Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Jimmy! Come on!” Tango called down the long hall with a laugh. “ Hurry up!”

“I’m coming!” Jimmy called back from another room. A guard walking down the hall smiled at the two's antics. Tango giggled in delight as he opened the door to his room and walked in. it closed behind him naturally.

It had been around three months since the three royal avians had found Tango in the snow. Things had only gotten better since Tango first woke up and he experienced so many fun things as well.

One of his favorite things to do was attend classes with his avian friends. Though it was more with Jimmy than Grian and Pearl, because of their different ages. Some of the teachers were even nice to Tango!

Some would let him ask questions and smile at him when he spoke, they’d even answer his questions! He liked those teachers a lot. The King even hired a teacher just for Tango! She was nice and called Ms. Claire. She was helping Tango learn more Common and things about the Overworld.

The door to Tango’s room opened quickly as Jimmy entered excitedly, his wings fluttering about. Grian and Pearl still had classes to attend, but Jimmy and Tango had done all of theirs for the day. Leaving them with plenty of time to play. Usually they would go to the big playroom that was in the castle, but there was some sort of building happening, meaning they couldn’t go there. So instead, they decided to play in Tango’s room.

“What if we played hide and seek?” Jimmy asked, as they were trying to think of what to play.

“There’s not many hiding places in here,” Tango pointed out. The room wasn’t that large, at least by the castle’s standards, and there weren’t many good spots to hide in it.

There was the large bed that Tango slept in, with its green blankets and white pillows. A chest sat at the end of the bed, it held many more blankets in case Tango got cold. A wardrobe was against the far wall with a desk that Tango had yet to use right beside it. There was a rug on the floor and the chairs that sat by the fireplace, which was lit and burning, bringing the room to a comfortable warmth. At least for most people, Tango was apparently different when it came to things like temperature according to the Doctor. Beside the door was a big bookcase that didn’t hold much yet. Tango was still working on his reading.

Most of the things in the room were fairly generic because it was just a spare room before, meant for visiting nobles or the staff they brought with them. The King said that they could get more things for Tango, but they hadn’t been focusing on that as much as his learning. Tango didn’t care much though, he spent more time out of the room than in it. Spending his time playing and adventuring with the three that had found him.

“We could play tag?” Tango suggested, his tail comfortably swaying behind him. Jimmy frowned.

“That’s more fun if there’s more people, and there isn’t much room to run in here,” Jimmy said. They were both silent as they thought. Most of the games they played were more fun when there were more of them and there weren't any toys in Tango’s room yet. They probably should have thought about this before choosing Tango’s room as their playing spot.

Tango was about to suggest they go to Jimmy’s room instead, which was very far away by the two little boys' standards, when Tango came up with a great idea. His tail whipped around behind him with excitement and the blaze rods above his head moved quickly, both in the way that the fancy adult around the castle didn’t like. But they weren’t there with them, so he was free from their mean words and looks.

“Oh! Oh! We can pretend to be in The Flying Islands!” Tango told the other. The Flying Islands was a story that the Caretaker had read to them recently. It was an amazing pirate adventure that Tango and Jimmy had fallen in love with.

“Yeah!” Jimmy agreed enthusiastically. His wings flapped quickly with his excitement, though they didn’t lift him off the ground. They weren’t big enough for that yet.

“The bed can be the ship!” Jimmy exclaimed, running over and pointing at the bed, Tango quickly followed and nodded.

“Yeah! And the chest can be the treasure!” Tango added, pointing to the chest they stood beside.

“I can be Flynn,” Jimmy said, Tango’s smile dimmed. “And you can be-”

“Why can’t I be Flynn?” Tango asked, his smile now more of a pout. Jimmy tilted his head to the side a little as he answered.

“Because I am,” Jimmy answered, confused why Tango asked. Tango didn’t like it.

“You’re always the main character when we play pretend,” Tang told him, a bit of frustration in his voice.

“No! When we pretended to be in Traveling Trials you got to be Horace,” Jimmy reminded him, crossing his arms as he did so.

