Syrup || Sweet Tooth x Reader

Out of the Deep Woods (III)

Y/n holds a basket of eggs, walking around the ducks towards the lake to gather more water to boil for a warm bath.

By Gus's 10th winter, the boy was now the man of the house and Y/n helped take care of him.

And, as their antlers and wings grew, so did his imagination and her protectiveness.

"There were alot of bad guys, but Dog scared them away! I tripped, too, but Y/n made it all better. Isn't that right?" He asks the two.

Y/n smiles and nods, "You know it, bud." She agrees, grabbing Dog by his scruff and making him nod. "I know it!" She says in a funny voice. Gus laughs brightly, but their laughter eventually fades as they stare at the false Pubba.

Sometimes, all a boy has is his imagination.

Gus angrily chucks the hay creatures into the wheelbarrow fire. He turns to Dog. "You." He growls, throwing him in the fire and watching the dark smoke pillow up, up, upwards.

"Gus!?" Y/n calls with worry. "Gus!" She gasps, running over. Velveteen's head flops around in the basket next to the eggs.

His imagination and his older sister.

Gus turns to the fire and guiltily grabs the burning animal. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Gus gasps, dunking Dog in the bucket of water Y/n carried over. Some spilled, but it was enough to put out the embers on Dog's fabric. "Gus, you know Pubba said no fires during daytime!" She scolds, using her bucket to put out the smoking fire.

Gus guiltily walks inside as Y/n puts out the fire and smothers it. She sighs, ears twitching as she sneezes from the smoke. The bird girl enters the house, watching Gus stare at Dog in his arms before falling backwards. She stares atvthe map above his bunk bed, as Y/n had the top bunk.

He tilts his head, but Y/n doesn't pay any mind as she sets the table for lunch. He taps the heart located slightly to the right of the center of the map, murmuring to himself. "Pubba." He says.

Y/n's ears twitch and she turns around, her large wings following her, as they were too big to comfortably set against her back nowadays. "What?" She asks curiously, walking over. She looks under the bunk to see the same map as Gus digs under his vest. He pulls out a key with a little tin heart carved from an old can. She smiles and rips the map from the top of the bunk, grabbing his hand.

"Come on," She says, pulling him along. She always did have an excellent sense of direction. Gus hurries along, practically skipping in curiosity.

They stop in the front of a tree, where a red heart has been carved in the bark of the trunk. Their gaze trails downwards to see an arrow pointing to the grassy floor. Gus immediately bends down, pulling away from Y/n as he digs. Y/n stuffs the map in her coat pocket, kneeling down just as Gus's shovel hits something metal. They share a glance.

He hits it a few more times, just to see if they were both just hearing things. He pulls out a box and grabs the key from around his neck. Y/n watches on, owl-eyed. He dusts it off, inserting the key carefully and twisting it.

Y/n smiles brightly as Gus priest the dirty box open.

There were green papers with people and numbers on them. They shrug and throw it to the side. Y/n reaches over, grabbing the card and biting into it, seeing if it was a cracker. She frowns as it appears to be slightly bendable. She shakes her head and tosses it in the trash pile. There's was a jingling noise as Gus shakes a pair of keys. "Hm?" He hums curiously. Y/n is entertained by this noise and jingles it for a few seconds longer before she, too tosses it away.