Work Text:
Damien couldn't focus on anything he attempted to put his mind to. His mind was already occupied, thinking of the boy from Castele who had been here recently: Aster. There was... something about him that felt so familiar.
Damien got up to go take a walk. He was technically allowed to do that now, but it still felt weird to leave the tower in the middle of the day.
He remembered his previous late night escapades through Al Maajik. Most of the time he just wandered around, but for about a month or so a few years ago, he would visit a specific house at night.
Well, more accurately, he would visit a public bench within a short distance of a specific house. He went there to meet up with a kid he gave the nickname "Blue", for the blue cape they wore every time he saw them.
As for why they had a nickname in the first place... well, Blue didn't talk. The most information he could get out of them was whatever they could answer with a yes or no. They tried writing a note for him once... it was completely unreadable.
The pair grew close nonetheless, doing mundane things only children would find entertaining. But something was wrong. Damien couldn't really discern much about Blue's home life, but it was very clear that they were the only one in the house.
That soon changed. No one came to care for the young Blue, rather Blue left the house. One seemingly insignificant night, Damien went to go see Blue. All he saw in their spot was a cornflower and a music box. Taking the items, Damien ran off to find them.
Entering the desert ravine, he saw a small figure cloaked in a blue hood.
"Blue?"
They turned to look at him, The startled look on their face quickly turning into one of remorse. They then turned in the opposite direction, running off towards the western plains.
"Blue, wait--!"
...
Damien fell out of his trance, finding himself in front of a now dilapidated house in Sandtown. The house now consumed by vines and plants, and the bench occupied by--
"...Aster?"
Aster's head whipped around to meet Damien's gaze, neither of them entirely sure what to make of this situation. Aster quickly broke eye contact, glancing somewhere random on the ground.
Damien took a seat on the bench next to his friend, noting the fact that Aster was sitting on the left side of the bench- the same Blue always did. Though, this certainly could have been random.
What couldn't have been random was how the longer Damien looked at Aster, the more he saw Blue.
"So... What brings you here, Aster?"
Aster gave Damien an awkward look, staring at his hands. He did some weird gestures with them, very quickly realizing he couldn't really explain much with hand gestures.
"Oh... You're here alone. Where's Butterfly?"
Aster gave an odd expression.
"Oh. Right. You, uh... can't answer that." The two of them both felt rather awkward now.
"Sorry. It's... been a long time. Hasn't it, Blue?"
A look of disbelief washed across Aster's face. Damien thought about how much he MEANT to say Aster. Actually, maybe that wouldn't have even helped---
Damien's worries were dissuaded by Aster smiling and nodding in agreement with his previous statement.
"Blue... you must've outgrown that old cape, huh?"
Aster rubs at the back of his head while he nods with a sheepish smile. They both laugh before a moment of silence falls over them.
"...I missed you." Aster mutters bashfully.
"H-huh!? Aster, you..."
"Always been able to talk. Never liked to."
"I see. well, I missed you too. Um... since we're here, would you like to... hang out...?"
" 'course."