Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Getting sick was the worst. Not being able to do anything about it was worse.

As part of her job, Sylvia kept up with all of the research papers and studies that came out about potions, ingredients, and the dangers of overuse. Apparently, someone had discovered that using healing potions for every little thing made your immune system less reliable. Without it being able to take care of any infiltrations, it makes it weaker. By extension, the health potions are made to be stronger to make up for it, but that perpetuates the cycle.

And, to have any credibility when passing this information to clients, Sylvia has to follow that same advice. Even if it is to her own - temporary - detriment.

Oswald had checked on her about an hour ago to make sure she had, at least, had some food and water. She was surprised when the door softly creaked open.

“You breathin’?”

Ah. That explained.

Groaning into her pillow, she weakly tried to shoo Finn away.

“Sorry, Minnow,” that familiar pain in the ass feigned innocence. “No can do.” He gently placed a hand on her back. “Let me look at ya’.”

Sylvia turned her back towards him. “I don’t want you catching what I-” She began to have a massive coughing fit. She was so delirious from coughing, she didn’t even realize that Finn had placed her in a sitting position. “Dammit, Minnow. Don’t be so stubborn; take a damn potion.”

She shook her head as she coughed. “I can’t.”

After her cough calmed down, Finn helped her drink some water. He sat on the bed and pulled her into his chest.

Sylvia felt so embarrassed to be seen like this; covered in sweat, probably smelling awful, and just being gross in general. “Please go,” she begged even though she wanted him to stay. “I’d feel awful if you got sick.”

“C’mon, Minnow,” he held her tighter as his tail wrapped around them. “Give me a little credit. I’m tougher than that.” Then she looked up at him. Her eyes were watery and red, dried and wet snot came down from her nose. He almost relented to her.

Almost.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Damn,” he said as he pulled away. “Your fever is hotter than you are. Didn’t think anything could be hotter than you.”

That got her to laugh. And cough, this time a little.

“Finn, please.”

“Nuh-uh. You can’t just cancel our date, make me worry about ya, and then send me away. That ain’t right.”

She groaned into his chest, giving up. Then she got an idea. “Could you get me something to eat?”

Finn kissed her forehead one last time. “Anything in particular?” She shook her head against his chest. After gently removing himself from her, Finn laid her back down and adjusted the blankets to her liking. With a loving squeeze to her arm, he closed the door as he left. When he returned, he noticed Sylvia was starfished on the bed. The blanket on top of her head, trying to stop him from getting to her.

He smiled as he set her food - a bowl of soup with a grilled cheese sandwich - on her nightstand. “Firstly,” he started off. “I can tell by your aura that you’re not asleep.” He noticed her flinch at that. “Secondly, I can pick up you up and move you. I’ve already done it.” He grinned as he approached her ear. With a purr, he informed her, “Or I can also just be on top of you, since that’s where you love me the most~”

Her aura flared at that. It grew even higher when he pressed a kiss to her covered neck. “Finn!” She protested, still under the blanket. Sylvia groaned as she poked her head out to glare at him. Her annoyance grew at the amused and ‘innocent’ look he gave her. With a roll of her eyes she pulled the blanket down, asking him earnestly “Do you promise you won’t get sick?”

“I promise, Sylvia.”

Fuck! She hated it and loved it when he finally used her real name. She equated it to when parents used your entire name; very rare, but that’s what made it so damn potent.

Sylvia drew back the blanket and looked him in the eyes. “Can I ask a favor?”

“I’m not gonna fall for it twice.”

“There’s nothing to fall for, I promise.”

“Except you, maybe~”

Her blush deepened. “Finn!” Hiding her head in her hands, she tried to fight the grin. This man was going to be the death of her and, honestly, she didn’t mind it.

Most of the time.

Looking at him once more, she asked him, “Can you change the sheets for me?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, but agreed anyway. If she wasn’t going to make good on her promise, he certainly would.