“Yeah, but we both know Remy is better, and you got to be them!” Tango said, his voice rising a bit.

“Well Remy isn’t the main character in Traveling Trials, Horace is!” Jimmy told him loudly. His wings puffing up slightly.

“That’s not what I mean!”

“Well that’s what you said!”

“Why do you always get to be the best characters!”

“I don’t!”

“You do!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

Jimmy’s wings were puffed up and ruffled in irritation, his words had a more squawk-like sound. His foot stimping on the floor as he shouted at his friend. Tango’s blaze rods were spinning quickly. His fiery hair was much taller than usual and was burning brightly. If you listened you would have heard a quiet growl beneath his voice.

But it was his tail that had made it happen. Just like the hair on his head, the fire on Tango’s tail was tall and bright. Both his head and tail were sparking with flames. His tail was moving around angrily, waving the sparking flames with the movement.

Neither of them noticed when his tail got too close to the chest. The chest that was made of wood. Neither of them noticed when the sparks caught onto it. Neither of them noticed it when it was small.

Jimmy noticed it when it got larger.

The argument quickly ended when Jimmy screamed in fear. Tango’s angry face turned into one of surprise and worry. He took a few steps back, not realizing that he was only spreading the fire further with his waving tail.

Jimmy pointed behind Tango, who quickly turned around, only getting more fearful. His eyes widened when he saw the fire. How did it get there? When did it happen? These were the thoughts that quickly went through the young blazeborn’s head.

He was afraid too, he hadn’t seen this happen before. To him the fire just magically appeared. Could you blame the small blazeborn for screaming too?

Tango’s fear was getting close to panic. What do they do? How do they get rid of it? He took a few steps away from the growing fire. His fire was still burning as it was before, maybe even more so. But now it wasn’t anger that fueled it. It was fear.

He didn’t see when Jimmy quickly grabbed onto his arm. Tango didn’t even get to process the feeling fully before the hands were quickly removed and there were more screams in the room.

Tango turned around to face Jimmy again, only to find him on his knees, hands close to his chest, and tears streaming down his face. He was screaming and crying in pain. It was then that the door came crashing open, the guard that had been pacing the long hall before coming in.

She looked at the fire with wide eyes, looked at Tango, looked down at Jimmy, and looked at Tango again. She turned her head around and shouted loudly. So loudly. What exactly she was saying Tango didn’t remember, his mind too focused on his friend.

What happened to Jimmy? What hurt him? What was happening? Tango thought as everything around him seemed to be moving faster than normal. Tango almost took a few steps closer to Jimmy when he actually saw his hands.

Jimmy’s hands were burned. But they hadn't touched the fire. They had touched Tango.

That’s when Tango realized that it was him. He was the problem. He started this. He made the fire. He hurt Jimmy. He hurt Jimmy.

Tango’s eyes widened as he took a few steps away from the little avian. He didn’t want to hurt him. He didn’t mean to. He didn’t know what happened. Tango’s fire only seemed to heat up more as he stared at Jimmy with fear and worry.

He only realized that the fire had been put out when a guard had picked up Jimmy and ran out of the room with him. The young avian’s cries still going strong. Tango just stared as they disappeared.

“Hey, buddy,” Tango turned his eyes away from the door where Jimmy had disappeared to see the guard that had first come into the room. She was crouched down to be at his level.

“How about you just breathe for a second, yeah?” She asked, coming a little forward and holding her hands out in what was supposed to be a comforting gesture.

Tango panicked more. He wasn’t safe. He hurt Jimmy. What if he hurt her too?

“No, no! Go away!” Tango said loudly as he began to cry. His flames crackled much like the fire that he had made. He was so, so scared.

“Hey, hey! Little guy it’s alright! The fire’s gone now!” Another guard said quickly. But he wasn’t looking at Tango’s face as he spoke. No, he was looking at the flames atop his head. Tango only cried more. A few more of the guards in the room tried to comfort him, walking closer to him.

