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twistedkans · 2 months

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Yours - Part One

→ A Glorious Masquerade Malleus x Reader x Rollo commission for my bestie

Warnings: mild Rollo-typical psuedoreligious content Characters: Yuu (Reader), Rollo Flamme, Malleus Draconia Word Count: 1.6k

Part Two | Part Three

(Also available on Ao3)

༻ My Heart ༺

“I miss you deeply, unfathomably, senselessly, terribly.” ― Franz Kafka, Letters to Milena

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“...Magic is such a troublesome thing. Wouldn’t you agree?” Rollo’s eyes looked through yours, as if analyzing your very soul. There was a fire behind his gaze, waiting to be ignited. It made you feel a bit self-conscious.

He continued without giving you the chance to respond. “I can only imagine how arduous it must be to spend your days surrounded by a gaggle of rambunctious, foolhardy mages.” His body was rigid, and his lips were pursed, curling downwards at the edges ever so slightly to form an almost imperceptible scowl. Expectant of a long-winded tangent, you kept your mouth shut.

“The world would be much better off without magic and the chaos it brings. Surely, you must have had similar thoughts?” As he spoke, he extended his arms out in an almost welcoming yet sorely off-putting manner, like that of a religious figurehead. His voice carried a similar authority that made you want to crawl in a hole and hide, but he almost sounded desperate at the same time.

In his mind, he knew he was right. You were just an unfortunate, magicless human stuck with a bunch of mages. They were nothing but wild animals that could snap at any moment, but you weren’t the same.

You were perfect.

And maybe you could agree with him, to a certain extent. All those overblots you witnessed—and had to deal with—were caused by magic, and plenty of other tricky situations you and your friends had found yourselves in had magic at their forefront. Magic was as spectacular as it was troublesome, but it depended on how it was used, did it not?

You did not say this to him. This didn’t need to be some deep conversation, and really, you didn’t want this to be a conversation at all, at least not with Rollo.

You brushed off his words with a shrug. “I’m used to it.” Though the man before you clearly expected more, that fire in his eyes blooming into something hungry, you didn’t dignify him with a single word more.

Rollo’s scowl morphed into a piteous frown. “Oh you poor thing. You have yet to realize the burden you carry.” His voice was soft and cooing, a stark contrast to the monotonous apathy that always spilled from his lips. It sent a shiver down your spine.

Rollo’s eyes fell shut as he took a single second to internally compose himself. “Worry not, my dear…friend, the pain such practices bring shall no longer reach you.”

There was a pause, and you had your fingers crossed that Rollo wouldn’t open his mouth again so you could leave. You didn’t want to be rude, nor could you afford to be rude and potentially tarnish your reputation and that of Night Raven College, but this conversation was an annoyance at best and panic-inducing at worst.

You didn’t trust Rollo, but you felt that he was already revealing more of himself than he would with others. As much as it deigned you to consider the thought, as little as you cared for anything he had to say, perhaps Rollo was just out of touch, isolated by his own views, and in need of someone he could talk to.

You could be that person for him, couldn’t you?

That was what he wanted you to think, without realizing it was what he wanted.

“I’ll keep you safe, Yuu.”

What?

“Hey, Yuu! You’ve got better things to do than stand around.” You were pulled from your thoughts when Grim jumped up on your shoulder and waved his hands in your face, which caused you to stumble back and land on the ground.

You groaned in pain. “Ow, Grim!”

But Grim was far too excited to notice. He created fireworks with his magic to show you, and you found yourself smiling and laughing with him. Your conversation with Rollo was pushed from your mind.

Rollo, however, could not keep his eyes off of you, for your joy was both a blessing and a sin.

“...Hmph.” Rollo held his handkerchief to his mouth as he spoke, and his sharp gaze was the only indicator of his foul mood.

That gaze of his, critical and filled with the fires of hell, followed you around the square.

And oh the things he wished to say, the things he wished to do, yet he too could not tarnish his reputation. Not yet. No, he could not let you see who he truly was.

They would pay, and you would be saved.

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Laughter and dancing surrounded you, vibrant colors filled your vision, and the sweet scent of Fleur City delicacies made your mouth water. Everyone was having a good time, yourself included. Even when you didn’t feel like dancing or jumping around anymore, you were content to sit on the sidelines while Grim showed off.

