#monster love | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

twitterpated-passion · 3 months

Text

A Brutish Love | Monster Boyfriend

You never left your village much, you never saw the need to. When you did, it was to the same place to forage berries when they were in season in the Springtime. You had to be sneakier the past couple of years though, the elders warning people of an Orc tribe living nearby. They didn’t want anyone leaving and being caught without realizing it, just for the village to be raided or set ablaze, or both.

While you understood the concerns, you never saw the need to fear the fact that they were nearby, holding the thought process that everyone needed a place to live. Though, that was before you were caught.

^___________^___________^

The sun was setting, which meant that everyone was either indoors, getting ready to close their store or spending time getting the last bit of the late spring sun before retiring for the night. You, however, thought it was the perfect time to sneak out of your own cabin to go to the little spot that had an abundance of berries that you used to pick with your parents when you were young.

Your father was a baker, never let a single berry that went uneaten go to waste. And your mother was a seamstress, prided herself in her work and always reassured you that whatever you stained with the dripping berry juice, she’d either get the stain out or make you a new one. You missed them.

You grabbed your father’s old basket, lined it with your mother’s old towel for it and set off into the woods, keeping a lantern in your hand to light your way once the sun made its way out of sight and the moon lifted to show itself in the sky.

Every footstep sounded louder than you knew they were, your eyes rapidly darting back towards the village until it was out of sight and you found your way in the little area that was filled to the brim with berry bushes. You kneeled by one, setting your lantern down and picking them, letting them fall with a silent thump into your basket. When you picked enough from one bush, you moved to another, and then another, until your basket was full and your lantern was practically out, leaving the moonlight to guide you. But as you stood and dusted off your clothes, you heard heavy footsteps, and you tensed, rushing with your basket to a tree, trying to hide behind it.

You heard a voice before you were able to fully hide, though. “I know you’re there.”

Your heart raced, pounding against your chest as you heard the deep, raspy voice. And it wasn’t as if you were able to hide, so you peeked out around the tree, eyes widening when they had to snap up to look at the Orc fully.

He was looking down at you with a tilted head, an eyebrow cocked. He didn’t look too thrilled, but he didn’t look angry either, an unreadable expression masking what he was really feeling. “Don’t you humans normally stay in past sunset?”

“Most of us,” you answered, though your voice was barely audible in the quiet night air. He seemed to have caught what you said though and a little glimpse of a smile appeared on his lips.

“Not you though?” You shook your head, but shrugged. His eyes darted down to the basket and then around at the berry bushes surrounding the two of you. “Do you normally pick berries when the moon is out?”

“No,” you responded. “Do you?”

“No,” he said back, that glimpse turning into a real smile as he side-stepped over to a tree, leaning against the rough bark of it.

You saw one of his hands move his long braid over his shoulder, letting it rest against him as the rest of his muscular, yet severely scarred body stayed still. When you looked back up at his face, you noticed that his right tusk was chipped, missing the pointed tip like the one on the left has. You didn’t ask about it, you thought better not to, especially since you didn’t even know his name, but it looked like he’s been through a lot.

“Didn’t someone teach you that it was rude to stare? Especially at something much bigger than you?” He grinned. He was teasing, that much was obvious, but the words of your village’s elders rang in your mind and you moved back towards the tree you were hiding behind before. He let out a small snort, eyes looking you up and down before he rolled his eyes and pushed off of the tree. “Relax.”

“Hard to do for me…in general really…” you said, and you almost cringed at how pathetic that sounded. His brows knitted together, but you shook your head and looked back towards where you came from. “I should be getting home before it gets to be too late-”

“Already? We just started talking,” he said, not fully cutting you off, yet not letting you trail off the way you were going to do. His grin grew and he took a step closer to you. “Don’t tell me I scare you.”

“You don’t,” you said. Half-truth. The fact that he could crush your skull with your hands scared you. Him just standing there didn’t. “It’s just…late.”

“Not late enough for you to forage though?” He asked, lips pursed the best they could be with his tusks. “You can just admit it, wouldn’t be the first time my race has scared yours. You probably have people telling you to lock your doors, hide or else the big, bad Orcs are gonna come get you or raid your town.”

He wasn’t wrong, you thought to yourself, but he did sound awfully bitter. “Does that happen often to you…?”

“More than your people cause wars, which says a lot, doesn’t it?” You couldn’t argue, nor did you really see the need to. Humans didn’t really have a good reputation to anyone…even to other humans. You only shrugged, giving him an apologetic look.

His gaze softened and he shook his head, huffing out a sigh, saying after a beat of silence, “I’m Cortek.”

Your eyebrows lifted and with a nod, you said your own name, corners of your mouth curling up ever-so-slightly. “What’re you doing out here, Cortek?”

He shrugged. “I like walking during the night.”

You nodded, humming quietly. You breathed out, pursing your lips and looking down to the basket in your hands. “Why are you foraging when it’s dark out?”

You paused, briefly questioning if you wanted to tell him the truth or not. You decided to anyway. “My village really isn’t the biggest on leaving or being out past sunset.”

“Why’s that?” he asked. Your eyes moved back up to him and he seemed to understand shortly after. “Ah. Right, my tribe’s close, isn’t it?”

You nodded again, offering him an apologetic glance. “Yea…the elders aren’t really…welcoming to anyone other than humans being near us…even Elves…and Dwarves…or others…”

Sighing, you stepped closer to him. “I think they’re talking bogus though, a lot of people my age do, but we can’t speak out against them without being reprimanded…so it’s easier to listen or to sneak around.”

You watched as his lips turned up a little and you were a little grateful that you were able to cheer him up a slight bit. “It’s like that in my tribe with the chief. Though you might end up with your head on a spear if you fight against the chief.”

“Remind me not to get on their bad side then,” you jested, hearing him breathe out a laugh before shaking his head and fixing the tunic that sat loosely on his body, covering the scars on his chest that you got a glimpse of earlier.

Looking back down at the berries, you clucked before getting an idea, tilting your head back up to meet his eyes. “Come back here tomorrow…same spot. Around the same time.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What for?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see, I suppose,” you said, smiling before lifting your hand with a little wave, turning on your heel and walking off. “Same spot, same time, Cortek.”

“Yea yea,” you heard him say as you walked away, a silent laugh shaking your shoulders.

^___________^___________^

The sun was high and there you were, standing in your kitchen, in the comfiest clothes you could manage, a couple candle’s lighting up the area despite the light coming from them not being needed as you worked on making a simple pastry dough, reading over your father’s messy handwriting on the small card he scribbled the recipe on. The basket of berries were sitting off to the side on your counter, waiting to be turned into a jam so you could put them with the dough, watching you and probably judging you for working so hard just to bring a few with you that night when you saw Cortek again.

It wasn’t as if you were meaning to impress him…simply offering a few of them as a peace treaty. You didn’t have many friends in the village and if this was your one chance you had, you were taking it. You wanted to know more about him, maybe where he got his scars if he was up to sharing, but you weren’t exactly sure how he’d react if you just asked, you planned that question for another night if a friendship actually blossomed. Maybe then it’d also show the village that the Orcs aren’t bad. That there was nothing to be afraid of, even if they were intimidating appearance wise.

And once you got the dough in a muffin tin and in the oven, you began working on the jam, grabbing the recipe card for that out from under the dough card.

^___________^___________^

Nighttime came faster than you were expecting it, and without bothering to change into anything nicer, you wrapped up a few tarts and put them in one of the picnic baskets you had. Then, after making sure everything was clear and no one else was out, you rushed out of the village, heading back to the berry bushes.

When you slowed yourself down as you neared the area, you saw that Cortek was already there, waiting for you. His head picked up when he saw you and he flashed a little smile, wearing an outfit similar to what he was wearing the day prior: a loose tunic and loose, black pants, much like what you saw the knights wear when you visited the city years ago, being lucky enough to get a glimpse of a few of them outside of their armor. “You’re early.”

