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lovelyney · 1 year

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─────DATING THEM !! INAZUMA GUYS──────

CHARACTERS: ayato, gorou, heizou, itto, kazuha, thoma.

SCENT: headcanons

WARNINGS: hickeys (gorou, heizou, kazuha) and making out (heizou.)

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯2022 !! #©LOVELYNEY

꒱₊˚ 𝐀𝐘𝐀𝐓𝐎 !! 𝐏𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐄

𖠵𝟎𝟏: I like to think Ayato is a combination of a gentleman and a sadist.

𖠵𝟎𝟐: On one hand, he likes to see you struggle and plays with you (harmlessly) because he finds it cute and entertaining.

𖠵𝟎𝟑: And on the other, given the nature of being the head of the Kamisato Clan and taking care of Ayaka, he’s also incredibly warm and gentle.

𖠵𝟎𝟒: Before you two started dating, Ayaka would always tease him about marrying you.

𖠵𝟎𝟓: He wanted to keep your relationship a secret from the public to save you from any nasty rumors. However, one day while you two were simply taking a walk together (you weren’t holding hands or anything), someone tried to whisper something behind your back sneakily, and Ayato had it with them and just kissed you right then and there to prove them wrong.

𖠵𝟎𝟔: He’s quite territorial and does not like sharing you.

𖠵𝟎𝟕: It’s hard to decipher the next you’ll see him with how hectic his schedule is.

𖠵𝟎𝟖: “(My) darling,” “(my) love,” and “honey.”

❝Darling, are you home? I know I said I wasn’t scheduled to return til’ next week, but I already feel so bad leaving you alone for such a prolonged period. So, I’m going to work harder and faster to return to you sooner. It really is the least I can do, my love.❞

𖠵𝟎𝟗: He always asks Thoma to look over you for him ;; the ginger, of course, doesn’t mind (:

𖠵𝟏𝟎: Whenever he’s away for long, he’ll write you long letters on how he’s doing and how much he misses you.

𖠵𝟏𝟏: If he sees something that reminds him of you, expensive or not, he’ll get it for you in a second.

𖠵𝟏𝟐: Decided he was going to marry you the second he saw you.

𖠵𝟏𝟑: He is perfect husband material, y’all.

𖠵𝟏𝟒: Really wants to start a family with you ‹//333 He’s waiting for work to settle down before consulting with you.

𖠵𝟏𝟓: Whenever you two get into arguments, you’ll always spend extra time with Ayaka and not even spare him a glance.

𖠵𝟏𝟔: Ayaka is very excited for you to marry him, by the way !! She couldn’t be happier that you’re the one taking care of her dear brother. Expect to go wedding shopping with her when the time comes.

𖠵𝟏𝟕: Given your relationship with him, people know not to bug you, but some people purposefully do so just to grab his attention.

𖠵𝟏𝟖: Ayato is a very pretty man which means there’s lots of stares. If you ever doubt yourself or his love, expect a very long and heated make-out session.

𖠵𝟏𝟗: He’s a very loving and passionate man both in bed and out of it !! He’s very domestic when it comes to romance, pushing aside his sadistic tendencies, BAHJSJ.

𖠵𝟐𝟎: Escorts you anywhere and everywhere in public.

𖠵𝟐𝟏: Surprisingly clingy and pouty when you aren’t giving him enough attention, LMAO.

꒱₊˚ 𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐔 !! 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐑

𖠵𝟎𝟏: The goodest of good boys !!

𖠵𝟎𝟐: Initially (and kinda still is) was incredibly shy and awkward.

𖠵𝟎𝟑: Besides that, he’s very considerate and loving !! He makes sure to look after you whenever he can.

𖠵𝟎𝟒: You are the only person who’s privileged to pet his ears and tail !! But be careful; he can and will revoke your privileges if you abuse them !!

𖠵𝟎𝟓: Please save this poor boy from Yae Miko’s teasing ‹//333

𖠵𝟎𝟔: (↑) You can confirm that he does like to hug his tail when he’s sleeping, though !!

𖠵𝟎𝟕: He keeps his and your relationship usually to himself unless directly asked about it. He isn’t ashamed or anything; he just doesn’t want the soldiers to know that he’s a cuddle bug at home; LOOOL.

𖠵𝟎𝟖: “Lovebug,” “honey/hon,” and “sweetheart.”

❝Welcome home, lovebug! You’re home later than usual; did something happen? Why do you look so upset? Ah. . . Just a worrisome day, huh? Do-Do you want me to draw you a bath? Y-You look like you could benefit from some relaxation. . . A-And I can join you if y-you’d like. . .?❞

𖠵𝟎𝟗: If you have a pet and give it more attention than him, he will pout. How dare you pet something that’s not him ??

𖠵𝟏𝟎: Tries his best not to get jealous because he trusts you. However, if he sees someone getting too close, he’ll hug you from behind and stare down the opposing person.

𖠵𝟏𝟏: One of his favorite cuddling positions is when he’s resting on top of you. You’re the best mattress he can ask for ‹333

𖠵𝟏𝟐: Has a nose of steel so you can’t go hiding any injuries from him !! Expect to be scolded if you try.

𖠵𝟏𝟑: If you two are out training together, he’ll always be sure to keep an eye on you to ensure you’re holding up okay.

𖠵𝟏𝟒: Isn’t the greatest with words, but his arms are always open to you if need the additional comfort. (:

𖠵𝟏𝟓: Probably isn’t as innocent as people make him out to be.

𖠵𝟏𝟔: A biter !! One of his favorite things to do is leave love bites down your collarbone. His teeth are also pretty sharp, so they leave a hell of a mark.

𖠵𝟏𝟕: If he wants your attention, he will get it. Sometimes, he’ll sit in your lap and nuzzle his nose against your neck or start sloppily kissing it to gain your attention.

𖠵𝟏𝟖: He’s completely smitten by you ‹33 You are the love of his life without a doubt.

𖠵𝟏𝟗: Talks about you with so much love that it’s incredibly obvious how obsessed he is.

𖠵𝟐𝟎: His ears always perk/twitch at the mention of your name.

𖠵𝟐𝟏: He hates leaving you so early in the morning or late in the night whenever he has night watches ): Expect to be sleeping in the days he isn’t working.

𖠵𝟐𝟐: Seeing you in your uniform for the first time had his tail wagging like a madman, LMAO.

𖠵𝟐𝟑: Loves seeing you absolutely kick ass, LMAO. He thinks you’re the coolest and hottest person ever whenever you beat someone tf up.

꒱₊˚ 𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐙𝐎𝐔 !! 𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐘𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐘

𖠵𝟎𝟏: Whoever said Heizou doesn’t open up to many people clearly hasn’t met you !! He’s the one who chased after you.

𖠵𝟎𝟐: He was very flirty in the beginning, so it was hard to decipher whether or not he was just being Heizou or had actually taken a liking to you.

𖠵𝟎𝟑: Although, now that he started dating you, he's stopped flirting with a lot of people (much to your request, stop being a manwhore, Heizou.)

𖠵𝟎𝟒: Always takes the opportunity to tease you ;;

sometimes he fails to see that it actually bothers you and feels awful whenever he genuinely upsets you.

𖠵𝟎𝟓: Likes to act cocky, but he'll follow you around like a lost puppy when you're not giving him your attention.

𖠵𝟎𝟔: This man is INFATUATED with you and he doesn’t even try to hide it.

𖠵𝟎𝟕: He may flirt with whomever (most of the time for investigation purposes), but if he sees someone flirting with you, then he’s fuming and storming over there.

𖠵𝟎𝟖: Keeps a hand on you at all times whenever you two are out together—always gently tugging on your hand if you start to wander.

𖠵𝟎𝟗: “Sweetheart,” “partner (in crime),” “(my) love,” and “princess/prince.”

❝Aw, why the long face, partner? Someone been bothering you lately? Oh? You don’t say. . . Mind giving me a description of them? Hm? Why you ask? Well, that’s for me to know and you to find out, my love.❞

𖠵𝟏𝟎: Always willing to throw hands for you ‹333

𖠵𝟏𝟏: Sara doesn’t know how you deal with him but is only grateful that you keep him in check.

𖠵𝟏𝟐: He has to make out with you at least once “for good measure,” he says. 💀

𖠵𝟏𝟑: Seeing his marks on you gives him a completely different wave of accomplishment, LMFAO. But he also loves to be marked by you !! He wears them with pride everywhere he goes.

𖠵𝟏𝟒: He’s a detective for a reason; you cannot hide anything from him. If you’re not ready to talk about something, he’ll give you time, though.

𖠵𝟏𝟓: Sometimes if you have the free time, he likes to drag you along on a case he’s working on.

𖠵𝟏𝟔: Will sit you on his lap while he’s working; he claims your presence grounds him and helps him work better.

𖠵𝟏𝟕: One of his favorite things to do is sit you on a counter or desk and make out with you ‹//3 he loves having the higher ground.

𖠵𝟏𝟖: (↑) Another one is carrying you bridal style, especially in public. He doesn’t matter where or why; he just likes feeling like your knight in shining armor.

𖠵𝟏𝟗: Will drop whatever he’s doing just to take care of you or comfort you.

𖠵𝟐𝟎: Never one to be emotional, but whenever he sees you crying, it breaks him. And if it’s because of him ?? Might as well kill him right then and there ‹//3

𖠵𝟐𝟏: A sly bastard !! He will figure out a way to get what he wants when it comes to you.

𖠵𝟐𝟐: Loves whenever you kiss his beauty marks ‹/3 He has hearts floating around him fr fr.

꒱₊˚ 𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐎 !! 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐊𝐀 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐒

𖠵𝟎𝟏: The perfect combination of golden retriever boyfriend and himbo !!

𖠵𝟎𝟐: You’re not an ‘official’ member of the group as much as he says you are. However, your role fits in with Shinobu’s! (she greatly appreciates your assistance, LMFAO.)

𖠵𝟎𝟑: You and Shinobu are best friends !! You and her always like to playfully tease him that the two of you are gonna get together. (You always assure him you’d never actually do that, LOL.)

𖠵𝟎𝟒: Such a lovable dork )): ‹3 He never fails to express his love and care for you.

𖠵𝟎𝟓: You can guarantee that each and every member of the gang loves you !! They treat you as if you’re their older sibling (and/or) parent

𖠵𝟎𝟔: Itto loves to carry you on his shoulders !! He is pretty tall, so you always get a lovely view no matter where you are.

𖠵𝟎𝟕: Loves to boast about you every and any chance he gets !! You know how he did with Shinobu in Perilous Trials ?? think that but like times 10.

𖠵𝟎𝟖: Always asks you to paint his horns so that you can get the places he can’t reach.

𖠵𝟎𝟗: “Baby/babe,” “lovebug/bug,” and “honey/hon.”

❝Heyyyy, honey! I’m baaaack! Totally not from jail. . . What’s with that look for? Listen, listen. I’ll have you know that it was for a totally acceptable cause this time! This punk was saying some bad things about you and—ARGH! It makes me angry just thinking about it! Anyone who has something bad to say about you has to answer to me! No buts or ifs!❞

𖠵𝟏𝟎: He’s protective over you !! You’re such a beacon of light in his life, and he wants to shield that light with every drop of strength he has in him.

𖠵𝟏𝟏: On normal occasions, he’s calm and collected. However, if he hears someone actively talking shit about you or sees someone bothering you, that’s thrown away in a second.

𖠵𝟏𝟐: You have a small little enclosure that you put all the onikabuto he gives you in ‹3

𖠵𝟏𝟑: Hates seeing you hurt or sick; it makes him feel helpless ):

he tries not to come off as worried or panicky, but you see riiight through him.

𖠵𝟏𝟒: Finds you incredibly attractive whenever you snap at someone or beat someone (that’s not him) up.

𖠵𝟏𝟓: You know just how calm him down whenever he’s having an allergy attack; he’s very grateful he can rely on you.

𖠵𝟏𝟔: You always go through his food to make sure it doesn’t have any beans in it Sniffs.

𖠵𝟏𝟕: A giant manbaby when it comes to cuddles !! Cuddling with you is his favorite thing to do. Don't tell anyone but he loves to be the little spoon, hehe.

𖠵𝟏𝟖: People look at you two and go “how did that happen?” People thought you were dating him out of pity at first until you very sharply shot those rumors down before they could reach Itto.

𖠵𝟏𝟗: As much as Itto's capable of protecting himself, you're also protective over him when it comes to people talking shit out of fear of him taking everything to heart—only you can tease him.

꒱₊˚ 𝐊𝐀𝐙𝐔𝐇𝐀 !! 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐔𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐒

𖠵𝟎𝟏: He. Is. Perfect !! Literally. He knows just what to do (most of the time) whenever and wherever. It’s like he has some kind of sixth sense when it comes to you.

𖠵𝟎𝟐: As someone who’s spent his time idling wandering around the nations, he used to avoid being tied down. However, since dating you, he wants nothing more than to settle in a home with you ‹3

𖠵𝟎𝟑: Husband/housewife material !! If you were to want to continue working while he stayed at home doing domestic chores, he’d be perfectly content with that.

𖠵𝟎𝟒: Surprisingly (or maybe not?) flirty. Seeing you all blushy and shy because of him complimenting you is his favorite thing.

𖠵𝟎𝟓: Whenever you’re heavily injured, his eyes will ALWAYS be focused on the rise and fall of your breathing and your vision. You can probably guess why.

𖠵𝟎𝟔: Isn’t shy with PDA in the slightest.

he loves to hold your hand or link arms with you anywhere he goes !! he just wants to have a hand on you !!

𖠵𝟎𝟕: Writes his newest poems about you, then gifts you them with some flowers (“:

𖠵𝟎𝟖: When he introduced you to Beidou, she literally crushed you in a hug and welcomed you delightfully to the Crux.

she likes to ask about you time to time !! always playfully teasing him about when he plans on proposing to you.

𖠵𝟎𝟗: “(My) maple,” “(my) love,” “(my) dove,” “(my) kaze,” and “hummingbird.”

❝My dearest maple, would you mind coming to my side for a moment? Hm? No, nothing’s wrong. Well, with me, at least. Your eyes—they look dull and lost, like a rose that’s about to wither away. Tell me, my love, what’s troubling you? You never have to shoulder your burdens alone.❞

𖠵𝟏𝟎: Likes to recite poetry to you, smiling whenever you drift off simply by the sound of his voice.

𖠵𝟏𝟏: If you ever try to take after him, talking in that soft and refined tone, he will melt on the spot.

𖠵𝟏𝟐: One of the best people you can go to for comfort and advice !! He, without a doubt, will give both.

𖠵𝟏𝟑: Being someone who’s often in no rush, he loves to sleep in with you, often tugging you back into his arms if you try and get up before him.

𖠵𝟏𝟒: So so touchy !! He loves to have his hands on you one way or another.

𖠵𝟏𝟓: Loves to play with your hair and braid it !!

𖠵𝟏𝟔: Would do everything and anything for you without question HDJEJEJ.

𖠵𝟏𝟕: Loves to trail kisses down your jawline and onto your collarbone; seeing you squirm in his hands is something he takes pride in.

𖠵𝟏𝟖: Doesn’t get jealous too easily, given his patience and trust in you. But, if he sees you getting uncomfortable and they’re not taking in the hint, he’ll step in and just. . . make out with you. Both to take your mind off the latter and to show them that you’re taken (and/or) drive them away.

𖠵𝟏𝟗: Praises and worships you like 24/7. He's the man for you if you have a praise kink BABSBDB.

𖠵𝟐𝟎: A really good kisser !! And he isn’t shy with it either, if it’ll get a reaction out of you; he’ll do it.

𖠵𝟐𝟏: Almost everything reminds him of you 😭😭 He somehow finds a way to correlate something with something you’ve said, done, etc.

