Work Text:
Captain Avicinda was an exceptional Faewish Sprite. This was simply an undeniable fact to the members of the Wish Master's Paladins who witnessed his relentless training every single morning and knew that he never made mistakes. It helped, of course, that he liked to treat them to Dorobo's Family Restaurant every so often, both those who did well in their patrols and those who needed more encouragement, and so the Paladins were all very very certain that Avicinda was the best among them all.
But they also knew his greatest secret, of course, a matter of much debate and gossip among them whenever Avicinda wasn't in earshot.
That secret was this: Captain Avicinda never slept.
Recruits assigned to clean his quarters in the Paladin barracks would report back that it had gone unused, night after night. No one, not even Chachada who was a veritable expert in trying out other Paladins' beds, could claim to have hosted Avicinda in their bed or shared one with him. And yet, Avicinda was always up in the early mornings for more training, always refreshed and ready for anything the day threw at him.
He never smiled and everyone was actually kind of afraid of him, but that part was just his personality rather than anything to do with never sleeping.
And so, the Wish Master's Paladins accepted that Captain Avicinda was simply so exceptional, he was the one Faewish Sprite in the entire Wishing Woods who did not need sleep whatsoever.
Deep in the Temple of Wishes, there was a bedroom reserved for the Wish Master alone. Tonight though, and for the many, many other nights which it had witnessed these past few hundreds of years, it was occupied not only by the one Faewish Sprite it officially belonged to, but two.
"I overheard something strange about you again today," said Chigda, his back straight as he sat upon the edge of his bed. He had already changed into simpler white garb for the night, cut from the finest of Faewish-made cloth which awkwardly draped over the vines growing from his back.
Avicinda, also in his nighttime vestments and hovering behind him while meticulously brushing his lord's curls, did not stop for a moment in his task even as he made a disgruntled noise.
"Reida must be spreading nonsense again," he said.
"Oh? But isn't it true that the Captain of the Paladins doesn't need to sleep?" asked Chigda in a singsong voice. In this bedroom, he could freely shed the formality required of him as the Wish Master. "He's such a special Faewish Sprite, not even sleep can stop him from training—ow!"
It wasn't only their formality they could shed in this bedroom. Avicinda smirked to himself as pulled his brush through a tangled knot with a bit more force than strictly necessary. It would have been easier to use his Whim, and faintly Avicinda remembered offering to do so when he had first come into Chigda's service, but this nightly ritual was one of the things neither of them wished to give up.
"My apologies, Lord Chigda," said Avicinda flatly, quickly smoothing out his expression, "Hearing Reida's nonsense coming out of your mouth must have startled me." He flew over to the dresser and set down the brush, indicating to Chigda that they were done.
Chigda said nothing, only rising and then floating backward further onto the bed, until he was sitting propped up against the many pillows Avicinda had acquired for him in order to accommodate his newly growing vines. He watched as Avicinda flew all about the bedroom, making his preparations for the morning before dimming the Whim lamps to a low and warm, comfortable level.
"I can only imagine the sort of nonsense he'd have to say if he saw you fussing over me every night," said Chigda, breaking the silence finally. This level of care that Avicinda offered him every day was well beyond the role of Captain of the Paladins, but ever since his miraculous recovery from Desperation Syndrome, Avicinda had taken over personally seeing to his health. Among other things.
Presently, Avicinda was shooting him a glare as he approached the bed once more.
For Chigda, the message in Avicinda's eyes combined with the pout on his lips was easy enough to read: Stop talking about that moron and focus on me. Now.
Chigda leaned back, letting the vines cushion him together with the pillows, and waved Avicinda over.
"Well? Shall we prove this rumor baseless?" he said as Avicinda landed on the bed in front of him. "It's bedtime for the Captain, is it not?"
Avicinda scoffed as he sat beside Chigda, shifting to make himself comfortable. "I dislike talking about this kind of thing before I sleep."
He was truly an exceptional Faewish Sprite, but not for any of the reasons the other Paladins liked to gossip about. No—the reason was that he was the only Faewish Sprite who had earned two particular privileges. The first of these was that of speaking freely when within this room.
"Hm...and we shouldn't talk about work either," said Chigda with a chuckle. Work was, as of late, the acquisition and delivery of Desperation Orbs, which was hardly a relaxing topic. "Ah, I know. The Aurosa will be blooming soon, won't they?"
"That's work," protested Avicinda.
"No, it isn't," replied Chigda. One of his vines shifted out from behind him, creeping up toward the other Faewish Sprite. Controlling them had come naturally to him, but still required practice. He reached for the back of Avicinda's collar, and tugged until the Paladin toppled over onto the sheets. Chigda leaned forward, until he was gazing down into Avicinda's eye. "It's not work, Avicinda. I was merely thinking that after the Ceremony, I wish to go and see the Aurosa blooms with you alone."
A faint silver flushed across Avicinda's cheeks, and his gaze quickly moved away. "Then we should do that, Lord Chigda."
Gently, he caressed Avicinda's cheek with the vine and straightened his posture once more. "So, is that a better thing to think about before sleeping?"
Rather than answering, Avicinda rolled onto his side and pushed himself back up from the bed. Then he pulled himself closer to Chigda and placed his head onto Chigda's lap. This was his second privilege. He was the only Faewish Sprite in the whole of the Wishing Woods who was allowed, even encouraged, to sleep upon Chigda's thighs.
If he didn't do so himself, Chigda would have simply dragged him over with a vine.
Of course, Chigda never needed to do that. For Avicinda, this was the only reason he could even get any sleep anymore: the thickest thighs in all the Wishing Woods. Chigda's was soft nearly all across his body, but his thighs in particular served as the finest, most comfortable pillows Avicinda had ever experienced.
And Chigda watched as Avicinda's eye slowly shut and his breathing visibly slowed. He couldn't help but smile a little to himself. Night after night, not even Delicious Orbs were sweeter than seeing a workaholic like Avicinda completely melt away into sleep as soon as the back of his head touched them.
He shifted a little, not enough to wake Avicinda, but enough to reach down and brush away some locks of hair from his face and touch the warmth of his cheek. Not with a vine this time, but with his own hand.
Despite already being deep in his sleep, Avicinda moved ever so slightly, his cheek rubbing against Chigda's palm.
His dreams of power, dreams of grasping divinity—those things were but distant matters whenever he felt Avicinda's devotion. They melted away into the night, because what mattered most to Chigda was right here, even if he could never admit it aloud. Because if Avicinda wished for this to be the rest of their lives forever, never seeking anything more than each other's warmth, Chigda knew he would discard his own ambitions and give it to him.
His vine touched each of the Whim lamps, turning them off so the room was bathed in darkness and moonlight alike.
It was these gentle nights that Chigda was certain he would savor forever.
Even should the day finally come that his body changed completely into the Desperate Vines.