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Marella was too cold to even shiver in her cell. Just because her mind was on fire, didn’t mean her body was able to generate enough heat.
She barely looked up when she heard a crash down the hall. The Neverseen always brought her her meals of disgusting fruit, and after three and a half weeks of imprisonment, she was too hungry to care.
But it wasn’t mealtime yet.
“Another one?” Ruy asked.
“We can’t stick this one in a normal cell,” Gethen said. “He already broke out of the chains. Twice.”
“Good thing we’ve got one cell purposely designed to be inescapable,” Ruy said. Marella imagined him grinning wickedly.
Her internal fire flickered and she collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.
“That cell?” Gethen asked, sounding surprised.
“With any luck, they’ll tear each other apart. Then we won’t have to feed them.”
She didn’t look up when she heard a click, Ruy was probably opening a door to the cell where her unfortunate friend would be trapped. She heard a struggle, and she wanted to tell them that it was no use, but she was too cold and too tired.
And then a strawberry blonde boy was pushed onto the floor of her cell, landing on top of her.
“Oof!” he said, instantly shivering. At least they hadn’t taken his cloak away.
“Marella?” he asked.
But she was already too cold to respond.
“Marella, you’re freezing!” he said, grabbing her bare arms.
“Dex,” she said, the one word taking all of her effort.
She just needed to sleep. The cold had finally tamed her fire, and she just needed to be extinguished in peace.
“Marella?” he asked, from a thousand miles away.
She could feel, as if it wasn’t her at all, a cloak being placed around her shoulders.
She wanted to tell him she wasn’t worth it. She was already gone.
***
Shivering, Dex inspected every inch of the cell. With no way to escape, he glanced back at Marella. She was still quiet, like she had been when he first came in.
He gently touched her arm. It was ice cold.
She’s too cold. She isn’t going to make it.
He glanced around the cell for something he could use to give her the necessary body heat to survive, but he already knew it was empty.
Except for Marella, his cloak and Dex himself there was nothing in the cell.
How can I help? Think, Dex, think!
Inspiration struck and Dex groaned at his own stupidity. He had one more resource. His own body heat.
Uncomfortable touching a girl without her permission, Dex hesitated. She would forgive him if he saved her life, right?
Hoping he was making the right decision, he wrapped his cloak around his shoulders so it warmed them both, and wrapped his arms around her.
***
Marella wasn't sure how she was still alive, but when she placed her hand on her skin, it was warm. Not as warm as it should be. Not as warm as what was neatly for a Pyrokinetic, but warm enough to keep her alive.
She struggled to her feet, and noticed Dex lying on the ground, shivering. He was asleep, but just barely. She grinned when she noticed his drool frozen to the side of his mouth.
“Lex, get off me,” he mumbled sleepily.
Marella nudged him with her toe. “Get up, sleepyhead.”
His cute periwinkle eyes opened slowly.
“Marella?” He asked, his face bright red.
She motioned for him to get up, and he obliged, still blushing.
“I’m sorry,” he said awkwardly. “For, you know, touching you without your permission.”
She waved off the apology. “You literally saved my life, Dex. I would’ve died if it wasn’t for your smart thinking.”
He blushed again, which she found hilarious. He was just as bad with compliments as Sophie.
“And, hey!” She said. “Ruy just lost the ‘When will the cold finally kill Marella’ bet.”
Dex cringed. “They bet on that ?”
She agreed completely with his cringe. “Yeah.”
He gently placed a hand in her arm and she flinched.
“Sorry,” he apologized. “I just needed to know what temperature you were.”
“It’s fine,” she said.
Marella? Sophie’s mental voice entered her mind. She flinched.
Yeah? Marella thought back.
YOU WON’T BELIEVE HOW WORRIED I WAS! She transmitted. I’M PRETTY SURE I PULLED OUT ALL MY EYELASHES WORRYING YOU WERE DEAD. Are you alright?
I’m fine, thanks to Dex.
DEX?
The person in question shook her gently.
“Are you alright?” He asked. “Your eyes got all glazed and weird.”
“I’m fine,” she said, smiling reassuringly. “Just talking to Sophie.”
Yeah he got captured too.
Give me a sec, I’m going to talk to him.
Marella turned to her cell mate.
“She wants to talk to you.”
“Yeah, I know,” Dex said, collapsing in a frost covered corner of the cell. “She’s lecturing me with all her worries right now.”
She studied him as his face grew redder than his hair.
“Not funny, Sophie,” he said finally, as if she could somehow hear him.