𖠵𝟐𝟐: Loves neck kisses; he loves the adrenaline it gives him.

𖠵𝟐𝟑: Likes to shower/bathe with you ‹3 Seeing you lean into his palm while he's washing your hair makes him melt.

𖠵𝟐𝟒: One of his soft spots is seeing you wear his clothes !!

𖠵𝟐𝟓: Loves to whisper sweet nothings into your ear ‹3 Some promiscuous, some not. . . He’ll also nibble on and kiss your earlobe to provoke a reaction, hehe.

꒱₊˚ 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐀 !! 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀𝐅𝐀𝐑

𖠵𝟎𝟎: Hello, one Thoma, please !!

𖠵𝟎𝟏: You see his title !! He’s very much a protector !! And a good one at that.

𖠵𝟎𝟐: 1000% husband material, quite literally the definition of it. Yes, he do the cooking; yes, he do the cleaning!!1!1 (nicki minjaj. . .)

𖠵𝟎𝟑: Has talked you up SO much to both the Kamisato siblings. Ayaka has grown to adore you ‹3

she was actually the one who gave him his final push to confess to you since he was feeling unsure!

𖠵𝟎𝟒: Worries excessively about you. He checks up on you mentally and physically 24/7.

𖠵𝟎𝟓: And if you’re not feeling well, you’re damn right if you think he’d drop anything he was doing to make sure you started feeling better.

𖠵𝟎𝟔: That said, he is the best person to go to if you’re feeling sick !! He has the best remedies and always ensures your comfort.

𖠵𝟎𝟕: Ayaka once asked him if he wanted to start a family with you; he talked for an entire hour on the subject. . .

𖠵𝟎𝟖: If you were to fall (and/or) need help reaching something, he’d laugh at you first before actually helping you ‹/33

𖠵𝟎𝟗: “Honey/hon,” “(my) love,” “lovebug,” and “sweetheart.”

❝Sweetheart! I saw the strangest thing today while I was out grocery shopping! I saw a guy who looked almost identical to me! The same hair and everything! Although, he dressed kind of oddly for Inazuma. . . Maybe you knew him? I didn’t ask his name. . .❞

𖠵𝟏𝟎: If someone were to flirt with him, he’d find a way to rope you into the conversation. EX: “Oh, you think my eyes are pretty? Ahah, thank you! My significant other, (NAME), always tells me that they remind them of calla lilies. They really are the sweetest. . . Say, do you want me to introduce them to you? I’m sure they’d love to meet you. . .”

𖠵𝟏𝟏: Loves to take care of you! whether or not the care is needed. he loves stuff like brushing your hair, cooking for you, showering/bathing with you, etc. . .

𖠵𝟏𝟐: Isn’t a very jealous type unless the person is actively getting closer to you (in proximity.) However, he cannot stand people making you uncomfortable, so will always butt in when needed (:

a particular case, though, is whenever Ayato gets a little too friendly with you, LMAO. he does it just to tease Thoma.

𖠵𝟏𝟑: Always gently scolds you whenever you get yourself injured or in trouble.

𖠵𝟏𝟒: Doesn’t really initiate PDA but will always indulge it if you wanted !!

𖠵𝟏𝟓: You are so engraved in his schedule that he finds it harder to sleep without you by him.

𖠵𝟏𝟔: Arguments aren’t too common, but that makes them worse when they do happen. He always feels incredibly guilty and tries to make it up immediately the following day ‹//3 He cannot stand to see you so upset. Sobs

𖠵𝟏𝟕: Always tugs you at his side whenever you’re wandering too far or whenever he senses you’re about to get yourself into trouble.

𖠵𝟏𝟖: Remembers everything you like and everything you don’t. In fact, he remembers just about everything you say to him. 😭

𖠵𝟏𝟗: Can and will listen to you talk for hours if that’s what you wanted (and/or) needed.

𖠵𝟐𝟎: Always puts others' arguments about you to a quick stop, wherever it be arguing with him or you. Nobody talks bad about the love of his life, smh.

𖠵𝟐𝟏: Gives you every type of lesson out there. Cooking, cleaning, knitting, you name it. You have no reason to worry if you’re struggling with either one of those things.

𖠵𝟐𝟐: KNITS !! YOU !! MATCHING !! BLANKETS !! AND !! SWEATERS !!

𖠵𝟐𝟑: Lots of visits to see the dogs and cats !! You guys gave them all personalities and backstories.

#|✿| — 𝐅𝐀𝐖𝐍’𝐒 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒 #|✿| — 𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐔𝐌𝐒 #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact x you #genshin impact x y/n #genshin x reader #genshin impact headcanons #ayato x reader #gorou x reader #heizou x reader #itto x reader #kazuha x reader #thoma x reader

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borathae · 1 year

Text

”When you find an unconscious man bearing the mark of the Ravens on his chest washed up on the riverbed, you have to choose between your duties as a healer and your instincts as a woman.”

Pairing: Bandit!Seokjin x Healer!Reader

Genre: Fantasy, s2l!AU, Romance, Smut

Warnings: lots of plot, healing from a traumatic past, wounds & mentions of blood, very mild hatred in the beginning, some bickering which later turns into flirting, so much yearning, virgin!Seokjin, subby!Seokjin, soft dom!Reader, nudity, bondage in some sort, she feeds him while he's sick :'), he is very eager to learn, he is also such a cutie :(, lots of kissing, neck kisses, praises, breast massage, the goodest boy!Jinnie, handjob, fingering, mutual masturbation, they are very needy for each other

Wordcount: 22.4k

a/n: Seriously, the more stories I write about this universe, the harder I fall in love with it. Each time I create a little thing or a new animal or some type of food, I am filled with so much joy. I love this world so much! Also, Seokjin really did it to me :( he is such a sweet man in this story, I wanna protect him :( I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed working on it 💚

~ Go to Index ~

You woke up with a strange feeling in your stomach.

Today was going to be a cursed day for you.

The feeling in your stomach has never lied to you before nor was it ever wrong.

Oh how you hated its accuracy, because as you rolled out of bed and hit your toe on the corner of your bed, you knew that it was once again right.

It continued at breakfast when the fire turned out to be hotter than on other days and burned the last of your eggs and meat. You had to eat the last two pieces of slightly dried up bread and when you looked into your jug, you had to realise in horror that Kukuruz - your cat - had drunk the last of your milk while you were sleeping.

“Kukuruz”, you had hissed at him, but he was slumbering peacefully on the window sill, “oh you cursed animal, may you wake up with a belly ache.”

Your bad luck continued as you hung up your laundry and dropped one of the pieces in the wet mud. Oh how you had cursed, because now you had to go down to the river to wash it again. And the curse didn’t stop, it continued on your way to town when your dress got stuck on some thorns and ripped at the seam.

“Oh how I truly hate this day!” you screamed at the skies, lifting your fist and waving it around.

Even in town your curse followed you like an unwanted shadow. Not only did the egg merchant sell the last eggs right before your eyes, but you had also forgotten your gold at home. You had to come to the painful realisation when you had to give up the most delicious looking piece of smoked meat because you couldn’t pay for it.

So you left the market just as empty handed as you had entered it, feeling less and less happy about ever setting foot outside your bed.

“I should have just stayed in bed”, you murmur, “my stomach was never wrong before, fatuous woman why did you not listen?” you grumble, almost running into low branches hadn’t you dodged them in the last moment.

You laugh in disbelief, gawking at them with big eyes.

“Truly, I must be cursed today”, you say and decide to be extra careful on your remaining way home. It wasn’t long anymore. Just past that glade and through the tunnel of conifer trees and your little cottage would be in arm’s reach.

It was your mother’s cottage once and her mother’s before that. It was a little outside of town, a tense conifer forest was separating it from it. But the paths were well walked on and the forest safe, except for the occasional boar and the mean tree fairies, which more often than not, loved growing roots in front of people’s feet to make them stumble and fall. One could hear their laughter in the rustling of the leaves and the creaking of branches. But they were harmless otherwise, they just loved playing tricks.

You didn’t encounter any of the little tricksters today. It truly surprised you. Out of all the days, you expected them today the most. They must be busy getting the trees ready for winter. While the tree fairies on foliage trees went to sleep together with their mothers, the tree fairies on conifer trees worked hard during the colder months to help their mothers keep their green dresses. Only now and then one of them found time in their busy day to play a quick trick on some humans, which made the entire forest rustle and croak in laughter if the trick was successful. And somehow it seemed that on such days the forest looked greener the next day, as if the fairies needed a good laugh to find more energy again.

You leave the tense canopy of spruce branches behind you, stepping onto the glade of your cottage. It was a spacious meadow, allowing the sun to shine on the ground and for a variety of plants to grow. The Singing River, which was just a hundred steps down the shallow slope, offered plenty of the clearest water. Your meadow never had to suffer from drought. It was truly a blessing. Especially as a healer, who depended heavily on the health of her many healing plants and herbs.

The air smells different here. Sweet and herbal from all the plants you were growing in the warmer months. The scent lingered even in winter as if it had already become part of the land. Perhaps it liked staying here with you and the warm sun.

“Finally”, you say and quicken your steps. Not long anymore and you are finally in the safety of your own home again. Nothing can go wrong now.

You hurry up the stairs.

Crack.

You stop and take a step back.

A ring. Golden with a silver gemstone in the middle.

“What is that?”

You bend down to pick it up and inspect it. You bite it first. It doesn’t bend under your teeth, which means that it was real.

“Where did this come from?” you murmur, looking left and right to see if you can spot a person.

You can’t. Your glade is empty.

“Huh.”

You look back at the ring. You have seen rings like such before. As the best healer in the Night Queendom you often find yourself in the Queen’s castle. You sometimes see rings like that on Her fingers.

“How did you come here?” you ask it, “did a bird drop you?”

You look up at the sky. There was no bird to spot.

“Or did magic bring you to me?”

But you would have sensed if someone tried to use magic on your land.

“Perhaps you were sent to me by the universe to break my curse?”

You slip it on your finger and then turn.

You will sell it in town and then use the money to buy the delicious smoked meat and another jug of milk.

You return successful from the market. Your basket is filled with the smoked meat and a big jug of milk and even the egg merchant had a small box of eggs back in stock. You bought all them and even treated yourself to a delicious apple. It was the last of the farmer’s successful crop, sweet with a hint of sour in its taste. Exactly how you enjoyed your apples.

The ring must have broken your curse, so you thought as you walked back home with a happy skip in your steps.

“Good morning, Kukuruz”, you greet your cat, who had woken by now and is now circling your legs as you hurry through the cottage, “have you eaten yet?”

Mreow.

“No?” you bend down and pick him up.

Kukuruz rests gladly in your arm, watching you unload your basket. His tiny legs are pulled to his body, his soft tummy is exposed and his long tail is wiggling left and right contently.

“I know you drank my milk last night.”

Mreow.

“No no, don’t blame this on the fairies. This was your doing. I found your fur on the jug.”

Meow.

“As I thought. But worry not Kukuruz, I forgive you. The most peculiar thing happened to me. I found a golden ring on our porch and you won’t believe how much it was worth.”

You pull two big bags of gold free.

“Look! This will last us till summer!” you exclaim excitedly, "and I can still save some for the bathing tub!"

But Kukuruz seemed more interested in the smoked meat, beginning to wiggle in your arms.

“By Frenya, you are such a gluttonous cat”, you murmur, setting him down, “go to your bowl, I will cut some meat for you.”

The black cat struts off with a certain bounce in his steps. He sits down in front of his bowl and meows loudly, watching you with his tail moving back and forth on the floor and his emerald eyes widened in curiosity.

You cut a piece for yourself, nibbling on it as you fill his bowl with food.

“There we go”, you tell him and pet his head, “enjoy.”

Kukuruz thanks you with a purr and begins eating deliciously.

“Very well”, you stand up, “I am outside, getting the laundry and then some water from the river. Don’t you dare stick your head into my milk or else I will turn you into a bug.”

Mreow.

"I heard that."

With your basket resting on your left hip, you hurry outside and down the three steps which separate your porch from the grass. Your clothesline was located right next to your cottage. On the wooden posts rambler roses were climbing into the skies and behind the line, a spacious bed of different mints was located. The mints liked the climate there. Slight shade and enough space to spread. It always smelled nicely here. That is why you decided to put your clothing line on this spot of land. You believe that the scent of mint will soak your fabrics and make them smell nicer for longer.

You stop and gawk at your clothing line.

“By Frenya”, you murmur.

Your clothes are gone. Except for two dresses and one kitchen towel, the clothing lines are empty.

“Thieves!” you yell, twisting and turning with your eyes burning in anger, “who took my clothes?!”

Oh you are furious! This is outrageous! Who dared to come to your cottage only to steal your clothes? Oh, if you would catch them, they would flee in fear.

“May the Morguls eat your toes while you are sleeping!” you scream, hoping they can hear you.

Now, the clothes weren’t your favourites, thank Frenya. But there were useful and sturdy and they kept your legs warm in the colder months. You rip your remaining clothes from the lines and throw them into your basket.

“Truly, I don’t wish bad on people, but oh may they find snails in their food”, you murmur, punching the small heap of clothes, “this day is cursed! I hate this!”

With your face contorted in a frown, you stomp back to your cottage. You basically kick in your door, startling Kukuruz, who has caught some sun rays on the windowsill just before.

“You won’t believe what happened to me!” you tell him loudly and drop the basket on the floor, “someone took my clothes! I am cursed, truly cursed.”

The black cat tilts his head to the side and licks over his nose.

“I know Kukuruz, that is what I said too. May the Morguls eat their toes”, you growl and huff out air.

You cross your arms in front of your chest and sit down on your wooden stool.

“How could this happen? Why would someone come here just to steal from me?” you ask no one in particular.

Kukuruz struts to the kitchen counter and sits down in front of the two bags of gold.

Mreow.

You look at him and the gold.

“You are a genius!” you exclaim, “they must have been the one putting the ring on my porch!”

Mreow.

“I know, it is peculiar. Why would they take my clothes only to then leave something so expensive behind?”

Mreow.

“You truly think so? You think that they paid for the clothes with the ring?”

Kukuruz stands up and struts back to the window sill. He lies down, rolling himself into a tiny ball of black fur.

Mreow.

“Truly, you are a genius Kukuruz. They must have been travellers, who were dressed too coldly and when they realised that I wasn’t home to offer them a pair of pants, they took them from my clothing line and paid with their ring.”

Mreow.

“Oh Kukuruz you helped me feel better, truly. What would I do without you?”

Mreow.

You laugh, “oh now you are just being cocky”, you say in a fond chuckle and stand up. You grab your bucket, “I will be by the river fetching water.”

The Singing River is calm where you live. It is just two valleys and a forest away from where it starts in the Snowy Mountains. It hasn’t reached its true width and anger yet. The riverbeds were around five big steps apart and the water was clear and calm, reaching you just below you ribs. It was freezing in the colder months but was warm enough to bathe comfortably in, during the warmer months. It also offered many different kinds of wildlife to eat and even more different kinds of plants to use for potions.

You made your own little crook in the riverbed. You had dug out the earth so the water would reach you in a gentle slope and you could enter the river comfortably. You use it to wash your clothes and fetch water and also for bathing.

You slow down your steps.

It looks different today. Someone is resting on it. He seems to be sleeping in the sun.

You squint your eyes.

“Huh”, you gasp, widening your eyes and quickening your steps.

He wasn’t sleeping! His clothes were clearly soaked in water and his left leg was leaking blood. It had formed a little puddle by now.

“Good Sir!” you call out, “good Sir, are you alright?”

The man doesn’t answer you, he doesn’t even move.

You drop your bucket and squat down beside him. His hair was as black as the feathers of ravens and his face was pale in cold, his lips blue and purple.

“Oh dear, oh dear”, you touch the side of his neck.

