#off-404

Viridian grinned at Chill and extended her hand. The ice elemental grumbled and accepted it. He let her help him back up on his feet then immediately tried to tackle her. Viridian laughed and sidestepped him then stuck her foot out so he tripped and fell back down again.

“Fucking--” he swore while he fell, then glared while he got back up to his feet. 

“Give up?” Viridian asked with a big grin. 

“Like hell. I’m gonna beat you if it’s the only thing I do today.”

“You want the kiss that bad, huh?” Her grin grew wider. “Good luck. You’ll need it.”

“Hey, Chill?” A young Shocky called his older brother’s attention. Chill was helping him with his tie for the morning, and he was making it too loose as usual. “When is Uncle Vio coming back?”

Chill visibly stiffened at question and didn’t reply. His frown grew deeper and more pronounced, and Shocky was afraid he was in trouble. 

“Listen, Shocky.” Chill spoke when he tied the tie. He moved his hands to Shocky’s shoulders and squeezed them slightly. “Sometimes…sometimes, bad people come into your life. They look like good people and act like good people, but they aren’t.”

Shocky looked at Chill in mild confusion then asked, “But…Uncle Violet was a good person. He helped me, and brought me gifts and stuff.”

He got a sympathetic smile in return. “Maybe he was, but in the end, he wasn’t.”

“But…” Shocky wanted to argue his case more, but Chill had such a sad look in his eyes and it made his words die in his chest. “….So he’s not coming around anymore?”

“No, he won’t.” Chill tried to smile, but Shocky could tell it was empty. He closed his eyes when the ice elemental leaned in and kissed his forehead, and he pulled back with weak grin. “Now, come on, we’ve got work to do.”

“Okay.” Shocky nodded and followed Chill out the door. He didn’t feel good about the talk, but knew that he wasn’t the only one missing Violet.

Chillby!

@off-404