Finn helped Sylvia to the bathroom before grabbing and changing the damp sheets. In the bathroom, Sylvia was using a wet rag to clean off as much dried sweat as she could. Then, she used a dry one to dry herself off. She knew Finn wouldn’t mind, but she did. Afterward, Sylvia changed into new pajamas and, once she finished, Sylvia dropped the old blanket on top of the previous sheets and climbed into bed with a waiting Finn. He held her up so she could have a few bites of food. No sense in wasting it.

Settling back down, Sylvia was adamant about having her back to Finn if he was going to be in bed with her. Finn, finally, gave her some ground as he held her firmly against him. She fell asleep in minutes.

Finn hummed a small laugh after she finally settled down. He rested his tail on top of her, grateful to see that she’s feisty even when sick. It showed him just how resilient she was and that nothing could slow her down. That didn’t stop him from worrying some days.

Finn would always be there when she needed him, which is why he wished she relied on him some more. Sylvia always seemed so insistent on doing things herself; granted, when she first got to Rafta she practically had to. But now? Now she had support.

She also had the biggest, baddest, sexiest man by her side.

He thought back to a conversation where they went into depth about this very topic. Sylvia had some reservations about relying on others, him in particular, because she didn’t want to be a burden. Finn had to remind her that: a) she’s never been - nor ever will be - a burden and b) sometimes you can’t do it on your own. Hell, he certainly couldn’t after his loss.

Sylvia’s wet snoring pulled him back to the present. Finn couldn’t help but scoff at the ridiculousness of it all. Maybe she would be more open to asking him for help if they lived together-

Finn’s arms tightened around her waist and his breathing hitched. He was eternally grateful that humans didn’t have electroreception or else the sudden shift in his aura would’ve woken her up.

Living together… he thought. The more time he gave it, the more it made sense to him. Placing one last kiss against her head, Finn decided to let sleep claim him, too. Wonder how she’d feel about it…

Chapter Text

The moon was rising with the tide as a fight broke out. Deep in the basement of an illegal poker tournament, Finn threw the first punch. He had no doubt that he would also throw the last. Whilst the gamblers placed their - losing - bets against the shark-man, Finn’s mind was elsewhere.

Finn grabbed two heads and clashed them together as his tail smacked someone else into a nearby wall. Maybe I could get flowers? He punched one guy in the face and kicked another in the stomach. Nah. The hell’s she gonna do with flowers? With an underhand motion, he grabbed the shirt of another gambler, threw him over his shoulder, and into a crowd of oncoming assailants. Chocolates would be good, but I think something classier- something more personal would be better. Ingredients, maybe…

He grabbed an oncoming punch, pushed it to the side, and spun the woman around. Pining her arm behind her back, Finn asked with sincerity, “Would you prefer food as a gift or something you could use for your job?”

“Wou- what?”

Finn groaned in annoyance and then used her as shield from an oncoming baton swing. Tossing her to the side, he easily tore the baton from the grunt and broke it over the grunt’s head. Noticing the barkeep in the back had grabbed a crossbow, Finn tossed the broken baton directly at his throat. Maybe I could pay for an expedition or two? Oo! Or maybe-

One of the gamblers had jumped onto Finn’s back. Finn, deciding that now would be a good time to focus, reached behind him and threw the would-be jockey on to a card table. Clasping both hands, Finn brought down his fists on the gambler’s stomach. The shark man surprised himself when he broke the table.

How did he get into this mess? That would be Baptiste’s ‘fault’. There had been a surge in the underground gambling rings and the city guard couldn’t keep up. The guild leader asked - see ‘bribed’ - Finn to investigate. Key word: investigate. He wasn’t supposed to be this deep into the mess. The reason for the brawl is that one of the guards was talking about Sylvia in a… less than flattering matter. Nobody disrespected his girl, especially not in a vile manner.

Speaking of, the reason why Finn was distracted was because of the potion witch. She found out that Finn pushed one of her customers - the one who made the ‘stone mason hands’ comment - down the stairs. Twice. Finn tried to convince her that they fell down on their own, probably due to the stone mason feet that they have. Having none of it, Sylvia swore off any dates until he apologized.

Had she specified that he needed to apologize to the customer? Yes. Was he going to? No. If anyone was getting an apology, it was her. Finn knew she could fight her own battles, but sometimes someone had to step in the ring for her. Who better’n her boyfriend?

