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King cleared his throat, floating awkwardly at the small, blue table in the air as he held his teacup with his pinky-claw extended. “Collector, may I, uh... perhaps have some more tea?”
“Why yes, of course, King!” The Collector held the teapot delicately, maintaining perfect posture, poised and proper as he pretended to pour tea into King’s teacup, making a ‘pshhh’ sound with his mouth.
King took a fake sip of his tea with as much grace as he could muster.
While King was drinking the tea, the Collector excitedly reached behind their floating chair, grabbing a plate of cake seemingly out of nowhere.
The Collector turned back around, noticing King’s curious expression. They set the cake on the table, which they then pushed toward King, a giddy smile on their face. It was a double layer cake with pink frosting, decorated with pastel stars, lots and lots of glitter, and what looked like mini versions of King and the Collector on the top.
“King, you should try this! I made it myself.”
King squinted his eyes, examining the cake with suspicion. “Are you sure that’s safe to eat?” He asked.
The Collector seemed offended by the question, and frowned. “Of course it is, King! I made it special just for you. Just try it! You’ll love it, I pinky swear!”
King grabbed a fork from the hands of a puppet drifting in the air, and hesitantly took a bite from the cake. His eyes lit up. “Woah… this is actually really good! What the heck did you put in this?”
The Collector waved his hand dismissively, a smug grin crawling onto his face. “Psh, just a lil’ magic— hey! Kiiing, you need to have manners!”
King had started eating the cake messily, the neon pink frosting all over his fur and fangs. “But ish sho good!” He said, spewing bits of cake everywhere.
“Ewwww!” The Collector recoiled and stuck his tongue out, but he couldn’t help but giggle at his best friend's antics.
The baby titan laughed, but then sighed suddenly, and he rested his skull on his paw.
“King, what’s wrong?” The star child inquired.
“Nothing, it’s just… I miss Luz,” he said, absentmindedly tracing shapes onto the table.
The Collector hummed. “Yeeahh, me too,” he agreed, “but it’s okay. She’ll be back soon, right?”
King put both his paws down firmly and looked at his friend with a stern expression. “No, she won’t.”
The Collector raised his eyebrows, furrowing them upwards. “Huh? But… why not?”
“Because,” King let out an exasperated sigh, clenching his fists, “she’s dead, Collector.”
The Collector frowned, and something formed in the pit of their stomach, like a miniature black hole. “What?—”
“Don’t you remember? She died, saving you.” The world around them seemed to drown out now, but King’s voice was clear as day; low and controlled, yet it was enough to make their body clench.
“All because you were stupid enough to think the man who tricked you twice could be forgiven,” King practically growled, and the Collector shrunk in on themself.
“N-no, I didn’t mean to—“
“In fact, none of this would’ve happened in the first place if you hadn’t helped Belos with the Day of Unity.”
“It’s all your fault!” King roared, his fur standing on end as his eyes glowed white. His fangs were sharper, and he seemed so big, towering over the Collector.
King struck at the star child with his claws, plummeting them into the burning grass. Fear encompassed the Collector’s entire being, but his body wouldn’t let him run.
Behind them, the Archivists stood tall, observing the scene like they would an animal.
“HELP!” The Collector attempted pathetically to crawl toward them, as if injured, “PLEASE, I DON’T WANNA GO BACK!” He pleaded desperately.
Their siblings just laughed. “Oh, but you deserve to be punished,” one said.
Another chimed in, “why do you think we left you here? Your foolishness is of no use to us.”
They heard a deafening roar behind them, and turned around to see a flash of light. Just as quickly, their vision turned pitch black, and they were met with the realization that the cloth was over the tablet again.
They screamed, uselessly banging on the walls of their prison, crying, “I’M SORRY, I’M SORRY, I’LL BE GOOD! I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT, I WON'T MISBEHAVE!” Distantly, they heard someone saying their name. “PLEASE, I DON'T WANNA BE ALONE AGAIN! PLEASE! Please…” they hiccuped. They heard someone say their name again. This time, they were startled. Who’s there!?
“Collector!”
The Collector's eyes snapped open, and he gasped. He brought himself to his elbows as he took in shallow breaths, frequently interrupted by involuntary inhales. He turned his head to see a wide-eyed King, his grey fur standing on end. His paw was extended mid reach towards them.
