Ying slowly woke up from his sleep with a blurry face standing over him. His head was foggy and his body felt heavy. He tried to make out the face and squinted a bit. Francis was standing over Ying with a concerned look on his face.
"What's goin on?…" Ying said as he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. "Whats wrong?"
"Well…" Francis said as he twiddled his fingers, "I stitched you up, but I'm not sure how good of a job I did. It was a pretty bad wound and I'm certainly no doctor, you should probably take a look when you're ready."
Ying sighed and lifted his sleeve. He couldn't see very well, but from what he could see it was a decent patch job. He would definitely need to be careful for the next few weeks, but it would hold for now.
"I think you did okay… but why do I feel so blah?"
Francis looked nervous.
"Well, uh… Adrian gave you some 'medicine' to keep you asleep."
"…And what medicine was that, may I ask?" Ying said through gritted teeth.
Francis looked at Adrian as he spoke. "I think he said it was something called propofol?-"
"PROPOFOL!?" Ying interrupted. "That's a hardcore sedative, only to be administered by specialized doctors! Why the hell would you let him inject me with drugs on a whim!?"
"I didn't know!" Francis insisted. "And he can be very persuasive!"
Ying sighed and laid back down. "He bulldozed your opinion I bet, that's how he is. Plus, it does feel kinda nice, I suppose… relaxing, y'know? Propofol tends to wear off quickly, anyway. Things should be ok."
"Thank god," breathed Francis, "I thought we really screwed up there."
"Hey, where is Adrian anyway?" Ying asked absent mindedly as he began to recollect himself.
"He said he had to get something and then just kinda left. I have no idea where he is." Francis said as he slumped against a cabinet.
Ying rubbed the bridge of his nose in an irritated fashion. "Goddamnit. He could be anywhere by now. Who knows when he's coming back. You know he shouldn't be moving much right now, right?"
"I can't really stop him, I've been called a pushover a lot. Adrian says I'm like a welcome mat with how often I let people walk over me." Francis said, embarrassed.
"So I'm stuck with a maniac and his 'yes man'. Awesome." Ying threw his hands in the air frustratedly.
"Better than being alone, right?" Francis said with a hint of positivity. "I mean, you seem like a nice guy to hang out with."
"I happen to like being alone most of the time. I find that people are usually idiotic and self-destructive, much like you know who. People are stupid and irritating." Ying said with a poisonous look on his face.
Francis rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Wow, you're really direct."
Just then, the door to the storage room flew open with a crash. Ying drew his pistol instinctively and pointed it at the door as best he could with the drugs still slightly affecting him. A familiar lock of red hair poked through the doorway.
"I'm baaaaack~!" Adrian said with a sing-song voice. "And I brought food."
Ying put his gun away reluctantly. Adrian had only been there for about 10 seconds, and Ying's blood was already beginning to boil. He walked right up to Adrian and began to speak his mind.
"You are a selfish, pig-headed, moronic motherfucker! You know that!? You risked ripping your extremely delicate stitches for some fucking snacks!? What did you even get!? I bet you got something completely inedible too! You always have the-"
Adrian put a hand on Ying's face suddenly, cutting him off. He looked up at Adrian's grinning face. Ying had just found it in him to be extremely confused before Adrian shoved his head out of the way, knocking him over.
"-worst taste in food." Ying finished, angrily.
Adrian walked right over to Francis and ruffled his hair.
"I got us some food. I see the surgery went well, hope he hasn't dragged your self-esteem any lower." Adrian said, looking back at Ying with a sour look.
Francis looked at the floor and smiled. "Oh it's okay, he's just a bit tired, that's all."
"What I'm hearing is 'yes Adrian, he was very mean to me!'" Adrian said, doing a very poor impression of Francis.
Francis shook his head. "No really, he was kinda rude at first but then he apologized. It's all good now. Plus, it's been a hard couple of weeks for everybody, we should cut each other some slack."
