#enemies to ??

[whumporama]

Character A and B who really, really don't like each other. A is snarky, rebellious, and gets under B's skin. B is professional, more serious, and really hates A. The feeling is mutual.

They occasionally meet, but nothing ever happened. Maybe B is a high ranking officer or an investigator, and A was brought in a few times, confident and sassy, and despite a few close calls, they always got away/got released again.

Until one day, where something happens and A is actually in deep shit. B is delighted, and A gets put in jail in wherever B works. They need something from A, and A gets tortured. B isn't the one doing it, but they know it's happening.

At first, they don't care. A is still A, snarky, angry, and gives back every insult and taunt B throws at them. It's like nothing changed.

Until it does. Over time, B notices A wears down. At first, they're tired, and their insults and snark just have a tired edge to it. They often end up telling B to 'just fuck off', instead of talking to them until B leaves.

B notices, but doesn't think too much of it. But it gets worse, and they see how A's condition gets worse and worse. They're constantly covered in wounds, they've lost weight (too much weight, way too much), they stop standing up whenever B enters, instead choosing to remain seated in their cell.

This continues, until A is just curled up in the corner, head leaning against the cold stone, turned away from the bars. B taunts them, but even their voice is lacking the confidence they had before. A doesn't return it, but just tiredly snaps "just leave me alone" without looking up.

And B feels conflicted. A is their enemy. They hate A. A is annoying and a problem, and has no respect for them. And yet... this isn't A. This isn't right.

What does B do? Do they end up breaking A out? Do they try to offer them comfort? Do they do nothing? Try to talk to their superiors to get A out?

[deepflourishrosesstories]

Over the Treacherous Ocean - Part 2

Male! Naga x Female! Reader

Warning(s): Medieval-ish setting, enemies to lovers, kidnapping, ocean setting, mention of blood, slight angst if you squint, I swear it's fluff

Word Count: 6k

Synopsis: Kidnapped by pirates for a ransom, you wonder if you could ever come to terms with the captain who drives you crazy from how beautiful he is.

A/N: This is so long for a chapter, and I thought of splitting it in half but here we are. I hope you like it! because I sure did have a fun time writing this.

Part 1

You were jolted awake when there was a series of coughs echoing across the cell. Sitting up from the hard floor and rubbing your eyes, you squinted in the darkness and groaned at the slip of light that filtered from the gaps of the door. With a start, you remembered that the blue-scaled naga was keeping watch on you—and he was shivering inside his coat.

Not knowing what to do, you silently watched him cough and rub his arms to keep himself warm.

“What?” Tamva said, glaring at you. You thought that you saw a slight blush faintly burn his cheeks but ignored it.

“Are you— Are you all right?”

You slowly pushed yourself towards him, slightly flinching when his tail sneaked between the iron bars. It must have been done unconsciously as his cheeks coloured into a deeper shade, yet his tail settled around you, making the air around you drop a degree or so.

“Are you cold?” you asked, hesitantly placing a warm hand on his tail. Beneath your palm, you felt the ripple of his scales of what you thought was a shudder and heard him sigh, sounding relieved.

Tamva didn’t answer, instead, he looked away and continued to cough into his fist.

An awkward silence befell upon the both of you. Although your anger and irritation towards him didn’t cease over the night, the persistent sound of his cough was enough to bring a frown to your face. You also didn’t have it in you to mention how his body was leaning closer to you, as if he was seeking warmth without noticing it.

“Did you catch a cold last night?”

“No,” Tamva hissed, curling one side of his lips that brought the fat of his cheek to thin his eyes into a disgusted glare.

Growing annoyed, you reached your hand out of the bar cell and grabbed the collar of his coat, harshly pulling him closer with a glare. His thin pupils dilated into a circle as his eyes widened in surprise, his forked tongue making a hiss against your lips.

“Your cough is disturbing me, so please, let me check you.”

“I hardly think that you’re capable,” he said with a raised brow, trying to hide his reddening face.

Scoffing, you squeezed his cheeks together with your fingers, making a forced pout form on his lips, which earned a good glare from him. “I study medicine. I’m taking an apprenticeship under the best healer in Xaenait.”

Tamva placed his hand on yours that was on his face, and ripped it away from him. You were shocked at how cold his touch was.

“Is it the fox my crew knocked unconscious?”

You huffed out a tired sigh and replied, “Yes, it’s him. So are you going to let me check you or not?”

A tentative pause followed. “Be my guest, princess.”

You earned another raised brow once you told him to open his mouth, but he complied nonetheless. Sharp fangs were revealed that made your heart leap from how much it resembled that of a snake. Cupping his jaw with both hands, you tilted his face, so that he was facing the light, and leaned a little bit closer to check his tongue and the back of his throat for any spots or other symptoms of a cold.