“No! Don’t touch me!” Tango cried out. He was holding his hand close to his chest and his tail was wrapped tightly around his leg. “Go away! Go away!" Tango said in Netherian, as if that would somehow make them listen and understand.

Even with Tango having his tail tightly wrapped around his leg, it still managed to be a problem. The fiery end of it close to the ground. The ground that the rug he was now standing on was. His flames easily spread to it.

The guards obviously saw this and tried to get Tango away from it, but that only made it worse. His flames growing as well as his fears. It was only when he backed further away that he saw the new fire. He cried more at the sight of it.

People were shouting now. Calls for more water and for the King. Disagreements about what to do and just so, so loud. Tango wanted it to be over. He wanted the fire gone. He wanted the loud noises gone. He wanted the people gone.

People were still trying to talk to him, but he couldn’t focus on their words. Only backing away from them more when they tried to get closer. He was so scared. He was still trying to get them to go away, switching between Common and Netherian.

By the time that King Richard arrived the second fire was out and the guards had backed Tango to the wall. He couldn’t move away anymore and they hadn’t left yet. Tango didn’t know what they were saying to each other, all he could seem to hear was fire crackling in his ears.

But the guards started to walk away. They finally were leaving, at least most of them. A few were standing by the doorway, anxious looks on their faces. But there was a new problem.

The King was getting closer.

“No! No! Go away! Go away!” Tango said loudly, tears still streaming down his face. King Richard was crouched down like the guard was earlier, but at least he stopped. Now only a few feet away. Tango still didn’t like it.

“I’m not going to come closer, Tango,” King Richard told him calmly. “And I won't touch you,” Why was he calm? The guards had been scared? Tango was scared. What was going on?

“Do you understand, Tango?” the King asked, looking Tango in the eyes. Not at the fiery hair on his head or the flames on his tail. His eyes. Like the rest of it didn’t bother him. Tango nodded timidly at the other.

“Very good,” the King said, a tiny smile on his face, like he was proud of Tango. But what was there to be proud about?

“Can you do something for me please, Tango?” King Richard asked. Tango nodded again, the same way he had before. “Wonderful.”

“I need you to take a deep breath for me. Can you do that?” He asked. Tango nodded slowly. “Perfect. I’ll do it with you, alright?”

The King and him took a few deep breaths. Many it seemed to the small blazeborn. Tango didn’t understand why. Didn’t understand how that could help. But he also didn’t see the way his flames calmed or notice how he stopped crying. Only drying tear tracks left on his face.

“You did wonderfully, Tango,” King Richard told him, a soft smile on his face. Tango would’ve smiled too if it weren’t for the King’s next question.

“Is it alright if I come closer now?” Tango’s panic returned, his fires flaring back up. But the King was quick to react.

“It’s alright if you don’t want me to,” The King said quickly, but just as calm as before. Still holding eye contact, not once looking towards Tango’s flames. “It’s perfectly fine if you don’t want me to. I won’t.” Tango’s flames calmed again at the reassurance. But weren’t as calm as they were before the question was asked.

“Tango,” King Richard said, his head tilting to the side. “Why is it that you don’t want me any closer?”

“B- because,” Tango told him, his eyes starting to tear up again. “I don’t want to hurt you,”

“And why do you think you’re going to hurt me?” Tango started to cry again, but thankfully his flames didn’t change much.

“Because I hurt Jimmy! I hurt him! He touched me and I hurt him!” Tango cried out, quickly trying to wipe away his tears as he spoke. The King nodded his head in understanding.

“Tango?" King Richared asked. "Have you ever intentionally hurt me before?”

“Intentionally?” Tango didn’t know that word.

“On purpose,” the King explained briefly.

“No.”

“Have you ever intentionally hurt Grian or Pearl before?”

“N-no.”

“Now, did you intentionally hurt Jimmy today?”

“No!”

“Then why are you so sure you’ll hurt me?” Tango stopped and thought about it. He didn’t know why. But he also didn’t understand. He didn’t understand what had happened, and it scared him.

