Reverse Falls Arising

War of Hearts

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As the last of his bonds slipped away, William awoke with a whimper. His eye was filled with searing pain, and his throat too sore for a scream. "Shh," whispered Stanford. "I've got you. It will be alright." The human picked up William bridal style, despite being smaller than the demon. William gave no protest, merely gave soft cries of pain and clutched at where his eye used to be.

As he was carried, William listened to Stanford's soothing voice, which explained that while he had known that Fiddleford had wanted a look at the demon, Stanford had remained ignorant of what the other man had truly meant. He explained that he'd stopped Fiddleford from going any further and was now taking William to the room he'd prepared for him.

"The room may not be suited for your recovery now," Stanford said as he carefully opened the door to William's new room, "but I promise that I will outfit it for such as soon as I can."

'Thank you,' William thought, his throat still too sore. Stanford had been walking at an extremely slow, smooth pace so as not to jostle William, but the shifting that occurred to place him on the bed brought fresh waves of shooting pain and William cried out, once more clutching at his face.

"It will be alright, William," soothed Stanford. "Just please hold still if you can so that I may clean your wound and bandage it."

William could barely hear him through the pain, but resolved to comply with the man's request. Seeing the soaked cloth being brought near his face, however, brought a stab of panic to the demon. "Please!" William begged, unable to say more. His left hand grasped Stanford's wrist, halting the movement to the cloth.

"It's alright, William," repeated Stanford. "I'm just cleaning and bandaging your wound."

Reluctantly, William complied and released Stanford's wrist.

"Thank you," Stanford said. William did his best to relax as Stanford resumed giving every relevant word of comfort he could think of as he gingerly cleaned and bandaged William's wound. William did his best to stay quiet, but several times was unable to stop a yelp of pain from escaping. It was slow going, but soon enough William's wound was bandaged.

"Thank you," William whispered, completely exhausted.

"I will return soon with more medical supplies," promised Stanford. "Please rest while I am gone."

William gave a small nod, before slipping into uneasy sleep.

When he awoke, William found himself alone. An IV tube carrying what he presumed to be a medicine of some sort was connected to his right hand. Whatever it was, it must have been working because the pain in his eye had dulled to a steady throb.

Before William had a chance to assess anything else, the door opened. Stanford, with a pleasant smile on his face, walked in with a bouquet of white roses. "I'm glad to see you awake," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"It still hurts, but better," William replied. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it. I blame myself for what happened to you." Stanford placed the roses into a vase that was on a side table.

"It's not your fault, you couldn't have known," William said. There was no way he was going to allow this kind-hearted man to blame himself for what happened. If anything, it was William's fault for not listening to his brother and keeping a minimum of one sense open at all times to listen for danger.

Stanford approached the side of the bed and kissed William above the bandage. "That's sweet of you, my dear, but I should have known to be more sure of what Fiddleford was going to do."

When Stanford pulled away, William stared up at him in silence, willing the six-fingered man to understand that he wasn't to blame - but lacking the words to convince him.

Stanford seemed to take the silence as a cue that he had done something wrong. "I'm sorry, I'll leave you to rest. I have taken the precaution of enchanting the room so that Fiddleford may not enter and cause you further pain," he said, gesturing at some crystals hanging from the doorknob. Almost as an afterthought, he added, "Do you require food or drink? I am unfamiliar with your kind's dietary needs."

William stares down at the blankets covering him, his heart breaking that he had caused someone pain. Quietly, knowing his response would likely bring Stanford more pain and guilt, he said, "Yes, until I am healed and the terms of our contract are up, I am bound to your dimension and by your human limitations and must both eat and drink."

Stanford sighed. "I, I see. I will bring you some food shortly. Please try to rest." William mutely nodded as Stanford left the room.

After that, the pair fell into an easy routine. Stanford brought him three meals a day, and in the afternoons brought books so they could read together. Although William found it to be too taxing to read all day, he did enjoy the time spent with Stanford and soon found himself waiting eagerly between the human's visits.

One day, Stanford broke his pattern by bringing not books, but a fresh bouquet of red roses. As he took them, William felt a strange stirring in his chest that was foreign to him. "Thank you," he said, smelling their pleasant scent and feeling flustered. "They're beautiful."

Stanford smiled. "I remember that you like flowers, and I hope that they may serve as an adequate apology."

"Whatever for?" William asked.

"I am afraid that I have some tasks that I must complete, and cannot read with you this afternoon. I am hopeful that I may join you for dinner." Stanford kissed William in the forehead. "Get some rest, my dear. I will see you soon." Stanford swapped the roses in the vase, and left.

William stares at the roses for a while before turning his gaze to the ring on his left hand. The strange feeling blossoming in his chest couldn't be what he thought it was, his brother had always insisted that such emotions were impossible for demons. Weren't they? The tingle he felt when he saw the six-fingered human, and the surge of warmth the next time Stanford brought new flowers, a bouquet of white snapdragons, made William wonder. 

A/N: In a week or two, this story will be migrating to AO3. I may or may not continue updating here. Feel free to offer your opinions as I make my decision on this matter. I will be leaving what I have posted here so far in either case.