Nodding to yourself, you let go of his jaw and hummed in satisfaction. “You just have a normal cold, it should be harmless. You must have caught it since it was quite chilly last night.”

Although it was not winter yet, the autumn winds were chilly enough to have goosebumps appear on your skin.

Tamva just nodded mutely and rubbed his hands for friction, his form still leaning against the bar to be closer to you, but not before quietly saying his gratitude. The slit of his beautiful eyes thinned as his brows furrowed in concentration, trying to gain some warmth in his palm and fingertips. In all honesty, you found it quite endearing how childish he seemed—yet immediately shook your head to get rid of those thoughts.

Biting your bottom lip nervously, your eyes flittered across his hands to his face, to his tail that snuggled around you loosely to the strands of his silver hair that shined lustrously.

“What is it?” he asked, looking at you suspiciously from above his hands that he started to blow into.

“Well…” You sighed in defeat. “If you still have it, one of the pouches I had has astragalus root and honeysuckle flower, which prevents the cold from getting worse and helps with recovery. If you let me, I could brew some tea for you.”

The naga’s entire body tensed at your words. “How do I know you’re not trying to poison me?”

“I’m not dull enough to kill you off when you promised me to bring me back safely.” You rolled your eyes. The power of money that held over the naga seemed powerful enough that you almost snorted. “Also, I can’t have the captain of the ship I’m being held captive to be slacking on his job of bringing me back.”

Tamva let out a sudden laugh, genuine and quite warm that made your heart flutter. It was followed shortly by fits of cough that he covered up with a fist and looked away from you, which showed his blushing neck. Embarrassed, he peeked at you over his shoulder, looking quite bashful, unlike his usual arrogant self.

“Would you… would you actually brew the tea for me?”

“You will have to let me out of this cell though.”

He hesitated for a moment but started to fumble with the keys to open the cell door for you. Surprised that he would actually accept your offer, you stared up at him with wide eyes.

“I’m honoured to be worried by a princess,” he said with a smug curl of his lips, outstretching his hand out for you.

You rolled your eyes with an annoyed frown. Nevertheless, you took his hands, slightly jumping as his other hand was placed on your shoulder to push you outside from behind. You didn’t hear the quiet sigh Tamva let out, relieved by your warm hands.

The smell of saltwater and a blow of cool air greeted you outside, the sound of the waves crashing against your ears in a steady rhythm.

“Good morning, sir!” the crews yelled with a grin, each of them partaking in their respective jobs.

“Morning, boys! Grace our princess with a greeting!”

“Morning princess!”

You froze at the loud voices, silently glaring up at Tamva for his rather flamboyant way of starting the day.

“I regret offering to brew that tea for you,” you mumbled, not knowing whether to reply to the crew or not.

Tamva let out a noise between a chuckle and a scoff, rolling his eyes at your grumbles as he continued to navigate you inside the captain’s cabin. “Don’t also make me regret letting you out of the cell.”

Forming an angry frown that slightly twisted your lips into a snarl, you walked into the cabin. The first thing that caught your eye was a nest-like bed that sat behind his desk, it was so big that it took up a lot of the space of the room, which made you realise that this ship was quite small. Next were the beautiful spines of colourful books that were lined neatly on the shelves, the hue shining brighter from the simple-patterned stained glass. There were also many books scattered across his desk and tables, which you realised were all written in different languages that you’ve studied before. 

“Do you read all of these?” You picked one of them up and turned around to face him, but jumped when Tamva’s face was closer than yours.

Both of you recoiled back briefly from surprise. Seeing his pupils gradually turning into a circle, you couldn’t help but admire the way his golden and turquoise eyes shone under the light and how his silver hair tickled his long, white eyelashes. Heat crawling up your neck, you looked away quickly and coughed. Tamva’s eyes returned to its normal slits when he blinked, and his entire body backed away from you.

“I-I do.”

He let out another fit of coughs, that deeply shook his shoulders and his tail to swish side to side as if uncomfortable. You frowned worriedly, albeit unconsciously, and led him into his seat—but not forgetting to push him roughly to the chair when he sent you a small glare.

“Stop glaring at me. I’m trying to be nice.”

“You always glare at me too, princess.”

You huffed out a tired breath. “Where’s my pouch?”

Tamva’s sharp claw hooked the knob of the drawers and opened it eloquently, his other hand scooping up two of your pouches and placing it on his desk with a small thud.

Looking around, you found a teapot but briefly stopped in your tracks as you wondered how you were supposed to boil it aboard a ship.

“Have you ever not ridden a ship before?”

“I have! It’s just…”

Tamva laughed—it was a cocky yet teasing laughter that brought a deep shade of pink to spread across your cheeks. “Oh, how spoiled you are, princess.”

Hoping to cover your brush, you tossed the empty teapot at him and faced away. “Well?”

