Work Text:
𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙢
𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠
Thunder rumbled, echoing through the halls and the lush rooms. Lightning sparked from behind the curtains, haloing the silky cream cloth in a flash of white light.
Cardan lay awake in bed. His eyes snapping open at every crack of thunder. The rain pattering against the window ticked like a ticking time bomb till the next burst of thunder. Beside him, Jude never once even flinched. Her body was cocooned in a mass of fluffy blankets, her head buried halfway on the pillow; with her hair strewn out atop it; and half on Cardans chest. He heaved out a sigh, as much as he wanted to, there was no point in waking her just because the thunder frightened him.
Such a childish fear it was. He remembered when he was younger. He would run in from the stables whenever a storm struck and sneak into the hallway of his mothers room. There, he would sit outside the wood of her door. Sometimes until a servant came and scolded him; sending him sobbing back to the comfort and solitude of the stables; or sometimes until he worked up the courage to open the door of her room and pad over to her bed. He would make his way beside her, praying that this one time she would give him comfort to break away his fears of the storm. But Cardan never received it from her. Eventually he stopped going. He couldn't bear the disappointment.
Storms were few and far between in Elfhame, but when they happened, they were rough. The waters of the undersea crashed on land with massive waves. Sometimes, the people of the undersea would swim to close to the surface and get washed up on shore. The massive rainfall would bring floods to the many lakes and streams of Elfame. But that hadn’t scared him, the lightning and thunder, that had always been Cardans weakness.
Cardans brothers and sisters had told him stories when he was younger. The bolts of lighting were the past great and powerful fae, lighting up the world to remind people to remember them. But the rumbles of thunder were the monsters and beasts of stories, chasing after the lightning and reminding people that the evil would win.
Cardan would grow fearful of these stories. He began to think that the thunder would shift from just a noise to destruction.
“Cardan?”
He shook his head, chasing away the daydreams. “Ah, Jude, my darling, did I wake you?”
“No, the storm. It seems bad. Are you alright? You look scared.”
He nodded, leaning back into the pillow, just as another flash of lightning lit up the room, followed almost directly by a sharp crack of thunder. He flinched, violently, but tried to cover it up by rolling over.
Jude as always didn't buy it. She knew him far too well for that. She grabbed his hand and pulled him back so he was facing her, “Cardan, love, you’re shaking. Whats going on? Is it because of the storm?”
“I’ll be fine Jude. once the storm goes down i’ll be fine.” He couldn’t lie, so it must be true. Jude sighed and merely pulled him closer, “Let me hold you at least, for my sake.”
“Jude, Darling, you know I could never refuse that.”
“You know,” Jude said softly, her hands gently weaving through his black curls. He tried to stay present in the moment. The thunder wasn’t going to do anything right now, he wasn’t in the stables, he was here with Jude, and he was forever thankful for that. “Back in the mortal world, I used to be terrified of storms. Every time I woke up from one, I'd go over to Vivi’s room. She would get every blanket and pillow she could find and we would make a blanket fort. She would pull me in and cover me in blankets till I felt safe. That was the only way I could get back to sleep.”
Cardan smiled at the thought. “Can we make a fort?”
Jude shot out of bed a grin blooming across her face. She grabbed his hand, yanking him up “Help me with this, Cardan?”
She pulled the blanket off the bed, balancing one end on the couch and the other on the bed. Cardan threw pillows underneath, as well as the other throw blankets and comforters, and made a little bed, just big enough for the both of them.
“It looks exactly like the ones Viv and I used to make.” Jude said, admiring their handiwork after they had finished. The makeshift ceiling of the blanket was caving in and a little bit lopsided. The space would be tight and cramped thanks to all the blankets and pillows. “It’s perfect.”
Cardan brushed aside her hair and skimmed his lips on the curve of her ear, “You’re perfect.” he whispered.
Jude giggled and smiled at him, pulling him into the blanket fort by the wrist. It gave him much pleasure to know that he had only ever heard her giggle like that around him. Cardan snuggled up as close as he could next to her, spooning her as he pressed his head into her hair, lips pressed into the nape of her neck.
The thunder and lightning still crashed all around them, but in the security of the blanket fort, with Jude in his arms, He felt completely safe. She kissed the insides of his wrists, trailing her lips up his forearms. Her touch was gentle and brief and gave him butterflies. How was he so lucky to be loved by her?
His eyes closed, inhaling her sweet mortal scent.
“Is this better?” Jude whispered into the night air. She placed another round of kisses up his arm.
“When it’s with you, everything’s better.” Even if he could lie he would’ve meant it. He would do anything for her. He would give up his immortal life if it was for her.
With Jude snuggled in Cardans arms, he finally found the comfort he craved so dearly ever since his youth. And with that, he drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep.