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alex-dontknow · 1 year

Text

Soft Care.

Characters: Tabi (FnF: EX Boyfriend) and Gender-Neutral Reader.

Story type: Hurt/comfort —> Fluff

Relationship: can be seen as platonic or romantic.

Author's note: this was originally written as a romantic x Reader, but adjustments have been made to make it more versatile. The original is up on Ao3 under the same name.

@taterswithranch

"Any idea what ya want for dinner?" you called from the kitchen as you sorted plates and glasses into each respective cabinet. You winced as a plate made a particularly loud clang before adding, "I can order in if you'd like!"

"I do not care," Tabi's voice replied from the living room, just audible over the noise of you stacking dishes, "get whatever. I'm not fussy."

After tidying the last of the dishes into the cupboards, you went directly to the lounge to hopefully strike a conversation with the skull-headed man sat on your couch. He was sat back against the cushions with his arms folded, staring down at his lap with a deadpan expression. You internally sighed.

It was only a day after Tabi moved in with you. You has spent months to gain his trust after finding him battered and broken in an alleyway, freshly stripped of his career and body. The image of him shaking with tears and wrapped in that dusty, dirty blanket tugged at your heartstrings, and you never wanted to see him like that again.

Your friendship was rocky, but quite close. Tabi was tolerant of your gags and affection, but always pushed you off of him whenever you got a little too touchy. You respected that of course, considering what he had went through. When you finally offered for him to officially move in with you instead of bouncing across motels, he was understandably quite suspicious.

However, after you promised and swore up and down that you genuinely wanted him with you for the sake of giving him a home (it surprisingly took much less persuasion than anticipated,) he accepted!! You could even see his golden eyes glow a slight pinkish hue. The sight of his eyes gleaming with happiness and tears would always make you smile every time you remembered that heartfelt memory... although it was only yesterday.

Returning to the present, you casually dropped down onto the couch next to him, crossing your legs and leaning back onto the cushions. You looked down at the ex-musician next to you and go to place your hand on his shoulder. Unfortunately he saw your hand and flinched away, frowning a little. You also frowned, but in confusion.

"I just–" Tabi spoke up gruffly, relaxing again, "... don't really like to be touched anymore."

"Why not?" You asked gently, sitting up to look at Tabi in the eye. He shifted uncomfortably, tugging his hoodie zipper as he replied, shrugging.

"I never did after the uh..." his voice faltered.

"... that night."

Your heart sank. It was understandable in the long run that Tabi wouldn't like to get affectionate or super-close with anyone, especially in light of what that family had done to him. The Dearests. Simply hearing the name aloud or in your own head made your blood boil. How dare they do this to such a kind individual?

"I get that," you replied. Tabi only blinked at your response, averting his gaze slightly. Suddenly you get an idea– a somewhat risky one at that, but you hoped it would be worthwhile.

Slowly, you inched your hand towards Tabi's face. The skull-headed man instantly went to move away, but you interrupted him.

"Please, stay still... just trust me." You flashed him a gentle, reassuring smile as you moved closer and closer to the side of his skull.

Tabi squeezed his eyes shut in fearful anticipation, you could see the skull tremble ever so slightly as your hand drew nearer until it lightly cupped the side of his face. He squeaked a little once he felt your warm palm against his cheek, your thumb gently stroking the bone underneath his eyes.

"I'm not trying to do anything extreme or hurtful, Tabi," you reassured him, "I only wanted to try something."

Tabi sat there, processing the sensation on his left cheek for a solid ten seconds. You were unsure what he would do in response. Would he stay there, or would he push you away again and leave?

But, as luck would have it, the former occurred. Tabi actually leaned into your palm, the cold side of his nose resting against the heel of your thumb as he closed his eyes. His entire expression was so soft, much unlike the Tabi you talked to shy of one minute ago. You could feel his warm breath against your palm, making you smile as a sense of accomplishment bubbled up inside of you.

"I told'ya it would feel nice," you said quietly, chuckling softly as you watched a light amount of blush dust his cheeks as he melted into your hand.

Perhaps you both stayed like that for a minute, maybe two, but a quiet sniffle snapped you back into reality. Tabi's eyes were looking back up at you, brimming and sparkling with tears. His hand shakily rose upwards to hold your wrist, keeping your hand in place.

