#nukio

[dzmoot]

This is COMMODORE VEGAROOTARAINIOUS KOLLIFLOWER from Manganese. My assistant Nukio and I have just completed our successful extermination of the Shrekenoids of the Bright Blue Nebula with some assistance from a Mezarp and a couple of others. We departed in our ship, the Round Thing and are on route to an oddly shaped moon of a red planet in the Milky Way galaxy. Hostility is high, for aliens from the neighboring moon are on the cusp of invasion. Strangely enough, the distress message came from a talking hamburger with a pickle tongue. What this means, I cannot say. We are approaching the moon Phobos now.

Well, Nukio, here we are. Nothing strange so far.

Be careful what you wish for, boss! Wait, what is this?

Why deep fry me and cover me in breading, there really are living burgers!

And they look scrumptious, I think I'll take a nibble!

Now hold it right there little birdie and broccoli guy!

It's Kolliflower, you oversized soft drink! Wait, what do you think you're do...ing.....stop....I'm ffffreezing!

Mmmmee ttttooo! Hey, watch it, your cracking my dome, I just had it cleaned!

Where are you taking us?!?!

Why, to see King Mega Maximus de Secretsauz of course. He has been expecting you! Maybe if you do what he says, he'll give you a couple of free supersized meals!

I highly doubt that, I have to watch my figure. I'm trying to get in shape for the Lunarmen's Ball!

Welcome to McWenduBurger Palace!

Doesn't look much like a palace to me!

Welcome Commodore and Nukio, I read rave reviews about you in the GREAT WARRIORS OF THE UNIVERSE TO HIRE magazine! I figure your skills could be of great use to us fast food mutants in our time of crisis!

Well, what's the crisis?

Many years ago, on a moon not too far from here, I started McWenduBurger hoping it would evolve into the greatest fast food chain in the universe. When it failed miserably, my colleagues and I turned it into a space shuttle and traveled here. Your space suits prevent you from mutating but we didn't have such protection and thus, we transformed into the aliens we are today. We lived here on Phobos for many years in peace, undisturbed until the Pattimagoras from the next door moon Deimos set their sights on our burger horde. They intend to take as many of our burgers as they can and summon their god Moodomus to reign havoc on all the planets. It's up to you two to stop the Pattimagoras from taking more burgers, they've already gathered hundreds if not thousands of burgers from past invasions. I fear they may be dangerously close to summoning Moodomus.

And how exactly are we going to do that?

Sergeant Nughan has trained several Grimlies for combat but they still are ill equipped for battle, otherwise the Pattimagoras would have been history a long time ago. I believe the true answer to the Pattimagoras' defeat lies within the cardboard inners of the Unhappy Meal's box!

What in James T. Kirk's undershorts are you talking about?

The Unhappy Meal, a grotesque brute with mold growing all over and teeth that looked like they hadn't been brushed in over a century. The king commissioned us to find a way to open up this big green meanie's top, for what lied within could hold to solution to their ordeal. It was also on us to dig up the giant robot McDoom from it's rocky cocoon beneath Phobos' crust. We encountered this Unhappy Meal in a nearby cave along with some of the other mutants, Sergeant Nughan, Engineer Filetty and Chief Condimentar the Clown.

They told us that they had tried to open Unhappy Meal's top on several occasions, for a great rumbling was felt and heard from within. They tried Filetty's electro claw but it barely made a scratch. Condimentar's acidic ketchup and mustard couldn't burn a hole through and the many beaks on Nughan's head couldn't peck away a thing. Finally, Nukio returned from the Round Thing with his handy Laser Penetrator 6000 blaster! Now the Unhappy Meal was required to stay still for several hours while the blaster was placed over his head, laser cutting away until an incision was made. Getting a giant moldy cardboard box monster to stay perfectly still for several hours was going to be a treat to say the least. After several minutes of roughhousing and a few clunks to our heads, I sedated the beast with a direct blow to the forehead with a rock. As he stood comatose for a while, the others and I set out to dig up McDoom. Filetty, who constructed the robot several years prior was quite adamant about his creation.

Naw, yee can't bee hackin awey like that around mee robo. Gotta handell with dee most lovin care, utterwise she might malfunction on thee battlefield. She'd be glorious that's for sure!

Finally, after what seemed like several lightyears, McDoom was unearthed. With a few sparks and flicked switches and a major battery overhaul, Filetty's wee robo was up and running again and just in the nick of time too. Condimentar looked up.

RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!!!!!

Hohohoho! Looks like the Pattimagoras are approaching. Oh dearies, we're in a deep fried pickle now!

Nah, calm yere squirters, yee clowny bastard! I need but ee flick of McDoom's main power switch and she's off to givemhell!

I shall say that I'll never forget this moment as long as I exist, the sight of the giant robot extending it's long tendril mechanical arms and punching the Pattimagoras' ship straight in it's hull. With their ship compromised, the hamburger hoarding aliens came plopping to the ground like 20,000 or so slimy meteorites. They all got to their feet, the little demons! The fall didn't even break any of their bones!

RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!!!!!

Oh, supposedly, Pattimagoras don't have any bones, they're comprised mostly of cartilage. In the cave nearby, Nukio stood by as the blaster continued cutting away at the Unhappy Meal. It looked as though his efforts were fruitless.

Come on blaster, you work so well with opening bags of fish chips! Oh, how I wish the particles of the universe would give us strength right about now!

Arrrgh! Raaaw! Ooohoff! Naraagh!

What's going on? I can't believe my flippers, it's working!

Na.....AAAAARGH! MAAHAAAAAA!!!!

TOYS? That's what's been lurking around in your skull? What good are toys going to be against those patti-whatevers?

Wouldn't you know it, those kids meal toys proved to be quite a formidable opponent to the Pattimagoras. Within seconds, those plastic treasures squished those soft bodied demons like they were made of clay. Speaking of which, the canister of Clay Stuff could transform into just about anything, even a giant hammer! With one fateful SMUSH, several of the Pattimagoras were multicolored puddles on the ground, but still, several of them got up, blew themselves back up like balloons and continued the fight. All of the Unhappy Meal toys proved quite efficient fighters, certainly better than those useless Grimlies who just stood their, poking each other with their bayonets and pikes. Even the bobblehead that looked suspiciously like the Mezarp I encountered back at Sumplei-Zels was quite skilled in squishing Pattimagoras with it's long neck spring. The Clay Stuff coated the McDoom robot to create a true terror to behold,

THE PICKLEBACKED BURGERSAURUS REX!

The Pattimagoras were so terrified of this beast that they got back in their damaged ship and retreated back to Deimos. Still, they managed to accumulate a great number of burgers during the battle. Feeling like they had just enough to summon Moodomus, they started the ritual to bring him to the physical plane. But there was one thing that hitherto the aliens had no knowledge of. You see, in order to summon Moodomus, the burgers must be made of 100% quality grade A beef and the burgers from Phobos, originally coming from a place called Namasis were made of 100% grade F moonrocks! Why, you can't bring forth a cow god with a bunch of burgers made of rocks now, can you? Oh well, this is Commodore VEGAROOTARAINIOUS KOLLIFLOWER, signing off.

[phoenixlionme]

My Favorite Fictional Couples Part 16

NOTE: Be respectful of my choices; the OTPs are not ranked, just of who I thought when making this list.

1. Marvel Comics: Gwen Stacy aka Spider Gwen + Miles Morales aka Spider Man = Gwiles

2. Marvel Comics (specifically the Miles Morales video game): Hailey Cooper + Miles Morales aka Spider Man = Hiles

3. DC Comics: Arthur Curry aka Aquaman + Mera = Aquamera

4. Marvel Comics: Steve Rogers aka Captain America + Bernie Rosenthal = ShieldBern

5. Marvel Comics:  Steve Rogers aka Captain America + Peggy Carter = Steggy

6. Marvel Comics: Gabe Jones + Peggy Carter = Geggy

7. DC Comics: Dinah Lance aka Black Canary + Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow = Dinahollie

8. Pixar’s Turning Red: Ming Lee + Jin Lee = Mingjin

9. Marvel Comics (specifically the Deadpool 2 movie): Ellie Phimister aka Negasonic Teenage Warhead + Yukio = Nukio

10. Cinderella 1997 aka Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella: Princess Cinderella aka Cindy 97 + Prince Christopher = Cindychris

[cuartosol]

I am so happy

[scuseme-couldyaplzleave]

I'm actually over here fucking crying because of this

[bitk]

Top favorite couple recently is.... (Bubble Gum Princess and Dracula’s daughter)

[negasonic-lesbian-warhead]

Deadpool : But truly, what is Yukio to you ?

Negasonic : She's the reason I wake up every morning.

