Thief and the Hero

Chapter Twelve

"I refuse."

Splendont stared at him, the frustration building up because, one again, Lifty was trying to get away from him. What more could he do to get Lifty to just look at him and only him. Lifty clung to him, his body shaking from the fear he was feeling. Splendont looked down at the few people who were watching them and decided to fly away, launching himself through the crowd as Cuddles came out with Splendid. He glared down at Cuddles, making eye contact with the blond who smirked at him.

If he didn't have Lifty in his arms, he would have crushed Cuddles like a can into the concrete. But he already scared Lifty enough, so he had to calm himself. He ended up by the woods, away from the town, and settled down. In and instant, Lifty shoved himself out of Splendont's arms and fell to the ground before he could catch him.

"Hey—!" He went to grab him, but Lifty's arms shot out and smacked Splendont's hands away.

"D-don't t-t-touch m-me!" He yelled, scrambling away from him and bumping into a tree.

Splendont watched him hug the tree and curl up against it. Sobs hit his ears and he felt a pain in his chest at that. He didn't mean to scare Lifty this bad. He stared at him, unsure of what to do since he caused this panic attack. Lifty didn't want his comfort.

How fucking rude.

He frowned at that and crossed his arms. He wanted to go to Lifty and hug away his worries, but he couldn't. Lifty had dissolved into sobs and hiccups because he was so shaken up. With nothing else to do, Splendont walked over and sat just a few inches away from Lifty, his back to him because he would just stare until Lifty stopped and he got the feeling that he'd make it worse if he did that. So, he waited.

And waited.

And continued to wait.

Until almost an hour later, the sobs finally stopped and Lifty quieted down. Splendont's ears twitched, but he made no effort to move from his spot. He wanted to turn around and check Lifty since the other hadn't moved either, but he knew when to quit. He sighed, almost leaning back, but stopped himself. His phone began to buzz, so he pulled it out to check.

Texts from Splendid, a missed call from Foxy, and quite a few in the group chat. He checked the texts first, responding to Splendid to let him know he was okay and coming home soon. The group chat was filled with memes at this point, so he ignored those. Then sent a text to Foxy to let her know he wasn't able to talk on the phone right now. Once he sent the text, he felt a body press against his and he tensed up.

He glanced behind him to see Lifty resting on him, "... are you alright, now?"

Lifty nodded, opting to not respond verbally, "Mh-hm..."

Splendont gulped, leaning back a bit to relax against Lifty, "That's good... sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to scare you."

No response.

Splendont pouted at that, but decided to understand where Lifty was coming from, "I'll try not to do it again."

They went into a silence and Splendont picked at his sleeve. He didn't want to ruin the mood by continuing to talk. But he hated being giving the silent treatment. Splendid did it to him to punish him for being a jerk, which he frequently acted like, so while it was deserved, he would have preferred anything else. He didn't want Lifty to do that to him.