Work Text:
The street is empty of any soul and melody, the cold wind snickers at his ears and the snow tints his cheeks with a pink blush. White flakes adorn his scarf and beanie like sparkling dust fell from heaven, but his thick winter coat keeps him warm and safe against the blow of the freezing weather. It’s an unexpected snowstorm, however barely a real blizzard from what Taehyung has seen before through the TV news.
Every step forward in the night leaves a print into the mellow snow covering the sidewalk; the squishy sound is funny, the pattern is slightly wavy and this winter’s gift makes Taehyung think of his lovely Tata with its cute noises and its long, curvy arms. As if his little heart-shaped soul has understood his thought (it has probably felt it like a wave of warmth and a breath of love tickling its body), Taehyung feels his daemon’s embrace tightening at his chest. Its arms and legs expand a little bit more, curling around Taehyung’s waist, and Tata rubs its face in his belly with a low, high purr that sounds like a baby electronic cat.
''We’re almost there. Are you okay?'' Taehyung pats gently at his coat and feels his daemon’s body against him, hears a computery-birdy chirp as answer. A small smile colors tenderly his lips as he pats again to comfort Tata a little bit more; he can feel the happiness from it buzzing through their bodies, but also the small tug of worry at his heart. However, he doesn’t know if the curbed pain is coming from himself or from Tata. He guesses it doesn’t really make a difference as his daemon is a part of himself too.
Happy birthday to you, he thinks with a sigh he tries to restrain.
Taehyung is never the one who expects something special for his birthday, never the one who asks for something out of the ordinary, never the one who lowkey suggests gifts and activities. Every year, for that day, Taehyung just wishes to have warmth, smiles, hugs and sweet words all for him. Everyone knows that he only wants to be surround by the persons he loves the most. He’s being egoist somehow, but Taehyung allows his heart to crave happiness, to drown in affection, just for that day.
The thing is that the other members, all of them, have been especially busy today. After their dance practice, he has not wanted to bother them with his stupid, selfish wish as everyone have seemed to leave for personal reasons; Taehyung has just kept himself occupied and at some point, he has left their vast apartment to take a walk outside. To find peace in the winterscape. To taste happiness alone with himself, with Tata.
Now that the weather has become coldly angrier, that the icy wind insists to push his frame, that the snowflakes make his sight blurry and that his eyelashes are cover by frost, Taehyung is relieved to see the big apartment complex. By instinct, he wraps his arms around his own body to hug fondly his shivering daemon like a wordless comfort to say it’s okay, we’re finally at home and Tata understands (of course Taehyung’s pure soul does) as it tickles gently its human’s small love handles.
The last meters to the building’s secured doors seem endless, but when Taehyung passes the entry and drowns into the warmth of the elevator, forgetting the cold storm outside is so easy; he would never regret his escapade in the winter wonderland. As the elevator starts to move up, Taehyung ears the happy electronic twitter noises of his daemon, feels the joy of his little, hearty soul vibrating in his stomach and blooming within him. He chuckles at Tata’s joyful behavior and unzips his coat to look tenderly at his colorful soul as he feels its arms and legs slide back to their original length.
Tata’s hands grip firmly at his shirt, little fists drawing down the fabric until it reaches Taehyung’s head, and the daemon throws away his beanie to claim its place on his broad shoulders. It makes itself comfortable around his neck, its red heart-shaped head barely higher than Taehyung’s, and seems to take the duty of warming him with its arms and legs around him. Tata keeps chirping like a songbird (a songbird singing a soft edm melody) and buries its face in Taehyung’s fluffy hair.
Taehyung feels his daemon’s bliss soothing his heart like cherry blossoms blooming at spring, warming his whole being like golden sun at summer, and he lets himself being lulled by Tata, his own peacefulness hugging it too. It’s at these moments that everything is overwhelming. He feels more , more of this love, more of this connection, more of this sensation of being a completed being with an endless, multi-colored, shining soul. Aware of what is happening, Taehyung close his eyes and takes a deep breath as the elevator stops and the doors open.
Once he gets out with a robotic-soft-sound-like purring and chirping at his ears, Taehyung opens slowly his eyelids. A huge boxy smile steals his sad face and lightens his features, draws stars in his eyes and warms up his cheeks as a thin swirl of golden dust dances around him and Tata. It ties them to each other in a rain of suns held into a hazy thread, in a chain of small, crystal balls glowing with golden hues. This link is precious, overpowering every other feelings in the world, and suddenly heaven sounds like a meaningless word compared to the fizzy euphoria tingling Taehyung’s body.
Tata hugs him stronger if that’s possible, because of course daemons feel what their human feels, and Taehyung gasps in delight. His movements are slow, his steps light as if he’s floating in the corridor of the complex apartment, and reaching for Tata’s heart-head to pet it softly is the most simple but heartwarming gesture he can do without bursting in tears of happiness.
It’s fine if all of his friends have been busy all day. It’s fine, even if today is his birthday, because he has Tata (he has himself) to comfort him and to love him, to make him smile and keep him warm. And suddenly, as the thought grows comfortably into his mind and wash aways the last flicker of sadness in his eyes, Taehyung finds himself to already stand in front of their home’s door. Everything is silent in the apartment, darkness embraces the rooms and makes it look smaller, colder, emptier. The members seem to be out and it’s okay; Taehyung just really hope that they’re safe and sound of the snowstorm.
Lost in the gentle and joyful feeling of his and Tata life bond gleaming around them, he undresses and hangs his winter clothes in the wardrobe of the lobby. Then, his daemon does something completely unexpected and strange; Tata buzzes with his whole little body and falls into Taehyung’s arms, throbbing shape of royal blue and bright red and sunny yellow, all digital-synthetic sound very close to the animal noises Tata likes to copy to communicate - but it’s like, twittering and purring and blopping and whale-chanting all at the same time. Taehyung would have been worried and distressed if there wasn’t a cute, warm smile on Tata’s mouth and a red blush of happiness painting its chubby cheeks.
''Happy birthday, Taehyungie!'' High-pitched voice sing songs the wish through the room as thin filaments of golden dust illuminate softly the closest walls. It doesn’t take more than that for Taehyung to recognize the six men suddenly coming from the main corridor. The scenery changes so drastically that he doesn’t have the time to breath, doesn’t have the time to blink; Tata, all buzzing and electro-chirping with happiness, jumps on the floor and run towards their friends and their daemons as a clic breaks Tata’s soft edm song.
Darkness is then replaced by a celestial purple sky projected onto every surface, the stars shining as if they were at an observatory in a dark-sky preserve. The bright purple kisses his best friends’ skin, the six present, looking at him with soft smiles and starry eyes as the golden mist of their threads sways in the air and swirls slowly with the purple. Jimin holds proudly a big vanilla cake with berries and candles on the top as Seokjin holds what looks like the purple night sky projector in his hands and the others hug gifts cover with birthday wrapping paper. On the floor, their daemons are hugging Tata tightly in a cute cacophony of synth-moews, yelps, neighs and squeaks, and everything is so much, so intense, so happily overwhelming that Taehyung explodes in a deep, fond laugh broken with sobs.
He cries in his hands, fingers wrap around his mouth to choke the sounds, but nothing can stop his warm tears to flow over his cheeks, not even the comfort that bring his friend’s explanations for today; finding the projector and remaking the cake after Namjoon had dropped it has been a little bit difficult.
Taehyung has thought that it has been fine to be alone with Tata for his birthday, but now it’s over perfect to be surround by his friends saying sweet wishes to him, stroking lovingly his hair and patting gently his back.
Happy birthday, Taehyung.