"... I, uh..." his voice was soft, trembling and cracking from holding in the tears, "... I-I didn't realize how much I needed this..."

Sympathy swelled inside your chest as you embraced the ex-musician, wrapping your arms around his torso and pulling him close to your chest. He shivered considerably at the sudden rush of feeling all over his body, but sunk into your arms and wrapped his own around your torso. Considering you were at least five inches taller than the skull man, hugging him was no difficult chore. You even felt triumphant that he allowed you to embrace him like this.

You rubbed tender circles into Tabi's back as you heard him begin to weep into your chest, quiet but pitiful sobs muffled by your shirt. No doubt the tears would stain the fabric, but that was the least of your concerns. All you cared about in the moment was making sure he felt safe, comforted and trusted. You didn't expect Tabi to be so starved of affection.

Starved of love.

Starved of... touch.

"... Listen to me, Tabi..." you spoke gently, lifting the ex-musician's face up with your hands and cupping both of his cheeks. "I promise, I swear that I will always stay with you. I want you to know that I will never repeat history. I will never do what she did. I love you, Tabi, and I will never let you get hurt like that ever again."

Tabi whimpered softly, his response coming out as a whisper.

"... Promise...?"

You nodded. "Promise."

Something repeatedly slapped into your thigh, prompting you to look down in curiosity. You exhaled in pleasant surprise as you saw a small, soft tail the same colour as his skull wag gently against your leg. Suppressing a wholesome squeal, you grinned and looked down at the short man in your arms.

"Several months of getting to know ya," you remarked playfully, "and I never knew you had a tail."

Tabi made a quiet noise and hugged you tighter, "Didn't feel it was necessary to tell."

You chuckled. "What urged the change of heart, then?"

"... trust you, now ... and you like it..."

"You're right," you smile and pat the back of his head gently, "I love it."

The little tail wagged even more at those last three words as Tabi made a happy squeak, cuddling into your chest. You giggled and gave him a gentle headpat.

An idea suddenly arose in your head.

"Hey, hear me out on this..."

You never anticipated that a vast majority of the snacks and fizzy sodas in the kitchen would be pulled out for one single night. However, in light of your current circumstances, you could not care less as you held Tabi close and watched the corny series play out on the TV. You both had already burnt through a two-litre bottle of cola and a shared bag of Doritos, but you were both warm and happy as you laid there on the couch, draped in a cozy blanket.

You briefly glanced down at Tabi, noticing how his eyes glowed a more vibrant pinkish hue. The man now laid in your arms, his skull nestled against the crook of your neck.

"Were your eyes always that pink?" you asked playfully, watching Tabi freeze up. He made an irritated grumble as he buried himself into your chest, pulling the blanket up further over his shoulders.

" N-No ..."

You giggled and lifted his face up, pressing a gentle, tender kiss to his forehead. Despite the blanket weighing it down, you could see his little tail begin to wag in happiness again.

"... Y/N...?"

"Hm..?"

"... I don't want this moment to end..."

"Neither do I, Tabi..."

"... please don't leave me..."

Those last few words made you feel incredible sympathy as Tabi's arms tightened around you, hearing him whine quietly. You reached a hand up to stroke the back of his head in smooth motions, whispering reassuring words into his ear.

"I'm not gonna leave ya, Tabs. I promise."

Both your words and the comforting strokes of your hand elicited a short, soft sound similar to a cat's purr from the ex-musician's throat as he snuggled into your chest, practically clinging to you like a baby koala. You chuckled and headpatted him even more, kissing his forehead once again. His tail wagged even harder, much to your delight.

"... I love you..." you heard him mumble. Smiling, you hold him close and give one last kiss on the forehead as you feel him slowly drift off to sleep against your neck, his breaths soft against your collar.

"Love ya too, Tabs."

#fnf #friday night funkin #fnf tabi #referenced dearests #hurt/comfort #fluff #emotional hurt #fluffy ending #platonic or romantic you choose #i love him <33 #tabi x reader #trauma #recovering character #touch starved #touch starved whumpee #emotional whump

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