At some point, the ringleader had stepped in and tried his luck against Finn. The fight could have gone either way, until Finn hooked a foot around the ringleader’s ankle and knocked him down. The leader saw Finn’s fist crashing down and rolled to the side. Pushing himself up from the floor, the leader looked at Finn and saw the back of the shark man’s hand.

Flung to another part of the floor, the ringleader didn’t have much time to get up before Finn pinned him down with just a forearm. The leader subtly pulled a knife from his inner jacket pocket and, less subtly, stabbed Finn in the side. Finn was then kicked off of the ringleader by his number two. As he coughed up blood, the leader laughed at him. “You really thought you did something, didn’t you?” He reveled in Finn’s glare. “I’ll admit, you set me back a few grand. But I’ll bounce back. I always do.” Sauntering up to Finn, he continued to gloat. “Although, I do have a lot of pent up anger. I’m not sure if taking it all out on you would be enough.” He leaned into his ear. “Think your girl could help me out?”

~~~

Sylvia, unbeknownst to her, was in the safest place in all of Rafta at that moment. She was complaining to Mint, Xid - who was taking a break - and Baptiste. She groaned in frustration as she took a sip of water. “I love him - I swear I do - but he’s such a pain in the ass sometimes.”

The women agree whole heartedly while Baptiste simply sympathized. “He just has your best interests at heart.”

“I know that, but does he have to commit attempted murder while doing it?”

“He said the customer tripped.”

Before Sylvia could backpedal, Quinn burst through the doors almost taking them off the hinges. “Guys!” They cried. “Finn! He’s-!” Suddenly, their back hit the wall. Having closed them upon the initial impact, Quinn opened their eyes to see Sylvia pining them against the wall.

”Where is he?”

~~~

Finn leaned one hand against the brick and had the other enclosed on the knife blade, trying to keep it in his gut. He breathed heavily as he fought the fatigue to get to a healer. What he failed to realize is that he was making his way to Sylvia’s instead. His unconscious mind wanted to make sure she was safe, unharmed.

Finn stopped to catch his breath as the dizziness from the lack of blood was catching up.

No… no. The dizziness was subsiding as he realized he tripped on his feet at some point. He had been on the floor for who knows how long. Turning his body, Finn laid on his not stabbed side as he tried to remember how he got out of that basement. ‘Tried’ because his thoughts kept Sylvia at the forefront of his mind. Her laugh rang in his ears as he saw her smile. He smiled at the memory of her blush being redder than her hair.

And now he wouldn’t be able to have anymore.

