Archive of Our Own

The house was finally quiet for the night. Sougo’s birthday celebration had become far rowdier than Woz had expected, but while the celebration wasn’t elaborate, it had been bright and full of more joy than Woz remembered ever experiencing. Todoroki had been right. Being at Sougo’s side was the greatest form of celebration he could offer. There had been music, laughter, more food than Woz had ever seen in his life… And now Sougo had worn himself out. His uncle was finishing the clean-up and Geiz and Tsukuyomi had retreated to their room, leaving Woz to help Sougo to his bed.

Sougo leaned into Woz on their way up the stairs, something that brought a smile to Woz’s lips as he held tighter around Sougo’s waist. “One step at a time, my Overlord,” Woz spoke gently as the toe of Sougo’s slipper caught the edge of the next stair. Letting out a soft whine, Sougo leaned closer to Woz, trying to wind his arms around his advisor’s neck, “Help?” Woz laughed in spite of himself before bracing his back against the wall and sliding his arm down below Sougo’s hips to scoop him up onto his shoulder. He let Sougo settle comfortably before carrying him the rest of the way to his bed. He lay Sougo on his side and crouched to remove his slippers and socks. What a long day… Too much of it had been spent fighting and soul searching and not nearly enough time had been devoted to the wonder of his King. The thought of another celebration to make up for lost time had just begun to cross his mind when the light just barely caught something pushed just under the bed.

Slowly, Woz crouched and reached out to tug a wide shallow basket from under the bed. What the light had reflected was off one of several metal rods of different widths that were tucked into the side of the basket among balls of yarn in various sizes, colors, and textures, but wrapped in the center was about 40 centimeters of scarf knit in thin dark grey yarn. Woz stared at his discovery for a long moment before reaching up to run his fingers along the scarf wrapped around his shoulders. He stared at the fine, even stitching, feeling as though all of the air had been pulled from his lungs.

“Use this,” Oma Zi-O’s voice was demanding and strong, and sent a shiver up Woz’s spine as the overlord of time and space wrapped a length of grey cloth around his shoulders, “I have used Wizard’s magic on it. Use it in my service as you deem necessary.” The scarf was soft and exceedingly long, made to cover his head as well. Armor and weapon all at once, disguised as little more than a garment for warmth. Warmth Woz had never felt from anyone before this moment.

After a long pause, Woz threw the scarf around his shoulders and dropped to one knee before Oma Zi-O. “Yes, my king.”

Woz pulled his hood up, wrapping the scarf around himself so that he could nestle comfortably into it, acutely aware of the power it had been blessed with. He had never considered where the scarf his king presented him with had come from. It had never seemed to matter -- That Oma Zi-O had presented it to him at all had felt like more than Woz had deserved.

“Woz?” Sougo called sleepily from just above Woz’s head, causing Woz to nearly jump out of his skin as he felt Sougo try to tug the hood away from his head. “What’s wrong?” Woz lifted his eyes to Sougo, revealing what he was looking at. For a moment Sougo was confused, then his face went red and he quickly scurried further back on the bed to hide.

Slowly, Woz rose, reaching out to brush his fingers against the back of Sougo’s shoulder. “My king?” Sougo rolled away from Woz’s hand, quickly weaving around him to roll out of bed and grab the basket to shove it hastily back into its hiding place, but gave a low whine as the balls of yarn tumbled from it, rolling further under the bed than was easily accessible.

“I didn’t want you to see it...” Fear and shame crept into Sougo’s voice, and Woz felt his compulsion to coddle and comfort the young overlord rising in his chest, “I… I know it’s probably stupid. Knitting isn’t very king-like, is it?”

As Sougo dragged himself out from under the bed, tugging the basket with him to rearrange the yarn into it, he found Woz crouched at his side. “What makes an action king-like is that it is done by a king.” Woz spoke softly, taking the yarn to place it into the basket for Sougo, “Thus, if this is an activity you choose to pursue, it is king-like.” A small smile crossed Sougo’s lips. He should have known that no matter what he did, Woz would support it. Sougo was clearly still embarrassed, but Woz was relieved to have been able to comfort him after his secret had been discovered. “Why did you not want me to see it?”

“It was supposed to be a surprise.” Sougo sighed, “I’d wanted to finish before winter was over, but so many things happened that I barely made any progress at all.” Sougo lifted up one edge of the scarf, rubbing it between his fingers, “I had to start over a bunch of times too because I kept messing up.”

Woz looked between the lengths of yarn and the ambitious Rider at his side. Had Oma Zi-O… Had Sougo created this blessing bestowed upon him by his own hand? But Sougo was young yet… He had not even begun to rule, and thus would have no need to prepare defenses for his trusted right hand. So why? Woz stared at the basket, wondering how much time it would even take to knit a scarf the length of the one he wore. Was it days? Weeks? Months? He knew nothing of the process. Gently, Woz pushed the basket back under the bed with one hand, reaching over to wrap the other around Sougo’s shoulders, pulling him close so that he could kiss the top of his king’s head. “You truly spoil me, my king.”

For a few moments, Sougo just leaned into Woz’s chest before covering his mouth in an attempt to hide a yawn. Woz chuckled, lifting Sougo up to place him back on the bed, watching with amusement as Sougo burrowed under his blankets. Woz climbed in beside him, propping his back against the headboard of the bed slightly so that Sougo could rest his head on his stomach, cuddling up to Woz as though he were a large stuffed toy. Woz had grown accustomed to spending nights this way when Sougo was finally ready to sleep. He had watched over Oma Zi-O in rest, but never so closely or intimately. He had been a watch, a warning against danger, but here with Sougo Woz felt as though he could truly protect him from a world that wanted to stagnate him and halt his progress. And Woz felt that he too could, if only for a short time, feel safe enough to rest.