voidtreckerexpress | That's not my King!

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That's not my King!

Who: Taiki and Inigo
Where: Greenhouse
When: Day 31 of Grasshopper
What: Taiki thinks he is going to find his king, but instead finds Inigo. They talk about the events of the last few weeks.
Warnings: I will keep this updated

It's only been a few days since they had flown back into the void but Taiki had been busy, mostly trying to make up for the week he had done nothing after the mission.

He's also been reading Principles of Aether, Magic, and Magitek. Which is as complicated and long as Uta had made it out to be. He can't say he understands it, but until the books he had ordered with Tidus arrive he was doing his best. So far not so well.

But for the moment he is having a break and he follows his feet, as he often does, letting them lead him to his king. He is not surprised to be headed towards the greenhouse, Lord Gyousou was often there. That was where the kouji was after all and it was as much a focus point for Lord Gyousou as it was for Taiki.

So Taiki walks around a plant pot, smiling as he sees Inigo and then... Fading as he looks around. Inigo was alone?

But?

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Taiki does look up, blinking away the tears. It's silly crying like this but he knows Inigo won't mind, he won't judge him for his tears. He is too kind for that.

He looks up, meeting his eyes. Friends are such a precious thing, he has so few of them that he cherishes them all. But being someone's friend... Being thanked for being someone's friend. That is new.

He smiles, blinking away more tears. As Inigo leans towards him he turns his head. Just slightly, so Inigo's kiss lands on the side of his head rather than the centre. It's a little awkward but he tries to make up for it with another hug.

Uh oh.

The crying is fine, since Inigo knows they aren't bad tears. And the hug is fine too, of course, that's always more than welcome. Inigo can even hold Taiki's face as he looks at him, but then there's the way Taiki.. well, he almost dodges from the slight kiss, and that immediately has Inigo's stomach twisting up in all sorts of knots.

Sure, it's followed up by a hug, so it's not like Taiki is mad at him or full on hates it, but Inigo still knows he did something wrong. He went too far. Did something stupid. His chest feels tight, and suddenly it's getting harder to breathe. He can feel the heat on his cheeks as shame sets in. Oh no, oh no, oh no.

He doesn't want to show it too much to Taiki, in case it might just upset the other, so he does his best to awkwardly pat Taiki's back a bit before he lets go.

"Uh, I-- um, I should let you go look for lord Gyousou now. I've been holding you up enough."

And he's not sure how much longer he can keep a straight face in front of Taiki before the worries bubbling up start to kick into full overdrive. He can already feel them coming up so strongly.

"Inigo... I'm sorry..."

Taiki can tell that he has upset him. Inigo might be trying to hide it, but... It is obvious to someone who knows him. To someone who knows how he hides and tries to keep aware of it.

Taiki reaches out, to press his finger on the centre of Inigo's forehead as Inigo lets go of him.

"For a kirin this place is very sensative." He explains quietly. "It is where our horn is. Even when we look human, it is... uncomfortable to touch it."

He's not sure why his still feels so weird to touch, when he has no horn to speak of. But the closest he can figure is it is like a story of someone who has lost a limb and yet still feels it there.

"I didn't mean to offend you... By moving away..."

For what it's worth, Inigo does seem like he's trying to listen to Taiki's explanation. It's tempting to somehow get away, to avoid it, to hide away with the instant guilt that kicks in at the very thought of doing something that'd make Taiki uncomfortable. But he tries to fight it, knowing that he'd only make Taiki worse if he'd suddenly leave.

And the explanation makes sense. It really does. But it's not like Inigo was blaming Taiki in the first place - he was blaming himself, as usually. And the explanation does little to change that, judging by the look in his eyes. The guilt is so obviously visible in them, even as he sucks in a breath and tries to smile.

".. No, I'm sorry. I.. I shouldn't just have done that without asking permission in the first place."

He just got carried away. Like always. Too affectionate for his own good. Too quick to make others awkward or uncomfortable.

"I'll make sure to remember it."

He was stupid. He shouldn't have moved, shouldn't have let Inigo know that he was uncomfortable. Because now, despite the explanation Inigo is still upset. He still feels guilty and that look is not one that Taiki would ever want to cause.