“Or are you late?” He responded, but his smile grew and it let you know that it was just a tease. His eyes glanced down at the basket in your hands, then around at the berry bushes. “Come to take the rest of the berries?”

You shook your head. “No, I made some tarts today, wanted to share them.”

He visibly froze, brows furrowing before his eyes moved to yours and the deep brown softened under the moonlight. “You don’t have to.”

“I want to,” you said, lifting the basket and walking up to him, only to guide the both of you on the ground, putting the basket between you two and opening it before handing him a small plate of tarts, and pulling out your own plate. You spoke after a moment, “My father used to bake these and share them around in the village. I’m not sure they’re as good as his, but…I tried my best.”

“Used to?” He asked. Your eyes got slightly wet and you pulled in a breath as your smile faltered.

“My parents went to the city one day. When they were supposed to come home a storm hit…and they never arrived,” you explained, not wanting to go into much more detail than you have already. You didn’t like talking about it, even after five years.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, pulling back the wrap over the plate. You shook your head.

“It’s fine…it happened years ago…the least I can do is keep their memories alive. Through tarts or something like it.” You just barely missed as his gaze softened further and he looked down at the tarts before back up to you. “They weren’t like the elders. I’m sure that if they could’ve afforded to move, we would’ve gone to a more inclusive town…”

“If it means anything, I’m glad they didn’t,” he said after a beat. “If they did, I wouldn’t have had you coming here with tarts.”

You breathed out a little laugh and nodded. “Yea…you have a point there.”

The air between the two of you went silent, and you watched him as he grabbed one of the tarts and took a bite out of it, waiting for his reaction, hoping you didn’t just disappoint your father for making them bad. Not that your father was ever disappointed in you, it was never in his nature.

Cortek caught your gaze when he was done chewing, a little smile upturning his lips before he nodded a little. “It’s good.”

Your shoulders slumped in relief and you were able to smile again, letting it grow when you finally noticed just how small the tart was compared to his hand, but he didn’t comment on it, so you weren’t going to. “Good- it was my first time making these after everything so I was a little nervous.”

“You shouldn’t be,” he said, taking another bite before eating the rest of it. You felt proud, even though you just followed a couple recipe cards correctly and they turned out how they were supposed to. But you were taking a win no matter where it came from.

The two of you spent a bit in silence, eating without feeling the need to talk until the tarts were done and the plates were back in the basket. You were sitting at the same distance from before, a little more than a foot apart, but you felt the need to get closer to him, and when you saw that his hair wasn’t in the braid that it was the day before, you took that chance and scooted closer to him a little bit. “Your hair isn’t in a braid tonight.”

Cortek paused for a beat, but lifted his hand and touched his hair, nodding with a small glance towards you. “Yea, why?”

You parted your lips, but after being able to think about it, you thought it was a bit weird to ask him if you could braid his hair so close from meeting him, so you shrugged instead. “Nothing…just like pointing out the obvious, I guess.”

He smiled a little, his hand dropping from his hair and nudging your arm. He didn’t say anything else, but the silence that returned was comfortable and the two of you spent the rest of the night under the moonlight and in the soft breeze that touched the night air.

^___________^___________^

As Spring turned to Summer, you grew more comfortable with leaving the village since your parents died, even going as far as to sneak out during the day to meet up with Cortek. You met his twin sister, Aloka a month ago, almost instantly getting her approval when he made a quip about her and you socked him in the arm, not that it did anything to a man that was two or three times bigger than you.

You considered him a genuine friend, the first one you’ve had in years, which, as sad as it sounded, it was true. You never realized that you didn’t have a real friend until you were truly alone in the world, and it was like that for a good long time.

You stood beside a lake Cortek had shown you soon after you emptied the bushes of their berries, forcing him to take most of them and bring back to his tribe, whether it was to eat or bake with. In return, and with a joke about how he didn’t want to see your massacre of the berry bushes anymore, so he showed you the lake that sat nearby, one that you didn’t even realize existed since your town used a river that must connect to the lake.

