Tagged And Other Fun

Little New Years Special- Fireworks

So since I'm kinda busy for new years but still want to make a little special, here's a short one shot for the holidays!

Happy New Years by the way!

Third Person

Chester put his head in his hands and sighed.

"I'm sorry..." A muffled voice came, having a sheepish tone, but Chester just shook his head.

"Not your fault." The boy insisted, pressing his back against the wall and letting his hands fall back to his sides. "I should've know. How didn't I see this coming? Stupid of me..."

"You're not stupid!" The voice insisted, now slowly gaining confidence as they spoke.

Chester's left hand moved up to ruffle his own hair in stress. His purple eyes remained transfixed to the ground. "Sure..." He mumbled, now feeling worse than ever.

Finally, the blue haired man poked his head from under the bed where he was. His electric blue eyes locked onto the purple one's with determination. "You're a genius, plain and simple. Not your fault. I'm fine now, I-"

Then it came again. First a red flash from the window and then the sound of an explosion that boomed from it. Ace jumped and ducked under the bed again, letting out a small sound of fear as he did so. As soon as it was gone, Chester leaned forward until he was pressing his chest against the ground, and peeked under the bed. Though hard to see, the glowing blue eyes of Ace stood out. Terror still resided within them, and then the light was gone when he squeezed them shut.

Chester bit his lip. "One of the New Year holiday traditions is something called fireworks." He began to explain. "Colorful exploding sparks that light up the sky, but make a lot of noise. They're harmless." Mostly. Chester thought to himself, thinking of the time his twin older brothers nearly burned down the neighbors house when they set it off and it hit the house.

"R-right." Ace stammered. Chester could tell he was trying to appear normal or just a little bit okay, but it wasn't work. A combination of his tone of voice and the fact that his eyes were still closed told him that. "Harmless..."

Seeing as Ace probably wasn't going to move, Chester decided just to walk him through the thought process. He was curious about it anyways, and it might help him along. "What part of the fireworks is it that you don't like?"

"I'm fine, they're fine."

"You're a terrible liar when you're scared."

Ace went silent. Time ticked on, and thankfully no fireworks when off in that time. "The sound." He admitted at last. "It's... Loud. Alarming. Like guns. I don't like it." His sentences were choppy and a bit disoriented, but then again, Chester expected that. He wasn't hiding away under his bed for no reason.

"Think of it like this, gun shots echo, while few fireworks do. If you listen, you can know the difference, and be more sure that you're safe." Chester prompted. Ace listened before cracking his eyes open, the pupils darting around before landing on Chester again.

"I... I guess you're right." His voice was soft and hard to hear, but since the rest of his family was out and the house was silent, Chester could hear him.

Chester waited until Ace seemed ready before asking more. "Anything else that bothers you about them?"

"...Flashing."

"What about the flashing? Is it the bright lights? Or is it a specific color?"

Ace held his breath for half a moment. "The lights is a little off but I think I can deal with it. I don't like red, it's-" A memory shot through his head and the pain in it made him flinch. "Not good. Reminder." He choked out. Getting out longer sentences proving to take too much from him, and saying little things actually felt better to him.

Chester frowned, eyebrows knitting together. "A pained reminder?" Ace nodded slightly. "I thought as much... But you need to know: These fireworks aren't going to hurt you. I know it seems like what hurt you before, but I can assure you, it's not. Trust me."

Ace didn't respond for a long time, then nodded. "Do you want to stay under here anyways?" Another nod. That didn't surprise Chester much. "Want some food?"

"...Granola?"

The boy chuckled. "Yep. Good old granola. I'll go get it, you stay here."

As he stood up and left the room, Ace called out to him. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

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Yayyyyyyyy Ace has a lot of problems and Chester helps him understand his fears and make sure he understands they aren't real/he doesn't need to be afraid. But, of course, even if you know something isn't the same, you still might not want to face it, and that's okay.

It's okay to be afraid.

Anyways, I hope you guys liked this little short, I quite like how it came out! Be sure to comment what you though, and goodbye, and HAPPY NEW YEARS!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter