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“KING!! King! You can’t go to sleep yet! You haven’t read me a bedtime story!”
The Collector was full of energy, as always, and bounced around his bed, clearly not ready to sleep yet. Though, King didn’t think he ever wanted to sleep. They had told him once that they didn’t need sleep, but they would do it anyway, just for King.
King rubbed his eyes and let out a loud yawn, already in bed and ready to get a full night’s sleep. That day had been a particularly long one, since they had been playing games from the time he woke up, to the very last second before they went back to their room to get some sleep. King felt more than exhausted.
“Collector, I’m too tired to think of any bedtime stories tonight.”
The Collector pouted and floated above his bed, legs and arms crossed moodily.
“Kiiiinggggg!” He whined, looking over at the titan and giving him a pleading look.
“Could you at least read me one? From the book?” The large book the Collector had shown him months ago appeared in front of him in an instant, the heavy thing dropping unceremoniously on King’s bed with a thud.
King looked at it with an unimpressed expression, his eyes drooping as he rubbed at one sleepily.
“I don’t know Collector, I might fall asleep and drool all over it.” He joked, half heartedly.
The Collector just gave him a big grin and he finally settled onto his own bed, giggling at King’s joke.
“I don’t mind! I don’t mind! It’s just a boring old book! And even if you did…” He snapped his fingers and another book appeared on top of the old one. “I can just make a new one!”
The Collector gave him a big grin, his eyes full of stars, waiting for King to read him his requested bed time story.
King only gave the collector a tired grin before settling under his covers, holding Francois tightly. He didn’t have the heart to tell the Collector “no” outright, especially when he was giving him that look. The Collector tilted his head sideways, silently questioning King’s actions as he stayed seated on his bed.
“Hey Collector, why don’t you tell me a bedtime story tonight?” King suggested, hoping the star child would buy into the idea.
The Collector tapped his chin in thought.
“I’ve never told a bedtime story before… You’re just so good at it King!! I don’t think mine will be as good as yours. You tell one! You tell one!!”
“Come on Collector, you’ve heard all my stories already. I’m sure some of them would bore you by now. Think of it like… a game! Yeah, a game we’ve been playing every night! I’ve been winning so far, because… I’ve been telling all the stories! Now, it’s your turn to play.”
The Collector’s eyes sparkled with interest.
“KIIIIING! You didn’t tell me this was a game!! You didn’t even give me a chance to win!” The Collector squealed.
“Okay! Okay! I’ll tell the best bedtime story ever!! Only for my bestest friend in the whole wide universe!”
The Collector’s voice softened during the end of his sentence, honesty shining through his words. King smiled to himself, the sentiment making his chest feel all fluttery.
‘His bestest friend…’ he thought to himself.
Only a couple months before, King feared the Collector. They had promised him they wouldn’t hurt him, but their apparent lack of morals still made him uneasy. They seemed to live in their own world, where life was a game, and those around them were just part of their fun. It was almost like the Collector never really got a chance to grow up. Nobody was there to explain to him why it’s wrong to turn people into puppets, or what pain or death means to mortals. King wanted to reason with his friend, but he feared a strong reaction from the star child would end badly for himself. Would the Collector turn him into a puppet too? Would that happen if he ever got bored of him? Or worse, if he found out about his secret meetings with Eda and Lilith? Would he become another lifeless doll in the Collector’s archives?
These fears used to haunt him, in his waking life and his nightmares.
But the Collector had opened up to King during their time together.
King found out that the collector was really just a lonely kid. He was cast out by his family, tricked by every friend he thought he had, and blamed for things that he didn’t do.
But even then, when he first met the Collector, his smile shined like a thousand suns. After all that suffering, the star child still found a way to be happy, and to have fun. His positivity and boisterous attitude hid his pain well, but King knew deep down that he’s probably hurting, and all he needs is a good friend.
After genuinely getting to know the Collector, King quickly realized that trapping and tricking the kid was the wrong thing to do. They didn’t deserve to be locked away. They just needed time to learn about what’s right and what’s wrong. King was adamant about helping him. After all, that’s what bestest friends are for, right?
King blinked out of his daze and looked towards his friend.
The Collector settled onto his own bed, laying on his back and motioning for King to look into the sky.
