"The… Eternia. Heal! Heeeallll. Bow."

"Wow, yeah, OK, who's ready to stop fucking around with sharp objects? This bitch, right here!"

"Maybe you need to point it at me?"

"Whoa, fuck, hold on! How about you DON'T point a sword directly at my Bow— friend. Friend who is Bow, not… Can't you just knock it off with the sword, Adora?"

"Glimmer, I've got it."

"You don't have shit! You've got no clue what you're doing and you're going to end up stabbing him!"

"Wait! You see that glow? I think it's working!"

"Yeah… I think I— ARGH!"

"Another fucking glitch. Why can't I do this?"

"Don't throw the goddamn— Sword FUCKING safety!"

Adora still wasn't back. Which wasn't surprising as it had only been about half an hour and finding some random beacon an old lady told you about in a forest that literally rearranged itself sometimes and then learning how to heal somebody with magic probably took a bit longer than that but Glimmer had secretly been hoping. Partly because everything between her and Bow right now was stilted and weird. Partly because he was still glitching, and she wanted him better NOW.

She'd been keeping a running tally of how often he glitched and for how long and it wasn't great. Not getting any worse, thankfully, but not getting any better either. Though the food seemed to have helped. Since he'd finished the first bowl of soup—He was currently on his third. She'd known that stubborn butt had to be hungry!—it had been a couple of extra minutes between glitches. Maybe rest would help too, give his body what it needed to help fight the... whatever the hell this was.

Stupid magic. That was the part she hated the most. Her dads had given her and her siblings training on caring for illness and injury, but all of it was useless against whatever this dark magic bullshit this was. She wanted something she could fix! Or better yet, punch!

She stacked up her and Adora's used bowls on the tray, mostly to keep herself from marching back to the Fright Zone and ripping Shadow Weaver a new asshole. Even hyped up on rage and worry, she wasn't dumb enough to think that would go well. The healers had insisted on giving her a pain spell but her neck still felt bruised from the shadow magic, every breath laced with a dull ache. That and the bandages on her arm and head were a reminder of how close they both came to not getting out of there.

Bow dropped his spoon into his bowl, sudden enough that it splashed soup. Glimmer could only watch helplessly as he rode out another glitch. He kept insisting it didn't really hurt, but he was clearly full of shit from the way his whole body tensed every time it happened. When it finally passed, Bow picked up his spoon again and cleared his throat as if nothing had happened.

"This is really good." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, the air between them still as charged as it had been back in his mom's office. "I didn't know you could cook."

He sounded almost hurt about it.

"I can't, really. Soup's about the only thing I can't burn." Plus, it fed a lot of people with minimal effort, a simple choice for when it was her turn to cook dinner for everyone back home. But, of course, she couldn't tell him that. She considered explaining that she liked the organizational part of cooking— chopping up vegetables, measuring out seasoning— it was just the actual pay-attention-to-the-stove-long-enough-that-it-doesn't-get-ruined part she sucked at. But that would involve leaving out too many details about her life back home and why and how she knew how to cook in the first place, and she hated lying to him, even by omission.

"Maybe someday you could teach me." He slid his spoon around the edge of a bowl she was almost certain was empty.

"To cook?"

"Yeah."

Did he not just hear her say that she can't cook? That she would burn soup if it wasn't literally impossible? Why the fuck would he want her to teach him? Especially when there was an entire staff of fancy shamancy chefs downstairs who would be far better teachers than she was! For that matter, there was a whole staff of royal cooks ready to make him whatever he wanted, so why would he even need to know how to cook?

But then she got the most vivid image of the two of them alone in her dads' kitchen, trying and failing to make a recipe together, laughing as they made an utter disaster of it and she felt much less opposed to the idea. Sometimes it felt like everything between them would be so much simpler if he was just a normal person and not some important magic prince.

"Uh, yeah. That might be fun."

"Good! Then it's a date! As soon as I'm better and the Horde gives us a break, we'll bake a cake or something." He turned to face her fully then, giving her the full force of that smile of his, and she had to look away so he wouldn't see how she was blushing.

Why did he have to phrase it like that? A date. Like that wasn't what had gotten them into this mess in the first place!

"Bow—" she began at the same time that he said, "I'm so sorry."

"What?"

Bow exhaled. "I'm sorry. For getting mad at you before."

"No, Bow. I'm the one who's sorry."

"Hold on. You can't be sorry when I'm trying to be sorry!"

"Yeah, but your sorry is wrong, and mine is right." Fuck. Here come the tears. "I shouldn't have told your mom, but I was so worried about you and the glitching and I thought she could help. Besides, I know why you were keeping it from her and I appreciate you trying, but you can't protect me."

"What do you mean, protect you?"

"Um, it's pretty fucking obvious that this entire thing is my fault."

"What?"

"If we hadn't gone together, I wouldn't have been distracted. Then you wouldn't have gotten kidnapped and tortured or lost Entrapta and the alliance or have your magic all fucked up! It's my fault, Bow!" She wiped her face with the sleeve of her shirt because, of course, she couldn't even do this without being a blotchy disgusting mess.

Bow shifted closer and grabbed her hand. "No. That's crazy. None of this is your fault."

"Just… don't, OK? We both know I was acting like some gooey idiot about the whole… everything." She pulled her hand away from his and dug into her pocket. She pulled out his gemstone and pressed it into his open hand. "Here."

"Glimmer… " Bow stared at the gem as if he'd never seen it before and then looked up at her. "What happened between us, at the dance—"

"NOTHING happened between us."

He tilted his head. "Uh, I think something happened or at least would have happened if—"

"NOPE."

Bow furrowed his brow, twisting the gemstone between his fingers. She'd tried to wash it off as best as she could in her bathroom sink, but it still looked a little beat up. "What happens if I say I don't want this back?"

She opened her mouth and closed it again a few times. When she finally found her voice, it was a small squeak. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well…" Bow was watching the way the gemstone caught the light. His motions slowed like they were sneaking into dangerous territory. "What if I want you to keep it?"

"Did you, uh…" Glimmer swallowed, her heart pressing up into her throat. She attempted a laugh, but it came out strangled. "Did you forget what that means again?"

"No. I know what it means. And I think giving it to you the first time was a mistake I made on purpose." He held it out, his eyes finally meeting hers, and she knew he was completely serious. "I want you to have it."

Flashes of things she'd never even let herself fantasize about before filled her head, a million futures she'd never considered as options opening in front of her. Like that giddy feeling of dancing together at the ball, but so much worse because now she knew it wasn't only in her head. Glittering moments of them together that she realized in a rush she wanted so much it hurt. And she might have taken it… might have reached out and changed everything then… if he hadn't glitched as she lifted her hand.

"Ugh, s-sorry," Bow said as he came out of it. He wiped a drop of sweat off his brow and opened his palm again, the lines of the gem embedded in his skin from how tightly he'd clenched his fist while glitching. "Terrible timing."

But it wasn't. It had stopped her from making a huge mistake. It had reminded her what happened the last time she'd entertained foolish fantasies and let herself forget she was a soldier with a job to do, not some silly girl who chased daydreams.

She reached over and closed his fingers around the gemstone, gently pushing his hand away. "Bow, I can't take it."

His gaze was intense. "Can't or won't?"

"I'm not… you're a whole…" She hated when he did that, read her like she was an open book. "We're at war!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You're not answering the question."

"And I'm not going to! It's a ridiculous question! This whole thing is ridiculous!" She blinked back tears. "You're my best friend!"

"And you're mine. That will never change. But this whole thing— not just almost losing you but the dancing, the fight, all of it— has made me realize that I'm also in l—"

She lunged across the space between them, pressing her finger over his lips.

"DON'T say it. Please. Because once it's out there it's… there'll be no going back." Why did he have to start this? Now all she could think about was kissing that stupid, sparkly little face! He furrowed his brow, the edges of his mouth tilting up slightly from underneath her fingertip like he could read her mind. She had to get them back on normal footing or she was definitely going to do something she was going to regret. "Let's just hug!"

She flung her arms around him, squeezing him tight. After a moment he returned the hug, sighing into her shoulder, though if it was from frustration or contentment, she couldn't tell. She tried to relax into the familiarity of his embrace. Just a good old-fashioned friend hug like they'd had a billion times before.