Finn sobered up a little at that. He began to crawl as he thought about the tears that would fill her eyes, hearing that he died. Hell, he could even hear her voice as she cried out his name in disbelief. Losing the last of his strength, he hallucinated seeing her run towards him as his world went dark.

~~~

It was simultaneously easy and difficult to breathe. The blinding lights above forced Finn to keep his eyes closed, until he used his arm to shield them.

Did he die?

Releasing a guttural groan, Finn dragged his hand down his face. He hoped - prayed, really - that he at least-

“I see we’re awake now,” a man scolded.

Finn looked to his left and saw “Asswald?”

“‘Hello’ to you, too, fish dick.”

Slowly but surely, Finn’s senses came back online. His breathing was being helped, and obstructed, by a glass tank filled with water on his gills and a ventilator on his face. He felt numb on his left, probably where he got stabbed, and his right arm was being weighed down by something. Then his electroreception kicked on and picked up the presence of another person. A familiar presence.

Looking over, he saw Sylvia on top of his arm. She slept in a hospital bed at an incline, her bed pressed against his. Finn delicately brushed the hair from her face as Oswald explained, “Quinn had a vision about you bleeding everywhere. They ran to the Guild Hall to get help and Sylvia happened to be there. They stopped by Muktuk’s sled to help carry you here.” Oswald waited for a moment or two before adding “She cried, thinking you weren’t going to make it.”

Finn flinched at that. He hated when she cried, especially over him. He wasn’t worth her tears; never was. At least, he and Oswald thought so.

Figuring now would be a good time to stop, Oswald added, “Baptiste couldn’t wait for you to wake up. He was really pushing how long he could leave the bar unattended by waiting to hear if you were coming out of surgery. He wanted me to tell you that ‘the book you recovered would be enough to shut down everything’ and ‘you’ll be getting your pay soon’.”

Not taking his eyes off of her, Finn muttered a brief ‘thanks’.

“You can thank me by not trying to get yourself killed.” While standing up, he continued, “And, if you do throw yourself into another situation like this… don’t cut it so close, all right?”

Finn tossed a sarcastic glance at the uncle. He wanted to say something nasty, but the best he could come up with was “I’ll see what I can do.”

Oswald turned the lights off for a minute and then turned them back on, causing Sylvia to wake up. She rubbed her eyes and the first thing she heard was her uncle. “He’s awake,” was the last thing he said before leaving.

Sylvia needed a minute for her brain to kick on to properly register the words. Once they were accepted, she looked to Finn and saw that he was awake. Letting go of his arm, she laid on top of him and wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing. At least, she tried to.

Sylvia kissed every part of his exposed face, grateful that she still could. Finn’s tail lightly flopped on the bed, grateful he could still be kissed by her.

Chapter Text

The streetlights flickered, fighting to keep their lights on. Sylvia was doing the same, trying to out run a vampire that had snuck into Rafta. Her feet sent shockwaves through the cobblestone as the ringing in her ears grew louder and louder. Grabbing a streetlight post, she propelled down another narrow street trying to find something familiar in her panicked mind. Sylvia wasn’t having much luck, so she ducked into a dead end alley and hid behind a trash can. With her hands over her mouth, she tried to quiet her breathing.

The vampire looked down the alley before continuing his hunt.

Sylvia waited a few moments to catch her breath and to build distance between them. Once it was safe, she ran back the way she came. She made it as far as the corner before something jumped on her back. Her head hit the cobblestone causing the skin to break, not realizing she was flipped around until she saw red eyes staring back at her. The running and panting did wonders to close her throat.

The vampire laughed. “This has been the most fun I’ve had in years! Thanks for being such great prey.” Not done having his fun, he feinted lunging for her throat. The vampire smiled as Sylvia struggled to hold back his head, keeping his fangs at bay. Pretending he was upset, he hissed. The vampire grabbed her wrists and ‘fought’ to get them out of the way.

They - namely she - struggled for dominance. Sylvia swallowed her saliva and some of her fear and screamed as loud as she could.

The vampire let go and covered his ears, genuinely stunned.

Sylvia slapped him- only for her hand to stop on his cheek. She desperately tried to push him off, which only served to make him angrier.

Now that the game had been given up, the vampire grabbed her wrists and held them by her head. He lunged for her throat.

~~~

At Muktuk’s sled, Finn was showing off his Itsy Bitsy Kaiju cards. He didn’t think that the walrus would care, but was pleasantly surprised to be wrong.

Finn did have a hard time trying to convince Muktuk that some of the cards were worth their price tags.

“I am sorry, my friend,” the walrus lamented. “But I do not think I could ever spend that much on something so…” What was the polite way of putting it?

“One note?”

“Yes.”

“Nah, I understand. I had a hard time believin’ it myself. But there are nerds that are obsessed enough to shell out that much coin.”

“Would you consider yourself one of them?”

Finn shuffled through the cards, thinking about his answer. “Depends, I think. Do I wanna shell out that many coins for something like this? Nah. But, I do like the idea of having ‘em as backup funds.”

“Have you ever been tempted to?”

“Sometimes. When shopping around for these things, you gotta have a max on what you wanna spend. For me, my cap is 500.”

“500?”

Finn scoffed, but not at Muktuk. “That’s chump change-”

They both heard a scream. Sharing a quick glance, they bolted out the door and followed the sound. They rounded two corners before finding the source and Finn darted towards the scene before him. He collided into the vampire just as he got close to Sylvia’s neck. They tumbled for a few feet before Finn was able to claim the top spot and unleashed a flurry of punches.

