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spadecentral · 12 days ago

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ᴛʀɪᴀʟ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇʀʀᴏʀ

or: when Malleus has to overcome cultural differences in order to ask you out; MINOR B7 SPOILERS wc: 1.9kps. i can’t write kiss scenes sorry :((

Malleus had always had the misfortune of being estranged from social norms. So it was only natural that once he'd fall in love (despite how unexpected that was in itself) that he’d be clueless as to how to manage it. His only exposure to romance of any kind had been the few stories he’d heard about his parents. Which ultimately proved useless in the endeavour of pursuing your affection. As a result, Malleus could only attempt to emulate the few traditional Briar Valley courting methods he was familiar with, all while showing his love in a rather draconic way.

As a species, fae had a tendency to dedicate their time to what they perceived as truly valuable. Due to their long lifespans they had begun to appreciate the fleeting beauty of the world surrounding them. While some trees don’t even reach maturity during a fae’s lifespan, the full bloom of a flower lasts but a second when in contrast to their long-lasting existence. For this reason fae are the most avoidant when it comes to wasting their time, especially the younger generations who’ve begun to be influenced by the world outside of Briar Valley.

The way in which this manifests towards other’s is in receiving an abundance of attention. Prolonged periods of time spent either with, or admiring the object of one’s attention would be such a manifestation of affection. In Malleus’ case, this meant he’d spent a long time longingly gazing at you like the lovesick fool he was. Making eye contact as often as possible, which was often accompanied by slow blinking motions, to hopefully indicate how reluctant he was to tear his gaze away from you, even to do something as necessary as blink. Unfortunately for him, you’d remain clueless to his intentions. Unknowingly to him though, you had picked up on the slow blinks. But had mistakenly likened them to a reptile, assuming them to be the consequence of his draconic lineage as he was the only one to posses it. However those blinks should have been likened to the ones of a cat showing its affection (as they truly were a consequence of his infatuation).

Due to their past as recluses, the capabilities of the fae are often surrounded by misconceptions. One such misconception (which Lilia’s many pranks and quite a few of Sebek’s outbursts have managed to disprove) is the notion that the fae cannot lie. There are various other odd stories regarding the fae. One such story being the one regarding the effects of fae food on non-fae. Due to its high magical potential, eating fae food uninvited can have dire consequences (it is important to note however, that eating Lilia's cooking has horrific results simply due to his abysmal cooking skills rather than any affecting fae magic)

It came as a surprise when Malleus begun inviting you to the bi-monthly Diasomnia dinners, but it was an invitation that had brought you joy nonetheless. It begun after his enrollment in the culinary cruciable. He had taken great care to mention that he was in fact the one responsible for the dinner preparations (which seemed like assurance that it wasn't Lilia who was cooking). In fact, it was another attempt to court you. Due to various misunderstandings and assumptions, yet another of Malleus’ courting attempts went unnoticed. If only you had known about the true significance behind his actions; or rather hadn’t assumed the myths regarding fae food weren’t unwarranted stories you’d carried over from your world by mistake. Unlike some of the more dramatic stories about fae (like many myths regarding changelings and kidnappings) this one happened to be founded in a cross-dimensional truth. And so, Malleus’ attempts at ‘making his way to your heart through the stomach’ (as Lilia put it) had failed.

III

The need to protect what they hold near and dear to their heart is a very common one amongst fae, which is especially evident in Malleus who has already experienced so much loss. Malleus already posesses an extrordinary ammount of power, and as a fae with draconic lineage he’s even more compelled to use said power to ensure the security of all he finds precious. You were one such thing. As a result, he was seemingly hard-wired to protect you.

It started out small and barely noticeable, like most of his courtship attempts. At first, it was minuscule gestures, like magically removing hazardous rubble before you could even notice it during the occasional midnight walks spent in (objectively speaking) decrepit ruins. It escalated in a similarly subtle way. Evolving to guiding touches on the small of your back or the crook of your elbow. Then, it was his presence, clearing paths for you in the schools busy hallways, crowds dissolving at the mere sight of him. This was even more apparent once he’d begun joining you for lunch in the cafeteria. Coincidentally, on one such day a food fight broke out (curtesy of certain troublesome 1st year students sat a few tables away), one which you miraculosly escaped clean and unharmed from. What had seemed to be mere gestures of friendship and goodwill to you, had been much deeper to him. In truth, it was a declaration: You matter to me and I care for you so deeply that I will always ensure your protection, at any cost.