The naga let out a hissing chuckle as he caught it before yelling out an order to the crew to fetch some water and boil it on the way. While he was busy laughing at you, you grumpily found a bowl and started to prepare the medicine.

“I could get used to a princess brewing me tea every morning.”

You scoffed. “Who’s spoiled now,” you grumbled, angrily snapping and crumbling the herbs into the bowl.

There was a small knock on the door before a tanned arm opened it, revealing the grey spots across the skin. The human who was a part of your kidnapping scheme entered with a cheerful smile.

“Here you go, sir!” he declared, proudly setting the pot in front of him on the desk.

“Thank you, Kaipo,” Tamva said, accepting the pot.

Looking at his patches of pattern more closely, you tentatively asked, “You’re a selkie?”

Kaipo grinned at you, a dimple showing on his handsome face, and gave you a small bow. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“I never met a selkie before,” you admitted, a smile blooming.

“And I have never met a princess before! And a pretty one at that,” he said with a flirtatious wink, which made his doe-like eyes shine brightly.

A blush appeared on your cheeks and you thanked him embarrassedly.

Tamva narrowed his eyes. “You can go now, Kaipo. Thanks for the water.”

A knowing smile widened across the selkie’s mouth and he saluted. “Yes, sir!”

Once he left, you turned towards the naga and approached him with the teapot. As you poured the mixture of herbs into the pot, you murmured calmly, “You could attempt to be more like him.”

Tamva’s forked tongue hissed between his lips as his eyes slit dangerously thin. “Please, I know you enjoy my company.”

“You called me pathetic when we first met.”

He sneered. “I still stand by that statement.”

Glaring, you debated if it would be better to just poison him and kill him off as you watched his long lashes touch his high cheekbone like soft-falling snow. He was so stupidly beautiful you wanted to slap him across the face.

You glanced inside the teapot and saw the swirl of colours moving in the water, and then back to him. “I really regret this.”

“Too late, princess. I’m waiting.”

Begrudgingly, you found a blue-rimmed teacup and poured the tea in. Slowly sliding the now-filled teacup towards him, you gestured for him to drink. Steam twirled around the liquid as it rose, and Tamva studied it in his hands sceptically as if he was still not convinced that you didn’t add a peculiar herb that disrupted its healing property to a poisonous one. His eyes quickly flickered up at you and you nodded.

Just as he brought it to his lips and tipped the cup up to let the first drop of the tea grace his tongue, you murmured, “It’s bitter by the way.”

The tilt of his teacup stopped when you said that, and his eyes widened in shock. His long, forked tongue slipped out of his mouth as he made a slight gagging sound.

“You could’ve told me sooner!” he coughed, breathing frantically to alleviate the taste.

“Come on, drink up. I brewed this just for you.”

“It’s foul!” he exclaimed, scrunching his nose. “You were lying when you said you weren’t poisoning me.”

“It’s just a little bit of bitter tea,” you chided with a furrowed brow, amused yet annoyed at his blatant disdain. You took the teacup in your hand and pushed it against his lips from across the desk, making sure to dig the ceramics into his skin as he tried to lean away. “You’re pathetic.”

His sharp eyes snapped back at you, narrowing them with a hiss. “I am not—”

“Then drink up. As I said, I brewed this just for you.”

His shoulders sagged down when he coughed furiously again, accepting defeat. He let out a dramatic sigh and brought his cool hands on top of yours on the tea cup and brought it closer to him. Your heart raced as you watched him tilt the teacup and let the tea slide down into his mouth and to his throat.

Swiftly letting go of your hand, he gagged, looking as though he was about to throw up.

“It wasn’t that bad, was it?” you said, placing it down. Finding another cup, you poured one for yourself to finish the pot and drank it with one quick swig.

Tamva stared at you carefully, looking at you with eyes filled with shock and disgust. “I’ll make sure to never drink your tea again.”

“As if I’ll ever want to serve one for you again.”

He rolled his eyes looked over your shoulder to the door and shouted, “Kaipo! Bring the princess down to the cell!”

You felt a prickle in your chest, which was ridiculous since you expected this. Yet, a small part of you softened at the childish antics that he had shown to you, which did indeed make your face scrunch up at the thought when you remembered all of the threats and insults he spat at you.

Kaipo appeared once more, yet with a slight frown on his face this time. “So soon?”

Tamva nodded and gestured you to follow the selkie, and you complied mutely. As you were about to leave,  your shoulders tensed in anticipation as you turned around to face Tamva, who called your name for the first time.

“Thanks for the tea,” Tamva mumbled, eyes flittering across the room to avoid your pondering gaze.

Not knowing how to answer, you nodded, offering a hesitant small smile, and faced away from him once more, letting Kaipo lead you back to your dark, damp cell.

