* Stardust

verumqueen

We are all afraid of something.

Her mind drifts for a moment at those words. What is Aegis afraid of, she wonders. What is Magia, or even Yozora, afraid of? They all seemed so fearless, so brave. Sometimes it felt like she had the most fear in the entire group, the most worry, the most uncertainty. But Aegis reminds her it’s not so - she doesn’t have to carry all of that on her shoulders.

But she does, regardless.

The comment causes her to blink, and she giggles softly as she leans a little onto Aegis, her hand still on his arm. “Does he really?” She laughed, “It’s hard to imagine!”

There is a pause in their small talk, his voice finding the silence it often lingers in.

He knows she worries and he sees it as clear as day. Each day, she worries for their safety and he worries for theirs. His fears are kept close to his heart, buried beneath layers of training and a stoic exterior. What is he afraid of? Losing them. Since a young child, he knows he was meant to GUARD those important to him. At one point in time, those were the GIGAS UNITS, but now… now that he feels the taste of a life without those chains, he knows what is held close. Such sentiment is kept within, though a small smile pulls at his lips all the same. She is hard to hide around. Yozora is lucky.

But so is he.

He chuckles alongside her, letting her lean, supporting her. He reaches out to settle his hand on the one resting on his arm- the silent offer of comfort. “You’ve clearly never spent enough time with him outdoors,” he replies, “He has this amusing way of jumping around and panicking at the slightest bug.”

And as he speaks, there is an endearing look in his eyes. Something soft that lingers in the iris. “Truly unique to him.”

She smiles as his hand covers hers. It was as if every small act he did was just to cheer her up, just to make her feel safe, and it was succeeding. As much as she wanted to be independent, to be able to live without others watching over her every move -- it was also nice, to lean into him like this and for him to accept her so wholly. 

She sees that look in his eyes and the smile on her lips turns into a knowing one. She’s seen that look before, maybe in her own eyes - when thinking about yozora. “What else is unique to him?” She asks, putting her chin on his arm, looking up at him in an almost child-like manner. “To you, to yozora.” Because as much as she loves her king, there’s so much she doesn’t know about it. Or simply doesn’t remember.

“You seem...really familiar.” The girl remarks with a small hum. Was it how he dressed? How his hair was? Or...Or something else. Her curiosity burned in the back of her mind, but she bit her tongue before she could ask any more questions. 

“Your art is beautiful.” Hoshiko said, leaning over the girl’s shoulder for a moment. She pulls back, remembering the concept of personal space, but she still holds a smile as she clapped her hands together and continued to speak. “Who are the people you’ve drawn? Are they real?” 

“I’m sorry, you got hurt trying to protect me.” Her hands hovered over Kairi’s injured arm, slowly working on healing her. “But thank you, I have no idea what those black creatures are or why they keep showing up around me.”

In a way, she’s thankful for them. Without those creatures she might not have gotten the opportunity to escape from Gigas Corp. But....now what? She had been wandering for a while now - her only goal to reach Yozora and let him know she was okay. But how was she supposed to do that? She could barely control that portal opening ability of hers....

Realizing the healing is done, she pulls her hands back into her lap. “What you did was very brave.” She smiles softly. “What kind of weapon is that though, I’ve never seen anything like it!” 

“…What an odd thing to say.” Is mumbled without much thought.

The queen looks at the man before her, tilting her head to the side. Her eyes were fixated on him, but it was clear to see that they were a void. No longer did they shine as the night sky which she adored so much. Now it was a sunless see, a starless sea, a black hole - devoid of all light.

“Especially to someone you don’t know.”

For she didn’t know him. Right? Though something was…strangely familiar about him. 

Yozora always knew what to say to cheer her up.

 Just moments ago, she was talking about how that was not the case - how maybe it was just better if she could give up. That everyone didn’t need to try so hard on her behalf. If she wasn’t here, then they wouldn’t need to even try - need to get into so much danger.

Then he speaks, and the world stops around them. As it always did when her king decided to grace her with such kind words. 

“You know,” She started, a laugh leaving her lips. “One day I’ll be able to be as good at cheering you up as you are at cheering me up!” One day. She thinks. One day she’ll be able to lift his spirits high. One day maybe she’ll even make him laugh!

So if anything, maybe it was okay to live on to see that day. She sighed softly, leaning against his side. “Thank you…for thinking so.”