Chapter Text
Nabla grumbled as she made her way up the mountain in her wheelchair. She wanted to get her mind off of Oodle’s disappearance and being near Alef and his brainless posse did nothing to ease her tension. She was still worried about Leek and Glue, and she didn’t hate Envelope, Lyre or Toothpick, but right now, she needed to clear her head.
Was the mountain always this tall? Where did Oodle go? Why did he leave-
Nabla's thoughts were interrupted by the ground shaking. She fell to the side, managing to grip a rock, but now she was in a predicament, and her wheelchair had rolled down the mountain. She was dangling over a cavern. The mouth of the cavern let just enough light in to illuminate the jagged rocks below. A fall from here would mean certain death.
Nabla’s hands were beginning to sweat profusely from the stress. The moisture on her hands made it difficult to maintain a grip on the rock she was desperately trying to hold on to. Having arms and legs too weak to quickly pull herself up was bad enough, but with an ever increasing risk of losing her hold entirely, panic was beginning to take hold in her. Her breathing became rapid and sharp, and she couldn’t stop herself from shaking. She hated calling for help, it made her feel so weak, but she had no choice now. She didn’t want to die.
“Lyre?! Toothpick? Is- Is anyone there?!” She shouted as loud as she could, but it didn’t seem like anybody heard her.
“LEEK- GL-GLUE, PLEASE!” She cried out again. Her vision was beginning to blur from the tears welling up in her eyes, and her hand was starting to slip. She couldn't hold on much longer, her fingers felt sore. A crack echoed, and the rock Nabla gripped began to crumble. Nabla shut her eyes, praying for a quick death, but she felt someone grab her hand. She felt herself get pulled up, onto solid ground. Finally, Nabla opened her eyes and saw.........
Alef. He was panting, pulling Nabla away from the edge and then getting up to go retrieve her wheelchair. Nabla stared at the ground for a few seconds, thoughts flooding her mind and creating a whirlpool of confusion.
Why him? Is this another ploy? There's got to be some ulterior motive, there's no way he'd-
"Nabs, I got your wheelchair." Alef sounded relieved, it wasn't something Nabla was used to seeing or hearing from him at all. She felt her eyes begin to sting, and she sniffled.
Nonono not in front of him he's going to laugh at me-
Nabla was unable to stifle her tears. She bit her lip, at first refusing to let herself be vulnerable in front of the man she hated more than anything, but it was only a matter of seconds before she started to cry, pushing up her glasses to feebly wipe away at the seemingly endless stream of tears springing forth from her eyes. Her sobs were quiet, restrained, and shaky. Alef paused upon seeing his cousin break down.
Shit.
He couldn’t leave Nabla like this. Even for him seeing her like this was just….. Painful. Alef sighed as he got on his knees and put his arms around Nabla, cradling his cousin and patting her on the back. To his surprise, she didn’t push him away. The redhead buried her face in Alef’s shoulder, bawling her eyes out, staining her glasses and his vest with her tears.
“Hey, hey, you’re okay now, Nabs.” Alef’s voice was soft, reassuring, and it lacked his usual cocky drawl. There wasn’t a hint of malice in it. He patted her on the back once more, allowing her to let out everything she’d been repressing.
God, what have I been doing?
Alef felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach. Guilt was finally setting in, and god did it hurt. He’d been treating Nabla so horribly for years, and for what? Some sense of power? Some falsified feeling of superiority? Were those short lived ego boosts worth suppressing Nabla every chance he got? Making her bottle up everything just so she wouldn’t give Alef the satisfaction of buckling down? Nabla was rather mousy, and her legs and feet suffered from bone problems. Walking, standing, running, doing any of that for too long would cause her severe pain and exhaust her. Instead of supporting his cousin, all Alef did until now was shut her up and shove her aside.
"I'm sorry...." Nabla whimpered, finally reciprocating Alef's hug. Alef hugged her tighter, his voice beginning to break.
"N-no....I'm the one who should be sorry! All these years, I've- I've been treating you horribly for so long and.... and you didn't deserve it. I know this isn't going to undo everything I did to you, I-I just.... I couldn't let you die. I shouldn't have belittled you so much... I shouldn't have pinned the paint can thing on you!" Alef didn't notice his eyes stinging and welling up with tears, he couldn't even look Nabla in the eye right now. Nabla looked up at him, eyes puffy and glasses smudged from crying. She sniffled, wiping her eyes and opening her mouth to say something. Before she could say something, two voices behind her shouted, one soft, the other slightly raspy.
"NABLA!" Glue and Leek were about to rush over to Nabla, but they both paused, as they and the other two broliance members took in the surprising scene in front of them. The four of them walked over to the cousins, all kneeling down beside them, and taking notice of the tears staining both Nabla and Alef's faces.
"W-we would have come a lot sooner, it's just that a boulder nearly-" Frisbee trailed off. "Why are you both crying?" Leek, Glue and Ketchup kept shifting their gazes between the two cousins, eyes widening as they put the pieces together.
"You know what, we'll save the arguing for another day. Come on, let's help you back into your wheelchair." Leek said, Ketchup pushing it over to them. Glue and Frisbee helped Nabla and Alef to their feet, and they sat Nabla down in her wheelchair. Glue gave Nabla a peck on the cheek, the latter perking up slightly and smiling a little at the kiss. The artist softly murmured words of affection and comfort, cupping Nabla's face and wiping away some of her tears.
"You're alright now, dear." Glue whispered, pressing her forehead against Nabla's.
"Maybe things between us don't have to be so bitter." Ketchup mused to himself as he walked back down the mountain, him and Frisbee each having an arm snugly around Alef.