voidtreckerexpress

Entry tags:

Returning

Who: Taiki and Open
Where: Luggage, sleeper carriage 4 corridor, greenhouse.
When: Egret, Day 22
What: Taiki returns and has feelings.
Warnings:

Luggage Carriage

The mission had been terrible. Terrifying, heartbreaking. As battles went there had not been too much blood, but considering he had still been weak it was enough to keep him slightly feverish, uncomfortable and unable to rest. Lord Gyousou had kept him out of the way of the fighting but he had known it was happening. People he had met on the train, people he liked. They were fighting, being hurt, hurting and even killing others. He wasn't a child anymore, but that didn't make it easier.

But now. Now he had no idea where he was. It was dark and when he moved his arms and legs he was contained. Trapped. Had they been captured? He can't remember. He closes his eyes, letting despair wash over him. It takes him a moment to realise the cause of that hopelessness. He can't feel Gyousou. The ouki is gone.

He panics, legs and arms lashing out against whatever he is in. He kicks upwards and feels only relief when the lid moves. He pushes and feels a little sheepish when he realises he was not trapped at all.

He sits up and looks around, confused. But he remembers, the welcome leaflet had said about disappearing and reappearing in a suitcase. This is the luggage carriage and he is back on the train.

He still can't feel the ouki. Had he somehow been brought to the train, leaving Lord Gyousou on the space station. Was he too far away?

He is still weak, it might be that he is too far away to feel him. He sits silently for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

Sleeper Carriage Four~ Corridor

He made his way back to his room, warily. Anyone he passed got a wary nod, though he worried about the amount of people. It quickly negated his theory about people being still on the mission...

Outside his room he paused as he searched for his ticket. He looked up at the screen and paused. His name, as well as Yuffie and Wen Qing's were there in red, orange and blue. But Lord Gyousou's was gold.

"What does that mean..."

Greenhouse

After a shower and a change of clothes he made his way to the greenhouse. It was one of his favourite places on the train, even if there weren't all that many plants yet. It was a hopeful place, full of life ready to bloom.

And in the far corner, out of the way was where he headed to. That was where he and Lord Gyousou had planted the kouji. The kaihaku could grow in even the least fertile of scrub land and so they had planted it out of the way, to leave the flower beds and good soil for the other plants. There had been soil in the pot it had been in, so that would be enough.

It wasn't fully grown yet, it had no flowers but still he sat next to it, knees drawn up to his chest, reaching out to run his fingers through the soil. It was silly. It didn't bring him any closer to Tai, didn't change the fact that he was on this train, that his king was missing. Somewhere unknownable. Didn't change the aching loneliness in him or the bleakness that came with being parted. But it still made him feel a little better, to be here.

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"I don't know about it being brave.."

Inigo slightly ducks his head, but at least there's still a tiny smile on his face. He doesn't want to fully let it fade, even when he's talking about something that feels so difficult to actually say out loud. It had just felt right to let Taiki have it as a promise to return.

Besides.. well. It's probably just coincidence. But for all he knows, maybe that ring is what pulled Taiki back here, rather than letting him leave when they stopped at the platform. Who knows.

"You're just.. important to me. Which most likely sounds silly, considering we haven't even known each other for that long. And it's not like you're important to me in the same sense that this ring is, or that my mother was, but you're important all the same in your own way."

He looks back up again, letting out a weak laugh.

"I don't want to lose you. That's pretty selfish of me, isn't it?"

He is glad that Inigo is still smiling, that he hasn't caused Inigo so much pain by asking about this that he couldn't smile anymore. That would be terrible.

He looked down, not sure what even to think. He hasn't known Inigo very well at all and it is true Inigo feels important to him as well, but it is still strange for someone to be so caring, so openly.

He shook his head. "I don't think you are selfish at all. The opposite. Really."

He hadn't known there were people as gentle and kind as Inigo in the world.

Of course Taiki would say that he isn't being selfish. That's just like him. But Inigo knows better. It's not fair to not want to lose Taiki - surely he has important business back home to return to, especially considering the state he and Gyousou were in when they first showed up here. And Inigo has important business waiting for him back home too. That's where they should all be, instead of spending time together here. And yet he wants this time. And likes it.

