towerofanimus | Aftermath

Characters: Taiki and anyone
Setting: meadow floor, morning after Hitori Kakurenbo.
Format: I'll follow you
Summary: Taiki revives, is miraculously not ill, seeks the most open bright space he can and cries.
Warnings: mentions of death and events of Hitori Kaakurenbo

Sleep paralysis was terrifying, it was longer this time and Taiki felt like he was trapped in darkness forever. Unable to move, unable to breathe, it was like he was drowning again. Maybe he was.

The first thing he saw when it faded and he could open his eyes was a teddy bear. On his bedside stand. Taiki's eyes widened and he screamed. He scrambled out of bed, the events of the night and day before him crashing down on him. Strangely he wasn't feverish, it was a strange thought, he remembered his cupboard filling with blood and yet...

He felt better than he had in months. But he wanted to be outside, he had been in a cupboard for hours and hours. He ran out of the room and down the stairs into the meadow. Transforming he flew around, a blur in the sky. Finally he landed; managing to pull on his tunic before curling into a ball and sobbing.

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Marceline had finally calmed down, her initial fit over the bear and her second death toned from blind panic to a deadened acceptance. It hadn't stopped her from wrapping bandages over her neck- the first time she had ever covered her scars from her initial change. She had hardly wanted to go back into her room to get her sunhat to wander the meadow, too afraid to see the bear again.

She hadn't expected to see anyone else there. Stumbling across Taiki had her stunned wordless, and she froze for a moment before she landed, actually sitting in the dirt and grass to wrap her arms around him. Marceline fought back open sobs of her own, though she couldn't fight back her own tears. However bad it had been for her, she mused, it had to have been worse for Taiki.

Taiki flinched as he felt arms around him but it only took a moment for him to recognise Marceline and he wrapped his arms around her tightly. She had been there too, he had spoken to her, he cried more as he wondered if the bears had killed her too.

He hugged her tight, wishing that they didn't have to be here, that yesterday had all just been a nightmare and hadn't really happened at all.

Marceline wasn't usually one for any form of genuine affection- everything she did usually had that hint of teasing to it. But Taiki was just a kid, that whole game had been too much even for her and knowing he'd had to endure...

"It's over, we're okay," she muttered around the knot in her throat, and hugged him tighter. She wasn't so sure on the 'okay' count really, but seeing Taiki cry hurt.

Taiki clung to her, it was over. They had come back but they were still here. In this tower where horrible things happened all the time. He didn't want to be here, he wanted to go home. He wanted to go to Tai and see Gyousou, except Gyousou might be dead and Tai destroyed and all that was left was this tower.

"I'm sorry..." He gripped her harder, "I just wish... they'd stop..."

The fight for any semblance of self-control broke as a breath turned to a hard sob. Marceline wanted to go home too, back to Ooo and the adventures she'd had there, back to playing hooky from her own kingdom and jamming and her little cave house. Back to irritating princesses and avoiding her dad. She refused to believe that there was only this tower now, it wasn't possible.

But what really was the straw that broke the camel's back was that this kid felt like he needed to apologize. "Don't be sorry," she managed, gripping tight. "Don't ever be sorry, it's not your fault. This is... they... I want them to stop too..." she finally settled on.

He sobbed harder, her tears fueling his own. He shook his head, "They shouldn't... do these things... it's wrong..."

Violence was always wrong, hurting others was always wrong and they had no purpose. They were hurting them for no reason whatsoever. There had been no point to what had happened, no reason why they should have suffered like that.

The dam had been opened, and Marceline wasn't sure she could even stop crying right now if she had the threat of imminent death over her head again. After the stresses of the game, her usual barriers to teary emotional outbursts were all but nil. But she tried to fight down the worst of the sobs- she needed to calm down, crying would solve nothing.

"No, they shouldn't. If you're in charge... abusing the people in your power is a really bad idea... and worse when they're refugees..." It hit her that she was really the worst person to talk about being in charge and working for people- she was hardly ever there for her own kingdom, an absentee queen, but she at least didn't actively try to kill her own subjects. "There was no reason for them to... to set us up like that..."

Taiki cried with her, hugging her both for comfort and to comfort her. He nodded at her words, his eyes shining. "Kings... all those in charge... they have a duty to look after those in their kingdoms."

He paused, "Or towers... I guess... they are in charge... and they said they rescued us... but... why rescue people to torture them..."

Why torture them at all, their actions went against every instinct he had as a Kirin.

Marceline could only shake her head, unwrapping one arm from Taiki to rub the heel of her hand against her eyes. As much as she wanted to just curl into a ball and cry until she had no more tears, she couldn't. She had to be stronger than that. She'd died before, after all. So what was one more time? She wasn't going to let them roll her over and cow her.

"You're right, they do have that job. And there's no reason for them to torture the people they've saved, it's not right. But we can't let them get at us. They may be tough, but you know what? I think we can be tougher." Her smile was a bit broken, at odds with the concern and hurt in her eyes, but she was above all else a queen and lump it all she would act like one for the first time in her life. "What do you think?"

Taiki slowly wiped his tears as Marceline started to speak. He nodded slowly, he was really scared but he trusted her and if she thought they could stand up against those who wished to harm them he believed her. He nodded slowly. No one should be hurt but they had to be brave.

"You... you're right... it's not right and we have to be brave..." He stood up, still shaking and nodded again. "We... we can survive..."

It'd be a lie, the biggest lie she'd ever told herself, if Marceline said she wasn't terrified. But there was a reason to be tough, wasn't there, especially if it would help give Taiki the confidence needed to keep going? She wasn't going to freak out that bad again. She hugged him one more time, an honest smile on her face this time.

"You bet we can. Just gotta keep going." She moved a step back, straightened her hat, and let her feet come off the ground, trying to settle back into some semblance of coolness, as if nothing was going to affect her anymore.

Taiki smiled and nodded, feeling stronger. He wrapped his arms around her to give her a hug. "Thank you Marceline." He slipped his hand into hers.

The hand in her own had Marceline startled- people didn't exactly line up to hold her hand anyway, and the number had sharply dropped since she'd arrived here. But a smile settled back on her face again, and she squeezed Taiki's hand reassuringly.

"It's cool," she said quietly. "Don't need to thank me."

Taiki smiled and nodded, though he thought he did need to thank her, because she had helped him. He held her hand tight as they left the meadow.

Aftermath

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