Fireworks in their abundant colors and rays of spectacularity distracted you from all thoughts, and you were unaware of the presence behind you.

Someone’s breath tickled your neck, and a familiar low chuckle rang through your ear. It was only then you realized who had disappeared from the festivities.

“Hornton?” You tilted your head and were greeted by a pair of emerald green eyes and a toothy smirk.

“Are you enjoying yourself, child of man?”

And for a single moment, one that lasted an eternity, time froze. Your senses were starved, consumed, and overwhelmed by Malleus Draconia. The burning taste of fire, like the hot breath against his neck, or his lips on yours and what you imagined he would taste like. The scent of flames, of the forest, of death, pleasantly so. The lull of his voice, low and deep, melancholic like that of a gentle wind or light rain. The touch of leather as a finger ran along your jaw and grazed your neck in a way that gave you goosebumps.

Those emerald green eyes, brighter than any gemstone, staring into yours as if you were the most valuable treasure in the dragon’s collection.

You masked your nerves with a chuckle, but that didn’t stop the blood from flushing your cheeks. “Yeah, it’s been really fun. I’m just a bit tired…”

Malleus gave you a thoughtful look. His voice dropped to a whisper, spoken like a hidden secret revealed for your ears only. “Follow me, if you so desire.”

You watched him turn with a swish of his cape and walk off to one of the nearby alleys. It took you only a moment to gather your senses as your surroundings flooded them to enter the alley behind Malleus.

The sounds of Topsy-Turvy Square grew more and more distant as you traversed through the dimly-lit alleyway. Every sound put you on edge, but in your mind, you knew nothing bad would happen to you.

Those same emerald eyes were waiting for you, and you could tell the fae wore that same smile as always when you spoke with him. Something pulled you forward.

A hand reached out, and you took it, not thinking twice. “You came. Thank you for accepting my invitation.”

“You knew I would,” you replied with a sweet smile that Malleus cherished in his heart.

There was silence, a comfortable quietude as you took in his features, from the strands of hair that fell past his chin, shimmering even in darkness like raven feathers, to the pale pointed ears with tips tinted pink, to his arms only covered by a sheer black fabric, revealing more skin than you had ever seen of him before.

You dared to step forward. From this position, you had to tilt your upwards just to peer at his face. He wasn’t looking at you, rather, his gaze followed the path through the alley from which you emerged. His voice fell to a soft, melodic murmur, almost as if he were talking to himself. “Indeed I did.”

Silence. Tranquility. Your own heart beating in your ears. Words caught on your throat.

Malleus finally looked down at you. To him, you were a treasure, something so precious and close to his heart that it ached for you every moment of every day. Even before he met you, he yearned for you. You were the missing piece in his heart, the one meant to be close to him, to break through the surface and discover who Malleus Draconia really is.

He was the siren luring you deep into the recesses of his heart, so that you may carve your name into his very being.

“I missed you, child of man.”

You could never realize the weight of those words on his heart. How it yearned for you.

Innocently, you replied, “I’m sorry if you wanted to spend more time with me today. We can go back to the square and hang out if you want.”

Malleus ran his fingers up your arm, stopping at your shoulder, where he gently but firmly gripped. “Do not apologize, it has been my pleasure to watch you enjoy yourself so much.”

The two of you never returned to Topsy-Turvy Square.

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Harsh, uncalloused fingers gripped an ink pen with fervor. Sharp eyes followed each word as it was written with elegant curves and curls, with only the bright glow of a crackling fireplace for light. A single sentence was spoken with a soft, pleading tone.

“I love you, Yuu.”

I won’t let him take you away from me.

I can save you.

I will save you.

For all he wanted to say, there was nothing more to be said. He was aware of the dangers of such love, the sacrifice he was due to pay, and the torment he would put himself through for repentance.

And, of course, he was well aware of the horned fae who watched his every movement with piercing green eyes.

Just to spite him, he repeated himself.

“I love you, Yuu.”

#˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ mod apple #twisted wonderland #twst #twst fic #twst x reader #twst x yuu #malleus draconia #rollo flamme #malleus x reader #rollo x reader

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twistedkans · 2 months

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Yours - Part Two

→ A Glorious Masquerade Malleus x Reader x Rollo commission for my bestie

Warnings: mild Rollo-typical psuedoreligious content Characters: Yuu (Reader), Rollo Flamme, Malleus Draconia Word Count: 1.7k

Part One | Part Three

(Also available on Ao3)

༻ My Soul ༺

“You are the knife I turn inside myself; that is love.” ― Franz Kafka, Letters to Milena

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Malleus had a penchant for disappearing from the watchful gazes of others, to secret spots only he knew of, where he could be alone for whatever reason he desired. In only a day since arriving in Fleur City, Malleus already had a few spots to whisk away to. In this particular instance, he chose the underground tunnel systems.