He was kinda cute when he was flustered, which Marella had never noticed before. She rarely noticed him between Fitz’s overwhelmingly perfect good looks, and Tam’s handsomeness.
In her defense, Dex had never noticed her either, because of his crush on Sophie.
What would he do if I kissed him? her traitorous mind wondered.
He would probably act all awkward, the rational part of her reminded itself. And that’s not something I want while I’m stuck in a room with him.
I don’t even like him anyway, Marella thought firmly, like an announcement a toddler makes after a tantrum.
She had always teased Sophie for her obliviousness, but she was starting to realize why she did it. Sometimes it was safer acting ignorant.
***
Dex had been in the cell with Marella for less than a day, but it was already getting awkward.
His conversation with Sophie had been playing on auto repeat in his brain.
Hey Dex, she had said.
Hey.
So… you’re stuck in a cell with Marella, huh? He could practically see her grin through the transmission.
Yeah.
Aren’t you worried that’ll get a little awkward?
What do you mean?
Well, I know you have a crush on her…
I DO NOT.
You do 😁. I could hear your subconscious fantasizing about how to make her feel better when I slipped in.
I honestly hate you so much right now.
Consider it payback for every time you mentioned my crushes on Fitz and Keefe.
SOPHIE!
I’m going to go transmit to my boyfriend now, to tell him good morning from my stupid cell. I swear, this ability restrictor thing they’ve got on me makes it IMPOSSIBLE to concentrate.
And then she was gone. Leaving him with some very awkward thoughts to have while trapped in a room with a girl.
Ruy had dropped off two green wrinkled fruits, which were a nightmare to peel. Marella had gotten tired of forcing off tiny slivers around the second hour. Around the third hour she finally threw it at the wall in frustration.
It splattered against the wall and all over Dex’s face and hair.
“Seriously?” He asked, somehow grinning, even though he knew he should be angry.
“Sorry,” she said, not sounding sorry at all.
He tried to wipe it off his face with his sleeve, but only managed to get the disgusting slush smeared all over everything.
Marella giggled. “Epic Dizznee fail.”
He blushed and tried to wipe the fruit off his face, but it didn’t help.
“Here,” Marella said, grabbing a piece of the fruit’s leather skin from the floor. She licked it and used it to wipe the fruit off his face. He was pretty sure his face was as red as his hair, and she clearly noticed, since she blushed too.
“I figured out a way to escape,” he said, hoping to distract her.
“Oh, and what is that?” She scrubbed at his face hard enough to make the skin burn.
“Once we get you back to your natural Pyrokinetic heat, you should be able to generate a fire, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, what if you burnt down the door?”
She stared at him like she thought he was an idiot.
“Stone melts at around 1500 degrees Celsius,” she said. “You would be a scorch mark on the floor after a second of exposure.”
“I’m fine with that, as long as you get out,” he said. “Just, please tell my family I love them. And tell Rex he can have my Prattles collection.”
“I’m not fine with that,” she snapped. “I would like to get you out of here as something more than a pile of ashes, thank you very much.”
“But-”
“I would also probably kill all our friends with that kind of heat.”
“Oh.”
She smiled and gently kissed the top of his head. “It wasn’t a bad idea. Keep brainstorming.”
If he didn’t have a crush on her, why was his face so red?
***
Marella woke up on fire.
She scrambled to her feet, relieved to notice that Dex had rolled away during the night and wasn’t on fire.
His cape wasn’t so lucky.
Marella pulled off her extremely flammable slippers and tried to stomp out the fire, but she only made it worse, since her feet were still on fire.
She watched as their primary source of heat was burnt to a pile of accusing ashes.
Furious at herself for her mistake, she stomped around the room until the fire extinguished.
She froze when she noticed the letters somehow carved into the door. She didn’t care how they got there, just that they would leave before her cellmate would wake up.
Dex Dizznee + Marella Redek
A firestorm of anger washed over her, as she tried to burn away the marks, but they had hardened into the stone door.
What was it that burned through stone? 1500 degrees? In her fury she thought it was worth it.
And then she remembered that the fire would kill Dex.
She hesitated, long enough to let her internal fire simmer down.
“Hey,” Dex said, slipping his hand into her’s. She hadn't noticed him wake up. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she lied. “I just REALLY need to get out.”
“Me too,” he said, smiling so he showed his dimples. How could he be so perfect, so amazing, while she was stuck with this mess of fire and anger in her head?
“That’s why I came up with an idea to get us out of here.”