It only took ten minutes of waiting and distracting yourself with skipping rocks, for Cortek to arrive, wearing an open tunic that only really covered his arms and bottom torso with a visibly worn set of bottoms with a pair of boots. His hair was up in a low pony, and he grinned when he spotted you, scooping you up in his arms before squeezing you and setting you down to turn you to face him. “You’re early, Honey.”

Your cheeks warmed at the pet name, something he randomly decided to call you after learning that you put honey on most of your baked goods. You liked it nonetheless. “You’re just late, ‘Tek.”

He scoffed, waving his hand in the air. “Sure, sure, whatever you want to call it. I just know that you’re always painfully early and that you wait for me to arrive.”

You hummed, nodding along even though he was clearly talking out of his ass. “Or maybe you’re late.”

“I guess we’ll never know,” he said, smiling again before he sat down on the grass, helping you sit beside him. “Alo’ wants to see you again, and she also said that she wants you to make those orange cookies again.”

You breathed out a laugh. “She’s eating me out of house and home and she doesn’t even live with me,” you said.

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around his legs and tugging them so they’re flush with his chest, looking less like the warrior you were intimidated by in the beginning and more like a big, domestic puppy. “Eh, she’s just like that. It took her years to even eat something sweet. It’s a miracle she’s so attached to your baking.”

Your eyes softened and you smiled, a little thing, but it wasn’t like you could visibly portray how your heart felt at that moment. “I’ll make sure to bake some for her.”

Cortek smiled back at you and nodded, moving an arm before he tugged you against his body. You leaned against him, your eyes shutting and your heart skipping every so often. The moment felt so utterly-

Someone yelling your name snapped you out of your thoughts and your head snapped back, eyes meeting one of your neighbors looking at you with eyes the size of saucers, her gaze going between you and Cortek. The both of you stood and you pulled him behind you, even if he was the bigger one. “What are you doing?!”

You almost flinched at the shrill and she turned to run back to the village before you could answer. You wanted to chase after her, but you already knew that you were done for…the elders would find out and you’d be a goner even if you happened to catch her. So you sided and you looked up at Cortek, your expression now bittersweet as he rubbed your shoulders, moving to hold your arms. “You alright?”

“Not really,” you admitted. “I’m going to be in big trouble.”

“Do you want me to come with?” he asked. “...I don’t think anyone would let me go into your village, but I’d be right outside of it.”

You shook your head, even though you wished you could’ve agreed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, ‘Tek. Just…stay here, I’ll come back as soon as I can, alright? If it gets too late, go home and we’ll meet tomorrow.”

He gave you a look, but you patted his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

With that, you pulled from his grasp, and made the trek home, only to find the Elders at your house, waiting for you to arrive. Your heart sunk further and you didn’t start to talk until you let yourself in and then let them come in, all five piling in your small cottage. You parted your lips to start trying to explain yourself, but you were cut off shortly after you began to utter your first word.

“We told you- everyone to not leave the village. We said that there were Orcs nearby and we wanted to protect our village. And what do you do?” The leader -a short man lacking most of his all white hair- said. “You go off and spend time with an Orc! Are you trying to get our village raided? Destroyed?”

“That’s not what I was trying to do-”

“Then what were you trying to do?” He asked, cutting you off.

You stood there in silence for a beat, your lips pursing before you sighed and said, “The Orcs are nice, they don’t mean anyone harm.”

“They’re Orcs, they raid and they steal and they fight, that’s their culture. You’re putting yourself at risk, you’re putting everyone at risk,” he said, the other elders nodding in agreement. “Think of how your parents would feel about this? About you putting us all in danger.”

Your body tensed, your eyes widening and your lips parting before closing a few times. You wished you didn’t say no to Cortek coming along. “My parents wouldn’t discriminate over an entire race because you guys think that they’re dangerous. They could be, but how many wars have we started with the Elves? How many wars have our race started because we didn’t like people being different from us?”

