Work Text:
Birds chirped beautifully in the morning air of the courtyard as the royal family of the Avian Empire happily awaited Prince Joel of Mezalea’s carriage to stop, which had only just appeared. The young avians stood beside their father with anticipation as their friend began to exit the carriage. Once the young prince was standing on flat ground they three couldn’t wait any longer.
The little avians ran up to their friend, forgoing the normal formalities required for a visiting royal. It was Joel, those formalities weren’t necessary. The three’s wings flapped enthusiastically, lifting them off the ground by the tiniest bit, as they reached him.
“Joel! Joel!” Jimmy called happily.
“I can’t wait to show you-” Grian began, but got overtaken by his sister.
“-So many fun things!” Pearl finished. The beginning of her sentence being completely unheard.
Joel laughed at his friends, unable to tell what any of them were trying to say. But that was a common thing for his arrival. Even with it only being the third year he’d visited for the summer.
“Joel! Joel!” Jimmy called again, finally getting the other’s attention. “We have a new friend!” he said with excitement, his siblings quickly joining in on. None of them noticed the slight shift in the visiting prince’s mood.
“New friend? What new friend?” Joel asked, a bit of bitterness in his voice. He wasn’t bitter because of jealousy. Of course not. He was just… suspicious of this new friend. Yeah, what if they weren’t a good friend to the avians?
The others brushed off the bitterness, knowing how Joel could be, and quickly grabbed him. Dragging the visiting prince inside the castle, wanting to show off their new friend to him.
King Richard laughed lightly at the young royals as they ran off, all completely forgetting that he was supposed to greet Joel as well. Since the young prince was off running down the castle halls now, he instead greeted the official that was supposed to be in charge of Joel during the young prince’s stay.
~*~
Tango was inside the playroom, where he and the royal family usually played. For now though, he was by himself, focusing very hard on the puzzle he had decided to build as he waited for the others. The playroom was large and had many different toys spread about. There were a few large bookshelves filled with childrens books, puzzles, and games. There was also a wall with large windows that reached the floor, a pair of glass doors in the center.
They led to a small garden like area outside, where the children often played. There were large stone walls encasing it. In the center there was a beautiful fountain with a statue of a lady carved into it. She was apparently the mother of Grian and Pearl, the Avian Queen, who had passed a year or so before Jimmy was born. Tango didn’t know much about her, nor did Jimmy, Pearl, or Grian.
As Tango focused, placing the last puzzle piece, the door to the playroom slammed open loudly. The young blazeborn jumped, as did his flames, at the loud sound. The golden avian that made the noise quickly ran over to him with excitement.
The blazeborn had heard a lot about the Mezalean Prince from his avian friends. They told him about how much fun Joel could be, but that he often came off as mean and selfish. They warned Tango that Joel would most likely be a bit mean at first, but that he could actually be pretty nice and had a big heart.
“Tango!” Jimmy exclaimed, his golden wings fluttering as he quickly approached his fiery friend
“Yeah?” Tango asked, a bit confused by the unnecessary loud entrance.
Tango looked back over to the door. He saw Grian, Pearl, and who most likely was Prince Joel. he looked about the same age as Pearl and had dark brown hair with an odd green streak in it. A silver crown rested on his head.
Tango gave the boy a shy wave as he approached as well. When Tango had first arrived he had been excited to meet new people, but that was no longer the case. It seemed that most of the new people he’d met didn’t like him. The only reason they gave for it was that he was a netherborn, but the King and Caretaker said that wasn’t a real reason.
So Tango was a bit worried about meeting Prince Joel, especially since he was someone who his avian friends cared about. He didn’t want the visiting prince to hate him. The prince raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms as he looked at the blazeborn.
“Who are you?” He asked, a rude tone in his voice. His eyes clearly judging.
“I’m Tango,” the blazeborn told him, though any bit of confidence that he had before was gone. Joel clearly didn’t like him.
Grian looked back and forth between the visiting prince and the blazeborn, reading the situation. Grian’s eyes landed on Joel, who stood beside him, completely unaware about what the avian was about to do.
Grian abruptly elbowed Joel hard in the side. Tango winced at the sight.
“Ow!” Joel said loudly, turning to face the colorful avian. Joel scowled at him and Grian responded by sticking his tongue out tauntingly. Grian quickly ran off and Joel chased after him.
“He’ll warm up to you eventually,” Pearl told Tango as the two ran around the room. Jimmy rubbed Tango’s arm in comfort. “He just isn’t used to sharing us since we usually only hang out with him.”
Tango nodded along, but couldn’t help doubting it. That hadn’t been the case before, it wouldn’t surprise him if Joel didn’t like him being a netherborn like so many others.
It wasn’t long after that the Caretaker came in. She quickly stopped the chasing, to which Joel informed her of Grian hitting him. Grian denied this. So, she instead turned to the other children in the room.
Pearl gives her brother a mischievous grin before telling her that he did, in fact, hit Joel. Jimmy refused to answer, not wanting to have to deal with Grian possibly pranking him later but not wanting to lie either. She took his silence as a yes. Tango just shrugged when asked, also not wanting a Grian prank, as well as not wanting to make a bad, well worse, impression on Joel.
Joel smiled triumphantly as Grian was sent to sit in the corner. That smile quickly disappeared when he was also told to sit in a different corner for chasing Grian instead of getting an adult. The prince looked like he wanted to protest, but didn’t bother. He clearly was already aware the Caretaker wasn’t one for excuses. He did grumble his complaints to himself as he walked away though.
The Caretaker then sighed before asking the rest of the children if they’d like a story, getting many cheers in response. Tango’s disappointment with Joel not liking him temporarily forgotten.
~*~
When Tango sat down at the table for breakfast the next morning he found a very tired looking Jimmy beside him. Which was odd seeing as avians were usually quite awake in the mornings.
Tango figured that he must have stayed up late. Seeing as he and the other avians spent the night playing with Joel. Tango had opted out, claiming he was tired and headed to his room. Grian and Pearl joined them seconds after, Pearl sitting beside Jimmy and Grian sitting across from her. They both looked just as tired as Jimmy, if not more, basically confirming Tango’s suspicions.
“Are you all alright?” Tango asked, getting different answers of ‘yes’ in tired tones. Pearl seemed like she might fall asleep right there at the table.
“Have a long night?” King Richard asked with a smile as he sat down. The answers he received were similar to that of Tango’s. He laughed lightly at the tired faces of his children.
It was then that the door to the hall opened. It surprised Tango to see Prince Joel, though it really shouldn’t have. He would be staying with them for the summer, of course he’d join them for meals. Joel walked over to the table and took a seat beside Grian. He looked just as tired as the young avians. Tango turned his head down to his plate.
“How did you sleep, Joel?” The King asked with a knowing smile. Joel let out a yawn before answering.
“I slept great. Not tired at all,” he claimed, though his tired voice said otherwise.
The meal went smoothly. There was less chatter than usual, mostly because of the tiredness. Tango didn’t say much either.
“Tango, are you alright?” The King asked, noticing how quiet he was and how he was more picking at his food than eating it.
“I’m fine,” The little blazeborn muttered. The King didn’t comment on the subject again, but he did give him a few worried looks throughout the rest of the meal.
~*~
Tango felt as if he couldn’t escape Joel as the days passed. The visiting prince had yet to say anything mean to him, hadn’t really spoken to him at all, but he kept giving the blazeborn mean looks. Their avian friends stopped it whenever they noticed, bringing a distraction of sorts, but that only stopped it for that moment.
Tango didn’t like it. He didn’t do anything to make the Mezalean Prince hate him, but he seemed to anyway. It made it hard for the young blazeborn to actually have fun when they all played together. Especially since Joel seemed to be trying to keep him out of their games.
So Tango decided that maybe it would be better if he just played by himself. Somewhere where no one would find him. This did mean that he had to evade the guards that usually followed him everywhere, even though they were important. But things would be fine. Tango was going to be all by himself, so there was very little chance of something making him lose control.
So Tango snuck away from them. He grabbed two of his toys, a small wooden horse and a small plush doll. They shined with the residue of fire resistance. He then snuck off to one of his favorite places. The garden.
The garden was beautiful. Filled with colors that Tango didn’t know existed when he first awoke. There were flowers, and bushes, and trees everywhere. Tango was told he had to be careful while he was in it though, they couldn’t really use fire resistance on the plants.
Tango wandered through the bushes, pretending that his little toys were on a jungle adventure. He giggled to himself with a smile, his tail swaying happily behind him.
