They walked out of the amusement park - the place doing exactly what it was designed to do; filling the two with amusement. They began to stroll along the Pier as slowly as they wanted. Clearly, rock candy wasn't enough food for the night. They now strolled along, arms linked - Wade with bubblegum ice cream, and Ember a piping hot coffee.
As they walked along, they looked up at the Pier lights coated along the walkways. A warm breeze gently whizzed past them, causing them to stop in their spots and take it in. They further did so by closing their eyes, comfortable, warm smiles upon each of their faces.
The wind passed, causing the two to slowly open their eyes. Ember took a quick swig of her coffee as Wade stood by her side. As to be expected, not a drop of coffee landed in her mouth before evaporating into the warm wind. Unfazed, she let out a shrug with a smile.
"Worth a shot," she said.
Wade let out a heaping laugh at her, holding his stomach as it jiggled about. Ember threw her cup away in a bin in passing. As she did, Wade looked her way, before his eyes fixated on a bench with an ocean view just past her. He tapped her on the shoulder, directing her attention over to it.
They promptly shifted direction, going up and taking a seat. At this point, moonlight had completely taken over, illuminating the seas in black and white instead of purple and orange. Ember slowly looked over to Wade to see him exhibiting a nice smile. She allowed herself to get lost in it, watching as the water inside his face naturally sloshed about. He slowly looked over at her in a similar fashion.
"I think I did pretty good with tonight." Wade raised.
Ember let out a smirk, nodding silently, unwanting to speak a word instead of living in the moment. She remained that way, shuffling close and resting her head on his shoulder. He let out a grateful smirk, closing his eyes and leaning over on her in tandem. She opened her eyes, staring directly ahead. What could be seen in front of her and Wade was nothing short of breathtaking. The moon stood directly in front, laying out a rippled path to it.
"I could stare out there for hours." she admired.
Wade opened his eyes, gently looking over at her admiring it.
"The way the light of the moon reflects on the water... it's almost like they're stepping stones to get there," she observed.
Wade gently looked out at the comforting pitch-black abyss, only juxtaposed by wonderful moonlight. He let out a smirk, taking in her words.
"Sounds like something I'd say," he remarked.
Ember let out a playful scoff, putting an arm on his chest. She straightened that arm to get up off of him, straightening herself out. The two looked over into each other's eyes. Ember smiled, tilting her head unknowingly.
"Still... nothing compares to your smile." she complimented.
Wade let out an Ember-signature playful scoff, looking down and smiling.
"Now you're just trying to make me smile some more." he quipped.
Ember let out a chuckle. The two quickly leaned toward each other again before long. Wade slung his arm over her, leaning inward.
"Did you wanna talk about this morning?" he raised.
Ember's eyes quickly opened up, looking over at him.
"This morning?" she reacted.
"Yeah!" he agreed.
He gently took both of her hands.
"You were telling me that you were going for an exam this Friday!" he recalled.
Ember let out a nervous chuckle, looking over to her right at the ocean.
"Right- yeah. Of course." she hesitantly agreed.
Being the gentleman he was, Wade caressed her face with a hand.
"That must be so exciting. I mean, I'm over the moon about it!" he exclaimed.
Ember let out a hesitant chuckle, holding her hands in her lap.
"Oh- haha. I mean..." she stammered.
Seeing that she was becoming uncomfortable similar to as of late, he put a hand on her shoulder gently.
"I want to hear all about it. Seriously." he comforted.
Ember gently looked over at him, right in the eyes. She took a quick breath, closed her eyes and nodded.
"Ugh... I'm just- nervous. It's big. Like, too big. It's literally an exam to go into Glassitecture. I- I can't do that! I- I try to express that, and eh- everyone is just like 'You can do it!' and I'm like 'Can I?!'. It feels too fast. It is too fast. I- I- I need more time, I-" she panicked.
As she spiralled into a vat of isolation, Wade did what he knew was best; to stop her from digging too far down. He gently put a finger on her mouth, shushing her with ease.
"Hey- enough negative self-talk." he pressed.
- he takes his finger off her mouth
He slowly dragged it off her lower lip and her face. The flames inside her swirled around manically out of love instead of being afraid.
"If you've had multiple people believing in your dream... maybe it's time that you believe in it too!" he advised.
"But, this is unheard of. I- I've never heard of-" she disputed.
"Ember." he halted her.
She sharply looked over at him, eyes wide in confliction. Wade gently took her hand, holding it up to chin level.
"Are you the Ember too afraid to tell her father that she doesn't want to run the shop? Or are you the Ember that put herself on the line to protect those she loved?" he queried.
Ember leaned forward to disagree, falling blank. He raised an eyebrow in wait for a rebut, before smirking when he realized there was none.
"You've been through this kind of thing before. How is this any different?" he pressed.
Ember, still leaning close to him in debate, slowly looked down, exhaling in thought.
"It isn't. You're on your way to greatness, that's inevitable. Doesn't matter if it's tomorrow, a year's time, or the day after tomorrow- hehe." he reminded.
Ember slowly looked up at his face, wearing a growing smile.
"Tìshôk'. You ain't got forever." Wade persuaded.
She let out a fully grown nice and warm smile. She crawled up to him and sat on his lap, squeezing him in a grateful hug.
"Agh- so can I take that as a yes?" he playfully asked.
