#my beloved friend's amazing writing skills here. Thank you 🥺

[voidhri]

First scar, on body and heart

(by: @sunborn-tenacity )

Bela stared at the phone number on the back of a business card that she got from a mother whose son she saved from the sewers a few days ago.

"Miss Dimitrescu, you saved my son. I know it's not much but please, just take this business card. My husband is the owner of the cabin rentals in the forests in Topanga. When you call them, just tell them your name and that you're booking a week-long stay courtesy of Barbara Goldstone."

"I— Mrs. Goldstone, I can't—" Bela stammered, before she was cut off.

"Miss Dimitrescu, please, I insist," Mrs. Goldstone said tearfully, pushing the card into Bela's gloved hands, "It's the least we can do to pay you back for rescuing our son."

Bela hadn't taken a vacation in a long while. In actuality, ever since she became captain, she didn't really take any vacations. The days she had off were enough. She made sure she took enough walks, that she went to the gym enough, that she took enough vitamins, that she rested enough. All of these things were enough to help her recuperate. And she always did them on her own.

But ever since she met Maria, she found herself wondering what it would be like to go on a vacation, but with them. Just the two of them. It didn't mean anything of course. But Maria had been very insistent about hanging out with her. After she had rescued them from being stuck in the ceiling during her lunch hour, her third rescue of them, they had shown up to her station a few days later with food from Jollibee.

"I took away your lunch time, so I owe you lunch, you know?" Maria said cheerfully.

She didn't know why she took the food from them, but she did, and sent them on their way. And on that afternoon, she discovered that chickenjoy, rice, and ube pie were delicious. 

Maria kept finding more ways into her life after that. It was either rescuing them from some ridiculous situation or it was just them coming to visit her at the station during her break, bringing food along with them.

Eventually, it became routine. And Bela started to look forward to their visits. Then there was a day where they didn't show. It bothered Bela a little bit, but at the same time, she understood that they were probably busy with something else. They were under no obligation to visit her. At some point, she had to go answer a call and she found them stuck, holding a cat, in a very tall tree.

"How did you even get up here?" Bela said angrily once she got Maria and the cat onto the lift with her.

"I was trying to help the cat and then once I noticed how high up I was, I didn't really know how to get down," Maria mumbled sheepishly.

Once they were on the ground, Bela demanded their phone and placed her number in there and texted herself.

"Call me before you do anything dumb like that again," she said, turning around and walking off, heading back to the station, not noticing Maria staring at their phone and then at her in awe.

Maria texted her the next day, thanking her for saving them again.

In return, Bela texted them asking if they would show up with Jollibee the next day. And Maria replied with a quick yes.

And that was the routine. Work, Maria showing up with food, having to rescue Maria from god knows what. But it would be good to change it up. And maybe this time, she could teach Maria a thing or two about basic safety and self-preservation. Maria would probably complain that they're on vacation and therefore the both of them should focus on doing vacation things.

Bela smiled at the thought of them complaining and she quickly pulled up her phone to text them:

Want to go on a week-long cabin retreat with me?

————————————————————

It was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. But of course, there were stupid teenagers doing stupid teenager things. Like almost causing a large forest fire.

The fire was large, but it hadn't spread to cause more damage yet.

"Step away from the fire," Bela ordered, her voice strong and authoritative, as she stepped towards the scene.

The teenagers froze and stepped back a bit, before running off into the woods. Bela paid them no heed. The biggest concern was the fire and the damage it could do if left unchecked.

She went to work, quickly grabbing the fire extinguisher from the nearby cabin and spraying down the fire.

After that, she would clean up the mess of beer cans and wine bottles the teenagers made. And then she would call the forest rangers and cabin office to let them know that there were teenagers that almost caused a fire. Then she could finally relax with—

A pain-filled scream rang out, causing the nearby birds to flee their trees quickly.

Bela's blood ran cold. Maria.

She dropped the fire extinguisher and looked around frantically for them, finally spotting them on the other side of the dying fire.

Maria was on the ground, writhing in pain, and a teenager was looking at them and then at her with fear in their eyes before running off into the woods.

Bela swore under her breath and sprinted over to Maria's side.

"What's wrong? What's—"

Then she saw it. The red hot embers covering the ground underneath their torso and arms.

Bela sucked in her teeth and without thinking, grasped onto Maria's wrists, feeling the heat searing her fingers. But she ignored the pain. Maria was the most important right now.

She pulled them up by the wrists and then turned around quickly to have them fall onto her back so that she could carry them without touching their back. She noticed with increasing worry how their skin felt so very warm and that they were shaking uncontrollably.

She walked to the cabin as quickly as she could, listening to Maria breathing in sharply with each step she took. She opened the door and feeling that there was no time to place them on the bed, she quickly kneeled and helped Maria to the cabin floor, front first.

The fire had burned away part of Maria's top, the burns already showing underneath, and she needed to get the scissors to cut away the rest of the cloth before it fused to their skin.

Bela quickly went to her bag and pulled out the medical kit she always brought with her, retrieving what she needed. She went back with the scissors to cut open the cloth, revealing the damage that had been done.

Maria's back was covered in second-degree burns, the flesh raw, burning pink and red.

Bela pulled on her gloves to begin her treatment of their wounds, numbly thinking about what she needed to do for initial treatment. The burns were on their back and they needed to be immersed in cold water for 10-20 minutes to reduce the heat and minimize the damage to the skin. The best way would be to fill a tub with cold water and place Maria there. But that might take too long. So she would get some cold water now and rinse the skin like that for a few minutes before preparing the cold water in the tub—

"Bela, don't worry… I'm gonna be okay… It could've been worse," Maria whispered slowly, clearly trying to reassure her.