Everything was going great! Maybe he could do this for the rest of Prince Joel’s stay. That way Tango wouldn’t bother him, then Joel and their friends could have fun and be happy. And Tango could be happy too! Playing by himself.
“What are you doing?” A voice asked in a rude tone. Tango jumped slightly and turned around. Surrounding them were big bushes and grass, no flowers or trees, but still just as beautiful as the rest of the garden. And now stood in front of him was Prince Joel. Tango’s happy smile dimed down and his tail lowered.
“Playing,” Tango told him, his voice quiet. The glare that Joel preceded to give him was stronger and meaner than the ones before.
“All by yourself like some loser?” Joel asked, a mean smile on his face and his hands on his hips. “Don’t got any friends to play with you? Like some lonely, stupid loser?”
“I’m not a loser,” Tango told him. His voice stronger than it was just before. He glared slightly at the boy in front of him.
“Yeah you are. You’re a lonely, stupid loser with no friends,” Joel told him confidently. As if he was saying something as simple as the sky being blue.
“I have friends!” Tango said a bit loudly. His hands curled tightly around the toys he held, claws slightly pricking at them. He was getting annoyed, that wasn’t good. His fire had yet to rise too far, but it surely would if Joel made him angry. “Just leave me alone!”
“Why? So you can be a lonely loser?” Joel asked, smirking. “Na, someone needs to make sure you know how lonely and stupid you are.”
“Go away!” Tango told him. He really was getting mad. He wasn’t in a fire proof space and there wasn't anyone around to help. Maybe he shouldn’t have snuck away from the guards.
As Tango’s anger rised so did his fear. Both feeding into his flames. It was obvious now that they’d grown in size. It was clear that Joel had noticed too, if the mean grin on his face said anything. He clearly didn’t plan on stopping.
“Oh come on, you just don’t want to admit that you don’t actually have friends,” Joel told him, his voice confident and cocky. “It’s not like Jimmy, Grian, and Pearl actually care. They just pity you.” Tango dropped his toys and quickly grabbed ahold of his tail to make sure it didn’t spread any flames. It attempted to flick around in his grasp involuntarily.
“They do care! Just go away!” Tango said loudly to the other. He’d leave if he could, but Joel stood in the way. If Tango did try to pass him he might touch him, and Tango didn’t know whether or not he’d burn him if he did so. Even with how mean he was being, Tango didn’t want to hurt him.
“No they don’t,” Joel told him, a new seriousness on his face. “They don’t care about you. They don’t need you. You’re just a loser with no real friends, and can’t take the truth.”
“Just stop it!” Tango finally shouted. The prince gave him the most spiteful smile Tango had ever seen on a child’s face. Though, it’s not like he’d seen many other than the royal avians. Tango’s fire felt strong and hot and not at all at the front of his mind.
“They do care! You’re a liar!” Tango shouted, his hands letting go of his tail and turning to fists at his sides. “You’re just a meany! You’re the one who’s lonely and a loser!”
Tango’s tail whips around behind him violently. It only took one brush on the leaves of the bushes to catch fire. And with how much his tail was waving, there was much more than just one. Joel’s face turned to anger from the blazeborn’s words, but it’s quickly replaced. The prince’s eyes widened at the sight of the fire.
Tango didn’t miss the mood change, and it wasn’t hard for him to guess why. He turned quickly, being met with the sight of multiple small fires quickly blending together and growing. Tango immediately grabbed ahold of his tail to stop it from spreading more before turning back to Joel.
“This is your fault!” Tango shouted at him as tears pricked his eyes. Joel didn’t even react to the words, his eyes too focused on the fire behind the blazeborn. “I told you to stop! I told you to go away!”
“Can- can you put it out?” Joel asked, a bit panicked.
“No! I can’t! I don’t know what to do!” Tango yelled at the other. He was angry and he was scared. And apparently, he was too close to the fire for Joel’s comfort. Joel reached out to pull him back but Tango quickly stepped away, bringing himself closer to the fire in the process.
“Are you crazy!?” Tango asked the prince, who gave him a greatly confused look.
“No!” Joel exclaimed. “But you are! Get away from the fire, you’re going to get hurt!”
“I’m on fire! Do I look hurt?” Tango asked him. Joel got silent as he processed the words and relized the obvious. Tango let out a frustrated sigh as he looked at the fire.
“You need to leave,” Tango said after a moment. He didn’t leave any room for argument, but Joel did so anyway.
