Not Poison (GT Angst/Fluff)
A sweet little follow-up to Dead End, in which Keon thanks Cliff for saving him 🥰
Word count: ~700
Characters belong to me and the lovely @marydublin5 🌸
((More Dark Future AU))
There was a fairy in Cliff’s room, and there had been for the past five minutes. That was one thing about bunking in the safe house—glamoured and guarded perimeters came at the expense of privacy. Fairies seemed to come and go as they pleased.
Usually, it was simple curiosity—get a glimpse at the monster sleeping under their roof, then book it once the monster spotted them.
This time, the intruder was moving cautiously, trying not to wake Cliff as they set something on his nightstand. It was dark, but through half-lidded eyes, Cliff could discern that the fairy was carrying a bottle half their height. They seemed unsure of where to place it exactly, dragging from one side, to the center, then to the other side.
After another minute of this, Cliff finally spoke up. “You know, there’s probably more subtle ways to poison me.”
The fairy jumped out of their skin, too startled to fly off. The mattress groaned as Cliff sat up and reached past the fairy to turn on the lamp. His eyes adjusted to the light, and he recognized his intruder as Keon. Cliff frowned in surprise. It’d been weeks since he brought the fairy to the safe house. Considering they hadn’t crossed paths even once, Cliff assumed the fairy would prefer that they keep their distance.
Keon shuffled back, finding his voice. “Sorry! It’s not poison.”
“You’re sorry it’s not poison?” Cliff said, raising his eyebrows.
“N-no! I mean that—”
“Relax, I’m just giving you a hard time.” Cliff swung his legs over the side of the bed and stretched. He was fully aware of the way Keon stared, intimidated by the way Cliff inadvertently made himself bigger. Cliff sighed and relaxed, wishing he didn’t have to feel so uncomfortable in his own skin minutes after waking up. “So, what is it, then?”
He tried to keep his tone pleasant, but his voice was rough with sleep. Keon seemed to interpret it as irritability. He grabbed the top of the bottle and dragged it toward him to take it away.
“Sorry, this was a dumb idea,” Keon said. “Sorry for disturbing you—”
He cut off sharply when Cliff blocked him with a hand on the nightstand. Keon’s wide eyes were reminiscent of the day Cliff found him in the mines. Cliff immediately pulled his hand back, but Keon remained frozen in place.
“What is it?” Cliff asked again.
Keon wet his lips and averted his gaze to the bottle. There was a ragged string tied in a bow near the cork. “It’s water,” he said. “For you.”
“Water?” Cliff didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but the bottle’s contents were less than a swallow for him.
“I mean it’s not just water-water,” Keon said, his face flushing. “It has special properties. It took a week to brew. A single sip can rejuvenate you if you’re feeling weak. It’s not healing exactly. The effects are temporary, but it’ll strengthen you in an emergency, to help you pull through.”
Cliff gave Keon a long look, realizing that besides appearing nervous, the fairy looked incredibly tired. A week to brew. That couldn’t have been easy, especially given the months he spent in an iron cage.
“Thanks,” Cliff murmured, slowly reaching for the bottle.
Keon stepped back, allowing Cliff to take it without making contact. “Some of the others… They’ve told me what you do for us. And I’ve seen it for myself. I had to do something, for… for what you did.”
Cliff clenched his jaw. “You didn’t have to.”
After a beat of hesitation, Keon flew up so suddenly that Cliff flinched. The fairy hugged his shoulder, a slight tremble in his voice. “Yes, I did.”
Just as suddenly, he flitted out of the room through a vent.
Cliff stared after him. A strange sort of peace washed over him, seeing Keon about to fly again. He brought the bottle before his eyes, brushing a finger over the string at the top. At first glance, the water looked ordinary, but upon closer inspection, he could make out a slight shimmer dancing through it.
He got out of bed and went to where his jacket was slung over the end railing. He slipped the bottle into one of the pockets with care.
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Kleinstadtfestival in Meppen
#Kleinstadtfestival in #Meppen, Freibad. Heute und Samstag jeweils ab 18 Uhr.
Kleinstadtfestival
Meppen – Nagelshof 60 (Freibad)
Karten:
25 Euro/Tag und 50 Euro/2 Tage
Freitag, 28. Juli 2023 – 18 Uhr, mit den Liveacts: “KEON”, “Marathonmann”, “Hi! Spencer“ und „Montreal“.
Samstag 29. Juli 2023 – 18 Uhr, mit den Liveacts “A Place To Fall”, “Against Randy”, “Jack Pott”, “Raum 27”, “Blackout Problems” und “Royal Republic”.
Auch in diesem Jahr dürfen sich Liebhaber*innen…
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