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He couldn’t get Luz’s fight to keep him with her out of his mind.
He thought laying there for…what felt like hours would put him to sleep. But it didn’t. It didn’t get anything out of his head either.
King stared off at the sky above him with a guilt-churned stomach, finding himself all too awake. His skull hurt. His body hurt, and none of his family was safe. The Collector was an unstable child, and King wasn't sure he had a game for the morning.
He wanted to think of Eda, or Lilith, maybe even Hooty -someone he loved. He wanted to go to sleep, and wake up back in the Owl House.
But he wouldn't. He would wake up with them, and have to hope he'd have some idea of what to make the 'Owl House' game into. He couldn't even hope that he'd see his family again-much less in the morning! What if they weren't okay ?! Eda-his mother wasn't okay--she was in full-cursed-out-mode--locked in a cage -he had to beg The Collector to un-puppetify his aunt-he-he might not see his family all well ever again.
And he couldn't cry over it.
The Collector, whether on purpose or not, had made it pretty clear about how they felt about King crying. Where he got upset-or, maybe even jealous when something King was doing didn’t involve him directly-like-like deciding to walk -or hugging Eda -beast form, The Collector was not jealous when it came to crying. The Collector, as it turned out, thought crying meant he had to give King his full attention.
It was terrifying-all three times it had happened today so far -whether King had been actually crying, or just seeming not as happy as The Collector, it didn’t seem to care.
They didn’t like it. King didn’t want to do something he didn’t like-his relationship with them kept him from being a puppet-and maybe -maybe if he got good at this, he could keep at least… part of his family in one piece. They could be okay.
The longer he sat there staring upwards, the less okay he was sure they would be by morning.
He wasn't going to cry. He was the last Titan, and there was no way he could imagine the backbone of the Isle's crying. There was a cold shift in the room as the light shifted into warmer tones, and the cold prick of The Collector’s eyes settled on him.
" Kiiiiing ?" Right. He couldn't be the only one awake after a long, terrifying day.
"Uh…yeah ....buddy ?"
"I'm bored ." He really didn't want to do this now.
"Well, sleep would probably fix that." The Collector huffed, flipping over onto his back exasperated. "Y'know, you want plenty of energy for…for tomorrow." Whatever that would be.
"I tried! I can't do it! I've got too much energy!" The Collector bounced up and down on his bed, punctuating each of their words. "Let's do something." His eyes hurt. His eyes felt like they were trembling in his very skull,
He wanted Luz. Or his Mom. Or even Raine, or Hunter or anyone but them. Please. He'd just watched his home fall apart, and his father's corpse's skull get ripped open, just so a god could pester him about a game he made up- probably risking his life if they didn't like it.
He'd even settle for Hooty.
"I-I can't do anything. I need my sleep." The Collector had audibly frowned, and King had jumped into an explanation he'd hoped would suffice. "I-I don't want to be too tired to play tomorrow. It's a big day….a big fun day." The Collector sat down, plopping hard into their mattress.
" Fine. I'll try to go back to sleep." The light clicked back to blue, and he shifted across the room.
Good . The Collector had been the one to suggest they go to bed-all King had done was yawn-well, they thought it was a yawn. He had really been gasping at the sheer amount of force The Collector had to apply to force Eda into a..cage. It was a cage. King had watched a literal God-like being force the woman who raised him-the most powerful witch he’d ever seen , force her into an actual prison while in a form that corrupts magic.
Either way, whether the sounds of Eda’s beast yowling still bounced around in his head or not, he’d suggested they get some sleep after he was done with…all of that.
You would think they would be more receptive to something they'd suggested.
"Good night best friend." There was…a lot of silence after…that.
"Uhm. You too."
King sat there for what had to be thirty minutes, silently attempting a plot. Maybe he could pretend it's some kind of adventure game? Something that involved letting everyone go, with no real fighting?
Maybe?? Or would they get bored of that? He didn’t know them well-not well enough to know how to keep him perfectly entertained and non-violent. What if-
There was a shuffling on the other side of the…planet? King held his rescued Francois a little tighter.
"King ?"
" What ?"
