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It wasn’t that he lived far away from everyone. Pix definitely had one of the more central empires. Only a slight detour from Stratos or Tumble Town and you’d stumble across the Ancient Capital.
It wasn’t far from anyone at all, and yet he couldn’t shoo away the feeling of loneliness.
Every once in a while someone would come over for a trade deal. Or they’d come to give him beautiful emerald ores they’d found. They never stuck around for long. Even when he would go out to them himself, visits were short because people were busy.
He told himself it was fine. Because it was! He was busy too, uncovering and restoring the empire he’d found. He understood the others perfectly.
But the loneliness lingered. It festered in his brain. Was it selfish to want others to stay a bit longer?
He ignored the need for someone to stay and just hang out in favour of working harder. He still had a lot to do, and no time to be wasted. The routine was easy to fall into. Soon the only breaks he took were breakfast, lunch, dinner and the occasional shower while the rest of his time was spent raising an empire from the grave.
He was getting his hands dirty with the houses right behind the gate when a whistle caught his attention. His head shot up from the fossilised windows to find fWhip approaching him on his boar.
“Pix! Just the man I needed to see!” The Goblin shimmied off the boar. “I hope you’re not too busy?”
It only took him a second to notice the pouches and bags that fWhip’s ride carried. Ah, another trade deal. What a surprise. He tried not to let his disappointment show in his smile as he shook his head.
“Good, good. You still trade those shroomlights, right?”
“I sure do. Come with me to the orchard and you can handpick the ones you want.” He didn’t need to urge on any more, because fWhip cheered and rushed to pull his boar along. It merely snorted in reply before hobbling along.
They exited the main street, walking over the stone while their footsteps echoed through the area. It only made him feel lonelier. It was empty here.
“Wow, I did not realise it was getting dark out already. Sorry for the late visit, I can never get those waking hours of you humans right!” fWhip laughed and Pix joined him. It was nice to have a little bit of company, for however long the visit would be. “Wait, that means sunset! I need to see that!”
Before he could even question or protest, fWhip grabbed his hand, let go of his Boar and pulled him up the nearest hill. He didn’t get a chance to tell him to slow down, his mind too caught up in the fact that the hand holding his own was warm. Very warm. Which, in hindsight, was a very normal thing. Goblins were naturally slightly warmer than humans.
They sat down on the top of the hill between tall grass and a couple dandelions. It seemed fWhip was too absorbed in watching the sun sink to the horizon to let go of his hand. Pix didn’t mind. His hands were cold in comparison to the goblin’s. Slowly but surely, they warmed up.
He couldn’t help but smile. If asked, he could blame it on the fact that it was a beautiful sunset. In reality, it was just really nice to hang out with his friend again. He missed them. He missed the occasional hugs and the handholding. Maybe it was his own fault, and maybe those weren’t normal things in friendships like he’d thought.
“Pix?”
He hummed, turning his head to fWhip. He looked concerned. Uh oh.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded, just a bit too quickly. “Yeah, why?”
fWhip hesitated. “You’re crying.” He let go of his hand, much to his disappointment, but used his thumb to wipe away the tears. “What’s going on?”
His breath stuck in his throat for a moment. He swallowed it down. “I’m-” he paused and looked away. Should he tell him? “It’s just nice to see you again, I guess.”
fWhip’s face fell more. “Yeah, we don’t do it often enough, do we? These empires sure take a lot of our time.”
He nodded. The empires were important to keep in check, especially with the massive amount of citizens fWhip had to look after. He shouldn’t complain. Not while he had it this easy.
“Not that that’s an excuse.” The goblin shimmied closer until their arms touched. Their hands reconnected. “We’ll hang out more, I promise. This is a start.”
A nice warmth flooded his chest. Pix smiled, the first honest one in a while. He couldn’t form any words, but he didn’t have to. fWhip leaned his head against his shoulder as the sun dipped below the horizon.
“Come with me to Gobland. Well, if you’re not too busy. It could be nice. We could explore the ancient city in the caves below, we could ride my definitely safe railroads, or go to the tavern and drag Oli in front of the mic. Whatever you want, we’ll do it.”
He laughed a genuine laugh. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. I can leave this place for a bit, yeah.”
“Great! Maybe we can even visit Joel in a few days and steal some of his gold, or we can-”
As fWhip continued to rattle out ideas, both good and bad, he could feel the excitement infecting him. Only when no sunlight was left and the sky was dotted with stars did they get up. They traded, fWhip giving a little more than was necessary, before they left to the Goblands.
He quietly thanked him for being his friend, and fWhip responded by squeezing his hand and hugging him tightly once they arrived.