Kiss me once ('cause you know I had a long night)
Words: 433
Summary: The aftermath of the final battle between the emperors and Xornoth.
Triger Warnings: Scars
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"Stay still."
Despite Katherine's better efforts to obey, she couldn't help but flinch as the wet cloth came in contact with her wound. A scar trailed all the way from her shoulder across her back, reaching all the way down to her waist, a nice gift from Emperor Joey as a reminder of the sacrifices that needed to be made in order to be free from Xornoth's sovereign.
Shrub carefully cleaned the wound up, trailing the scar with her tiny fingers, sending shivers down Katherine's spine, which had nothing to do with the fact that her back was naked and exposed. "You really had to get in the way of Joey's blow," the gnome spoke, her voice as soft as the air caressing the flowers of the Overgrown, although Katherine could tell she wasn't happy.
Katherine rallied quickly. "I wasn't going to let him hurt Pearl," she justified.
"Of course you wouldn't," Shrub chuckled in amusement as she continued rubbing the healing potion around Katherine's wound. "I'm not sure if it will ever fade away."
"That's okay," Katherine assured. "A reminder of what we had to sacrifice to get to this point-"
Another shiver, this time caused by Shrub's lips against her back, chasing after the scar. "Shrub..." Katherine barely tamped down a flush, her heart soaring.
"You are stupidly reckless sometimes. I hate you for it," Shrub whined. "I can't believe you went out of your way to claim fWhip's title."
Katherine snorted. "Rude."
Shrub finished patching the fairy queen up and pulled down the fabric of her shirt and leaned over her shoulder to peck her cheek. "Promise me you won't throw yourself in a weapon's way like that again."
Katherine reached for Shrub's hand over her shoulder. "I wish I could make such a promise, but I would break it the moment you'd get involved and I can't have that."
"Katherine..."
The fairy queen turned around to face the gnome, gazing at the golden ingots that were Shrub's eyes. Katherine took her tiny hand in hers and raised her knuckles to her lips, never breaking eye contact. "What I can promise you instead is that I will always be here, for as long as you'll have me."
The shade of Shrub's ears turned scarlet. Her small hands flew to Katherine's face, her thumbs caressing her cheeks. "I adore you." A confession, whispered like a prayer, followed by a tender kiss. "I adore you."
The flowers around the Overgrown danced lazily under the wind. A wolf laid under the sun, licking his paws and a little bee buzzing over his head.