You were brought along with him, never destined to meet up with the others as you had intended to. It was easy enough not to mind this impromptu escape and forget about all the reasons you shouldn’t be doing this. That in of itself was a reason, anyhow, to do something that felt wrong.

Something forbidden.

With Malleus’ hand on your back, he guided you through the labyrinthine of tunnels with confidence and ease.

“Have you been here before?”

“Only today,” was Malleus’ response.

His answer left you wondering. “How do you know where to go? I already feel lost.”

Malleus paused in his tracks and you were brought to a stop with him. He put a finger to his chin in thought. “I know not where we are headed.”

Your face dropped, and you almost felt like laughing. “Hornton, are you joking.”

To that, Malleus shook his head. “I would never lie to you, child of man.” His words made your heart flutter, as if he meant so much more than just this one instance.

When you didn’t give him a response, Malleus took that as his queue to pull you along once more. You didn’t mind the comfortable silence that fell over the two of you. Just as it was easy to speak with the fae, it was so, so easy to enjoy the tranquility with him. There was no pressure to fill the void for it was already with the other’s presence alone. What more could you ever ask for?

Nothing, that is what Malleus hoped your answer would be.

You were the only person who understood him, who could peer into his eyes and see him as more than the Crowned Prince of Briar Valley, or one of the five most powerful mages in Twisted Wonderland, or some to be both feared and revered, for you did none of that—rather, he yearned to worship you, but that was a conversation for much, much later. You didn’t treat him like something different. Through you, he could learn what it meant to be wanted.

Just as he wanted you.

You pulled your hand away from his, snapping him out of his thoughts. Once more, he stopped, and all too many emotions twisted his expression to something solemn.

“Sorry Hornton,” you spoke as you wiped your hand on your clothes. “My hand is really sweaty.”

Malleus frowned. “You have my apologies, child of man.” He took your hand between both of his, and you quickly caught on to what he was doing as tingles of cold licked your skin and dispersed the remaining sweat from your skin into nothingness.

“There, now our hands may remain entwined with one another.”

You had not the words to respond, and without realizing it, you were walking side by side with Malleus once more, hands clasped together, cooled by his magic so not even a single bead of sweat formed on your hand. It took minutes, many minutes to fully process Malleus’ kind and intimate gesture.

Although it was a bit of a dumb comment, you said, “Hornton, you don’t need to use your magic on me. I just get sweaty a lot.”

Without missing a beat, he replied, “I wish to hold your hand.”

And how could you say no to that?

“Okay.” Your cheeks were flushed pink, as were your ears, both from the cold and your own embarrassment.

As the two of you traversed the various tunnels, occasionally breaking the silence with short conversation, your heart beat fast in your heart like an overworked machine, pounding in your ear like a blaring siren, yet you felt this “siren” could only be good.

Malleus stopped you both after turning a corner and stood in front of you. He took your other hand in his and leaned close to your ear, muttering in a pleasantly spine chilling voice something so sacred to him, something taken for granted or spoken frivolously, something he knew you would not treat the same way.

With his given permission, you too handed over what to you was much the same, something so precious to the man before you, something that stirred the feelings in his heart and blossomed into something he’d never felt before.

This was true love.

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The ornate halls of Noble Bell College were near-barren and almost eerily quiet. Only the sound of your footsteps echoing against a wooden floor shiny enough to be mistaken for glass or marble. You weren’t sure where you were in the school, despite having assured Malleus you knew exactly how to get to the others when he dropped you off. One could only imagine where he might be going so close to the social’s grandiose opening as most of the other guests and students prepared for the night’s spectacle that awaited them.

And what a spectacle it would be, but you didn’t know that.

”Good evening, Yuu.”

The sudden—and rather unpleasant—familiar voice that breathed into your ear nearly caused you to jump. You whipped your head around with a frown you couldn’t quite conceal when you were greeted with the sight of Rollo, who should have had plenty of other places to be in preparation for the event that was to come.

