TRYST // Philza X Reader

8

True to his word, Phil set you up on the extra cot in his home, making sure your foot was elevated as you slept so that it would heal better. The bed wasn't the most comfortable you had slept in, but after a day of walking and a night of almost dying, it didn't even matter. As soon as your head hit the pillow, you were out like a light.

You must have slept for at least ten hours, because when you woke the world was bright again with late afternoon sunlight. You whole body ached - probably from so much walking yesterday - but your ankle didn't feel nearly as bad as it had been, a little tender but nothing more. You swung your good leg out of bed, sitting up and trying to stretch some of the tension out of your shoulders.

Phil was sitting at the table in the center of the house, idly flipping through a book. He barely looked up when you moved. "Good morning. Didn't catch your name last night, sorry."

"Oh, Y/N." You said, slowly moving your bad ankle off the side of the bed as well.

"How are you feeling, Y/N?"

"Alright." You said, gingerly setting some weight on that foot, just to test it's hold. A dull throb pulsed through your leg - bearable. What was more concerning though, was the ravenous pit in your stomach that was coming into focus as your mind cleared of sleep. "Hungry."

"I figured you might be." Phil said, marking his place in his book and getting up from his seat. He meandered over to the fire, which was still burning, and the strips of bacon that were cooking over it. He pulled a few from the plate and turned the others over, setting the done pieces on a tray and handing it to you. "Here."

You took the plate carefully, picking up one of the strips and biting in. The bacon was fatty, but well cooked and seasoned, and you had eaten all the pieces he had given you before you knew it. Licking the grease off your fingers, you smiled. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." Phil said, sitting back down and leaned back in his chair slightly. "I figured I should probably feed you before I send you on your way."

Your eyes drifted to the scroll that was still sat on the table where Phil had set it aside last night - still sealed shut. He'd had however long you had been passed out for to take a look at it, yet he still hadn't even touched the thing. "You haven't opened the scroll yet."

"I told you I wasn't going to." Phil said.

"And I told you I wasn't going to leave until you did." You shot back. "You don't understand, I can't go back to the palace without you-"

Phil sighed. "The whole point of me disappearing was so that people wouldn't try and rope me into their shit." He got up from his seat, pacing over to one of the windows that looked out over the expanse of spruce forest. "If I'm being honest, I didn't think Etienne would even be alive enough to remember me."

There was a pause as Phil set his hands on the ledge of the window, leaning against it slightly. There was something sort of solemn about the way he had said that - like there was an underlying bitterness that came about just from thinking about the king.

"You're in the legends, you know." You said. "When they write about King Etienne and King Herobrine they always at least mention you too."

"I wish they wouldn't." Phil said. "I never wanted to be a hero like them - I was just tired of watching all those people die." He turned to look at you. "That's why I disappeared once Etienne killed the dragon and set up the kingdom - they didn't need my help anymore, people were safer."

You could understand that - the limelight wasn't for everyone, especially when it came with the responsibility of being a ruler as well. Still, if his only goal had been to stop people from dying, a war like this should have been something he cared about.

"The only reason we're fighting this war is because pillagers were attacking more villages." You said. "You could save a lot of lives-"

Phil just looked back to the window. "I might be a hermit, but I'm not completely out of touch. You're fighting this war because Etienne is still scared of species more powerful than him and spent years killing them and driving them out of the land until they were sick of it and snapped back. I want no part of this."

You quieted at that. Everyone knew it was true, but you hadn't heard someone say it aloud until now. And it was strange, coming from Phil, even though Etienne had called him an old friend.

Perhaps that had changed over the years.

"I still can't go back without you." You said.

Phil sighed. "You'll have to, at some point." He said, turning to look back at you again. "But, since you've got a bad ankle you're welcome to stay here for as long as you like."

You huffed out a little laugh at that. "Just because of the ankle?"

Phil's eyes glinted, and a smile played in the corner of his mouth. "Don't push your luck."

Stepping away from the window, Phil meandered back over to the fire to tend the meat cooking there. Your eyes turned back to the scroll on the table. You appreciated Phil's offer to stay, but you still had a task to complete. One way or another, you were going to get him to open that scroll and come back to the palace with you. Your livelihood depended on it.

"Here."

Your eyes snapped to Phil, who had refilled your plate with bacon, still sizzling. You took it back from him with a smile, placing the plate on the cot next to you.

At least you knew he wouldn't be bad company for your stay.