Fae have many peculiar capabilities. Their magical aptitudes expand much further than any other species’, often manifesting in numerous walks of life. From an affinity for wildlife such as Silver’s (which stems from the blessing he received) all the way to enhanced senses and increased sensibility to magic, fae have developed in a different way. Their physiology is deeply tied to their magical capabilities, which often manifests as additional rare capabilities. Similarly to a unique magic, although much more common, these capabilities drew from the person’s respective characteristics. In the case of particularly powerful fae however, it unsurprisingly manifested as the ability to grant blessings. Blessings just like the one Malleus had granted you.

You’d suddenly found yourself to be luckier with each passing day: managing to get the last piece of your favourite cafeteria meal even though it was usually long gone before you even got in line or Crewel being late to the classes you were already late to so you ended up being marked as having been on time. These things, amongst many others, were a direct result of a certain blessing bestowed upon you (without your knowledge of course). However, you’d simply credited them to becoming more used to the way of life in NRC and your capability to integrate. After all, whose first guess as to a better quality of life would be a magical blessing from one of the most powerful beings in creation? The one thing you couldn’t quite explain however, was the rather abrupt decrease in Sebek’s outbursts. You’d eventually chalked it up to his gradual acceptance of the reluctant friendship he established with the rest of the 1st year group (which was also partly true, despite the fact that he’d never willingly acknowledge it). In actuality, fae blessings left a magical trace of sorts, one which was easily noticed by ones with an increased sensitivity to magic such as Sebek. Just what he managed to infer from said traces was something you’d remain unaware of, as he wisely decided it was best to leave things unmentioned. (The more powerful the caster, the more powerful the blessing, and more stongly felt magic. There certainly aren’t that many who could cast a blessing as strong as the one left on you. Sebek was in state of perpetual shock that stopped him from adressing it, while Lilia simply wasn’t a snitch. As a result, another one of Malleus’ gesutures went unnoticed.)

It’s a well known fact that whenever humans possess characteristcs drawing from animals, they tend to inherit certain urges and behavioural patterns. These behaviours range in both degree of effectivity and obviousness. These features are most obvious in beastmen (Jack’s tail wagging whenever he’s happy, similar to his canine counterpart), then mers (Azul having blue blood which would result in a purplish-blue blush due to his cephalopodic origin) Surprisingly, dragons in twisted wonderland deeply resemble the ones in this world. This is most evident in one aspect: the hoarding instinct. Both dragons, and dragon-adjecent beings have an innexplicable urge to collect things of value. (They’re like the British with other countries’ historical artifacts)

Intuitively, you cana determine that a dragon’s hoard would be their most prised possession; one they’d spare no effort in protecting and maintaining, especially after having spent possible centuries constructing it. Being so previous and valuable, these hoards are well hidden and protected, speculated to be the stuff of legend as they’ve never been witnessed to exist by a human eye. This suggests that the absolute highest honour anyone could receive would be to see this hoard, or even more so, touch an object part of it (the notion of being gifted something that had once been part of the hoard wasn’t even dreamt of).

You could only be surprised when trinkets of all sorts started showing up, seemingly out of nowhere. One day there was a beautiful shining gemstone on your windowsill. Another, a flower enchanted to never wilt. The gifts got more extravagant with each passing day, only further fueling your confusion (and slight irritation at the fact that despite all your efforts, this secret admirer still evaded your attempts to catch them in the act of leaving something behind) While this certainly hadn’t been Malleus’ intention, he’d narrowly missed you every time he’d left you behind a gift. Without any additional clues it had been impossible for you for to determine who had been leaving the gifts, resulting in yet another one of Malleus’ courting attempts to fail.

Courtship amongst the fae (and various other residents of Briar Valley) was done in steps, increasing in the degree of affection the pursuant would display towards the object of their affections. After all, every relationship begins with small doses of affection before declaring full-blown “i love you”’s. The ultimate approach to courtship was an outright declaration of intent (which traditionally consisted of a first stage of reciprocal correspondence, followed by seeking the blessings of the other person’s family) Due to the situation at hand, Malleus resigned himself to expressing his deep infatuation feelings through a letter, deciding to leave it accompanied by another gift.

The following night, he’d shown up in the usual burst of magic at Ramshackle’s front porch. Just as usual, you threw on your coat, opened the door and went outside greeting him in a soft voice. What deviated from your usual routine however, was the fact that you were tightly, albeit carefully, clutching a letter in your hand. Further deviating from the norm, you begun to hold eye contact with him instead of immediately setting off on your walk like usual.

“I read your letter. All this time, I… I can’t believe that, well, you, umm…” you took another breath to steel your nerves before asking:

“You love me?”

“Irrevocably.” he answered with such a certainty that it seemed he was recounting an infallible truth

In that moment you leaned towards one another sharing a shy and hesitant, yet deeply loving kiss, all while interlacing hands with one another. Separating with matching grins, turning towards the path, going on the first of many nightly walks turned dates.

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