When the ocean meets fire

~~~~~~~~~~~~Torment~~~~~~~~~~~~

Up would say that the mission was going...slightly better. Well, at least he’d talked to Taz properly, and she’d cheered him up in her own way.

***

“It’s been two years since jour injury, and it’s time to move on!” She spoke more softly to him than earlier, despite the fact that she punched him on the shoulder. It may have hurt but her touch still sent a shiver down his spine, which he did well to hide.

“Jou taught me something once: that no matter how hard jou get knocked down, jou’ve always got to get back up.” Up felt his heart leap; Taz had actually remembered that. “Well now it’s jour turn! Get back up!” After Taz’s pep-talk, he’d felt much more at ease around the crew. Up loved how she could warm his heart with the simplest things. Taz wasn’t one to make a song and dance about things.

***

However, he could see Taz’s growing irritation with him. The amount of times she’d rolled her eyes at something he said made him feel even smaller even though she probably didn’t realise it. But perhaps she wasn’t as irritated with him as she was with the Megagirl unit. Up was glad that at least Taz thought he was better than a robot. The truth was that Up was terrified of the new robot in their crew, and he’d been trying to stop Taz from angering it, but it just wasn’t working with his new self.

***

“De only thing that needs to rest are jour jokes, because they are so tired.” Taz, stop it! You can’t trust a robot, remember? She could start firing at us...more importantly, at you, any second!

“For maximum efficiency just use your thermo-vision to scan for signs of life... Oh wait- I have mistaken your futility for my utility.” Don’t react, Taz- that’s just what it wants! Taz took two large and heavy strides over to the Megagirl unit and pointed her finger at it. Here we go...

“One more comment like that- and I’m going to wrap jou up in a tortilla, and then I will eat jou- AS A SNACK- maybe with some pico de gallo.” She didn’t need to shout; her voice had enough power in it that if she’d been talking to a human, they’d be cowering in fear now. However the Megagirl unit just seemed to keep coming back with responses- a perfect match for Taz.

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Look at me. Look at me.” The robot mimed what was meant to be eating. “I am a puny human. I must replenish my energy by using inefficient chemical processes. Now I am slightly less weak.” Up had to admit it: the robot was annoying, and he didn’t like it one bit that it was insulting Taz. However, Taz seemed to be at boiling point.

“Ok...I’M GOING TO SHOOT THIS METAL BITCH!” She’s already left Up’s side and was aiming he zapper at the Megagirl unit, having swung the strap off her shoulder like she always did when she was planning to shoot the hell out of something. Up leapt to put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to stop her, and surprisingly he felt her relax immediately, but the death-glare didn’t leave her face.

Up had foolishly tried to hold her hand as they split up to look for February, but she snatched it away. Up desperately wanted to tell her what had happened when she was away; how he never wanted to let her go again; why he was now just a wimp, but, of course, his old self wasn’t strong enough.

It was utter torture.

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Taz didn’t know why her mouth wasn’t paying any attention to her head and her heart. She desperately wanted to talk to Up properly and ask him what the hell those idiotas back at the G.L.E.E base had done to him, but instead the emotion that her conversation with Peter had left her with was overthrowing any concern she had for Up on the outside at the moment. She sat alone in the her room trying to work out, and thought about how mean she’d been to him since the start of the mission.