———

A couple of hours passed by slowly, followed by another stale bread like last night for lunch and another hour drifting away ever so sluggishly. When it was Kaipo’s turn to keep a watch on you, he thanked you personally for brewing the tea—according to him, it worked ‘wonders’ on the captain.

You and Kaipo stayed in a comfortable silence with occasional conversations, laughing quietly at each other’s jokes.

Just as your body finally relaxed against the ship’s wall, there was a giant rattle of the ship, which made the selkie stand up on his feet, quick as lighting, and instinctively placed his hand on the sword hanging on his hip.

“W-What is it?” you asked, also standing up and gripping the cell bars nervously.

“Not sure.”

There was another rattle that shook the ship so deeply that you almost tripped.

“Stay here, Your Highness,” he said. “I’ll go check.”

Before you could say anything else, he pushed through the door in a flurry, leaving you alone in your panic.

After a while, the door opened once more and your head perked up at the sound, only to feel the blood rush out of your face into a white sheet when an unfamiliar orc appeared. Unlike the half-orc in Tamva’s ship, he was a pure-blooded orc with deep green skin and a ridiculously buff and tall form.

“Hello there, princess. Care for a different ride?”

Your body recoiled in pure disgust at the nickname, back pushing harshly against the wall.

Swallowing, you replied with a shaky snarl. “No. And I think you are mistaking me with someone else.”

The orc simply laughed and bent the iron bars with pure force. You screamed as you were roughly pulled to his chest the moment he stepped in with a wicked dagger pressed into your throat.

“Let me go. Now!”

The orc ignored you. “Heard that stupid snake got a ransom from kidnapping you. Thought I could do it myself.” He pushed you forward outside, the blade dangerously cold against your skin. “Now be a good princess and walk out the door, and make sure you don’t make any sound when we head out.”

Stricken with fear, you walked out just as he said and watched in horror as you saw the chaos on the deck. Everyone had their swords out as they fought back the intruders, all of them orcs, their blades shining brightly from the reflecting sunset. Right next to you, you saw a bigger vessel pushing threateningly at the ship.

Immediately, your eyes landed on shimmering blue scales that moved across the deck graciously and ferociously as Tamva attacked the offenders.

Tamva found you out of the crowd and widened his eyes. “Princess!”

You felt the dagger dig deeper and you stopped yourself from calling out his name.

“Don’t you try it, you bastard snake,” the orc sneered.

The naga’s eyes flared into fury. “Let her go, Baugh.”

Baugh, the orc, laughed scornfully. “Trying to keep all the money and the pretty girl to yourself, eh?”

With a chill-inducing hiss, he lunged at the orc with bared fangs with such speed that Baugh didn’t have time to react. Tamva’s blade swung just above you and the orc let out a rattling roar and you felt sticky blood drop onto your head, and as you jumped away and looked back from a fair distance, you saw that there was a slah across the orc's eyes. Your horror was soon followed by shock as Tamva’s strong tail struck Baugh’s chest with such force, that he stumbled back and was knocked out cold. The naga pulled you into his bare chest and arms, and for once, you complied in relief and pressed yourself against him.

“Your captain’s down! Get out of my ship immediately!” Tamva bellowed, catching the other orcs’ attention.

Seeing that his statement was true, all the orcs rushed to their captain’s side and started to jump back into their ship, two of them carrying Baugh’s cold body back as well. All of Tamva’s crew stayed where the two ships met, making sure each and every one of them was chased away.

“Are you all right, princess?” he said, cradling your face to look over at you closer.

You nodded. “Thank you, Tamva.”

Just as he was about to answer something, his crew shouted in warning. Looking over your shoulder, his golden eyes shined in panic and he twirled you away to completely envelop you in his arm. As all the sounds of the world were muffled, you distinctively heard three thuds that alarmingly reminded you of your archery practice.

“Tamva?!”

Leaning away, you gasped in horror to see three arrows lodged into his body; two on his tail and one on his right shoulder.

“Please help!” you yelled, to which all of the crew rushed over to you without hesitation. “And don’t pull the arrow out yet!”

They gently laid him down on his stomach, all the while Tamva groaned in pain.

“Those orcs,” you heard Kaipo mumble, “always trying to step out of line.”

Seeing a bow and a few arrows left behind by the intruders, you took it in your hands and directed it at the orc who held the bows, successfully shooting them in their chest. Growing wary and accepting defeat, the ship started to sail away, leaving you behind a bloody naga behind.

Throwing away the bow but keeping an arrow in your hand, you knelt next to him and you checked all of the places that he had been shot. 

“Does any of you guys need my immediate attention?” you asked while you kept your eyes on Tamva. There was a series of ‘no’ and you sighed in relief. “Then can you get me what I need?”

“Of course, your highness,” Kaipo said, worry creasing his face.

“Get me alcohol, clean bandages, a needle and threads, and all medicine and herbs you have.”