Muktuk kneeled in front of Sylvia, trying to take in her current state. She was curling into her shaking body as her breaths came quick and sharp, trying - and failing - to fight the tears that ran down her cheeks. He had to get her out of here, but he needed to check on Finn first. “Boss Finn! Do you require-”

Finn had thrown the vampire into a streetlamp and pinned him to it by repeatedly punching his stomach. He then tossed the vampire into an alleyway. Rolling up his sleeves further, Finn stalked inside.

“…Nevermind.” Muktuk turned to Sylvia and carefully picked her up. “Let’s get you to safety.” Sylvia grabbed his biceps, almost pleading to wait for Finn. “He would rather you be safe, Sylvia. He’ll be right behind us, I promise.” She hid her face as she nodded. Unable to help herself, Sylvia looked over Muktuk’s shoulder to watch for Finn.

~~~

An hour later, Finn barged into the healer’s station demanding to know where his girlfriend was. Some were upset at his rude attitude, others recognized he had just been in a fight with a vampire. He turned down their offers, demands really, to be checked out.

He was about to tear the place apart until he heard his name. Following the sound, he saw Sylvia. His heart stopped, then dropped when he saw her arm in the sling. She was quick to explain that it was dislocated, not broken.

The healers tried one last time to get Finn to accept their help, but he declined.

“Finn-” Sylvia tried to plead.

“I got three days until their curse or whatever fully takes over. That’s plenty of time to make sure you get home.” He wrapped an arm around her waist while is tail wrapped around to the front. Not even bothering to check if she’s been discharged, Finn escorted her out of the facility.

The two walked in uneasy silence. Sylvia was quiet because she was still a little shaken up and Finn was keeping an eye out for any danger. It wasn’t until she heard waves crashing that she realized they were going to his shack. Finn answered her question before she asked. “Pretty sure you’ll be having a panic attack after falling asleep. Figured it’d be better if I was actually around for it.”

She couldn’t argue. Sylvia had woken him up in the middle of the night with a phone call a handful of times.

As they approached, Finn pulled out his keys and began to unlock the door. He muttered a ‘hold on’ before picking up Sylvia and carrying her over the threshold.

“Finn?!”

“I’m not gonna drop ya,” he teased, hoping his humor would lift her spirits. Using his foot, he closed the door.

“I can walk, you know. You saw that I can.”

“I’m well aware,” he conceded while walking to the bedroom.

“Then why-?”

He sat her on the bed and placed a kiss on her forehead. Finn then rubbed his forehead against hers. “I want to take care of ya,” he whispered.

Sylvia closed her eyes, enjoying the moment. “Okay,” she relented. Pulling away, she placed a kiss on his forehead. “But only if I get to dote on you in the morning.”

Finn smiled, placing a kiss on her cheek. “Deal.” He pulled away to go lock the door. She asked him why it wasn’t already and locked and he gave the flimsy excuse that his hands were full. Sylvia meant to huff at him in annoyance, but a half-laugh came out instead. Finn, grateful that she started to feel better, pulled out his phone and texted Oswald that Sylvia would be staying with him for the night, briefly explaining that he’d get all the details in the morning.

Getting back to the bedroom, Finn saw Sylvia pulling out her ‘emergency sleepover kit’ from the closet. “‘Scuse me,” he feigned annoyance. “The hell you think you’re doin’?” Not even giving her the chance to respond, he picked her up and - gently - plopped her back on the bed. “I’m supposed to be doting on you.” He kicked the bag back into the closet and closed the door. Then he opened it and pulled out the bag.

Sylvia giggled despite herself. She ‘counted her blessings’ when Finn let her pick the pajamas from the bag. Going with the warmest option she had available, Sylvia turned to Finn and gave him access to her clothes.

As he helped her change, he finally asked how she got mixed up in that mess.

With a shaky breath, Sylvia explained, “There was a custom order. Nothing about it was out of the ordinary, at first. I made the potions and sent them off, but they came back. Post office said that I put the wrong address, but I didn’t. I double checked what the customer had told me and tried to send it again. They came back and I was running out of time to collect the payment on the order. Deciding enough was enough, I tried to deliver them myself after doing the last of my last minute errands and, well…”

He hummed at that. Finn wasn’t blaming her, he wouldn’t dare. Instead, he held her close and thought of ways to come up with a system so she would never be in that position again.