“No way!” Joel shouted, still worried the other might get hurt even though he had just pointed out he would be fine.
“You need to leave! Someone needs to get help and I can’t leave without the chance of spreading more fire!” Tango exclaimed loudly. His point was proven by the flames on his head rising with his frustration.
The prince looked conflicted as he looked back and forth at the fire and Tango. There was still clear worry on his face, but thankfully he seemed to realize that Tango was right, giving Tango a quick nod before running off to find help.
With the Mezalean Prince gone Tango was left with just himself and the growing fire. He looked at the bright flames in front of him with disgust and frustration. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn’t he just get to exist without the fear of losing control? Why did his emotions have to affect his fire so strongly?
Tango crouched down, holding his tail tightly in his hands to make sure that it didn’t cause him anymore trouble. He didn’t dare let himself sit on the ground, there was still a chance of him setting it on fire with just his body heat. He could feel frustrated tears begin to run down his face, and an angry whine left his chest.
~*~
It took a bit for the fire to be put out. It grew fast and the two boys had wasted time yelling at each other before actually getting help. The guards that Joel had found were both angry at Tango for his recklessness.
“What were you thinking!? Why were you in the garden unsupervised!? You’re supposed to be watched at all times!” One of them yelled at Tango as the other looked over the damage. There were still frustrated tears running down his face as Tango glared at the ground rather than face them.
Tango was going to answer, but he was interrupted before he could even say a word.
“It was my fault,” Joel said quickly. Who had come back to the fire even though he’d been told several times to stay away.
Tango looked up at him quickly, confusion on his face. Joel didn’t look back at him though, just looked the guard in the eyes as he began to explain something that never happened.
“I wanted to play in the garden with Tango, he told me that we needed to wait for the guards but I told him that I wanted to go now, and made him come without letting him explain,” Joel explained the false story. “Then I was being mean to him. He told me I needed to stop but I didn’t listen.”
“It was my fault. Not Tango’s,” Joel told them, lying easily. Tango didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything. Just looked back at the ground with his frustrated glare. Even with Joel Taking the blame he was still upset with him. The guard looked at the two, then sighed loudly.
“The Caretaker can deal with this. I’m not some babysitter,” He said before leading the two out of the garden. Leaving the other guard to deal with the mess that Tango’s fire left behind.
~*~
The guard escorted them to the playroom where the Caretaker and their avian friends were. Jimmy, Grian, and Pearl were running around, seeming to be playing something, but they all stopped when they saw their two friends at the door with an annoyed guard and with Tango still glaring at the ground.
The Caretaker quickly came over and asked the guard what happened. He told her the story that Joel had told him, his voice filled with frustration. The little avians looked at their friends with worry as they also listened. But Tango didn’t once look up at them, just continued to glare at the ground he stood on. Joel didn’t acknowledge them either, but he stood tall and kept his face indifferent.
The guard was quick to leave once the story was over and the Caretaker had told him she’d deal with it. The door shut loudly behind the upset guard. The Caretaker turned to Joel, giving him a stern talking to about listening to others and being mean. Telling him that even though he didn’t know, he was still in the wrong for not letting Tango explain things. Joel didn’t give a single word of complaint at the scolding. He just nodded his head in understanding once she was finished.
She then turned to Tango. She spoke more gently as she told him that he shouldn’t have followed Joel to the garden without having an adult, and that he needed to be more direct and assertive with his words. Telling him that he should know better and not succumb to peer pressure. Whatever that meant. He didn’t bother to ask, just continued to glare at the ground.
She softly asked if Tango understood and he nodded his head briefly. The Caretaker always seemed to treat things differently when it came to Tango accidentally setting something on fire. Not that there had been many issues, things like this had only happened a few times before. But she always gave him a gentle talking to when they did. Explaining what went wrong and what he and anyone else involved could have done differently. He couldn’t tell if he was thankful for it or not.
Tango hadn’t said a word since the fire had first been put out. But once the Caretaker was done he quietly asked if he could go to his room. She told him he could and he didn’t waste a second as he turned around and headed out the door. There were guards waiting that followed him as he headed down the halls.
The three young avians called out to him as he walked out, but the Caretaker stopped them. She told them that they needed to give Tango some space for now and that they would see him later before closing the door.