They quickly hurried away while Kaipo and some others remained with their captain. Taking a good look at the arrow you had in your hands, you sniffed the nib, relief washing over as you realised that it wasn’t poisonous.

“Don’t move, Tamva,” you ordered sternly as Tamva tried to shift.

“It hurtssss like hell,” he hissed, the consonant making a loud hiss. In the back of your head, you faintly realised that his usual speech was pronounced carefully to prevent the hiss from his forked tongue—your heart clenched tightly to see him in such pain.

You cursed as you saw that the sun was setting, casting a shadow over the naga’s body and cool air to breathe, making him shiver in the cold. “We need to get him inside. If he starts coughing from the cold, the wound on his shoulder would just get worse.”

“Don’t worry,” the half-orc who stayed behind grumbled. He glanced at the others and they all nodded. “We should take him into the captain’s cabin.”

You nodded and watched in surprise as they all lifted Tamva up, the naga barely moving under their care, and you quickly opened the door for them to get inside. Once he was laid on his stomach on the floor in his cabin, piled up with blankets that the crew made a make-shift bed for him, you got to work.

Ordering for only some of them to remain to help you, you pulled the arrow out carefully—wanting to bandage him completely while you were here—and immediately applied pressure on it with a clean cloth. Making sure that the bleeding stopped, you poured rum over the wound and stitched the skin back together. Once the poultice to cover the wound was done, you finally wrapped it with a bandage, sighing in relief as you saw that the white cloth didn't bloom into a scarlet colour. You repeated this twice for the rest on his tail.

Many times, his eyes started to droop, and you pinched his cheek and shouted at him to not leave you just yet.

Every time, Tamva replied softly, “I’m not planning to leave you jussst yet, princessss.”

When everything was done, you crumbled to the ground next to him from fatigue and gripped the blankets to stop your hands from shaking so much. Breathing heavily, you couldn’t stop the tears falling from the shock that continued to deeply rattle your bones in fright. Your days at the palace were always peaceful; as an apprentice, you mostly learned about the properties of herbs and some occasional sessions on treating wounds. You just never experienced this much raw violence.

“You can leave ussss now, Kaipo,” Tamva said as he watched you worriedly, shifting to his uninjured side to face you with a hiss.

Kaipo hesitated but nodded nonetheless, not before thanking you with a deep bow. You nodded mutely and tried to stop your crying.

“Thank you, princesssss.”

You looked up at him to see the full sincerity in his eyes.

“Of course,” you sniffled. “You saved me first.”

Just in case, you placed your index and middle finger under his pulse on his neck, letting out a relieved sigh when it was steady and that his skin didn’t feel too hot under your touch—an indicator that there was, in fact, no poison in the arrow.

After a moment, you tentatively asked, “Why did you save me?”

Tamva paused. “I need you for that ranssssom.”

“You could have just pushed both of us to the ground to avoid the arrows,” you pressed, eyes narrowing as the worry washed away and anger filled you for making your heart race from fear.

“Your father told usss explicitly to keep you ‘unssscathed’,” he said calmly.

At that, you didn't know whether to laugh or cry. “For only three hundred gold coins for your life!?”

His eyes widened briefly but quickly thinned into a glare, but it wasn’t directed at you as he looked away. “You won’t underssstand.”

“What do I not understand!? What’s the point of getting that money if you died!?”

“I ssssurvived, didn’t I?”

You scoffed exasperatedly and let the silence linger between you bitterly. Only the sound of the waves crashing outside echoed inside the room, and you watched the window's reflection of the lamps that made the glass shine faintly of its stained hue.

Suddenly, your ears caught Tamva’s voice as he spoke, “I need that money to buy a bigger ship.”

You paused, then blinked as you realised that he was talking to you.

“…Why?”

“I… I have a dream.”

Tilting your head curiously, you asked gently, seeing the slight blush on his cheeks, “What is your dream?”

He looked away from you and instead looked at his arm. Following his gaze, your eyes landed on the tattoo on his arm, but upon closer look, you realised there was an ugly patch of skin underneath the ink that oddly looked like multiple scars crossed over.

“I usssed to be a sssslave,” he finally said.

You took a quick breath, eyes widening at his confession. Swiftly looking back at the scar, you touched his arm and furrowed your brows.

“Then, is that a…”

“There ussssed to be a burn mark on my arm. A ssssymbol representing that I’m the property of my ex-sss-owner.”

“Oh, Tamva…”

He shut his eyes tightly, his uninjured hand finding solace in your hand as he squeezed it. “I got kidnapped from my home village by some bandits for my rare tail colour and got sold into a rich, human family. I was fortunate enough to not be sold into a brothel, though. And after all, I was able to escape from there. I got this ship from the captain who took me in after all of that. But…”

He slowly breathed out and continued. “I don’t want any more victimsss like me.”