"No. It's okay. I don't mind... You don't have to ask. I... I'm sorry..."

He should have just stayed still. Because now Inigo was guilty and Taiki always did this, let his selfishness and stubbornness ruin things. This was the reason he had been such a terrible son, the reason he had no friends, even the reason it had been so easy for Asen to manipulate him back then.

Ugh. No. This is going totally south and Inigo realises it, even in the middle of his own guilt and insecurity spiral. He can practically see himself mirrored in Taiki at this very moment. In the look in Taiki's eyes. In those words. They're just going to keep dragging each other down more and more if they do that, and someone has to be the one to break through that.

And apparently that person has to be Inigo this time. Even though he doesn't like it. Even though his guilt towards Taiki still feels very real, as heavy as a weight on his shoulders. Ugh.

"Taiki, it's okay." He steadies his voice, tries to straighten out his facial expression so it's not quite as guilty anymore. It's hard, but not impossible. Inigo has done it often enough in the past. Steeled himself. Tried to forget his emotions, or at the very least push them down.

His hands move to Taiki's shoulders, briefly squeezing those.

"I'm fine. Really. I just got worried when you moved away, because.." His voice trails off, and then he lets out a frustrated sound. It's frustrated at himself though - not at Taiki. Never at Taiki. "Because I'm an idiot who worries way too much about everything. But it's alright now. I get that it's not like you were avoiding me."

"I would never avoid you." That was important for him to know first of all. Taiki realises that this is going wrong. He had been so happy only a few moments ago and now it had all gone wrong, the guilt weighs on him heavily.

And he knows that Inigo holds similar guilt, even though Inigo has done nothing wrong. He is still beating himself up about it because that is what Inigo does.

"I promise, I would never do something like that."

"I know. Just.."

He shakes his head. How can he explain himself here? Especially in a way that wouldn't make Taiki feel only guiltier or worse. It feels impossible. Like every road laid out in front of them might just lead towards both of them feeling worse, no matter what's being said or being done.

So Inigo shakes his head.

".. It's nothing. Just remember that you're doing great." There's a slight hesitation in the gesture, but he raises his hand to pat Taiki on the hair. Carefully. Like he doesn't want to do something dumb again. "You've never done me wrong."

At least that much is the truth. Every single awkward or painful moment he's ever had around Taiki has always been solely his own fault rather than the other's.

"You've never done me wrong either, Inigo. Please remember that."

He smiled at him, it's still sad. Tinged with worry. Worry about Inigo. He smiled at the hair pat and then leaned forwards to kiss Inigo on the forhead. Just where he had pressed his finger against.

"You don't have to worry."

Inigo looks like he's about to say something else. And probably not something good. Maybe something along the lines of how there's plenty he should be worrying about.

But all of that is silenced the moment Taiki kissed him on the forehead like that. Inigo just stares at the other, first momentarily baffled.

But then his entire face slowly starts taking up a very deep shade of pink. Oh, Naga. He's been kirin-blessed now. Taiki-blessed. It feels like he could melt on the spot.

"A-.. Ah.." He momentarily looks lost for words, and he touches his forehead. Still can't believe! ".. Thank you, Taiki. For.. y-you know. Always being so sweet to me.."

"No." He shook his head, "Thank you for being a good friend."

He blushed slightly as well. But at least Inigo slightly flustered and a bit embarrassed was better than Inigo upset.

He leaned back and smiled nervously at him. "Come on, let's go and find Lord Gyousou. Um... Unless you are busy."

He probably shouldn't take Inigo away from whatever he was doing."

"No, I'm-- I'm not busy. Never too busy.. for you.."

It'd almost sound like flirting if it wasn't for the fact that Taiki - most likely - just knows at this point that Inigo is always so genuine and sappy. And for the fact that Inigo sounds so flustered, like he's still in a daze. Taiki has no idea how powerful his forehead kisses truly are.

"S-- So let's go!"

He does know that Inigo is always like this and he has the feeling he embarrassed him a little by kissing his forehead. So he just smiles and takes Inigo's hand.

"Yes. Let's go."

He is very lucky to have a friend like Inigo.

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That's not my King!

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