His skin was icy. His pulse was barely there.

“What happened to you?” you murmur, turning your attention to the wound on his leg.

Teeth must have dug themselves into his flesh. His black pants were ripped where the animal bit him, showing torn skin and muscle.

“Oh that is a truly nasty wound you have here”, you murmur.

You rip a piece of your dress off. The thorns had already ruined it either way. You bind his thigh right above the wound tightly enough to stop the bleeding.

The man hisses in his unconsciousness and moves his head.

“I must get you out of this cold”, you decide and sneak a glance at your cottage, “oh this is going to be a long way.”

You grab the man under his armpits tightly and begin dragging him up the hill.

“You are so heavy, by Frenya”, you grunt, “couldn’t the river have washed up someone less muscular?”

At one point you accidentally dropped the poor man, making him groan. You picked him up in an instant and apologized quietly.

“If you would only work with me a little.”

Dragging him up your stairs was the part most difficult. You didn’t want to hurt him and yet with every step, you dragged his limp legs up the pumpy stairs, the man let out a quiet hiss of discomfort.

“Forgive me, oh forgive me”, you murmured each time, flinching with him.

The truest struggle of them all however, was when you tried to lift him on top of your bed.

You had two beds in your cottage. One for your patients and one in the backroom for you to sleep in. The bed for your patients wasn’t quite as high as your private bed, but despite that advantage, lifting his heavy body was no easy task.

You feel out of breath once you had managed to lift him, finding support on the foot end of the bed by leaning against it.

“Truly”, you huff out air, “you are one heavy fella.”

You take one last deep breath, then clap into your hand.

“Now, enough whining. Let’s get you out of your clothes.”

You have undressed countless people in your long career as a healer. Women, men, children, even non human creatures. They were all just living beings to you, needing your help and care. You saw nothing peculiar in it and they saw nothing peculiar in being undressed.

Today however undressing your patient turns out to be more than peculiar. You started with his pants, working slowly and beyond carefully in order not to hurt his wound. The ruined pants you threw into a bucket. You will dry them and stitch them back up later. It wasn’t peculiar until then, it started when you began taking off his upper body clothing. The ripped fur slipped off his shoulders easily, soaking your floors once you had discarded it. His black tunic opened easily.

“By Frenya!” you exclaim.

That was the moment the peculiar started.

A black raven tattoo was burned into his chest. He was one of them. A Raven of the Black Forest, the group of men who had sworn to kill every woman they come across. Your aunt fell victim to them and two girls from your village as well. All three of them were mutilated and abused by those gruesome men.

You swore to never help such monsters and that if you ever had the chance to annihilate every single one of them, you would take it. And now one of them is resting in your bed, unconscious, wounded and unable to fight back.

You act quickly. You run to your dresser and grab the knife, which you usually use for collecting plants and branches. You have it pressed against the man’s throat within seconds, twisting his hair between your fingers.

“I will kill you monster”, you spit, tilting his head up. It makes the blade glide over his skin, forcing it to break at one spot and leak one droplet of blood.

The man groans at the feeling, opening and closing his lips.

You falter.

The sound was filled with pain. The kind of pain you have heard from so many of your patients. It was a sound a person would make. It was a human sound.

You loosen the grip around his hair.

The monster made a human sound.

You study his features. Pale and relaxed. He had a forehead like everyone else, he had a nose like everyone else, he had eyes like everyone else, a mouth and cheeks and brows as well. He looked like a human.

Your fingers slip from his hair.

“What am I doing here?” you ask yourself, “I consider killing a living creature when I swore to heal them. Have I lost my mind?”

The knife slips from your fingers, landing on the floor with a dull sound. It landed directly on the person’s fur, which muffled the otherwise shrill sound.

“By Frenya, I almost killed a person”, you murmur, touching your own cheeks, “I, I must remember my duties. I am no killer, I am a healer. I save people, not end their life. If he turns out to be a monster I can still kill him. Yes? I won’t regret this, will I?”

You sleep restlessly that night, waking with every little sound the earth makes and thinking that it was the stranger coming to kill you. You know it was impossible as you made sure that even if he woke when you were asleep, he wouldn’t be able to hurt you.

You had to tie down countless people in your time as a healer. People tend to wiggle quite a great deal when they are being operated on, so one needs to know strong and secure knots in order to hold them down and minimise the chances of hurting them accidentally.

But despite that security, you wake up with heavy eyes and weak limbs the next morning. The sun was already shining and by your feet Kukuruz was licking your big toe.

“Good morning”, you greet him with your voice hoarse in exhaustion.

Mreow.

“I’m glad you did, I slept terribly”, you say and yawn, “the stranger kept me awake.”

Mreow.

You smile tiredly, “that makes me feel better. Thank you for taking watch.”

Mreow.

“Tzt. You ruined it again. Fine, I am already getting up to prepare your breakfast. By Frenya, you are such a gluttonous cat.”

Kukuruz follows you, circling your legs and rubbing his head against your calves every now and then with a deep purr vibrating in his chest.

You sneak a glance at the stranger as you pass by him. He was still sleeping, having turned his head to the other side. His lips are parted, they don’t seem so blue anymore. As a matter of fact, they have gained a pinkish glow to them.

His skin also feels warm to the touch when you check and his pulse has sped up considerably from last night.

These are all good signs. It means that your treatment helped.

“Stay, I’ll be back with medicine after making breakfast for my greedy cat”, you tell him, poking his cheek rather harshly.

It makes him roll his head to the other side and then sigh in his sleep.

Once Kukuruz was taken care of and you have prepared your own breakfast, you return to your patient. He was still sleeping, resting in the same position you left him in.

You sit down on the chair and relax back, biting into your bread with smoked meat and egg.

“You know, you are lucky that I am such a good-hearted person”, you tell him with your mouth stuffed, “other people would have left you by the riverbed.”

The man shows no signs that he heard you, sleeping soundly.

You take a sip of your warm milk and take another bite of your food afterwards.

“I wonder what happened to you. Did you fight Woltron?”

You slurp loudly and swallow the contents of your mouth happily.

“Doesn’t matter”, you say and relax with a content sigh, “I have my breakfast and that is all that matters.”

He shifts then.

You freeze up in an instant, staring at him without chewing your food.

"What are you doing? Don’t move", you tell him.

He shifts again, groaning softly.

“Oh dear, are you waking up?” you ask him.

He rolls his head into a position so that it would rest on the back of it.

You reach for the knife hastily, pointing it at the stranger with shaking hands.

His eyes open slowly, blinking heavily to get used to the light.

“Mhm”, he lets out and closes them again. He tries to roll to his side afterwards, but the ropes holding his arms down prevent it from happening.

He opens his eyes quickly, lifting his head.

“What the?” he presses out and tugs on the ropes, “what in heaven's name is going on here?”

His eyes land on you.

“Who are you?” he asks, eyes flitting to the knife, “did you tie me up?”

“Don’t move!” you warn him, waving the knife around.

He dodges it skilfully, “what are you doing?”

“You, you, y-you are a Raven, aren’t you?” you ask him, extending your arm.

He eyes the knife before he snorts.

“What are you trying to do here? Cut me open? What that grip?”

You look at the way your fingers grasp the knife. It looks slightly clumsy.

“Excuse me?” you drop your arm, “I am very capable of holding a knife.”

“Of course”, he says and begins tugging on the ropes again.

You lift the knife again, hating your arm for shaking so much.

“Don’t move.”

“Well, can you untie me first? Or tell me your name and why you have me tied up in the first place?”

“I found you by the riverbed. You were unconscious and your left leg was chewed on, so I dragged you here and took care of your wound.”

He looks down at his covered legs and scoffs.

“Fuck”, he lets out, dropping his head into the pillows, “I remember falling into the river after being ambushed by a wolf.”

“Yes, Woltron. He doesn’t like Ravens.”

“It wasn’t Woltron, it was a normal wolf. Small, agile and way too fast to escape from”, he says and tugs on the ropes again.

It makes you grip your knife tighter and lift it again. He eyes it.

“What? Are you truly planning on killing me after saving me? Why go through all the trouble then?”

“You, y-you don’t know me. P-perhaps I am a dangerous witch, w-who likes eating men alive.”

He blinks rapidly before breaking into laughter.

“Don’t laugh”, you hiss.

He laughs louder, it sounds way more high-pitched than you had imagined it would, perhaps even a little squeaky.

“Oh forgive me”, he says and laughs, “but you are no witch, you are fooling no one here.”

“Tzt”, you click your tongue, “you are rude.”

“I am not the one who tied you up.”

“Well, accept it”, you say and cross your arms in front of your chest, “this is to make sure you don’t escape before your wound is healed.”

“Of course and it is not because you are scared of me.”

“You-“ you lift the knife again, pressing the tip into his cheek, “-I will poke you in the eye if you keep up this attitude.”

He eyes the knife before looking at your face. He scoffs in amusement.

“I am already quiet”, he says and chuckles.

“Tzt”, you click your tongue, pulling the knife away and discarding it on the dresser. Then you continue eating your bread, sending dark looks the stranger’s way.

He seems mesmerised by the food, gawking at it with his tongue licking over his lips repeatedly.

“What?” you challenge him.

“Give me some”, he orders.

“That?” you show him the food, guiding it to his lips.

He lifts his head, opening his mouth in preparation.

“Why should I?” you say, pulling the food away again, “I don’t want to share with murderers.”

He grunts, closing his mouth to frown instead.

“So why safe me? Just to torture me with starvation and your terrible knife skills?”

“Ha!” you exclaim and laugh.

“Stop laughing and give me food”, he spits.

“And why should I?”

“Because I haven’t eaten in days and it hurts.”

You give him an icy glare. Keeping your patients alive is one of your duties and that means cooking meals for them and making sure they are well fed and hydrated. Oh, how you are cursing the oath you swore.

“By Frenya, I should have never rescued you”, you murmur, standing up from your chair groggily, “what do you want?”

“Just anything.”

You prepare a hearty porridge for him, adding some of the smoked meat and an onion from your garden in it. Kukuruz watched you as you cooked, but didn’t move as the sunrays hit his back most perfectly in his resting position.

You also prepare a jug of water for him as he must be terribly parched.

You bring the meal to him on a wooden tray, carrying tubes of medicine as well.

He had been resting his eyes, but opened them when he heard you come back. Now he is watching you, eyes glued to the tray in your hands.

“What did you get? Is it good? Can I have some?” he stresses, tugging at the ropes in an attempt to sit up.

“By Frenya, you are just as gluttonous as my cat”, you murmur, setting the tray down on the chair.

He eyes it hungrily, mouth watering to the point that he has to gulp.

“Here, open up”, you say, guiding the filled spoon to his lips.

He opens his mouth gladly, almost swallowing the entire spoon just from how greedily he eats. You watch him with your nose scrunched up in disgust. Of course, a Raven has no table manners whatsoever. You didn’t expect anything else.

He chews and hums, nodding his head.

“Very good”, he says, opening his mouth afterwards so you could feed him more.

You do so not because you want to, but because it was your duty to do so.

“How did you get into this situation in the first place? Aren’t you Ravens supposed to be great fighters?”

He shrugs his shoulders, waiting for a new bite with his eyes glued to the spoon. It is remarkable how happily he allows you to feed him.

"Well then I'm not surprised that a simple wolf won over you", you murmur, basking in the dark look he sends your way. It is a small victory in your fight against the Ravens. To see one look offended by you feels great.

The stranger swallows his food and speaks.

"It only won because I was weakened by running for long."

"So you were running. Where to? Where from?"

The stranger merely takes a bite and eats with his dark eyes glued to your equally dark eyes.

"I bet you were out hurting innocent women and girls."

"I wasn’t. I ran from.." he hesitates, then shakes his head, "...give me more food and maybe then I'll talk."

“By Frenya, you truly are like my cat.”

The stranger closes his lips around the spoon and slurps up the porridge hungrily. He chews it and swallows, opening his mouth again. And so you feed him another bite, making sure that you don’t drip any of it on his chest. That would surely burn and wouldn’t make a good impression of you as a healer.

“So where are you coming from? The Black Forest? Did a monster chase you?”

He shakes his head.

“Truly? Aren’t you Ravens supposed to live in it?”

He swallows the food down.

“And that means that we can’t find ourselves in other places as well?”

“I never stated this”, you say, muffling him by sticking another spoonful of porridge into his mouth.

He makes a sound of surprise, sending you a furious glare. It leaves you unaffected. You may not be able to kill him, but that doesn’t mean that you will be gentle with the way you are feeding him.

You are gentle when you feed him the water, solely for the reason that you do not want to change his sheets in case you spilled some of the liquid. He drinks it greedily, doing so with his eyes closed and his brows furrowed.

“You must be careful, you will choke. Careful”, you warn him, supporting his head.

He grunts, swallowing greedily. He swallows and swallows until suddenly he gasps and coughs.

“See?” you say, hitting his upper back to help him, “I told you that your greed will be your downfall.”

He sends you a glare, one return all too willingly. He coughs one last time then parts his lips again, eyeing the cup greedily. You place it against his lips, watching him drink the water with your fingers buried deep in his hair.

The stranger finishes the entire cup, allowing you to lay his head down on the pillow once done. He watches you carry the dirty dishes to your work counter.

"Are you finally ready to answer my question?" you ask him, standing by the counter.

"Are you finally ready to untie my arms?"

"No."

"Then I'm not ready either."

"Tch."

You turn, walking back to the bed. You sit down on the chair, letting your eyes run up and down his body for long enough that the stranger shifts uncomfortably.

“What are you going to do to me now?” he asks, trying and failing to hide the nervousness in his voice.

“I have to take a look at your wound. It is most crucial that I do.”

“And I have to be tied down for that?”

You reach for the tray of medicine and scoot closer, keeping your eyes locked on him.

“Yes”, you state matter-of-factly.

The stranger scoffs.

“So I can’t flee when you poison me?”

“Oh by Frenya, you said so yourself. Why go through the effort of saving you just to end up killing you?”

The stranger swallows what he had wanted to say, clicking his tongue in distaste. You send him a triumphant grin, then reach for the blanket. You pull it off his legs halfway, making sure that his precious parts are covered.

“You undressed me?” he gasps.

“Yes, your clothes were wet and had many holes. Besides, I had to get to your wound.”

“How dare you? I gave you no permission to do such things.”

“Oh forgive me that I couldn’t get my answer when you were knocked out cold.”

“Tzt.”

“But worry not, you are not the first I see. It is actually quite common to see people in their bared state in my field of work.”

“Who are you?”

“I am me”, you tease, sending him an amused grin.

He rolls his eyes but gasps when he feels your fingers on his thigh.

"Careful.”

“Worry not, I am very careful”, you tell him, inspecting the stitches, “you got lucky you were unconscious last night. Your wound is pretty deep, so I had to stitch it up.”

“Yes, the wolf bit me quite deep.”

“It did. It even got a little chunk of you. That must have been a good treat for him”, you joke and to your surprise he actually chuckles.

You and him exchange a quick look before you return to cleaning the stitches. That felt awkward. You never intended to make a Raven laugh.

“I fixed it for you. You got lucky you fell into the river. The cold water helped the blood vessels close up. I just had to clean it and stitch it back up.”

You wring out the cloth and press it against his skin, cleaning it off most tentatively.

“How do you know so much?” he asks.

“I’m a healer.”

“I have never met a healer before, at least not a woman.”

“Truly? You have met male healers?” you have to chuckle, “this is most remarkable, given how people don’t trust men to be able to handle such an important profession.”

“Well, this is nothing but sexism. We can be great healers too.”

“Now, now I never said that I believe in what the people say. I am sure you men have the talent for it.”

“Yes, we do. We have many talents and potential.”

“Of course, I believe you.”

“Don’t mock me”, he hisses, furrowing his brows.