"Why don't you wear clothes?" King had blinked at the stars above, turning over to look at them.
"Weh?"
"Why don't you wear clothes?" King did not think of his collar. “It’s weird.”
"I'm covered in fur?" The Collector examined the bit of him that was uncovered, forcing King to feel a bit like a bug.
"You're still naked though!" He didn't think that was the same. The Collector met King’s eye with a thoughtful frown. “That’s weird .”
“It’s not weird .” Even if bringing it up made him feel a bit weird, it wasn’t. There were… some demon’s that didn’t wear clothes.
“Is too.”
“Is not . There’s-uh, plenty of demon’s that don’t wear clothes.” There had to be, otherwise people would have been giving them some…pretty funny looks for the six-ish years he’d been walking around without them. The Boiling Isle’s were…boiling-and he was covered in fur. He was allowed to go without. He has all natural clothing.
"All the other Titan's wore clothes! You’re a Titan , you should wear them too." The Collector stared at him expectantly, half buried under their blanket. Maybe it was a little weird he only wore a collar for…awhile.
Eda did say she thought he was a pet at first.
Maybe he should look into getting a shirt or…something when all this is over.
“Even if I wanted to, I couldn't.” King tried to worm around a little bit further. “I don’t own any.” The Collector stared at him silently for…all too long. He was kind of creepy. Not kind of-his eyes were a little too unbelievably unrealistic to not give someone the heebie jeebies. The Collector stared him down for…all too long, before jumping up fast enough to make King flinch.
“ I have clothes!” They hopped up, clicking the lamp into the warmer tones before swinging their feet onto the planet below. He gave King a mischievous look as he made an attempt to follow suit. He had a feeling that’s what he really wanted. “Look.” The Collector yanked open the previously nearly empty drawer to find neatly folded clothes instead. He’s sure that hadn’t been there when he was ‘looking for treasure’ before ‘bed’.
The Collector pulled the folded pile out, bringing himself to sit on the edge of King’s bed.
“I wore these when I was just a little bigger than you.” It looked more like a night-shirt than what The Collector was wearing. It had its…similarities. Enough that King knew he did not want to wear it. The Collector pulled a teasing grin, silently laughing. “When I was a baby .”
“I’m not a baby.”
“You’re a little Titan baby .” The Collector gave him a Luz-ish grin that made him feel…not so good. The Collector laughed one of their ridiculously high-pitched, mocking ones. Their claim that he was indeed a little Titan baby was apparently so funny to him, that they could do nothing but laugh for…an obnoxious amount of time. Peals of laughter seemed to bounce off every single nonexistent wall in their void. “A-A baby !” They fell back in their bout, kicking their feet in the air at something that wasn’t funny to anyone else.
“I’m not a baby.” The Collector finished off their teasing laughter with wheezes for air, and half finished giggles. King wasn’t doing the best job of not being annoyed, safety be forgotten, he was tired. “You’re not exactly all grown either.” The Collector pushed back up onto their elbows, grin forgotten.
“ Duh. I’m not old . I’m just not a baby .” He chose to end his claim by punctuating the ‘baby’ part with a harsh tap to the end of King’s nose. He was starting to count every time he wasn’t suddenly goop as a win. The Collector grabbed the crumpled nightshirt off of himself, tossing it over King’s head. Somehow, that too got a giggle out of him. “Put-put that on.”
He would rather not wear Collector memorabilia. Or…really anything they gave him. Much less matching outfits.
“ Thanks -but uh, I can’t just…take your old..sentimental clothes.” The Collector waved him off, much to King’s disappointment.
“Yes you can .”
“I-I really don’t think I-”
“ Kiiiiinnnggg . We’re best friends. Best friend’s give each other cool stuff !” He’s not sure a night shirt counted as ‘cool stuff’. “You let me out aaaaaannnddd you’re gonna teach me how to play Owl House. It would be mean if I didn’t help you too.” King would be a liar if he said the reminder about his plausible-impending fate didn’t send a ruffle through his fur. “Try it on.”