But the King was smart. The King was smart and nice. He didn’t seem to think that Tango would hurt him. And the King was an adult, adults knew a lot. If the King didn’t think that Tango was going to hurt him he had to be right. The King smiled at Tango as the young blazeborn thought over his words.

“Now, I won’t touch you unless I’m sure you won’t hurt me,” King Richard told him. “Is that alright?” Tango slowly nodded his head.

King Richard moved forward slowly, getting closer and closer to Tango. While Tango trusted the King, he couldn’t help but press himself closer to the wall. The King stopped, now much closer, and spoke once more.

“I promise, Tango. I won’t touch you unless I’m absolutely certain you won’t hurt me,” The King said in a strong, confident voice. Tango looked at him, from his unmoving eyes, down to his hand, and back up again. Tango nodded again.

Only then did the King’s eye contact break, looking down at Tango’s hand and slowly reaching for it. The King’s eyes flickered up and down as he got closer, checking to make sure that everything was still alright.

King Richard’s hands stopped close to Tango’s own. Not touching, but seeming to be feeling for something Tango didn’t know was there. The King’s hands stayed there for a moment, his eyes flickering back up again, before moving closer.

His hands gently held Tango’s smaller one between them. They didn’t pull away in pain. They stayed right where they were. The King looked up at Tango again, this time smiling brightly while bringing their now touching hands up a bit.

“See? You’re not hurting me,” The King said. Tango stared in awe for a moment. The King had been right. Tango didn’t hurt him.

Tango felt tears welling up in his eyes again, but now from relief. The King’s bright smile softened and he opened his arms, welcoming Tango into a hug that he didn't hesitate to accept.

Tango grabbed tightly onto King Richard and silent tears began to run down his eyes. The King didn’t even react to the burning feeling that his tears must have left when they landed on his neck.

King Richard let out a comforting coo as his arms and wings wrapped around the small blazeborn. He allowed them to stay there for just a moment, before slowly lifting the child up. Gently carrying him away.

Tango hid his face into the King’s neck, avoiding looking at the room as they left it. It wasn’t hard to miss the dark burn marks left behind on the wall, or the holes left in the rug, or the chest that now was missing its lid. The blankets at the top of it charred. All of it was from the fire. All of it was from Tango.

~*~

Tango didn’t know where the King was taking them till he saw the walls of the infirmary come into view. He held onto the King’s neck tighter, who chirped at him softly in response.

The infirmary was an odd place. There was the main room that was large with a few beds and odd equipment, but there were also smaller rooms off to the side for more privacy. That’s where they found Jimmy.

King Richard had made him face forward as they entered the door. So Tango was able to see Jimmy and a nurse clearly. Jimmy was sitting on the side of the bed as the Nurse was carefully wrapping his hands with bandages. Tango felt even more guilty at the sight of it.

Jimmy didn’t seem to be very happy as she did so. But he quickly brightened at the sight of his fiery friend.

“Tango!” Jimmy said happily. King Richard put Tango down as the Nurse finished with Jimmy’s hands. Jimmy was quick to get up and go towards his friend, but stopped as the other began to back away.

Could you blame him though? He was still scared of hurting his friend, even with the King showing him that he wouldn’t. Jimmy seemed to think it was because of something different though.

“I’m sorry, Tango,” Jimmy said, looking at the floor. Tango was surprised to hear the words. “You were right, I do always hog the fun characters.”

Tango had forgotten that that’s what started this in the first place. He didn’t even care now. He felt too guilty to do so.

“No, I’m sorry,” Tango told him, his eyes tearing up again. “I- I didn’t mean to hurt you! I’m so, so sorry!”

Tango was prepared to say more, to apologize more, but stopped as his best friend hugged him tightly. Tango hesitated before he wrapped his arms around Jimmy, holding him even tighter. Jimmy’s soft wings wrapped around him and made everything seem like it would be okay.

Tango didn’t see the look of disgust that the Nurse gave him, nor the strong glare the King gave her for it. He didn’t notice the way she scurried out of the room after, not wanting to displease the King more. He did notice the King laying a comforting hand on his shoulder and smile at him. Telling him that everything was going to be alright.