|| ×2 FEATURED || When the ever-skittish, homesick, twelve-year old Fralith accidentally-on-purpose stops a kidnapping, no one knows what to think--especially Fralith. Newly stranded on a planet not his own through a misdirected HomeKin portal, wher...
"Your...mother hates you?" Fenzl asked, voice kind and gentle as he flicked his fingers around his chest, adding extra meaning to his words by their signs.
Fralith nodded, looking down, curling his fingers tighter around his cup. "A— lot." After he'd calmed down some, he'd told Fenzl about what happened. He—wasn't sure why he had told—the words had slipped out on their own—but he didn't regret it. Fenzl...could be trusted.
A small silence. Fenzl sighed, setting down his own cup with a quiet thud. "I am sorry, Fralith, I really am. She— shouldn't hate you; you're her child. But..." he trailed off. A moment later, Fenzl took his hand.
He flicked his gaze up, lips pressed tightly together. No one should hate anyone but...here he was. Here they were.
Fenzl squeezed his hand, grip strong and firm like his sky-blue eyes. "The world is broken. People are broken." Hardened shadows shaded his expression for a brief moment. "You did the right thing."
He...had? It didn't feel like it. It'd— messed everything up. It'd— made people hate him. His stomach flipped over again. "It doesn't—"
The door flew open and hit the wall with a resounding crash. Both he and Fenzl whipped around, jumping out of their chairs. Before he could even blink at the tall figure in the doorway, he was caught up in a tight, squeezing embrace.
"Fralith," Davith's voice breathed in his ear, voice trembling with emotion fiercer than a waterfall.
Everything inside of him went quiet. Davith...? Davith was...hugging him? Not— yelling? Not— mad? The emptiness in his chest quivered, shied, and sank towards his stomach, bewildered warmth daring to creep into the space it left behind.
Davith...might not hate him? The arms around him tightened even more, squishing him against Davith's chest. The scent of wind, wet leaves, and sun-baked rocks filled his nose, bringing back memories of lying by the river with Davith, pointing at birds as they flew past.
"I'm so sorry." Davith's breath hitched, straining in his throat. "I didn't— I shouldn't have— Father was too much and I had to— there's no excuse, I shouldn't have left you and— I am so sorry, Fralith. I— I— I thought you were dead. I'm so sorry I— Fralith, I love you. I'm sorry. I promise to never leave you ever again."
Tears sprung to his eyes, the bewildered warmth opening and spreading around him. Davith...didn't hate him. Davith— loved him. Davith— was Davith Before. Wildness gripped him and he wiggled his arms out and wrapped them around Davith tightly, pushing past PainBird's squished screams.
"I missed you," he whispered. I missed you so much. The tears unlocked inside of him and poured out, streaming through hole in his heart that Davith's absence had created.
Davith rubbed his back exactly how he used to, grip loosening only slightly. "I'm not leaving ever again, I promise. Never again."
And he— knew it to be true, in the core of his heart. Davith was back and he would never leave again because he— he was Davith, the brother that cared and loved him and— didn't hate him.
They hugged for a long time, filling the chasm between them with tears and shadows until they had none left and were together again. Fralith sniffed, pulling back a bit and wiping at his nose, exhaustion hanging off his limbs. PainBird resolutely pecked at his shoulder, having squawked itself hoarse during the course of his tears.
He glanced around the room, but it was empty of anyone else. A bird perched on the window sill, feathers fluffed and head cocked. From the black cap on its head and long beak, he guessed it was a FlowerSniffer. He sniffed again and wiped his face, turning back to his brother. Fenzl must have left sometime.
Davith drew back, quickly wiping his face with his sleeve and turning his light magenta eyes filled with shadows and a fierce, earnest love, to his. His brows tilted as he touched the burn scar on his cheek. "Was it— bad?"
Golden flames flickered across his eyes, illuminating his enraged scowl. "How could you?" Davith yelled, arm lifting the torch, hands shifting, and eyes blazing. Then the torch was flying. Flames sparking, spinning, twisting towards him, his heat roaring, light consuming— "N-not too bad." He reached up and caught Davith's hand, curling his fingers over it, stomach flipping over. "Do—" He dropped his gaze to Davith's chin. "—do you hate me?"
Expression darkening, Davith put his other hand on his shoulder, lips pressing into a thin, serious line. "Fralith, I— I do not hate you. What I did was so wrong but— I could never hate you. You're my brother. I shouldn't have left you like that or— hurt you." He swallowed, touching his face again. "Father was...just too much."
His stomach turned back to the right position, shadows dropping away and tension easing out of him. Father...had gotten to Davith, too. But... "Why didn't you come back?"
Davith lowered his head, shoulders dropping. His bow, strung over his shoulder, slid forwards, nearly hitting Fralith. "Because I was an idiot."
"That's— not nice to say!" Wrapping his arms around one of Davith's arms, he pressed the side of his face into his sleeve, chewing on the bottom of his lip. "You're not an idiot."
A sigh gusted over his head, ruffling his hair. "I stayed away because— I couldn't go back and face Father after...leaving. I didn't think about how it'd hurt you. I didn't think about a lot of things, and I should have. And— when I saw you as Father's heir I—" Davith squeezed his eyes shut, fingers curling downwards across his chest. "—I don't know. I just couldn't face it all."
He looked up at his brother, taking in the haggard lines in between his brows, the dark crescents under his eyes, and the messy flop of his black hair. Leaving...had taken a toll on him too.
Davith had shadows—big dark ones that showed on his face, not just his eyes. And those shadows, some from Father, some from other places...had kept him away. It was complicated, messy, and dark and— he didn't quite understand it all, but...Davith was here. Davith still loved him and cared and wasn't going to leave, and that was what mattered.
Leaning into Davith's arm, he let out a long sigh. "I love you."
The shadows in Davith's gaze eased slightly and he ruffled his hair, the tension in his voice dropping to something weary but warm. "I love you too, LittleBird."
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