Bela said nothing, not trusting herself to keep her voice steady. She felt the tears slide down her face as she continued to inspect Maria's back, mentally gathering the strength to leave Maria alone for a few minutes while she grabbed her water bottle to fill it with cold water to rinse Maria's wounds.

It was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. It was supposed to be a harmless trip.

I can't keep sitting here, I need to move, Bela thought, I need to take care of them now.

[i-like-yoongi-a-latte]

As the year is ending, I decided to do this thing again: people who made my year better 💕

If I didn't mention you, I still love you and wish that the new year treats you well ✨ Happy New Year lovelies! 💜

Just a little warning, I got a bit emotional while writing these so they might be a bit weird. These aren't in any order, I love you all 💕

@reedskz I am so so so glad we started talking and I'm also sorry for not being the best at messaging but know that I adore you and wish that next year brings you many Felix pcs because you deserve it 💝 annnnd your gifs are amazing like you 💖 it makes me a bit emotional to think that you're my first stay friend, ily 🥺

@yjbg Ellu my beloved, I can't even begin to describe how happy I am that I sent you some memes to start a conversation (because I can't be normal <3) and overall I'm just so glad you exist!!! I love to have someone who I can spam tag in things! 💝 Like what are the odds that you like 1D (even just a little bit), hockey AND kpop, like me? And that we have the same nickname? Also I'm proud of you and you'll do great in your studies, I will be your personal cheerleader, I love you!! *insert Jin sending flying kisses here* p.s. you're pretty 💘

@diazactually okay, where to start... If you're a friend of my friend, you're automatically my friend, and even if we haven't talked that much, just know that you're amazing and I laugh at your jokes a bit too much 💕 I also think it's kinda funny how similar interests we have, but it's also very nice to be able to compare favorite characters etc because it can tell about the person somehow (when will I send you messages about analyzing some characters or scenes who knows) thank you for making my dash filled with buddie and 9-1-1, you're amazing❣️ + you can psychoanalyze me and my ask game replies anytime I promise

@firefighter-diaz my dear Elisa, we haven't seen in ages (it sucks) but I love to hear about the 9-1-1 episodes in dms and yell with you 💓 I'm telling you all, if I ask one (1) question I get 5 gifsets and 8 messages explaining what happened or what lead to it. You made me listen to Taylor's new albums because I saw you enjoying them, also you're an amazing gifmaker and you're so warm like you radiate warmth and comfort! ☀ I am amazed by your skills and I'm proud of you, and everything you do

@sepastian-ahoey Iina, the Sepe to my Teukka, why haven't we seen (it's because of me I'm just at home and never moving) anyways you're always there for me and I will be there for you. You may know this (or not) but I was super worried about your workload this past year because you seemed to have so much stuff going on, I may not have said it but I'm amazed at how you managed to survive. And I'm super proud of you!! I adore you! 💖

@juhollamago ah Tiia my almost-alarm-clock-for-wjc (before they canceled the whole thing) because I couldn't remember when team Finland played and I missed a game doing all kinds of nonsense instead. Is it time for me to yell now? Because I AM SO PROUD OF YOU. My friend is a hockey journalist everyone!!!! You're so awesome and funny and I admire you because you seem like the type who isn't afraid to say what you think or want. Let's pretend this heart is a burnt gingerbread, made with love for you 🖤

@ahoontheshelf Kinga, my sweet dear friend 💕 you're like a warm hug, you brighten up my days a lot with sweet messages!! Like if I treat tumblr as my diary and you send me a message I get so happy... You fill my dash with all kinds of aesthetic posts and your edits are cool and you're very cool and pretty. I wish all the best for you, always❣️

@fangirlinglikealoon & @heiskasmiro my dear gc friends who are very pretty and make my days better when being crazy in the gc, I couldn't separate you because you both are inspiring and amazing and funny and I love your pets too 💝 one of the best choices in my life was to press like on the post that was about making a gc, I will never stop saying it, ily 💘 I love it how we can talk about some random things like how meme is Mikko and then suddenly things take a wild turn and we have deep conversations about things. Just know that I adore you 💕

@punkrockmutiny I think you're one of the sweetest people ever, and when you asked for a Christmas card from me I was jumping around in happiness (I hope the card didn't get lost...) because it was the first time I sent a card abroad and it made me feel so special lolol anyways I adore you and you're so pretty and cool which makes you pretty cool 💜

@suklaakuppikakku my dear amazing friend we haven't seen in ages but you know I'm sending you the biggest hug and squeezing you tightly 💕 I'm really hoping that we'll be able to go see games in summer without being anxious about getting sick!! I don't say this enough but I really admire you ❣️ I wish next year will be gentle for you

@joel-farabee we don't really talk but I'm so happy to be mutuals with you and I smile so much when I see you in my notes!! And when you said that I made your day once by sending you flower emojis I almost cried at it because it was so sweet of you 🌸

@hibernating-heart I have to mention how happy I got to see that a fellow Finn likes hockey/canes and kpop and I was like omg a friend!! And you're a great content creator! That said, I like the Finnish sayings and Canes posts the most 🤭 You seem cool I wish I knew how to talk to people because I'd like to get to know you 🥺

Mentioning some people I have been mutuals with for some time and saying thank you for tolerating my changing obsessions, you make my dash full of fun content and make me smile when your urls are in my notes, you deserve all the good things 💕

@caixxa 💗

@tonyhawkpr0skater2 💞

@coffeeandgunpowder 💝

@finnishhockeyelf ❤️

@prettyboyroope 💖

@nikolajehlers 💚

@lily-blue-blue-lily 💛

@c-hartwriteshockey 🧡

@thewestishharpooners 💓

@bortuzzzzin 💙

@thehockeytrashkingdom 💞

@pyotranatolevichkochetkov ❣️

@matthewlillard 💘

@fairylightslt 💕