~~~

Finn called it. The stress and anxiety of almost becoming someone’s meal gave her the worst nightmare. He woke her up and held her close, acting as both her heated blanket and anchor. Sylvia held on to him as if he was the last tether to the world and cried into his chest.

She had no idea how long she cried into him or how long these new anxieties would plague her, but she was grateful to have Finn by her side to get her through them.

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful weekend in Rafta. The weather was perfect, as usual - thanks, weather witches - the last of a festival was on it’s way out, and Sylvia took the time off to enjoy it all with her boyfriend. She was currently in his shack putting the last touches of a picnic basket together.

She jumped out of her skin when the door slammed open and then slammed shut. Grabbing a cast iron pan, just in case, she carefully peaked her head around- and it was Finn. Putting the would-be weapon back, Sylvia came out from the corner. “Everything okay?”

“People are morons,” he surmised, crashing onto the couch.

Sylvia nodded along sympathetically, knowing all too well what he was going through. She took the basket and put it in the fridge, then joined her boyfriend on the couch. Specifically, she was sitting on the armrest. “You wanna talk about it?” She got a muffled ‘no’. “Yeah, that’s fair. You wanna watch something on TV?” Another ‘no’.

Now she was getting worried.

In an attempt to help him out of this funk, she played her ‘Think, Sylvia, Think!’ card and got a brilliant idea. She gently tugged on his arm and said “Come to the bedroom with me.”

Finn turned his head to look at her and to be properly heard. “In any other circumstance, you wouldn’t have to say that twice. As of this moment, I ain’t in the mood.”

She felt the blush keep up her neck and face. “Wha-? No! No, no! That’s not-! I know that! I-!” Sylvia got more flustered as Finn enjoyed her floundering. “I meant I have a way to make you feel better!” Realizing too late that that did not help her case, she gently ushered him to get up and follow her.

Finn dragged his feet for two reasons: first, he was tired. Second, it was funny to watch this tiny human use all ten of her pounds to drag him anywhere.

Once in the bedroom, Sylvia presented two options: a massage or close contact cuddling.

“Ain’t that just regular cuddling?” He asked genuinely.

“Kind of. In this instance, we’d both be shirtless.”

Finn folded his arms over his chest. As she floundered, again, he weighed the options. Pulling her towards him, Finn placed a kiss on her head and picked “Cuddling.” He felt her nod in his chest and let go, giving her the space she needed to take off her shirt.

Sylvia then saw the tiny flaw in her plan. “Dammit,” she whispered.

“What?”

“Well,” she blushed. “I may or may not have had a surprise for you if today went really well.”

“Oh?”

“Do you want to see it or would you rather be surprised?”

“Show me.” He figured she might as well if she had plans to show him later. Sylvia took off her shirt and showed off her bra. “That’s new~,” Finn noted.

“It is!” Sylvia beamed. She showed the back. “As you can see, you can’t open it from the back.” Turning towards him, she demonstrated the zipper in the front. With a dramatic flourish, she took off her bra.

Finn, being polite, clapped for her. She bowed for him and when she stood back up, they both laughed. Once Finn was shirtless, they both climbed into bed. Sylvia laid on top of the pillows with her chin on top of his head. Finn landed some prime real estate being face-to-chest with, well, her chest.

With how they were positioned, she soaked up most of the sunlight. This suited him just fine; he ran hot enough.

He felt her thumb run circles on his bicep while her other hand played with his hair. Finn placed a kiss at the top of her cleavage and muttered “‘m sorry…”

“What for?”

“You were looking forward to today.”

She shrugged. “There will be other days like this. I would rather you be in the moment with me instead of beside me.”

He smiled, wondering how he got so lucky to be with her. “I’ll make it up to you.”

Sylvia knew better than to argue; if he felt indebted, then he’d pay her back. “Careful,” she teased. “You talk like that and I might add interest.”

Finn chuckled. “You’re worth the price, Sylvia.”