⚡️ ETIENNE 🦇

Soft lamplight illuminated the lounge, the Andromeda home dead silent. The only sounds that could be heard were the distant low chatter of Solazar on the phone, and Tabi's own heart thumping in his ears. Every beat made his broken and bruised head pulsate, bony hands gripping the blanket around him. The blanket that hid the full extent of his injuries.

The blanket that hid his monstrosities.

The image of their faces was burned into his mind. Tabi had seen the way they had all looked at him when the brothers had pulled him out of the smouldering wreck of the restaurant. Fear, concern, bewilderment, all phasing in and out of view. It was their shock that had struck Tabi the deepest. Shock, and—especially in the youngest brother—outrage. Most likely at him.

Could he blame them all after what he had become?

Tabi couldn't see himself in his blurred vision, what lay beneath the blanket and the (now dirty red) bandages. It was for the better, the thought spoke aloud against the rush in his ears—

"Hey."

Tabi snapped upright. Agoti stood in front of the couch, holding a bowl of soup and shifting on his feet. "I've never been the best at cooking, and I bet I'm even worse now–" he spoke as if he was desperate to vanish from the spot. "–but you shouldn't go hungry right now."

Tabi's body subtly relaxed. Agoti lowered the bowl enough for him to take it with (shaky, hesitant) hands, the warm ceramic feeling so foreign. The rich, dearly missed scent of spiced broth and vegetables made his stomach flip, the spoon laid still in his clammy hand.

Tabi stared at his old friend. "Why aren't you looking at me?"

Agoti started. "What d'you mean? I am–"

He narrowed his eyes. "You're looking around me, not at me." The digidevil folded his arms; Tabi angled his head towards the landing. "Don't pretend you wanna be near me if you can't even look me in the face. There's the door."

Why would you want to look at a monster?

Tabi shoved the soup on the coffee table and tilted his body away. Then a hand grabbed his shoulder, thrusting him back.

"What the fuck was that?" Agoti hissed between his teeth. "Back there, in the restaurant?" Furious white eyes bore into Tabi's, seeking answers.

Tabi wrenched Agoti's hand away, voice taut. "You don't know a thing about that—"

"I know the entire building came down and that you'd be dead had we not been there."

"You weren't supposed to be there."

"So I was supposed to just let you burn?!" Tabi recognized that same look of shock and anger on Agoti's face. He turned away, but the digidevil shifted in front again. "Was I supposed to leave you among the other casualties?—"

"Nobody was supposed to die."

"And it's amazing that nobody—" Agoti stopped.

Now Tabi couldn't look at him. Shame and conviction clashed beneath his skull. Agoti did not appreciate the silence, so he grabbed both his shoulders and seethed.

"So that was you? "

"What were you thinking?! All those people– why did you–"

"I had my reasons–"

"To bomb innocent people?!" Both of them were shouting now.

"I would've gotten my revenge!" Tabi snapped. "I said you don't know anything about that, and why would you? Any of you?!"

He dropped the blanket around himself. "You don't even know why I look like this, do you?" He raised his arms, forcing Agoti to see his marred body. "Maybe you would've been able to stop this had you not been gone."

"I've been gone?" Agoti fought the urge to laugh in disbelief. If only you knew why. "I thought you were dead, Tabi! All of us did!"

"So where were you on my last day alive, Agoti?" Rage and hurt flared under his skin.

Tabi ignored the raw nerves in his wrapped ankle, jabbing a finger in Agoti's chest. "Where were you when I needed an escape from my demonic ex girlfriend who kept her lies—her 'love' from me? Where were you when that demon came breaking down my door? When he took everything I had? When he killed my cat and killed my humanity?!" Images flashed in a train of treachery: that girl, her father, a body that was no longer his.

It's not my fault. Agoti slapped Tabi's hand away and held his wrist tight. "You didn't see the flyers, Tabi? MY flyers, about MY disappearance?! Or did your girlfriend keep that from you too?—"

"Oh, you disappeared? " Tabi spat. "Conveniently when my life went to shit, you just disappeared? D'you think I'm fucking stupid?!"

"Stop it, Tabi!" Agoti's grip tightened, but his old friend staggered back and stood fast.

"You ghosted me when i needed you the most. You, Aldryx, from either of you I got nothing. Now— when I become the ghost, NOW you come back?!"

"You think I didn't try to come back before?!"

Agoti lunged.

"Well, maybe you didn't TRY hard enough."

"Hey!—"

"Cool it, lil' bro!"

"Get off of me—!"

Aldryx had restrained his little brother from behind, their father standing between them and Tabi with a cold glare behind his glasses. Agoti thrashed against his brother, spouting further grief and frustration. Fear flickered on his face as Aldryx held him tight.

"He took me," the digidevil gasped, "and ask me who!"

Tabi's nails dug into his palms. "And who am I supposed to believe took you away and made you leave me in the dirt?"

Agoti's last sentence before Aldryx had him out the door sent Tabi right back into the restaurant.

"The same demon who kicked you down to the dirt."

Silence settled over the house once more, but this time it suffocated everyone inside.

—

Neither Agoti nor Tabi spoke another word. Not even as Aldryx dragged his brother away and slammed the door, cutting the two off from each other. Not even as Solazar, his composure frayed and smoking at the edges, informed Tabi about the doctor he had privately hired to treat him properly, since it was far too risky to send him to the hospital. It slowly dawned on Tabi that staying in their home didn't make him less of a liability.