“Once upon a time…”
A small figure made of light and constellations appeared in the vast, night sky, taking shape in what seemed to be a mini version of the star child, themself. He donned the same head scarf and starry freckles that dotted the Collector’s cheeks.
“There was a Collector!” He grinned, his little replica giving king a wave. King smiled sleepily at the stars and waved back, encouraging the Collector to continue.
“Not me though, definitely not me! Just… another Collector! A different Collector!”
They seemed to get nervous suddenly, and King looked over and raised an eyebrow at his friend in question as they avoided his eye contact, continuing their story.
“And this Collector LOVED to play games!! They would beg their siblings to play with them, night and day!”
The tiny Collector bounced around the starry figures of the other Collectors, resembling him but being noticeably larger.
“But they never wanted to play…” The Collector said in a sad tone, his tiny replica donning a frown now, all alone amongst a sea of stars, as their siblings disappeared.
King felt his heart get heavy, not used to seeing this expression on the Collector, often.
When his friend did open up about his feelings, it was short-lived, and he would usually be back to his bubbly self in no time.
While it was nice to see that his sadness didn’t stop him from having fun, King wondered just how much pain the Collector repressed. But if this was how we wanted to open up, King didn’t mind.
“But!! Then this Collector found some other friends who wanted his help!”
A new scene appeared before him, a tiny boiling aisles set below a vast starry sky. Stars in the shape of people took form and the tiny collector danced and played with them, glee written across his tiny face.
“And he was so happy to have friends to play with, so he gave them whatever they wished for! That’s what friends do, after all!”
The tiny Collector showered the boiling aisles with stars, lights, glittering moons and suns, a wide smile across his tiny face.
The Collector paused for a moment, King looking up to see a dark look cross his face.
“But the Collector found out that they didn’t really want to be his friends… they just wanted him for his powers and his gifts.”
The tiny mimic suddenly got angry, and with a wave of the Collector’s hand, the tiny “people” of the boiling aisles were turned to dust and whisked away by the wind.
King felt his heart drop. This was just a story… right?
Did… did the Collector actually kill those people? What had they done to anger him so much that he wiped them out?
His fears were suddenly back and he found himself breathing heavily.
Were his friends and family next? Was he next?
The Collector drew his eyes away from the sky, noticing King’s worried expression and gave him a soft smile. The pictures disappeared from the sky for a moment, as the Collector floated towards the titan, giving him a gentle pat on the head.
“It’s okay, King! Don’t be scared! This is just a story, remember?”
King swallowed and gave a small nod, still nervous about how much truth was in this “story” the Collector was telling.
The Collector, apparently not satisfied with King’s response, landed next to King’s bed and pulled the covers up so they could slide in next to him.
“Weh? Collector-?”
“It’s okay, King,” the Collector pulled the small titan into a soft hug, holding him close to his chest. King tried to wiggle out of his reach, still not ready to admit his affinity for physical touch, but the Collector had a firm grip.
“You don’t need to be scared of stories. They’re not real, remember?” He petted his head gently, running his fingers through the fur on his neck. The motion, as much as he hated to admit it, soothed King, and he finally relaxed, letting the Collector hold him without a fight.
King could feel the Collector smile into his fur, his fingers tracing shapes and designs wherever they went, clearly satisfied with their arrangement. The Collector held him like that until his breathing had returned to normal.
The small titan was nearly asleep when the star child finally pulled back, looking into his eyes with a small grin on his face.
“Ready to finish our story?” He said gently.
King blinked sleepily at him, almost tempted to ask him to hold him again, just so he could finally get some sleep. The Collector seemed to be in a rare kind of mood, after all, compared to their usual self. He was less energetic and more… gentle.
“I promise it has a good ending!” He said with a wink, stars in his eyes and a goofy smile on his face.
King eventually nodded his approval and the Collector set him down, pulling the covers over the two, and using the ceiling of the blanket as his new stage for his story.
The darkness consumed the two of them before the Collector made the sheets look like the starry night sky, his tiny replica of himself appearing again and smiling down at King.
“The Collector was angry at his old friends for tricking him, but he still wanted to have real friends. He searched far and wide for a very long time, hoping to make a real friend.”
The tiny Collector soared through the starry sky, planets whizzing by him in a flash.