He smiles, pats Taiki's shoulders, and then finally moves to slowly stand up.

"Thanks. Come on, we should get you some food though. You're probably hungry, right?" He feels like he'd be hungry after being stuffed inside of a suitcase.. Probably.. "I can get you something from the kitchen, so you can just wait in the dining hall."

Inigo holds out a hand in case the other needs help getting up.

He was pretty hungry, he has no idea when it was he had last eaten. He has no idea where he has been or for how long. He's not starving, the way he should be if he hadn't eaten for days, but he's definitely hungry.

Inigo's offer made Taiki have to blink tears out of his eyes all over again.

"You don't have to..." He doesn't want to be a trouble, for Inigo to go out of his way to do things for him, the very fact Inigo had offered overwhelms him with how kind the other boy is.

"Oh, but I'm going to." Seriously, how heartbreaking is it to see Taiki get so overwhelmed at the smallest things? It's not as if Inigo is going to judge him for tearing up when he himself is the biggest crybaby around, but there should be no reason for the other to have to cry over something as simple as someone else grabbing food for him.

He pulls his hand back, instead just reaching out to wrap his arms around Taiki's waist in a hug, and then - with some effort - he manages to lift the other up with a laugh until they're both standing on both of their feet before letting go of him again.

"Come on. I'm more than willing to make the brave sacrifice of walking into the kitchen for you."

Inigo would find, when he picked Taiki up, that Taiki weighs almost nothing at all. It is more like picking up a bag of flour rather than a grown adult. But he is still tall enough that the lift is awkward and clumsy and Taiki lets out a startled laugh as he found his balance. He hugged Inigo again before he was let go of and nodded with a small smile, which he forced bigger, for Inigo's sake.

"Thank you." He made sure he had everything before following Inigo out of the carriage.

Okay. Wait. Hold on just a second there. Sure, Inigo is still moving along out of the carriage and all since he is determined to keep himself to his word here, but.. what was that? Why does Taiki weigh so little?!

He's almost too scared to ask. Especially since Taiki only just let out a laugh and hugged him. He doesn't want to ruin the other's good mood if the reason Taiki is so light is something bad, but.. the ease weight-wise during the lifting is going to keep constantly worrying him otherwise, he's sure.

.. maybe he just needs to try and be subtle about this while they walk through the train? Okay. Cool. Great. You can do it, Inigo. Be smooth.

"Erm.. Say, you've been eating regularly before you disappeared, right?"

Could someone be that light even if they just didn't eat much though?

"Um... Yes." He nodded, a little confused at the question. He continued following Inigo. "It was a bit trickier on the mission, because the food was so weird."

He hadn't wanted to risk eating something unknown and getting ill, but it wasn't like he had starved either.

"Um why? Have you had a problem with eating?"

Inigo doesn't seem like the type to be fussy and there is plenty of food on the train, but the question struck Taiki as odd so he is worried.

"No! Oh, no, not at all!" He quickly turns towards Taiki - even if it means walking backwards while he's still going - and shakes his head. There's a near-desperation to his denial, and it's not because he's lying as much as he really doesn't want the other to get the wrong idea and worry about him.

"It's just.."

How does he say this diplomatically if the subtle approach didn't work?!

"You were very.. light just now. When I picked you up."

Of course the quickness that Inigo denies it just makes Taiki more worried. And suspicious. He is use to people trying to shelter him from unpleasant things. Even now he is not a child anymore, there are still those who would rather not tell him the truth of things. He doesn't need to be sheltered.

But then Inigo talks again and it turns out he had been concerned about Taiki. Because... Oh.

He laughed nervously, not a true laugh really. But it's just one of those things that he hasn't had to really explain before. On earth he had a Taika shell. In his own world he never had to explain things like this. Other people knew them better than he did himself.

"That's because my bones are different than a human's bones. More like a bird... Kind of. But it's not that I don't eat enough or am unhealthy or anything. You don't have to worry."

Ah, yes. Clearly a totally normal explanation. Taiki has non-human bones.

To be fair, it's not that strange to Inigo. He has a friend back home who totally looks human, but can transform into a literal dragon at the drop of a hat. And she has a slightly odd build because of it too, making people assume she's just a kid. Taiki having really light bones could kind of be placed in the same category.

