Built On Trust

Characters; Briar (Rye), Aries, Nico, Garvin, and Akira. Ingall, Revan, Haila, Clio, and Devery mentioned

Word Count; 2,102

TWs; Swearing, Heavy dissociation, Mentions of dehumanization, Panic/anxiety attack, Mentions of self-harm, Very messy writing (especially at the end), and maybe more

Notes; Honestly, this one is meant to be much lighter (though still angsty) than the other short stories at the moment, kinda my attempt at a hurt/comfort palate cleanser to hopefully make it easier for me to sort my thoughts and just write, lol. Honestly, I could see this one taking place in pretty much any universe, but for the sake of the story, it takes place in AFCS.

Also! Rye is fronting through most of the first part of the story and then is co-fronting with Briar until the very end when Briar finally fully takes over again, I'd say this takes place relatively far in the future, so basically everyone in the close friend group knows about both Briar and Garvin's DID at this point. Though not far enough that they have kids yet. :)

Hopefully I wrote Aries okay, I honestly had no idea how to write the dialouge at the end :')

Also, also, I can't remember if I mentioned it yet, but Akira's nickname for Nico is Cherry Blossom

---

Rye's mind felt fuzzy, skin itching annoyingly. The fact that Aries wasn't around currently was only making things worse and they sped up their pace in hopes of reaching home faster.

Shit, why were they having such a hard time grounding? They couldn't remember the last time they'd felt this disconnected. Or the last time they'd fronted alone for this long, for that matter. It was all stranger. Not to mention they couldn't even recall what the fuck had triggered them to take control.

Briar, who was usually very vocal, even when on the inner world, was oddly quiet, leaving Rye with a sense of unease.

"Watch it, freak!"

They blinked in a mixture of confusion and surprise, wincing slightly after realizing they'd accidentally run into a passer-by. They were really fucking out of it, huh?

"Sorry."

Their voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, and Rye pushed on, trying vainly to focus more on their surroundings as they moved. Thank the gods the streets were mostly void of people in the early afternoon.

Even at their fast pace, it took them another fifteen minutes to get home, but once they did they didn't hesitate to push the door open, lungs burning with lack of oxygen.

"Aries?" Their voice sounded strained, even to their own ears, as they called out to their partner, hands shaking slightly. "Are you home?"

He was, right? He had to be. Because, for some stupid, goddamned reason, they couldn't seem to get their mind to work properly by themself right now. Honestly, their body was starting to fight them as well. That was hardly a good sign.

Still, no response came from inside and Rye's anxiety grew.

Without bothering to close the door, they darted inside, eyes skimming every room until there was none left.

Aries wasn't here. Why wasn't he here?

Breath catching, Rye stumbled, frantically searching their useless brain for any information. Any detail they may have forgotten. Any reason for Aries to be missing.

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

Dammit.

Their vision blurred with tears and panic, chest constricting, heart pounding, brain turning to mush.

No, no, no, no!

Where could he be?

Rye needed him! They needed Aries. They needed him now, they couldn't-

They couldn't do this alone!

A choked sob escaped Rye's throat and they blindly stumbled back towards the front door. Instinctively, they started walking in a familiar direction. The only direction that their stressed mind could provide as an option for where else Aries could possibly be.

They weren't sure how long it took then, for Rye to stumble onto the doorstep of their close friends. Nor were they aware of how many times they'd had to stop along the way, either to cower away from someone else approaching, to catch their breath, or to dig their nails deep into their skin to keep from collapsing in panic. But it didn't matter now. They'd made it. They really just hope Aries was here too.

Shakily, only half-aware of the red droplets falling down his wrists, Rye forced their hand up and knocked, stomach rolling at the idea of someone other than their partner opening the door.

It seemed like an eternity before they heard footsteps approaching and they swayed, unstable as the adrenaline began wearing off, leaving them light-headed, shaky, still heavily unaware of their surroundings, and extremely worn down and exhausted.

"Rosey?"

Rye's blood ran cold the second they processed that the voice was, in fact, not Aries, and, without really thinking, they took a step backwards, body finally seeming to give up as they muttered a quiet apology, quickly followed by a plea not to hurt them.

---

Nico smirked, watching Garvin and Aries bicker contentedly. It was honestly hard to believe the red-haired was the same person as when they'd first met, he looked so much happier and healthier now, joking easily with Garvin and obviously confident in his relationship with Briar.

But then, Nico could say the same about most, if not everyone in the little group that had formed since the start of the rebellion years ago. Nico herself had grown and changed, or so they liked to think. Sure, there were still hardships, but overall, everything seemed a lot more peaceful now.

A knock on the door dragged him out of their thoughts, and Nico jumped up quickly, shooting a quick grin at the others before turning toward the door.

"I got it!"

It wasn't until they reached the door that they paused. No one was really meant to stop by today, as far as they knew. Other than Aries, of course, who was already in the kitchen.

But then, Haila and Clio had a knack for showing up randomly, so it wouldn't be that surprising if one or both of them simply appeared. Maybe even Devery, which was less likely but still possible.

However, when they pulled open the door, the person in front of her was possibly one of the last people he'd expected that day.

"Rosey?"