“Please don’t think I did. I was being truthful”, you give him a smile, “my cousin works as a healer in the Nourishing Fields. He is a very talented healer.”

“Oh”, the stranger says and relaxes his features. Not for long as a sharp burn runs through his leg a second later. He groans and frowns.

“I know it burns”, you tell him, watching him tense up, “but it is supposed to feel that way. It is the magic which has this effect. It is quite the effective healing potion.”

“So you are a witch?”

“In a way I am, but I am most definitely not the type of witch you Ravens believe women to be.”

“Tzt.”

You give him a grin, then turn your attention to the healing potion. It was green in colour, gaining an emerald glow once you spread it on the wound. The stranger gasps and tenses his thigh.

“Are you sure that this is safe?”

“Yes of course it is. Trust me, I am very skilled in potion making.”

“Why aren’t you using your magic to heal me? Why use potions?”

“Well, you see. My magic works differently. I can use it to detect wounds and illnesses and I can infuse my potions with it, but it doesn’t really work with mending torn flesh or fixing broken bones. I can help nature, but I sadly can’t bend it.”

“But there are healers who can do such things, I have seen it be done.”

“Yes, of course there are such healers. The Menders, but they are quite the show-offs if you asked me”, you say, giving him a small smile.

He chuckles again. It is a nice chuckle. As much as it pains you to admit it, it is a nice chuckle.

“Yes, I know. We have a Mender in our circles and he is such a show-off", he says.

You laugh, “I see we are sharing a common nuisance.”

“Yes, we do.”

You exchange a smile. It was honest on both sides.

“I’m ___”, you tell him.

“My name is Seokjin”, he answers you.

“Nice to meet you Seokjin. You are actually quite decent for a Raven.”

“Thank you. You are quite decent for a woman too", he jokes.

He makes you chuckle.

“Now lift your leg, I have to wrap it up so the potion doesn’t rub off.”

He follows and watches you work. You tighten the white bandages with a skilled knot, smoothing over his thigh once done.

“How is that? Is it too tight?”

“No, it feels comfortable.”

“Well then, relax. Your clothes should be dried by now”, you tell him and stand up to leave.

Your cottage is surprisingly spacious. You have your work room in the front. It is the room you come in first when you enter. It houses a patient bed, shelves for your many books and potions, a working table and your kitchen, which has a wonderful view out on the meadow and the Singing River. To the left are your living quarters. One room, which houses your bed and more shelves for more of your books. It also houses a big fireplace, which is currently crackling and warming the cottage. It also dries the Raven Seokjin’s clothes and one of your tunics, which you will use later for sleeping. Your buttery was just left of the fireplace through a wooden door. To the right, just past the fireplace a doorway leads to a small washing room. It was not big and most definitely not luxurious, but it housed a washing bowl and a toilet seat. Which was most convenient in winter as you didn’t have to leave the warmth of your cottage to do your business. You are also currently saving up for a bathtub. You dreamt of having one after visiting the Queen to sell Her some of your sleep inducing bathing oils. You snuck a glimpse at her bathing tub then and decided to save up for your own. It will still take some time, but you are patient.

“You are lucky. Your clothes have dried over night”, you tell Seokjin as you return.

He lifts his head, propping himself up on his elbows.

“I stitched the holes in them, so you don’t have to worry about feeling the wind on your skin.”

You place the clothes on top of his stomach. He eyes them.

“Tell me, how should I put them on when my hands are still tied?” he asks, lifting them as high as the ropes allow him to.

“Oh yes, I completely forgot.”

Once your knife was grabbed, you loosen the knots, taking a cautious step back and pointing the knife at him. He eyes it and scoffs in amusement.

“I see that I am still at knife point here.”

“I’m just making sure. I don’t let a pretty face and comfortable conversation trick me.”

“Yes indeed, I am quite handsome”, he agrees and sits up.

You try not to laugh, but the corners of your mouth still curl upwards. He isn’t lying. He is very handsome. His torso carried strength and muscles, his shoulders were broad and perfectly defined. His legs were long and perfectly proportionate to the rest of his body. You also think that his thighs look very tempting, especially in those tight linen pants of his'. He pulls the tunic over his head, messing up his raven hair. It was longer in the back, framing his face in a way that draws your eyes to it. He had a handsome face. His eyes were dark in colour and fit perfectly on his head, his nose was straight, guiding your eyes down to his lips. Plumb and pink, they were chapped from the winter winds, but looked better than last night after you put some moisturizing oils on them.

“So why are you here?” you ask him, watching him fix how the shirt sits on his torso.

“I escaped the Queen’s castle.”

“What?” you gasp. He is a fugitive. You are housing a criminal. Quick. You need to act quick. You grab your knife harder and point it at him.

“Not that bad grip again”, he says, sounding amusedly exhausted.

“Hands behind your back!” you tell him loudly, “I shall bring you back to Her, criminal!”

Seokjin lifts his hands and smiles.

“I am no criminal, I did what had to be done.”

Everything falls into place now.

“You killed the Queen?” you squeak out, “that is why you ran? Because you killed Her?”

“What?” he laughs loudly, throwing his head back.

“Don’t laugh, murderer”, you hiss, stepping closer to poke his stomach with the knife.

But Seokjin is quicker, grabbing your wrists and using your strength against you. He makes you drop the knife and twirls you.

“Eek”, you squeak, falling.

He catches you before you can fall on your butt, now having your body cradled in his arms and tilted back slightly.

“I told you”, he whispers, letting his breath swirls over your lips, “you have terrible knife skills.”

By Frenya, your heart fluttered.

“And just so you know, I didn’t kill the Queen. I escaped because I didn’t want to live under yet another ruler”, he says, letting his eyes flit to your lips for just a second.

“Well I”, you feel your heart flutter again and your eyes flit to his lips as well. By Frenya, they look so tempting up-close. Pink and so incredibly pillowy.

Seokjin tilts his head, moving closer.

“I hah”, you let out, turning your head away, “let go of me.”

Seokjin sighs in disappointment and helps you straighten up. He steps back, but not after allowing his hand to linger on your lower back for just a second too long.

You fix your collar, clearing your throat.

“You!” you exclaim, scurrying to retrieve the knife. "You!", you point the knife at him, “you rascal! How dare you!” you call out dramatically, trying to cover up just how flustered he has gotten you.

Seokjin snickers, lifting his arms above his head.

“You are funny”, he says, earning himself a slight poke into the chest.

“You are such rude man. You will sit on the bed now and behave”, you warn, poking him again.

“Ah okay, okay I am already sitting”, he says, “dear heavens, the woman really poked me with a knife”, he mumbles to himself, rubbing the spot you touched.

Seokjin studies your figure.

“And now?” he asks, sitting on the bed dressed and with his eyes fixated on the knife.

“Now I want you to put your hands on your lap.”

He follows. You inch closer to him, pressing the knife against his throat once close enough.

“Don’t move or else I’ll cut you”, you warn.

He smirks, “I won’t move.”

“Good”, you say, squatting down in front of him.

You place the knife on your lap and snatch some spare ropes, wrapping them around his wrists quickly. You know the knots by memory, so working quickly doesn’t mean that you don’t work diligently. Just seconds later, his wrists are bound in a way that allows them no movement. You pick up your knife again, locking eyes with him.

“So now I’m your prisoner?”

“Yes, until I figure out what to do with you.”

“What if I have to go to the loo?”

“Then you can be creative. I’m sure you have lots of practice in holding your cock.”

He laughs, “and why should I?”

“Because I know you Ravens don’t have women. How else should you find your release?”

“We”, he blinks in confusion, “touching ourselves is forbidden. It lets the demons inside.”

“By Frenya”, you murmur, “Rafkan is one crazy fella, isn’t he?”

Seokjin furrows his brows, “well, it doesn’t?”

“Of course not”, you say and chuckle, “hell, if you asked me, it actually helps with your demons. You know? One stressful day, a quick”, you mimic jerking off, “and you are good to go again.”

His face is ruby instantly, the colour even spreads to his ears.

“No!” he exclaims, widening his eyes, “no, I would never”, he insists, having to lower his head in coyness.

It is quite adorable how easily he flustered. You chuckle and stand up, giving his head a soft pat.

“Either way, you should rest some more, the cold gave your body quite the hard time. It is best if you sleep it off before a fever takes hold of you.”

“What will you do?”

“I have patients to care for, worry not I will still keep an eye on you”, you say and just seconds later a knock on your door lets you know that your first patient had just arrived.

It has been a week since you found Seokjin washed up by the riverbed. He is still with you, having gained the privilege of free limbs under the condition that he will help you keep the cottage clean. He accepted because his leg still needed to heal and he also didn’t want to stay in the cold outside. So he agreed on being your servant for the time being, preparing food when you are busy and keeping the work counters clean for your next patient.

He is actually quite the remarkable servant. Hardworking too. And most definitely handsome. Oh dear, here you are again staring at his face when he doesn’t notice. You break your eyes away from him, looking at the books you had read through before.

“Seokjin”, you call his attention.

“Yes?” he asks, limping to you.

“Would you mind bringing me the bottles of ghostworth please?”

“Ghostworth? How do they look?”

“The translucent ones. Worry not, it’s labelled.”

You hear him limb to your herbs cabinet and come to a standstill. Silence. More silence. Even more silence.

You turn to check on him. He is looking at the cabinet, fumbling with the bottles while mumbling something to himself.

“Seokjin?”

“I almost got it”, he says and whispers to himself again, squinting his eyes.

You stand up and close the distance between you and him.

“I got it”, he says, moving closer to the shelf.

“It’s here”, you say, pointing at the bottle at which he is staring, “ghostworth, it reads right there.”

“Yes! Exactly”, he takes out of the shelf, “I was just about to grab it.”

He hands it to you with his ears and cheeks burning up. Oh this is peculiar. You ought to investigate.

“Seokjin, what does this bottle read?” you ask him, pointing at the random bottle on the shelf.

He looks at it, squinting his eyes. Panic washes over his features.

“Basil”, he says.

“Mint”, you answer him, furrowing your brows.

He seems disappointed, sagging his shoulders.

“You can’t read, can you?”

With his eyes lowers he turns to you, shaking his head.

“Oh dear, oh dear.”

“Don’t mock me”, he hisses, feeling embarrassed.

“I’m not”, you assure him then give him a smile, “do you want me to teach you?”

“You would do that?”

“Yes of course, come follow me. I will teach you.”

Seokjin follows gladly, sitting down next to you with a quill and some paper ready. Oh, his eyes sparkle oh so much, his cheeks are glowing oh so much. You find it almost adorable just how eager he seems to learn the art of interpreting letters.

And so you spent the rest of your day teaching Seokjin the letters of your language, explaining to him how he can put them on paper and how to form them into words. Seokjin works diligently, scribbling the messiest letters at first before gaining great perfection in them. By the end of the day, he can even write his own name. He is currently trying to write down yours, sitting next to you at the work table.

“Look ___”, he calls your attention away from the medicine you were working on.

You turn and look at the letter covered sheet of paper. He points at your name he wrote in squiggly letters.

“This is your name.”

“Indeed it is.”

“Do you think it looks good?”

“Yes, indeed. You have a great talent for connecting the letters”, you say, making him beam in pride, “practice some more and you will be fluent in no time.”

“I will. I will practice all night”, he says excitedly and turns to his task again. With his tongue sticking out at the corner of his mouth and his brows furrowed, he practices his letters while you prepare the medicine and later cook dinner. Even during dinner he has one eye on the letters constantly, reading them over and over so he wouldn’t forget them again.

"Do you enjoy this?" you ask him over the brim of your soup bowl.

"I do", he says, nodding his head vigorously, "I can't believe how easy this is."

You study his features.

"Can I ask. Can none of you read?"

"None of us?"

"Ravens. Do you never learn how to read?"

Seokjin shakes his head, "only Rafkan knows how to read. He says that it was a burden from his past and that he doesn’t want us to succumb to the horrors reading brings."

"Well, that sounds like horseshit", you scowl in distaste, "no wonder he is able to fill your heads with such lies when you poor boys can’t even read the real history of this queendom."

Seokjin lets out a breathy laugh, blinking his eyes in disbelief.

"I don't", he begins, but doesn’t find the right words to continue.

You sense his discomfort and give him a reassuring smile.

"You should eat the soup and practice more. I promise that you will find no horrors because of reading."

Seokjin nods his head, looking back into his papers.

"I want to read", he whispers more to himself than to you, "I really want to read."

It is deep into the night and you have just returned from the washing room. Seokjin’s sleeping place by the fireplace is still empty. By this time he would already be under his blanket with his head resting on his many pillows and Kukuruz slumbering by his head. Tonight however, only Kukuruz was occupying the fur.

“Seokjin?” you call out.

He should be here by now, slumbering peacefully.

“Are you still practicing?” you ask, entering your work room just to realise that Seokjin had fallen asleep by the desk. His cheek is squished against the surface, his lips are parted in calm breaths, the quill is still between his fingers.

You smile.

“Seokjin dear, wake up”, you tell him, shaking him softly.

He wakes with a gasp, flinching harshly. His head snaps up, revealing his ink covered cheek. He blinks his eyes at you sleepily.

“You shouldn’t sleep here, it will hurt your back. Come to bed.”

“I fell asleep”, he murmurs, letting you pull him to his feet in his sleep-drunken state. He stumbles after you, barely keeping his head up right.

“I know, it’s from all the practicing you've been doing. Now lie down, get comfortable.”

Seokjin allows you to tug him in and fluff up his pillow so his head would be comfortable. You reach out and wipe the ink of his cheek. It makes him blink at you sleepily and for his lips to curl into a tiny, almost content, smile.

“Sleep now”, you tell him softly.

“Thank you ___, I always wanted to be able to read”, he whispers, eyes reflecting the sparkles of the fire.

“And I’m sure you will be great at it in a few days.”

"Thank you so much…"

Seokjin closes his eyes and smiles. He falls asleep that way. Smiling.

Seokjin practices diligently the next day. You give him one of your easier books so he could copy words out of it and by the time the sun had passed its zenith, he already knew how to read a small passage of text. Now, you believe that he merely remembered the sounds of it after hours and hours of practice, but it was still impressive.

“___ please listen to that”, he calls your attention.

You have just said goodbye to a patient, now turning around to look at him.

“I am listening.”

Seokjin takes a deep breath.

“The mulberry fruit is sim…iliar in length and in…width than a thumb”, he speaks slowly, creasing his forehead in concentration. Then he lifts his head, looking at you with widened eyes, “I read that.”

“I heard”, you have to smile at him for you found him beyond adorable, “that was very good. You are a diligent student.”

He begins blushing, “thank you”, he says, barely containing his excitement, but managing to by hiding his mouth behind his hand.

The moment would have continued to be beautiful, hadn’t the door sprung open loudly and startled the both of you.

“Healer ___! Oh healer! Please, I am begging you, we need you!” a man, you know his name to be Yorm, screams.

His wife, Yelana was her name, was beside him. Her dress was covered in blood.

“What happened?” you are on high alert instantly, looking at their little daughter lying unconscious in her father’s arm.

“The Ravens! It was the Ravens! They ambushed our little Yela when she was playing in the forest! She is barely breathing and bleeding! Bleeding out of her stomach!”

“Put her down. Quick, be careful. Seokjin make space. We need the space.”

Seokjin stumbles to the side, clutching his little book while watching in horror as the crying parents have to lie down their little daughter. The blood has soaked through her dress, spilled all over her father’s tunic. She is barely breathing, looking to be in great pain.

You work quickly, diligently, carefully. Her dress you open, revealing the clashing wound on the side of her stomach. Seokjin feels disgusted. Not by the wound or the blood. But by who did this. The Ravens. His people hurt that little girl.

“How did this happen?” he asks the mother.