Agoti hated Tabi. The rest of them should hate him too, given what he had done. He couldn't trust any of them not to turn their backs on him again, especially not after tonight. Agoti didn't know the first thing about what he had endured, why he did what he had to.

But Tabi didn't know the first thing about Agoti's disappearance. Why he fought against Aldryx's restraints out of fear over rage.

He was hardly worth saving now. Whatever was left of his humanity had crumbled to ash in the restaurant.

He needed to leave.

Tabi wobbled on his feet, Agoti's soup left cold and forgotten on the coffee table.

Agoti shrank against his bedframe, shaking all over. As the last hour circled in his head, after having shut Aldryx out of his room the moment his arms were free, he struggled to put a label on his feelings. Was it hatred? Grief? Guilt? Frustration? Definitely guilt. He felt angry too. However, it was becoming less towards the man downstairs, which left room for more guilt to flood in the gap.

—

Tabi hit first. He shouldn't feel guilty.

But why didn't he listen?

His old friend was right. Where was he when he needed him?

Damn it, damn it!

Agoti watched as Tabi limped for the front door, blanket and bandages ripped away and strewn across the lounge. Although his body may now have been invisible, it didn't extend to the blood trailing down his limbs and stomach. A floorboard creaked beneath Agoti's foot and they both flinched, Tabi frozen like a cornered animal at the base of the stairwell.

Agoti cursed out loud and punched his mattress. As his head began to clear, he heard shuffling from downstairs. Uneven, unsteady. Everything told him to stay put ('It wasn't their business anymore,' Aldryx had told him), but he swiftly forsook his inhibitions and hauled himself out of bed. Quietly, he made his way to the stairwell.

The digidevil couldn't muster anymore anger towards the cursed man below. Cautiously, he descended in a manner that the other seemed to interpret as a hunter standing over its prey, for Tabi bolted—

—and instantly collapsed under the fragility of his broken ankle.

Tabi cried out sharply, too overcome by pain to notice Agoti hoist him up by the shoulders and, with a care that felt all too alien, carry him back to the couch. Agoti was no first aid professional, but still he grabbed the roll of gauze and made messy—but gentle—work of Tabi's bleeding wounds. He didn't pause when Tabi came to, tense once more in anticipation of harm or hostility, golden pinpricks watching his every move. Instead, as he patched up his friend, Agoti began rambling.

"It was a void. I spent an entire year in there. There was nowhere else I could escape to, everything was just white and empty. I may as well have come out of there a lunatic. Succumb to insanity for the crime of becoming popular."

Tabi silently processed every word, unsure of what to make of it. He didn't interrupt Agoti, listening to the experiences of the other that had forced them apart in his time of need.

"I tried to escape. I would've thought the idea would've at least crossed your mind." Tabi averted his gaze, but Agoti continued. "I knew that if he had done this to me, he would've gone after you next."

He lowered Tabi's hoodie as he finished the last gash in his side. His gaze fell with the hem. "When I finally escaped, I believed he'd gotten you too. Your grave had already been dug, and–" he faltered. "–your obituary torn off the stone. How could I have expected you in the middle of a burning restaurant, having blown the whole thing up to get back at my captor?"

"You couldn't." Tabi's voice quivered, little more than a whisper.

Agoti stood back up, gazing upon his old friend. The words died on his tongue, so many questions yet so little to muster. He spun around, moving to leave, but a faint noise stopped him.

A sniffle.

Agoti bit his lip and squeezed his arms tight. He heard Tabi begin to crack behind him, their shared yet separate suffering finally come to light. It was far too much for either of them to handle.

The man on the couch barely had time to lift his head before it was crushed against Agoti's shoulder in a tight hug.

"Damn you, Tabi," he choked. That was all it took.

Subtly, then picking up speed and intensity like a cinder to flame, the two fell apart. The sobs that wracked Tabi's thin frame gave way to Agoti's own tears, and two old friends mourned together. They mourned each other, what had been taken from then both, and what they could never get back.

"I'm sorry—"

"Shut up."

"I'm– I'm such an idiot—!"

"I said shut up..."

Tabi's hands came up to grapple the front of Agoti's hoodie. The digidevil's tail coiled around the other, securing him in place so they could never be pulled apart again. They both wept as one.

An eternity seemed to pass before the two broke apart. Tabi wiped his eyes with his sleeve while Agoti sat pleasantly numb. Something had begun to stitch the cracks together, both in themselves and in the withered bridge between them.

Agoti abruptly stood, picking up the bowl of soup. He flashed a weak smile at Tabi as he waved, "I should heat this back up for you."

despite his lyricless compositions, he is an adept writer.

owns a black cat named Luna

very short fuse and a strict sense of routine

complex ptsd

no longer remembers his own age, has to be reminded of his birthday

autism and transness be upon ye.

favourite instrument is the violin, it's a good stress reliever

Bones can stay out of the mixgear for hours at a time, he's a great companion when other humans are too intense

very strong spice tolerance

impartial to the brothers, however feels quite guilty. prefers the company of clover and x (prefers the former, finds the latter to be a handful)

acquired heterochromia as evidence of his past corruption, one eye is a darker purple

has no concept of exhaustion until he is on the brink of fainting

if phantom is drinking coffee, then something has gone very wrong

freckled fuck /aff

a total vampire during summer (mood)

favours autumn

scarily good at strategy games

he'd probably dabble in goth if he ever ventured out of his classical circle