Vulnerable
So as it turns out, Taiki prefers to keeps his own problems to himself.
Shoutmon so happens to find this out.
Aka, analyzed Taiki too hard i wrote a short fic about it, which is just the much better version of this
Note: takes place somewhere in Hunters' timeline.
~~~
Shoutmon woke up confused, to muffled hiccups and sobs so late into the night.
And figuring out who it belonged to is just as disbeliefing.
"Taiki? Taiki, you alright?" He called out raspily from within the Xros Loader.
The sounds he heard earlier had quickly ceased before he is left to hang in silence- with what he believes to his partner's own shaky breath?
Before it could stretch on any longer than it should, he hears something shift around.
"Yeah, im alright." His partner replied. From the sound of his voice, he's definitely trying to put on a smiling voice.
It would have been convincing if only his voice weren't already quivering.
"I- uh, so happened to have heard some stuff. Was that you?"
Silence.
"Did... Did somethin' happen?"
More silence.
"Taiki?"
....
Ugh, that's it.
After a moment of even more silence, Shoutmon now engulfed by the Xros Loader's familiar, bright light, then forcefully pulls himself right out of it.
When he opened his eyes, he finds himself within the comfort of Taiki's bedroom, somewhere near foot of his bed.
The room is reasonably dark, but in spite of that, the gentle moonlight that peeked from the curtained window was more than enough to help him adjust.
It didn't take long for the king to lock eyes with his general's.
The boy was hunched, legs hugged close to his chest, tears still running down his already puffed eyes.
"S-sorry," He apologized hoarsely, now wiping at his tears. "Did i wake you up?"
"Taiki wh- that's besides the point!" The dragon whisper shouts. "Taiki, what happened?!"
"Shoutmon, i-it's okay."
"What happened."
"It's nothing."
"Taiki."
The brunette averted his eyes, contemplation washing up in his face briefly. Ruminating whether answering would be of any merit.
He then exhales, and then hugged himself tighter, further burying his face deeper into his arms and knees.
"I... i had a nightmare." He admitted meekly.
"A nightmare?"
"Mhm."
"Oh. Uh, what's it 'bout?"
Another look of contemplation.
"It was... about you."
"Uh huh, and...?"
"You.... Died. Again."
"Oh."
Right. He'd died, didn't he?
He'd almost forgotten how death was in the Human World, how heavy it's impact was for those who lost, how permanent it is compared to the Digital World.
"Taiki-" Shoutmon mumbled, his expression softening.
"It's- it's kinda dumb, i know." The boy managed to blubber out as he began curling in on himself more, avoiding eye contact.
"What!? No, dont apologize for that!" Shoutmon clambered up onto the bed. "If it got ya all teary eyed, then that shit ain't stupid!"
Atleast the dragon's usual vulgarity is able to get an amused snort out of the human.
"How long has it been going?"
"What?"
"The nightmares?"
"... A year ago, i think." He managed to croak out. "A while after you and everyone went back to your world."
"Have ya... mentioned this to anyone?"
"..... No. I- i told you, it's dumb."
"Taiki it ain't dumb-"
"It's dumb because you're okay!" He cried out, his voice barely holding itself together at this point.
"You're alive, you're not hurt anymore, i know that." The boy sobbed, now tugging at his hair. "But for some reason i just- i just keep worrying over nothing."
"Even if that were the case, that doesn't make it any less haunting, doesn't it?"
Taiki gazed at him for a moment before shaking his head 'no'.
"I- Look, Taiki." Shoutmon sighed as he sat in front of the him. "You're a tough guy, someone that cares a lot, that people could rely one. I've seen that first hand, and so have others."
"And we all appreciate that." He grins fondly. "We really do."
"However, that doesn't mean you need to carry your burdens alone." The dragon then gently places a hand on his shoulder.
"As Xros Heart, you've relied on us when it comes to the Bagra Army. And now that they're gone, you could still rely on us, but not only as your army or comrades, but as your friends."
"We've already had the fate of our world's placed on our shoulders," Shoutmon smiles as he reached to ruffle his hair. "So what does it matter when it's now your brain being mean to you?"
Taiki stared at him dumbfoundedly before breaking into a hearty laugh, covering his face with his arms.
"W-when did you start getting this wise?" Taiki chuckled, peering out at the dragon. "I thought you're no good at that?"
"Eh, i'unno." He shrugged as he pulls his hand out of the boy's hair. "I suppose that's what being king does to ya." And in response Taiki laughed a little harder.
"But i really meant what i said, okay?" The dragon reminded. "If there's somethin' bugging you, we've got your back. Im sure Akari, Zenjirou, and the others share that sentiment too."
Taiki could only nod in confirmation as he sniffled and rubbed at his eyes, finally letting himself unfurl from his position.
Then suddenly, the boy reached out and hugged him. "Thank you." He muttered tearily.
