Spirit Animals One-Shots

Electric Drops [Darmo]

Spoilers for The Burning Tide. Darmo is Devin x Karmo. Good day.

It was a rare occasion when Karmo cried.
Ever since he was younger, he'd swore to himself that he'd be as tough as his dad. His dad had never broken down in front of him and his confidence never faltered. He had always wanted to be like him, and he was going to be.
But, not right now.
Karmo buried his face in his hands, his heavy breathing increasing as he tried to keep the tears in.
He might've been exaggerating, but really, Shane had rescued him. The young king had become one of his few very good friends. They silently joked about the other Redcloaks and Conor and Rollan, and sometimes Devin would join in too, snickering with them.
Now, those fun times were over.
The others were burying his friend's body now, most likely, but he didn't want to see. All of them except one.
Karmo knew Devin was there. He had an overwhelming smell of lavender sometimes, but right now, it made Devin's presence more calming than it already was.
"Hit you hard?" Devin's unusually soft voice said.
Karmo nodded slowly, sighing after taking his hands off his face. It was a safe place now. Devin wouldn't die laughing at him for tearing up, even if he did at a lot of stupid things.
The Euran boy sat beside him, against a rock. His observant golden cat eyes scanned his face, frowning.
"How.." Devin paused, unsure of what he was asking, "how long did you know him?"
"Shut up, Trunswick!" Karmo snapped suddenly. He didn't want to talk about it. Shane was the exact opposite of what he wanted to talk about right now. He didn't need any more emotions piling up inside his chest. But, he did feel bad when he saw Devin's face flash with hurt, but it was quickly hidden by a neutral expression.
"Sorry." Karmo muttered.
"I didn't take it personally."
The two shared a silence. It was almost unbearable, but he didn't do anything to fix it. He merely sat there, every now and then glancing at Devin, who kept having difficulties hiding his thoughts on his face.
Karmo shifted his foot, staring at the trail in the dirt it left. Why did he feel so weak, so helpless? Why was he wishing for a noble boy, who was bitchy and annoying but yet so likable, to rub his back and tell him everything was going to be okay?
He glanced at Devin again. This time, the younger boy caught his eye, blinking at him.
Karmo immediately dove at him, wrapping his arms around his torso and simply clinging onto his body. Devin squeaked in surprise, but after a moment, he eased up, allowing himself to be hugged.
Devin had to stop himself from flinching every time a tear fell on him from Karmo's face. There was something weird about them. Maybe it was because Karmo couldn't get wet, but it was like there was some kind of electricity in them. It didn't appear to harm the older boy though.
After a few moments, Devin wrapped an arm around Karmo, and the bird hybrid seemed to ease up slightly.
"I'm here if you, uh, need anything. Not that it's me you absolutely have to go to but, um, I'm available if Howl or Stead or-"
"Thanks, Dev." Karmo murmured into the cat hybrid's shirt, breathing in the comforting smell of his lavender scent.
Devin winced softly as another electric tear seeped through the fabric. Luckily, Karmo didn't seem to notice. He blinked, shifting into a comfortable position and staring at the setting sun, that was now almost gone.
"You don't want to see this?" Devin asked.
"Describe it to me, I'm comfortable right now, idiot."
Devin rolled his eyes, but grinned despite his raging emotions and began to describe every angle, every spot, painting a picture in his friend's mind.