She let out an assurative giggle, nodding her head in agreement. She took her head off of his shoulder, looking him in the eyes. The two exchanged a nice, warm look. Yet still, something irked Ember aside from her concern for him. Her smile dimmed slightly, and as a result, as did his
"You know... all this work talk about me recently and you haven't said much about yours." Ember pressed.
Caught a bit off guard, he looked toward her.
"R- really?" he stammered.
Ember let out a gentle smile out of genuine curiosity, nodding. Wade chuckled, wearing his own hesitant smirk and looking away. Taking it as a sign of discomfort, Ember gradually lost her smile, her worrying about him rising.
"Call it prying, but I'm just curious," she assured.
Like a stressed balloon, Wade let out a gusting exhale, growing into a warm smile. He looked down to his right to see Ember's hand dangling in the air. He reached down and took it, looking the other way.
"Work is... well, you know how it is," he said.
Ember suddenly looked up at him in concern. She overthought the answer, her suspicion of his mental state growing. Seeing how he'd been following work every day since being in Elementopia - apart from that night - she proceeded with caution.
"Wade..." she began.
Like he before her, she gently put a hand on his face, facing him toward her.
"Is everything okay? You can tell me anything. You know that." she said.
He looked down at her hand on his face, letting out an appreciative smirk at the gesture. He took it and gently laid it in his lap.
"Things are fine there," he assured.
Still a bit wary of his answer and his shift into inner conflict, she continued to feel apprehension, looking down. Wanting to stay strong as best as she could, she took a sharp breath, holding his hand. He looked up at her face, thrown off by her sudden gesture.
"Are we okay?" she asked.
Wade raised an eyelid, thrown even further off.
"Okay?" he queried.
Ember began to tilt her head in query, causing Wade's mouth to fall slightly agape.
"I- sure hope we are. I'm still putting 110% in." Wade assured.
Ember let out a smile in subtle appreciation, looking down almost to the point of thankful tears. Wade slowly began to catch on to just why she grew concerned about him and his work. Perhaps she knew how rough it got at EBID. Wanting not to bring her into that mess, he shifted his body language toward her, indicating total devoted attention.
"Do you think we're not?" he queried.
Her concern reaching a breaking point of sorts, Ember began to tear up in impending distress. With ice cream still in hand, Wade put it in his lap, giving both arms to embrace her with. He took both of her hands, grabbing her attention to face him.
"Ember, things are good. Great even! I've never been more grateful to have this, or you in my life." he assured her.
She let out a shaken chuckle, wiping her tears away with an arm. Wade took a hand and gently held it on her face.
"I'm serious! Seeing what you've been doing... fills me with so much joy and pride. Words can't express how proud I am of you." he further assured her.
Ember shut her eyes as a flood of tears tried to break out of her eyes. Her lips quivered, and so did her hand in Wade's.
"Hey- hey. Ember, everything's okay." he comforted.
She slowly opened her eyes with tears abound, looking directly into his.
"Yeah?" she asked gently.
She wiped her tears away with an arm once more, facing him with legs crossed.
"I'm just... scared," she admitted, slumping down.
Wade lost his smile, becoming teary-eyed in reaction.
"Scared? What of?" he asked.
Ember bowed her head, her breath shaken by her emotions. Her hands slid down into her lap, and she took a big breath in preparation.
"Those last couple of days, after you came home from work... you were in such a mood. And it- it's really been getting to me." she admitted.
She looked over at him, the hurt she spoke of in her eyes at that very moment. Wade pursed his lips in regret, looking down. He let out a shrug, trying to soften the blow.
"Look... I think I'm just getting used to the new life a bit slower than I thought. I haven't quite found my flow yet." he admitted.
Ember remained with a locked gaze at him.
"Is that it?" she asked.
He looked over at her, concern for her written all over his face.
"I just... I don't want to fear being open. I want to be in the kind of relationship where we can tell each other anything." Ember said.
Wade took a deep breath in reaction to her admission, becoming quite conflicted by it. He looked down at her hand holding his. He gently lifted it, holding it up.
"I promise you... that's it," he assured.
The two locked into a concerned stare in unison.
"...really?" Ember asked.
Wade nodded slowly and silently, clenching her hand in assurance.
"That's it," Wade assured.
Ember stared at him for a while longer with that feeling of concern. To him, her blank stare caused him discomfort, shuffling about in his spot.
Before the tension could surmount, Ember began to exhibit a smile in relief. She gently leaned over to him, caressing his face and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
She leaned back from it, the two holding each other's hands.
"I'm glad to hear that," Ember said.
She gently rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes once more, an air of relief overcoming her. Wade reached an arm over her shoulder, resting it there. He smiled to himself silently, tapping her on the shoulder with a hand in comfort.
As he sat within that feeling, all he could think about was a slow-rising feeling of guilt. It clicked; perhaps she was onto him and work. Perhaps it could become the catalyst for something horrible.
In fear of that guilt, his eyes looked out toward the water, staring at it with his smile fading away. He gently looked back over to see if she caught on, and thankfully, she hadn't. She simply laid on him with a smile, eyes shut and comfortable as could be. He basked in her happiness, taking it and borrowing it for himself as he didn't allow him such privilege. He leaned his head on hers with a smile, smiling gratefully.
"Maybe things will be okay." they thought.