Hearing the difference in their voices was profound to Ying. The only voice he had heard for the past two weeks had been those screaming survivors that he abandoned, and his own. To hear the difference in pitch was a bit surprising. Adrian's voice was medium low, with a gravely, raspy aspect to it. Francis's voice was on the high end, and his voice cracked quite often. Maybe human interaction would do Ying some amount of good.
Adrian was being a lot more gentle with Francis than Ying expected. This was unlike Adrian. He was speaking somewhat normally, and hadn't done anything crazy in around 30 seconds. Curious. Suddenly, Ying noticed what Adrian was carrying. Lunchables. The holy grail for anyone that works past their sleep schedule. Ying teleported over and grabbed a box. He had just now realized, but his body was outraged with hunger. His stomach ached and was screaming for food."
"JESUS!" Cried Adrian. "That's still so goddamn freaky."
Ying tore into those lunchables like a wild animal. Within 20 seconds, the first lunchable had disappeared into his stomach.
"Mmmmmmm," mumbled Ying through bites, "You finally have shome tashte I shee."
Adrian ignored Ying and opened up a box for him and Francis.
After a longer-than-average snack break, Ying got up and cleared his throat.
Ying looked at Adrian sternly. "Alright, let's make this clear. I'm gonna get us out of here, and then we're gonna bring you back to the lab. After you're all patched up, you and Francis here are gonna help me with a few things. Got it? I'm not doing this for free. A human flamethrower might come in handy."
Adrian chuckled and bent down to get in Ying's face. "And what's stopping us from just leaving? What makes you think that we'll help you?"
"Because," Ying smirked, "You don't help me, and you die."
Adrian began to cackle. "You think you can kill me!? Hahahahaha! That's hysterical! You couldnt kill one of those fuckin creatures, let alone me!"
"For the record, I did kill one while getting this." Ying gestured to his shoulder. "And I won't be what kills you. Well technically I'd be involved, but I wouldn't be- ok listen. That creature did some serious damage. As I was pulling out those needles, I noticed one of them had ruptured one of the many tubes in your conflagration system."
"My what?" Adrian said as he scratched the back of his head in confusion.
Ying sighed. "It's a fancy word for fire. The creature messed up your fire system. Blood is flooding in and starting to clot inside the tubes, closing them and trapping the gas. Not to mention its likely fucking up the entire internal structure of the system. Unless I correct those issues its likely the pressure is gonna build up in those pipes, or more likely the whole thing is gonna malfunction. Either way you're probably gonna explode. Honestly I'm amazed anything even came out when you were trying to burn me earlier. Soon, you won't be able to even use your abilities without immense pressure buildup."
Adrian's expression changed, and his smile faded. "…So you're holding me hostage?"
Ying smirked. "Indeed I am. I give you about 2-3 days before it begins to flood into the core, and about 6 hours before it completely blocks your system."
Adrian began rubbing at the metal-rimmed hole in his palm. Adrian had holes all over his body for expelling fire, including the tips of his fingers and his palm. He hadn't been without his powers in forever. What was he going to do? He had relied on them so much in the past, He even wore specialized shoes with an insulated hole in the bottom so he could use his feet. Living without his fire would be like being paralyzed. Plus, death wasn't a great option either.
His face contorted in anger, and he stared at the ground as he gritted his teeth. "Fine." Was all he said.
Francis breathed a sigh of relief.
Ying laughed. "Good. Now follow me."
Ying led them outside and through the hospital until they were outside. He looked around and made sure it was safe. Then, he grabbed Adrian and Francis by the arm.
Adrian looked at Ying with a worried look. "So like, you're gonna warn us before you-"
Bam. They were atop a large apartment building.
"HOLY SHIT!" Adrian yelled.
His foot was almost hanging off the edge and he nervously scrambled backward a safe distance.
Ying snickered a bit. "I suppose I'm only adept at teleporting myself. Expect some issues going forward."
Ying was able to see pretty far from this rooftop, he could probably get them about half way there with one jump. He steadied himself and aimed for an open patch of freeway. Poof. They were there. After a few more jumps and a narrow incident where Francis nearly fell off of a water tank, they made it back to the science building.