You looked around, you saw the memories that were made there, and you knew that your parents wouldn’t want you to stick around if it meant that you weren’t going to be happy. When you looked back at the elders, who were still gawking at you for your little monologue, you took a breath. “I’m done. I’ll be gone by tonight. Don’t worry about me putting your little port of power in danger.”

Walking to the door, you opened it, motioning towards the outside. “Please leave. I need to pack.”

Some of the elders looked at you like you had two heads, but despite the lecture and disciplinary methods the leader clearly had planned for you, he looked at you solemnly and nodded, leading everyone out of the cottage and shutting the door behind him when he walked out. You were quick to start packing after that, finding what bags you were able to carry yourself and filling one with clothes. You stashed what books you could and emptied out the picture frames before pressing the photos in the books.

You brought one bag down and packed your father’s recipe cards and your mother’s towels and forced yourself to ignore the baskets that belonged to your parents, knowing that you couldn’t bring them with you no matter how much you wanted to. After that, you just focused on the necessities, filling the rest of the second bag with it, and managing to fill a third bag with memories you were afraid to let go, journals you had yet to finish.

It took you a long time to gather the courage to grab the bags and leave. You weighed that it was so much easier to stay than it was to leave, but yet you did. You grabbed your bags, and with a tearful look back at the house that you thought you’d be in forever, you left.

You walked back into the forest, your legs moving slower with the added weight of the bags and the emotions flooding your body, but you make it back to the lake, only to see Cortek pacing. He didn’t seem to notice you until you were almost beside him, his eyes lighting up, before his expression fell when he saw that you had bags with you. “...They didn’t.”

“They didn’t,” you confirmed. “...I did. It didn’t feel right staying in the village.”

He moved to you, grabbing two of the bags from you and carrying them like the weight meant nothing to him. “What’re you doing?”

“Carrying your bags, you’re coming with me,” he said simply, moving one of the bags to the other hand and holding them in one hand so his free one could grab yours. “I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I let you be homeless. I have some space in my hut back at the tribe.”

“You sure? Wouldn’t people react weirdly to you bringing me back?”

“Maybe some, but Aloka is pretty close to the chief and his partner so you’re staying no matter who complains,” he said, and you felt relief fill your heart, nodding.

“Remind me to make her those orange cookies,” you said, a little smile touching your lips despite the situation. He laughed, nodding and leading you to his tribe.

^___________^___________^

Summer turned to Fall and Fall eventually turned to Winter, you grew more at home in Cortek’s tribe than you did the past five years you lived alone in your old village. You essentially became the tribe’s baker, and while you were put together externally, you were internally freaking out, using and abusing your father’s recipe cards to make enough for everyone and then some. But it wasn’t that bad, you got a warm place to live, food, and you didn’t even have to do anything hard, since everyone else treated you like you’d break if you ever lifted an ax to get some firewood.

There was just one, little thing that left you reeling: you were hopeless with your newly gained feelings for Cortek. There was a reason that you always wanted to spend time with him, and gods did you figure out really fast that it wasn’t because you wanted to be good friends with him. Not that you ever complained about staying friends. You were happy being with him no matter what your relationship with him was.

You pulled a cardigan over your body, holding it tightly against your body as you braced yourself and went outside, your feet stepping onto the fortunate light feathering of snow that laid on the ground. You scrunched your nose at the sudden onslaught of cold and you squinted to keep walking, hating yourself for going outside already. You found Cortek outside of the little tavern hut the tribe made when they must’ve settled here. He was talking with a few other Orcs, all of which waved and gave you little smiles before he turned to look down at you, brows furrowing when he saw you in just a cardigan over your clothes. He walked over to you and met you halfway, tipping your head up as he leaned down a little. “Why’re you only wearing that?”

“I don’t have a coat,” you said. “I didn’t go out often when I lived alone.”