“Right.” King did his best to pull it over his head-discovering…pretty fast that it didn’t fit. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or not but-
“No! Hold on-it’s got buttons.” The Collector, ever the expert on…everything King would rather not have, made surprisingly quick work of the star buttons he had been sure were decorative. “ There .” The Collector tilted his head to the side with a frown, reaching a hand up to stroke their chin. “Maybe we did used to be the same size.”
“Uh..maybe?”
“When I was a baaaaaabbbyyyyy. ”
“I am not a baby.”
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The Collector-after nearly choking him out with a necklace he was sure he shouldn’t be wearing-and somehow fitting a hat over his horns-decided that sleep was no longer an option.
They resorted to jumping on their bed for…a surprisingly long time. That could have been okay for King-at least okay enough for him to fall asleep to-at least it could have been if he’d stop talking .
“I’m so- so happy!” The mattress on the other side of the room, despite not screaming under his weight earlier, felt obliged to squeal after each of their pointed bounces. He could swear he had a headache coming on. “I can’t believe I’m free !”
“You are definitely free.”
“We’re free , and we’re best friends- and now we’re free !” He got it. They were free. The Collector stopped abruptly, staring at him. “We should do something.”
“I thought we were sleeping.” King stared up at the ceiling for a moment too long. “Uh…so we’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
“I’m not tiiiired! I want to do something!” Despite his claims otherwise, they sounded pretty tired.
“Uh- buddy , I really don’t think I’ll be able to play tonight-I mean-I’m tired -I just had… so much fun today. So much.” They seemed to genuinely consider going to bed.
“ Fine . We can play something small since you’re so tired.”
“ Collector -”
“ Fiiiiineeee !” He flopped back down, much like he’d been doing interchangeably, kicking their feet towards the ceiling. “I’ll just be boring until I fall asleep.” King could live with that-and he tried to, for at least a couple of minutes. “Can you tell me about Owl House?” Oh boy.
“Uh-well- no -it’s-it’s a surprise for tomorrow.” The Collector eyed him suspiciously, and somehow, it made the air taste like static.
“A good surprise?”
“Uh- yeah -we’re best friends…remember?” The Collector’s gaze continued for a few too many seconds, until the back of his throat lied about burning. Then The Collector-apparently feeling much better, grinned at him.
“Duh!”
“Yeah…duh.” It turned out that was enough to make them feel better.
“We’re going to be best friends forever .” He sure hoped not.
“Well…as long as I live-I’m not- immortal immortal.” The Collector snorted.
“I’m not gonna let my best friend die !” Whether the god-like child meant this to be comforting or not, it made whatever idea of a safe future he had feel a bit hopeless. “We could be friends forever if you don’t betray me!” If King was a braver Titan, maybe he wouldn’t be tasting the vomit swimming up his throat.
“I-I would never .” He had thought he would. At one point.
Now, with the casual drop of how trapped he might just be, he felt sick.
The Collector didn’t respond to that. They turned up to look at the ceiling silently, frowning out into space.
He had hoped somehow, that they had fallen asleep.
He had not.
Instead he shoved themself up further out of bed, frowning at nothing.
“You need a mirror.”
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King had been dragged away from any form of sleep, just to wander the halls after them. He couldn’t seem to choose between skipping , and floating to wherever they were going-and despite it being difficult to keep up, King was grateful he wasn’t being floated. It made him dizzy.
“Where are we going?”
“To find a mirror, so you can see how cool you look.” He didn’t feel cool. He felt very far from cool. “I think there’s one somewhere.”
It took them long enough looking for King’s legs to ache. And then, since he happened to be a boundless ball of energy, The Collector had to go shooting off into the direction he was ‘sure’ it was in.
Either way, after a long walk, he ended up dangling from The Collector’s arms.
“We look like family -but better !” They did not look like family. King looked like a pet-or one of those dolls rich kids bought, and dressed in matching outfits with. “We could be brothers King!” The Collector’s looked between King’s not-incredibly-happy-face, to be met with a frown. “ Maybe best friend’s are better than family.” He’d take either at this point.
“Maybe.” Not when he didn’t like his so called ‘best friend’.
“Ooh! I have an ideeeaaaa . We can play house!”
“Weh?”