[earlier that day]

Yukio, skipping throught Ellie's room : GOOD MORNING ! Ready for another BRIGHT and BEAUTIFUL day ? *rip the curtains open*

Negasonic :

Negasonic : Okay, was that for the chick at the piercing parlor or the hairdryer.

Yukio : Guess.💖💕

[snowpiart]

just some gay teens on a roof

[negasonicxyukio]

Firsts

Summary: Yukio finally worked up the courage to tell Ellie how she feels. The result (a first date, a first kiss, and her first girlfriend) are even better than she hoped.

The mall was a riot of colors and noise. Full of people, stores, food vendors, cute clothes… it was awesome. It was the perfect casual setting for their first date, which Ellie had told Yukio when they were planning. Yukio had been the one to work up enough courage to tell the other girl how she felt. The silence after her rushed confession- “I really like you,”- paralyzed her. She thought she’d ruined her first new friendship at the mansion. The fact that her feelings were mutual was almost more than she’d hoped for.

Yukio hadn't been able to get the giddy grin off of her face for hours. But two days later she was a nervous wreck. She had no clue how to dress for a date. It was at the mall, so maybe casual? But it was also a date, so fancy? What were they supposed to talk about? How were they supposed to act, now that she and Ellie were dating? She had about a million other questions and no answers. She had settled for a casual-ish outfit: jeans and a nice top. She decided she would let Ellie decide how quickly she wanted things to move; Yukio didn’t mind pda herself, and she certainly wouldn’t turn down a kiss from Ellie if the chance presented itself.

She’d been a bundle of nerves all the way through Colossus wishing them well and telling them to be safe, shyly saying a hello to her date. She was glad that Ellie waited until they were in the car to flash her a million-watt smile. With the way it made her knees weak, she might not have made it to the mall otherwise.

“You look nice,” Ellie complemented her.

Yukio could feel her face going about twenty different shades of red, but she somehow managed to keep her cool. “Thanks, you do too!” She was telling the truth; if anything, that was an understatement. Ellie was the very definition of suave, with her hair slicked back and her black lipstick on. She was wearing a tasteful all-black outfit. In short, she looked really good, and it set off the butterflies in Yukio’s stomach.

Ellie maneuvered the professor’s car out of the mansion’s garage and drove out the gate in silence. Yukio fidgeted in her seat uncomfortably, not even noticing the way Ellie was nervously tapping the wheel. “So, uh… how have you been?”

More silence, and then all of the nervous energy inside of Yukio reaches a breaking point. She burst into laughter. Soon Ellie was laughing, too, still facing the road. Her shoulders shook with the force of her laughter. Yukio covered her mouth with one hand as her giggles tapered off.

“That was really awkward.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Ellie said.

Yukio realized she’d been overthinking this whole dating thing. “This is basically like being friends, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“I-I mean, we’ll still joke around and talk and stuff, just with hand holding and kissing and stuff, right?” She said quickly, trying to dispel the confusion and hurt that had clouded Ellie’s expression. “I’ve been so nervous, but we should just be having fun, spending time with one another, right?”

Ellie relaxed a little. Now she looked thoughtful. “Huh. I guess I hadn’t thought of that. If I’m being honest, I was really nervous for today.” She flashed Yukio another smile, this one much shyer than before. She held out her hand, keeping the other on the wheel.

Yukio laced her fingers through Ellie’s. A tingly warmth was spreading up her arm, and both of them were blushing like crazy. For the second time that week, she couldn't stop smiling. She couldn’t be happier. “You won’t believe what happened in English today,” Yukio began.

They talked and laughed all the way to the mall, pausing occasionally to sing-slash-yell along with the awful eighties music on the radio. Yukio felt so happy and light she could’ve skipped all the way to the food court and through the various department stores they visited. Instead, she swung hers and Ellie’s hands between them. They both ended up with a new outfit or two. Ellie bought Yukio a necklace that had caught her eye, and Yukio gave her a nice pair of sunglasses in return. “They make you look like a secret agent, when you’re glaring,” she told her. Yukio didn’t want the day to end.

They were a little quieter on the way home, but no less giddy. This time the gaps in the conversation were comfortable. Yukio was glad she had finally spoken up about her feelings. The anxiety was worth it if it meant that Ellie was her girlfriend. Girlfriend. Yukio had a girlfriend. She would have to get used to that- she had never dated anyone before. She had time, she figured. The way they understood one another and listened and cared about one another, this was something that could last.