Tango continued to glare at the ground as he reached his room. Only looking up when he was inside and alone. He wasn’t that upset with Joel in all honesty. At least not anymore. He didn’t know how Tango’s fire worked and clearly just wanted to make him mad for some reason. No, Tango was more upset with himself than he was with Joel.
Why did he think everything would be fine? He didn’t know how to control his fire yet. He didn’t even know if that was something he could do.
Tango climbed into his bed and curled into a ball. He muttered his frustrations out to himself without the worry of setting the bed or blankets ablaze. They were made of materials from the Nether. At least that wouldn’t burn.
~*~
The young avians integrated Joel once Tango had left, wanting answers. They all knew that Joel didn’t want to play with Tango yet. They knew that there was no way the story could have been true.
But the Mezalean Prince kept to his story, not once admitting any of it to be lies. Even when Grian threatened to fill his bed with birdseed. Even when Pearl tried to bribe him with getting him his favorite sweet. Even when Jimmy begged and pleaded with tears in his eyes. A common trick the youngest avian had begun to use.
No, this was a secret between him and the little blazeborn. As well as an issue that Joel had to try to fix.
~*~
It was around an hour or two later, though Tango didn’t really know for sure, when there was a knock on his door. It was more than likely one of the young avians, or the Caretaker, or King Richard, wanting to talk to him about what had happened. But he didn’t want to talk about it. He wanted to stay curled up in his bed and allow himself to feel without worry.
He didn’t answer, but the door opened anyway. They didn’t need to knock to know if he was in there, the guards at the door were enough to tell. And even still, whoever it was could just ask them. He heard the door shut behind the person, but he didn’t turn around to see who it was. Instead he just curled up even tighter, as if that could somehow hide him from view.
“Hey,” Tango heard. The blazeborn tensed up in anger. First he bothered him while he was just trying to let the other have his space, and now he was bothering Tango in his own room? Tango sat up abruptly and turned to face him, an enraged glare on his face.
“What.” Tango asked stiffly. His hand grabbed ahold of his blankets and he could feel his claws pierce through them as he squeezed tightly. Joel looked a tad surprised at the reaction, and quickly evaded the blazeborn’s gaze.
“I- uh,” The prince stumbled before biting his lip. Clearly unsure what he wanted to do now that he was back in the blazeborn’s presents. The hesitancy only made Tango angrier.
“Either spit it out or leave,” Tango told him, his eyes burning with bitterness. Joel opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again a moment after, his eyes drifting to his feet. Tango let out a tiny growl before laying back down, his back to the prince. “Leave then.”
It was silent. But Tango knew the other hadn’t made a single step towards the door. He was about ready to just scream at him to get out, knowing that the guards would hear and hopefully make the prince leave.
“You dropped these…” Joel finally said. His voice uncharacteristically quiet. Tango looked over his shoulder with a glare. One that melted away as he saw what the prince had in his extended hand.
The blazeborn sat up and faced the prince again. Joel didn’t look towards him as he gently took his toys out of his hand. The wooden horse had a few tiny marks in it from when Tango had squeezed it in his hand. The plush doll had tiny holes in it from presumably the same thing.
“I’m uh- sorry,” Joel said, bringing Tango’s attention back to him. The prince’s cheeks blushed a bit from embarrassment as he stared at the wall to his left.
Tango had only known Joel for a few days. And from what he had seen, and been told by the avians, Joel was not one to apologize. He’d avoid admitting that he was in the wrong at all costs.
“I could probably find someone who could at least fix your doll, if that helps any,” The prince said, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck.
“Thanks,” Tango muttered in response.
They were both clearly unsure of what to do now. Joel clearly unused to giving a sincere apology, and Tango not knowing how exactly to react to this new kindness.
“You’re uh- you were pretty smart and um, brave back there,” Joel told him as he took a few steps back, inching himself closer to the door. “Especially with how little you are. You’re smaller than Jim so uh- yeah…”
With that Joel turned to grab the doorknob. Tango looked down at the returned toys in his hands. He still didn’t hear the door actually open.
“Just so you know,” Joel began. Tango looked back up at him. Joel had not turned to face him again and his hand was still on the knob. “This was never about you being a blazeborn or whatever. Grian told me that’s been something a lot of people have been mad about. But uh, this was never about that. It was just me being stupid.”
With that the Mezalean Prince left and Tango was all by himself again. But instead of him lying back down and burning with quiet anger, he now sat there hopeful.
Maybe he and Joel could be friends after all…