serpents and sons | taekook

Interlude: Jimin (The Puppet)

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Like the others, Jimin joins their merry band. He tells them there is nothing holding him back - whether familial or monetary, or even just politically. He holds no love for his family and willingly sells his gilded possessions in exchange for patched clothes and leather boots, and he repeats over and over that his position has never been one of any political power.

'I have always been a pawn,' he says,' and my usefulness has long since run out.'

So Taehyung watches him as he learns the ropes of the ship.

He takes whatever job the crew gives him without complaint, quick to jump to lend a hand at every shout. He works the sails, hauls crates, even reveals his quick hands and firm right hook during a particularly rough siege nearly three months after his induction.

His soft hands are unused to such manual labor, however, and Taehyung frequently spots him replacing bandages that never stay on. Sees him perched up on the crates in their hold, lips pursed as he attempts to tie off the fabric with a single hand. The prince is much too stubborn to ask for help and oh, how familiar that is, he thinks.

Except, Jimin doesn't seem to struggle with an ego befitting of royalty - and despite his bastard status he is still royalty. He does not look down on the others born to a lower station, he does not demand to be treated like such. He does not demand much of anything, actually, and Taehyung frequently finds himself wondering just how the boy had lasted so long in his family's courts. Because with every single thing Taehyung learns of the prince it is not that he is quiet, it is not that he is gentle hearted, it's more that... he's lost.

He's a ship with no sail, Namjoon tells him one night as they pour over a map. He doesn't look up from where they carefully plot their next course, passing a flask between them as they plan. Jimin has no destination, no captain to point him. He's an empty vessel, his former crew the never pausing cogs of politics and political grandstanding.

'He is a puppet that has lost its strings and now must learn to walk,' Namjoon tells him quietly, 'and it is up to us to assist when we can.'

And it takes time for Jimin to grow into himself, a long time. Years, in fact. Years of learning his way around a gun just as he does around his own growing personality. Years of developing a sense of humor, of discovering the weight of loyalty and duty, and re- discovering what it feels like to feel.

And right alongside him is Taehyung's staunch protector, his eternal gladiator.

It's a strange feeling to watch his brother fall in love, Taehyung learns as he watches it unfold.

Yoongi has never shown interest in anyone the way that he does Jimin, and it becomes abundantly clear through the years he has no idea what he is doing - or should be doing. Taehyung finds himself on the receiving end of many of Yoongi's frustrations, Namjoon and Hoseok both offering their own advice as their brother struggles to truly connect with the prince.

Jimin has the sense of a brick, a fact they had discovered very early on, and they are all forced to witness the awkwardness that comes from his ignorance to Yoongi's attempts to woo him. He only grows more confused by his increasingly elaborate schemes - of which Hoseok is to blame, of course. The chameleon is oft found giggling behind his hands as he watches the warrior flounder.

Taehyung can't help how his heart aches for the affection he sees in them. It's not jealousy, nowhere close, but his heart yearns for the sort of connection that Yoongi is so desperately trying to make. That very particular sort of bond.

He has slowly, miraculously, amassed individuals that actually enjoy his presence. People that wish for his safety and don't think twice about covering his back. People that gave up their mortality to wander Midgard for eternity at his side - eager, in fact, for the opportunity to see the world with him.

But while they have eternity, he is still so alone. His heart still beats for only one.

He stays silent, however. He is content to watch Jimin grow into himself, content to watch his loved ones love each other - because even though he has known Jimin for but a fraction of the time, he knows he would lay his life down for this boy. He knows that he loves Jimin just as much as he loves his other brothers, just as deeply, and he would do whatever it took to keep him safe.

Years later, when the symbol of the ouroboros has long since become synonymous with 'trouble' and their faces have been plastered on wanted posters for so long no one remembers who sat there before - when they are ambushed in the middle of the night and a man with actual rocks for brains attempts to take the 'captive' prince for himself - Yoongi stays true to his word.

'Pick up your sword,' he growls to the man, ' I am challenging you to a duel.'

And Taehyung can see the small smirk on Jimin's face as the man lowers his dagger and reaches for his sword, stupidly accepting the duel. Hoseok gives a low whistle at the man's misplaced bravery and Taehyung simply leans back and watches - because the gladiator never loses.

And it's at the exact moment that Yoongi's sword buries itself in the man's chest, when Yoongi sweeps his legs from under his body and throws the man to the ground with a wet gurgle-

It's at this exact moment that Taehyung sees when Jimin truly, deeply, madly falls in love.

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