Suddenly you remembered the day when you got kidnapped, the bomb demolishing the lower-rank brothels near that port market. The place was notorious for the smuggled girls, yet Xaenait couldn’t do anything due to the high tax it collected from their profit. The business was not under working hours at the time, so you could only assume that the workers there were out of the building.

“Is that why you bombed that brothel in the port?”

He nodded. “I need a bigger ship to sssstop all the sssmugglerss on the ocean.”

Squeezing his hand, you smiled softly. “You are very strong, Tamva. I really admire you.”

“Even though I kidnapped you for my goal?”

You chuckled. “I’m still salty about it. But if you need anything… I’m more than willing to help you.”

Tamva smiled at that as well and brought your hand to his mouth to press a soft kiss on your knuckles. You could only hope he didn't feel the hard pump of your pulse as he held your hand.

“Thank you, princessss.”

Tamva hissed as he tried to move.

You placed your hand on his chest, digging your fingertips into his bare skin to stop him from moving, worry clouding your mind.

“But I told you already, Tamva. I need you to bring me back home safely. A-And, you could’ve died.”

“I’m sssorry.”

Tamva’s cold hand touched your warm face, his thumb tracing your cheek lightly as a feather. When you looked up, your breath hitched as you met his eyes that beautifully gleamed under the firelight. His thumb moved down to brush your lower lip and you shuddered at the touch, finding your other hand gently lay on top of Tamva’s as you leaned into the touch. Tears prickled your eyes once more.

“Don’t cry, princessss,” he pleaded, gently wiping your tears away.

“Don’t you dare make me so worried again,” you said, blabbering away at this point. “I-I can’t handle the thought that someone… you, dying under my hands.”

“I won’t.”

You vaguely saw his eyes flicker down to your lips, his pupils dilating as his forked tongue revealed itself between his thin lips. Your eyes instinctively fluttered shut as he pulled you closer, yet snapping them back open when you felt his cool lips gently press on your forehead. Under your touch, you felt his chest breathe heavily—as well as yours—and you pulled yourself away from him abruptly, the reality of it all hitting you like the cold water outside.

“I-I, need to… I need to go,” you said shakily, standing up on your feet. “I’m going to go check on the others.”

Tamva parted his lips for a moment, as though he wanted to say something else, but closed them and nodded. “Of courssssse. Thank you for everything.”

“I’ll come back to check on you again.”

Giving him a weak, reassuring smile you hurried away before he could say anything, and stepped out into the cold air, shadows hiding over you from the roof above.

Choking down a sob, you tried to calm yourself with deep breaths. You wondered how your older sister, Lan, was able to keep her composure as she stared longingly at the black oni, whom she was so convinced that her love was unrequited and futile to even act upon it. Then again, Ryugen wasn’t exactly a bad suitor for her—being the chief guard of the Xaenait force and being a prestigious rank of oni. She had a chance.

However, Tamva had nothing. He was a pirate, a former slave who kidnapped you for a ransom. Xaenait wouldn’t accept this—your own family wouldn’t accept him for the dangers he has put you through. Also, his dream to end the slave trade was so ambitious, a completely different world from what you’ve been aiming for as a simple healer your entire life in the safe grounds of the palace. Not to mention that this incident was obvious in letting you know of your incapabilities on the battlefield.

And most of all, you hated him, loathed him for his beauty, the way he makes your cheeks turn a deep shade of red, and how he makes you dizzy just by thinking about him. But despite all of this, you couldn’t help but feel your heart flutter.

Letting out a jagged breath, you shut your eyes tightly before walking out of the shadow to check on his crew. Knowing deep down, it was just vain to even let your feelings for him to continue.

———

“How’s the crew?”

That was the first question Tamva asked you when you entered the cabin, and you smiled gently at the worry in his eyes, despite all the conflicting swirls of emotion swimming in your chest.

Apparently, the recovery system of nagas was much more heightened than that of a human, because only an hour after the treatment, Tamva was able to bring himself to carefully slither his way into his bed and his speech mostly went back to normal. Which at first made your heart leap out of your chest in fright when you went to check on him briefly earlier, worried that he had somehow undone your stitches. He assured you that some of his crew members helped him to get into his bed.

“They are fine. Their wounds were mostly light grazes that can be treated with alcohol and bandages. Unlike someone who got shot by three arrows.”

Tamva sighed in relief, then proceeded to narrow his eyes at you playfully. “At least someone was unscathed by my heroics.”

Approaching him, you softly asked, “How are you feeling?”

“It’s not pleasant, I assure you,” he groaned. He let out a loud hiss as he tried to shift his long tail into a more comfortable position.

“I will keep watch on you to make sure your wounds won’t open up again during the night,” you said, helping him with the cushions so that it was positioned more comfortably for him, making sure to cover him with his soft blankets.