She froze, as her fire sputtered in shock.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, since you’ve been here, not doing much except almost freezing to death and I've been-”
He froze when he noticed the words.
“Did you write that?” he asked, his face red.
She glanced at him. How could he be such a genius and so stupid at the same time? Somehow it made him even more adorable.
Remembering how fun it was to see him flustered, she examined her fingers, like they had suddenly developed the ability to write in stone.
“I’m pretty sure I’m not a Geokinetic,” she teased.
“Oh.”
Was it just her imagination, or did he look disappointed?
No, idiot. He’s just embarrassed. Stop all the wistful thinking.
Sometimes she really hated her brain.
“The Neverseen has a Geokinetic, though,” she said thoughtfully. “I wonder why Terra would do something like that…”
Dex stared at the ground.
“You were telling me about your plan to get us out,” she prompted.
“What if we focused on conserving our mental energy so we can blast a hole through our door. Sophie obviously can’t do it because of her ability restrictor. I’m pretty sure the other’s doors are made of something flammable, since I saw them before they put me in here.”
“You little troublemaker,” she teased. “They couldn’t stick you in a normal cell.”
“Hey, you’re smaller than me,” he pointed out.
She scowled up at him. It was true.
“So, what do you think?” Dex asked.
She stomped on his foot, and he instinctively bent over to shield it.
“What was that for?”
“You’re too tall.”
“Too tall for what?”
“Too tall for me to do this.” Deciding to throw caution to the wind, she kissed him on the top of the head.
He pretended to be annoyed to hide his blush. “You could’ve just asked me to bend over.”
She smiled at him. “But it would’ve ruined the effect.”
“You could’ve levitated.”
“We’re supposed to be conserving our mental energy,” she teased. “At least, if we do your genius idea.”
“You have a better plan,” he guessed correctly.
“One based on your genius plan.”
Marella plopped down against the door, taking pity on his shivering body. She patted the stone floor beside her and he joined her on the ground. After a moment’s hesitation, he placed an arm across her shoulders protectively.
“Sorry,” he said instantly. “I shouldn’t have-”
She grabbed his hand when he started to pull his arm away.
“Dex,” she said, staring up into the beautiful periwinkle eyes that could never notice her next to Biana or Linh. “It’s fine.”
She could feel the heat of her internal fire sinking into his skin and stopping his shivering. It rebounded, warming her just as she warmed him.
And it was just the two of them in a tiny pocket of warmth.
The Neverseen had made the biggest mistake of their careers by locking them in the same cell, because they were growing stronger. Together.
“Are you ready to hear it?” she asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
She slowly extracted herself from their pocket of warmth so she could watch his eyes while she explained. “This is one of the Pyrokietic’s most closely guarded secrets,” Marella said quietly. “You can’t tell anybody who I don’t approve of.”
He blinked. “I won’t.”
Marella surprised herself by believing him.
“Alright,” she said, returning to her rightful spot under his arm.
“It’s called the Ember Dance,” she explained. “It’s an ancient technique used to create a flame that consumes everything but living matter.
“The dance itself isn’t complicated, but it requires something from the non Pyrokinetic.”
“Anything,” Dex said. “Anything to get you out of here.”
She blinked. “Me? What about our friends?”
Dex blushed again. “Them too.”
Marella took a deep breath.
“It required the non Pyrokinetic to do something that will surprise their partner.”
She didn’t dare look up to see his horrified expression.
“And it can't be something small, like smashing one of the Neverseen’s gross fruits in my face,” Marella explained. “It has to be something big.”
His whole body went tense,
Obviously he doesn’t like this plan, her brain whispered. Obviously you made things awkward and it’ll never be the same again.
But he said the last words she’d expected him to say.
“I’m in.”
***
“So the best time to do the real one would be tomorrow in the early morning,” Marella said, tucking one of her braids behind her ear.
“After we’ve had our nightly check in with Sophie, but before the rest of the compound is awake,” he guessed.
“Right again, genius.”
Her tiny braid fell forward again and he instinctively reached over and tucked it behind her ear for her.
Marella’s face turned an adorable bright red.
His words from his conversation with Sophie ran through his mind.
I don’t have a crush on her.
If only it were true.
If only he wasn’t in love with a girl who wouldn’t even glance at him when Fitz or Tam were in the universe.
He was terrified of her response to the surprise he was supposed to give her.
She led him through the dance, showing him the basic turns and steps. Ordering him to add his own flare to them.
