#bibliophilea

-@yourneighborhoodneighbor

~ 50. kisses with their last dying breath

(i did indeed use an Interpretation of this prompt. tagging @duchi-nesten for what will be obvious reasons) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There were too many of them.

Danny managed to fire off an ectoblast. It struck an enemy, evaporating it into bits and pieces, but where one was destroyed, there were a dozen more to take its place. They swarmed forward, clearly eager to avenge their fallen kin.

He was oddly reminded of the thrall army he'd faced at Pariah's Keep. Of course, that army had been far worse than this one, but he'd had the advantage of a tricked out mech and his own ragtag army of ghosts from his rogue gallery. Here, he had nothing more than his own core, which was quickly beginning to give out, and...

"Valerie!" He scrambled to his feet, just barely escaping a swipe of razor sharp claws. She could handle herself fine, of course, but if she was facing an attack like this one...

If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

The distinct metal shink! of a sword reached his ears. He resisted the urge to swear. Of course she'd be forced to rely on her sword. They'd long since discovered her suit was nothing more than a fancy paperweight here. Sure, it wasn't just any average sword - he'd given it to her himself, after all - but one sword against a mob this size...

Clumsily, he sidestepped another enemy lunging at him. He would've preferred to just rid himself of it entirely, but with his core running so dangerously low, he'd be lucky to pull off a few sparks. Instead, he channeled what remaining energy he could at willing himself intangible and making a mad dash through the horde towards the sounds of the sword and struggle.

It wasn't easy. By the time he reached her, his core was shuddering violently, and he found himself shaking. He collapsed behind her, pressed up against a rocky ledge. "How're you holding up?" he wheezed.

Valerie grunted as she swung her sword down and into another enemy. It succumbed instantly. "I've been better." Her voice was tight - the same voice she got when facing down the likes of the Fright Knight or the Ghost King. "You?"

He looked up. Without her helmet on, her hair flowed loose and free behind her. The fire in her eyes shone brighter than ever. Though her face was contorted into one of exertion and pain, there was a beauty to it, one he found to be unmatched by any being in this world or any. She moved with a finesse and grace he could only hope to match, striking down her foes with deadly accuracy.

It was no wonder Danny found himself speechless. God, I love this girl.

Except she would most definitely give him an earful if he said that out loud in the middle of a situation like this. Instead, he swallowed it down and used the ledge to help him stagger up. "I don't think we're gonna make it," he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking too much.

Because wasn't that a horrifying thought?

Valerie seemed to think so too, if the way she whirled on him with an expression of horror told him anything. "Wh- no! Don't talk like that! We'll be fine!"

"What's the point in kidding ourselves?" He didn't mean to sound so frustrated, but in a situation like this, he couldn't help himself.

She shot him a glare before focusing back on the throng quickly advancing on them. "I don't know who you think I am, but I don't give up without a fight!"

"I don't either! But if all that's gonna happen is that we're gonna die either way..."

She faltered and glanced back at him. "We're not - I'm..."

Danny didn't see the attack until it was too late. He tried to warn her, tried to throw himself in front of it, but it was too fast. With a sharp cry of pain, Valerie was thrown back into him, and they fell to the ground.

He scrambled to sit up. She sat there, in his lap, hissing in pain as she examined the damage to her side. His stomach churned at the sight, even more so when she began to reach blindly for her fallen sword.

He caught her hand. "Please, Val..." he whispered. "I don't want to spend our last moments like this."

"Y-you're being overdramatic," she whispered right back, but the sheen of tears threatening to fall from her eyes betrayed her.

Carefully, he twisted his hand so his fingers interlocked with hers. "I'm scared." It was a confession he hadn't been expecting to make. "I'm... it's gonna hurt."

The mob was upon them now. She leaned into him, and he hoped it was more out of a desire to be closer to him than an effort to keep away from the threat. Their eyes locked together.

If it had been a movie, she would've given him an inspiring speech, with an orchestra swelling behind her voice and dramatic lighting highlighting the two of them and everything. She would've confessed her undying love right then and there, and it would've been the key to unlocking some latent power within him to eradicate the whole army at once and fly them to safety.

But it wasn't a movie. There would be no eleventh hour miracle.

And so instead, as the mob launched into their final attack, she took his face in her hands and brought his lips to hers. He responded just as fiercely, using the last dredges of his energy to pour every ounce of love he could into the kiss.

The attack hit, and the world went black. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The next thing Danny felt was his head slamming into a wall.

"Gah!" He crumpled to the floor, rolling and groaning as he gripped the back of his skull. "Uggghhhh, I think I broke it. I told you it was gonna hurt."

Valerie snorted. He cracked open an eye to see her sitting at her desk. A familiar, pixelated "GAME OVER" screen flashed behind her as she grinned down at him with crossed arms. "You only have yourself to blame," she said with a cheek that could only be rivaled by him. "I told you you'd regret overshadowing the game, but noooo. You just had to get the 'authentic Minecraft experience'."

"Exactly! There's no better way to get an authentic experience than by doing it first hand!" He rolled himself to sit up. The same "GAME OVER" screen taunted him from his laptop. "So really, I still win."

Even if he forgot just how violently games liked to throw him out when he died in-game. But he would never admit that out loud.

Valerie hummed. She spun back around and clicked to respawn. "Maybe you really did hit your head too hard. I wouldn't exactly call getting owned by a mob of Creepers 'winning'."

"Look, how was I supposed to know they'd spawn all over like that?" He stood up and stretched like a cat before walking over to her. With a grin of his own, he propped his arms on the back of her chair and leaned down to rest his chin on her shoulder. "Besides, getting you to kiss me like that? In Minecraft? That was a win all its own."

He didn't need to see her face to know she rolled her eyes. "I only did it because I knew you'd come back and get all melodramatic if I didn't. And it doesn't count as me kissing you if it was my avatar kissing you."

🎃🎃🎃

Hello! I just filled out the form, and I saw that there weren’t any checkboxes regarding the GN! Was that something you forgot, or something you decided against? Either way, just thought I’d poke you here about it, in case it was something you forgot! Have a nice day!

My Holiday Truce gift for @bibliophilea! They asked for some tucker content and im happy to deliver! :)

💖 What made you start writing?

Oh! I always liked writing but I was also always terrified to post anything bc I was afraid of being rejected or bullied or criticized.