Briar, in complete honesty, looked like absolute shit. Tears were streaming down their cheeks uncontrollably, their wrists were torn up, probably the result of scratching, and their skin looked paler than usual.

When Nico spoke, they stumbled back and tripped. Nico rushed forward, managing to catch Briar right before they hit their head.

"'M sorry... please, don'... don' h- hurt... me... I can't... I.. shit... 'm so- sorry..."

Nico felt their eyes widen, and shifted, pulling Briar closer to him as their eyes glazed over, unfocused. They continued to ramble apologies, one hand twitching and reaching up to yank at their hair, which Nico quickly interfered with, wincing at the panicked expression crossing Briar's face when he grabbed their wrist.

"It's okay, you're alright, just- Give me a second, I'm going to call out for help, okay? Just-"

He took a shaky breath and hoped that at least some of what she'd said was processed so that her yelling, by some miracle, didn't make things even worse.

"Guys, I need someone to help me! Quickly, please!"

To their credit, his voice wasn't nearly as broken as he'd have expected it to be, as it would have been a couple of years ago.

The response was almost immediate and Garvin, Akira, and Aries were all in the doorway in a matter of seconds. Ingall and Revan, no doubt just behind them.

"Pavo, wha-?"

As soon as the scene was processed, Aries pushed past the other two, who both shifted to let him through without protest, and rushed to Nico and Briar's side, kneeling down to gently take Briar from Nico's arms. Without a word, Nico complied, knowing well that, if it was one of her partners, he'd probably do the same.

He stood and took a few steps back, giving Briar room to breathe and Aries room to work. Akira approached and gently wrapped an arm over her shoulder, voice low as they spoke.

"They'll be fine, Blossom."

Nico leaned into their chest, watching nervously as Briar, looking very disoriented, reached up and clumsily brushed their hand over one of Aries' braids, which Nico recalled Aries mentioning Briar had done the night before. She smiled weakly and nodded.

"I know, it still worries me though."

Akira squeezed her shoulder gently. "I know."

---

For a moment, Rye’s confusion and anxiety only heightened as they were passed off, shifted gently into the arms of someone new, but the second they were able to process the red eyes and hair in front of them now, another voice joined their consciousness.

‘Aries!’

Rye blinked, trying to force themself to focus. Aries was good. That was who they'd been looking for, right?

Trying to find a way to ground, they lifted a hand and made an attempt at gently running their fingers through the ruby hair, smiling weakly at the softness of it. Not that they really managed much more than a shaky touch before their hand gave up and fell back to their side limply.

“A… Aries?”

“O… obviously, d-dumbass…”

“H… ey…!”

Rye weakly protested Briar's jab, barely catching the blink of confusion from Aries before his face seemed to light up in understanding.

“Hello, Rye. Hello, Briar.”

They grinned, everything becoming a little more clear as they were able to focus on the sound of Aries’ voice, soft and warm, tinted with worry that he tried (and failed) to cover up.

“H- hi! You're… pretty!”

“Thank you.” Aries smiled lightly and carefully reached over towards Rye’s wrist, stopping just before touching it, eyes scanning his partner's face. Rye smiled back tiredly, feeling Briar start attempting to take control again. Which was fine. They were safe now. Aries would protect them. “Can I touch your wrist? I just want to check your injury, is that okay?”

Their mind grew more and more fuzzy by the second, but it wasn't as scary this time, with Aries at their side and the knowledge that Briar, who had clearly calmed from earlier, was ready to take over. So, as Rye let themself slip back into the mind space, they offered one last smile.

“O- okay.”

—

Briar, frankly, had absolutely no idea what had happened to trigger Rye to the front. The last thing they remembered was walking toward Koler and H's place, and everything after that was simply… gone.

They hated the feeling. The confusion, the vague understanding that they were missing something, but the inability to figure any of it out. The best they could come up with was that something had been perceived as a physical threat, considering it was Rye who was pulled to the front.

But that was it. They had nothing else to go off of.

And now, they were laying on Nico's porch, held in Aries' arms, feeling physically exhausted and mentally confused and drained.

At the very least, they'd managed to regain control of the body relatively easily after Aries came into the picture. Thank god for that.

After a few minutes, they were helped to their feet, leaning slightly on Aries for support, and smiling sheepishly at Garvin, Nico, and Akira, who were all watching with various degrees of worry.

One of them, or maybe Revan or Ingall, must have gone to grab a first aid kit a while ago, considering the bandaging around their wrist.

“Hey.”

Nico smiled nervously. “How are you feeling?”

They shrugged. “Eh, not as bad as ya might think.”

Gravin chuckled at that and Akira offered a slight smirk.

“Well, you two are welcome to stay here tonight if you need to.” Nico stated, looking towards Aries, who dipped his head in thanks. “You should at least come in and rest for a bit.”

Briar simply hummed, honestly, they didn't care much where they ended up, so long as Aries was by their side. At this point, they just wanted to curl up in his arms and breathe in his scent because Aries was home. He was safety and comfort, and quite literally the only person that Briar knew Rye would seek out, that most of the system would seek out, even in a state where the first instinct was to hide away.

Because their relationship was built on trust and unconditional love. A common understanding that they could go to each other in times of need and wouldn't be put down because of it.

And for that, Briar would always be greatful.