King's POV
I feel trapped.
I never wanted to feel like that again.
I feel sick to my stomach. Something horrible has happened.
Eustace and Dax left for their mysterious mission early this morning. So far, according to the tracker, they have been travelling south east for quite some time. There has been no development with them.
But something new has happened.
Flashback to 2 hours ago:
I ambled around the house aimlessly. I had already trained for 2 hours today and eaten at least 3 times. I had nothing to do. So I decided to annoy Tyro. I hadn't seen his face all day.
I knocked on his room door and then opened it. But I couldn't see him.
Strange.
I walked further into his messy room, taking mental snapshots of all the gibberish that had been scrawled all over the walls and on random paper that littered the floor. The amount had grown exponentially since I had last been in here.
His thoughts painted the walls and I once again felt like I was inside his head. It was dark in here.
The only light came from the sun invading the dark space through a large crack in his curtain. I sat on the bed, wondering where he could be.
All of a sudden, light pooled in from a door being opened. The bathroom. Out came Tyro with a towel wrapped around his waist and his wet afro falling to his shoulders.
As soon as he noticed me, his eyes widened and his hand tightened instinctively around the towel. "King, oh my gosh, get out" he mumbled, his voice not conveying the same anger I think he meant to. "No." I simply stated, placing my hand over my eyes and facing the opposite direction.
I heard a loud sigh before some shuffling followed. After a couple of minutes of me staring into the palm of my hands, I felt a hand clap down on my shoulder. I turned to see a now fully dressed Tyro, still with wet hair.
"What do you want, kiki?" He sighed as he picked up a comb. I stood up and snatched it from him before pushing him to sit on the floor in front of the bed. "Oh, you know to annoy you relentlessly" I replied, whilst sectioning and combing his hair.
"And also to thank you for what you did when we were at HQ for a couple of days" I continued. We hadn't discussed what went down at HQ with our teammates or even with one another. We simply pretended it never happened.
But it did.
"King, let's not talk about it. We helped each other there is no need for thanks or apologies. We did what we had to do. We are a team" he muttered, wincing slightly as I cornrowed his hair tight.
"I just wanted to say thank you. If it wasn't for you... I don't know what would have happened".
HQ was a place that now instilled fear in me. After being taken there we were taken to what they called the 'cold room'.
It was a sick form of discipline, but I can't say it didn't work.
"Well, I don't want to remember how we 'shared' our body warmth or I will get nightmares at night again" he grumbled.
He has a point, it was humiliating. Being trapped and weak were both our worst nightmares.
"Well, I'm not reminding you how I had to calm you down from a panic attack like twice. I simply just said thank you, why are you making it a big deal?" I rebuttal, feeling quite defensive.
He stood up abruptly, even though I still had half his hair left. "It was one time, and the second time wasn't even a panic attack. I'm not making it a big deal I'm just saying I don't want to talk about it" he replies, his volume raising a little as well. "Well let the whole house know then! Gosh, what is wrong with you? Just calm down, let me finish your hair" I attempted pushing him back down, but he shrugged away my hands.
"Stop acting all nice and caring and stuff. What happened to Messorem? What happened to a strong woman that wasn't affected by emotions? You are just weak" he spat.
Why was he acting like this?
"Having emotion doesn't make me weak, it makes me human. And I'm sorry that I care about you, you ingrate!" I bellowed, finally letting the cauldron that was bubbling in my throat overflow. I felt heat rising throughout my body, blurring my eyesight – inhibiting my ability to see reason.
Why was I acting like this?
What is wrong with us?
"Stop then! You have infected me with that emotional bullshit and now I get weird sensations in my stomach and my hands! I think about you more than I wonder is normal and I don't know why! Yesterday, Amo came into my room looking distraught and I almost hugged him! Emotions ruin you and now you are ruining me!" he bellowed back, his voice progressively growing louder, his sentences punctuated by a step closer, and that vein in his neck and face steadily showing itself more and more.
I didn't process a word he said, yet I understood everything.
The tingling.
The uncontrollable thoughts.
The compassion.
I cursed under my breath as I placed my hand on my forehead, almost removing it instantly at the scorching heat it was met with.
Am I blushing?
End flashback
After our heated argument that got the rest of the house's occupants crowding outside his door, I left and dived straight into my bed.
I had been thinking about it for ages. Every word he said imprinted on my brain, living rent-free in my mind.
I heard a soft knock at my door.
"Come in"
In came Amo, how surprising.
He sauntered closer to me and then sat on the edge of my bed with a loud sigh, before turning more to face me.
"I don't know if I should be apologising for Tyro or justifying his actions, but I just want to start by saying that no one has ever brought out such raw emotion as you did, so congratulations, maybe?"
I raised an eyebrow at his weird introduction but he continued nonetheless.
"We have grown up together. We met at like 12 or something and were put in a "special hospitable for special kids". I'm not going to try and explain why he is the way he is, but just know that this may or may not be the first time he is feeling all of these emotions like anxiety, fear, anger, happiness, and even love. So, I know you must be fuming at him for acting so childish but when it comes to this, keep in mind that he is basically a kid – throwing tantrums and starting screaming matches simply because they don't know any other way to express what they are feeling.
I sighed at this.
I know already. Tyro has always been a foreigner to emotion, I don't even know if they have met. So, this sudden onslaught of it must be suffocating.
I guess we both feel trapped.
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It was around 9 pm and we had eaten dinner a while ago. Tyro didn't leave his room, but Amo left his plate by his door.
Domo and Amo had both gone up to his room to do God-knows-what and I remained downstairs, in the dark.
I heard the stairs creak under the weight of someone, the almost soundless footsteps accompanied by the heavy creak announced Tyro's arrival before I even turned to see him.
I remained facing the dark TV screen as he entered the room. It wasn't even a real fight, I don't have much reason to be acting as childish, though that didn't stop me from giving him the silent treatment.
"King?" he voiced, ha! I win.
I turned to him and raised an eyebrow he wouldn't be able to see in the dark. He was wearing his sleeping clothes and had a strange emotion swirling around his eyes.
"King, I don't think you are weak" he muttered. His low voice echoed slightly in the silent room. The soft background noise made from running appliances seemed to halt at the sound of his voice.
Even though I didn't consciously ponder his words from before, his thinking I was weak hurt me more than I would like to admit.
Sticks and stones
May break my bones.
But words could never hurt me.
Whoever said that probably had the emotional stoicism of a brick wall. Because words hurt a bunch sometimes.
"Thank you" I whispered. Everything seemed to be magnified in the dark. My voice, the sound of my heart picking up speed, the sound of his footsteps approaching me, and the tense silence.
I stood from where I sat as he came closer to me.
His dark eyes seemed to outdo the darkness. They enveloped me, sucking me in mercilessly like a black hole, they were the true definition of the absence of light, yet they stood out always.
They were an 'esoterica of conundrum', just like their owner, but they assured me that ignorance was bliss. I believed them.
That night, Tyro and I grew closer in more ways than just one. We set our reality aside so we could finally be at peace. Even if it was for a short while.