Ellie held the door open for Yukio as she got out of the car, but Yukio wouldn’t let her carry the bags. She turned to carry them up to the mansion when she felt Ellie’s hand on her shoulder.

“Yukio?”

She turned to face Ellie. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw how close they were- she could feel Ellie’s breath warming her cheek.

“Can I kiss you?”

Yukio just nodded, stunned, as Ellie tilted her head up to press their lips together. Yukio’s eyes fluttered closed. Her arm slipped down around Ellie’s waist. Her lips were soft and inviting. She felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. The same tingly feeling from before returned, stronger this time. When they pulled away they were both breathless, Yukio a little dizzy. “That was nice.”

“Yeah. We should do it more often,” Ellie said with a wink.

“Agreed. Now let’s get inside before curfew.”

[mahu-warrior]

I’m late for the end of Pride Month, sorry 😅 ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 Wanted to finish up the month with the superhero GFs!! 💕💛 I know it took wayy too long for just one page but I am a busy noodle! (Also the difference in Yukio from the top right to bottom left lol what is consistency)

Hope you all enjoy seeing these superpowered interracial gays as much as I enjoy drawing them, thanks for all the love and support!

[laughy-sapphy-blog]

Some Super Gays doing some Super Ballet!

Bonus Flustered Baes:

[dzmoot]

TUUNS VS SHREKENOIDS PT. 2

So much for a quiet getaway. I'm not much of a writer so I'll just get right to the point instead of trying to be like the next Ernest Hemingtuun. We found ourselves on this vegetable planet, Manganese I think it was called. It kinda reminded me of the place Igginsworth lives, only the plant life (which is in great abundance) talks! Sometimes, they'll grow right out of the ground and start walking around or vice versa. Asparagus men, onion heads, lemon loafers, heck I wouldn't be surprised if there was a rutabaga running a marathon or a bunch of red leaf lettuce playing chopsticks on the piano.

We were intercepted aka attacked by a guy with a turnip head.

Before we could melt his head into turnip soup, he was eliminated by a giant carrot named Doc. He was a little scared of me at first considering I was half rabbit and rabbits and carrots are kinda like biscuits and butter, but he warmed up to me once I told him carrots gave me hives.

He told us we were wanted by the king and he took us straight to his palace inside a hollowed out green hubbard.

We stood before King Mundungus Brox, Sire of the Scallions, Connoisseur of the Carrots and Leader of the Leafy Greens. It's said his little brother was eaten by a furry three eyed beast, explaining his sour attitude. So this guy Cauliflower sent out a distress call saying he needed 5 warriors with different abilities to come and help him fight these alien guys that came out of a cloud of space dust. We hopped back into the Spaceslinger and headed out to Cauliflower's giant saucer, the Round Thing where we were greeted by a little penguin guy with a fishbowl on his head. Turns out it was just a hologram. My hand went right through him!

GREETINGS 5 WARRIORS FROM AFAR, I AM NUKIO, COMMODORE KOLLIFLOWER'S RIGHT HAND SPACEBIRD. WE ARE CURRENTLY HELD UP ON THE SURFACE OF SUMPLEI-ZELS FIGHTING THE SHREKENOIDS WITH VERY LITTLE AMMO LEFT. YOUR MISSION, TO TAKE OUT THE ENTIRE SHREKENOID SWARM AT IT'S SOURCE, THE HEART OF THE NEBULA. IN THE ROUND THING'S HANGAR BAY YOU WILL FIND HOVERSURFERS AND WEAPONRY TO ASSIST YOU WITH THIS TASK. TAKE OUT THE NEBULA'S HEART AND DESTROY THE SHREKENOIDS FOR GOOD. GOOD LUCK AND MAY THE PARTICLES OF THE UNIVERSE GIVE YOU STRENGTH!

Of course, you probably know what happened next. We hopped on those so called hoversurfers and I was extremely jealous of Siobhan because she got her hands on the lasersword before I did. Still, we soared through starville taking down Shrekenoid after Shrekenoid after Shrekenoid. Hampire even sunk his teeth into one and said it tasted like boiled sardines! I would've killed for an extendable nose or a magic wand. My dinky little gun took like 10 seconds to fry those little freaks! My ears and tail weren't cutting it either!

Finally, we made it to the Heart of the Nebula. I couldn't believe my beady eyes! There was a giant Shrekenoid just floating there, angry faced and all.