"Nice base you got here." Adrian grinned. "Hope you dont mind if I make myself comfortable."
"I very much do mind." Ying said, annoyed. "You arent staying permanently. This is temporary."
Francis piped up. "About that, I was-"
Ying cut him off. "Neither of you are gonna be here long. You can sleep where you like, but don't. touch. anything. You listen to me, and we help each other. Deal?"
"Whatever." Adrian scoffed.
Ying could tell that Adrian was still rattled about being rendered a mere mortal. Adrian's ego inflated by 1,000 after Ying installed that fire machine in him, Ying wondered what Adrian would be like without it. As they were prepared to walk inside, Sunflower joyfully flew over and began to flap around chirping, greeting her new friends. Adrian began to swat at the bird, but Sunflower treated it like a friendly game and dodged his hands.
"What the- get this fuckin bird away from me! Why do you have an attack bird!?"
Francis just giggled and watched Sunflower in awe.
Ying grabbed Adrian's hand mid swipe. "That's Sunflower, and she's the homeowner here. She's a new mother, and you will respect her and treat her carefully. She is not an attack bird, but she's really friendly and surprisingly smart."
"Thats so cool!" Francis said excitedly. "I've always wanted a bird!"
Sunflower responded by carefully landing herself on Francis's head, and poking at his glasses with her beak. Francis giggled and fidgeted with exhilaration.
"Can I pet her!?" He whisper-yelled to Ying.
Ying nodded, and Francis carefully stroked her with his index finger. Sunflower cooed and closed her eyes for a few minutes of petting before flying back to her nest.
Ying chuckled. "I've yet to meet her babies, but I'm sure they're gonna be adorable."
Ying brought them inside and set them up in the common area, a massive open space in the front of the building where large crowds would sometimes gather for demonstrations. It was about the size of a large theater, and the ceiling was a good 50 feet in the air with fancy chandeliers and art pieces hanging from it.
Ying sighed as he thought to himself about what to do next. "You guys can do what you like here. I'll set you up with some mattresses later."
"Thanks!" Francis said excitedly as he began wandering around.
Adrian was rather moody. He was waving away Francis's excitement and instead began criticizing anything he could find.
"All these hanging sculptures clutter the place up. This is too spacious. Why are the walls half wood and half stone? That doesn't make any sense." Etc, etc.
Francis elbowed him hard. "We're guests here, please try to be polite. If you haven't noticed, he's already close to kicking us out."
Ying's eye was beginning to twitch, and his face flushed with anger. He was just about to swing at Adrian, but decided it was better to keep the peace for now.
Francis looked at both of them and sighed. "Guys, please, can you set it aside for a while? It's the apocalypse for goodness sake! As far as we know, we're the only people that have made it this far. We don't know what's waiting for us out there, and we don't know who else may be wandering around looking to take what we've built out from under us!"
"We've built?" Ying said with a raised eyebrow.
"You've built." Francis conceded. "But still! You have got to see the bigger picture here. We can help each other if you can let it go. We can still put up a fight if we work together, but we don't stand a chance if we're tearing ourselves apart from the inside. We're in this together. Please, will you at least try to be peaceful? Just while we're here?"
Adrian and Ying paused and looked at Francis, and then each other. Their anger and tension was palpable. Ying groaned and closed his eyes. Adrian spat on the ground and looked away.
"Fine." They said in unison.
"I'll do my best to be peaceful. But I'm counting on you to keep him under control." Ying said to Francis as he pointed at Adrian.
Adrian kicked over a potted plant that had long since died and walked outside.
"Well if that's everything, you make yourselves comfortable. I'm gonna go get you prepared for a short stay." Ying said as he left the room.
Francis gave a tired smile. "Thank you, again."
Ying paused for a moment before continuing to walk away. "You're welcome."
Later that evening, Ying had gathered sleeping supplies for Adrian and Francis. He had gotten 2 twin mattresses, and 2 cheap bed frames. He had also gathered blankets and pillows. Ying teleported in with the last of the sheets. Adrian was sitting on a nearby bench staring at his vents. He was deep in thought as he rubbed his palm. What was gonna happen to him?
