* * *
It is, in truth, little different from having an imaginary friend. Somebody to think up and talk to when you really needed some support.
Somebody nobody else saw, or heard.
Somebody who you occasionally dreamed of.
* * *
Jaffur abruptly stops, looking at the person in his domain. "Who are you?"
The little human boy perks up. "Jaffur?"
Sanity returns, however briefly. "Seriously, who are you? How are you even in here?"
"I thought you didn't exist!"
Jaffur frowns. "Okay, are we talking past each other? I feel like we are."
The boy stands up from where he was sitting. "Whoa, you talk like you're crazy-smart. Y'know, we're eight. Nobody expects that from us." A smile spiders its way across the boy's face. "Then again, adults are terribly boring about things like vocabulary, aren't they?"
Jaffur slowly smirks back. "At their best," he says.
"Heh, I know, right?"
Jaffur shakes his head. "Seriously, though, who are you? I didn't think anybody could make it in here."
The boy's face falls. "Oh." Then he shakes his head. "I'm your older brother!" He holds out a hand. "Jaron."
Jaffur stiffens, everything focusing down to a few narrow points about how if he puts his foot on Jaron's chest and tugs he'll rip the boy's arm off and kill him and then be free free
free-
-but if it were that easy, mother wouldn't deserve the title of Master Sorceress. No, this is just a dream. Just one of Jaron's dreams.
Jaffur sighs bitterly and turns away. "Go away, Jaron. This isn't a good time."
Jaron stares after his retreating brother for a moment and then darts forward, grabbing his arm. "Nah, it's a great time! C'mon, let's go play hide-and-seek!"
"I- wha- get off me!" splutters Jaffur, pulling free.
"Nah. Now, you've got to find me, okay! Count to twenty. No cheating!"
Jaffur stares at this madman who is apparently his Seal, aghast.
Well, that's just lovely. He rolls his eyes. "You know what? Sure. Go ahead." He turns away. "One. Two. Three."
He can follow Jaron's scuffling with contemptuous ease. Not that he'll be bothering with this whole farce, but it's something.
And then, the scuffling stops. "O- oh. Hey, Thomas."
Jaffur glances over and- WHAT.
Jaron stands before a stereotypically-inflated boy their age with a leering smile that is literally wider than his face. Jaffur grunts in annoyance as the...thing...grunts something that presumably translates to language. Jaron stumbles back, caught in dream logic.
"N- no," he says, fetching up against a wall that rises behind his back. "Stay away, I don't have anything for you. Leave me alone." His breath comes faster and faster. "Please? Don't...Jaffur? Jaffur, HELP-!"
"Focus Ray."
A thin beam of golden light cores the sack of shit's skull, and Jaffur lowers his arm, scowling. He shakes his head as if trying to clear it. Then his eyes fall on Jaron and he growls, stalking over. "The hell was that?!" he demands, pulling the other boy around. "You brought a nightmare here? What's wrong with y- ack!"
Jaron flings his arms around Jaffur's neck. "Thank you!"
Jaffur shoves him away. "Get off me! What were you thinking, just standing there? Push back!"
"But he's bigger than me!" Jaron smiles. "Plus, I knew you'd come help me."
Jaffur gives him a bewildered glare. "That's no excuse! I live here, moron, I can't come with you back into the outside world! What are you going to do when the real version of that guy shows up?"
Jaron shrugs. "Run away?"
Jaffur seethes for a moment. "Never. Let me. Hear you say that again. What happens if he's faster? What if you're on ground that he knows and you don't? What happens when there's nowhere left to run?"
Jaron shrugs. "I...don't know."
Jaffur steps up close. "You. Fight. Back." He shakes his head, stepping away.
Jaron looks at him as he walks off. "I mean, you'll protect me when I'm here, right?"
"No!"
Jaron looks at the corpse, swiftly dissolving back into the substance of dreams. "Well...?"
"That was just reflex! Don't make anything of it."
Jaron watches, and shrugs. "Well, okay. I'm going to wake up now. Maybe I'll remember this when I do."
Jaffur snorts.
Jaron waves. "Well...bye! I'll see if I can remember about fighting back."
Jaffur doesn't answer.
Jaron shrugs and dissolves. Jaffur sighs, relaxing. Finally, some peace and-
You okay, sweetie?
His eyes snap open and he looks up at the sky.
As if projected on a great screen, Jaron's point of view is lit up on that sky. And he's looking up at his mother.
Jaffur hisses, his bones creaking where his fingers dig into them.
"I'm alright, Mom. Just had a dream."
What about?
"Something about Thomas. I had somebody there who helped save me! I was trapped and called out, and then there was this light like, 'WHOOOOOOOOSH!' and BANG! And Thomas was gone."
O- oh. That's a bit violent, don't you think?
"Maybe. I felt safe, though. It was nice."
Jaffur sits back as the conversation continues, thoroughly nonplussed. His grip loosens and his posture relaxes. His face even untwists from its usual scowl. With a certain amount of attention, one might observe the corners turning upward in a sad smile.
* * *
This is how it feels to be Jaffur Vegeta right now.
Wistful.
He settles in, and watches his brother talk about the hero who saved him.