As I did many moons ago when taking out a giant Cyclowntopus, I soared right into the bastard's mouth and began frying his insides like scrambled lunar eggs. Turns out my blaster was on the wrong setting. Within minutes, he stopped making miniature duplicates of himself and bursted into little green chunks. Don't tell Hampire, but I do believe I am the true brains of the group! When we got back to the Round Thing, Commodore Kolliflower thanked us via hologram and told me I reminded him of a Mezarp, whatever the hell that meant!

[findingfandomwithafangirl]

Edit Everyday of Pride Month - June 3rd

“You guys make a super cute couple.”

Negasonic Teenage Warhead x Yukio - Nukio Aesthetic

Deadpool 2

request edits here

more deadpool edits here

more pride month edits here

[bitk]

Brilliant!!! This is the smartest and most intelligent post ever on Tumblr 🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣

*X-Force loses Deadpool in a crowd*

Domino: Shit what do we do

Negasonic: Don’t worry we’ve got this *nods toward Yukiyo*

Yukiyo: *inhales* HI WADE

Deadpool: *appearing out of nowhere* HI YUKIYO

Negasonic: There he is

[bitk]

*After meeting Wade and the couple leave the room*

Negasonic: Wait... what did you say back then?

Yukio: Say what?

Negasonic: About Wade!?

Yukio: Oh right!! I like that guy, he seems nice!!

Negasonic: Good Dracula!! Are you for real? *unbelievable face*

(Because I’m sure El must misheard Yukio somehow lol)

[negasonic-lesbian-warhead]

Yukio : I love you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

Negasonic : I’m the best thing that’s ever happened to you ?

Yukio : Yes.

Negasonic : … Now I’m starting to feel a little sorry for you.

[negasonicxyukio]

Snow Day (Part One)

Summary: To say their mission wasn’t going according to plan would be the understatement of the century. An attack from rogue robots injures Ellie. It’s up to Yukio to save the day. 

The plan was simple. Kurt, Jean, and Ororo would herd the sentinels into the football stadium, where Ellie and Yukio would be waiting to ambush them. During that time, the professor and Hank would work to keep the civilians out of danger. It was meant to be a fairly easy mission, one of Ellie’s first missions, and the rogue robots were ones that had been decommissioned a while ago.

Unfortunately, the six robots had been a handful. They’d smashed through one building on the way, and the plan had been scratched. Instead, they’d had a marathon sprint to the town square. By the time the pair arrived, only four enemies remained. The mutants has fanned out to take all of them at once. Yukio had gone for one in particular, blasting it with shock waves that fried its circuitry.

“Ha! Did you see that?” Yukio looked up just in time to watch Ellie go flying into a cinderblock wall.

Crunch. She lay face down, not moving.

“Ellie!” The scream tore itself from her throat and her feet moved almost on their own. Within seconds that stretched into eons by the roar of blood in her ears, she stood over the motionless body of her girlfriend of two months. Oh god. Oh god. She crouched down next to her, holding one hand over her mouth to keep back both her cry and the bile rising in the back of her throat. I have to- I have to see where she’s hurt.

She rolled Ellie onto her back. She noticed right away that one of her arms was not quite right. It looked like it had been dislocated. Besides that, Ellie had a hundred little scrapes and bruises, and a gash on her forehead that was spilling red onto her face.

“Okay. I just need to set her arm. Then stop the bleeding. Okay, I can do this.” She took a deep breath, even though she wasn’t the one who needed it. “1. 2. 3,” she muttered under her breath.

The sound Ellie’s shoulder made as the bones were pushed back into place was almost worse than when she’d hit the wall. She thought she might be sick. Then, both to Yukio’s relief and shock, the injured girl sat straight up and howled in pain. Yukio clamped a hand over Ellie’s mouth. She held a finger up to our own lips, miming that they needed to be quiet.

Ellie’s reaction was delayed. Her eyes were wild, unfocused. Yukio’s heart sank. She was concussed, maybe worse. She should have been there to protect her. Yukio was the more experienced fighter; she should have stayed focused on the whole picture, the whole battle, not just herself. That realization sobered her. It broke through the fog of her panic. The battle wasn’t over yet.

From what she knew, there were three sentinels left. With any luck- which so far they hadn’t had any- they were all trained on the other x-men, ignoring Ellie and Yukio. Kurt, Jean, and Ororo could handle them while Yukio carried Ellie to safety, right?

“Come on. Let’s get you out of here,” Yukio said as she finished bandaging Ellie’s forehead.