He didn't quite understand what she meant as they fumbled awkwardly. Once they miraculously had the basic steps down, Marella added the fire.
She had the flames dance across the floor, the walls and in between them, but never burning him.
They danced until it felt natural. Until he could effortlessly add his own little flourishes while she concentrated on keeping the flames steady.
The one part of the dance that made him hesitate was the end.
Having just completed a complex series of turns, they were supposed to hesitate, and he was supposed to surprise her.
“Don’t worry so much about it,” she teased, pretending to fan the air like Keefe. “I can feel your tension, and I’m not even an Empath.”
He tried to smile, but it ended up looking more like a grimace.
“Easy for you to say.”
Marella laughed.
“Stop worrying so much! The first time a Pyrokinetic attempted this dance, his partner stabbed him between the ribs with a dagger.”
He glanced around jokingly. “Thanks for the suggestion, but I don’t see a knife anywhere.”
She simultaneously extinguished the flames and shoved him playfully.
Gradually, the dance started to feel right. Like it had been designed with the two of them in mind.
They told Sophie about their plan before going through the dance one last time.
As they reached the end, Dex whispered in Marella’s ear.
“I don’t have to kick you.”
“Kick me?” She glanced at him like she thought he was insane. Maybe he was.
“Kick you,” he repeated. “To do this.”
He gently kissed the top of her head.
They took shifts sleeping.
Dex watched Marella as her chest peacefully rose and fell, before getting up and pacing.
If he was just imagining everything, Marella would hate him and his surprise .
But if he wasn’t, it could be their only way to get out of there.
Either way, no matter what happened tomorrow (or today, it was impossible to tell time in the cell), he would reveal his crush on Marella and change the way they would interact forever.
You awake? Sophie transmitted.
Yeah.
Nervous about tomorrow?
He sighed and stared at the letters carved into the door of the cell. Dex Dizznee + Marella Redek.
You’re the telepath.
She stayed quiet, and he started to worry that something had happened to her. Pacing again, he wrung his fingers.
No matter what happens tomorrow, I will always be your friend, she said finally.
Thanks cuz.
Anytime.
And then she was gone, leaving him to his worries.
***
Marella awoke to Dex gently shaking her shoulder.
“It’s time,” he whispered.
She yawned. “Are our friends ready?”
He nodded. “Sophie’s been sending me transmissions of their encouragement. And she says they all promise not to tell anyone about the Ember Dance, like you asked.”
She got to her feet. “What did they say?”
“Well,” Dex said slowly, “Sophie said that she knows we can do it. Linh says we’ll do amazing. And Keefe-”
He hesitated.
“What did Keefe say?”
Dex’s face was redder than a tomato.
“It was just a long lecture on why I shouldn’t wimp out.”
She stretched. “Do you need a minute to mentally prepare?”
He shook his head. “It’s best if we get it over with. The suspense is literally killing me.”
He held out his hand and she took it, focusing on creating the kaleidoscope of flames.
They swirled and dipped and skipped around their cell. Halfway through the dance, he whispered,
“I’m really going to miss this.”
Her face felt like she had set it in fire, but she had experience with the sensation before, so she knew she was just blushing, not actually burning.
Still, she gathered her last few embers of courage and whispered back.
“Me too.”
And then they began the final complex series of turns.
She could feel Dex getting more and more tense as they competed each rotation.
Finally, they paused in the center of the room, flames crackling all around them.
Dex glanced at her.
Hesitated.
Bent down and kissed her.
And oh!
It was like the fire of a thousand suns was burning through her soul. It was perfect.
Dex broke away.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “It’s just, I really like you, Marella. Love you actually. And I wanted to let you know. I’m sorry if you didn’t want that or if it’s too soon or-”
She wrapped her hands around his neck, forcing his head back into her reach and kissed him back.
Together they sank to the floor.
He tasted like the gross fruit that the Neverseen had given them, but she didn’t care.
They broke away, needing a moment to breathe.
“Dex, I-” she said, a small smile blazing across her lips. “That was amazing.”
“Marella,” he whispered back. “Look!”
She glanced around. The kaleidoscope of fire had changed to a beautiful periwinkle flame. The same color as Dex’s eyes.
The flames burned through the stone of the walls, but they couldn’t feel the heat. The flames avoided them, thankfully not burning off any of her friends' clothes.
When she was sure they were all safe, she turned back to Dex.
“I like you too,” she admitted. “Love you, actually.”
Dex grinned and kissed her again.
They were holding hands and laughing when their friends found them among the ashes.