aftermathteam
patreon
Part 10: Song
🕑 Added 2018-08-17 01:43:44 +0000 UTC This is the final chapter in the story of Maki and Bubbles and how she came to be a part of Maki's household. Written by LFN ParkThe author is already working on the next stage of their story as Bubbles starts to find her place, and sense of purpose.
Enjoy!
-
Bubbles sat in Maki’s office in the large couch against the wall. She tipped a glass of biting amber liquid back, feeling it burn her throat as it went down. She winced for a moment, letting the liquid settle into a warm, fuzzy feeling in her stomach that she’d been feeding for the last hour. She touched the new mask on her face for a moment, adjusting it for a hundredth time. Her cyclopean eye gazed to the left at the freckled face of the umbral haired Brie, who looked at her expectantly with a broad grin. To Bubbles’ right she saw the wrinkled, aged face of one of the first women she met when she landed on Wanton Cove; the doctor known as Margaret. There was no smile; only a curious glare behind horn rimmed spectacles that watched her every movement.
“Well, child?” Margaret clucked, her tone deadly serious as her gnarled hand raised her own glass. Bubbles leaned back against the soft leather of the couch, feeling strangely relaxed despite their dueling stares.
“...I like the vodka.” Brie cursed loudly as a thin smile splayed across Margaret’s face.
“As you should. It’s the superior alcohol.”
“Ye daft, Margie. Vodka’s potato rubbish and ye know it.” Brie scoffed, knocking back another glass.
“You’d know more about potatoes than me.” Margaret said simply.
“Listen here, ye ol’ windbag--”
“Girls, please.” Maki’s stern voice cut between them, sitting back on her desk next to a myriad of bottles ranging from clear to dark green and brown. “We’re finding alcohol that Bubbles likes. So far we have….” Maki started picking up various bottles, checking their labels.
“Vodka, Vermouth, and Smirnof. The rest have been shot down, even our beloved whiskey, Brie.” Maki sighed, a wry smile on her face as she set the bottles down.
“Feh. Girl can lift a car, but cannae appreciate propah booze.” Brie murmured, plopping down in a chair. “Disagree. Vodka is versatile and delicious.” Margaret sipped at her glass.
“Vodka has nae taste. Ye have te add flavor. How good can summat be if it has nae flavor?”
Bubbles let them argue, her gaze wandering to the bottles on Maki’s table. Her mind felt loose and untethered, that fuzzy feeling in her belly touching her thoughts like someone looking through books in on a shelf. She felt a memory slide to the forefront as she stared at the whiskey bottle, losing herself in its amber color as the other women’s voices seemed to fade into the background….
She’d been sitting in a locker room after a fight. Bubbles remembered her knuckles had ached and her side throbbed from two competitors this time. They’d coordinated well, and she could feel her head throb from the blows to her head and chin, but she’d powered through and crushed them. As she always did. She remembered looking at the door as her Master Howard and Gregory came in. Gregory was quiet and stayed a step behind Howard, his black hair tied back and a back pack clutched in his arms. Howard had a bottle in his hand, half empty with amber liquid sloshing around in it. He set it down as he grasped her chin, turning her face left and right. “Not too bad this time, Titan. Good fight.” He clapped her shoulder with a smile. She simply nodded dutifully, hands resting on her knees. “Anything hurt?” “Left side, Master.” She raised her shirt immediately, revealing the bruised flesh. Bubbles remembered Gregory’s darker face cringe when Howard began feeling the tender area, causing sharp gasps from her.
“Doesn’t seem bad. Any coughing? Blood?” She shook her head. He nodded and picked the bottle up, taking a healthy swig from it. “We’ll double check it tomorrow.” He waved a hand to Gregory. Immediately he stepped forward next to his massive sister, placing the backpack next to her. “We’re leaving in a half hour. I have a meeting to set up the next fight. Have Titan ready.” He patted Gregory on the shoulder before leaving, a happy strut in his step.