He let out a weak chuckle. “How ironic. Just to think that I was keeping watch over you last night.”

A genuine smile widened across your face and you laughed softly.

His body relaxed at your laugh, smiling along with you with soft eyes as he watched you fuss over his wound, pupils dilating into a wide round. “Thank you, princess.”

Heat rushing into your cheeks, you hummed. “You better recover quickly.”

“I will.”

After making sure that all of the bandages were secured, you sat on his desk chair tiredly with a loud thud. “Sleep on your uninjured side, or else the wounds may reopen from the contact with the surface.”

He nodded and turned to his left shoulder, now facing you at your seat.

“Are you going to sleep there for tonight, princess?”

“I am.”

A frown creased on his mouth and as he tried to support himself with the uninjured side of his arm, about to stand up from his bed. You quickly rushed to his side to stop him.

Placing one hand under his cheek, and another gripping his hand tightly, you warned, “And don’t try to move in your sleep.”

Both of your eyes widened at the proximity between you, faces only centimetres away from touching. You could see the slight glaze over his gaze as if he was thinking hard about something, and it was not helping with the rush of blood pumping across your body.

He squeezed your hand back and whispered against your lips, “Sleep beside me.”

Shaking your head, you tried to gently pull his hands away from you “I can’t.”

You couldn’t take all of this. Tamva’s soft voice and all of his vulnerability shown in his full-blown eyes—it was too tempting.

“Why would you offer me to sleep with you anyway?” Your voice quivered and you cursed yourself for asking the question, knowing that if he answered, and if his reply was something that explained why his pupils were round like a cat in dark light and why his forked tongue was slithering out of his lips as if to taste your lips, you wouldn’t be able to think straight anymore.

Tamva looked down, seeming to think of how and what to answer you. “I’m cold, princess. You don’t want me to cough all night and undo all of your hard work stitching me up, right?”

“But…” You paused as his thumb made soothing circles on your hand, knowing better than to continue your inquiry. “What if I accidentally hurt you?”

“Oh, princess,” he said, eyes thinning in amusement. “Do you think a little human can hurt me?”

“I’m the healer here, Tamva. I know—”

“Please. It's captain's order.”

Tamva raised a brow as you took a step back, and you heaved a large sigh, shutting your eyes to shortly run away from his piercing, gold eyes.

“All right.”

Hesitantly and quite nervously, you stepped into his bed. With his good arm, he wrapped it around your hip and let you sit down next to him. Looking at the bed more closely, you noticed that the rim of the bed mimicked that of a snake nest was actually a woven basket that completely enveloped you around. With a proper cushion underneath and a heavy blanket over you, it was cosy and much more comfortable than the dungeon, perhaps more than your room back at the palace.

Tamva’s scent of musk mixed with rum and herbs for his arrow wound lingered around you like a vice, making every breath effective in dizzying your senses.

“Make sure you sleep on your uninjured side,” you reminded him, standing on your knees to check on his shoulder one last time.

From underneath you, Tamva smiled and hummed in acknowledgement. “I love it when you fussss over me, princesss.”

Glancing down at him with frigid muscles, you saw that his eyes were half-lidded and on the verge of closing them completely. His tail curled around you, just like this morning, but more tightly and protective, and his subtle warmth seeped into your skin snugly. Biting your lip to stop the unwanted tears from spilling as you reminded yourself that this would end soon, you laid down next to him and stroked his untied silver hair that felt so soft under your touch.

“Good night, Tamva. And thank you.”

Tenderly bringing the blankets up to tuck it under his chin, you faced away from him and settled into sleep. You were frozen in place once more when his hand gingerly found its place on your head, and you shuddered as his claw faintly traced your scalp.

“Good night, princesss. You’re welcome.”

Just for tonight, you thought. You let yourself seek comfort in Tamva, accepting your beating heart as his cool scales caressed your skin into sleep.

After all, there was only one day and one night left now.

Part 1

Check out my other stories set in the same world! (It might help with understanding some of the overlaps mentioned in this story)

Swords Clashing (Orc x F! Reader)

Weaving Through Complications (Tiefling x F! Reader)

A Crown & Masks (Oni x F! Reader)

[katsigian]

Changing my belief system from "this is the hill I'll die on" to "this is the hill I'll kill you on" has done absolute wonders for me 10/10 do recommend

[karnalesbian]

she commit acts of intercourse on my erogeneous zones until i achieve sexual climax

[bamsara]

"youve already written that trope" yesss. i like it a lots. i will be writing it again. 1000 stories of the same trope over and over again for ten million years

[captainjonnitkessler]

Sometimes I wish we would start calling out the performative radicalism on this site for the poser bullshit it is. "Remember, it's always morally correct to kill a cop!" "Don't forget to firebomb your local government office!" "Wow, it sure would be a shame if these instructions on how to make a molotov cocktail got spread around!"