Ying paused for a moment before breaking the silence. "Where's Francis?"
"Taking a shower." Adrian replied absent mindedly.
Ying put the sheets down and returned to the conversation. "Ok… uh, what are you doing?"
"I'm coming up with an evil plot to try and take over this base." Adrian said sarcastically.
"Oh please. You'll never be able to take over this base, not with all the tech available to me. Go ahead and try though." Ying said confidently.
Adrian chuckled a bit. "You aint too bright for a genius, you know that? Nah, I'm just thinking."
Ying stood there awkwardly. "Oh… hm."
The two of them stood there in deafening silence for a good 10 seconds before Ying piped up. "So are you gonna apologize for trying to shoot me before?"
Adrian gave his trademark laugh. "You cant be serious right? Me, apologize to you?"
Ying crossed his arms. "You tried to kill me. If we're gonna work together I'd at least like an apology.
"It was kill or be killed! I didn't know what you were gonna do and frankly I didn't care. You threatened me, so I acted to get rid of that threat. That's on you." Adrian said matter-of-factly.
Ying was beginning to get angry. "How dare you try to blame that on me! It was a tense standoff, I'll give you that, but I was defending myself! You can be dangerous, you know that. Are you really gonna stand there and act like you shooting first was self defense?"
Adrian put his hands behind his head and laid back. "That's exactly what I'm gonna do. You know you always make a big deal out of everything. You're alive aren't you? you teleported away. No harm no foul."
Ying threw his hands in the air frustratedly. "Oh my god- you know you are just as dismissive as usual. You trying to kill me is a big fucking deal! Can you at least acknowledge that!?"
"Oh fuck you! You just want a reason to blame me- in fact, you brought that up looking for an argument I bet. You always try to find someone to blame." Adrian said as he sat back up.
"I came into this wanting an apology, as I fucking said. But you cant even do that can you? One fucking apology is too much for your damn ego, and how dare you assume that I-" Ying was cut off by squeaking, echoing footsteps from behind them.
"So this is what peace looks like." Francis said disappointedly. "I was gone for 15 minutes, how did this happen?"
Ying scoffed and walked out. "I got your fuckin sleep supplies, set it up yourselves. I'm hitting the hay early. Bathroom is the next floor up, you know where the showers are, dont even think about going anywhere else inside this building. Good fucking night, welcome home."
Ying flipped them the bird as he went upstairs. Everyone went to bed unhappy that night. Adrian stayed up pondering his future. He had never had to worry about death before, and now he had to put his life in the hands of someone who hated him? The thought scared him more than he thought it would. He hadn't been scared of anything in a long time. Death was a frightening concept. He fell asleep as his mind wondered about different afterlives.
Ying went to bed angrier than ever before. The man he hated most in the world was sleeping below him, in his house. He pictured different scenarios where he got to finally defeat Adrian, finally overpower him, finally rid himself of Adrian. All of a sudden, his mind flashed with an image of Adrian on Ying's birthday. Adrian was giving his signature smile. He looked much younger, and he was handing Ying a present.
"Happy Birthday, buddy! I hope you like it, I made it for you!"
Ying was hit with a powerful flash of painful nostalgia. He remembered that birthday. It was Ying's 13th birthday, his first birthday without his brother. He had planned on just staying in that day playing games and he didn't invite anyone. Then out of the blue, he got a knock at the door. Of course it was Adrian. Ying was just about to turn him away and say he wasn't having a party before Adrian thrust a gift into Ying's chest. Adrian had made him a terrarium from scratch. Ying remembered bringing Adrian inside and spending the rest of the night playing games and laughing together before falling asleep in front of the TV.
Ying let the memory stay for a bit before waving it away and trying to push his mind into thinking about something else. He went to bed uncomfortably with that nostalgia still eating away at him. As for Francis, he was just sad no one was getting along. He wished he could help make those two see eye to eye, but he didn't know how. He just wanted to make things better. He went to bed disappointed in himself, for not being able to help.