least she thought so. But it didnt make things feel easier. Wanting to be there for him but also not discard her work completely. He called her by her nickname he had given her when they were children and she looked at him with vulnerable eyes. “Fine.” She said, switching between his blue eyes, looking at him.
He touched her face and she listened to him, hearing that tremble in his voice. They shared that want. To not just be alone and left to an empty feeling. He lifted his pinky and she looked down at it, unsure how to really react. They had only made one once before and it hurt when it was broken. So she knew it was serious. Her pinky joined his and she sighed. “I promise to never let you feel alone anymore.” She promised, squeezing his finger lightly.

The countdown was almost as important as the promise. Because if one let go before the other, that would feel like they were predicting who would break their promise first. She got out of bed, feeling her heart sink a little as it was time for her to go. He smiled at her in a way she didnt think someone had smiled at her and it made her hurry over to him, pressing her lips to his forehead but she breathed in his scent. To her that was better than kissing him, which she had done for fun while they were kids just to have him gag and tell her off. “Be back soon.” He mumbled against his skin before she hurried off.

Getting back to The Blocks, she stopped by the house to get her bag. But she knew she had to venture further in and now that she had been in South, she seemed to realize that something in the air made her lungs itch inside. She remembered what Eugene’s father had said about his lungs, and she wondered if this was somehow close to that. Probably not. She got back to her hideout, seeing the car that had only fallen apart further as the years had gone by. She went to her work desk, grabbing some drawings that she folded and put in the bag before she went to a little vessel-like thing that was emitting a beutiful light. She wrapped it up in a cloth and put it in the bag as well. She ran her fingers over some of the tools she had hanging, listening to them clank together. “Dont get stolen while I’m gone.” She whispered to them, chuckling softly before she went on her way with the bag, heading right back to Eugene like she had promised.

She got back fairly quickly, having run so fast that her lungs were wheezing just slightly. She went to his bedroom, standing in the doorframe, seeing him by his desk. It made her smile as she curiously looked at what he was doing, to then gasp as he got up. It felt like he was towering over her. “Well, it’s probably the fumes.” She muttered, not having a better comeback. She didnt know why she was tiny! She just was!
But she barely thought about that when he pulled her in for a hug, wrapping her arms around him. She wasnt the strongest, so she couldnt even really squeeze him. She was also malnourished, so it was partly why she hadnt grown nor stayed strong. She was lean from running around all the time but that hadnt been the same since the fumes got thicker.
Useful? He let go and her eyes followed as he went to grab what he had been working on. She put down the bag before she looked at the drawing, reading it carefully. “I like it. I brought my original sketch too. I’m trying to work my way around filtering the air but it’s not like I know how to do that.” She sighed, taking her bag to open and look into. She pulled out a few folded drawings that she just placed on his table. Then she grabbed the packed up power source. It was emitting light through the cloth now that it was out of the bag. “This is it.” She said, unpacking it carefully. If he tried to touch it she would smack his hand away, telling him that she didnt know if it was safe to touch with hands, even though she had done that.

Him not touching it was for his best, she used the cloth to protect her hands too. He asked about it and she frowned a little as it wasnt exactly a nice story. “I just got lucky.” She said, smiling a half smile at him. Though it wasnt exactly just luck. She packed it away and placed the cloth on the desk while he was reading through her work, leaning down to place her head on his shoulder, looking at him improving her ideas. They were good for each other like this, helping the other improve and do better. “Well having someone inside the box keeps my stuff from blowing up in my face.” She argued softly, leaning her head towards his.