She hoisted Ellie up by her good shoulder. She held her steady for a moment when it seemed like Ellie’s knees would give out. That brought a second wave of fear crashing over Yukio: she needed to get Ellie back to the jet, now. She coaxed Ellie into slumping against her and together they slowly made their way to the park the professor had decided was fit to be a makeshift landing strip. Neither of them noticed the sentinel following close behind.

They made it all the way to the jet, up the stairs and inside, before the sentinel attacked.

Yukio was rummaging around inside of a field kit- one that thankfully included medical supplies- when she heard Ellie scream. The sentinel had one hand wrapped around her leg, the other charging up to blast her. The weak blast Ellie could manage only seemed to make it angry, if that was possible. The sentinel’s free hand switched from trying to shoot them to reaching for Yukio. She rushed forwards and threw a punch at the sentinel; Yukio had to hold back a little on the voltage she packed to avoid Ellie getting hurt even worse. The sentinel twitched and then froze.

“Ouch,” Ellie said quietly.

“It’s alright. We’re safe now.” Yukio laid a hand on Ellie’s and squeezed gently. When she turned to grab the kit again, Ellie didn’t want to let go of her. She almost reminded Yukio of a baby koala. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. We’re okay. I just need to grab some bandages for you.” She finally coaxed her into letting go with a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

“You better be,” Ellie mumbled.

Yukio couldn’t help but smile to herself. She certainly didn’t mind Ellie being a little clingy. She grabbed the bag- and felt the metal claw of the sentinel close around her midsection. “FUCK!” Frantically, she sent out a shockwave; it had no effect. She was being pulled out of the plane; she scrabbled for purchase on the floor of the aircraft.

It was Yukio’s turn to scream as the sentinel dragged them skyward. The robot kept flying up, up, up. The buildings on the ground shrank more and more until they were barely the size of Yukio’s thumb.

“Ellie! Are you alright?”

“I think I’m gonna hurl,” she replied.

“Hang on. Maybe I can get it to fly lower.” Yukio closed her eyes, and instead of fighting down her panic she used it, channeling it into her powers. The inner workings of the sentinel, chips and copper wiring and resistors and switches, sprang up in her mind. She was in control. Lower, she thought, and it worked. Even though now they were far from the city, just a winding highway in sight. The rest was snow-covered wilderness. It was almost beautiful, the way the sunlight glittered off of the white capped trees and hills. But she didn’t have much time to appreciate it- they were falling fast, too fast. “Slow down! Slow down!” It didn’t work. Her fear was against her this time. She couldn’t latch back onto the circuitry, tell it what to do.

She stared at the ground, horrified, as the landscape rushed up to meet them. If only she could reach the clarity she had moments before, she could have saved them. She could at the least make the robot release them, so they could jump before it crushed them. No such luck. Instead, she reached for Ellie’s hand. “I love you. I really really don’t want to die.”

They hit the ground in a tangle of arms and legs and metal plating. The only two lucky things were that they ended up on the sides of the robot and not directly underneath it, and that they “landed” in a very deep snow bank. Ellie was unconscious. Yukio fished the two of them out of the snow. Her arms and legs ached and burned, and she had a horrible headache. Worse still was not knowing whether Ellie would wake back up.

“We need to keep moving.” Yukio kept telling herself that, mumbling it over and over through frozen lips when she felt herself slow down. Now, with Ellie’s warmth fading, she felt her resolve crumbling. Everything hurt. Her fingers, her ears, her nose, her feet. Some part of her mind registered that that was a good thing: the real danger came when she was numb. She could break an ankle without even realizing it, and not being able to feel her fingers and toes meant that she was losing blood circulation. But worse still was knowing that soon the sun would set. Her pack only held one sleeping bag. There was no way that alone would be enough to keep them warm.

When she had walked for as long as she dared, she forced herself to stop. Freeing her hands from the lead of her impromptu sled seemed to take ages. Her fingers were frozen into their grip. She couldn’t let herself rest yet, though. Slowly, painstakingly, she dug out a pit in the snow. She laid Ellie inside it, then climbed in herself, wrapping the jacket and sleeping back around them. For once, her mind seemed… quiet. It seemed like a million thoughts and worries should have been warring in her mind, but she was too exhausted to even consider them. Instead, she kissed the girl she loved, hoping it would not be the last time. She settled in as best she could and closed her eyes, hoping against hope itself that both of them would wake up when morning came.