Immediately Bubbles recalled Gregory relaxing, opening the bag as soon as Howard closed the door. “You were great out there, Supergirl.” Bubbles remembered smiling, looking down at him. He pulled a black ipod from the pack, red earphones wrapped around it. “You're stealing again.” She frowned, narrowing her eyes at her little brother. “I found it!” Gregory protested as he unraveled the cords. “Gregory…” She growled. “Master doesn't want you stealing those.” “He hasn't caught me yet.” He chuckled, cycling through the song lists. “This one has older songs on it.” Bubbles remembered the disdain she felt, but still she had let him put the earbuds in. Gregory took her large hands in his smaller grip, cutting the bloodied sports tape free as she hummed along to the beat from the ipod. As Gregory began cleaning her bloody hands, he smiled at her as she began to mutter. “I know that one. Dad liked it...” He began to hum along with her as her words grew louder.
“Lean on me, when you’re not strong…. And I’ll be your friend… I’ll help you carry on… For it won't be long… Til I'm going to need….
Somebody to lean on….”
Bubbles mind sunk back into the present as that fuzzy feeling let the memory drift away. Her eye twitched from the bottle she’d been staring at to Maki. The olive skinned woman had one hand over her mouth, her eyes wide and fixated on the giantess. Confused, Bubbles looked at the other two woman as unease began to replace that fuzzy sensation. Margaret and Brie both had similar expressions of shock, staring at her as if she’d grown a third arm.
“What?” Bubbles began to fidget nervously under the scrutiny of the three women.
“You were singing, darling.” Maki said quietly, tilting her head.
“Quite well, too.” Margaret affirmed, taking another sip from her glass. Bubbles eye widened, both hands clutching her mouth suddenly as her cheeks flushed.
“I-I didn’t….I.. o-oh...” Bubbles stammered, her shoulders trembling. She stood up abruptly, towering over the women as she trembled before dashing from the office.
Brie finished her glass and turned to Maki. “Did ye know she could sing?” “I did not. It’s not something Howard ever mentioned…” Maki murmured, running a finger over the edge of her glass. She knocked it back and set it on her desk, hopping down with a sigh.
“I think I should go talk to her.” Maki sighed as Brie refilled her glass. The smaller woman smirked and daintily snatched the glass from Brie’s hand before she could take a drink. Maki downed it quickly before handing it back to Brie, a naughty smile on her face. “Ye bitch.” Brie scoffed. Maki shrugged idly as she limped out the door.
Maki followed the trail of bewildered people, hearing them talk about the dashing giantess under their breaths. She mentally noted one or two that spoke derogatorily; she was certain she heard one of the boys say ‘one-eyed freak.’ It brought a flash of anger across her features, but Maki steeled herself and focused on the current situation. She wasn’t surprised when the clues led her to Bubbles’ closed door.
She knocked gently, pressing her ear against the wood frame. Maki sighed when she didn’t hear a response, opening the door slowly. Maki saw Bubbles sitting on her massive bed, holding her face in her hands. Her muscular form was shaking with unfettered emotion as she took deep breaths, attempting to calm her tremors. Maki clicked the light on the wall,
“Darling?” Maki closed the door gently behind her. Bubbles remained silent, hiding behind her hands.
“It’s okay, Bubbles. Your voice was beautiful.” Maki touched her arm gently, smiling when she didn’t pull away.
“You’re not mad?” Her voice was small and muffled. “Mad? Why would I be mad?” Maki looked up at her, perplexed.
“I..I don’t know. It’s….I--” Bubbles hands dropped to her lap, turning her face away from Maki. “I’m being foolish.”
Maki caressed her caramel arm for a moment before softly intertwining her smaller fingers with Bubbles’. The giantess turned her head, focusing on her olive hand as she blushed faintly. “You can tell me, darling.”
Bubbles eye darted to Maki’s face, then back to the floor as the gears of her mind turned. “I... Gregory and I. We sang in church...with our father. He was a reverend. I remember… he was loud. Boisterous. Full of fire.” Bubbles tone was timid and soft, her free hand hesitantly touching Maki’s.
