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5th Knock-out

Content upon knowing Cyclone finally acknowledged good results of his past attempt, Ice let his eyes wandered to the other cinnamon roll, who was literally jumping up and down for his upcoming description.

"You're cute."

His enthusiasm dropped at once.

"Sweet?"

Thorn looked ready to sulk in Solar's previous corner. Ice chuckled, "Kidding, kidding~" Teasing ran in Ice's blood.

Blaze tugged at his lover's sleeve, face resembled a kicked puppy, "Are you gonna ignore me?"

"In a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the dumbest a person can become, achieve and look, I give you 19."

"WHAT?! "Dumb" isn't even on this list!"

"When it comes to you, it's the list's fault, not mine."

... Correction: Teasing around ran in Ice's blood, along with a whole new level of sarcasm.

From the corner of his eye, Ice noticed Thorn's small pout. Predictable. Much as their green part often seemed innocent and oblivious, it was clear that Thorn could be serious and observant. Especially in terms of fighting or family stuff.

He no doubt wanted to be recognized as someone more than "sweet" and "cute".

"Sounds ironic." Ice said, "But I think "fierce" is more suitable for you."

He earned an incredulous look from Thunderstorm. Red eyes screamed, "What the hell?! You think he is fiercer than me?! What's wrong with you?!"

Blaze spoke up while Earthquake nodded in silent agreement, "At least before officially dating, Thorn didn't stutter whenever Solar was around, nor did he nosebleed when Solar took his shirt off. In fact if that idiot tried to flirt with Thorn more than twice a day, Thorn would beat him to the ground. Great!"

Even Cyclone looked convinced, "Really unlike you..."

"I hate you all!"

Earthquake waved his hand, "Now, now, calm down. Ice is only teasing you, he knows you will have a fit. However, I believe he's serious about giving Thorn "fierce". " Earthquake fixed his gaze on Ice, "Would you mind explaining?"

"Not at all." Ice replied pleasantly, "One's personality displays best when dealing with difficult situations. In our case, I'm sure you know what situation I'm referring to." Solar fidgeted again.

Thorn blinked, "But I wasn't fierce. If I was, I wouldn't let Solar... uhm... and I cried a lot. Crying is a sign of weakness, isn't it?"

"Yes and no."

Ice settled down, carefully thinking of what to say. Thorn was simple-minded and sometimes could be so dense, but also sensitive no less. Ice did not want to risk hurting him. He was sarcastic, not cruel.

"You know what?" Ice said slowly, "Crying is indeed a sign of weakness. When you cry, you not only allow yourself to fall, but also show your helplessness to the world. You let it all out."

Thorn found himself staring into twin deep blue Topazes.

"And it's nothing bad."

Cyclone touched Thorn's shoulder, like how he had once hugged the other, allowed him to wet Cyclone's shirt with tears, "It's frustrating when you can't smile, and horrible when you can't cry. Trust me, I know it."

Aah, speaking of fake smile periods...

"It's safe to say that crying is a sign of being honest with yourself, too. If you can cry freely, for whatever reasons, you're lucky." Ice rolled his eyes. Yeah, a luxury one could hardly get, "And, you always manage to pull yourself together afterwards."

Ice shot Solar a look. Lucky you, if Thorn fell apart, I WOULD kill you.

The reciever shuddered.

Blaze scratched his chin, "Dunno if y'all noticed, but Thorn entered training room a lot after that." Thunderstorm dropped his eyelids in approval. He was also there.

The Emerald-eyed slightly faltered. He really hoped none of them had noticed, but maybe, spying ran in the family too...

Thorn often found it hard to fight back tears, but he was no crybaby. He just liked being honest with his feelings.

So when he was done crying, it was done. He refused to be whiny and instead thought of more productive activities to do. Such as strengthening himself. They were likely to encounter even greater villains in the future, he did not want to risk losing any of his friends. Again. That accident scared the life out of him already enough, thank you very much.

"For someone so soft to bear some thoughts so hard, you are fiercer than you look." Ice claimed. Like a radiant flower at dawn and resilient thorny branches in the dark.

Thorny vines mercilessly bound potential threats, strangled them, unafraid of being blood-stained. The most lifeful element, yet willing to make something, someone, lifeless. Valuing life enough to eliminate existences which promised death and destruction.

"I cried to my heart's content, thereby regaining my composure, then stopped. Crying is good but it doesn't suit me very well." Thorn grinned before his expression went serious, "I want us to survive, to live together, laugh together. I can't risk losing any of you."

That's why I will continue to strangle our villains before they can lay a finger on us. I made up my mind, which was pretty simple, that I would never let accidents like that happen again. Never ever again.

I will become stronger.

"Determination makes you fiercer than many tough-looking people." Ice concluded, "I can see why Solar is willing to be your punching bag."

Said punching bag protested, "No, I'm not willing!"

"Ah, you're right." If only "insanely-dreadfully-physically strong" was on the list...

Blaze once again whined, "Ice. Ice... Iceeeee..."

Ice looked at him, "Who are you again?"

"ICE!"

Ice sighed. Oh heck, how he wished there was "overly childish" too.

He gave that teenager-looking child a quick peck on the lips, successfully turned him into a dumb stone.

"I love you."

It was number 10, so it counted.

And Blaze claimed to be the dumbest stone ever in the world.

*TBC*