𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨. / tabi x agoti.

chapter 3. welcome.

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Warm sunshine flooded through the clear windows, grey curtains pulled aside to let the maximum amount of light enter. The distant sound of birds chirping and squirrels running along branches was faintly audible, accompanied by the occasional car or truck driving down the road, sometimes a motorcycle revving its engine.

Standing alone in the sleek kitchen, holding a cup of freshly-brewed black coffee and subconsciously tapping his teal fingers on the marble countertop, Solazar stared empty-mindedly out of the window to his right. The view showed not much to offer, save for some trees and bushes nestled together in a bundle of green and brown. A rocky footpath slithered between the greenery, leading up to a small swinging bench that could hold a couple.

Solazar sipped his coffee. Every morning was the exact same: wake up, go downstairs, make some coffee, wait for his two sons to wake up and make breakfast for the three of them. There was also the common occasion of the two fighting over pancakes or waffles, for some odd reason.

However, this morning was a tad different. Now there was a third person he had to wait for.

As he placed the cup down on the counter, a crimson digidevil entered wearing a grey tank top and red flannel trousers, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Solazar's eldest son, Aldryx.

"Mornin', dad," he greeted the teal humanoid, passing him on his direct path to the fridge.

"Good morning, Aldryx," the Solarisapien replied, still staring blankly out of the window. Aldryx soon stood besides him, holding yogurt in a small bottle. He glanced up at his father, raising an eyebrow.

"... Question, Dad."

"Hm?"

"First, Agoti ain't in his room, he's in the lounge," he said, twisting the bottle cap open, "and second, there's a stranger in the lounge as well."

Solazar blinked, his attention taken away from the garden to his son.

"What the fuck is going on?" he asked, utter confusion in his voice. Solazar, at first, was hesitant to reply, but seeing as Aldryx was already suspicious, he virtually had no choice.

"Do you remember your best friend, Aldryx?" he asked, adjusting his glasses. "Tabi."

He noticed, in the corner of his eye, the red digidevil place his yogurt down in one swift motion, looking up at him with both confusion and mortification.

"Tabi??"

Solazar nodded. "That's him."

Aldryx felt his heart sink a slight amount. That unrecognisable goat-horned man that his younger brother had suddenly brought into the house was his best friend?

No. How?

Tabi didn't have goat horns, or black-yellow eyes... or even a full-blown skull.

So many questions were running through his mind, it was ridiculous.

Meanwhile, back in the lounge, the younger son was already wide awake. Sprawled out on the carpeted floor and draped in a red fluffy blanket, he stared up at the ceiling. He was deeply zoned out, as he usually was in the morning hours. His tongue hung out of his mouth at a foolish angle.

Purely out of touch with reality, Agoti was blind and deaf to everything going on around him.

... At least for a few minutes.

The musician was shaken out of his trance by his older brother, crouched over him with an irritated expression.

"Agoti!!" he hissed. "Wake up. Wake up!"