He sighed, giving you a concerned glance before he unclipped the fur that rested over his shoulders and put it on you, the cloak warming you instantly, but being a little long for your body. “Wear this then, I have another one in the house.”

“What about you now though?”

“Orcs don’t get that cold,” he explained. “Thicker skin. What’d you need?”

“We’re gonna run outta firewood soon,” you said, pulling the heavy cloak closer to your body. “We only have a few pieces left.”

With a nod, he pulled the hood over your head and stood straight. “Just toss the rest in the pit, I’ll bring some when I get home, you should go back inside, you look like you’re about to turn to ice.”

“Feels like it,” you admitted, but grasped his hand to squeeze it before you went back to the hut and let him return to his chat with his friends.

You tossed the rest of the wood into the fireplace, keeping the cloak on as you settled on one of the large chairs that sat in the little living space just off of the kitchen. It didn’t take long to warm up, but being surrounded by what was essentially a big blanket made you doze off quickly, and you weren’t in the mood to get up to go to your room.

You woke up when the door opened and heavy footsteps followed, eyes cracking open to look up at Cortek as he walked in. He set the firewood down against the wall and glanced over at you, an amused smile on his face when he saw your tired gaze. “Comfortable?”

You hummed, nodding. “Very.”

He chuckled a little and walked over to you before pushing the hood down. “We could get it hemmed for you, if you like it so much.”

“You don’t have to,” you said, but you’ve learned not to fight with him about doing things for you.

“We’re getting it hemmed,” he replied, and that was the end of that. He sat on the other chair in the room, a loud grunt leaving him as he relaxed and leaned into the chair further. There was a beat of silence, but he broke it after a moment, “It’s been nice.”

“What?”

“Having someone else in the house with me…” Your eyes met again and he shrugged. “I’m not the best at being alone.”

Your brows knit together, but you nodded with a little smile. “For all things considered you’re a good roommate, ‘Tek.”

He smiled back. “I try.”

You knew he didn’t have to. As you looked at him, you watched him turn to look up at the ceiling before his eyes shut and you slowly unclipped the cloak off of you, leaving it on the chair as you got off and walked over to him, feeling awkward, not exactly knowing why you were doing what you were doing. “Cortek?”

He cracked his eyes open, jumping a little when you were so much closer than he thought you were. “Gods, Honey, you got close.”

Your face grew warm and you gave him a nervous glance, smile included. “I need to talk to you.”

Concern grew on his face again, and he sat up, nodding. “What about?”

“...Us…I guess? I don’t know…I don’t exactly know what to say.” You bit your lip, took a breath and gave yourself a little nod. “Deny me all you want…no hard feelings or anything, I just…uh- these past couple months I’ve wanted to be more than friends…”

Cortek’s eyes widened a little, and you already regretted saying something about it, but he drew you closer and kissed your forehead, holding your hand and squeezing it. “Aloka owes me five gold.”

“What?” you asked suddenly, only for your own eyes to widen and you slapped his arm. “You knew?!”

“‘Course I did, you’re not exactly subtle. Not like I don’t feel the same anyway, Alo’ just wanted to see if you’d confess or if I would have to. And you did it first so we’re five gold richer.” You narrowed your eyes at him, groaning before pulling your hand away from his.

“You’re ridiculous, Cortek.” He laughed, grasping your arm and tugging you back into him, lifting you so you would sit on his thigh. “You bet on this? Why didn’t you just confess?”

“I was curious to see if you’d last the winter,” he mumbled, planting a kiss on your temple, his tusks pressing against your head. He smiled down at you, and you couldn’t help the smile that came with the sight of his.

You shook your head and leaned into him, pressing your lips against his for a brief moment and tucking your body into his as his arms slipped around your waist. You were wondering why you even thought that the confession would’ve gone poorly, even if he did bet with his sister about it.

And hey, you might’ve gone through an emotional rollercoaster because this man was in your life, but you had him for good now, and you didn’t plan on letting him go.

527 notes · View notes