“Oh I don’t know”, she wails, “she was playing. She was merely playing. Why, oh why would they hurt my little girl? Why? She has done nothing wrong! She is just a little girl! Just a girl!”

“I’m so sorry”, he croaks, feeling his heart break when the mother begins crying miserably. She falls into her husband’s arms, who joins her painful wailing seconds later.

His people hurt that little girl.

Seokjin stares at her.

They hurt a little girl.

A child.

An innocent person.

“Seokjin!” your harsh voice rips him out of his painful trance.

“Y-yes?”

“Bring me the blood stopping potion. The one in the red bottle! Quick!”

Seokjin runs fast. He runs as fast as he can, fighting against his tears because of what his people did. He almost drops it as he hands it to you, apologizing for his clumsiness with a shaky voice.

“Bandages. Quick”, you however just bark your next order, already applying the potion to the little girl’s wound to finally stop the bleeding. A red glow fills the aura around her. The potion begins to work.

Seokjin can’t see that it does. He is too busy running and running and running to get the bandages. He has to be helpful. He has to save that little girl. His thigh is aching unbearably but he can’t let it stop him. He has to be quick.

He is limping as he runs, feeling out of breath.

“Bandages. Here.”

“Good. Open them. Get them ready, I will need them soon.”

“Yes! I will, oh god, I-I will.”

Seokjin works with shaking fingers. Oh why do they not want to open? Are they stuck together by magic? Come now, fingers! Work! You have to open those bandages! Open them!

“There we go”, he hears you say and watches as you straighten your back, “I closed the wound.”

“Oh by Frenya!” the mother and father exclaim behind him, “is she safe? Did you safe her?”

“Yes, you have nothing to worry about. The wound looked worse than it was. She will survive.”

Seokjin should feel relief, but he doesn’t. He is too shaken up. He can’t even be happy when the parents fall around your neck and thank you with loud sobs and promises of endless prayers for you.

He leaves in the end, once you told him to get some fresh air.

He doesn’t know what he did in that time. He sat, but felt numb in shock. He thought whilst thinking nothing at all. He felt whilst feeling nothing at all.

He is sitting on the stairs once you come out, staring at the ground with lifeless eyes.

“Hello there”, you greet him.

He blinks and turns his head. He doesn’t say anything, he just stares at you with glassy eyes.

“How are you feeling?” you ask him.

He shows you his shaking hand.

“I can’t stop shaking”, he says and laughs painfully, “is this normal?”

“Yes, worry not. I was so shaken in my first few years as a healer that I couldn’t sleep afterwards. It gets better with time.”

“Hah”, he lets out and laughs again.

You know that this was a nervous reaction. When the brain gets overwhelmed, it tends to tell the body to laugh because otherwise it would be unable to handle the stress.

“Forgive me for putting you through this”, you say and offer him a mug of tea, “here, drink this. It will lessen the shakes.”

He accepts it and drinks it with two hands holding the mug. He lowers it afterwards, keeping it balanced on his thigh. His fingers are playing with the handle. It made a faint clicking sound each time he graced his fingernails over the material.

“We did this”, he says.

“I don’t seem to understand.”

“My people did this”, he says and touches his chest, “we hurt a little child.”

You eye the covered raven tattoo on his chest and the way his fingers twist his tunic painfully tight.

“Don’t compare yourself to those monsters. You didn’t hurt her, you saved her life. You are not the same as them.”

“And yet I was, not so long ago”, he lowers his head, “fuck, what have I done?”

“Seokjin, look at me.”

He lifts his head just enough to be able to look into your eyes.

“Your past is messy and dark and filled with mistakes, but it has passed and it can’t define who you want to be in the present.”

He furrows his brows.

“So don’t say that your people did this, because those monsters aren’t your people anymore and you surely aren’t their people either.”

“You truly think so?”

“Yes, I truly do.”

He smiles and while it looked sad, it was also filled with relief.

“Thank you”, he says barely audibly before having to look away and rub at his eyes to stop them from tearing up.

You reach out to give his upper back a gentle pat. He wasn’t shivering as much anymore.

“You did great in there. I mean it, you helped me a great deal”, you praise.

“Thank you. I had no idea what I was doing.”

You laugh, giving his back a gentle rub.

“You still did great.”

“I’m so glad I did”, he says. He takes a deep breath, lifting his head not only to get rid of the tears but also to look at the stars, “it felt good to help another person.”

“Yes that is why I love being a healer. Now, there are losses and those days leave a great aching behind. But most days are like today, filled with worry and yet at the end”, you look at the moon and smile, “at the end they bring great happiness with them.”

“You are a great healer.”

You turn your head only to realise that Seokjin was looking at you. His eyes reflected the light of the moon, his pretty lips were curled into a warm smile.

By Frenya, your heart is fluttering and your stomach tingles. Oh, it is the most unfamiliar of feelings.

“Thank you”, you whisper, eyes racing between his' without wanting to break away.

Seokjin nods his head and touches his chest. He closes his fingers around the tunic.

"Can you heal me from this mark?" he asks.

"I don't know if I can. And even if I could, it would hurt unbearably."

"I'm willing to take it if that means that I’m finally rid of it", he says, eyes filling with tears and lips curling in a painful scowl, "I want to cut it off. Why does it have to be on me?" he croaks, clawing at his chest.

"Hey", you stop him from hurting himself by taking his hand, "don’t do that. You’ll only hurt yourself", you speak softly.

"I don't care. I want it gone."

"But I care", you whisper, tracing his knuckles.

Seokjin whimpers softly, teary eyes flitting to you. He sniffles but doesn’t cry any more.

"I promise you, we will find a solution together, but for now be patient please. I don’t want you to hurt yourself."

Seokjin hesitates, sniffles, lowers his eyes and nods his head.

"Thank you", you say and pull back, “I think I should see how our patient is doing”, you say and stand up. You fix the front of your tunic and clear your throat, “you should stay here and catch fresh air, I know that healing people isn’t for everyone.”

Seokjin looks up at you. His eyes seem softer than they usually do.

“Yes, I will”, he breathes and finally shows his teeth in a hopeful smile.

Yela’s parents pick her up after eight moons and nine suns. The little girl looks healthier and thanked you with a hug. She also thanked Seokjin, who could barely accept her hug in guilt. But Yela insisted and so Seokjin allowed her to hug him and smiled when she called him her saviour too.

It was a busy today. Once the months were cold and the ground was covered in white snow, people tend seek your help for sore throats, stuffy noses and terrible coughs. It wasn’t hard work and required more knowledge about medicine than skill and you really liked it. Seokjin stayed by your side and watched you work. He asked many questions at first, so you gave him one of your empty notebooks and your favourite quill and told him to write down whatever he learned for later. He did so happily, even going so far as to draw the different bottles of medicine and scribbling the illness they could heal whenever the day was calmer.

You just said goodbye to the last of your patients for the day, now turning to Seokjin. He is busy storing the bottles of medicine by name. It fills you with pride to see how far in his readings he has already come. He is truly such a diligent student.

“Today was very busy”, you say.

He lifts his head.

“Yes, you worked very diligently.”

He makes you smile.

“I saw that you took many notes as well”, you say, reaching for his book. You open it, having to chuckle at the very badly done drawings.

“Why are you laughing?” he asks, drawing closer to you so he could look into the book as well.

“It is just that you truly weren’t graced by the drawing goddesses.”

He gasps, widening his eyes, “I worked very hard on them”, he whines, pouting most cutely.

“Oh Seokjin”, you chuckle, patting his arm, “truly I can see your hard work, they are just terrible drawings.”

“This is outrageous. Give me back my book, you have lost the right to look”, he says, ripping it out of your grasp to press it against his chest instead. He looks beyond lovable right now, sulking with the sweetest expression on his face.

“Forgive me”, you giggle, giving his cheek a soft pet, “come, I shall make up for it with food. We shall eat the pork belly Godfry left with us.”

Seokjin huffs out air, “very well, but I will only forgive you if you fry it.”

You laugh, “you are difficult to bargain with, aren’t you?”

“Perhaps”, Seokjin says and gives you a boyish grin.

This night you enjoy perfectly crispy pork belly with some winter potatoes. Even Kukuruz gets his own portion, enjoying it by Seokjin’s feet with a content purr.

It becomes a regular thing that Seokjin stays with you as you work. At first he sits just a little far off to the right and writes in his book. But as days turn into weeks and Seokjin managed to fill two notebooks with his words and terrible drawings, you find yourself getting help from him more actively. Especially when patients come with sore throats or a nasty cold. You can be sure that Seokjin will wait for you with the right medicines and a proud sparkle in his eyes. He is truly such a diligent student.

You have run out of potions last night and so you spent your entire day brewing and preparing new ones. The sun has long past its zenith by now and the cottage smelled of herbs and warm oils. It was a good smell, one that even Kukuruz enjoyed as he slumbered by the window sill.

You close the now freshly filled bottle of healing potion, placing it on its destined place on your shelve.

Seokjin limps past you, carrying empty flasks for you to fill up.

“Is your leg acting up again?” you ask him with worry in your gaze.

“Yes, slightly”, he answers you.

“Come, take off your pants and sit. I will take a look at it”, you tell him.

“Oh no, it’s not that painful.”

“Doesn’t matter”, you dismiss him, “I should check on it regardless.”

Seokjin lowers his eyes and lets out a sigh of defeat.

“Very well, you won’t take no as an answer either way.”

So it happens that Seokjin strips to his undergarment and sits down on the patient bed, resting his weight on his hands.

“How long has it been hurting again?”

“Just a few nights.”

“A few nights? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to put more work on your shoulders. You have already so much to do now that the weather is so cold.”

“Oh silly man”, you give his thigh a soft slap, “you are no work.”

“Oh”, he lets out, lowering his head shyly just as his ears gain a red colour to them.

“Now, let’s see what the issue may be.”

You take off his bandages carefully, throwing them in your bucket of used bandages. You will wash them with the rest tomorrow.

The stitched wound looks well, except for one part where slight reddish wetness is covering his skin.

“Oh dear, look at that”, you say, touching the reddened skin beside it.

Seokjin hisses in pain, tensing his thigh.

“This is where it hurts.”

“No wonder it does. You rubbed it open.”

“Is it dangerous?”

You chuckle, shaking your head.

“Not when I take care of it”, you assure him, giving him a sweet smile. You caress his knee most tenderly, “stay here, I will get the healing potion.”

Seokjin watches you, sitting on the bed with his hands folded in front of his crotch. He feels most peculiar lately. He feels shy when he is bared to you. He didn’t feel like that in the past, but these days he does. In those moments he was plagued by worries of whether you would find enjoyment in his legs until he had to remind himself just how silly such worries were.

You return to the bed, setting everything you needed down.

“I will clean it first. Tell me if it hurts.”

Seokjin nods his head, feeling his skin tingle in goosebumps on the parts where your fingertips found their resting spot.

“How is that?” you ask him.

“It doesn’t hurt. It is just cold.”

You chuckle, “yes, I’ve kept the water outside for too long. It almost froze over.”

“The winter is really cold this year. I’m glad that I can spend it in warmth.”

You wash out the cloth and once done, return to cleaning him. His flesh is covered in goosebumps, they look most fascinating in the lights.

“So you have no huts in the Black Forest?”

“No. Rafkan believes that houses are the product of witches to keep the man lazy and weak. One can’t find their true strength when they are warm.”

“How silly”, you have to laugh, “if one gets oh so weak in the warmth then tell me why so many people freeze to death.”

“Yes”, Seokjin lowers his eyes shyly, “I never really understood the logic behind his words. I really hated the winters. I was lucky however, many of my brothers weren’t. Rafkan told us that those men were weakened by witches, but I believe that they simply lost to nature.”

“That is terrible”, you gasp, “my condolences, Seokjin.”

“Thank you”, he says, giving you a sad smile.

You retort it.

“I shall look at your wound now, so hold still.”

“I understand”, he says, watching you work in silence.

He will heal. There must have been too much pressure on his leg and therefore it managed to rub open. It is not deep and the stitches were in order as well. A good layer of healing potion will do the trick.

“I heard that the Queen gave many Ravens a safe home in Her walls.”

“Yes, She did.”

“And you didn’t want this life?” you ask him.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t want to be trapped”, he says, slightly defensive, “I spent most of my life trapped in this cursed forest”, he spits and points east at where the Black Forest was hidden, “and then I was supposed to find freedom locked behind stone walls? What’s better about that?” he says, speaking calmly again.

“Safety, warm food, soft beds, no poisonous fumes or monsters”, you say, counting them all on your fingers.

He scoffs and shakes his head, “well, I didn’t want that. I don’t….” he takes a deep breath and releases it through his nose, “….I don’t want to live under the hand of someone else anymore.”

His features seem sad. His eyes carried the heaviness of a burden in them. His teeth bit on his lower lip in contemplation.

“So you ran away because you wanted freedom?”

“Yes, freedom”, he straightens up, “that is what I want. I want freedom, to live solely for myself.”

He looks at you.

“I know that you women aren’t witches. I’ve learned as much from the Queen”, he says, eyes lingering on your lips before breaking away to look at your working fingers instead, “She isn’t a bad person, She is very kind if I may be honest and I know my life in the castle would have been nice…”, he falls silent as he drifts back into his thoughts.

You spread the first layer of healing potion on his skin as you wait for him to continue.

“…but I escaped Rafkan to finally gain my freedom and in Her castle I would have had to live under yet another ruler. No”, he shakes his head, “this was no life for me. So I ran away.”

He looks at his leg.

“I managed to put two nights between the castle and me when this cursed wolf attacked me and bit my leg and I fell into this cursed river”, he explains and laughs, “I must say, this was a wonderful escape. I not only escaped Her castle but almost life itself”, he jokes and laughs.

You chuckle softly.

“At least you met me.”

He looks into your eyes. He had stopped laughing for your eyes mesmerised him far too much. A peculiar feeling tingles in your chest. It felt warm and as if, for only a second, you found it hard to breathe.

“I meant that you were lucky you found me. I helped you. I, I didn’t mean you f-found love or – oh dear this is not what I meant I don’t – forgive me, I am making no sense”, you explain yourself.

Seokjin smiles without showing his teeth. It makes his cheeks seem puffier for only a second.

“Yes, I found you. I’m glad I did.”

“Really?”

“Yes, you saved me. So thank you.”

“Of course”, you whisper. You didn’t want to whisper, but for some reason your voice didn’t want to come out any other way.

You laugh, looking back at his leg because you needed to do something other than feel flustered. Perhaps having his naked skin beneath your fingertips wasn’t the best distraction, but at least like this, you couldn’t lose yourself in his eyes again.

You reach for the bandages.

“Hold that in place for me.”

He obeys diligently, allowing his finger to brush against your hand, which elicits a millions of goosebumps on your skin.

"You will find your freedom. I promise you", you say quietly, "I won’t stop until I find a way to remove your mark and then you can go wherever you want to", you find it hard to speak the words and you can’t figure out why it felt so difficult.

"Thank you", he whispers, fingers almost touching your knuckles before pulling back shyly.

It was a sunny day today. The air was still cold, but at least the skies were blue and the sun was bright. It made the walk to the riverbed quite wonderful.

You had an important job to do today. Yela’s parents sent a hawk this morning, informing you that they ran out of medicine for their daughter. Her wound was healing splendidly but Yela had another condition which made it hard for her to digest the sugar in food. She takes a potion to help her with that. You sent the hawk back with promises of delivering the potions to them later.

So you ate a quick breakfast and then began working on preparing the medicine. Seokjin insisted on helping and you allowed him. You had to sneak out for a quick moment to get water as Kukuruz informed you that his bowl was empty and that he wanted more. Of course you wouldn’t want your cat to feel parched, so you left the cottage when Seokjin was busy in the living quarters getting books on spells.