“He was killed. When...Howard came, he forbade music. If I was good, I could listen. Singing...wasn’t allowed; Only things relating to training. Sometimes Gregory would steal things. Music players. We’d listen to them alone. We’d sing. I was happy. It reminded me of father...” Bubbles voice halted as raw emotion gripped her, her face flushed.
Maki tightened her grip on the giantess’ hand, a strong pang ripping through her heart as she listened to the poor girl. Bubbles raised a hand to her face, sniffling as she felt tears sting her remaining eye.
“I...hear him. I hear father sing. I...I can’t remember his face. I can’t...why can’t I….” Maki released Bubbles’ hand, wrapping her arms instead around the giantess in a tight embrace as she stared off past Maki, face scrunched in thought as a tear slid down her cheek.
“Bubbles--”
“Forget your family. Forget everything. There’s only the fight. Nothing else. That’s what Master said... I did that….Oh god. I forgot his face...” Maki could feel Bubbles chest begin to heave, her breathing labored.
“Bubbles!” Maki reached up, grasping her caramel cheeks as she drew her knees under her. She pulled her pained face down to her own, forcing her to stare into her hazel eyes as Maki sat up. Bubbles froze at the contact, feeling the tiny woman's fingers dig into her cheeks. Her brain halted its frenzied whirlwind of thoughts and memories and grew sluggish.
“Calm, darling.” Maki cooed, gently pressing her forehead against the giantess’. “Breathe. Just breath.” Maki inhaled deeply and then exhaled, tickling Bubbles’ face with her hot breath as well as the strong scent of the whiskey she’d consumed earlier.
Maki felt her nose wrinkle as Bubbles exhaled, a myriad of alcoholic scents mingling as they wafted across her face. She ignored it as the larger girl matched her inhalation and exhalation, her heaving slowing as her glossy blue eye stared into Maki’s hazel orbs. “There you go, darling. Just like that.” Maki slowly stroked Bubbles caramel cheeks with her thumbs. The two sat in silence, the only sound between them their deep breathing as the dusk light faded to darkness in the room. “This is your fault.” Bubbles baritone broke the darkness, her eye closing.
“How so?” Maki’s face wrinkled in confusion.
“Before….I didn’t feel. I didn’t worry how I looked. Worry what was denied. What I’ve lost. What I am. What’s been done.I haven’t sang since….Gregory.” Bubbles slowly ran her fingers over Maki’s wrists as she continued caressing the amazons’ cheeks. “Now, after you? Meeting you? Touching you...I feel. I sang. I don’t...know why.”
“Maybe you’re happy, darling?” Maki murmured, a hopeful smile spreading across her face.
“I...don’t know. This is new. Different. I’m...different. It scares me. I’m scared of what I could be...what I’ve forgotten. I can’t see my father’s face. I realized just now...and it hurts. A piece of me is gone...what does that make me? Am I a monster? I look like one...I feel like one...”
Maki’s thumbs stopped moving as she shifted forward, pressing her lips against Bubbles hungrily. The larger woman froze again, a soft moan coming from deep in her throat. Maki broke away after a few moments, her hands shifting down to the larger girls neck.
“I can’t tell you what you are, only what I see, Bubbles. I don’t see a monster; I see fear, uncertainty, doubt. I see a woman who’s been through hell, and maybe doesn’t know anything else. Any other way of living. I see a girl who’s facing herself…” Maki gently kissed the giantess again, feeling her press back timidly as her large hands traveled to Maki’s sides.
“I see all the potential, you sweet girl. Behind the fear, behind the confusion…..I see what you could be, what I hope you become. Yet...it’s not about my hope, my want. It’s what you want. Think about it. What do you want? What will help you?” Maki murmured, running a hand along Bubbles chin.
“I...want to feel good.” Bubbles whispered, looking at Maki with a pleading stare. Maki smiled softly, pressing her palms against her massive collarbone.
“I can do that, darling.”
