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Ian waved half heartedly as his date disappeared around the corner. His smile dropped the moment she was out of sight and he made a mental note to apologise to her later- that was not the date he had wanted for her. He clutched his empty beast battery and shoved it deep into his pocket. He hated feeling so detached from his voltasaur- it seemed ridiculous, it wasn’t like he could ever feel Parasagun through the battery, but he couldn’t help but keep the it close.
It had been days since King disappeared, but he, like the others, all held out hope for the idiot to still be alive. He wanted to count his blessings that there were five of them together waiting for the return of their leader. The relief Ian had felt when he saw Utchi limping towards them, slumped against King’s father for support, was something like he had never felt before. His vision had blurred and the next thing he knew he had his arms latched around his partner’s shoulders, tears streaming down his cheeks.
He slumped against the wall and took a deep breath, shaking. Ian had always locked his emotions and personal issues up behind lock and key, until he met King. In only a year, the lock had rusted and Ian’s true self had begun to shine through. In only a day, the lock and key had fallen to the depths of an endless abyss, taking Ian and his emotions with them. He was lost, confused, hurting and desperately trying to move forward.
A number of passerbys were throwing him worried glances and Ian realised that he must have looked like a mess, trembling against a wall in the middle of the day, pale and thin through lack of food and sleep.
He had slept well the first day after the fight.
Slept probably wasn’t the right word. He had made it back to Amy’s and passed out half way to the make shift medical bay set up in his team mate’s home. They didn't have the option of the Spirit Base anymore, and a hospital was going to raise too many questions- particularly with Utchi who had no form of identification. 18 hours of unconscious bliss later, the team had agreed to resume their normal lives and simply wait for King and the voltsaurs to return.
Every night after that was filled with terrors of his past, waking him up every few hours in a mix of cold sweat and hot tears.
Ian fished his mo-buckle out and scanned his contacts, swiping quickly past King’s name and forcing a mental break down to the back of his brain. It was the middle of the day, so Souji would be at school- he admired how the young man had kept it together during and after the battle. Nossan was working with his family to begin repairing the damage done to the town, no doubt working himself stupid as an escape. Similarly, Yayoi was with her grandfather, using all available resources to locate the voltasaurs. Amy, Ian knew, was still in shock and was very likely to be at home, waiting for life to return to her beast battery. The gunman couldn’t pretend he wasn’t doing the same thing, constantly carrying the lifeless piece of plastic around, checking it more often than his dates checked their phones.
He bit his lip, unsure of his next course of action, but hit the name in his contacts and pulled the device up to his ear.
“Sir Ian?” The voice on the other end of the buckle greeted.
“Hey Utchi,” Ian said softly, bowing his head as his lip twitched- the sound of Utchi’s voice was still a relief. “Listen, you free? I uh, I’ve got some time on my hands.”
There was a silent moment before Utchi replied, a gentle ruffling told Ian that his team mate was getting to his feet. “I am. Shall I meet you at Lady Amy’s place of occupation?”
“No.” Ian said quickly. “Uh, no, let’s go somewhere else, that part of the city is still a bit of a mess.”
“Certainly, do you have a location in mind?”
Half an hour later, Ian found himself walking into a park on the edges of town, hands dug deep into his pockets and his mind wondering what he was even doing here.
He looked up to see Utchi sat on a bench, back straight, knees together and his hands placed neatly on his lap like a carefully positioned statue. Ian offered a small smile, waving as Utchi nodded in greeting.
“How you doing, Utchi?” Ian asked, trying to sound casual as he dropped down next to his teammate.
“I am well, given the situation,” Utchi responded plainly. “I have been using my time to meditate, I find that it calms the melody within me.”
“How has everything been since…” Ian trailed off as he found the rest of the sentence stuck in his throat. “Since you came back?”
“Normal,” Utchi said. “It is as though I hadn’t died at all.”
Utchi turned away quickly with a guilty expression; the warrior pressed his lips together as though to prevent any other slip of the tongue. The way Utchi was tiptoeing around him didn’t make Ian particularly comfortable, but he did appreciate the effort. The gunman smiled and reached over to take his friend’s hand, gaining another confused look from the teammate. Ian didn’t meet the other’s eye, he simply stared forward at an empty swing set on the other side of the park.
“Sir Ian—”
“Don’t say anything,” Ian said, the sound of a quiet plea hovering behind his words. “Just… spare me a minute.”
There was a small nod in the corner of his vision and Ian closed his eyes, tightly clutching onto the hand he was holding.
The warmth of Utchi’s hand traced from his fingertips onto the back of Ian’s palm. The sound of the warrior’s breathing could be heard just over the breeze through the trees and Ian took a deep breath, replacing any memories he had of Utchi lying dead in a forest with the image of him sitting on this bench, right now.
Ian took a deep breath and hummed the Earth’s melody softly to himself, a moment later he heard Utchi join him. The song had been all that was keeping Ian sane since the final battle. He hummed the melody that had brought Utchi back to them, the melody he knows guided the voltasaurs to space, and the melody he was putting his faith in to bring King back. Ian slowly opened his eyes as they reached the end of the tune, turning his head to face Utchi who was smiling softly at him. Ian forced a smile as he released Utchi’s hand, intertwining his own fingers together.
It wasn’t like Ian expected the song to miraculously produce King out of thin air, but each time he finished it and the world continued to spin as normal, a little bit of hope fizzled out of his heart.
“I can’t do it again, Utchi,” Ian croaked. “After everything with Aigaron, I thought I was finally going to move on with my life. But with you, and Torin and King and the volatsaurs … I… ”
Ian buried his head in his hands, fingers clenching tightly at his hair. He didn’t talk about his feeling- that was as much as trademark as his gunmanship. But it was destroying him; the abyss was eating him alive.
“Sir Ian,” Utchi spoke quickly as he slid off the bench and kneeled in front of him, a pair of hands gently pulling his away from tearing his hair out. “I can never apologise enough for the pain my temporary death put you and the other members of our team through, but it was your melody that woke me. We must believe that the same melody reached Sir King and protected him. The voltasaurs too, I do not see a reason for them to have left this Earth other than to rush to Sir King’s aid. He will return.”
His lip twitched into something closer to his natural smile and Ian nodded, grasping onto Utchi’s hands.
“I never wanted an apology from you,” Ian said softly, wanting to almost laugh at the use of the phrase ‘temporary death’. “But I would appreciate it if you never do something like that again.”
“Certainly,” Utchi grinned.
Taking a deep breath, Ian pushed himself to his feet and smiled as Utchi followed. He wrapped an arm around Utchi’s shoulders and pulled him into a one-armed hug, pressing his forehead on the other’s shoulder for just a moment before pulling away. The way Utchi had frozen up and the wide eyes that watched Ian as stepped back pulled a soft laugh from the latter.
“A modern way of saying thank you, friend,” Ian grinned. “Well, a European way of saying thanks anyway.”
Utchi nodded in understanding as a light blush rose to his cheeks. Ian watched as his eyes darted from side to side as if deep in thought before Utchi straightened up quite suddenly.
With no sign of warning, Utchi launched himself forward and wrapped both arms tightly around Ian’s chest. Ian’s back straightened and his body turned stiff as his cheeks went red. He playfully pat the other’s back with my hand and began to relax into Utchi’s painfully tight grasp.
“O-OK, Utchi, I get it, y-you can let go.”
Utchi released him and Ian gasped a little too loudly, pulling a look of concern from his friend as he stepped back.
“Did I execute the action incorrectly?” He asked.
“No, no it was perfect,” Ian gasped, smiling when Utchi’s eyes lit up.
Ian grinned and gave Utchi an approving pat on the shoulder. A chime rang between them and their harmonies sychronised, the two looked around in awe as the melody softly faded. The turned back to grin at each other when Utchi’s eyes widened- he fished his battery out and Ian followed.
He uncoiled his fingers to see the battery glow before the light dispersed like their melody had, revealing the dinosaur who’s soul was connected to it. Ian’s head snapped up and he looked at Utchi who held a fully charged Pteragodon battery in his hands.
Ian didn’t want to get his hopes up but his heart was filled with his friend’s melody. He felt a lighter than he had in a long time, he felt like he was finally breathing again after a week in darkness. Ian swallowed the lump in his throat and he and Utchi nodded at each other.
“King!”