He is grinding the herbs when you come back. The book, which he found, he placed on the work table. He lifts his head upon hearing the door close, locking eyes with you.

“I thought they would lose their potency if I kept them for too long”, he explains.

“They don’t really, but one can’t be sure enough. Thank you”, you tell him, setting the bucket down next to the work table.

Mreow.

The black cat is circling your legs.

“Yes I got new water Kukuruz. Come, bring me your bowl and I will fill it up for you.”

Mreow.

“Now, now don’t talk back. I know you can do it.”

Meow.

“I heard that!” you call out.

“Can you truly understand your cat?”

“Yes, of course I can. Here, look”, you say and show him a delicate silver bracelet. There was a yellow stone in the middle, enclosed in a cage of branches, “I went to a sorceress and asked her for one of those cat talking bracelets.”

Seokjin widens his eyes.

“So they are truthful?” he gasps, “I have always thought them to be gimmicks.”

“Oh me too, but they are very true. I was oh so surprised to hear voices in my cottage until I realised that it was Kukuruz talking to me.”

The latter is currently strutting back to the bucket, carrying his wooden water bowl in his little mouth. He sets it down and looks up.

Mreow.

“Thank you.”

“What did he tell you?”

“He told me here you go, my bowl.”

“Hah, this is remarkable”, Seokjin says.

“Yes?” you kneel down to prepare the water for Kukuruz, “do you want to try?”

“Yes, please”, he exclaims with sparkling eyes. He giggles as you secure the bracelet on his wrist, turning his attention to Kukuruz afterwards, “Kukuruz?”

Mreow.

“Oh!” he exclaims, squeaking in happiness, “oh I can understand you.”

Mreow.

“No, this is my first time I am hearing your voice! Oh you sound deeper than I imagined you to sound.”

Mreow.

Seokjin giggles, leaning down to pet the cat’s head.

“It is nice to meet you too Kukuruz.”

He turns to you, giving you a blinding smile.

“This is the most remarkable invention”, he says, making you smile.

“You can keep it on for today.”

“Truly? You would allow me?”

“Yes, of course”, you allow him and pull your stool next to Seokjin to sit down, “shall I show you how to make this medicine?”

He nods his head.

“Well then”, you sneak a glance at the contents in the stone bowl, “you need to give the herbs five more grinds, they should be perfect then.”

“I understand”, he says and goes to work. You watch his hands as he works. They look elegant, his nails are clean and his nail beds look well-taken care of. It is surprising to see such hands on a Raven. You always expected them to be dirty and for their hands to be horrid to look at. But his hands aren’t horrid to look at, they are actually quite beautiful.

“Does the Queen look for you?” you ask him.

“I don’t know, I don’t believe She does. Perhaps She is already dead.”

“I don’t understand.”

Seokjin seems to hesitate.

“I shall tell you, but only if you promise me not to pull the knife on me again.”

You meet his eyes. He seems just slightly nervous of the truth.

“Fine”, you give in with a fond chuckle, “I shall hear you out.”

He gives you a grateful smile and looks back at the herbs.

“I finished grinding them, what should I do next?”

“Ah yes of course”, you say and reach for three different bottles of oils, “you must add five drops of treebark oil”, you explain and put the green flask next to his hand, “then one dash of Kreusel fish oil” you add, placing a spray bottle next to the flask, “and fill it up halfway with this”, you say and place a bottle of rosehip oil next to the others.

Seokjin nods in understanding and begins working.

You allow him to count the five drops and one dash, but ask him for his story once he uses the rosehip oil.

“Rafkan sent me to kill the Queen”, he begins, making you widen your eyes in surprise, “and I attempted to kill Her, but She was quicker and captured me.”

“So you were Her prisoner?”

“Just in the beginning. Should I mix it?”

“Yes, mix it until the candle burned down to the second line.”

He nods his head in understanding and mix it with the mortar.

"So why do you think that She might be dead already?"

"Because I believe that Rafkan will send more Ravens until She is dead", he explains, "we agreed on a signal once we were successful in killing Her. Send a raven back to him with Her cut off finger ties to its legs. That’s what he told me to do."

"This is gruesome."

"Yes and until this raven doesn’t return to him, Rafkan will continue sending boys into their…well", he laughs breathily, "perhaps it is a good thing those boys keep trying. At least they will find saving this way."

Seokjin looks at you.

"I have a little brother. Not through blood, but he is the dearest to my heart. His name is Jungkook. I really hope that Rafkan sends him next and that he will be caught and find freedom that way."

You smile softly, "I really hope so too. Is he like you? Forced to be someone he doesn’t want to be?"

Seokjin shakes his head, "he is so terribly influenced by Rafkan that it will be hard for the Queen to convince him", he says in a fond chuckle.

It makes you laugh as well. Even if you had no knowledge about Jungkook.

"I always wanted to flee", Seokjin continues, "that is why I volunteered when he asked. But Jungkook, he", Seokjin laughs painfully, "he called me hurtful things during our last conversation. I asked him to flee with me, but he refused and said stuff I know he didn’t mean."

"I'm sorry, that sounds painful."

"No, I’m not angry at him. He is still so young and he has so much to learn. I hope he will find the truth in the Queen’s castle and then heal from all the pain Rafkan caused him. I really wish this for him."

"I am sure that he will", you assure him, "maybe you can see him again one day."

"I really hope I will. I want to hug him if I ever do."

He smiles, laughs softly and looks back at the medicine.

"I'm rambling, I’m sorry."

"You really aren’t. So you said that She wanted to give you a home. But then you said that you were her prisoner. Did you lie?”

“No, I was free to move in the castle, but I wasn’t allowed to leave it yet. So in a way, I was still Her prisoner and I didn’t want that. I wanted to see the world.”

“I understand that. I heard that Rafkan doesn’t really allow you to leave. I bet going on this mission to kill Her felt like your key to freedom.”

He nods his head.

“Well, once your legs is healed completely I promise you that you can truly find it", you say and nudge his arm, “then you can finally leave my boring cottage. I’m sure you are looking forward to that.”

Seokjin turns his head to look at your face. He gives you a smile, which neither looks happy nor fake. It almost looks disappointed, as if he doesn’t want to think about the future you told him about.

“I, uhm”, you say, pulling your hand away, “oh look! The candle burned down. Now we have to fill it up quickly.”

Seokjin helps you. He pours and you hold the bottles. He also sneaks a glance or two at your face, which you retorted each time. You were so close. You were aware that it was only because you and him needed to work right now, but still, you were close and somehow this made your heart flutter again.

You finish the medicine by sticking a sturdy cork into the small bottle neck. Seokjin mimics the gesture on his bottles, doing so with his brows furrowed in concentration.

He also helps you with storing them in your basket, watching with great interest as you tug them in with a red cloth.

“So, I have to deliver them to Yela and her family now. I should be back by nightfall.”

Seokjin watches you put your fur and hood on. He stands up, erasing the distance between you and him.

“Can I come with you?” he asks almost shyly.

“You want to come with me?” you sound surprised.

He nods his head, “I want to help.”

“Oh don’t worry, they are not heavy. I can manage.”

“I understand”, he murmurs, lowering his eyes sadly. He seems so disappointed to be left behind.

“But fresh air would do you good”, you tell him because you couldn’t stand the thought of having Seokjin sit in your cottage with a sad expression.

Seokjin smiles happily, “thank you, I will get ready right away.”

Ten minutes later you and he are outside. Seokjin watches you lock your cottage. You turn to him and give him a shy smile.

“Let’s go, it is quite the long walk and we should hurry.”

“Where do we have to go?” he asks.

“Just past the town. It will take about an hour by foot.”

“I see, I have never been in town.”

“You have not?” you gasp.

Seokjin shakes his head, looking sad.

“Oh by Frenya, you truly haven’t seen a lot of the world, have you?”

He shakes his head again.

“Well then, I will show you a new spot today. Trust me, you will like the town. It is not big, but it is very good. The people are very welcoming and friendly. And I especially love the market place.”

“Why? Is the market place special?”

“No, but it houses a very beautiful statue of a wolf and I enjoy looking at all its details whenever I’m at the market”, you explain and sneak a glance at him, “worry not, it will not bite your leg.”

Seokjin laughs, which you retort. He has such a nice laugh. It is the kind of laugh which makes one want to laugh as well.

You pull closer to Seokjin once you enter the tense conifer tree forest.

“You have to be careful in these forests”, you tell him in a hushed voice.

“Why? Is it dangerous?” Seokjin gasps, sounding nervous.

“No, but there are tree fairies all around us and they like to play tricks.”

“Tricks?”

You nod your head, “they grow roots in front of people’s feet to trip them. Some even let pinecones drop on people’s heads. The whole forest laughs then if that happens.”

“I see. That sounds dangerous”, Seokjin says, eyes flitting to the ground in case magical roots appeared in front of his feet.

“They aren’t dangerous, don’t worry. They keep this forest alive and healthy and their tricks are harmless except for maybe a bruised knee and embarrassment in your chest.”

“I see”, Seokjin says, lifting his head to gaze at the canopy of prickly branches far above your heads, “do you know if there are tree fairies in the Black Forest?”

“There were once, but these days not anymore. They either died, got killed or fled to other forests. That is why the forest is so dark and why so many curses took root in it. There are no fairies left to heal and protect it.”

“Is this a natural thing to happen?”

“No. Tree fairies don’t abandon their trees, unless there is a reason for it. And in the case of the Black Forest, the reason came in the form of Rafkan. I didn’t witness the downfall of the forest as it happened hundreds of years ago, but the story of it is well known on this continent.”

“I heard that Rafkan is one of the Nïuri”, Seokjin says, “he always pretended to be mortal like the rest of us, but I never saw him eat or sleep, let alone age.”

“You saw right. Nïuri are a peaceful people, but not him. They use their immortality to nurture the earth, but he is nothing but a curse to every inch of earth he sets his evil feet on.”

“To imagine that the Black Forest was healthy once and that this awful person hurt it for hundreds of years”, Seokjin whispers and lets out a sad sigh, “I feel so much anger for him. I want to bring him so much harm.”

“I understand how you feel. I think about hurting him on many nights.”

Seokjin looks at you, “the Queen told me that Rafkan was the one who killed my parents and till now, I didn’t believe Her. What if She was right? I have a feeling that She was right all along.”

You could hear the grief in his voice. The heartbreak a painful realisation brings. The betrayal and anger and pain which follow.

“I can’t tell you, but I hope for your heart that She was wrong. Nobody should have to live with the murderer of their parents.”

Seokjin furrows his brows, “I want to hurt him”, he confesses with a trembling voice, “I want to hurt him until he begs me to stop.”

“I know, oh I know how you feel”, you say softly, stepping closer to hold his hands.

You stop. Droplets of melting snow rain down on your heads from the branches high above. Seokjin’s quick breathing creates white clouds in the air. His fingers are cold, closing around your fingers almost desperately.

“But Seokjin, seeking revenge on him won’t heal the wounds he left.”

“No, but at least it will stop them from opening up over and over again.”

“I understand you, I truly do. I lost my beloved aunt to Rafkan and if this cursed person were to ever appear in front of me, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to kill him. But seeking for it?” you pull him closer, tighten your grip on his hands, let your eyes get lost in his’, “seeking for it will give you more grief than relief. Please believe me. Believe me when I tell you that healing far, far away from him will feel better in the long run than seeking him one last time.”

“Are you scared that I might become the man I was in the past? Is that why you are telling me all of this?”

“No, I know you. You were never meant to be a Raven and you will never fall back into your old habits again”, you assure him with a fond smile on your lips, “and that is why I don’t want you to go back to that place. Distance keeps the memories at bay, while propinquity burns new holes into your heart.”

Seokjin breaks eye contact after a second, lowering his head with an exhausted sigh.

“It hurts”, he confesses in a whisper, “I was four years of age when Rafkan rescued me after masked bandits slit my parents’ throats a-and to imagine that I called their murderer my father for so many years unbeknownst to his true nature, hurts me so much that I can barely breathe.”

“It hurts me too. Rafkan deserves to be ripped apart by Morguls for what he did to you and so many other poor boys. If there is anything I can do to lessen the pain, I will do it.”

“Just…” Seokjin hesitates, lifts his eyes, hesitates. He takes a cautious step closer, “can I be held? For just a second.”

“Yes”, you whisper, closing your arms around him to pull him into a tight and soothing hug.

Seokjin drapes his arms around your waist instantly and rests his cheek on your shoulder. Despite his stature, he feels fragile in your arms. You find no peculiarity in that, knowing very well why he felt as small as he did. Coming to terms with your hurtful past leaves one broken and weak. You hope that this measly hug is enough to heal even a little part of him.

He shudders in an exhale.

“Is this how hugs feel?” he whispers.

“Have you never been hugged before?”

He shakes his head, “it feels so…healing.”

You smile. It was of both sad and happy nature. Sad because someone as gentle as Seokjin should have never lived so long without being hugged. And happy because he finally found healing through it.

“Thank you”, he breathes and you answer him by patting his upper back slowly.

He steps back soon after, revealing his teary eyes to you. He hides them when he watches with how much worry your features fill.

“It’s the wind”, he lies, wiping the tears away, “it’s so cold.”

“It is acceptable to cry. Never apologise”, you assure him, taking a step back because otherwise you would have reached for his cheeks and kissed his tears away and you know that this wasn’t in your place to do.

“Hah”, he lets out, cheeks and ears gaining in sudden colour, “we should probably keep walking, shouldn’t we?” he asks, carrying embarrassment in his voice.

“Yes, we should”, you say, feeling oh so flustered yourself.

You deliver the medicine to Yela and her parents. They thank you with a freshly baked honey cake. It smelled of cinnamon and cloves and had a yellow colour to it, almost as if turmeric had tainted it.

You leave for the village afterwards, now that you had time to truly show Seokjin around. His pretty eyes seemed to light up more and more the closer to the village you came. You prefer that view over the sad betrayal he carried in the forest just hours prior.

“Here it is. My favourite statue”, you tell him, stopping in front of the statue of the wolf, “isn’t it beautiful?”

It was made out of dark bronze, except for its left paw. The touch of countless people turned it golden.

Seokjin studies it, “yes it is. The teeth look so real.”

“Yes, indeed. And look”, you say, touching its golden paw, “it is said that if you rub the wolf’s paw thrice all your wishes will come true.”

Seokjin reaches out and rubs the paw of the wolf. He squeezes his eyes shut and whispers something you can’t make out. Then he opens his eyes.

“What did you wish for?”

“I can’t tell you, otherwise it won’t come true”, he says, making you smile fondly.

“Very well then, keep your secrets. Come, I’ll show you to the marketplace.”

Seokjin follows, looking left and right with great interest. His eyes are sparkling greatly. He seems so content.

“Do you know why wolves carry such great importance in the Night Queendom?” you ask him.

“Is it because we have so many wolves living here?”

“Not quite.”

“Well, what is it then?”

“Did you know that Woltron and his pack are actually old gods?”

Seokjin looks at you with widened eyes.

“No, I didn’t. Is this really true?”

“Indeed it is”, you nod your head, “and that is why we cherish wolves so greatly, because Woltron and his pack watch over us and our lands.”

“I see. You know so much.”

“Yes, my mother told me a lot about our history”, you nudge his arm, “I can tell you everything you want to know. You just have to ask.”

“Really?”

“Yes of course.”

“Well then I want to know. Are the Nourishing Fields really endless?”

“Well, in the literal sense they aren’t, but they are so big and so wide that they seem endless.”

“I see”, Seokjin says and blushes, “I want to see the Nourishing Fields.”

“You can, I promise you.”

“Really?”

“Of course, once the months are warmer again and the days longer, you can go wherever you want”, you give him a smile, “you can finally see the world.”

