Vaguely based off of something from discord. Sailor and her friend who beat ts out of each other bad-style once. For reasons.
(Drift's a voidwing, a species that belongs to @coldstepclimb! Just felt I should mention ^^)
The train rumbled softly around Drift, steadily making its way to its destination near Orange Ocean. The rhythm could've lulled them if they let it, but they were too deep in their thoughts to relax, even if their body was screaming at them to rest.
Their hands were covered in scratches, and probably bruised under their fur. One eye was swollen to the point they could barely see out of it, and both were sore from crying, but their wings and antennae were undamaged, or at least no more damaged than they'd already been. And next to them . . .
Sailor wasn't too much better. Scratches they'd dealt were scattered over him, especially around his nubs and tail, the tip of which was flicking back and forth lethargically. There was a rip in her hat too, that they don't remember doing. She was leaned back in her seat with eyes shut, probably just as exhausted as them.
Drift didn't think they could look Sailor in the eyes right now, at least not without starting to cry again. But there wasn't anyone else in the train car with them, and the silence was starting to suffocate. They had to say something, and . . . Maybe an apology is a good place to start. Those had always been hard, and they never had a good teacher, but they should at least try, right?
Keeping their eyes fixed on the ground in front of them, they took a shaky breathe.
"I'm sorry."
" . . . " Sailor's tail stopped twitching " . . . Me too."
What-? What did he have to be sorry for? All he'd done was have a family, and defend himself. There's no shame in any of that.
"You didn't do anything. You were just living your life. I was the one who was jealous, and doesn't know how to tell people, and always ends up lashing out over and over and-"
"If I'd noticed sooner, maybe things wouldn't have gotten this bad!" Sailor's nub grabbed Drift's hand, and it took all their strength not to turn and face her
"You were hurting, and I somehow managed to stay blind until you couldn't take it anymore! If I just- If I was a little better with people, things wouldn't have- We could've gotten through this unhurt."
Unhurt.
STARS did Drift wish that could've been how that worked. But even if she had noticed something, they'd have just denied it and denied it until they couldn't anymore. No matter what, there was only one conclusion, and they were living through it right now.
" . . . I wouldn't have wanted to burden you with my petty problems. This was the only way things could've gone."
"That doesn't make me feel better, you know" A teasing tone started to slip through, even though she still sounded exhausted. "Every now and then, it's nice to think we could've changed things, you know?"
"Yeah, I guess I do . . . "
Drift's eyes started to flicker shut, but the feeling of Sailor's fur on theirs startled them back into attentiveness.
"Huh-? Sailor-?"
"I like being your friend, you know. And I don't want it to end yet."
" . . . Me neither."
Admitting that was like a breath of fresh air. For all the jealousy and built up resentment over what he had, they'd never met someone quite like Sailor. He had this energy to him, like the sharpness of the wind on sea cliffs, clear and alive. Drift had never seen the sea before Popstar, and they wanted to ride that wind as long as it lasted. They wanted to stay friends with Sailor as long as she was there.
They leaned back into Sailor, feeling the softness of her fur and how she smelled like sea salt, and allowed their eyes to shut.
"So, friends?"
"Friends."
They were still tired, and would probably feel tired for a few days, but they'll make it through. They'll keep living, and they'll face the future.
And for the first time in a long time, they wouldn't do it alone.