You swallowed your nerves and gave him a cordial response. “Good evening to you too, Rollo. Shouldn’t you be helping prepare for the social?”

Something in Rollo’s eyes seemed to jump out at you, trying to lunge forward and grab you, but his figure remained still. “Naturally I have many duties as the host of this masquerade.” He spoke with more venom than his greeting to you, but it was subdued as quickly as it appeared. “However, your absence from Night Raven College’s group upon their return did not go unnoticed. That familiar of yours was quite distraught, even to tears, if I may add.”

A pang of guilt hit your chest at the thought of Grim crying over your “disappearance”, especially so soon after the incident on the Island of Woe.

However, you replied with the one thing that had persistently been on your mind for much longer than you would openly admit. “What about Hornton? Did he go back with them?”

Rollo’s expression shriveled up like a raisin, and that was enough to brighten your spirits. You held back a laugh as he cleared his throat, letting his eyes fall shut momentarily in an effort to compose himself.

Funny, you seemed to catch him off-guard quite often.

Although Rollo knew who exactly this “Hornton” was, he feigned ignorance to preserve himself, or whatever other excuse he could conjure up to not acknowledge his enemy. ”Who do you refer to?”

”Malleus, I mean.”

Curse you for speaking his name, but bless you for not elaborating, even if you only didn’t to keep this conversation as brief as possible.

Curse those flames that raged in his heart, curse the fires of hell that licked at his feet, curse that malicious gleam in his eye that brought shame upon him.

Curse Malleus Draconia, yet another careless mage who found pleasure in the sin of magic.

Curse you, Yuu, for tempting a pious man into aphrodisia.

And curse Malleus Draconia once more, for threatening to take what was rightfully his.

Yet these curses were not spoken aloud. Rollo could not allow them to be more than fleeting thoughts, the ends of threads that painted his mind like a rainbow, chains that chastised his mind and left bruises in their wake. This was his own punishment, he needn’t act further.

”No, I have not seen him.”

Your shoulders dropped. It never crossed your mind to worry for Malleus’ safety before now. You didn’t want him to be alone, to miss the social (though you knew he wouldn’t be late after receiving a formal invitation), and you certainly didn’t want him to be in any danger.

Rollo could see the thoughts swarming your mind like a dark plague. This was his chance to be the light and show you the way.

”Surely you do not worry for the safety of the great Malleus Draconia? One could presume certain…feelings to be involved in such ways of thinking.” His voice shook as he spoke, which he masked with an expression of disgust as he fetched his handkerchief from his pocket.

Your cheeks flushed red before you could reply. The fiery pits of hell opened up for their next feast.

”Or, one might conclude such irrationality to be the work of magic.”

Everything was still in an instant, like a photograph ingrained in your mind, but Rollo composed himself once more and replied in a softer tone. “Go to the bell tower. I shall not ask you to climb all of those steps, so please wait at the bottom. I have an important favor to ask of you.”

Just like a lonesome ghost, Rollo left with not a single sound.

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Had he been any other man or woman, Rollo could have feigned flattery at the prospect of being stalked by what most considered ethereal beauty.

All he felt was disgust at the monster who refused to leave him alone with his vice for just a single moment.

”Malleus Draconia.” His voice rang through the empty hall.

The man in question could only give him half a proper reply. “Flamme.” He strode towards the shorter man with fear-invoking confidence, but it was Rollo’s intention to stand his ground. “I see you’ve made special plans tonight, hm?”

”Surely you jest. We only wish to show the very best to Night Raven College’s esteemed students, but I am afraid I am unfamiliar with what may be a proper way to display my gratitude to such a unique group of people.”

Malleus chuckled. “Gratitude? For what, Flamme?”

Silence washed over them as Malleus awaited a response with genuine curiosity behind those sharp eyes. Rollo’s lack of a response only fueled Malleus’ irritation. He couldn’t be up to any good, certainly not with the way he had been acting. Malleus wanted to see the best in him after receiving that invitation, but how could he not doubt his intentions or ignore the way the boy looked at what was his.

Without a response, Rollo turned and left, and Malleus let him leave, because he knew the answer he dreaded was soon to come.

Tag List: @girl-nahh-two

#˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ mod apple #twisted wonderland #twst #twst fic #twst x reader #twst x yuu #malleus draconia #rollo flamme #malleus x reader #rollo x reader

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