You expected him to be happy, to retort your smile and show excitement in his eyes, but for some unexplainable reason he seems sad.

“Yes, I guess I can see the world”, he murmurs and sighs.

“What’s the matter?” you ask him, “do you not want to see the world?”

“I do, but I just…” he trails off, looks to the side as if he was flustered, “it doesn’t really matter. I’m just scared, I guess.”

“Scared”, you repeat, “I see. It must be scary to wander the world, but I am sure that once you took those first few steps you will find great enjoyment in it. Worry not Seokjin”, you place your hand on his upper arm, feeling how his muscles tense, “you will love it.”

“Will I?” he asks, turning back to you. You don’t miss the way his eyes seem to linger on your lips for just a second or the way his fingers reach for your hand when you retreat your touch.

“Of course”, your voice felt hoarse as you spoke and for just one second you felt this unbearable urge to reach back and touch his hand. You let out a nervous laugh, touching the side of your neck for your pulse felt terribly hasty in your throat, “well, uhm”, you begin and clear your throat, “we are here. This is the marketplace.”

Seokjin lets his eyes wander over the spacious plaza. The stalls are empty, standing in darkness whilst casting the blackest of shadows on the paving. Dogs are circling the stall in which butchers sell their merchandise. They must smell the meat, looking for it without the knowledge that their search will be unsuccessful.

On the only lantern a big owl is sitting, staring down at the two of you with big, unmoving eyes and every now and then, its eerie call cuts through the silence of the night.

“It’s very…empty”, Seokjin says, making you chuckle quietly.

“Yes indeed. We picked out a terrible time. Come tomorrow morning and this place is bustling with life. Right there”, you point at one of the abandoned stalls, “is where the best cake maker in town sells her goods. Oh Seokjin, the cakes she sells are magical.”

“I ate cake in the Queen’s castle. It’s really sweet.”

“Indeed and it’s so delicious, wouldn’t you say?”

Seokjin nods his head, “I liked it a lot. I want to learn how to make cake.”

“I can teach you, if you want to.”

Seokjin looks at you with sparkling eyes, “you would do that for me?”

“Of course I would”, you give him a smile and this time around Seokjin retorts it.

Your eyes flit to it. Lingering. His lips look so pretty when he smiles. Even now in the bad lighting you find great beauty in them.

“What is it?” Seokjin asks you, stopping his smile for your intense gaze is flustering him.

“Oh dear”, you murmur, turning away with a fluttering heart, “I don’t know. I think, I must be tired. I keep zoning out on…” you falter in embarrassment. You don’t want to expose yourself, “…on different spots”, you lie.

“Ah, I see. Well, then. Do you want to walk home?”

“Home”, you repeat, finding yourself looking at his lips again, “yes, we could do that, couldn’t we?”

You prepare warm tea for the both of you once home. The nights may be warmer again, but walking in its wet coldness for hours still managed to freeze your limbs. You have both done your nightly washing-up and changed into thick sleeping clothes. You laid out a pair of woollen socks, which you made during calmer moments, for both you and Seokjin as well.

“There you go”, you say, handing Seokjin his cup of elderflower tea, “this will warm you.”

“Thank you”, Seokjin says.

You sit down on the fur next to him, joining him in his relaxing task of watching the flames in the fireplace dance.

“Today was quite the productive day”, you say.

“Yes, we managed to do a lot of tasks”, he agrees.

“Indeed. Oh Seokjin”, you relax with a sigh, “I will miss you dearly once you are gone. You are truly of such great help.”

Seokjin looks at you with rosy cheeks. He fumbles with the edge of his cup, feeling warm in his chest right where his heart flutters.

“And you are a diligent student”, you sneak a glance at him, “you would make a fine healer.”

Seokjin lowers his gaze, touching his burning ear, “you think so?” he whispers.

“Yes, I truly do”, you whisper, gazing at his features. Oh why must he be so beautiful? If only you didn’t like his face so much, if only you didn’t find so much beauty in his soul, maybe then you wouldn’t ache so much each time you thought of him leaving one day.

You turn away, aching too much to bear his beauty any longer. The flames dance calmly, swaying left and right. You take a sip of your tea. It tastes good and fills your stomach with warmth.

"I have something for you", you tell him.

"For me?"

You stand up to get it from your shelf, returning to him with a racing heart. Seokjin helps you sit down by holding your hand, eyes flitting to the piece of paper you are holding.

You place said paper on his lap, "open it."

Seokjin does so without hesitation, widening his eyes in shock.

"Is this", he gasps, looking at you.

"A potion to remove tattoos, yes. I found it at the market yesterday and I wanted to surprise you", you say, giggling excitedly.

"You actually meant it", he whispers, clutching it to his chest with teary eyes.

"Of course I did."

Seokjin smiles, "thank you. I don’t know what to say."

"Don't say anything. I'm just happy that I can help you heal from your past."

Seokjin nods his head and seeks you out by resting his head on your shoulder. He exhales deeply, eyes falling closed and fingers coming to play with the hem of your tunic. Mindlessly and innocently, but you feel weak nonetheless.

"Thank you", he whispers.

"Mhm", you let out, patting his thigh twice before pulling back again.

Why does he have to leave? Why him? Why?

“Where will you go once the months are warmer again?” you ask him even if asking that question hurts you. You don’t want him to leave, but it would be selfish of you to hold him back. He should experience freedom. That is what he deserves.

For a second he is silent, looking into the flames.

“I don’t know” he says quietly.

“I can advise you visit the Nourishing Fields first. Oh, they have the most beautiful colour during summer.”

“Are they far from here?”

“Just a five days walk perhaps. That is if you would spend each passing hour of those days walking”, you say and laugh quietly.

Seokjin can’t quite bring himself to laugh as well. The thought of wandering so far from you makes his heart ache.

“So I would say that you could reach them in about a week if the roads are good.”

“Have you ever been to the Nourishing Fields?”

“Yes, many times actually. My cousin lives close to them and I like to visit him when it is warm.”

You take a sip of your tea. It has cooled down just enough to make it bearable to drink.

“I truly enjoy this tea, it tastes so good.”

Seokjin takes a sip as well.

“Yes, it is very good.”

“Indeed” you say and nudge his head with your chin.

Seokjin lifts his head. You are giggling at him.

Seokjin wants to giggle too, he wants to smile at you just like you do, he wants his eyes to sparkle the way yours do and yet in this moment as the taste of elderflowers was lingering on his tongue and his temple felt your lingering warmth, he couldn’t. He ached so terribly. The snow has begun to melt and if the nights continue to be as mild as they were lately, then soon the earth will thaw as well. And that means that the warmer months have finally come back and Seokjin has to leave your cottage to explore the world.

“I don’t want to see the world”, he blurts out.

“What?” you stop laughing, studying his features with confusion in your eyes.

“I don’t want to see the world.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t want to see the world if, if that means that I have to leave. I don’t want to run on the Nourishing Fields or climb the Snowy Mountains or, or swim in foreign lakes if that means that I can’t see you anymore.”

“Seokjin, what are you saying?”

“You are asking me where I want to go first once the months are warmer again, but truth be told, the thought of going anywhere without you hurts me so terribly much that I want to wail”, he confesses with glassy eyes.

“Oh…”

“Perhaps I want to go to the town first”, he says and lets out a breathy laugh, “yes, that is the place I want to go. I want to go to the town in the greyness of dawn when you are still sleeping and I want to go there to buy the biggest piece of cake for you and then I will carry it home and I will be careful not to meet any tree fairies. And once home, I will feed Kukuruz and check on you and I will see that you are still sleeping. So I will prepare the cake and I will put a flower on the plate with it and perhaps I will sprinkle some sugar on it too because it is a special occasion and then I will bring it to you and wake you by, by”, he inhales shakily, “by kissing your forehead and I will watch how you smile at me and how you eat the cake deliciously and I will be happy.”

He rubs at his eyes, wiping his tears away.

“So that is where I will go once the months are warmer. I will go to the town to buy you a cake.”

You sniffle.

“That is a good place”, you whisper, intertwining your fingers with his’.

“So please don’t make me leave. Please let me stay by your side.”

You nod your head, fighting with your tears. You guide his hand to your lips, kissing his knuckles with all the love you have for him. You rest your cheek against them afterwards, allowing your warm tears to roll down his skin.

“I didn’t want you to leave either, but I didn’t want to tell you because seeing the world was your dream”, you confess.

“I can already see the world when I look into your eyes.”

You open your eyes, meeting the world in his eyes.

“I can see it too”, you whisper, “it’s beautiful.”

Seokjin smiles with his cheeks blushing. He squeezes your hand. You squeeze it right back, lifting your head to get closer to him. Your noses are almost touching, your lips are so close, your vision is just slightly blurry.

“Can I kiss you?” you ask him in a barely there whisper.

He closes his eyes, “please kiss me.”

“Oh Seokjin”, you sigh, cupping his cheek.

Seokjin closes his eyes with a sigh, meeting you halfway with yet another sigh rolling over his tongue.

You feel how easy life becomes once you kiss him. The air is lighter around you and filled with magic. Your cabin, once dark, is sparkling in the colours of the universe. Your skin prickles and in your tummy millions of butterflies flutter. This is the best feel you ever experienced.

You sigh and cup his other cheek, pulling him closer. Seokjin allows you, touching your upper arms with shaky fingers. His heart is racing so much that he fears that you might hear it. He has never kissed before, but he is glad that he didn’t. For having your lips be the first lips he ever kisses feels like wondrous magic to him.

A magic which soon robs him of air. He breaks the magic, only to realise that it still remains as flutters of his heart and tingles in his stomach.

You stay close, running your thumbs over his soft cheeks and poking his nose with your own. You feel so lightheaded. Kissing him felt like paradise.

“This felt magical”, he whispers, sighing when you brush your thumb over his cheekbone.

“Yes, it did. Oh Seokjin, I had wanted to kiss you for so long.”

“You, you did?” he stutters, blushing.

You move your head back just so you could gaze at his perfect features.

“Yes”, you whisper, tracing his pretty lips, “you have the most beautiful smile and your face”, you run your fingertips along his cheeks up to his forehead and down the slope of his nose.

Seokjin feels shivers run down his spine at the touch, having his eyes closed.

“Oh your face”, you whisper, “I don’t want to stop looking at it.”

You kiss him, surprising him so much that his stomach tightens and his heart skips a beat in his chest. He sighs shakily, allowing you to tilt his head so you could reach him easier. You kiss so much better than he ever could, you know so much more, he thinks. He believes that if he allows you to guide him, then he won’t be able to disappoint. He really doesn’t want to disappoint. Not you. You are so wise, so full of knowledge, so skilled and if he disappointed you with his kisses, he would never forgive himself.

So he lets you hold his face while he rests his hands on your waist. He lets you trace his lips with your tongue while he whimpers softly. He lets you lay him down on the fur, whilst gasping your name.

Your elbows are caging in his head, your hands smooth over his hair. Your chest is resting against his torso in this position and Seokjin can feel how quickly your heart is racing. So you feel just as excited as he does. Oh, he feels so reassured in his feelings because of it.

You break the kiss, tracing his lips with your tongue. They feel so tender, almost sensitive even. Oh, how long have you kissed him already? You can’t remember.

“Your lips are so soft”, you whisper, chasing them in a slow kiss.

Seokjin keens quietly, hands reaching up to cup your cheeks. His palms feel clammy against your skin.

Giggling, you break the kiss just so you could gaze at him.

Your eyes soften upon meeting his glimmering gaze. You tilt your head to the side and caress his soft cheeks, “you look so beautiful.”

His plumb lips wear the deepest of pinks, his cheeks match, as do his ears. His raven hair is just slightly tousled in the front, hanging into his brows. He is breathing quickly, gazing up at you with his dark brown, pretty eyes.

“You look beautiful too”, he answers you in a small voice.

"I want to keep kissing you."

"Please do. I want it to too."

"Oh Seokjin, my dearest", you sigh and lean down.

Seokjin gasps loudly when instead of kissing his lips, you lean down to kiss his neck.

“O-oh”, he gets out, lifting his shoulders in instinct for the sensation was foreign to him.

You flinch back instantly.

“Forgive me. I, I should have asked", you stutter.

Your eyes meet.

"No", he shakes his head vigorously, "it felt really good. It surprised me, that is all", he whispers.

“Yes? So I can do it again?” you ask him, "please?"

Seokjin blushes vividly, avoiding eye contact.

“I’m scared”, he confesses.

“Scared? Sacred of what?”

“Of, of…of disappointing you.”

“Disappointing me? Oh Seokjin, why would you disappoint me?”

“Because I am a-”, he exhales shakily, “I have no knowledge of being intimate. And, and you know so much. You are so skilled and, and probably had men better than me and I don’t want to disappoint.”

“Seokjin, my dearest”, you say, soothing him by caressing his cheeks, “the fact that those men aren’t by my side anymore means that in the end, they couldn’t truly satisfy me. You aren’t worse than them, on the contrary, I have never felt so bewitched by anyone before you.”

“Really?”

“Yes”, you promise him, “so worry not. You are my diligent student after all, I am certain you will be a natural in intimacy as well.”

“I’m your student?” he gasps, ears turning the deepest reds instantly.

You giggle. Seokjin giggles too.

“Of course you are. You are my very good student”, you say, dancing your fingers over his collarbones.

Seokjin lets out a small moan, widening his eyes as he squirms underneath you. He seems to really like it when you praise him. Oh, that makes you so happy. You want to keep praising him just so you can make him look at you in that adorable fashion he does right now.

"Perhaps you are even my best student", you say, basking in the joy you feel when he squirms a second time.

“___”, he gets out, lips parting and staying that way. He hooks his fingers behind your neck, rolling his head to the side just enough to reveal his flushed neck to your eyes.

"My best student", you whisper and lean down to place a subtle kiss on his neck.

This time, Seokjin reacts in a sigh, head rolling to the side completely and eyes falling closed. His fingers slip from your neck, tangling in the fur in a shy and desperate grip.

Your own close around a bundle of his hair, mind falling into the droopiness of worshipping his vulnerable neck. His skin feels so soft under your lips. And hot. Oh so utterly hot. As if a fire was keeping it warm. You feel the sensation with three kisses and then a shy lick follows.

Seokjin makes a soft sound, touching your hips only to pull away again. Another twist of the fur. Shy avoidance of what he truly craves.

“Don't pull away. You are allowed to touch me”, you encourage him with a whisper against his jawline.

“But where?”

“Where do you want to touch me?”

“Your torso.”

His answer makes you smile. You kiss along his pulse point, tickling him with gentle bites.

“Then my torso it is. Touch me, my diligent student”, you rasp, making him shiver.

His hands grasp your hips, squeezing them with a certain strength. It is the kind of strength that lets you know just how incredibly affected he is by the situation. And that perhaps he had craved to touch you for the longest time.

“That's it, your touch feels wonderful”, you praise him, moving his head by tugging on his hair most gently.

He rolls it to the other side, exposing his unkissed neck to your eyes. His skin is tinted pink, looking beautiful like this.

“You are so beautiful”, you breathe, kissing him with a racing heart.

“Ah”, Seokjin lets out, running his hands up along your sides, “oh”, he sighs and shivers. He never even thought about how sensitive his neck is. He wonders if he is different and if such sensitivity is normal. He also wonders if he is allowed to shiver oh so incredibly much or if he is acting inappropriately.

You take his earlobe between your teeth then and Seokjin swears that never before, his thoughts turned off as quickly as they did right now.

His fingers stutter, coming to an involuntary pause right underneath your armpits. The bite just feels so good. Seokjin has to sigh and then call your name.

“Is this enjoyable?” you ask him in the sweetest voice.

“I, I think something is wrong with me.”

“Truly?” you lift your head, eyes running over his features, “what is the matter? Where does it hurt?”