“Oh, thank Titan, Collector, are you okay?” He tried to touch the Collectors shoulder, but in response, they backed up to the headboard and curled into themself.
“Collector…” King tried again, but they just cried, and let out a weak “go away” as their whole body shook.
King could hear the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears. Reluctantly, he lifted himself off the bed to return to his own, deciding to give the Collector some space— and maybe himself some time to think about what to do.
But when the Collector felt the weight on the bed lessen, he squeaked. “Nonono wait please, don’t leave!” He cried, shuffling and trying to reach out to grab King. He nearly used his magic to bring the little titan to him, but somehow, his rational mind knew King wouldn’t like that.
King shuffled where he stood, letting out a big exhale. Nonetheless, he returned to the Collector’s bed. He asked himself, what would Eda or Luz do in this situation? …He wasn’t really sure.
“C-collector… it’s— ah.. could you, um, look at me?”
The Collector had his face buried in his knees, but looked up per King’s request. He had tears running all down his cheeks, and snot getting into his mouth.
King grimaced slightly. “Yeesh. You uh, got something there bud?” he remarked.
“Huh?” The Collector sniffled, bringing their fingers to their cheek, and though it wasn’t as intense, their sobs continued. They wiped the tears and mucus on their sleeve. King made a note to bring him some tissues later, but in that moment, the little titan pulled his friend into a hug.
The Collector hugged back, crying harder now. His best friend was here, and he wasn’t going anywhere. He’s not alone. He squeezed King tighter as sobs wracked his body, but this eventually caused the canine to struggle.
“Collector, pal, I can’t- breathe—“ King rasped, lightly pushing his paws against their chest.
The star child released their hold on their best friend, who inhaled with relief, and wiped more of their own tears away. He was reduced to sniffles, now, only releasing an occasional sob.
“I- I had a nightmare,” the Collector said.
King sighed. “Yeah, I got that part.” He adjusted himself on the bed. “Would you… wanna talk about it?”
It was silent for a minute. King wondered if he had said the wrong thing somehow.
“…it was scary,” the Collector whispered, as if it were some grand secret.
“Yeah, nightmares are usually like that.”
“W-well, it started out fun! I think. We were having a tea party. But then you… started saying mean things..”
“Oh.” King didn’t know how to respond to that, but he was going to pretend it didn’t bother him. “What did I say?”
“You said I was stupid, an’ that Luz’s death was ‘cause of me, and that e-everything was ‘cause of me, since I helped Belos…and then you tried to trap me just- like your dad.” The Collector’s eyes filled with tears, and he started pulling on his hat. “And you were right, King, a-and my siblings were right too, I’m just a big dummy who deserves to be punished—“
“Collector…” King interjected, his eyes expressing worry.
The sniveling child shut his eyes, his face twisting in distress, “I’m- I’m stupid and, and mean an’, I should just be imprisoned forever!”
“Collector!” King shouted. The Collector lowered his hands from his hat, and King took them in his paws.
“You… you know that’s not true. Sure, you made some mistakes. Maybe catastrophically harmful ones—“ King hesitated, seeing as his choice in vocabulary made his friends' lips tremble, but he continued, “but you were manipulated. I know how it is, Belos lied to so many people. He lied to everyone, and most of them were fooled, just like you, so— you can’t call yourself stupid. Because, uh, if you’re stupid, that means the whole world must be stupid too!”
If King was being honest, he didn’t really know what he was saying. He used to think everyone was stupid, for believing in Belos, and the only smart person alive was Eda. Then he met Luz, who also fell for Belos’s schemes, but he would never call her stupid for it. She was his big sister. So, he wouldn’t call the Collector stupid for being tricked either.
The Collector stared at his own hands in King’s delicate hold.
“Listen, Collector, nobody deserves to be imprisoned forever, especially not you. So don’t say that, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” King said, very seriously.
“…Okay,” the Collector sniffled. They didn’t really believe King all that much yet, but they smiled at the little titan, glad that he took the time to make them feel better. “Thanks, King,” he said, pulling his best friend into another hug. King yawned, and it dawned on the Collector that they were exhausted from the nightmare and salty tears that followed.
They picked up King, who let out a confused “weh?” And huddled with him under the covers. King did not protest this, and snuggled up against the warmth of the living star next to him. The pair fell asleep, and the Collector had a pleasant dream, calm, knowing he wasn’t alone.