Baden x Thane

Reunion part two

Baden ran his fingers over the locket he had made, endlessly grateful that it hadn't been stolen or destroyed. He had always loved art, and he was never given the opportunity to pursue it. So he taught himself. He learned to draw realistically, to trick people into believing they were seeing something they weren't. He thought of art as a type of almost manipulative magic. When you see a drawing of a dog and somebody asks you what it is, you respond with "A dog." But in reality, you are looking at what is simply lines and shapes and colours (yes I'm Canadian deal with it) that create the illusion of something that you recognize. And Baden loved it. He mainly drew pictures of things that he was fond of. That being said, he had filled sketchbooks with countless drawings of Thane. Thane smiling, Thane crying, Thane training, Thane sleeping. (He's not a stalker, they shared a military tent.) Baden also had one special drawing of Thane. He still remembered the day Thane had seen it...
"Uhh, Baden?"
"What? Um, I mean, pardon?"
"What's this?"
"That? Oh, it's nothing reall-"
"D-did you draw these?"
"Uhh, maybe, so what if I did?"
"They're beautiful!"
"Wait, actually?"
"Of course- wait, is this... me?
Baden could never have forgotten how much he had blushed then.
"Y-yeah..."
"Why me? I'm not worth drawing."
"Of course you are, Thane! You- well... I guess I just really like drawing you."
Now it was Thane's turn to blush uncontrollably. Both of them were about fourteen at the time, and they were more than a little bit socially awkward.
"Well, I guess that's fair. I, uh... can I have this other drawing?"
He had then pointed to a picture Baden had drawn of himself.
"It'll be like a friendship thing, you know? I'll have your picture and you'll have mine. It's kinda cheesy, but-"
"Okay."
Baden tore the drawing out and gave it to Thane. He then tore out the picture of Thane and held it, caressing the tiny ink face with his finger, a small smile on his face.
"Thanks Baden!"
Baden made himself a small locket out of wires he had collected, and carefully wrapped the drawing up in it to keep it safe. He tucked the locket under his shirt after putting it on, to avoid teasing from his siblings. After that, he had never taken it off. It was an absolute miracle that it was intact after all this time. Of course, he had never forgotten when he had discovered Thane's hidden talent. It had been shortly after an assasin had tried to kill Baden. This wasn't the last time that would happen, of course. Thane had blamed himself. Baden realized this when he wasn't at breakfast. He ran to the room they shared and found Thane huddled under a blanket, crying. He immediately felt bad for him and went to comfort him.

"Thane, did I do something wrong?"

Thane made a noise that sounded like grief, surprise, and disbelief, all muddled together.

"You? It's what I can't do right!"

"Is this about the assassin? That's not your fault."

"I wasn't there to stop him! You could have died, and it would have been my fault! Do you know how much of a mess I would be without you?"

Thane was full on sobbing by then, and Baden was upset by his friend's sadness. He just wanted Thane to be happy. He sat down and wrapped his arms around him, attempting to make him feel better.

"Shh, it's going to be okay, Thane. We're going to be alright, as long as we have each other."

Baden wrapped his fingers around Thane's hand. He noticed that Thane's heart rate was much faster than normal. He must have been having a panic attack, thought Baden. Poor Thane. He was so worried about me. I don't deserve such a sweet person.

"Thane, what do you usually do when you're upset?"
Thane, still partially crying, blushed profusely.
"It's okay if you don't want to tell me, I can just go-"
"I... I usually sing."
"Ohhhhhh"
Baden was honestly excited. Even if Thane couldn't sing well, he would sit by his side.
"Sorry, I'm not very good."

"No, it's okay, I don't mind."

"Really?"

"Yeah, why would I lie?"

"K then."

When Thane opened his mouth to sing, Baden felt as if he had been lifted up by angels and carried to paradise. He wanted this moment to be eternal. He wanted to stay here, holding Thane's hand, listening to him sing. In that one moment, everything was perfect. He knew the song. It was composed by the brother of Queen Billie, Prince Finneas. The siblings were incredibly gifted and were the current rulers of the land of music, where Angelo came from. Even the first words of the song made him tear up.

"Don't you know, I'm no good for you? I've learned to lose, you can't afford to. Tore my shirt to stop you bleeding, but nothing ever stops you leaving."

Baden loved this song, and he knew a harmony part. So he joined in. The two sang together until they had finished the song. Thane had stopped crying then. He wrapped his arms around Baden's neck and fell asleep. Baden didn't want to wake him, so he decided to sit there cradling him. He was absolutely adorable when he was asleep. Eventually, Baden found himself slipping into sleep as well.

A/N woo this was a long one. this was really fun to write, and I know there are some tumblr geeks out there who ship this so yee how many reads oh still zero k bye y'all aka the nobody that is reading this *cri*