Chapter 12 – Trust the Glaze
- G.P. Torte
- Dec 14
- 2 min read
“Glaze doesn’t lie. It reveals what’s beneath.”
The light between Strawbrawler and Blue Bulk shimmered for hours.
No words.
No movement.
Just presence.
Pastry carts detoured.
The crowd gave them space.
Even the syrup lines beneath the street ran quiet.
It was Strawbrawler who spoke first.
“You felt it too, didn’t you?”
Blue Bulk nodded once.
“A fracture in the bake. Center-deep.”
“You came down the mountain for this?”
“I come down only when the core is out of balance.”
A silence passed between them.
It wasn’t awkward. It was… settling.
Inside the CES van parked half a block away, Glazey Dave peered over the frosting surveillance drone.
“Okay, so are they gonna team up, kiss, or throw each other through a bakery window?”
Whip Siren adjusted a heat map.
“Their glaze signatures are syncing. One hot, one cold — they’re starting to stabilize each other.”
Captain Crumble paced.
“But if they’re syncing... what does that do?”
A swirl of wind passed between the cheesecakes.
Not from the weather.
From the center of Pastrypolis itself.
The ground sent it.
Strawbrawler squinted at the street.
“This city’s getting softer.”
Blue Bulk crouched and placed a hand on the cobblestone.
A faint crack pulsed with heat beneath his palm.
“No. Not softer. Weaker.”
Crumble brought up a city crust-density chart.
Five neighborhoods now shimmered with red indicators.
“That’s not possible,” she muttered.
Whip Siren narrowed her eyes.
“Unless... the oven below is reactivating.”
All three froze.
Glazey Dave dropped his cookie.
“Wait. The oven?”
Strawbrawler stepped closer to Blue Bulk.
“I don’t trust a lot of things. But I trust what glaze shows me. And right now? You’re steady. Even if you’re quiet.”
Blue Bulk nodded.
“You’re cracked. But solid. And the city trusts you more than it fears you.”
They turned to the horizon.
The tremor lines on the pavement ran like veins — pulling outward, away from them.
To something deeper.
Crumble tapped her comm.
“Get CES rolling. Patch to all sweet sectors. We’re not just tracking anymore.”
She looked down at the map.
“We’re responding.”
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