Ugh! Why couldn't she just be normal and enjoy it without feeling like she'd thrown away the chance for something better? This was for the best. Safer. They were at war! Hadn't everything that had just happened shown them that distractions were dangerous and feelings mess everything up?

Still…

She moved her lips close to his ear and whispered in a voice barely above a breath. "Ask me again when the war is over."

He pulled her closer, nuzzling his face into her neck and they just sat there like that for she wasn't sure how long until she finally forced herself to pull away. She reached over and cupped Bow's face for a second, brushing a tear off his cheek with her thumb. He laughed and then reached over to touch the shaved part of her hair.

"It's fuzzy. I like it. You look cute."

"Cute. Great. Just what every soldier is going for." But she blushed anyway, swatting his hand away before she was tempted to lean into his touch. She rose and rolled the cart with what was left of the food outside his door for someone to grab later.

"It's a battle strategy. Being adorable." He yawned and she couldn't help but follow suit. Now that she wasn't in full on panic mode, her body had remembered how exhausted it was. "They lower their guard and then, boom, you've got them!"

"You're supposed to be resting so you can get better." She shoved his chest, and he fell back down onto his pillow with a grunt. She pulled the blanket back over him, tucking it under his side. "Actually, I should probably head back to my room, do that too."

She turned to leave the room, but he caught her hand. "I don't want you to leave. Nap in here."

"Bow..." She hated when he did that, asked all cute but in that authoritative tone like it was some royal command. It reminded her that as sweet as Bow was, the prince was not accustomed to hearing no.

"Don't give me that look. We used to have sleepover in each other's rooms all the time. You'd lay right up here on the window seat with me and we'd whisper secrets and make up stupid stories all night. Then you'd pass out and kick me in your sleep until morning and I loved it. Why can't we do that anymore?"

"We were kids back then. It's different now!"

"How?"

"Because!" Of course he didn't get it, he never did. "It's how it looks."

Bow gestured around them. "Glimmer, we're the only ones here."

She groaned. "You know what I mean."

"I don't!"

"Of course you don't. You're a PRINCE! It's completely different for you!" She exhaled, blinking back stupid tears. Gods, he was so dense sometimes. Even if their roles were reversed, he probably wouldn't think anything of it. Why didn't he get that he was a prince and she was a nobody and they couldn't just DO stuff like that! People would always talk and think the worst and ruin everything! "You think I want to leave you right now? I'm worried sick about you. The last thing I want is to let you out of my sight!"

"Exactly! We came so close to almost losing each other and then we fought and I finally have you back and I want you as close as possible. Come lay with me. Please?"

She wanted to. Gods, did she want to. There was nothing she wanted more right now than to cuddle up into his side, hold him close so she could make sure nothing else could hurt him. But they hadn't done that since they were little and it felt like opening a whole dangerous door, she'd only just managed to shut again.

She exhaled. "What if I got my sleeping bag, slept next to you on the floor?"

He cocked his head at her. "You'd really rather sleep on the floor than up here with me?"

And risk Adora or a guard or, shit, his MOM coming in and seeing and everyone knowing and talking about it and laughing at her behind her back? Yes. "It's fine. I don't mind."

Bow made a frustrated sound, but he didn't complain when she grabbed her bedroll and lay it out on the floor next to the window seat. In a minute, she'd gotten herself comfortable on her back. Bow flipped himself onto his stomach and leaned over the edge to look at her. "This seems really silly."

"Hush up and go to sleep." She closed her eyes, ready to pass out any second, when she felt him take her hand. She almost told him not to, but the comforting warmth of his hand was too nice to object to. Besides, it's not like holding hands was some kind of scandalous activity. She closed her fingers around his and had almost drifted off to sleep when she got hit with what felt like a thousand volts of electricity, if the electricity was made of glitter.

"It hurts so. Fucking. Much!" she managed as the feeling subsided. "Shit, that's what it feels like every time you glitch?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. We shouldn't be touching. It's just going to keep happening and I don't want to hurt you." He tugged his hand back, but she pulled it back down against her chest.

"Nah." She entwined her fingers through his, letting herself at least have this. "I'm good."