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A monster. That's what they all called him. If not that, it would be hideous. Charming Gold was currently alone in the forest. He was busy crying into his arms, which were resting on his knees.
'Why? Why was he born so ugly?!' That's what he asked himself whenever he was here. He had once overheard his father and mother saying that his ugliness was a curse from the Gods. And thanks to the relentless bullying from the others, he was starting to think that was true.
Charming Gold lifted his head slightly and looked at his face in a puddle that had formed from the rain from earlier. His hideous, wrinkled, fleshy face. He wiped some of the tears away with his hand and sighed. His parents were right... he was a complete utter dis-
"Hey, you down there! You ok?" Charming Gold's thoughts were interrupted by a voice coming from... Well somewhere. Charming Gold looked up, and quickly got his answers.
Sitting on a tree branch that was quite big was another person, who appeared to be around his age, but due to the sun, it was hard to tell. Charming Gold silently hoped the person couldn't see his face thanks to the sun.
"Oh wait, hold on, you probably can't see properly." The person walked to the near end of the branch before surprising Charming Gold by jumping up off it and falling next to him. It's a miracle that he somehow didn't break his legs.
Charming Gold could now properly see the person now.
The person was indeed around Charming Gold's age. He had greyish skin, with orange and yellow markings underneath his eyes. Speaking of his eyes, he had black sclera with marmalade coloured eyes. His hair was white with black tips at the end, with a couple of strands naturally standing up.
As for clothes, he was wearing what Charming Gold guessed were robes that were WAY too big for him, although they were quite fancy. Perhaps he was royalty like him?
"Ooh that's gonna bite me in like, five years..." Charming Gold could hear him mumbling to himself, before turning to him. "Hey, there's the peacock I was looking for!" He held out his hand for a handshake. Slightly nervous, Charming Gold accepted the handshake.
Though he was definitely not expecting the person shaking his body, not just his hand with the handshake. "Absolutely charmed to meet you! Name's Serui!" The person, Serui, happily introduced himself, chuckling at the end.
"Um... Charming Gold..." He replied awkwardly as he let go of Serui's hand until the latter let go himself. Charming Gold's world was slightly spinning thanks to that handshake. It must've been one hell of an adrenaline rush.
Serui laughed again, then sat in the grass and pulled his knees to his chest. After his vision cleared, he focused back on Serui. "So, what's the prince of the Pikol Tribe doing him all alone?" Serui asked, giving him a wide friendly smile.
Charming Gold wasn't used to people being this nice to him. "Oh, um..." He didn't really know if he should tell him. Maybe it's for the best if he didn't. "I... I prefer not to say..." Charming Gold mumbled, looking away.
"Oh, that's fine! I understand if that's personal or something!" Serui reassured him, patting his shoulder gently. Then, Serui pulled something out of his robe's pocket. It was two somewhat huge red berries that resembled apples in a way.
"These are native to my own tribe. Want one?" Serui offered one of the berries to Charming Gold. Charming Gold was hesitant, but took it nonetheless. After a bit of hesitation, the peacock took a bite out of one of the fruit.
It tasted like sweet sugar with some hint of bitterness. "It's very good..." Charming Gold said, taking another bite. He was surprised to find that it actually made him feel better. He felt almost happy, in fact. Serui happily laughed. "I'm glad you think so!"
Charming Gold smiled at him warmly. He couldn't believe it! Someone was genuinely being nice to him! Though, there was some doubt in his mind. Why would Serui be genuinely nice to him out of the blue? There has to be an ulterior motive for it, right...?
After the both of them finished their berries, Charming Gold began to speak. "Serui? Can I ask you something?" Serui turned to him. "Of course!" He cheerfully replied, still having that big smile plastered on his face. "And don't worry about it if it's weird or anything! I'm open to questions!"
Charming Gold nodded gratefully towards him. "Well... I was just wondering... Why are you so nice to me?" The question made Serui's eyes widened slightly, then he relaxed again. "Why wouldn't I be nice to you? You're a lovely person afterall!" Serui said, smiling kindly at him.
"But- But don't you think I'm hideous...!? Or, or a monster...?! Or-" His sentence was cut off again, this time by Serui cupping his face. "Buddy, listen to me. Yes, we've only just met each other 10 or so minutes ago, but... I like you already."
Charming Gold stared at him in shock. "But... but my face..." "Psh, who care what you look like! Because I sure as hell don't!" Serui removed his hands from Charming Gold's face and hugged him. "And besides, I think you're pretty cute..." Serui quietly mumbled.
Charming Gold couldn't believe it. This guy is seriously the most kindhearted person he's ever known! Not even his own parents gave him this type of treatment! Charming Gold started tearing up again. This time, he felt safe and secure with Serui hugging him. He hugged Serui back and tried not to cry again, but those tears came gushing out like waterfalls.
"There there, let it all out." Serui reassured Charming Gold, patting his back as he cried. Though these weren't tears of sadness. Rather, these were tears of Charming Gold finally having a genuine friend. After a while, Charming Gold's crying became less frequent. His shoulders shook every few seconds, but it gradually died down. Charming Gold slowly calmed down and pulled out of the huh.
His eyes were still watery and still occasionally sniffled here and there. "Thank you..." He whispered softly, giving Serui another smile. "You have no idea how much that means to me." Serui nodded his head, smiling back at Charming Gold. "So, now that we've got that out of the way, want to go have some fun?"
Serui asked as he stood up. He brushed the dirt of his robe's and held out his hand for Charming Gold. He stared at Serui's hand for a second or two, before taking it. "Yeah... yeah I am!" Charming Gold replied happily as Serui pulled him up.
Serui giggled. "Good! Now come on! Let's go!" He exclaimed before running, still holding Charming Gold's hand, resulting in him getting slightly dragged by him. He didn't mind though. As the two ran, Charming Gold looked at Serui in front of him.
He knew that with Serui around, things would change for the good of it. Especially for Charming Gold. How come? Because after all this time...
He finally has a friend.