He shakes his head, “no, it is just that…that my neck.”

“What about your neck?”

“When you kiss me, I feel sensations down my back. Like shivers and, and they are in my fingertips as well and between”, he lowers his eyes, “I think it affects my, ahm, my cock as well.”

"Oh dear", you can’t stop yourself from breaking into the fondest of chuckles, "my dearest Seokjin, there is nothing wrong with you. On the contrary, everything is perfectly fine."

"But why does it feel so hot? A-as if fire fairies are close."

"You are fine", you assure him, smoothing out his hair, "oh Seokjin, this is supposed to happen. Your cock is supposed to harden."

Seokjin widens his eyes, mouth falling open.

"Oh."

You giggle, poking the tip of his nose with your fingertip. He looks oh so endearing.

"Do you want to kiss my neck as well? I react differently than you do."

"You do?"

You nod your head.

"So your core doesn’t harden? Like I do?"

You chuckle, "how about you kiss my neck and I'll show you?"

"Yes", Seokjin nods his head passionately, "I want to."

"Great", you say, lying down in the fur beside him.

Seokjin props himself up on his elbows, looking down at you with big eyes. Like an innocent deer caught eating one of your plants. You love this view so very much.

You roll your head to the side and tug the collar of your tunic down, exposing your neck that way.

"Kiss it. Kiss me, dear Seokjin", you sigh.

Seokjin exhales shakily, doing so to still the racing of his heart. Not that this helps. On the contrary, it only worsens it. He is so nervous and scared to disappoint.

He lowers his head, holding his breath for the next part.

His lips make the softest of sounds as he places his first kiss upon your skin. He pulls back afterwards.

"Is that right?" he asks shyly.

"Yes, it feels so good", you assure him, "do it again. More. Much more."

Seokjin feels happy. He did well! Without wasting another second, he lowers his lips back to your neck. Your skin is soft, your pulse is tickling him, your throat produces the smallest of moans.

Seokjin closes his eyes and dares to weave his fingers in your hair as best as possible. He doesn’t tug like you did, he merely wants to hold a part of you as he kisses your neck.

“This is so good”, you sigh, feeling yourself shiver uncontrollably.

You had lovers in your past. Not many, but just enough to figure out what you enjoyed and what you didn’t. Most were mediocre, many were terrible and only a few were good. And you didn’t care enough about them to want them to stay. They were nice to have for the time being, but didn’t leave a hole of yearning once they left again. Most kissed your neck as well and the very few who refused to, were thrown out the moment they did. But they were all different. You realise this much now that Seokjin is kissing your neck.

They didn’t leave you feeling oh so breathless from mere neck kisses. They didn’t leave you craving for more of their touch. But Seokjin does. Oh, how he does.

You grab his hand and place it atop your breast.

"Oh?" Seokjin lifts his head, gawking at you with widened eyes.

"Massage it softly. It feels so good", you tell him.

Seokjin gives your breast a soft squeeze, watching with heat between his legs as this makes you arch your back.

"Just like that. Keep doing it just like that", you sigh, "oh Seokjin, dearest", you moan and overcome by your emotions you pull him down into a passionate kiss.

Seokjin whimpers, kissing you back sloppily at first before he finds his rhythm. His hand continues massaging your breast, becoming more and more confident the deeper you kiss him.

Your tunic is thin enough to allow his unfiltered warmth to reach your skin. His touch is so gentle and yet filled with such passion. For someone who never held a woman's breasts before tonight, Seokjin knows exactly how to bewitch you.

"Seokjin", you break the kiss to moan his name, "Seokjin, I want more. Much more."

"What do you want?" he asks breathily.

"I want to have you. Bared."

"Oh."

Seokjin gulps.

"Do you want the same? You are allowed to deny me."

Seokjin lets out a small laugh, lowering his head giddily.

"I never did such a thing before", he whispers, "but I want to do it with you", he says, lifting his head to gaze at you with sparkling eyes, "I really want to do it."

He makes you smile.

"Just one question. I have one question."

"Ask me, my dearest."

"Will it hurt?"

"No, it will feel magical."

"Even more magical than a kiss?"

"Yes", you smile, "even more than that."

"I, I see", Seokjin blushes vividly, "oh by Frenya, this is making me fluster."

You giggle, "you are so precious", you gush, rubbing your hands up and down his chest, "so shall we take our bottoms off?"

Seokjin nods his head, "yes, I would like that."

And so you begin undressing.

"It's not like I haven’t seen you naked before, is it?" you joke, painting even more pink onto his cheeks.

He giggles shyly, lowering his eyes.

"Yes, I guess you have", he whispers, "but it’s different tonight, isn’t it?"

"Yes, it’s exciting", you say, placing your pants to the side.

You are on your knees. Seokjin is mirroring your position. His tunic is reaching him by his thighs, hiding his now exposed cock from your eyes. The dent is still visible however, drawing your eyes to it.

"You ahm", Seokjin begins.

You draw closer to him, "you look beautiful", you say, touching his chest.

"You too", he says, eyes lingering on your middle. Your tunic hides it from him as well.

"Do you want to see?"

"Can I really see it?" he is almost gasping the question.

In one swift movement you have taken off your tunic, throwing it behind you mindlessly.

"Oh, ahm, oh?" Seokjin lets out, eyes widened and racing all over your newly exposed body.

You pose for him, enjoying his undivided attention to the fullest.

"What do you think?"

"This, this…this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Are you real?" he gushes, reaching out only to halt. His eyes flit up. "Can I touch?"

"Yes my dearest."

Seokjin exhales shakily, placing his hands on your waist while his eyes race over your chest.

"You feel so soft and warm. And, and your breasts are so…." he cradles them in his hands, "...beautiful", he whispers shakily. His eyes fill with the slightest of tears, "I missed out on so much", he croaks.

"Don't be upset. You have all the time in the world to catch up with all the things you missed out on", you assure him.

He smiles, dancing his thumbs over your nipples gently, "yes, I guess I have", his smile grows, "I am genuinely happy", he confesses and draws closer just to pull you into an adoring kiss.

You feel your knees wobble because of it, not having expected him to take initiative. You love that he did, losing yourself in the passionate dance of lips and eager tongues while your hands travel over his torso.

It happens that Seokjin loses his tunic at some point of this kiss, discarding it somewhere behind him. Your bodies chased each other instantly, your lips fell back into the dance. Seokjin kissed you even deeper after feeling your naked skin against his own.

Now you are both groping each other, hands on the other’s hips in a desperate battle of who gets to pull the other closer. His cock is rubbing between your stomachs, leaving wet imprints behind. Your own middle is wet, dripping down your inner thigh.

"I can't breathe", he whispers between tongue kisses.

"Neither can I", you answer him, "give me your hand."

Seokjin moves his head back to look at you in curiosity. He places his hand into your palm, tilting his head to the side.

"Do you want to feel how you affect me?"

"Yes please."

You guide his hand between your legs, making sure that two of his fingers part your soaked folds.

"You are wet", he gasps, widening his eyes.

"I know", you sigh, guiding his touch up to your clit. You show him how you enjoy it with your chest heaving up and down in a deep, shaky gasp, "that feels so good…"

"It does?" he gets out before he moves his fingers on his own, "like this? Is this how you did it?"

"Yes", you sigh, "just a little to the left."

Seokjin fixes his position, moaning with you as this makes you shudder in reaction.

"Right there", you sigh, tilting your head back, "oh Seokjin…"

"I can't believe that you are real", he whispers and overtaken by his emotions he chases you, lips claiming the emptiness of your neck and fingers exploring your wet cunt. He kisses you sloppily, moaning blissfully while his fingers rub circles into your clit.

"Yes, yes, oh yes", you chant, feeling your entire body sink into the hottest flames of pleasure.

It is not long and you tell Seokjin to bury two of his fingers deep inside your dripping hole. And Seokjin obeys, cursing under his breath because he expected everything but not for your core to be as warm and wet as she was. With your instructions, he begins moving his fingers while his thumb rubs your clit.

"You are so wet", he croaks, curling his fingers, "I can't believe you are real."

"It feels so good", you sigh, rewarding his perfect efforts by wrapping your hand around his aching length. You begin moving, forcing Seokjin’s touch to falter in pure shock.

"What- ah- what", he stutters, hand wrapping around your wrist and hips moving back in a desperate attempt to flee the unbearable burning of bliss.

"Relax. I can make you feel good too", you encourage him, smiling at him even if his fingers between your legs make it hard to function.

"This, this is so much", he keens, writhing in your hold.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"I, I don’t know yet."

"Then how about I do this?"

You move your hand up and down his length slowly, making him squeeze his eyes shut and whimper.

"How is that?" you ask him.

"Don't stop, please", he begs with his voice slightly pitched.

"I won’t", you promise him, running your hand up and down his length, "you are so beautiful. Such a good boy", you whisper, feeling his cock throb in reaction.

"Oh god", he keens, dropping his head in exhaustion, "oh god, oh god."

"I know, it feels like a lot doesn’t it?" you ask in a soothing voice, massaging his sensitive tip. It fits perfectly into your palm, wetting your skin with his excited pleasure.

Seokjin nods his head, chasing you with a roll of his hips. You hold him back with a gentle grip of his waist, caressing his skin as your fingers dance down his length again. You cup his balls, massaging them slowly.

"Very heavy", you tease lovingly, "you must have so much pressure built up over the years, mhm?"

Seokjin nods his head, letting out a breathy moan.

"Of course you do. That’s what I'm here for now, I’ll take such great care of you", you rasp, taking his cock again to jerk it slowly yet precisely.

"Please don’t stop, ah", he begs in a high-pitched moan.

"I won’t, my dearest. Keep moving your fingers. Can you do that for me?"

Seokjin obeys with a shaky moan and his lips parting in bliss. It is so hard to concentrate on pleasuring you, but he wants to do it. He wants to make you feel as good as you currently make him feel.

"A little to the right", you say.

Seokjin fixes his mistake, throbbing in your hand when you reward him with massages on his frenulum.

"There we go. You are such a diligent student. Such a good, wonderful boy", you praise, basking in the blissful shudder your sweet words send through his body.

You fall into a kiss just seconds later. It is more breathy moans and weak kisses than anything, but it is perfect the way it is. Weak lips, uncoordinated licks, more moans than kisses. All of it is an image of how you both feel. Too overtaken by pleasure to truly function and yet desperate for the other’s kiss. You can’t remember if you ever truly felt that desperate for a man's kiss. Maybe you never did. Seokjin feels so very right, oh so right.

"Keep going, just like this", you encourage him, feeling yourself shudder in bliss when he begins rubbing circles into your clit. His thumb is so soft, the pressure is just right. Maybe that tiny bit too strong, resulting in you dancing on the edge of overstimulation, but it feels so good to dance. It makes your highs feel that much more rewarding whenever you do.

"It's so hard to concentrate", Seokjin whimpers.

"I know, but keep going. You are doing such a great job", you whisper with unoccupied hand hooked behind his neck to keep his forehead resting against yours.

“___”, he moans, “___ it feels so good”, he keens, closing his eyes by letting them roll back.

“Yes, it really does”, you agree, closing your own eyes as a soft sigh slips past your parted lips.

To be so close to each other. It feels like a dream now that you are finally experiencing it. You may have found yourself daydreaming about how it would be to kiss him and touch him and make him feel good. Not much, because you feared that he might catch you in your crude thoughts, but whenever you did, you felt dizzy in desperation.

“Oh how I wanted this, Seokjin”, you sigh mindlessly.

“What do you mean?” he croaks, twitching in your hand.

“You are a dream”, you whispers, “my sweetest dream.”

Seokjin whimpers your name and kisses you. You are his dream too. His sweetest, dearest dream. For the longest time, Seokjin didn’t know why he felt the way he does about you. He couldn’t explain the flutters of his hearts, the tingles in his stomach, the desire to keep glancing at you whenever you weren’t looking. He couldn’t explain what all of those sensations meant for he never experienced them before. But he knows now. He knows that this is what being in love felt like. He really liked that feeling, wanting it to never ever stop.

Seokjin curls his fingers inside you, gasping into the kiss when this makes you clench around him.

“You are so warm”, he whimpers, chasing your taste with desperate licks.

“Seokjin”, his name was muffled by the kiss, but it was still clear in his ears. He kisses you even deeper because of it and you shudder in intense bliss.

“You are so tight”, he whispers, breaking the kiss because you gasped for air.

“I know”, your voice is pitched and barely wants to come out, “don’t stop, stay just like this.”

“What is happening? Why are you so…ah, tight”, he asks, struggling with his words because your hand begins to speed up around his length. His thighs shake in reaction, hot tension begins building up in his stomach.

“Do you feel the tension in your belly?” you ask him, swirling your hand around his leaking tip. It feels so hot under your touch, covering you with so much wetness.

“Yes”, he whimpers, curling his fingers desperately just so you keep rubbing him that way.

“That means you will orgasm soon. I feel the same.”

“Will it hurt?”

“No, it will feel like paradise”, you say and sigh, “Seokjin, I’m close”, you croak, pulling him back into the kiss.

Seokjin moans, thrusting into your fist because he felt like bursting. He wondered if something was wrong with him. Each time you rolled your thumb over his tip, his cock felt on fire and then when you stroked your hand down his shaft that fire spread to the rest of his body. Seokjin never felt that incredible before. It feels so good. It feels so, so good.

“Seokjin”, you whimper, body tensing and walls clenching around his fingers, “now.”

It starts off on your clit, spreading through the rest of your middle before the fire deep inside causes a chain of reactions. You moan loudly, pulling him close as your body begins chasing him in desperate rolls of your hips.

Seokjin sobs softly, “I can't hold back”, he confesses and then he swears that something unnatural happens to his body. His cock feels as if it goes up in flames, wet and hot liquid spurts out of him and the most peculiar part is that he doesn’t want it to stop. He wants it to continue.

Seokjin moans your name, sobs it again a second later, thrusts his hips into your hand, shakes uncontrollably.

“That's it, climax for me, that’s it”, you encourage him in deep growls, fingers almost bruising the back of his neck from how tightly you hold him as your own high prolongs because of his climax. It excites you just way too much. He looks so perfect when he finds release.

“O-oh god”, Seokjin gets out, falling around your neck once his orgasm stopped. He hugs you, shivering uncontrollably while he barely gets any air into his lungs, “W-what happened?”

You smile softly, wrapping your arms around him safely.

“Didn't that feel wonderful?”

“I, I don’t know. Oh god, I can’t breathe.”

You chuckle fondly, “lean onto me, my dearest. I'm right here.”

“Do you feel the same?”

“Yes, I feel so dizzy”, you say, closing your eyes to enjoy his warmth. You climaxed so wonderfully. Your whole body feels weak and so incredibly warm.

Seokjin shudders, releasing a big sigh of relief and happiness. He grows soft in your hold, hands squeezing your sides as his arms close further around you.

“This was so nice”, he whispers, “it scared me at first, but it was really nice.”

You smile, “trust me, you won’t feel scared soon. You'll probably grow quite addicted to the feeling.”

Seokjin nods his head, “I think so too. I already want it again.”

You laugh, moving back just enough that you could gaze at his face. Seokjin does the same, looking at you with droopy yet happy eyes.

“I see how it is”, you snicker, “oh Seokjin, I don’t think I'll ever let you go again”, you say.

“Good. I don’t want you to”, he whispers, “I can stay with you, can't I?”

“Yes, it would make me the happiest if you did.”

Seokjin smiles and cups your face.

“My world”, he sighs, giving you no time to answer him before he already has you lost in another kiss.

You spend most of the night exploring each other. And come the next morning, Seokjin wakes you up with his face between your legs and his cock pressing into the mattress. You spend the entire day in bed, showing him even more possibilities of pleasure while Seokjin listens and learns like the diligent student he is.

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