And naturally of course, he hugged him back. "No problem."
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It's quiet, in the Grimlands. A different quiet to Pixandria- instead of the shifting of sand there's the quiet bustle of a city at night. The Vampire population of the kingdom is out and about- albeit missing their leader.
fWhip is half human, Pixl knows. Human enough to eat solid foods without issue. Vampire enough that he could stay up all night, if he really wanted to. But hours ago he'd called Pixl, excited and childlike. Asked for help calming down, for settling into bed before the sun went down. He's trying to sleep now, breathing evenly. But Pixl knows he's wide awake even before he turns over on the bed, looking up at Pix like a deer in headlights.
The count's eyes change color- they're purple at twilight, lavender at dawn. Blue during the day. Right now they are a bright ruby red that glitters in the moonlight leaking through the window.
"Pix?" he whispers.
"fWhip," Pixl responds, gentle as he can manage. He reaches out to brush his fingers through the kid's hair, and pulling back when fWhip leans away. "What's wrong?"
"Just thinking," fWhip says. Turns his face to hide in his pillow. "got- got a little lost."
Pixl hums. fWhip has confessed to him time and time again that his brain never seems to settle- constantly leaping between potential blueprints, things to eat, things to do, plans old and new. He's a constant string of words when he gets going, excitedly rambling about all the things he's working on, all of the things he's interested in- Pixl is happy to talk to him.
But having an overactive mind has its downsides, too. fWhip admitted, once, that his brain always seems to cling to everything he desperately wants to forget, and in moments of quiet, of safety, those things he wants to forget sneak up on him and cling to the walls of his mind like honey to the walls of a hive-
The kid swallows, pushing the blankets off and sitting up, shaking all the while.
"C-can I have a hug?" he asks, not making eye contact, "Please?"
"Of course."
Pixl scoots his chair over, close enough that neither of them have to stand, and pulls fWhip into his arms. The kid practically melts against him, inhaling sharply as if he was about to cry, and looping his arms around Pixl's neck.
"Thanks," he murmurs.
"I've got you," Pixl answers, rubbing a hand up and down his back. "I've got you."
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Threads Of Fate
I never imagined I'd find such different yet similar souls, fate intertwining our paths with diversity and unity.
From contrasting backgrounds, we've formed an inexplicable harmony, a resonance beyond comprehension.
And who would've thought tragedy would bind us, turning grief into shared laughter and whispered confessions?
Amidst chaos, our bond emerged, resilient like a phoenix from despair's ashes. Together, we're a tapestry of experiences, threads of resilience weaving laughter with tears.
In life's mosaic, we're fleeting moments, held together by the hands of destiny.
Though paths may diverge, your presence remains etched in my heart's tapestry.
So here we stand, united by fate's threads, different yet connected, bonded by tragedy's unexpected gift.
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the lack of diversity with rich characters is disappointing. you'll always see the rich brats with no moral codes but it's overused. instead, id like to see someone who's rich and does know how important money is but can't stop spending it because they clearly didn't experience a situation where the lack of money overrules their desires. moreover, it's more realistic because writing a wealthy person with less moral values and rude behaviour kind of hints at the lack of parenting or complete / partial absense of either or both of the parents; unless we assume that parents aren't any good either, but we're talking about the realistic world here. no billionaire family goes on killing people to hide their deeds and such like they do in the movies. but if we're talking about a completely normal family, the scene should be different. what i mean to say is that no matter how much money you have, a part of you fails to realise it's value, and it's highly likely for someone born with a silver spoon. they can be the kindest in their bunch but usually can't identify with what the middle class people experience because they simply haven't been in those circumstances. we can write about someone who's rich and overall adds to the welfare of the society but their actions to help others often end up offending them, and it's mainly because the 'help' indirectly creates a boundry between the two class. say, you give your friend a nice dress on their birthday; on the other hand, you give a dress to someone who lives on the streets. there's a difference in both the situations. your friend may or may not use the dress because they don't 'need' it, however, the person on the streets will ( on an average ) because they need it, for they don't even have money to afford 3 meals a day. additionally, your motive behind giving your friend that dress could be because they have been eyeing that one for a while, or maybe because they might like it. however, your motive behind giving the same dress to the other person would be that they could put a good use to it, and that they will / may need it. this creates a margin between the two parts of the society, and you can't be blamed because we're accustomed to think that way. you can relate to your friend and realise that a dress would be a good present but since you can't relate with the person on the streets, you give them what they could need. it's just the way how we think and process different situations, and consequently, social feedback may not always be positive. coming back to writing wealthy characters, i think most people usually fail to image how the high society works ( again, it could be because they can't relate to them. they only have a image of them in the head that's created by the media and deduce their whole personality based on those few points ) im not saying that writing rich and rude characters is bad, but we need to be more diverse and a bit more realistic about how things could happen in fiction. and this about every genre present out there.
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