Okay. But you're not killing cops or firebombing government offices. You are posting on a dying microblogging website to a carefully-curated echo chamber that has radicalized itself into thinking that taking the absolute most extreme position on any subject is praxis but that anyone discussing the most practical way to effect actual change is your sworn enemy. You do not have the street cred OR the activist cred to be talking about killing cops, babe.

[dappermouth]

ibuprofen is a type of angel that can live inside a bottle in your house

[abreathlessplace]

"i wonder if we ever think of each other at the same time."

[animentality]

[shinynewmemories]

No but the Hunger Games really said "what do you hate more- the atrocities or the people who commit them against you? Because like it or not there IS a difference. If you hate the people who commit acts of pure evil more than you hate the acts themselves, what will stop you from becoming just like your enemies in your pursuit of justice? What will keep you from commiting those very same acts against THEM when the opportunity arises? And what then? The cycle of pain and suffering will never stop. Round and round it'll go. Nothing will ever change. But. BUT. If you hate the atrocities. If you hate the vile, senseless acts MORE than you hate the people who did them to you. If you are able to see that evil is evil regardless of who does it... The cycle ends with you. No, you may never get justice. But you will never be responsible for making others, even your enemies, suffer the same crimes you have. The atrocities will never be committed by you, never by your hand. And that's the way you change the world. It's the ONLY way" and that's why I am sure it will never stop being one of the most relevant works of fiction ever created

[paintedcrows]

Whenever Bill sees KingOfNJ's fics through Stan's eyes he just thinks they have the same taste in fanfiction (disgusting. unthinkable) continued

[jamjoob]

Batman's for Batman Day

[babsvibes]

One of the funniest things about enemies-to-lovers ships is how they’re almost always obsessed with each other. Like if a character actively chooses to interact with another character over and over again instead of simply ignoring them? Throw darts at it all you want, but you still printed out a picture of them to hang on your wall

[krossan]

Heal what has been broken. Reconnect.

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

Stuck on the idea of vampires as a kind of reverse fae, or like someone's twisted, perverse attempt at moulding humans into fae.

They're repelled by liminal spaces.

A vampire could never enter fairyland, not just because they'd never be welcomed, but because most of the usual entry-ways are naturally barred to them.

They can't cross running water. They can't be seen in mirrors. They will wait forever at a crossroads, unable to pick a direction to go in. They can't even step over a thresh-hold unless there is absolutely no ambiguity about whether they are welcome inside.

They crave human blood, iron and salt, but are repelled by herbs and plants. They are supernaturally prevented from harming you unless the rules of hospitality have been invoked.

A fairy may replace your newborn child with something unnatural and ever-hungry. A vampire will do the same, but with your grandmother's corpse.

The fae are typically associated, even in stories where they're the bad guys, with flourishing and purity. Vampires, even in stories where they're the good guys, are typically associated with decay and corruption.

The fae turn ancient human burial mounds into fancy halls for their courts. Vampires take ancient human castles and let them grow mildewed and cobwebbed, exchanging the beds for coffins, turning them into burial places.

Fae don't tend to live among humans, but can generally pass for them with relative ease if they so choose. Vampires nearly always live among humans, but tend to find not revealing themselves a huge struggle.

I can't think of many stories I've read where fae and vampires even exist in the same universe, let alone ones where they actively interact. I feel like their enmity is almost more inevitable than that between vampires and werewolves, however.

The rivalry between vampires and werewolves is, essentially, the rivalry between two apex predator species who share a territory. (Even in stories where the werewolves aren't actually hunting humans.)

The vampires hate the werewolves because the werewolves interfere with their access to prey. The werewolves hate the vampires either because they consider themselves aligned with humans (the prey species), or because they are also predators and the vampires are competing with them.

By comparison, I think there's some story potential in the fae finding something genuinely creepy and uncanny valley about vampires.

They're immortal, like them, but also dead. They can be beautiful, like them, but that beauty is something they actively require humans to sustain. They like to inhabit beautiful and ancient ex-human dwellings, like them, but they actively work to make those places dark, damp and empty.

Fairies who are unflappable in the face of all sorts of Otherworldly monsters, can look an eldritch horror in the eye(s) without blinking, and have never been phased yet by any human, but will recoil from even the weakest vampire.

Vampires who hate fairies just as much, but in a more envious way. The way that the creature for whom immortality is a curse is bound to hate the creatures for whom immortality is an eternity of sunlight and laughter.

Maybe their touches burn each other. Maybe vampires can't stand physical contact with anything so alive and vital. Maybe immortal fairies become ill from too much exposure to the undead.

Maybe they fight over the human population when their territories overlap. The fairy need for servants and people to make deals with, competing with the vampire need for thralls and blood to drink.

Just… fairies and vampires. We need more stories about them interacting.