He wonders if it's too rude to ask why, though, or what Taiki exactly is..

"Okay. That's good to hear! I won't worry then." Not about Taiki's bones, at least.

Inigo smiles, trying to say this as lightly and casually as he can. Just to make sure he shows he doesn't really mind. "I didn't know that you weren't human though."

He nodded, glad that Inigo wouldn't worry anymore. He would hate for Inigo to worry. About anything but especially about him.

"Yes... I'm a kirin." His eyes flicker to Inigo, looking to see if he understands.

"The flying kind, not the kind with a long neck."

Just in case, he's not exactly sure what language Inigo speaks, it seems everyone could understand each other here. But he knew very well that having languages translated in your head did not stop misunderstandings.

There's definitely zero understanding on Inigo's face. Sure, he can hear everything Taiki says very clearly, but that doesn't mean he understands it. Mostly since Taiki is assuming that he knows what a kirin is, which.. Inigo doesn't. Is it such a common thing across multiple worlds and Ylisse just doesn't happen to have them?

.. he's totally imagining an incredibly long-necked Taiki now. It's terrifying.

It makes Inigo looks real awkward for a moment as he reaches up to rub the back of his neck.

"I'm quite sorry, but I've never heard of kirin before." But if they fly.. "Are they anything like manaketes?"

Oh. He's made Inigo confused, he looks away and tries to figure a way to explain, to make it better. Maybe it was that their worlds didn't have any of the same creatures. Or just that, like on earth, kirin weren't a real creature in his world and part of a legend or story Inigo didn't know.

He is wondering more the former as he has never heard of manaketes.

"Um... Sorry I don't know what they are... But. A kirin is just like a horse, except it has a horn on it's head." He gestured towards his own forhead, as to explain where it would be.

"Oh... um... Do you have horses, in your world?" Maybe he should have checked that first.

He slowly nods as Taiki asks the last part about horses, but he still looks a little confused. Not since he can't imagine it, no, there's a whole different concern here.

"We have horses. And if you mean a flying horse.. Are you talking about a pegasus?"

See, that he gets. He knows them. He sees them all the time! But the idea of Taiki being one is so weird? There's not a single part of the other that looks like a horse! Does his world have people who transform into pegasi, just like his own has people transform into dragons?

"Yes." He nodded, glad they had found something in common between their worlds. "A kirin is part of the Pegasus family, so we are very similar."

Many creatures actually fall into that category in his world, but he is confident that Ingio understands now.

"Then.. can you change forms?"

He says it pretty quickly, like the idea of it by itself isn't all that strange to him. Which it isn't. Sure, they don't have pegasus-people back in his world, but the idea of it isn't too weird, he supposes. But it's pretty obvious that Taiki looks nothing like a pegasus right now.

"That's why I brought up manaketes, actually-- my friend Nah from back home is one. They're dragons who can take on a human form."

"Yes... Um I mean no. Most kirin can though." He shrugs and looks very indifferent to that, his face hardened for a moment, much like the stern boy Inigo had first met on the platform.

"Oh you have hanjyuu as well? I um... hanjyuu are people who are also animals. Or are makaetes specifically dragons?"

Dragons don't exist in either of the worlds Taiki knows but he isn't too surprised they would exist in another.

Inigo is not a total idiot. He notices the way Taiki's face hardens, no matter how briefly, and he instantly knows to not ask any further about it. There's clearly a reason as to why Taiki can't transform while other kirin can't, and if it's something painful, then Inigo sure doesn't want to be the one to drag that pain back up.

So instead he tries to smile as gently as he can, giving a slight nod to the question.

"Right, they're specifically dragons. We also have taguel, they change into these big rabbits instead, like my friend Yarne. As far as I know, we don't have any other races that change into different forms though." He laughs, giving Taiki a playful wink to help and try settle the mood a little. "That must mean it was destiny that the two of us became friends, huh? Most people just give me strange looks if I talk about my friends being that way."

"I guess... I don't think it is something that happens a lot in different worlds. Or maybe those from those worlds just think it is normal. It wasn't a thing on earth though."

And many people seemed to be from worlds similar to the earth he knew.

"I think hanjyuu can be any animal. I've never met any though so I don't really know."

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Returning

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