“And finally, he found a real friend.”
Now, a tiny King appeared, also made of constellations, now holding hands with the Collector.
“They’re just like us.” King said with a small grin, looking at the Collector now. The Collector looked from his story to King and then back again, a bright pink blush coating his cheeks now.
“Yeah… I guess.. but! It’s another Collector, remember? Just a story about this Collector and his… new friend!!”
The Collector wiped away the image of the two of them, leaving the tiny Collector alone now.
“This Collector was so so happy with his new friend! He wanted to be with him always!”
The tiny Collector in his story was sleeping now, his dreams forming pictures in the starry night sky. The tiny King was there, a smile on his starry face as he played with the Collector. The two danced and laughed, scenes playing in the sky of the two’s adventures through the boiling isles.
“But even though he had a new friend to play with all the time, the Collector wanted…more… in his dreams.”
New dreams appeared in the night sky. Scenes played out with the two of them, still laughing and playing, but something was different. The two held hands now, as they travelled together. The Collector would hold the tiny King in a heroic fashion as they played, as if the Collector was a grand hero, and his King was his damsel in distress. Scenes flashed of them going to sleep together, but in a room with one bed, not two. The Collector held the tiny King tight, and the tiny King held him back.
And in the very last dream, a nervous, starry eyed Collector leaned over to give his King a shy kiss on the snout, which the titan happily reciprocated.
King’s eyes widened at what he saw before him and he felt his face heat up. He turned to look at the real Collector, who watched his own mirage with a blush coating his cheeks.
“The Collector decided to tell his friend about his dreams,”
The mirage of dreams was swept away now, replaced by the two friends sitting together on what looked like the knee of the boiling isles.
“They told him what they wanted, hoping… dreaming that his friend wanted those things too!”
The Collector got quiet for a moment, lost in his own story. King watched as his eyes reflected the stars from his storytelling, his gaze far off, his head clearly somewhere else.
He looked… hopeful.
His gaze broke and he turned to look at King with a shy smile, his cheeks lit up a bright pink that seemed to glow in the darkness of their blanket fort. He looked back up to his night sky, a blank canvas to share his dreams, his stories.
King followed his line of sight just in time to see the two starry friends hug each other tightly, the tiny Collector lifting his King off his feet and spinning him around.
“His Kin-, I-I MEAN! His friend was happy to be bestest friends with the Collector!”
The Collector gave a wave of his hand, ready to end his bedtime story.
“And they lived happily every after… the end!!”
The two starry friends shared a hug before the two disappeared completely, their tiny figured dispersing into stardust, settling into the night sky.
King’s face ran hot as he took in what the Collector had just shared with him. Whether they meant to confess or not, King was now very aware of how the Collector felt about him. But the question was, did the Collector even know how they felt? He did refer to them as “the bestest friends” at the end of his story…
Did he know that people could be more than “bestest friends”?
The Collector pushed the sheets off of them, bringing their bedroom back into view. The lamp was still on, and the Collector’s empty bed was waiting for them, untouched yet.
King dared a glance over to his friend, not sure what to say if they did make eye contact, but determined to break the awkward silence nonetheless.
The Collector was looking down into their lap, fiddling with their fingers, looking more vulnerable than they ever have. A nervous smile was on their face, a thick, pink blush still coating their cheeks.
Finally, he spoke softly.
“So, King… did I tell a good bedtime story?”
King laughed a little, partly because of his nerves, but mostly because he forgot about the little “game” he proposed earlier in the night.
“I’d say you won this round, Collector.”
The Collector whipped his head up to look at King, stars in his eyes as King held open his arms.
He let out a sharp gasp before diving into King’s arms with a loud whoop and spinning the two around in the air, just as they had in the Collector’s story. The star child nuzzled his face into King’s neck, making the titan let out a little laugh at the ticklish gesture.
The Collector settled the two back into King’s bed, the covers pulled back for the two of them to slip underneath. King closed his eyes with a sigh, holding Francois close again, and settling in with a small smile.
“Hey… King?”
King opened his eyes to see the Collector looking at him with questioning eyes, a nervous expression back on his face.
“We’re bestest friends, right?”
King laughed before scooting closer to the Collector, the other opening his arms to hold him close.
“Of course.”